St. Alphonsus Liguori: The History of Heresies and Their Refutation

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CHAPTER V. HERESIES OF THE FIFTH CENTURY


ARTICLE IV. THE HERESY OF EUTYCHES

I – THE SYNOD OF ST. FLAVIAN. THE COUNCIL OR CABAL OF EPHESUS, CALLED THE "LATROCINIUM,” OR COUNCIL OF ROBBERS

44. Beginning of Eutyches; he is accused by Eusebius of Dorileum.
45. St. Flavian receives the charge.
46. Synod of St. Flavian.
47. Confession of Eutyches in the Synod.
48. Sentence of the Synod against Eutyches.
49. Complaints of Eutyches.
50. Eutyches writes to St. Peter Chrysologus, and to St. Leo.
51. Character of Dioscorus.
52 & 53. Cabal at Ephesus
54. St. Flavian is deposed, and Eusebius of Dorileum.
55. The Errors of Theodore of Mopsuestia.
56. Death of St. Flavian.
57. Character of Theodoret.
58 & 59. Writings of Theodoret against St. Cyril. Defence of Theodoret.
60. Dioscorus excommunicates St. Leo.
61. Theodosius approved the Council or Cabal and dies.
62. Reign of St. Pulcheria and Martian.

44. The heresy of Eutyches sprung up(l) in the year 448, eighteen years after the Council of Ephesus. Eutyches was a monk and priest; he was also the abbot of a monastery near Constantinople, containing three hundred monks; he was a violent opponent of his Archbishop, Nestorius, and accused him at the Council of Ephesus, where he went in person to testify to his prevarications, so that he was considered by the friends of St. Cyril, as one of the staunchest defenders of the Faith (2). St. Leo having received a letter from him, informing him that Nestorianism was again raising its head (3), answered him, approving his zeal, and encouraged him to defend the Church; imagining, that he was writing at the time, against the real Nestorians, while he, in that letter, meant all the while the Catholics, whom, he looked upon as infected with Nestorian principles (4). Eusebius, Bishop of Dorileum, in Phrygia, was also one of the most zealous opponents of Nestorius, for, while yet only a layman, in the year 429, he had the courage to stand up and reprove him publicly for his errors (5). (No. 20, supra.)

The conformity of their opinions, therefore, made him a friend of Eutyches, but, in the course of their intimacy, he, at length, perceived that he (Eutyches) went too far and fell into heretical propositions (6). He endeavoured then, for a long time, by reasoning with him, to bring him round; but, when he saw it was all in vain, he gave up his friendship and became his accuser. Even before that the Orientals (7) had already denounced the errors of Eutyches to the Emperor Theodosius; but he so adroitly turned aside the charge, that, instead of being arraigned, he became the accuser. The Bishops of the East exclaimed, that Eutyches was infected with the errors of Apollinares, but as it was an old trick, to charge with the profession of this false doctrine, the adversaries of Nestorius, and especially all who defended the anathemas of St. Cyril; and, as those same bishops, had before defended Nestorius, and, even still upheld the doctrine of Theodore of Mopsuestia, no one took any notice of their accusation of Eutyches on the present occasion. The unfortunate man, had then nothing to fear from the charges of those bishops, but when Eusebius of Dorileum, took up the matter, it wore a more serious aspect. Eusebius then, having frequently admonished him privately, and seeing that this had no effect on him, considered himself now bound by the Gospel, to denounce him to the Church, and, accordingly, laid the matter before St. Flavian, Archbishop of Constantinople (8).

45. St. Flavian foresaw, that a judicial process and condemnation of Eutyches, would occasion a great deal of tumult, for he was venerated by the people, and respected by the Court, as a man, who, having dedicated himself to God from his infancy, had now grown grey in monastic solitude, and never went outside of his cloister for a day, only, when he joined with St. Dalmatius, to defend the Council of Ephesus; the Archbishop, therefore, advised Eusebius to act with the greatest caution. Eutyches, was also protected by the Eunuch Chrisaphius, whose god-father he was, and joined with Dioscorus, Bishop of Alexandria, in opposing the Oriental Bishops, who were the first to accuse him of heresy; it would appear then, in intermeddling at all with the matter, that St. Flavian and Eusebius were joining the enemy, and opposing both the Court and Dioscorus, and thus occasioning a great disturbance in the Church; but neither this, nor any-other consideration, could restrain the zeal of Eusebius, so St. Flavian was obliged to receive the charge, and let justice take its course.


