April 13–St. Martin I, Pope and Martyr

 

Pope St. Martin I by Carlo Laurentis, CC-4.0.

What happens when one does the right thing for the right reason in the right way but then is arrested, convicted, and exiled? He, St. Martin I, becomes the last pope to be martyred. Pope St. Martin I became pope in AD 649. What he did that got him arrested and martyred in 653 by the emperor was to condemn the heresy of Monothelitism, which the emperor supported.

Monothelitism stated that Jesus had only one will, a divine will, but not a human will. This was over 200 years after the Council of Chalcedon adopted the Tome of Pope St. Leo the Great, which had declared that Jesus Christ was one divine person with two natures, one divine and one human. To say that Jesus had one divine will is to deny him a human will and thus any human freedom in what he did or said. To say that he had only a divine will means that he was not really human because humans have a human will. Another problem with Monothelitism is that if Jesus only had a divine will then our human will is not saved. “What is not assumed is not saved,” according to St. Athanasius. God not only became incarnate by assuming human nature, but also by assuming all that it means to be human, and that means having a human will!

St. Martin I taught the truth and suffered: “Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me’” (Mt. 16:24). We are all called to love, to take up our crosses, and follow Jesus. This will lead to suffering, but we offer it up in turn to Jesus, who loves and strengthens us. Pope St. Martin I, pray for us.

First Sunday after Pentecost--Trinity Sunday

Photo of Prayer Card of the Holy Trinity licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Pentecost signals the end of the Easter Season. But there are more solemnities that occur throughout Ordinary Time; the first of these is Trinity Sunday. The Trinity is the most fundamental dogma of the Church because it is about God. The Church in the fourth-seventh centuries dealt with the Arian Heresy, which stated that Jesus was not the same substance as the Father, in other words, Jesus was not God. This resulted in much tribulation in the Church. St. Jerome once wrote: “The whole world groaned, and was astonished to find itself Arian.” The Council of Nicea in A.D. 325 and the Council of Constantinople in A.D. 381 brought forth the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed, which is recited at every Sunday Mass. This contained the key word, homoousios, which is translated into English as “consubstantial.” God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are three persons in one God, a “triunity.”

The great defender of orthodoxy, St. Athanasius of Alexandria, taught: “We acknowledge the Trinity, holy and perfect, to consist of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.  In this Trinity there is no intrusion of any alien element or of anything outside, nor is the Trinity a blend of creative and created being. It is a wholly creative and energizing reality, self-consistent and undivided in its active power, for the Father makes all things through the Word and in the Holy Spirit, and in this way the unity of the holy Trinity is preserved.”

At every Mass we have the great doxology before the Great Amen: “Through him, with him, in him, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory and honor is yours almighty Father, forever and ever Amen.” We are united in our faith in God, who created us and saves us.

 

February 26--St. Alexander of Alexandria, Bishop

 

Alexander of Alexandria, saint patriarch (313-326) by Dedek Crescens Lajos licensed under (CC BY-SA 3.0)

How do bad ideas get started?  They could be misinterpretations or innovations or contradictions or attempted reforms.  But they have to come from somewhere!  One of the most divisive ideas in Church history was the idea that Jesus was NOT God, but merely a creature of God.  This was the Arian heresy of the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th centuries; four hundred years of error that greatly afflicted the Church.

Our saint, St. Alexander of Alexandria, was the man who, at the very beginning, tried to stop Arius from spreading his heresy.  First, he tried to persuade Arius, then tried to correct him, and then called a synod to condemn him.  Arius took refuge with other bishops who agreed with him, which led to schism.  St. Alexander wrote letters explaining orthodox teaching and countering Arius's errors.  It finally got to the point where the emperor, Constantine I, intervened and recommended the calling of a general council at Nicea in 325.  St. Alexander, along with his deacon, St. Athanasius, was the leader of those who stood up for the faith of the Church.  The Council of Nicea gave us the Nicene Creed and the dogmatic declaration that Jesus is "God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten not made, consubstantial with the Father; through him all things were made."

So, how do bad ideas get started?  By focusing on only one aspect of a truth and ignoring the fullness of the truth.  Arius wanted to focus on the oneness of God, which is true.  But he ignored how God is also three persons.  We have the same problem today when Catholics want to speak of inclusion of all.  Inclusion can be a good thing if those we include accept the true faith!  If not, we cannot.

January 13—St. Hilary of Poitiers, Bishop and Doctor of the Church

*

Is Jesus God or not? That was key question of the fourth century and beyond that faced the Church. Some, with Arius, said that since Jesus was “begotten of the Father,” that meant he was a creature, albeit the first creature of God. Others, with St. Athanasius, said that Jesus is “begotten, not made” and thus consubstantial with the God the Father. Today’s saint helped hammer home the truth of who Jesus is by his opposition to the Arians and support of St. Athanasius, so much so he was called “Hammer of the Arians” and “Athanasius of the West.”

Born about A.D. 310 in Poitiers, France to pagan parents, St. Hilary received a good pagan education, later studying Scripture, thus resulting in his conversion to Christianity, along with his wife and daughter. He was elected bishop of Poitiers around A.D 350. Even though Arianism was condemned at the Council of Nicaea in A.D. 325 it was still in force throughout the empire, much due to the efforts of different emperors. So St. Hilary attempted to get Arian bishops turned back to the true faith. He also wrote Emperor Constantius II to stop Arians persecuting orthodox Christians, which resulted in his exile in 356. After his exile in 361, he returned in Poitiers and continued to fight for the true understanding of the Trinity against the Arians. He died in 367.

Falsehoods and lies take a long time to die. They are like a many-headed hydra, which keeps sprouting new variations on lies that are condemned and refuted. We need to endure and persevere in living the Truth. St. Paul wrote: “No, in all these things we conquer overwhelmingly through him who loved us” (Rom. 8:37). We must remain faithful to the Truth of Jesus Christ. St. Hilary, pray for us.

*https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hilaryofpoitiers.jpg

Richard de Montbaston et collaborateurs., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons