Today, Second Friday of the Great Lent and of the Salutations to the Most Holy Theotokos, our Church commemorates St. Publius, Bishop of Athens, and Hieromartyr Marios, Bishop of Sebasteia. We also celebrate the deposition of the holy relics of St. Nicephorus, Patriarch of Constantinople.
Saint Nicephorus was ordained Patriarch of Constantinople in Easter 806 AD. During the reign of the mighty iconoclast Leo V, he was forced to resign and live in exile for thirteen years in a monastery. After the death of Emperor Leo, he returned to Constantinople during the days of Michael II, the Stammerer. The emperor promised to restore Nikephoros to the Patriarchate, provided he no longer raised the question of the restoration of the Holy Icons. The saint did not agree, so he again left Constantinople.
He died venerably on June 2, 828 AD. Following the triumph of the Holy Icons, the removal of Patriarch Ioannis from the throne and the election of Methodius, Empress Theodora approved the deposition of the remains of the venerable Patriarch Nicephorus in Constantinople.
Thus, Methodius of Constantinople, followed by priests and numerous believers, went to the monastery of Saint Theodore, where the venerable relic was located, and transferred it by the royal ship to Constantinople. There, the kings and the Senate welcomed it with great honor and then deposed it in the Great Church. It was then transferred to the Church of Saint Apostles on March 13, the same date that the Saint had been exiled.
Source: Church of Cyprus