46. While this was going on, St. Flavian held a Synod for the adjustment of some disputes, between Florens of Sardis, the Metropolitan of Lydia, and two bishops of the same province. When this case was concluded (9), the Bishop of Dorileum arose, and presented a document to the Council, requiring that it should be read and inserted in the Acts. The document was read, and in it Eusebius charged Eutyches with blaspheming Jesus Christ, with speaking with disrespect of the Holy Fathers, and with accusing himself, whose whole study it was to make war with heresy, with being a heretic; he demanded, therefore, that Eutyches should be cited to appear before the Council, to give an account of his expressions, and he promised that he would be prepared to convict him of heresy, and thus, those whom he had perverted, could see the evil of their ways and repent. When the paper was read through, St. Flavian besought Eusebius to see Eutyches once more in private, and try to bring him to a better sense. Eusebius answered, that he had done so over and over already, and could bring many witnesses to prove it, but all in vain, and, he therefore, again begged of the Council, at any cost, to summon Eutyches, that he might not lead others astray, as he had already perverted a great number. Still, however, St. Flavian wished that Eusebius should try once more the effect of a private remonstrance, but he refused, as he had so often made the attempt already and could not succeed. The Synod, at length, received the charge against Eutyches, and deputed a priest and deacon to wait on him, and summon him to appear at the ensuing Session of the Council to clear himself. The second Session was then held, and in that, the two principal letters of St. Cyril, on the Incarnation of the Word, were read, that is, his second letter to Nestorius, approved by the Council of Ephesus, and the other to the Council of John, of Antioch, after the conclusion of the peace.

When these letters were read, St. Flavian said, that his Faith was, that Jesus Christ is perfect God and perfect man, composed of body and soul, consubstantial to his Father, according to his Divinity, and consubstantial to his Mother, according to his humanity, and that from the union of the two natures Divine and human, in one sole hypostasis or person, there results but one Jesus Christ, after the Incarnation of the Word, and all the other Bishops made the same profession. Other Sessions were held, and other citations were sent to Eutyches, calling on him to appear and justify himself, but he refused, and alleged as an excuse that he never left his convent, and, besides, that he was then sick (10).


47. Towards the close of the seventh Session, Eutyches, presented himself before the Council, for he could no longer refuse the repeated citations he received, but the Fathers were surprised to see him enter, accompanied by a great troop of soldiers (11), of monks, and of officers of the Prefect of the Pretorium, who would not allow him to enter the Council, till the Fathers promised to send him back safe again. He came into the Council hall, and he was followed by the ” Great Silenciary,” (an officer so called among the Romans, whose duty it was to preserve the peace of the Imperial Palace), who presented, and read an order from the Emperor, commanding that the Patrician Florentius, should attend the Council for the conservation of the Faith. Florentius came, and then Eusebius of Dorileum the accuser, and Eutyches the accused, were placed both standing in the midst of the Council. The letter of St. Cyril to the Orientals, in which, the distinction of the two Natures is expressed was then read. Eusebius then said: Eutyches does not agree to this, but teaches the contrary. When the reading of the Acts was concluded, St. Flavian said to Eutyches: You have heard what your accuser has said; declare, then, if you confess the union of the two Natures in Christ? Eutyches answered that he did. But, replied Eusebius, do you confess the two natures, after the Incarnation; and do you believe that Jesus Christ is consubstantial to us, according to the flesh or not? Eutyches turning to St. Flavian answered: I came not here to dispute, but to declare what my opinion is, I have written it in this paper, let it be read.

St. Flavian said, read it yourself. I cannot read it, said Eutyches. He then made this confession: “I adore the Father with the Son, and the Son with the Father, and the Holy Ghost with the Father and the Son. I confess his coming in the flesh, taken from the flesh of the Holy Virgin, and, that he has been made perfect man for our salvation.” Flavian again asked him: Do you now confess, here present, that Jesus Christ has two Natures? ” Hitherto, I have not said so, said he, now I confess it.” Florentius asked him: If he professed that there are two Natures in Christ, and that Jesus Christ is consubstantial to us? Eutyches answered: “I have read in Cyril and Athanasius, that Christ was of two Natures, and I, therefore, confess that our Lord was, before his Incarnation, of two Natures, but after these were united, they do not say any longer that he had two Natures, but only one; let St. Athanasius be read, and you will see that he does not say two Natures.” Eutyches did not advert, that both his propositions were open heresy, as St. Leo well remarks in his letter: The second proposition, that is, that Christ, after the union of the two Natures, was of only one Nature. The human nature, as Eutyches said, being absorbed in and confounded with the Divine Nature, would prove, that the Divinity itself in Christ had suffered and died, and, that the sufferings and death of Christ were only a mere fable. The first proposition was no less heretical than the second, that Christ, previous to his Incarnation, had two natures for this could only be sustained by upholding the heresy of Origen, that the souls of men were all created before the beginning of the world, and then, from time to time, sent to inhabit the bodies of men.

