Anthusa of Constantinople
Anthusa of Constantinople (Greek: Ανθούσα) commonly known as Saint Anthusa of Constantinople and in Orthodox usage as Saint Anthousa the Younger (750 or 757 – 801 or 808 AD) is a saint venerated in the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church. Anthusa's feast days in the Orthodox Church are 12 and 18 April, while her feast in the Catholic Church is 27 July. In the Catholic Church, Anthusa is patroness of convents and abbeys. She was the daughter of Byzantine Emperor Constantine V. Life Childhood During a campaign in Paphlagonia, Emperor Constantine V summoned the abbess Anthusa of Mantinea (Saint Anthousa the Elder), who he had tortured earlier for worshipping icons, and asked for her prayers due to the difficulty of the empress' pregnancy. The abbess predicted the birth of twins, and the daughter was named in her honor. Anthusa of Constantinople was the daughter of the iconoclast Byzantine Emperor Constantine V and one of his wives. Details about her Anthusa's birth are uncertain. According to one source, she and her brother, the future Emperor Leo the Khazar, were twins born on 25 January 750 to Constantine's first wife (i.e. Tzitzak), while another states that she was born in