St. Cornelius, Pope-Martyr and St. Cyprian, Bishop-Martyr

St. Cornelius d. ca. 253 A.D., St. Cyprian d. ca. 258 A.D.

Latin Fathers of the Church

Historical background

St. Cornelius, Pope, and St. Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage, were friends who guided the Church through a difficult period in history. It was a time when the persecution of Christians under Emperor Decius reached its most violent peak. Such a severe persecution led many Christians to betray their faith. St. Cyprian proposed to welcome back these Christians who were repentant, but only after the proper penance was fulfilled. St. Cornelius backed up St. Cyprian in this proposal and decided to accept them back.

A priest, whose name was Novatian, was a strong leader among his fellow priests. Novatian set himself against St. Cornelius, and declared himself Pope - becoming the first antipope of the Church.Novatian also had set up Felicissimus, as an antibishop to St. Cyprian. This situation led to the schism regarding the lapsi, those Christians who have apostasized and lapsed from the Christian faith.

Before we examine how this schism developed in the early years of Christianity, let us learn about the backgrounds of both St. Cornelius and St. Cyprian of Carthage.

St. Cornelius

St. Cornelius was a Roman priest at first. He was elected Pope to succeed Pope Fabian, who was martyred by Emperor Decius in 250 A.D. The election to the papacy of St. Cornelius was delayed by fourteen months, because of Decius' persecution of the Christians. When however St. Cornelius eventually ascended to the papacy, he had to solve the issue of Christians who had apostasized during the persecution. He condemned those confessors who were lax in not demanding penance from the apostates. St. Cornelius and St. Cyprian of Carthage were in agreement as regards this matter and both were opposed to the faction of the antipope Novatian.

St. Cyprian of Carthage (ca. 200-258 A.D.)

A.k.a. Thascius Caecilius Cyprianus, St. Cyprian was probably born at Carthage, and became a pagan rhetorician, lawyer, and teacher. He was converted to Christianity by Caecilius, an old priest, about 246 A.D., became a profound scholar of the Bible, and the great religious authors - particularly Tertullian. Cyprian was ordained priest, and in 248 A.D., was elected to the episcopate of Carthage. More on St. Cyprian

The issue of the lapsi

The serious issue that St. Cornelius and St. Cyprian had to face was Novatus' reception of those who lapsed from the faith (the lapsi), without a proper penance. St. Cyprian denounced Novatus for his undue leniency and convened a Council at Carthage in 251 A.D. In this Council, St. Cyprian set forth the terms under which the lapsi could be received back into the Church. He excommunicated the schismatic leaders, and asserted the supremacy of the Pope. It was at this Council that St. Cyprian read his famous De unitate ecclesiae. Novatus then went to Rome and joined the antipope, Novatian, against Pope St. Cornelius, whom St. Cyprian actively supported, rallying the African bishops behind Pope St. Cornelius.

The exile of St. Cornelius

The antipope Novatian claimed that the Church did not have the power to forgive apostasy - the sin of giving up the Christian faith. He also stated that the Church also did not have the power to forgive certain other sins, no matter how repentant the sinner might be. As this conflict intensified, Emperor Gallus exiled Pope St. Cornelius to Centum Cellae (Civita Vecchia), and the persecutions of Christians began anew in 253 A.D. St. Cornelius died in Civita Vecchia a martyr, probably due to the hardships he was forced to endure. His body was later buried in the Cemetery of St. Callistus. St. Cyprian wrote him that he was able to suffer for Christ. He also noted that, in the persecution during the reign of Gallus, not a single Christian had apostasized from the Church.

Carthage stricken with a plague

In the years 252-254 A.D., Carthage was stricken with a terrible plague. With kindness and courage, vigour and steadiness, St. Cyprian urged his people to care for everyone: both their fellow Christians and their enemies and persecutors. Much was accomplished under St. Cyprian's leadership. The wealthy donated a lot of their money and the others gave a lot of their time for the care of the plague's victims.

St. Cyprian's martyrdom

In the reign of Emperor Valerian, the Christian persecution reached Africa in 257 A.D. St. Cyprian was arrested and sent into exile to Curubis, a small town near Carthage. When St. Cyprian refused to sacrifice to the Roman gods, he was sentenced to death and beheaded on September 14. St. Cyprian wrote numerous theological treatises on the Church, ministry, the Bible, virginity, and the lapsi. Together with Pope St. Cornelius, they are among the great Fathers of the Church.

