A. D. 382. "we hear any thing of another Council till we met at Constantinople. Besides, the time was too short for us to "prepare ourselves, and to acquaint the Bishops of our com66 munion, in order to have their consent. All that we have "been able to do, is to send you your venerable brethren, the Bishops Cyriacus, Eusebius, and Priscianus, who will inform "you of the love which we have for peace, and how zealous 66 we are for the Faith. 66 "And indeed if we have suffered persecutions, it has been to "maintain the faith of Nicæa, which teacheth us to believe in "the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; in one only "Godhead, Power, and Substance, of equal honour in dignity, "and Coeternal in dominion; in three perfect subsistences. or "three perfect Persons. So that we leave no room for the error of Sabellius, who confounds the Persons, or destroys "the Properties; nor to that of the Eunomians, Arians, and "the enemies of the Holy Ghost, who divide the Substance, "Nature, or Divinity; and who introduce a nature Posterior, "created, or of different Substance, in the uncreated, consub"stantial, and coeternal Trinity. We likewise preserve the "doctrine of the Incarnation in its purity; and we do not "admit that dispensation of the flesh to be imperfect, either "without Soul or without Reason. But we acknowledge that "the Word of God is entirely perfect before all ages, and in "the latter days became perfect man for our Salvation. This "is in substance the Faith, which we preach, and which you "may enquire into more at large in the writings of the "Council of Antioch, and in those of the Ecumenicali "Council, which was held last year at Constantinople." This Council of Antioch is supposed to be that which was assembled in the year 379, and we find here that the Eastern Bishops esteemed that of Constantinople, held in the year 381, as an Ecumenical Council. In the next place, they give an account of what they had determined concerning Discipline. "You know," say they, It is remarkable that the Eastern Bishops called the Council of Constantinople Ecumenical, though composed only of such Bishops as were in the dominion of Theodosius. The Western Bishops certainly did not at first ac knowledge it to be so. It is so called here Ecumenical probably in the same sense as St. Augustine calls a Council composed of all the African Bishops Plenary. 66 "the ancient custom confirmed by the decree of Nicæa, A. D. 382. "which directs, that ordinations are to be made in every "province by the Bishops of the province, who shall be at "liberty to invite their neighbours to them. Thus we have unanimously ordained the venerable Nectarius Bishop of "the newly-restored Church of Constantinople, in the Ecu"menical Council, in the presence of the most pious Emperor "Theodosius, with the general consent of the Clergy, and all "the city. For the Church of Antioch, the Bishops of the pro"vince and of the Diocese of the East, have canonically chosen "the venerable Flavian with the consent of the whole Church; "and the whole Council approved of it as a lawful ordination. "And for the Church of Jerusalem, [the Mother of all the Churches,] we acknowledge the venerable Bishop Cyril, who "was formerly ordained canonically by the whole province, "and has suffered much from the Arians in divers places." The Eastern Bishops conclude, with desiring those of the West to agree in all things with a spirit of unity and charity, setting aside all prejudice and private partialities. XIX. Council at But they did not satisfy them in the most essential point, which was the ordination of Flavian. Damasus the Pope Rome. and all the Bishops of the West directed their synodical letters Soz. vii. 11. to Paulinus, as Bishop of Antioch, and did not write to Flavian, nor correspond any more with Diodorus of Tarsus. and Acacius of Berrhoea who had ordained him. The Egyptians and Arabians likewise declared for Paulinus; but the Syrians, the inhabitants of Palestine, Phoenicia, Armenia, Cappadocia, and the greatest part of those of Galatia and Pontus, were for Flavian. This is all that we know relating to that Council of Rome. We find by the inscription of the letter of the Eastern Bishops that St. Ambrose, St. Valerian of Aquileia, St. Ascholius of Thessalonica, and Aneminius of Sirmium were there; and it is certain' also, that