48. When Eutyches spoke thus, Basil of Seleucia said to him, ” If you do not say that there were two Natures after the union, you admit a mixture or confusion.” Florentius replied, ” He who does not admit two Natures in Christ, does not believe as he ought.” Then the Council exclaimed: ” Faith ought not to be forced. He will not submit; what do you exhort him for?” St. Flavian then, with consent of the Bishops, pronounced the sentence in these terms, ” Eutyches, Priest, and Archiman drite, and fully convicted, both by his past acts, and his present confessions, to hold the errors of Valentine and Apollinares, and more so, as he has had no regard to our admonitions : therefore, weeping and sighing for his total loss, we declare, on the part of Jesus Christ, whom he blasphemes, that he is deprived of every priestly grade, of our communion, and of the government of his monastery; and we make known this, that all those who hold any conversation or communication with him shall be excommunicated” (12). Here are the words of the decree, as quoted by Noel Alexander (13) : ” Per omnia Eutiches quondam Presbyter, et Archimandrita, Valentini, et Apollinaris perversitatibus compertus est ægrotare, et eorum blasphemias incommutabiliter sequi; qui nec nostram reveritus persuasionem, atque doctrinam, rectis noluit consentire dogmatibus. Unde illacrymati, et gementes perfectam ejus perditionem, decrevimus per Dominum N. Jesum Christum, quem blasphematus est, extraneum eum esse ab omni officio Sacerdotali, et a nostra communione, et primatu Monasterii; scientibus hoc omnibus, qui cum eo exinde colloquentur, aut eum convenerint, quoniam rei erunt et ipsi pœne excommunationis.” This sentence was subscribed by thirty-two Bishops, and twenty-three Abbots, of whom eighteen were Priests, one a Deacon, and four laymen. When the Council was terminated, Eutyches said to the Patrician Florentius, in a low voice, that he appealed to the Council of the Most Holy Bishop of Rome, and of the Bishops of Alexandria, of Jerusalem, and of Thessalonica, and Florentius immediately communicated it to St. Flavian, as he was leaving the hall to go to his own apartment. This expression, thus privately dropped (14), gave a handle to Eutyches afterwards to boast that he had appealed to the Pope, to whom he wrote, as we shall soon see.


49. This pretended appeal did not prevent St. Flavian from publishing the sentence of excommunication, but Eutyches made use of it, to publish a great many false charges against the Synod, which he accused of trampling on all the rules of justice in his regard.

The sentence of the Council was published, by order of St. Flavian, in all the Monasteries, and subscribed by their Archimandrites; but the Monks of the Monastery Eutyches governed, instead of separating themselves from his communion, preferred to remain without Sacraments, and some of them even died without the Viaticum, sooner than forsake their impious master. Eutyches complained very much of St. Flavian, for calling on the heads of the other Monasteries to subscribe his sentence, as a novelty never before used in the Church, not even against heretics; but, on the other hand, it was a new thing to find an Abbot chief of a heretical Sect, and disseminating his pestilent errors in the Monasteries. He also complained that St. Flavian had removed his protests, posted up in Constantinople, against the Council, and which were a tissue of abuse and calumny, as if he had any right to stir up the people against a Council now closed, or to defend his pretended innocence by calumnious libels (15).


50. He next wrote to St. Peter Chrysologus, Bishop of Ravenna, complaining of the judgment of St. Flavian, with the intention of gaining the favour of this holy Bishop, who had great influence with the Emperor Valentinian, and his mother, Placida, who, in general, resided at Ravenna. St. Peter answered him, that, as he had not received any letter from Flavian, nor heard what that Bishop had to say in the matter, he could give no opinion on the controversy, and he exhorts him to read and obey whatever the Pontiff, St. Leo, would write to him,” Above all things, we advise you, honourable brother, obediently to attend to whatever is written by his Holiness the Pope, since St. Peter, who lives and presides in his See, affords to those who seek it the truth of Faith.” This letter is found in Bernini and Peter Annatus (16). Both Eutyches and St. Flavian wrote afterwards to St. Leo Eutyches, to complain of the grievances he asserted were inflicted on him by the Council of Constantinople, and St. Flavian, to explain the just cause he had to depose and excommunicate Eutyches.

St. Leo having received the letter of Eutyches before that of St. Flavian, wrote to him (17), wondering that he had not already written to him what he thought of the matter, for he could not make out, from the letter of Eutyches, the reason of his excommunication. He, therefore, ordered him to inform him immediately of the whole transaction, and especially of the erroneous doctrine for which he was condemned, that, as the Emperor wished, an end might be put to this discord, and peace restored, especially as Eutyches professed his willingness to be corrected, if it was proved he had erred. St. Flavian answered the Pope, giving him a full account of every thing, and, among the rest, that Eutyches, in place of repenting, was only endeavouring to disturb the Church of Constantinople, by wicked libels and petitions to the Emperor, for a revision of the Acts of the Synod at which he was condemned, and making charges to the effect that the Acts were falsified. In fact, on the 8th of April, 449, another assembly was held in Constantinople, by order of the Emperor, and St. Flavian (18) was obliged to present his profession of Faith, in which he declares, that he recognizes in Jesus Christ two Natures after the Incarnation, in one Person, and that he did not also refuse to say one nature of the Divine Word, if the words incarnate and humanized were also used, and he excommunicated Nestorius and all who divided Jesus Christ into two persons (19). No other matter of importance was decided in that meeting.


