“ In 794 he succeeded his uncle Plato, who had persuaded him to become a monk some ten years before, as head of the monastery of Saccudium in Bithynia. Soon afterwards he was banished to Thessalonica for having excommunicated Constantine VI., who had divorced his wife Maria in order to marry Theodotē. After the emperor's death in 797 he was recalled with every mark of favour, and removed with his monks to the monastery of Studium in Constantinople, where he carried on a vigorous campaign in favour of asceticism and monastic reform. ”

“ Letters, which are of considerable value as giving an insight into the life and character of the writer, and throwing light upon the ecclesiastical disputes in which he was involved; Catecheses (divided into Magna and Parva) , two collections of addresses to his monks on various subjects connected with the spiritual life; funeral orations on his mother and his uncle Plato; various polemical discourses connected with the question of image-worship. ”