TO-DAY the Church of Lyons presents to the admiration of the whole world her own great doctor, the valiant Irenæus, who shines as the light of the West.[1] But whilst contemplating him confirming with his blood the doctrine he had preached, let us hearken to his words bearing testimony to holy Church, words of world-wide celebrity, confounding hell and closing the mouth of heresy. May we not say that it was in order to afford us instruction so appropriate for to-morrow's festival that eternal Wisdom made choice of this particular day for his martyr’s triumph? Let us hearken to this zealous pupil of Polycarp and of the first disciples of the apostles; let us hearken to him who for this very reason is considered to be the most authentic witness to the faith in all the Churches of the second century, all which Churches (these are his own words when bishop of Lyons) bow down before Rome, as to their mistress and mother. ‘For,’ he continues, ' it behoves all the rest because of her superior principality to agree with her; in her do all the faithful of whatsoever place preserve ever pure the faith once preached to them. Great and venerable above all others because of her antiquity, known to all, founded by Peter and Paul, the two most glorious of the apostles, her bishops are, by their succession, the channel whereby apostolic tradition is transmitted to us in all its integrity: in such sort, that whosoever differs from her in his belief, by this fact alone stands confounded.'[2]
The rock on which the Church is built stood all unmoved at that early age, as now, against the efforts of false science. Yet not without peril was the attack then made by the Gnostics, with their multiplex heresy and all its guileful plots put into strange concurrence by powers of evil otherwise the most opposed one to the other. It would almost seem as though Christ had wished to prove the strength of the foundations he had laid, by thus permitting hell to direct against the Church a simultaneous assault of all the errors to which the world then was, or ever would become, a prey. Simon the magician, already ensnared by Satan in the nets of the occult sciences, was chosen by the prince of darkness as his lieutenant in the enterprise. Unmasked at Samaria by the Vicar of the Man-God, he had begun against Simon Peter a jealous struggle that would by no means end with the tragic death of the father of heresies, but which in the following century was to be continued more desperately than ever, through disciples formed by him. Saturinus, Basilides, Valentine, all applied the premises of the master, diversifying them, according to the instincts bred at the time, by existing forms of corruption of mind and heart. This proceeding was the more avowed since Magus' aim had been to form an alliance between philosophies, religions and aspirations in themselves incompatible. There was no aberration, from Persian dualism or Hindu idealism to Jewish cabals or Greek polytheism, that did not mutually proffer the hand of friendship in this reserved sanctuary of the Gnosis; there already were the heterodox conceptions of Arius and Eutyches being formulated; there, taking movement and life in advance, were to be recognized in a strange pantheistic romance the wildest oddities of the hollow dreams of German metaphysics. God, an abyss, rolling from fall to fall, till at last reaching matter, there to become conscious of himself in human nature, and to return then by annihilation into eternal silence: this is the sum total of Gnostic dogma, engendering, for its morality, a mixture of transcendent mysticism and impure practices; for its political form, laying the basis of communism and modern nihilism.
Such a spectacle as this of the Gnostic Babel, piling up its incoherent materials on the waters of pride and impure passions, was well calculated to bring out in bold relief the unity of the City of God, so rapidly advancing, though but in her commencement. St Irenæus, chosen by God to oppose to the Gnosis arguments of his own powerful logic, and to re-establish, in opposition thereunto, the true sense of Holy Scripture, excelled most of all when, in face of a thousand sects bearing on their brow the visible mark of the father of discord and lies, he pointed to the Church maintaining as sacred throughout the universe the whole of tradition, just as received from the apostles. Faith in the truth that the world is wholly governed by the Holy Trinity, whose work it is, faith in the mystery of justice and mercy, which, leaving the angels in their fall, raised up our flesh in Jesus, the well-beloved, the Son of Mary, our God, our Saviour and our King: such was the deposit confided to earth by Peter and Paul, by the apostles and their disciples.[3] 'The Church therefore,’ argues St Irenæus, with enthusiastic piety and learning, ‘having received faith, guards it with all diligence, making the whole world wherein she lives dispersed to become but one single house: collected in unity, she believes with one soul, with one heart, with one voice she preaches, teaches, transmits doctrine, as having but one mouth. For, although there be in the world divers languages, that by no means prevents tradition remaining one in its sap. The Churches founded in Germany, or amidst the Iberians or the Celts, believe not otherwise, teach not otherwise, than do the Churches of the East, of Egypt, of Libya, or those established in the centre of the world. But as the sun, God’s creature, is ever the same and remains one in the whole world, so does the teaching of truth shine resplendent, enlightening every man who is willing to come to the knowledge of the truth. Even though the chief men in the Churches be unequal in the art of speaking well, tradition is not thereby impaired: he who explains eloquently cannot possibly give it increase; he who speaks with less abundance cannot thereby diminish it.’[4]
O sacred unity, O precious faith deposited like a source of eternal youthfulness in our hearts, they indeed know thee not, who turn themselves away from holy Church! Afar from her, they lose also Jesus and all his gifts. 'For where the Church is, there likewise is the Spirit of God; and, where the Spirit of God is, there likewise is the Church, there all grace. Woe to them who alienate themselves from her! They suck not in life from the nourishing breasts to which their mother invites them, they slake not their thirst at the clear fountain of the Lord’s Body; but, afar from the rock of unity, they drink the muddy waters of cisterns dug in fetid slime where there is not a drop of the water of truth.’[5] What will their vain science avail to sophists, with all their empty foolish formulas? ‘Oh!’ cries out the bishop of Lyons elsewhere, in accents which seem to have been borrowed later on by the author of the Imitation,[6] ‘how far better is it to be ignorant, or a man of little learning, and to draw nigh unto God by love! What use is there in knowing much, in seeming to understand much, if one be an enemy to his Lord? Wherefore Paul doth thus exclaim: “Knowledge puffeth up, but charity builds up.”[7] Not that he reproved the true science of God; for if so he had condemned himself in the first place; but he saw that there were some who, exalting themselves under pretext of knowledge, no longer knew how to love. It were better to know nothing at all, to be ignorant of the meaning of everything, and yet to believe in God and to be possessed of charity. Let us avoid vain puffing up which would make us fall away from love, the life of the soul; let Jesus Christ, the Son of God, crucified for us, be our only science.’[8]
