Part 52

The following Year 428, he wrote a long Letter to the Bishops of the Provinces of _Vienne_ and _Narbonne_, against several Abuses that prevailed in those Parts. This Letter he begins quite in the Style of a modern Pope: _As I am_, says he, _appointed by God to watch over his Church, it is incumbent upon me every-where to root out evil Practices, and introduce good ones in their room; for my Pastoral Vigilance is restrained by no Bounds, but extends to all Places, where Christ is known and adored_. Thus, under the Name of _Pastoral Vigilance_ he extends, at once, his Authority and Jurisdiction over all the Churches of the Christian World. The first Abuse he complains of was a particular Dress assumed by some Bishops, wearing, in Imitation of the Monks, a Cloke and Girdle. [Sidenote: _Bishops not distinguished formerly by their Dress from the Laity._] With this Novelty _Celestine_ finds great Fault, and exhorts the Bishops to distinguish themselves from the People by their Doctrine, and not by their Garments, by the Sanctity of their Manners, and not by the Mode of their Dress, by the internal Purity of their Souls, and not by the external Attire of their Bodies. What a large Field would the so many different and ridiculous Habits of the Monks and Friers, the costly Attire of Bishops and Cardinals, and, above all, the gorgeous and stately Apparel of _Celestine_’s own Successors, have opened for his Zeal, had he lived in our Days! He pleasantly adds, that if they understood, in a literal Sense, the Words of our Saviour, _Let your Loins be girded about_[1605], they ought to interpret other Passages after the same manner, and never appear without Lamps and Staves in their Hands. And was not this condemning, at least ridiculing, the Monkish Habits, an essential Part of which is the Girdle[N72]? The other Abuses, which _Celestine_ wanted to have redressed, have nothing new in them, or that has not been mentioned before in this History; and therefore I omit repeating them here.

Footnote N72:

From this Passage it is manifest, that in those Days the Bishops, and other Ecclesiastics, were not yet distinguished by their Dress from the Laity, at least when they were not actually discharging the Functions of their Office. Whether they used even then any particular Dress or Attire, may be justly questioned. _Dionysius Exiguus_ thinks they did not[N72.1]; and F. _Sirmond_ is of the same Opinion. For, according to _Sirmond_, the Ecclesiastics used no other Dress in the Church, but that which they wore daily out of the Church. However, as they reserved the best Habits they had for the Sacred Functions, and used them on no other Occasion, when Modes in Dress began to alter, the Fashion changed before they were worn out. Thus, by Degrees, the Dress, which they used in the Church, varied from their common Dress, as well as from that of the People; the new Habits for the Service of the Church being made after the Mode of the antient, in which they were accustomed to perform their Functions. _Anastasius_, _Platina_, and _Baronius_, give us particular Accounts, I may say, the History of every Part of the Mass-Priest’s Dress, instituted, according to them, and used long before this time.

Footnote N72.1:

Biblioth. Jur. Can. per Justel. t. 1. p. 210.

[Sidenote: _The_ Pelagian _Doctrine prevails in_ Britain.]

