From a wealthy family related to the royal family of Constantinople. He was raised in an atmosphere of piety and love of God. From a young age, he was distinguished by his morals and virtues. He was a fasting, upright person who constantly meditated on the Holy Bible. He lived alone after the death of his parents, considering the poor as partners in the inheritance that his parents had left him.
Marcianus had a special veneration for the holy martyrs. Therefore, he spared no effort to build churches in their name and to beautify them in the best possible way. He built a great temple for the holy martyr Anastasia. It is said that on the day of the consecration of the church, while Marcianus was preparing to participate in the divine service with one of the bishops and a number of priests, he noticed a poor destitute man approaching him and asking for his help. Since he had no money, he called him to a secluded place, took off his undergarment and gave it to him. Then he put on his priestly garments over his naked body and returned to the temple.
When the Divine Liturgy was underway, the priests participating in the service noticed that under the priest Markianos’ robes there were shining splendid ornaments of gold and diamonds. They were alarmed and reported the news to the Patriarch, who sent for him and drew attention to this extravagance. When the Patriarch discovered the truth of the matter, he was astonished.
Some people protested to Marcianus that he spent without account on decorating churches, so his answer was: “If I had a daughter and wanted to marry her, wouldn’t I spend whatever I could to decorate her in the most beautiful way? How much more should we beautify the church, which is the bride of Christ and for which our Lord shed his blood.”
But Marcian was not to neglect the poor of Christ for a single moment. At night he would go to the wretched neighborhoods to help those who were ashamed to beg during the day. He also took care of burying the dead and went to prostitutes to distribute money to them so that they would not trade their bodies. Many of them, it is said, adopted the monastic life and turned to the angelic life. Marcian died peacefully in the Lord in the year 471.
The Church commemorates him on January 10.