Rather than here bring forward the genius of the eminent controversialist of the second century, it is a pleasure to cite from his treatises such passages as give an insight into his great soul, and reveal traits of a sanctity so loving and so sweet. ‘When, at last, the Spouse cometh,' says he, speaking of those unfortunate men whom he longed to reclaim, 'their science will not keep their lamp lighted, and they will find themselves excluded from the nuptial chamber.'[9]
In numberless places in the midst of closely strung arguments, he who may be styled the grandson of the beloved disciple betrays his own heart. Whilst following, for instance, the track of Abraham, he shows the path that leads to the Spouse: his mouth can then no longer cease to utter the name that fills his thoughts. We recognize in these touching words of his the apostle who had quitted country and home to advance the kingdom of God in the land of the Gauls: 'Abraham did well to abandon his earthly relatives to follow the Word of God, to exile himself together with the Word, so as to live with him. The apostles did well, too, in order to follow the Word of God, to quit their boats and their father. We, likewise, who have the same faith as Abraham, we do well, carrying our cross as Isaac did the wood, to follow in his footsteps. In Abraham man learnt that it is possible to follow the Word of God, and thus were his steps made firm in this blessed way.[10] The Word, on his part, nevertheless, disposed man for the divine mysteries by figures throwing light on the future.[11] Moses espoused an Ethiopian, who thus became a daughter of Israel: and by these nuptials of Moses, those of the Word were pointed out; for by this Ethiopian was signified the Church that hath come forth from the Gentiles;[12] whilst awaiting the day wherein the Word himself will come to wash away, with his own hands, the defilements of the daughter of Sion, at the banquet of the Last Supper.[13] For it is fitting that the temple be pure in which the Bridegroom and bride are to taste of the Spirit of God; and just as it is not becoming in a bride to seek to take a spouse for herself, but she must wait until she be sought out, so our flesh cannot of itself rise to the majesty of the divine throne; but when the Spouse cometh, then he will raise her up, and she will not so much possess him as be possessed by him.[14] The Word made Flesh will assimilate her wholly to himself in all fullness, and will render her precious in the eyes of the Father, by reason of her conformity to his visible Word.[15] Then will the union with God in love be consummated. Divine union is life and light; it imparts the enjoyment of all the good things of God; it is eternal of its very nature, just as these good things themselves likewise are. Woe to those who withdraw of their own accord; their chastisement comes less from God than from themselves, and from the free choice whereby, turning from God, they have lost all the good things of God.'[16]
The loss of faith being the most radical and the deepest of all causes of estrangement from God, it is not surprising to observe the horror which heresy inspired in those days, when union with God was the one treasure longed for by all conditions and ages of life. The name Irenæus signifies peace; and justifying this beautiful name, his condescending charity once led the Roman Pontiff himself to withhold the thunders he was on the point of hurling; the question at issue was one of no small importance—it was the celebration of Easter. Nevertheless, Irenæus himself relates with regard to his master Polycarp, how, when being asked by the heretic Marcion if he knew him, he replied: 'I know thee to be the firstborn of Satan.'[17] He also tells us that St John, hearing that Cerinthus was in the same public edifice into which he had just entered, fled precipitately, for fear, as he said, that because of this enemy of truth the walls of the building would crumble down upon them all: 'so great,' remarks the bishop of Lyons, ‘was the fear the apostles and their disciples had of communicating, even by word, with any one of those who altered truth.’[18] He who was styled by the companions of SS Pothinus and Blandina, in their prison, ‘the zelator of the Testament of Christ,'[19] was on this point, as on all others, the worthy heir of John and Polycarp. Far from becoming hardened thereby, his heart, like that of his venerable masters, drew from this purity of mind that limitless tenderness of which he gave proof in regard to those erring ones whom he hoped to win back. What could be more touching than the letter written by Irenæus to one of these unhappy men whom the mirage of novel doctrines had inveigled into the gulf of error: 'O Florinus, this teaching is not that transmitted to us by the ancients, the disciples of the apostles. I used to behold thee at the side of Polycarp; though shining at court thou didst none the less seek to be pleasing unto him. I was then but a child, yet the things that happened at that time are more vivid in my recollection than those of yesterday; for indeed childhood's memories form, as it were, a part of the very soul; they grow with her. I could point out the very spot where sat blessed Polycarp while he conversed with us; I could describe exactly his bearing, his address, his manner of life, his every feature, and the discourses he made to the crowd. Thou rememberest how he used to tell us of his intercourse with John and the rest of those that had seen the Lord, and with what a faithful memory he repeated their words; what he had learnt from them respecting our Lord, his miracles, his doctrine, all these things Polycarp transmitted to us, as having himself received them from the very men that had beheld with their eyes the Word of life; all of what he told us was conformable to the Scriptures. What a grace from God were these conversations of his! I used to listen so eagerly, noting everything down, not on parchment, but on my heart; and now, by the grace of God, I still live on it all. Hence, I can attest before God, if the blessed apostolic old man had heard discourses such as thine he would have stopped his ears, saying, as was his wont: “O God most good, to what sort of times hast thou reserved us!” Then would he have got up quickly, and would have fled from that place of blasphemy.'[20]
It is time to give the liturgical narrative of the history of this great bishop and martyr.