About this time the _Pelagian_ Doctrine began to prevail, almost universally, in _Britain_, being preached here either by the Natives, who had adhered to their Countryman _Pelagius_ abroad, and were returned home, or by others, who, finding themselves, in virtue of the Imperial Laws, every-where persecuted on the Continent, had fled to this Island for Shelter. The leading Man of the Party here was one _Agricola_, the Son of a _British_ Bishop named _Severianus_[1606]. But that _Severianus_ himself, or any of his Collegues, countenanced their Doctrine, is not touched by any of the Antients. _Fastidius_ indeed, a _British_ Writer, who flourished at this time, betrays, in his Writings, a strong Byas to the _Pelagian_ Tenets. But it may be justly questioned whether he was a Bishop. For in the Treatise which he wrote on the Duties of a Christian Life, he makes Excuses for taking upon him to instruct others; which a Bishop would hardly have done, that being his Province and Duty[N73]. However, if the _British_ Bishops did not countenance the _Pelagian_ Doctrine, neither did they oppose it, at least with the Vigour they might; else it had never made, in so short a time, the Progress it did. [Sidenote: _The_ Britons _recur to the_ Gallican _Bishops, who send_ Germanus _and_ Lupus _into_ Britain.] The Catholics, having no Prospect of Relief from their own Pastors, had recourse to those of _Gaul_; who, being affected with their Complaints, immediately summoned a great Council, and chose, with one Voice, St. _Germanus_ Bishop of _Auxerre_, and St. _Lupus_ Bishop of _Troyes_, to pass over into _Britain_, and there maintain the Catholic Cause[1607]. Thus _Constantius_, a Presbyter of _Lyons_, who lived in this Century, and after him _Bede_. But _Prosper_, who flourished likewise in this Century, writes, that the Two Prelates were sent into _Britain_ by _Celestine_[1608]. The _Gallican_ Bishops, perhaps, acquainted the Pope with the Choice they had made, and he approved it; which was enough for _Prosper_, a notorious Flatterer of the Popes, to ascribe the Whole to _Celestine_. [Sidenote: _Their Journey._] The Two Missionaries set out for _Britain_ in the Latter-end of the Year 429. and, passing through _Paris_, had an Interview there with the famous St. _Genevieve_, who, at the Persuasion of St. _Germanus_, to whom her future Sanctity was revealed, promised to consecrate her Virginity to _Jesus Christ_. From _Paris_ they pursued their Journey to the Sea-side, and embarqued; but were very near being cast away by a Storm, before they reached the _British_ Coast. This Storm the Author supposes to have been raised by the Devil; but we may more reasonably suppose it to have been raised by himself, that he might have an Opportunity of displaying the Power of his Imagination in describing it, and make room for the Miracle by which it was laid. [Sidenote: _Miracles wrought by them on the Sea, and after their Landing._] For St. _Germanus_, who had slept the whole time, being awaked by the Mariners just as the Vessel was on the point of sinking, first reprimanded the Sea, as _Neptune_ did of old the Winds, for attempting to defeat their pious Undertaking; and then pouring into it a few Drops of Oil, asswaged at once the Fury of the Waves, and miraculously restored the wished for Calm. Upon their Landing, the People flocked to them from all Parts; and, being convinced of the Truth which they preached, by the Miracles which they wrought, abjured daily by Thousands the _Pelagian_ Doctrine, which they had so rashly embraced. But their Teachers and Leaders kept out of the Way: they were unwilling to enter the Lists with Men, whom Heaven had endowed with such miraculous Powers. However, as the Whole of their Cause was now at stake, they agreed, at last, to meet the Two Prelates, and met them accordingly. But this Meeting proved fatal to the _Pelagian_ Cause; for the _Pelagians_ declining to undertake the Cure of a blind Girl that was presented to them, St. _Germanus_, by applying to her Eyes some Reliques, which he always carried about with him, cured her at once of her Blindness, and with her the whole Island[1609]. [Sidenote: _The whole Island reclaimed._] But these Miracles were soon forgotten: according to the same Author, the _Pelagian_ Heresy took root again, and new Miracles were wanted to check its Growth. [Sidenote: Germanus _returns anew, and utterly roots out the_ Pelagian _Heresy_.] _Germanus_ therefore, in the Year 447. returned to _Britain_; exerted here anew his wonder-working Power, confounded his Antagonists, and, not leaving behind him the least Shoot of so poisonous a Weed, returned in Triumph to _Gaul_[1610]. In his second Journey into _Britain_ he is said to have been attended by St. _Severus_, Bishop of _Treves_.

Footnote N73:

Besides, the _Benedictines_, in their Edition of the Works of St. _Austin_, assure us, that, in a very antient Manuscript Copy of _Gennadius_, _Fastidius_ is not styled Bishop, the Word _Bishop_ being added to the original Copy in a much fresher Hand. And yet most of our modern Writers not only suppose him to have been Bishop, but Bishop of _London_[N73.1].

Footnote N73.1:

Vid. Miræum in not. ad Gennad.

[Sidenote: _Beginning of the Dispute between_ Nestorius _and St._ Cyril.]