St. Epipha-S. Hieron. Ep.27. [86. nius and Paulinus of Antioch repaired thither from the East, tom.iv.ps.2. in company with St. Jerome. St. Epiphanius lodged in the P. 671. ser house of Paula, a Roman lady, who was already a person of ad Eustoch. great distinction, and became still more so by her piety: Ep.16. [96. Paulinus too used to visit her often; and they together inspired A.D. 412.] her with a strong inclination to a solitary life. They passed the winter at Rome, and did not return into the East till the A.D. 404.] $ 2. p. 781. scr. ad Princip. $ 3. Ep.99. [28. years'. p. 66. scr. A.D. 385.] after. But St. Jerome stayed there about three Whilst St. Ambrose' was at Rome, he was invited by a lady ad Asellam. of the rank of the Clarissimæ, to go to her country-house, on 2 Paulini bros. in Append. Vit. St. Am- the other side of the Tiber, and there he offered the Sacrifice. A woman who belonged to the baths, and who was sick in her tom. 2. § 10. bed of a palsy, hearing that he was at that lady's house, caused herself to be carried thither in a chair; and whilst he was praying and laying his hands on her, she touched his garment, and as she kissed it, she recovered and immediately walked'. Paulinus, secretary to St. Ambrose, who relates this miracle, says that he heard of it at Rome, many years after, from the mouth of certain holy men. We see from this instance, that it was usual sometimes to celebrate the Holy Sacrifice in private houses. St. Ambrose had a beloved sister living then at Rome, named St. Marcellina, who was very careful of him in a sickness, during which he was visited by St. Ascholius of Thessalonica: this visit was a great consolation to him, as he had never seen St. Ascholius before, and they both watered' their garments with their tears, deploring the miseries of the age. 3 Ep. S. Ambr. 15. ser. A.D. 383. § 10. XX. at Rome. 4 Ep. xi. [91. p. 744. scr. A.D. 409.] ad Ageruc. §3. 5 Ep. 99. 6 [28. p. 66.] ad Asellam. St. Jerome, during his residence at Rome, devoted himself St. Jerome to St. Damasus the Pope, and assisted' him in writing his letters, in answer to the consultations, which were directed to him from the Councils of several Churches; and he soon gained an universal love and esteem, on account of the sanctity of his life, his humility and eloquence; so that he was esteemed worthy of being a Bishop. The Pope Damasus had already often consulted him upon several passages of the Ep. 125 Scriptures, and raised in him the desire of correcting the Latin version of the New Testament. Whilst he stayed with him, Damasus employed him upon the Scriptures, and we may reasonably believe, that he composed his treatise upon the vision of the Cherubims' of Isaiah, and upon the Parable of the Prodigal Son, whilst he was at Rome, both of which he 143. [to. 3. dictated while he was troubled with sore eyes; as likewise his [2.Tom.2.] 144, 145. [to. 4. ps. 1. p. 145.] Præf. in Evang. [to. 1. p. 1425.] 7 Ep. 142, p.515. A.D. 380 or 381.] There were at Rome under the Emperors three grades of Senatorian dignity, the highest, the Illustres; 2. the Spectabiles; 3. the Clarissimi. Panciroli, ap. Græv. vii. p. 1342. 1 This miracle rests on the information received at Rome by Paulinus, secretary (Notarius) and Deacon of St. Ambrose, some time after its occurrence. 1 Epist. 151. Gal. to. 4. Ep.50. [30. Gennadius P. 34. translation of the two Homilies of Origen' upon the Canticles, A. D. 382. and the correction of the Psalms' according to the Septuagint. Post. It was also at this time, and during the life of the Pope [Præf. ad St. Damasus, that he wrote against Helvidius, the disciple of ps.1.p. 221.] Auxentius, who had composed a book, in which he pretended psalt. to. to prove by Scripture, that the Holy Virgin, after the birth of i. p. 1221.] Jesus Christ, had other children by St. Joseph, and then to. 4. ps. 2. passing to a general position had maintained that virginity P.240. A.D. 394-395.] had no advantage over marriage; an error which had been adPam. §7. already received in the East, by the Antidicomarianites", and [A.D.495.] was then beginning to spread in the West. St. Jerome', for in Helv. § 33. ap. some time, despised the treatise of Helvidius, as much from the Hieron.to.4. obscurity of the author, whom he knew not, though he was as In Helv. well as St. Jerome at Rome, as because it was a