Irenæus, non longe ab urbe Smyrna in Asia proconsulari natus, jam inde a puero sese Polycarpo, Joannis evangeistæ discipulo, eidemque episcopo Smyrnæorum, tradiderat in disciplinam. Hoc tam excellenti magistro, progressus in doctrina præceptisque Christianæ religionis insignes fecit. Polycarpo in cœlum martyrii gloria sublato, etsi erat Irenæus in sacris litteris egregie versatus, quod tamen incredibili studio flagraret discendi quæ dogmata, depositi loco custodienda, cæteri accepissent quos apostoli instituerant; horum quam potuit plures convenit, quæque ab iisdem audivit, memori mente tenuit, ea deinceps opportune adversus hæreses allaturus. Quas cum videret ingenti populi christiani damno latius in dies manare, diligenter copioseque refellere cogitarat. In Gallias inde profectus, a Pothino episcopo presbyter est constitutus ecclesiæ Lugdunensis. Quod munus sic laborando in verbo et doctrina gessit, ut testibus sanctis martyribus, qui Marco Aurelio imperatore, strenue pro vera pietate certarant, aemulatorem sese præstiterit testamenti Christi.
Cum martyres ipsi clerusque Lugdunensis, de pace ecclesiarum Asiæquam Montanistarum factio turbarat, solliciti cum primis essent; Irenaeum, cujus esse potissimum habendam rationem prædicabant, unum omnium maxime delegerunt, quem Romam ad Eleutherium pontificem mitterentrogatum, ut novis sectariis auctoritate Sedis apostolicæ reprobatis, discordiarum causa tolleretur. Jam Pothinus episcopus martyr decesserat. Huic Irenæus cum successisset, tam feliciter munus obiit episcopatus, ut sapientia, oratione, exemploque suo, non modo brevi cives Lugdunenses omnes, sed multos etiam aliarum Galliæ urbium incolas, superstitionem atque errorem abjecisse, dedisseque christianæ militiæ nomina viderit. Interea cum de die celebrandi Paschatis orta esset contentio, ac Victor Romanus pontifex Asianos episcopos ab collegis reliquis fere omnibus dissidentes, aut prohibuisset communione sanctorum, aut prohibere minatus esset, eum Irenæus sequester pacis decenter monuit, exemplisque usus pontifìcum superiorum, induxit ut ne tot ecclesias, ob ritum quem a majoribus accepisse se dicerent, avelli ab unitate catholica pateretur.
Multa scripsit, quæ Eusebius Cæsariensis et sanctus Hieronymus memorant, quorumque pars magna intercidit injuria temporum. Exstant ejus adversus hæreses libri quinque, anno circiter centesimo octogesimo perscripti, dum adhuc Eleutherius rem christianam publicam gereret. In tertio libro vir Dei, ab iis edoctus quos auditores constat fuisse apostolorum, grave in primis atque præclarum de Romana ecclesia, deque iilius episcoporum successione, divinæ traditionis fideli, perpetua, certissima custode, testimonium dixit. Atque ad hanc, dixit, ecclesiam, propter potiorem principalitatem, necesse est omnem convenire ecclesiam, hoc est, eos qui sunt undique fideles. Postremo, una cum aliis prope innumerabilibus, quos ipse ad veram fidem frugemque perduxerat, martyrio coronatus, migravit in cœlum, anno salutis ducentesimo secundo: quo tempore Septimius Severus Augustus eos omnes qui constanter in colenda Christiana religione perstare voluissent, in summnm cruciatum dari atque interfici imperaverat. Sancti Irenæi festum Benedictus XV Pontifex maximus ad universam Ecclesiam extendit.
Irenæus was born in proconsular Asia, not far from the city of Smyrna. From his childhood he had entered the school of Polycarp, the disciple of St John the evangelist, and bishop of Smyrna. Under so excellent a master, he made wonderful progress in the science of religion and in the practice of Christian virtue. He was inflamed with an unspeakable, desire to learn the doctrines which had been received as a deposit by all the disciples of the apostles; wherefore, although already a master in sacred letters when Polycarp was taken to heaven by a glorious martyrdom, he undertook to visit as many as ever he could of these ancients, retentively holding in his memory whatsoever they spoke unto him. Thus was he afterwards able to oppose these their words with great advantage against the heresies. For, indeed, daily more and more did heresy spread, to the great detriment of the Christian people, and therefore he thought to make a careful and ample refutation thereof. Coming into Gaul, he was attached as priest to the Church of Lyons, by St Pothinus the bishop. Labouring in the discharge of which office, both by word and doctrine he showed himself to be truly zealous for the Testament of Christ, as the holy martyrs expressed it, who in the time of Marcus Aurelius, emperor, were strenuously combating for the true religion.
For these same martyrs, together with the clergy of Lyons, thought they could not put into better hands than his the affair of the pacification of the Churches of Asia that had been troubled by the heresy of Montanus; for this cause, so dear to their heart, they chose Irenæus amongst all others, as the most worthy, and sent him to Pope Eleutherius, to implore him to condemn by apostolic sentence these new sectaries, and to put an end to the dissensions. The bishop Pothinus had died a martyr. Irenæus having succeeded him, so happy was his episcopacy, owing to his wisdom, prayer, and example, that soon, not only the city of Lyons, but even a great number of the inhabitants of other cities of Gaul, renounced the error of their superstitions and gave their names to be enlisted in the army of Christ. Meanwhile, a contest arose on the subject of the exact day on which Easter should be celebrated; the bishops of Asia were in disagreement with nearly all their colleagues; and the Roman Pontiff, Victor, had already cut them off from the communion of saints, or was on the point of so doing, when Irenæus appeared before him as a seeker of peace, and most respectfully admonishing him, induced him, after the example of the Pontiffs his predecessors, not to suffer so many Churches to be torn away from Catholic unity, on account of a rite which they said they had received from their fathers.
He wrote many works which are mentioned by Eusebius of Caesarea and St Jerome, a great part of which have perished through the ravages of time. There are extant, however, five books of his against heresies, written about the year one hundred and eighty, while Eleutherius was governing the Church. In the third book, the man of God, instructed by those who, as it is certain, had been disciples of the apostles, renders to the Roman Church and to the succession of her bishops a testimony surpassing all others in weight and brilliancy; and he says that the Roman Church is the faithful, perpetual, and most assured guardian of divine tradition. Moreover, he says that it is with this Church that every other Church (namely, the faithful who dwell in any other place whatsoever) must agree, because she hath a principality superior to all others. At length he was crowned with martyrdom, together with an almost countless multitude whom he had himself brought over to the knowledge and practice of the true faith; he passed away unto heaven, in the year of salvation two hundred and two: at which time Septimius Severus Augustus had commanded that all those who persisted in the practice of the Christian religion should be condemned to the most cruel torments and death. Pope Benedict XV extended the feast of St Irenæus to the whole Church.