The following Year, 430. is one of the most remarkable Years in the Annals of the Church. For it was in that Year that the famous Dispute began between _Nestorius_ Bishop of _Constantinople_, and St. _Cyril_ Bishop of _Alexandria_, which rent the whole Church into Two opposite and irreconcileable Factions. [Sidenote: _What occasioned this Dispute._] What gave Occasion to that Dispute was, the Title of _Mother of God_, which began at this time to be commonly given to the Virgin _Mary_. Such a Title _Nestorius_ thought very improper, derogatory to the Majesty of the Eternal Creator, and only calculated to lead the Unwary into gross Mistakes concerning the Mystery of the Incarnation, and the Nature of Christ. For he argued, that it could not be said, without a kind of Blasphemy, that _God was born of a Woman_, that _God had suffered_, that _God had died_, nor, consequently, that _the Virgin_ Mary _was the Mother of God. We must not imagine_, said he, _that God, or the Word, was born of the Virgin_ Mary; _but we ought to believe, that God, or the Word, was united to him, who was born of the Virgin_ Mary[1611]. The Title of _Mother of Christ_ was that which he thought should be given to the Virgin, as containing all that was meant by the other, without the Impropriety and Offence of the Expression, and without Danger of confounding the Divine Nature of Christ with the Human. This Doctrine was received, and maintained with great Warmth by some, both Ecclesiastics and Laymen, and with no less Warmth opposed by others. The latter thought it was calling in question the Divinity of Christ, and degrading the Virgin _Mary_, to rob her of the glorious Title of the _Mother of God_; and her Glory was now become one of their highest Concerns. [Sidenote: _The Characters of_ Cyril _and_ Nestorius.] At the Head of these was St. _Cyril_, a Man of a most haughty and imperious Temper, impatient of Contradiction, obstinately wedded to his own Opinion, passionate, revengeful, and more eagerly bent, at least in the present Dispute, upon conquering his Adversary, than discovering the Truth. In some of there Qualities he was well matched by _Nestorius_; but the latter was not so eager for Victory, so tenacious of his own Opinion, or rather of his own Terms (for the whole Dispute was about Terms), as not to be ready to explain them; which had he been allowed to do, an End had been put at once to the Quarrel. But _Cyril_ would hearken to no Explanations. [Sidenote: Cyril _will not allow_ Nestorius _to explain his Meaning. He defames him, and writes against him to the Emperor._] He peremptorily required _Nestorius_ to acknowlege and confess the Virgin _Mary_ to be the _Mother of God_, without any Distinction or Explanation; and because he would not comply, he defamed him all over the East, as a Reviver of the Heresy of _Paul_ of _Samosata_, denying the real Union between the Human and the Divine Nature in the Person of Christ; stirred up the People of _Constantinople_, his own Flock, against him; and spared no Pains to discredit him with the Emperor, and other great Persons at Court. For he writ Three Letters to Court; one to the Emperor _Theodosius_, to his Wife _Eudoxia_, and to his Sister _Pulcheria_; another _to the Queen’s Virgins, and Brides of Christ_, that is, to _Pulcheria_ and her Sisters; and a third _to the Empresses_, that is, to _Eudoxia_ and _Pulcheria_. The Purport of these Letters was to prove, that the Virgin _Mary_ was, and ought to be styled, the _Mother of God_; that to dispute such a Title was rank Heresy; and that whoever disputed it was unworthy of the Protection of the Imperial Family.

_Nestorius_, being now sensible, that _Cyril_ was determined to keep no Measures with him, resolved, in his Turn, to keep none with one, who had given him so great Provocation. [Sidenote: Nestorius _excommunicates and deposes those who side with_ Cyril. _Causes some of them to be imprisoned and whipt._] He therefore assembled a Council at _Constantinople_, and there, with the unanimous Consent of the Bishops, who composed it, he solemnly excommunicated the Laymen, and deposed the Ecclesiastics, who rejected his Doctrine[1612]. He did not stop here; but caused several Ecclesiastics, Monks, and Laymen, the Friends of _Cyril_, to be apprehended, to be dragged to the public Prison, and to be there whipt very severely, as Disturbers of the public Peace, and Sowers of Heresy and Sedition. What chiefly provoked him, was a Paper posted up in a public Place of the City, declaring him a Heretic, and guilty of the Heresy formerly held by _Paul_ of _Samosata_, denying a true Union between the Word and the Humanity in the Person of Christ; which was one of the many Calumnies broached against him by _Cyril_ to blacken his Reputation.

