A native of Constantinople, he was at first a high courtier of the palace of Emperor Heraclius, but later became a monk and abbot of a monastery not far from the capital. The greatest defender of Orthodoxy from the so-called monothelitic heresy, which was born of the heretic Evtihieva. Namely, just as Eutychius claimed that Christ had one nature, so the Monothelites claimed that He had one will. Saint Maximus opposed this claim and found himself as an opponent of the emperor and the patriarch. But he was not afraid, but persevered to the end in proving that the Lord Christ had two wills, corresponding to both natures. At his insistence, a council was held in Cartagena and another in Rome. Both councils anathematized the teachings of the Monothelites. Saint Maximus's suffering for Orthodoxy is indescribable: he was mistreated by the princes, deceived by the judges, spat on by the masses, beaten by the soldiers, persecuted, imprisoned, and finally had his tongue and arm cut off and sentenced to life in exile. he spent three years in prison, then surrendered his holy soul to God in 666.