Oh! what a crown is thine, most noble Pontiff! Man must confess himself utterly unable to count the pearls with which it is adorned. For in the arena where thou didst win it, a whole people were thy fellow-combatants; and as each martyr, one by one, ascended to his throne in heaven, he proclaimed thy glory, for he owed his crown to thee. Twenty-five years previously the blood of Blandina and her companions had been shed, and, thanks to thee, had produced a hundredfold. Thy care had brought that fruitful seed to germinate from the soil that had received it in the early days of Christianity, and now the small colony of the faithful, scattered in its midst, had become the very city itself. Formerly the amphitheatre was spacious enough for the effusion of the martyrs' blood; but now the sacred stream flows in torrents along the streets and squares. O glad day that made Lyons become Rome's rival and the holy city of the Gauls!
The sons of those that died with thee have ever remained faithful to Jesus Christ; do thou, together with Mary, whose position and dignity thou didst so admirably expound to their fathers,[21] and with the Precursor of the Man-God who so fully shares their love, protect them against every scourge whether of body or of soul. Spare France; drive far from her the invasion of a false philosophy which is attempting to revive the aberrations of Gnosticism. Cause truth once more to shine upon the eyes of so many whom heresy, under these multiform disguises, separates from the one fold. O Irenæus, maintain Christians in that peace which alone deserves the name; keep ever pure the minds and hearts of those whom error has not yet sullied. Prepare us now to celebrate befittingly the two glorious apostles Peter and Paul, and the powerful principality of the mother of all the Churches.
[1] Theodoret. Hæretic. fabul. 1 5. [2] Cont. Hæres. III, iii 2. [3] Cont. Hæres. I, x 1. [4] Cont. Hæres. I, x 2. [5] Ibid. III, xxiv 1, 2. [6] De Imit. Christi, Lib. I, cap. 1-5. [7] 1 Cor. viii 1. [8] Cont. Hæres. II, xxvi 1. [9] Cont. Hæres. II, xxvii 2. [10] Ibid. IV, v 3, 4. [11] Ibid. xx ii. [12] Ibid. 12. [13] Ibid. xxii 1. [14] Cont. Hæres. V, ix 4. [15] Ibid. xvi 2. [16] Ibid. xxvii 2. [17] Ibid. III, iii 4. [18] Cont. Hæres. III, iii 4. [19] Epist. Martyi. Lugdun. et Vienn. ad Eleuther, Pap. [20] Epist. ad Florinum. [21] Cont. Hæres. V, xix.
IT were fitting that our attention should not be diverted during this Octave from the feast which the Church is keeping. But the triumph of Peter will shine out with all the more splendour in proportion as the testimony he rendered to the Son of God is shown to have been maintained with all fidelity during the long series of succeeding ages by the Pontiffs, inheritors of his Primacy. For a considerable time the twentyeighth of June was consecrated by the memory of St Leo the Great; it was the day chosen by Sergius I for the translation of the illustrious doctor, and indeed a more magnificent usher for the solemnity could hardly be desired. From no other lips than his has Rome ever set forth, in such elevated language, the glories of these two princes of the apostles and her own fame; never since the incomparable scene enacted at Caesarea Philippi has the mystery of the Man-God been affirmed in a manner so sublime as on that day whereon the Church, striking the impious Eutyches at Chalcedon, received from Leo the immortal formula of Christian dogma. Peter once more spoke by the mouth of Leo; yet the evil was far from being ended: two centuries more were needed; and another Leo, he whom we this day honour, had the honour of ending it at the sixth Council.
The Spirit of God, ever watchful over the development of the sacred liturgy, by no means wished any change to be effected in the train of thought of the faithful people. Thus when towards the beginning of the fourteenth century April 11 was again assigned to St Leo I (for that was really the primitive place occupied by him in the cycle), St. Leo II, the anniversary of whose death was June 28, and who hitherto had been merely commemorated thereon, being now raised to the rank of a semi-double, came forward to remind the faithful of the glorious struggles maintained both by his predecessor and by himself, in the order of apostolic confession. Latterly his feast was transferred to this day, in order that St Irenæus may be commemorated on the Vigil of the Apostles.
How was it that St Leo’s clear and complete exposition of the dogma and the anathemas of Chalcedon did not succeed in silencing the arguments of that heresy which refused to our nature its noblest title, by denying that it had been assumed in its integrity by the divine Word? Because for truth to win the day it suffices not merely to expose the lie uttered by error. More than once, history gives instances of the most solemn anathemas ending in nothing but lulling the vigilance of the guardians of the holy city. The struggle seemed ended, the need of repose was making itself felt amidst the combatants, a thousand other matters called for the attention of the Church's rulers; and so whilst feigning utmost deference, nay, ardour even, if needful, for the new enactments, error went on noiselessly, making profit of the silence which ensued after its defeat. Then did its progress become all the more redoubtable at the very time it was pretending to have disappeared without leaving a trace behind.
Thanks, however, to the divine Head, who never ceases to watch over his work, such trials seldom reach to such a painful depth as that into which Leo II had to probe with steel and fire in order to save the Church. Once only has the terrified world beheld anathema strike the summit of the holy mount. Honorius, placed on the pinnacle of the Church, ‘had not made her shine with the splendour of apostolic doctrine, but by profane treason had suffered the faith, which should be spotless, to be exposed to subversion';[1] Leo II, therefore, sending forth his thunders in unison with the assembled Church against the new Eutychians and their accomplices, did not spare even his predecessor. And yet, as all acknowledge, Honorius had otherwise been an irreproachable Pope; and even in the question at stake he had been far from professing heresy or teaching error. Wherein, then, did his fault lie?