51. In the meantime, Dioscorus, Patriarch of Alexandria, at the instigation of Eutyches, and urged on by Chrysaphius, his protector, wrote to the Emperor, that it was necessary to convoke a General Council, and he obtained an order for it, through the influence of Chrysaphius. Before we proceed, however, it will be necessary to give an insight into the character of Dioscorus, as we shall have to speak frequently of his wickedness hereafter. He concealed his vices under an exterior of virtue, to obtain the Bishopric of Alexandria (20), in which, for his own misfortune, he was successful; he was avaricious, immoral, and furiously violent. When placed on the Episcopal throne of Alexandria, he threw aside all restraint; treated most cruelly those Ecclesiastics who were honoured by St. Cyril; some he reduced to beggary, and even burned their houses, and tortured them in prison; others he sent into banishment.

He kept improper women in his palace, and publicly bathed with them, to the insufferable scandal of the people. He so persecuted the nephews of St. Cyril, depriving them of all their property, that he drove them as wanderers through the world, while he made a show with their property, distributing it among the bakers and tavern-keepers of the city, that they might sell better bread and wine (21). He was charged with many homicides, and with causing a famine in Egypt by his insatiable avarice. It is even told of him that, a lady having left her property to the hospitals and the monasteries, he ordered it to be distributed among the actors and prostitutes of Alexandria. Hermant asserts (22) that he followed the errors of the Origenists and the Arians : such was the protector of Eutyches. Now to the subject.


52. Theodosius convoked the Council, in Ephesus, for the 1st of August, 449 (it was not held, however, till the 8th), and sent his diploma to Dioscorus, appointing him President, with power to assemble whatever bishops he pleased to try the case of Eutyches. Never, perhaps, before was the world disgraced by such acts of injustice as were committed by Dioscorus in that Synod, which has been justly called, by Ecclesiastical writers, the Latrocinium Epliesinium, or meeting of robbers at Ephesus; for he, abandoning himself to his innate ferocity, used horrible violence towards the Catholic Bishops, and even towards the two Legates, Hilary, Deacon of the Roman Church, and Julius, Bishop of Pozzuoli, sent by St. Leo, to represent him at the Council. When these saw the Holy See excluded from the presidency of the Council, in their persons, for Dioscorus, who usurped the first place, they judged it better to take the last place, and to appear no longer as Legates of the Pope, when they saw his authority slighted.

Lucretius, the Pope’s Legate in the Council of Chalcedon, charged Dioscorus with this after, and called him to answer for his audacity, in holding a Synod in Ephesus, without the authority of the Apostolic See, which never, he said, has been lawful, nor has ever been done; and he could not have made this charge, if Hilary and Julius had been received in the Council as Legates of the Pope (23). Nevertheless, they several times requested that the letter of Pope Leo should he read (24); but Dioscorus would never allow it, calling for other documents to be read, according to his own pleasure; neither would he allow any examination of Articles of Faith, fulminating anathemas against any one who would allude to it. It was quite enough, he said, to hold by what was decided in the Councils of Nice and Ephesus, and, since they had decided that, no novelty should now be introduced to interfere with their decisions (25).


53. Dioscorus now called on Eutyches to read his profession of Faith and the impious heresiarch anathematized Apollinares and Nestorius, or any one that would assert that the flesh of Jesus Christ came down from heaven. When he came to this passage, Basil of Seleucia interrupted him, and asked him to explain the manner in which he believed the Word had taken human flesh? but he gave him no answer, nor did the heads of the Synod, as they ought to have done, oblige him to explain himself, for this was the principal point of the whole question; for, if the Divine Nature destroyed the human nature in the Incarnation, or the human nature was confounded with the Divine Nature, as the Eutychians asserted, how could it be said that the Word of God took human flesh ? However, without waiting for the answer to the question of Basil, the notary was ordered to proceed with the reading of the document of Eutyches, in which he complained of the sentence passed on him, and concluded by requiring that his persecutors should be punished (26). When this statement of Eutyches was read, St. Flavian said that it was but just that his accuser, Eusebius of Dorileum, should be heard likewise, but not only this was refused, but St. Flavian himself, was told that he was not allowed to speak, as the Emperor had given positive orders that none of those who had passed judgment on Eutyches before should be allowed to say a word without leave of the Synod (27).