References of this post

• Pocket Catholic Dictionary, by John A. Hardon, S.J.
• A Year with the Saints, by Don Bosco Press Inc.
• Dictionary of Saints, by John J. Delaney
• Saints for Our Time, by Ed Ransom

St. Romuald of Ravenna (June 19)

St. Romuald is one of the Saints who continued to spearhead the monastic movement of St. Benedict in Europe. He founded the Camaldolese Order, which was basically the Rule of St. Benedict and the integration of an eremitical life within the Rule. There is a short blog post about St. Romuald and the Camaldolese Order in this blog.

If you want a more comprehensive article, you can read about his contribution to the growth of the Catholic faith in Europe in Wikipedia.

St. Maximus the Confessor, Abbot of Chrysopolis

Abbot and Confessor: 580-662 A.D.

Greek Father of the Church

Introduction

Although listed as a Greek Father of the Church, St. Maximus Homologetes was the last common Father of both the East and the West. He lived in Rome for many years and collaborated with the popes and other Western leaders to overcome the heresy of Monothelitism (the teaching that Christ had only one will).

The struggle against Monothelitism

St. Maximus was born of a noble family at Constantinople and became secretary to Emperor Heraclitus. He however resigned to become a monk at nearby Chrysopolis (Skutari), where he became abbot. He led the struggle against Monothelitism and Emperor Constans II, who favored the heresy. He defended Pope Honorius (who was charged with the heresy); supported very much papal authority; and in 645 A.D., refuted Pyrrhus who was influenced to abjure the heresy.

Continuing the struggle against the heresy

Emperor Constans issued a decree, Typhos, which favored Monothelitism. St. Maximus was at the Lateran Council of 649 A.D. at the time - a Council that was convened by Pope St. Martin I, to condemn the decree. Due to this struggle, Pope St. Martin I was exiled to Chersonese in 653 A.D. and died a martyr's death due to ill treatment. St. Maximus too suffered from this struggle. He was seized at Rome, brought to Constantinople where he was charged with conspiracy against the Empire. He was then exiled to Bizya, Thrace.

In exile

In his exile, St. Maximus lived next to a monastery at Rhegium, and then spent the next six years at Perberis, with two of his supporters also subjected to great hardships. These two who supported also the cause against Monothelitism were then brought back to Constantinople, tortured and mutilated, and sentenced to life imprisonment. St. Maximus died after a terrible journey to Skhemaris on the Black Sea.

Byzantine mysticism

St. Maximus was a foremost exponent of Byzantine mysticism and wrote prolifically, theological, mystical, and ascetical treatises, biblical commentaries, a dialogue on the spiritual life between two monks, and Mystagogia, a treatise on liturgical symbolism.

Some of St. Maximus' Greek writings were translated by John Scotus Eriugena in the ninth century and thus became available to Latin thinkers. In his Mystagogia and in his speculative writings, St. Maximus transformed the mystical teaching of Evagrius and Dionysius, through an ontology (a branch of philosophy), that centered on his insight: "on account of Christ, that is the mystery of Christ, all the ages, and all things in the ages, take in Christ their beginning and end of being". (Questions to Thalassius, question 60).

Author's note: Below is the result made to a prompt made at Gemini.google.com (June 18, 2024, 1500h MLA time) to understand this theological issue which began in the Eastern Church of Christianity:

St. Maximus the Confessor was a key figure in defending the orthodox position, known as dyothelitism, against the monothelite heresy. Dyothelitism affirms that Jesus Christ possesses two wills:

Divine will: Perfect and unchanging, reflecting his divine nature.
Human will: Real and free, reflecting his human nature.
These two wills are believed to coexist in perfect harmony without conflict or confusion. This concept was seen as essential for upholding both the full divinity and full humanity of Christ.

References of this article

• Pocket Catholic Dictionary, by John A. Hardon, SJ
• The Essential Writings of Christian Mysticism, by editor Bernard McGinn
• Dictionary of Saints, by John J. Delaney