The Emperor Heraclius, who by victory had reached the height of power, beheld with much concern how continual division persisted between the Catholics of his empire and the late disciples of Eutyches. The bishop of the imperial city, the patriarch Sergius, fostered these misgivings in his master's mind. Vain of a certain amount of political skill which he fancied himself to possess, he now aimed at re-establishing, by his sole effort, that unity which the Council of Chalcedon and St Leo the Great had failed to obtain; thus would he make himself a name. The disputants agreed in acknowledging two natures in Jesus Christ; hence to reply to their advances one thing was needed, he thought, to impose silence on the question as to whether there are in him two wills or only one. The enthusiasm with which this evident compromise was hailed by the various sects rebellious to the fourth General Council showed that they still preserved all the venom of error; and the fact that they denied, or hesitated to acknowledge, that in the Man-God there is any other will than that proper to the divine Nature, was equivalent to declaring that he had assumed but a semblance of human nature, since this nature could by no means exist devoid of that will which is proper to it. Therefore, the Monophysites, or partisans of the one Nature in Christ, made no difficulty in henceforth being called by the name of Monothelites, or partisans of the one will. Sergius, the apostle of this novel unity, might well congratulate himself; Alexandria, Antioch, Constantinople, hailed with one accord the benefit of this peace. Was not the whole East here represented by her patriarchs? If Rome in her turn would but acquiesce, the triumph would be complete! Jerusalem, however, proved a jarring note in this strange concert.
Jerusalem, the witness of the anguish suffered by the Man-God in his human nature, had heard him cry out in the garden of his agony: 'Father, if it be possible, let this chalice pass from me; yet, not my will, but thine be done!'[2] The city of dolours knew better than any other what to believe concerning these two wills, which by the heroism of incomparable love were maintained in such full harmony, and the time for her to bear testimony had come. The monk Sophronius, now her bishop, was by his sanctity, courage and learning ready for the task that lay before him. But while, in the charity of his soul, he was seeking to reclaim Sergius before appealing against him to the Roman Pontiff, the bishop of Constantinople took the initiative; he succeeded thus by a hypocritical letter in circumventing Honorius, and in getting him to impose silence on the patriarch of Jerusalem. Hence, when at last St Sophronius, at the head of the bishops of his province assembled in council, thought it had become his positive duty to turn towards Rome, it was but to receive for answer a confirmation of the prohibition to disturb the peace. This was a sad mistake, which though it did not directly implicate the infallible magistracy because it was a measure exclusively political, was one that cost the Church bitter tears and much blood, and which resulted fifty years later in the condemnation of the unfortunate Honorius.
The Holy Ghost, who has guaranteed the infallible purity of the doctrine taught officially from the apostolic Chair, has not pledged himself to protect in a like degree from all failure either the virtue, or the private judgement, or even the administrative acts of the Sovereign Pontiff. In order to promote this marvellous union which the Creator made to reign both upon earth and in heaven, our Lord, when he founded the society of saints upon the authentic and immutable basis of the faith of Peter, willed that to the prayers of all should be confided the charge of completing his work by obtaining for the successors of Peter such preservative graces as do not of themselves necessarily spring from the divine constitution of the Church.
Meanwhile Mahomet was just letting loose his hordes upon the world. Heraclius was now to learn the worth of his patriarch's lying peace, and was to come down lower in shame than he had been exalted in glory by his victories over the Persians, in the days when he had acted as the hero of the cross. Palestine, Syria and Egypt fell simultaneously beneath the blows of the lieutenants of the prophet. Sophronius, placed as he was in the very midst of the scene of invasion, grew still greater under trial. Abandoned by the emperor where the defence of the empire was at stake, disavowed by Rome as to faith, he alone intrepidly treated with Omar as power opposed to power; and when about to die, still hoping against all hope in Rome, though thence had come a blow harder far to bear than that of the caliph, he confided to Stephen of Dora the supreme mission, which the latter thus relates: 'In his justice strong as a lion, contemning calumnies and intrigues, blessed Sophronius took me, unworthy as I am, and conducted me to the sacred spot of Calvary. There he bound me by an indissoluble engagement, in these words: “Thou shalt have to render account to him who being God was voluntarily crucified for us according to the flesh on this spot, when on the day of his terrible coming he will appear in glory to judge the living and the dead, if thou defer or neglect the interests of his faith now in peril. Thou knowest that I cannot in the body do this thing, being hindered by the incursion of the Saracens which our sins have deserved. Set out as soon as possible, and go from here to the farthest ends of the earth, until thou reach the apostolic See, where the foundations of orthodox dogma are set. Go again and again, not once, not twice, but endlessly, and make known to those living there the shock that our land has sustained. Importunately, ceaselessly, implore and supplicate, until apostolic prudence at length determine, by its canonical judgement, the victory over these perfidious teachings."’[3]
The bishop of Dora was faithful to this command. When, twelve years later, he gave this touching narrative at the Council of Lateran in 649, it was then the third time that, in spite of the snares and other difficulties of the times, he could say: ' We have taken the wings of a dove, as David speaks, and we have come to declare our situation to this See, elevated in the sight of all, this sovereign, this principal See, where is to be found remedy for the wound that has been inflicted upon us.'[4] St Martin I, who received this appeal, was one worthy to hear it; and soon afterwards he repaired by his own martyrdom the fault committed by Honorius in suffering himself to be tricked by an impostor. His glorious death, followed by the tortures endured for the truth by the saintly abbot Maximus and his companions, prepared the victory which the heroic faith of Sophronius had announced to the Roman Pontiff. Thus was an odious silence rectified by holy Church: now were her doctors to be seen, with tongue plucked out, still continuing by divine power to proclaim that Christian dogma which cannot be enchained;[5] still with lopped-off hands finding means, in their indomitable zeal, to affix to the mutilated arm the pen whose function, now made doubly glorious, continued thus to carry throughout the world the refutation of falsehood.