54. The Acts of the Synod, held by St. Flavian, were then read, and also the two letters of St. Cyril to Nestorius and John of Antioch, in which St. Cyril approved of the expression of the two Natures. Eustatius of Beyrooth, a partizan of Eutyches, then remarked to the Council that St. Cyril, in two other letters written to Acacius of Melitis and Valerian of Iconium, did not use the words, two Natures, but the one Nature of the Divine Word Incarnate, and thus this Eutychian bishop wished to make it appear that St. Cyril held the same faith as Eutyches, but this was all a calumny against St. Cyril, for the saint in a thousand passages of his writings had expressly spoken of the two Natures of Christ, and besides the expression, the one nature of the Incarnate Word only meant the union in Christ of two distinct Natures, the Divine and human. And this was most clearly expressed soon after, in the Council of Chalcedon, in which it was laid down that these words, used first by St. Cyril, and afterwards by St. Flavian, were only used in that sense, and an anathema was pronounced against any one using the expression, ” the one nature,” with the intention of denying that the flesh of Christ was consubstantial with ours. The votes given in the Council held by St. Flavian were next read, and when the vote of Basil of Seleucia, that two Natures should be required in Christ, was read out, all the Egyptians and the monks, followers of Barsuma, cried out: ” Let him be cut in two who speaks of two natures in Christ; he is a Nestorian heretic.” It was then read out that Eusebius of Dorileum had pressed Eutyches to confess two Natures in Christ, and when the same party heard this, they cried out with all their force: ” To the pile with Eusebius, let him be burned alive; as he has divided Jesus Christ, let him be cut in two halves himself” (28). Dioscorus being now assured of the suffrages of the bishops, for some adhered to him through liking, and more through terror, called on every one to give his sentence; and thus the faith of Eutyches was approved of, and he was re-established in his dignity, and the monks, his adherents, who were excommunicated by St. Flavian, were again received into communion (29).


55. The great object which Dioscorus had in view, however, was the deposition of St. Flavian and of Eusebius of Dorileum, and he therefore ordered the decree of the Synod antecedent to that of Ephesus to be read, prohibiting, under pain of anathema and deposition, any other Symbol but that of Nice to be used. The intention of the Council in passing this law, was to reject the malignant Symbol of Theodore of Mopsuestia, in which, as Rabbula, Bishop of Edessa (30), relates, the Nestorian blasphemy was introduced, and it was professed : First That the Holy Virgin was not the real Mother of God. Second That man was not united to the Word according to the substance, but through good will. Third That Jesus Christ ought to be adored but only as the image of God. Fourth That the flesh of Jesus Christ availeth nothing. Theodore, besides, denied Original Sin, and on that account, when Julian and his fellow Pelagians were banished out of Italy by the Pope St. Celestine, they went to Theodore, who, as Marius Mercator informs us, received them kindly. Cassianus (31) also tells us that the Pelagians taught the same errors as Nestorius and Theodore, that is, that Christ was but a mere man, and they meant to prove by that proposition that it was possible for a man to be without Original Sin, as he was so, and hence they deduced as an inference, that other men might be without sin, likewise, if they wished to be so. But to the point; the intention of the Council then was to reject the Symbol of the impious Theodore, as it was afterwards declared in the fifth Ecumenical Council, in which, as we shall see in the following chapter, the Three Chapters were condemned, as was also Theodore and his writings; but it was not the intention of the Council of Ephesus, nor did it ever prohibit the use of other words, besides those used in the Council of Nice, when these expressions are only used to express more clearly the sense of any Catholic dogma, impugned by some new heresy not taken into consideration of the Council of Nice.

Still, Dioscorus, intent on the condemnation of St. Flavian and Eusebius, ordered that the Decree of the Council of Ephesus should be read, and then immediately called on the notaries, and without any form of trial, or giving St. Flavian any time to defend himself, ordered one of the notaries to read the sentence of deposition against these two bishops, on the false charge that they had introduced novelties in Faith, and had not adhered to the words of the Symbol of Nice (32). St. Flavian instantly put into the hands of the Legates of the Pope, an appeal against the sentence (33). Several Bishops, horrified at such a glaring act of injustice, endeavoured to soothe Dioscorus; some of them even throwing themselves at his feet, and embracing his knees, besought him to revoke the sentence, but all to no avail, for he told them he would sooner cut out his own tongue than revoke it; and when they still, in the most pressing manner, continued to implore him to change his mind, he stood up on the steps of the throne and cried out : “Are you then determined to create a sedition; where then are the Counts ?” The Counts at once came into the church with a strong body of soldiers, and were joined by the partisans of Diodorus and the monks of Barsumas, so that the church became a scene of tumult and confusion. The Bishops all fled, some to one part of the edifice, some to another, but the doors were all bolted, and guarded, so that no one could escape. Dioscorus then, to give a finishing stroke to this villany, presented a blank paper to the Bishops, that they might subscribe the sentence, and those who showed any disposition to refuse, were threatened with deposition, banishment, and even with death, as partisans of the Nestorian heresy. On all sides shouts arose : ” Cut them in pieces if they say there are two Natures.” The soldiers obliged them to sign their names, and if they refused, beat them with clubs, threatened them with drawn swords, and even wounded some of them, so that the church was sprinkled with their blood. The Bishops thus constrained, finally all signed the sentence of deposition, but said when the Synod was dissolved, that it was not they, but the soldiers, who deposed St. Flavian; but this excuse went but a little way to justify them, for no Christian, let alone a Bishop, should through fear, condemn an innocent man, or betray the truth (34).