Thus were the Christians in the East divided into two opposite Parties, irreconcileably incensed against each other, and reviling each other with all the opprobrious Names Malice and Rage could suggest. [Sidenote: Nestorius _strives to gain_ Celestine _and the Western Bishops_.] But _Cyril_’s Party was by far the most numerous and powerful. _Nestorius_ therefore, having strove in vain to strengthen his Party in the East, resolved in the End to try the West, being well apprised, that the Authority of the Bishop of _Rome_, and the other Western Bishops, would be abundantly sufficient to turn the Scale. He therefore writ a long Letter to _Celestine_, acquainting him with what had passed in the East, and explaining, without the least Disguise or Equivocation, the Doctrine he held; nay, he sent him all the Homilies, which he had preached on that Subject. In this Letter he owns his irreconcileable Aversion to the Words _Mother of God_, as raising Ideas, especially in the Minds of the Vulgar, inconsistent with the Majesty of the Supreme Being. He adds, that by disputing the Title of _Mother of God_, he only meant, that the Word was not born of the Virgin _Mary_[1613].

[Sidenote: Cyril _writes to_ Celestine, _and sends him the Homilies of_ Nestorius, _with his own Comments upon them_.]

St. _Cyril_, being informed that _Nestorius_ had written to _Celestine_, summoned a Council at _Alexandria_; and, by their Advice, writ the famous Letter to _Celestine_, which has reached our Times. In that Letter he acquaints him with the State of Affairs in the East, and the Disturbances raised there by _Nestorius_, as if himself had been no-ways concerned in them; tells him that it is absolutely necessary, that all the Bishops of the Church should unite as one Man against that Prelate; that the Bishops in the East are well disposed to join in the common Cause; and that they only waited to know from him, whether they were to communicate with _Nestorius_, or openly renounce his Communion. At the same time _Cyril_ sent to _Rome_ the Homilies of _Nestorius_, the Letters which he had written to him, his Answers, and with them a Writing containing the Sentiments of the Fathers concerning the Mystery of the Incarnation. For the Gospel, the _Testimony of Christ_, was already laid aside, and the Testimony of Men taken, in most Disputes, for the Rule and Standard of the Christian Belief. [Sidenote: _The Popish Writers have no Occasion to boast of the Recourse had by_ Cyril _to_ Celestine.] The _Roman Catholics_ have no Reason to boast, as they do, of the Recourse had by St. _Cyril_ on this Occasion to the Pope. For _Posidonius_, one of _Cyril_’s Deacons, who was dispatched with the above-mentioned Papers to _Rome_, was directed, in his private Instructions, not to deliver them, but to bring them back to _Alexandria_, if he found that _Nestorius_ had not applied to _Celestine_[1614]; so that if _Nestorius_ had not recurred to the Pope, _Cyril_ never would. _Posidonius_ found, upon Inquiry, that _Nestorius_ had written to _Celestine_; and therefore delivered to him, pursuant to his Instructions, all the Papers with which he was charged. _Cyril_ writ in _Latin_, and even caused the Homilies of _Nestorius_ to be translated into that Language, with his own Comments upon them; whereas _Nestorius_ had sent them in the original _Greek_, and writ his Letters in the same Tongue; which had obliged _Celestine_ to send them into _Gaul_, to be translated there by the famous _Cassian_, who was a Native of _Thrace_, and lived then at _Marseilles_, there being none, it seems, in _Rome_ or _Italy_, sufficiently qualified for that Task. _Cyril_ having thus got the Start of his Antagonist, though he writ the last, _Celestine_ was, by his Writings, prejudiced to such a Degree against _Nestorius_, before he had heard what he had to offer in his Defence, that all he did or could offer afterwards availed him nothing. _Celestine_ indeed perused all his Papers as soon as they were translated and sent back from _Gaul_, but perused them with the strong Prejudices which he had imbibed from the Writings of _Cyril_; so that he discovered in each Homily, nay, in every Line, _Heresies_, _Impieties_, and _Blasphemies_, not to be uttered or heard.

[Sidenote: Nestorius _condemned by a Council held at_ Rome.]