work of little c. 1. [to. 4. ps. 2. p. 130. merit. But at last he suffered himself to be persuaded to A.D. 381– 382.] answer it, and plainly shewed that there is nothing in the Scriptures but what favours the belief established in the Church, that Mary always continued a Virgin, and that St. Joseph was only the guardian of her virginity. He even holds that St. Joseph lived in a state of continence; in short he extols virginity, without however blaming marriage. It is c.9. ad fin. thought that he wrote at this time his dialogue against the [P. 142.] Luciferians, who joining with the party of Ursinus, were continually quarrelling at Rome with the Pope Damasus. It is in this treatise that Jerome plainly demonstrates, by the acts of the Council of Rimini, in what manner the Bishops were imposed upon on that occasion. 6 c.8.[p.140.] One of the chief employments of St. Jerome, during his abode at Rome, was to answer those who consulted him on the Holy Scriptures, and particularly the Roman ladies; for whatever care he took, out of modesty', to avoid meeting Ep. 99.[28. 7 p. 65.] ad science as to the restoration of Commu- p. 781. scr. nion to such as had been Arians through A.D. 412.] ignorance or weakness. Lucifer Bishop ad Princip. of Cagliari was their leader, who had $ 3. consecrated Paulinus at Antioch. Præf. in Ep. P The Council of Ariminum, held [to. 2. p. * Ep. 10. ad Furiam. [47. tom. 4. A. D. 982. them, the more urgent were they to see him. St. Marcella, St. Asella her sister, and their mother Albina were of this number: Marcella, in a short time profited much by what Ep. 136-8. St. Jerome had acquired after abundance of labour, and often 704-6. consulted him afterwards, as appears by his letters'. Being left A.D. 384.] a widow in the seventh month after her marriage, she refused to marry Cerealis who was a man of some age indeed, but of high ps. 2. p.561. rank and great wealth, and who under Constantius had been ser. A. D. Præfect of Rome, and Consul in the year 358. During the 396.] Ep.16. [96 long widowhood of Marcella, the purity of her behaviour was p. 778.] ad Princip. never blemished by the least suspicion. She retired to a country-house near Rome, where she lived a monastic life a great while with her daughter the virgin Principia; and their example occasioned the establishment of a great number of Monasteries at Rome, both for men and women. St. Marcella had formed a taste for a pious and monastic life forty years before this, at the time that St. Athanasius' came to Rome, when Julius I. was Pope, in the year 341. She received from him an account of the life of St. Anthony who was yet living, and of the discipline of the Monasteries of St. Pachomius', both for men and women. XXI. Paula3, who was a friend of Marcella, was the most illustrious Saint Paula. of the Roman ladies whom St. Jerome instructed. She was Ep.27.[86. p. 670, scr. daughter to Rogatus and Blesilla. Her father, who was A.D. 404.] of Greek origin, traced his genealogy up to Agamemnon, and her mother was descended from the Scipios and the Gracchi. Paula married Julius Toxotius of the Julian family, who, consequently, was descended from Iülus and Eneas. ad Eustoch. $ 1. Of the highest order of Senators (Illustres), had under his management the Census and the provisioning and repairing the city. Pancir. ap. Græv. vii. 1798. St. Athanasius was at Rome A. D. 341, during his first exile, to which he was sentenced by the Arian Council of Tyre, A. D. 335. After the death of Constantine, A. D. 337, Pope Julius held a Provincial Council at Rome A. D. 341, which pronounced the charges against St. Athanasius untenable, and led to the General Council of Sardica. The origin of Monachism is referred to the time of the Decian persecution, A. D. 250, when some of the Egyptian Christians took refuge in the deserts, and adopted there a life of self-denial (Eremites, Monks). They continued almost unknown till during the persecution under MaximinusA.D. 311, St. Anthony appeared at Alexandria, who from the number of his followers has been considered the father of Monachism. (Gieseler, Period i. Div. 3. ch. 4. § 71.) St. Pachomius, a pupil of St. Anthony, formed the first Monastic association (coenobium, mandra, claustrum), A. D. 340, on the island Tabenna, under the government of an Abbot or Archimandrite. Gieseler, Ibid. ch. 4. § 93. |