56.The wretch Dioscorus was so enraged at the appeal of St. Flavian, that, not satisfied with having deposed and banished this holy Bishop, he laid violent hands on him, and became his executioner, or, at all events, the cause of his death, for he was so blinded with passion, that he struck him on the face, kicked him in the stomach, and throwing him on the ground, trampled on his belly. Timothy Eleurus, and Peter Mongus, who afterwards disgraced the Episcopal throne of Alexandria, and the impious Barsumas, who cried out in the Synod : ” Kill him, kill him,” were also parties to his death, and it is on that account, that when Barsumas presented himself afterwards in the Council of Chalcedon, they cried out : ” Turn out the murderer Barsumas; cast the murderer to the beasts.” St. Flavian did not die on the spot, but being dragged to prison, and given in the hands of the guards the next day to be conveyed to the place of his banishment, after three days weary travelling, he arrived at Epipa, a city of Lydia, and then gave up his holy soul into the hands of his Maker. This is the account Cardinal Orsi gives of his death (35), and Fleury and Hermant agree with him in the particulars; and it is on this account the Fathers of the Council of Chalcedon did not scruple to give him the title of Martyr (36). Eusebius of Dorileum escaped, because he was not allowed admission into this impious meeting; he was deposed and condemned to exile, but escaped to Rome, where St. Leo received him into his communion, and retained him with himself, till his departure for the Council of Chalcedon. In the meanwhile, Dioscorus continued to publish anathemas and suspensions against these Bishops whom he any ways suspected were opposed to the doctrines of Eutyches; he condemned Theodoret, Bishop of Cyrus, as a heretic, in his absence, and proscribed his works, on account of his having written against the anathemas of St. Cyril (37). It is necessary, in order to explain the injustice of condemning Theodoret as a heretic, to give some account of this learned and remarkable man.


57. Cardinal Orsi (38) very justly remarks, that if Theodoret never was so unfortunate as to oppose for some time St, Cyril, the great defender of the Faith, against Nestorius, his name, at the present day, would be venerated like the venerable names of St. Basil, St. Chrystostom, and St. Gregory, whose equal, perhaps, he was both in virtue and learning.

He was born in Antioch (39), about the end of the fourth century. After the death of his parents, who were both rich and noble, he sold all his property, and gave it to the poor, reserving nothing for himself. He retired to the solitude of a monastery, and spent the greater part of the day in prayer, and the remainder in the study of literature, both sacred and profane. His master, unfortunately, was Theodore of Mopsuestia, of whose errors we have already spoken (n. 48), but he did not infect his disciple with them. He was forced from his solitude, and against his will made Bishop of Cyrus, a small, but very populous See, with eight hundred churches. The desire of assisting the many poor souls in his diocese, infected with heresy, overcame his attachment to his solitude, and his repugnance to accept of any dignity, so he gave up his whole soul to the discharge of his pastoral duties, nourishing the piety of his people, and combatting the heresies which infected part of his diocese; and he succeeded in rescuing eight villages from the darkness of the heresy of Marcion.


58. On reading the Anathematisms of St. Cyril (40), he wrote against them, and in no measured terms, and appeared rather to favour Nestorius than St. Cyril, who laboured to convince him of his mistake. Although he appeared to recognize only one Christ alone, and called the Holy Virgin the Mother of God, still, his arguments would lead us to believe, that he divided Christ into two persons, and gave Mary the title of Mother of God, in the sense of Nestorius, that is, mother of him who was the temple of God. St. Cyril, withal, justified him, and said, that though his mode of expressing himself was rash, that they agreed in Faith, and, he therefore writes (41), that he did not wish to fall out with Theodoret, as long as he confessed that God was not separated from human nature, and that Christ was not separated from the Divinity, but was both God and man.