A Council was therefore assembled at _Rome_, to condemn, rather than to examine, the _new Doctrine_. At this Council assisted most of the Western Bishops[1615]; _Celestine_ presided; the Homilies were read, and with them the Letters both of _Cyril_ and _Nestorius_. _Celestine_ made a long Speech, to prove not only by the Passages which _Cyril_ had suggested to him out of the Fathers, but by others from St. _Hilarius_, from Pope _Damasus_, and from a Hymn which St. _Ambrose_ had caused to be yearly sung by his People on _Christmas-Day_, that _the Virgin_ Mary _was truly the Mother of God_[1616]. When he had done, _Nestorius_ was declared the Author of a _new and very dangerous Heresy_, _Cyril_ was highly extolled for opposing it, his Doctrine was applauded by all as strictly orthodox, and Sentence of Deposition pronounced against such Ecclesiastics as should refuse to sign it.

[Sidenote: Celestine _acquaints_ Nestorius _with the Judgment of the Western Bishops_.]

Before the Council broke up, _Celestine_ writ to _Nestorius_, acquainting him with the judgment of the Western Bishops upon this Dispute; and at the same time warning him, that if, in the Term of Ten Days after the Receipt of that Letter, he did not publicly condemn the Doctrine which he had hitherto taught, and teach the Doctrine which he had hitherto condemned, he should be deposed without any further Delay, and cut off from the Communion of the Church[1617]. This Letter is dated the 11th of _August_ of this Year 430. He writ several other Letters, all bearing the same Date, _viz._ one to _Cyril_; one to the Clergy, Monks, and People of _Constantinople_; one to each of the Bishops of the chief Sees; and one to the Church of _Antioch_. All these Letters were to the same Effect, _viz._ to acquaint those, to whom they were addressed, with the Sentence pronounced by the Council of _Rome_ against _Nestorius_, and encourage them to be assisting in the Execution of it. [Sidenote: Celestine _appoints_ Cyril _his Vicegerent_.] His Letter to _Cyril_ deserves particular Notice: for he there appoints him to act in the present Affair, that is, in excommunicating and deposing _Nestorius_, as _his Vicegerent, in the Name, and with the Authority, of his See_[1618]. It must be observed here, that the Bishops of _Rome_, neither alone, nor jointly with the whole Body of the Western Bishops, had, or even claimed at this time, the Power of deposing the Bishop of _Constantinople_, or indeed any other Bishop in the East, without the Consent and Concurrence of the Eastern Bishops. This _Cyril_ well knew; and therefore, lest _Celestine_ should, on that Consideration, decline giving Judgment against _Nestorius_, he made him believe, that the Eastern Bishops were all disposed to join against the pretended Heresiarch; that they waited only his Determination, and were ready to concur, to a Man, in executing the Judgment which he should give. This was making _Celestine_ believe, that the Eastern Bishops had chosen him for their Judge in the present Dispute, and agreed to acquiesce in his Decision. It was upon this Presumption that _Celestine_ pronounced the above-mentioned Sentence against _Nestorius_, and appointed _Cyril_ to act in his room, with the Authority which he falsely supposed to have been granted him on this Occasion. [Sidenote: _He is imposed upon by_ Cyril.] I say, _falsely_; for what _Cyril_ writ to him was absolutely false, _viz._ that all the Bishops in the East were ready to join him against _Nestorius_, and concur in executing the Sentence which he should pronounce. Several Bishops had declared for _Nestorius_, and not one, that we know of, against him, at the time _Cyril_ writ, besides _Cyril_ himself, and the other _Egyptian_ Bishops, who were intirely governed by him; nay, the Sentence pronounced at _Rome_ was Matter of great Surprize to all, but more especially to _John_ of _Antioch_, and _Juvenal_ of _Jerusalem_, who could not help censuring, with some Sharpness, the Western Bishops, as acting rashly in an Affair that required the most mature Deliberation. But _Cyril_ was chiefly to blame, who, to engage the Western Bishops on his Side, and by their means compass the Ruin of his Antagonist, had represented the State of Affairs very differently from what it really was.

It was doubtless a very extraordinary Thing for a Bishop of _Alexandria_ to accept the Commission of Vicegerent or Deputy to the Bishop of _Rome_; and _Celestine_ would hardly have thought of offering him such a Commission, if he had not been sensible that, from the Heat of his Passion upon this Occasion, he would be willing to act in any Capacity, that would impower him to hurt his Antagonist. So ably did the Popes, from the earliest times, avail themselves of every Circumstance that could give them the Means to promote and extend their Jurisdiction!

[Sidenote: Cyril _sends_ Celestine_’s Letter to_ Nestorius;]