But it is time to come to the issue of this memorable contest. It is to be found in him whose feast we are celebrating. St Agatho had assembled the sixth General Council at Constantinople, at the request of another Constantine, an enemy of heresy and a victor over Islam. Faith and justice now did the work hand in hand; and St Leo II could at last sing aloud: 'O holy mother Church, put off thy garb of mourning, and deck thee in robes of gladness. Exult now with joyous confidence: thy liberty is not cramped.'[6]
The holy liturgy devotes the following lines to the history of this pontificate, short indeed, but well filled:
Leo Secundus, Pontifex Maximus, Siculus, humanis et divinis litteris græce et latine doctus, musicis etiam eruditus fuit: ipse enim sacros hymnos et psalmos in Ecclesia ad concentum meliorem reduxit. Probavit acta sextæ Synodi, quæ Constantinopoli celebrata est, præsidentibus legatis apostolicæ sedis, præsente quoque Constantino imperatore, et duobus patriarchis Constantinopolitano et Antiocheno, ac centum septuaginta episcopis: quam et in latinum transtulit.
In eo concilio Cyrus, Sergius, et Pyrrhus condemnati sunt, unam tantummodo voluntatem et operationem in Christo prædicantes. Hic fregit superbiam antistitum Ravennatum, qui Exarchorum freti potentia, sedi apostolicæ non obtemperabant. Quamobrem decrevit, ut electio cleri Ravennatis irrita esset, nisi Romani Pontificis auctoritate comprobaretur.
Vere pater pauperum fuit: non enim pecunia solum, sed opera, labore, et consiliis, egentium, viduarum, et pupillorum inopiam ac solitudinem sublevabat. Qui dum singulos non magis prædicatione quam vita ad pie sancteque vivendum adhortaretur; obdormivit in Domino mense sui pontificatus undecimo, quinto nonas Julii, anno sexcentesimo octogesimo tertio, sepultusque est in basilica sancti Petri. Ordinatione una mense Junio, creavit presbyteros novem, diaconos tres, episcopos diversis in locis viginti tres.
Pope Leo II was a Sicilian. He was learned in sacred and profane letters, as also in the Greek and Latin tongues, and was moreover an excellent musician. He rearranged and improved the music of the sacred hymns and psalms used in the Church. He approved the acts of the sixth General Council, which was held at Constantinople, under the presidency of the legates of the apostolic see, in the presence of the emperor Constantine, the patriarchs of Constantinople and Antioch, and one hundred and seventy bishops: Leo also translated these said acts into Latin.
It was in this Council that Cyrus, Sergius, and Pyrrhus were condemned for teaching that there is in Christ only one will and one operation. Leo broke the pride of the archbishops of Ravenna, who had puffed themselves up, under the power of the exarchs, to set at naught the power of the apostolic see. Wherefore, he decreed that the elections of the clergy of Ravenna should be worth nothing, until they had been confirmed by the authority of the Bishop of Rome.
He was a true father to the poor. Not by money only, but by his deeds, his labours, and his advice, he relieved the poverty and loneliness of widows and orphans. He was leading all to live holy and godly lives, not by mere preaching, but by his own life, when he fell asleep in the Lord, having sat as Pope eleven months, in the year 683, and was buried in the church of Saint Peter, the fifth of the Nones of July. In the month of June he held one ordination, whereat he ordained nine priests, three deacons, and twenty-three bishops, for divers places.
O glorious Pontiff, to thee was granted the privilege of completing the apostolic confession by giving the furthest development to the testimony rendered by Peter to the Son of the living God, who is at the same time Son of man. Thou wast to finish the work of Sylvester, Celestine and that other Leo, a Pontiff beloved of earth and of heaven. Convoking, inspiring, confirming the illustrious Councils of Nicæa, Ephesus and Chalcedon, they had triumphantly proved in our Emmanuel both his Divinity consubstantial with the Father, and his unity of person which causes Mary to be truly his Mother, and furthermore his twofold Nature, without which he could not have been our Brother. Satan, who had allowed himself to be more easily overcome on the first two points, disputed the third with utmost rage. As on that great battle-day when he was hurled from heaven, the form of his revolt had been a refusal to adore God under human features; so now, together with all hell, enforced by holy Church to bend the knee, his jealousy would fain pretend that at least God had taken of man but a mutilated nature. Let it be granted that the Word was made Flesh, but in this Flesh do not allow that he had other impulses, other energies, save those of the Divinity itself; such an inert nature as this, uncrowned of its proper will, would in reality be no human nature, even though it were to retain all the rest. Then would Lucifer, in his pride, have less cause to blush; for then man, the object of his infernal envy, would have nothing in common with the divine Word save a vain appearance! Thanks be to thee, O Leo, in the name of all mankind! By thee, in face of heaven, earth and hell, is promulgated authentically the incomparable title whereby, without any restriction, our nature is established at the right hand of the Father, in the highest heavens; by thee our Lady crushes the vile serpent's head once again.
But what craft was displayed by Satan in this campaign, prolonged for two centuries, noiselessly, the better to secure success! What exultation rang through the abyss when one sad day saw the representative of him who is essential Light appear to side for a moment with the powers of darkness! A cloud seemed to have come between heaven and those mountains of God, where he dwells with his Vicar; it is probable that the social aid of intercession was weaker just then than it should have been. Be ever at hand, O Leo, to ward off all similarly dangerous situations. Uphold, in every age, the Pastor who rules Christ's Church, that he may keep himself aloof from the darkening mists that earth exhales; keep ever alive in the hearts of the faithful flock that strong prayer, which should continually be made without ceasing for him by the Church:[7] and then Peter, were he even chained in the depths of the darkest dungeon, will be reached by the Sun of justice and clearly see his way in that pure ray; then will the whole body of the Church be lightsome. For Jesus hath said, 'the light of the body is the eye: if the eye be single the whole body will be lightsome.'[8]
By thy teaching we realize more fully the strength of the rock whereon the Church stands; we know that the gates of hell shall never prevail against her.[9] For surely the efforts of the spirits of darkness never went to such lengths as they did in that sad crisis to which thou didst put an end; nor was their success, however great in appearance, contrary to the divine promise; for it is to the teaching of Peter, not to his silence, that the unfailing assistance of the Holy Ghost is guaranteed. O loving Pontiff, obtain for us uprightness of faith and heavenly enthusiasm wherewith it behoves us to hail Peter and Christ acting together in the unity divinely established between them. The liturgy is deeply indebted to thee; grant us to relish more and more the hidden manna it contains, and may our hearts and voices fittingly render these sacred melodies!