On the other hand, Theodoret (42), being in Antioch when the letters of Pope St. Celestine and St. Cyril were received, joined with John, Patriarch of Antioch, and wrote to Nestorius, that he should not disturb the Church, by denying to Mary the title of the Mother of God, because, said he, that cannot be denied without corrupting the truth of the Incarnation of the Word. It cannot be doubted, but that Theodoret was somewhat reprehensible in his writings, against the Anathematisms of St. Cyril, and the Cabal of Ephesus, and in his defence of Theodore and Nestorius, and those productions were condemned in the second Council of Constantinople; but we should not forget, that he erred, not in holding the doctrines of Nestorius, but in believing that St. Cyril was an upholder of the doctrines of Apollinares, so that when he read (43) St. Cyril’s letter, to Acacius of Berea, in which the Saint clears himself from the imputation of being a favourer of the doctrines of Apollinares, and professes, that he firmly believes, that the body of Christ was animated by a reasoning soul, and expresses his detestation of the confusion of the two Natures, and declares that he holds the nature of the Word to be impassable, but that Christ suffered according to the flesh; he at once, thinking that St. Cyril had now forsaken the doctrine of Apollinares (44), and no longer believed in the confusion of the two Natures, felt quite happy, and said, that St. Cyril now followed the pure doctrine of the Fathers, and wrote him a loving letter, because, as he said, he now recognized in the Incarnation of the Word, one Son alone, and one Christ alone, with the distinction of the two Natures; St. Cyril cordially answered him, and this was the commencement of a friendly correspondence between them (45).


59. Theodoret next wrote his work Eranistes (the Beggar), against the Eutychians (46), and, on that account, through the calumnies of Eutyches, he was first confined by the Emperor to his Diocese of Cyrus, and was afterwards deposed by Dioscorus, in the Cabal of Ephesus, but he appealed from this sentence to St. Leo, and subsequently retired to his old monastery, near Apamea (47).

He was afterwards recalled from exile, by Marcian (48), and St. Leo declared him innocent, and reinstated him in the See of Cyrus (49). Finally, in the Council of Chalcedon, after publicly anathematizing Nestorius, and all who did not call the Virgin Mary the Mother of God, and divided Jesus Christ into two Sons, he was received by all the Fathers, and declared worthy of being restored to his See (50). It is supposed that he lived to the year 458, and that, towards the end of his life, he composed the treatise on Heretical Fables (51).


60. We now come back to the impious Synod of Ephesus. The majority of the Bishops having now subscribed the condemnation of St. Flavian, the few, who refused to lend themselves to this iniquity, were sent into banishment by Dioscorus. These few confessors alone, and Hilary, the Pope’s Legate, were the only members who had the courage to protest, and declared that a Cabal like that would never be approved of by the Pope, or be received, as it undermined the Apostles Creed, and that they never would, through terror, give up the Faith they professed (52). Dioscorus, in the meanwhile, having now closed the meeting, returned in joy and triumph to Alexandria, and to such a pitch did his arrogance then arrive, that he solemnly published a sentence of excommunication against St. Leo, and partly by cajolery, and partly by terror, obliged about ten Bishops, who returned with him to Egypt, to subscribe to it, though they did it weeping, and lamenting the horrible impiety they were called on to perform (53). Orsi (54) says, on the authority of the statement made to the Council of Chalcedon, by Theodore, a Deacon of Alexandria, that Dioscorus was guilty of this act of madness in Nice, beyond the bounds of Egypt (55).


61. When St. Leo heard of these atrocious proceedings, he wrote to Theodosius, explaining to him the deplorable state to which Religion was reduced by Dioscorus, but all in vain, for the Emperor, gained over by his courtiers, in favour of Eutyches, and regardless of the prayer of the Pope, and the sage advices of the Princess Pulcheria, instead of punishing the efforts the Eutychians were making, reestablished Eutyches himself in all his honors, condemned the memory of St. Flavian, and approved of all that was done in Ephesus (56). He, therefore, wrote to St. Leo, that as the Council of Ephesus had examined everything according to the rules of justice and of the Faith, and as those unworthy of the dignity of the priesthood were deprived of it, so those who were worthy were re-established in the grade they before held (57). Such was the answer of Theodosius; but God, who always watches over his flock, though he sometimes appears to sleep, soon after removed this Prince out of the world, in the year 450, the 59th of his age; previous to his death, however, as Orsi remarks (58), he listened to the remonstrances of his holy sister, and gave several proofs of his sorrow for having favoured Eutyches. As he died without issue, he left the Empire to his sister, St. Pulcheria, whose piety and wisdom soon healed the disorders caused by the weakness of her brother, in allowing himself to be governed by his courtiers. Though no one could be found more worthy to govern the Empire alone than she was, still her subjects were anxious that she should marry, and give them a new Emperor. She was, however, now advanced in years, and besides, had made a vow of perpetual virginity; anxious, there fore, to please her subjects, and at the same time, remain faithful to her promises to God, she gave her hand to the Senator Marcian, of whose probity and regard for herself, personally, she was perfectly convinced, and who, she well knew, was better qualified than any other to govern the Empire; and his subsequent conduct proved, that her opinion of his goodness was not unfounded. In the beginning of his career, this great man was only a private soldier, but his wisdom and prudence elevated him to the senatorial rank (59).



