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August 11 - October 9, 2017
He lived away from all civil and ecclesiastical pomp until he died when he was some sixty years old.
it was this council that definitively proclaimed the doctrine of the Trinity.
Thus, the Latin West and the Greek East came to agree on a common formula: one essence—or ousia—in three persons—or hypostases.
we should not dismiss the matter so easily.
What was at stake was much more than idle speculation. Ultimately, the issue was, can God truly be present in a carpenter executed by the empire as a criminal, or is God more like the emperor on his throne?
Since he was only a catechumen, and therefore was not even baptized, it was necessary to perform that rite, and then to raise him through the various levels of ministerial orders.
Although Ambrose had not sought the office of bishop, he felt that it was a responsibility to which he must devote his best efforts.
Soon he was one of the best theologians in the Western church,
He also emphasized the centrality of the incarnation, which he discussed in pastoral rather than in speculative terms:
Ambrose’s response was to order that funds be raised for the refugees and for ransoming the captives by melting some of the golden vessels and other ornaments the church possessed.
true strength consists in supporting the weak against the strong, and that they should invite to their feasts not the rich who could reward them but rather the poor who could not.
While those outside threatened the besieged with the clash of arms, Ambrose rallied his flock by singing hymns and psalms.
This was a sad precedent, for it meant that in an empire calling itself Christian, those of a different faith would not be protected by the law.
Finally, when the emperor knew that death was near, he called to his side the only man who had dared to censure him in public.
John of Constantinople stood above all the rest, a giant above the giants of his time.
It was rather the verbal expression of his entire life, his battlefield against the powers of evil, an unavoidable calling that eventually led to exile and to death itself.
John’s way of solving the tension between his monastic vocation and his mother’s possessiveness was simply to turn their home into a monastery.
He then spent four years learning the discipline of monastic life, and two more rigorously practicing it in complete solitude.
The intrigues that enveloped everything in that city had also had a hand in John’s elevation to the patriarchal throne,
The former monk was still a monk, and could not tolerate the manner in which the rich inhabitants of Constantinople sought to wed the gospel with their own luxuries and comforts.
all these measures gained him both the respect of many and the hatred of others.
It was necessary that the laity also be called to lead lives more in accordance with gospel mandates.
The result was that Eutropius repented, not of his sin, but rather of his error in having brought the meddlesome preacher from Antioch.
Chrysostom was led to defend the life of his erstwhile enemy, first against the people, then against the army, and finally against the emperor himself.
Chrysostom had made many more enemies among the powerful.
Upon his return, Chrysostom found himself the object of a long list of ridiculous charges brought before a small gathering of bishops convened by Theophilus.
Chrysostom was a lover of peace, and therefore made ready for exile. Three days after receiving the imperial edict, he bid farewell to his friends and followers and surrendered to the authorities.
But in the West, Pope Innocent and many others were convinced that a great injustice was being committed,
In Constantinople and elsewhere, people felt that a great injustice and even a sacrilege had been committed.
As we compare the lives of Chrysostom and Ambrose, we see an indication of what would be the future course of the churches in the East compared with the West.
the Latin-speaking church of the West would become increasingly powerful,
the Byzantine Empire—would zealously guard its prerogatives over the church.
None of the great personalities of the fourth century is more intriguing than Jerome.
his titanic and endless struggle with the world and with himself.
But in spite of this attitude—and perhaps to a large measure because of it—Jerome earned a place among the great Christian figures of the fourth century.
he soon considered himself older than his contemporaries.
In order to fill his mind with something that would take the place of the pleasures of Rome, he decided to study Hebrew.
Eventually Jerome conceded that he was not made for the life of a hermit and returned to civilization probably before three years were up.
The bishop’s secretary visited that house regularly, for in its women he found devoted disciples, some of whom became accomplished students of Greek and Hebrew.
it was they who came to know the sensitivity that he desperately sought to hide from the rest of the world.
Their goal, however, was not the extreme asceticism of the desert monks, but rather a life of moderate austerity, spent mostly in study.
Above all, however, he devoted himself to the work that would be his great literary monument: the translation of the Bible into Latin.
But at first the Vulgate was not as well received as Jerome had wished.
when Jerome published a version that disagreed with the Septuagint, there were many who felt that he lacked respect for the inspired Word of God.
But in truth he was very different than he appeared, and his rigid facade hid a sensitive spirit.
They were years of loneliness, pain, and controversy.
Soon he abandoned his career as a professor, and set out on a course that would eventually make him one of the most influential figures in the entire history of Christianity.
Although he did not neglect his studies, he also set out to enjoy the many pleasures that the city offered.
Truth was not at issue. That was left for professors of philosophy.
Thus, it was reading Cicero that Augustine came to the conviction that proper speech and style were not sufficient. One must also seek truth.