[1] Leon. II Epist. Confirm. Concil. Constantinop. III. [2] St Luke xxii 42. [3] Concil. Later. Actio seu Secret. II. [4] Ibid. [5] 2 Tim. ii 9. [6] Epist. confirm. Concil. Constantinop. III. [7] Acts xii 5. [8] St Matt. vi 22. [9] Ibid. xvi 18.
ALTHOUGH amongst the saints there is none who is undeserving of earth's humble homage, or whose intercession is powerless on our behalf, yet the cultus rendered to them, and the confidence evinced, necessarily vary in proportion to what we know of their glory. It is therefore only just, as St Leo remarks in to-day’s Office, that we should honour in a most special manner those whom divine grace has exalted so far above all others, that they are considered, as it were, the two brilliant eyes of Christ’s mystical body, the Church, giving light to all of us, who are the members thereof.[1] For this reason, the festival of these two princes of the apostles is held superior to that of any other servant of God occurring in the entire cycle.
When the Church’s own practice gave tone to the particular customs of the various countries, national confidence and even private devotion knew no other preferences than those of the holy liturgy; and long were it to tell of all that can be produced by history, public charts, simple contracts and monuments of every sort, in endless proof of our forefathers' love for the glorious doorkeeper of heaven and his illustrious companion armed with the sword. Faith was lively in those days. It was then well understood that of all God's gifts to earth, none is comparable to the graces of sanctification, doctrine and unity, of which Peter and Paul are for all the predestined instruments. The heart became dilated as the mind expanded. Men were eager, therefore, to know as much as they could touching the lives of these fathers of the Christian people; and they made great account of the devotedness wherewith the two apostles had so unsparingly poured out their sweat and blood for them.
Alas! can it be said that such is the case nowadays? How many baptized persons are there, Catholics not merely in name, but even considered practical Catholics, who scarcely possess such elementary notions of true Christianity as to appreciate the importance of the role performed amongst men by these founders of the Church, or even to give it a passing thought! Yet some there are, and thanks be to God their number is now on the increase, who glory in studying the principles on which rests the divine constitution of society purchased by the Blood of our Lord. Such men as these understand and revere the august position which has been, and always must be, held by Peter and Paul in the economy of Christian dogma. Nevertheless, do even these persons honour really as they ought these two princes of the apostles? What they know on this subject shows them plainly enough that it cannot be the case with these two apostles as it is with many other saints, whose cultus increases or diminishes according to circumstances of time, place and the like: the cultus of SS Peter and Paul has its roots in the very foundations of Catholicism; whether in nations or in individual souls it cannot wane, save to the great detriment of Catholicity itself. But then, no cultus is real, except that which implies devotion and love; can it be really said of the class of persons to whom we refer that their knowledge of the holy apostles has penetrated deeply enough from their mind into their heart?
In the case of too many people, this knowledge, being confined to the region of theory, is not sufficiently personal with regard to the two apostles themselves; and, therefore, principles the most nicely drawn do by no means impart the spirit of faith, the seat of which is in the heart, and which animates the life. Let them put the finishing stroke to their science. Without losing sight of dog matic science, let them seek in prayer and in humble study of the Gospel of the Acts of the Apostles, of the Epistles and of ecclesiastical tradition, that intimate revelation of the very soul of Peter and of Paul which cannot fail to make them admire, and above all love them personally as much as and even more than their sublime prerogatives. Then perhaps will they be astonished to have come so late to a knowledge of many precious details and thousands of instructive features about them, which little children in bygone ages (now reputed barbarous) would have blushed not to know. As a necessary consequence, they will thus begin to feel more Catholic in soul; they will consider themselves happy to have learnt, at last, how to share the devotion of the humble peasant woman and her ingenuous confidence, not unmixed with fear, in the doorkeeper of paradise.
The following beautiful Preface is taken from the Mozarabic Missal. Its theme is that assemblage of divine contrasts, amidst which eternal Wisdom loves, as it were, to play, and which are found wonderfully multiplied in the lives of these two apostles.
Illatio
Dignum et justum est, omnipotens Pater, nos tibi ingentes agere gratias pro multiplici apostolomm Petri et Pauli gloria: quam eis per diversas munerum distributiones larga satis pietate donasti. Quos et Unigeniti tui discipulos: et gentium fecisti esse magistros. Qui ob Evangelii prædicationem quum cœlorum præficiantur in regnis: carcerum clauduntur angustiis. Potestatem accipiunt peccata solvendi: et ferri vinculis alligantur. Sanitatem donant: et ægritudines portant. Dæmonibus imperant: et ab hominibus flagellantur. Mortes fugant: et fugiunt persequentes. Super mare ambulant: et in labore desudant. Montes verbo transferunt: et propriis victum manibus quærunt. Judicaturi angelos: in quæstionem mittuntur. Cum Deo vivunt: in mundo periclitantur. Postremo Christus eis serviens pedes lavat: et facies eorum blasphemantium manus alapis colaphizat. Nihil sustinentibus pene defuit ad tolerantiam: nihil superantibus victoriæ non adfuit ad coronam. Si recurramus quot ad testificandam fidei veritatem ærumnarum pertulerint in tormentis frequenter suis i superfuere martyribus. Si in mirabilibus, hoc per Christum fecere quod Christus: si in passionibus, hoc sustinuerunt illi necessitate mortali quod ille voluntate moriendi. Isti ejus viribus: ille suis. Probantes doctrinæ auctoritatem similitudine: non asqualitate doctoris.