(1) Nat. Alex. 1. 10, c. 3, ar. 13, s. 1;.Baron. An. 448, ex. n. 19; Hermant, t. 1, c. 155; Fleury, t. 4, l. 27, n. 23
(2) Liberat. Brev. c. 11.
(3) St. Leo, Ep. 19, I. 6.
(4) Fleury, t. 4, I. 27, n. 23 (5) Snip. l. 25, n. 2, ap. Fleury, cit. n. 23
(6) Orsi, ibid. n. 16; Fleury, cit. n. 23; Nat. Alex. t. 10, or. 13, s. 2.
(7) Orsi, t. 14, Z. 32, n. 9.
(8) Orsi, ibid. n. 16; Fleury, l. c.
(9) Orsi, loc. cit. n. 17; Fleury, A 27, n. 24.
(10) Orsi, n. 18.
(11) Fleury, 7. 27, n. 28; Orsi, t. 14, t I 32, n. 23; Baron. An. 448, n. 48; Hermant. t. 1, c. 155.
(12) Fleury, t. 4, l. 27, n. 28; Orsi, t. 14, I. 52, n. 23.
(13) Nat. Alex. t. 10, c. 3, art. 13, sec. 4.
(14) St. Leo, Epis. 20, al. 8.
(15) Orsi, cit. n. 33.
(16) Bernin. t. 1, sec. 5, c. 6, p. 510;. Petr. Anat. Ap. par ad Theol. I. 4, de Script. Eccl. art. 30.
(17) St. Leo, Epis. 20, ap. Orsi, ibid, n. 24, 25; ileury, n. 31, 32
(18) Liberat. Brevia. c. 11.
(19) Fleury, t. 4, l. 97, n. 31; Nat. Alex. c. 3, art. 13, sec. 6, 7.
(20) Hermant, t. 1, c. 156.
(21) Baron. Ann. 444, n. 33, ex Lib.
(22) Hermant, loc. cit.
(23) Liberat. Brevia. c. 12.
(24) Orsi, n. 41.
(25) Orsi, n. 52.
(26) Orsi, n. 53.
(27) Orsi, n. 14, l. 32, n. 54.
(28) Orsi, n. 55.
(29) Orsi, n 56; Baron. Ann. 448, it. 91, ad 93.
(30) Fleury, t. 4, Z, 26, n. 36, in fine.
(31) Cassian. l. 1, de Incar. contra Nestor, c. 2 & 3.
(32) Fleury, L 27, n. 41.
(33) Orsi, l. 33, n. 58; Baron. Ann. 449, n. 92.
(34) Orsi, n. 59 & 60.
(35) Orsi. t, 14, 1. 32, n. 62; Fleury, t. 4, 1. 27, n. 41; Hermant. t. 1, c. 157.
(36) Orsi, l. 14, I. 33, n. 62, vide; Fleury, f.4, l. 67, n. 41, t. 1; Ber. p. 552.
(37) Orsi, n. 68.
(38) Orsi, t. 12, l. 28, n. 49.
(39) Nat. Alex. t. 10, c. 4, n. 28; Orsi, loc. cit. n. 50.
(40) Orsi, l. 28, n. 62.
(41) St. Cyril, Apol. cap.
(42) Orsi, t. 13, l. 30, n. 66 & seq.
(43) Orsi, t. 13, l. 30, n. 12.
(44) Orsi, n. 13.
(45) Orsi, t. 13, l. 30, n. 67.
(46) Orsi, t. 14, 1. 32, n. 10 & 11.
(47) Orsi, t14, l.32, n.68,&seq. ad. 85,
(48) Orsi, t. 14, l. 33, n. 3.
(49) Orsi, ibid. n. 20.
(50) Orsi, ibid. n. 70.
(51) Orsi, ibid. n. 20.
(52) Orsi, t. 14, l. 13, n. 61.
(53) Hermant. t. 1, c. 157; Fleury, t. 4, l. 27, n. 41.
(54) Orsi, t. 14, I 32, n. 97.
(55) Libel. Theo. set. Con. Chal. v;. Fleury, l. cit.
(56) Hermant. t. 1, c. 157.
(57) Orsi, l. 32, n. 90.
(58) Orsi, loc. cit. n. 101.
(59) Hermant. t. I, c. 158.