against NESTORIUS, aroused suspicion of his own views. The charges against him were serious enough to engage the attention of the 'Robber' synod of Ephesus, 449, and he was acquitted. "The Christian world was rent in pieces" until, in 451, the Council of Chalcedon declared against him after the Tome of LEO the Great, Bishop of Rome, had been read.

Having read your letter, dearly beloved Brother, at the tardiness of which we were surprised, and having had the proceedings of the Episcopal Synod explained to us, we now understand the scandal which had arisen among you touching the orthodox faith. What before was obscure is now manifest. And Eutyches, who bore the honoured title of Presbyter, is shown to be exceedingly foolish and ignorant. . . . For what can be more iniquitous than to be wise toward impiety, and to refuse to yield to those who are wiser and more learned than himself? But men fall into this folly, when, on being prevented by some obscurity from becoming acquainted with the truth, they have recourse, not to the writings of the Prophets, not to the Epistles of the Apostles, not to the authority of the Gospels, but to themselves, and thus become teachers of error because they have not been disciples of the truth.

This Tome, belongs to the year 449, but was not read at the 'Robber' synod. After being read and adopted at Chalcedon, it gained an authority almost equal to a Creed; some readers looked upon it as a miraculous work, corrected by the apostle Peter himself. It is in two parts: one part is a dogmatic Epistle to Flavian; "a masterly, profound and clear analysis of the orthodox doctrine of the two natures in one person"; the other part is an Address to the Council of Ephesus.

LEO'S literary activity was constant and varied; he per

suaded CASSIAN to write on The Incarnation, 429; his own Letters to Turribus of Astorgia, 441, brought about the condemnation of the Spanish Priscillianists; his Sermons gave him the rank of the first great preacher of the Roman Church. Ninety-six Sermons exist; they are marked by a rather ambitious style-brilliant, antithetical and full of memorable phrases.

These are the men through whom the light of Christ's Gospel shone on thee, O Rome, and through whom thou, who wast the teacher of error, was made the disciple of Truth. These are thy holy Fathers and true shepherds, who gave thee claims to be numbered among the heavenly kingdoms, and built thee under much better and happier auspices than they by whose zeal the first foundations of thy walls were laid; and of whom the one that gave thee thy name defiled thee with his brother's blood . . . (Sermon lxxxii. Feast of St. Peter and St. Paul).

The decision of Chalcedon, which steered a middle course between the heresies of NESTORIUS and of EUTYCHES, under the direction of LEO'S Tome, displeased many whose objections soon threw both Church and Empire into confusion. TIMOTHY AELURUS (the cat), 400-477, became the accepted leader of the Monophysites, who insisted upon the one nature of Christ. He described his own undiluted orthodoxy in a Refutation of the view sustained at Chalcedon.

The bitter strife engendered by this form of ultra-loyalty to the Nicene symbol was practical rather than literary, but it led to the publication of the EMPEROR ZENO'S Henoticon, 482. This document was a plea for the general acceptance of the decisions of the three Councils, Nicæa, Constantinople I, and Ephesus.

The Emperor Caesar Zeno, pious, victorious, triumphant, supreme, ever-worshipful Augustus, to the most

reverend bishops and clergy, and to the monks and laity throughout Alexandria, Egypt, Libya and Pentapolis.

Being assured that the origin and constitution, the might and invisible defence of our sovereignty is the only right and true faith, which, through divine inspiration, the three hundred and eighteen holy Fathers assembled at Nicaea set forth, and the hundred and fifty holy Fathers who, in like manner met at Constantinople, confirmed; we night and day employ every means of prayer, of zealous pains, and of laws, that the holy Catholic and Apostolic Church in every place may be multiplied, the incorruptible and immortal mother of our sceptre.

The declaration of faith following this preamble, was acceptable to neither party; it divided the Monophysites into two camps, and opened a breach between Rome and Constantinople that remained unhealed for thirty-five years.

JOHN MAXENTIUS, fl. 520, Metropolitan of the Province of Scythia, represented the monks of his Province in an effort to state the faith in such a way as to exclude both the Nestorian and the Eutychian heresies. He drew up in their name an explanation of their faith, On Professing Christ; but this did not prove to be acceptable in Rome whither it was taken. Later he wrote a striking Reply to the Letter of Hormisdas, a Profession of Faith, and a brief Reason for the Uniting of the Word of God to Peculiar Flesh.

The Emperor Heraclius attempted to heal the schism; his chief helper was SERGIUS of Constantinople, fl. 610-638, whose Ecthesis (Exposition) of the Faith he published as his own in 638. This document concealed rather than removed the differences in the Church; it gave rise to the

heresy of Monothelism, and was withdrawn by Constans II, ten years later.

HONORIUS of Rome, addressed two Letters to SERGIUS in favour of peace, but his views were condemned.

The chief champion of orthodoxy in this contention was SOPHRONIUS of Jerusalem, 560-638, an unwearied opponent of the Monothelites, whose Synodical Epistles to Sergius and Honorius were prolix and elaborate professions of faith which resisted any compromise with the heretics. His work on the Mystery of the Incarnation served the same purpose.

Modern Greek liturgical books attribute to him "The Candlelight Hymn," which BASIL has preserved and JOHN KEBLE translated:

Hail! gladdening Light, of His pure glory poured
Who is th' immortal Father, heavenly, blest,

Holiest of Holies-Jesus Christ our Lord!

Now we are come to the sun's hour of rest,
The lights of evening round us shine,
We hymn the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit divine,
Worthiest art Thou at all times to be sung
With undefiled tongue,

Son of our God, Giver of Life, alone!

Therefore, in all the world, Thy glories, Lord, they own.

This "honey-tongued champion of the truth," also wrote the Typicon in the interests of orthodoxy, and a Life of St. Mary of Egypt; as well as tediously long lives of St. Cyrus and St. John, in favour of monasticism. He won a literary reputation apart from his fame as a controversial theologian by his many Homilies, and especially by a collection of sacred Hymns. These are "long narratives, on the Annunciation, the Nativity, the visit of the Magi, the Baptism, the Triumphal Entry, the Last Supper, the Cross. the Ascension; on St. Paul, St. John, St. Stephen, and certain saints. The most interesting is on the Holy Places, giving an insight into the appearance of Jerusalem and the spots held sacred in his day."

MAXIMUS THE CONFESSOR, 580-662, also opposed the Henoticon in the interests of orthodoxy, but PYRRHUS, d. 655, a Monothelite patriarch of Constantinople, 638-641, carried on a lively debate with him in favour of the Ecthesis, 645. The Record of this discussion is the most elaborate exposition which exists of the Monothelite teaching and its tendencies. PYRRHUS was won over by the debate, and was received into communion at Rome, but later on he returned to his heretical opinions.

MAXIMUS, favourably known by this discussion, is still better known by his Scholia on the pseudo-Dionysian books, for the Scholia brought the great mystic to the general attention of the Church.