Implevit Petrus suo tempore: quod promiserat ante tempus. Posuit animam suam pro illo: quem se non crediderat negaturum. Quia ad arduæ sponsionis celeritatem nimia charitate præventus, non intellexit servum pro Domino dare non posse quod pro servo ante Dominus non dedisset: similiter non renuit crucifigi, sed æqualiter non præsumpsit appendi. Obiit ille rectus: iste subjectus. Ille ut majestatem ascendentis sublimitate proferret: iste ut fragilitatem descendentis humilitate monstraret.
Nec Paulus affectu minor, meminit quem sibi arrogaverat dicens: Mihi vivere Christus est, et mori lucrum. Gaudet, insanientis ictibus percussoris, domitas jugo Christo offerre cervices; et pro corporis sui capite, dare corporis sui caput. Diviserunt sibi passionis dominicæ vestimentum duo milities Dei: unus in patibulo, alter in gladio; Petrus in transfixione, Paulus in sanguine. His igitur dispari mortis genere, non dispari moriendi amore perfunctis: exsultet in eorum doctrinis Ecclesia catholica; in exsequiis religiositas universa; in memoriis urbs Romana; in patrociniis omnis anima christiana. Hæc autem omnia tu, Domine, operaris: qui a prophetis demonstraris; ab angelis adoraris; et in omni sæculo apostolorum lumine declararis. Cui merito omnes Angeli et Archangeli non cessant clamare quotidie, ita dicentes: Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus.
It is truly meet and just, O almighty Father, that we render our deepest thanks unto thee for the multiplied glory of thine apostles Peter and Paul, which thou hast by divers distribution of gifts largely bestowed upon them, of thine immense goodness. Thou hast made them to be disciples of thine only-begotten Son and teachers of the Gentiles. On account of their preaching of the Gospel, though they are first in the heavenly kingdom, yet are they shut up in strait prisons. They receive power to absolve sins: yet are they enthralled in chains of iron. They give health; and they endure bitter anguish. They command demons; and they are scourged by men. They drive away death; and they themselves flee from the face of persecutors. They walk upon the waters; and sweat with toil. By their word are mountains removed; and by the labour of their own hands they earn their bread. They are appointed judges of angels; and they are put to the torture. With God they live; in the world they are in peril. Finally, Christ ministering unto them washes their feet; and by the hands of blasphemers are their faces buffeted with blows. Scarce anything was wanting of sufferings unto their endurance; nor is anything now wanting to the crown of victory in their triumph. If we go over all that they suffered in their torments, they outstrip the martyrs. If we look into their miracles, we see that they did the same by Christ as Christ himself did: if we consider their passion, we behold that they endured by mortal necessity that which he did by voluntary death; but they by his strength, he by his own. Proving the authority of their doctrine by their likeness to their teacher, not by their equality with him.
Peter accomplished in due time that which he promised before his time. He laid down his life for him whom he believed that he would never deny. Since in the burning impetuosity of his great love, he had not understood that the servant cannot give to his Lord that which his Lord hath not as yet given for the servant; so in like manner he refused not, when the time came, to be crucified; but he presumed not to hang in the same position as his Lord. The One died upraised, the other placed downwards: the One thus declared his majesty ascending on high; the other thus showed his fragility that tends unto earth.
Nor in less affection doth Paul remember that which he said of himself: Christ is my life, and to die is my gain. Glad is he, beneath the stroke of the raging murderer, to offer unto Christ a neck tamed to the yoke; and for the true Head of the body, to give the mortal head of his own body. Lo! these two soldiers of God, how they divide betwixt them the garment of the Lord’s Passion; the one on the gibbet, the other beneath the sword; Peter in transfixion, Paul in bloodshedding. These two, therefore, differ in the manner of their death, but not in the love shown forth in dying: the Catholic Church exults in their teaching; all religion, in the celebration of their death; the Roman city, in their memory; each Christian soul, in their patronage. Now, all these things thou, O Lord, hast operated, thou who wast pointed out by the prophets, art adored by the angels, art manifested throughout the world, by the light of the apostles. To whom meetly, all Angels and Archangels unceasingly cry out daily, saying: Holy, Holy, Holy.
The same liturgy makes use of the following hymn on this festival. It is attributed, not without some foundation, to St Ambrose, and seems to have preceded the hymn of Elpis in liturgical use.
Hymn
Apostolorum passio Diem sacravit sæculis, Petri triumphum nobilem, Pauli coronam proferens.
Deo Patri sit gloria, Ejusque soli Filio, Cum Spiritu Paraclito In sempiterna sæcula.
Amen.
The apostles’ passion hath consecrated this immortal day, presenting Peter's noble triumph and Paul's crown.
The gore of their victorious death hath conjoined these men, peers in fame; the faith of Christ hath crowned these jubilant followers of God.
The first, Peter the apostle; next, Paul his peer in grace. The vessel of sacred election hath equalled the faith of Peter.
Not unmindful of the oracle, Simon, suspended, ascends along the heaven-turned footprints of the cross, giving glory to God.
Even as was foretold, the old man, girded by another’s hand, is upraised. Whither he would not, he has had to go; but willing now, dire death hath he subdued.
Hence Rome hath become the exalted head of religious worship, founded, as she is, in such blood as this, and by so illustrious a prophet.
Through all the vast extent of so great a city, close packed, crowds are pressing along, by three ways, for the celebration of the holy martyrs' festival.
It might be supposed that the whole world had come forth, that the people of all nations had assembled here; lo! verily, the chosen head of the Gentiles, the seat of the teacher of the Gentiles!
Glory be to God the Father, and to his only Son, together with the Paraclete Spirit, for ever and ever.
Amen.
[1] Sermo I in Nat. A post. Lect. II Nocturni.
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