We have observed above, that Chrysostom being driven from the See of Constantinople into Exile, Innocent, and with him most of the Western Bishops, had espoused his Cause with great Warmth; but, finding that all their Endeavours in his Behalf proved unsuccessful, they at last separated themselves from the Communion of Atticus of Constantinople, Porphyrius of Antioch, and Theophilus of Alexandria. In the Year 407. Chrysostom died at Cumana in Pontus; but with him did not die the Animosities, which his Deposition had occasioned between the Churches of the East and the West. Atticus indeed thought nothing could now obstruct the wished-for Union; and therefore, as soon as Chrysostom’s Death was known, he applied to Rome, desiring the Communion of that Church. But he was greatly surprised, when he understood, that Innocent, instead of readily granting him his Request, insisted upon his first acknowleging Chrysostom to have been, and to have died, lawful Bishop of Constantinople, by inrolling his Name in the Diptychs[[N56]], with the Names of other Bishops of that City. This Demand seemed to Atticus highly unreasonable; for it was obliging him to acknowlege his own Election to have been null. He therefore peremptorily refused to comply with it; but nevertheless continued soliciting, by means of his Friends at Rome, a Reconciliation with that Church[[1443]]. But Innocent was inflexible; he was determined at all Events to carry his Point, and therefore would hearken to no other Terms till that was complied with. The Eastern Bishops followed the Example of Atticus; the Western that of Innocent. And thus were the Separation, and the Animosities attending it, continued Seven Years longer, each Party bitterly inveighing, in the mean time, against the Authors of the Divisions, and each expressing a most earnest Desire of a Reconciliation.
[N56]. The Diptychs were Tables, in which were inrolled the Names of all those who died in the Communion of the Church. The Bishops were placed there by themselves; and of all Commemoration was made by the Deacon in the Time of the Service.
The Churches of
Antioch and Rome
reconciled.
At length Porphyrius of Antioch, one of Chrysostom’s most inveterate Enemies, dying in the Year 413. or 414. Alexander, who till then had led a monastic Life, was chosen in his room by the unanimous Consent of the People and Clergy. As he was fully convinced of Chrysostom’s Innocence, and the Malice of his Enemies, he no sooner found himself vested with that Dignity, than he caused the deceased Prelate’s Name to be inserted in the Diptychs of his Church, and the Two Bishops Helpidius and Pappus to be restored to their Sees, from which they had been driven for refusing to renounce his Communion, and to communicate with his Enemies. After this Alexander sent a solemn Deputation to Rome, at the Head of which was, it seems, the famous Cassian, to acquaint Innocent with his Promotion, to inform him of what he had done, and thereupon to renew the Union between the Two Churches. Alexander, who entertained a sincere Desire of seeing Peace and Concord restored between the East and the West, did not doubt but the Example of his Church would be followed by many others, and a Way, by that Means, be paved to a general Pacification. Innocent received the Deputation with the greatest Marks of Joy, admitted Alexander to his Communion, and, with the Consent and Approbation of Twenty-Four other Bishops, declared the Church of Antioch again united to that of Rome.
The Bishop of Antioch strives to reconcile the Churches of Rome and Constantinople.
Several other Bishops, moved partly by the Example, and partly by the Letters and Exhortations of the Bishop of Antioch, yielded to Innocent, and submitted to the Terms he required. But Atticus still adhered to his former Resolution, and, to gain him, Alexander, who spared no Pains to complete the Work he had begun, repaired in Person to Constantinople. But he acted there with such Indiscretion as rendered that haughty Prelate more averse, than he had ever yet been, to an Accommodation on the Terms proposed by Innocent. For all other Means he could think of, to compass his Design, proving unsuccessful, he resolved in the End to apply to the Populace, who, as he well knew, had been most zealously attached to Chrysostom during his Life, and revered him as a Saint after his Death. |His imprudent
Conduct.| Suffering therefore his Zeal to get the better of his Prudence, and of every Consideration Prudence could suggest, he began to harangue the Multitude, and inflame them with seditious Speeches against Atticus, as carrying, even beyond the Grave, his Hatred and Malice against their holy Bishop. The Populace heard him with Attention, applauded his Zeal, and, full of Rage against Atticus, demanded, in a tumultuous manner, that the Name of so holy, so great and deserving a Prelate, might be inrolled, without further Delay, in the Diptychs. But their Clamours and Threats made no more Impression on the Mind of Atticus than the Reasons of Alexander; he withstood both; and the Bishop of Antioch, finding all his Attempts thus shamefully baffled, returned to his See, with the Mortification of having only widened the Breach, which he intended to close, between the Churches of Rome and Constantinople[[1444]]. Baronius supposes Alexander to have acted on this Occasion as Innocent’s Legate[[1445]]. But I find nothing in the Antients to countenance such a Supposition, besides his haughty Behaviour, and his pursuing, by the most unwarrantable Methods, what he had in View.
The Name of Chryso-
stom inrolled in the
Diptychs by the Bish-
op of Constantinople.
Atticus, however, allowed, in the End, Chrysostom’s Name to be inserted in the Diptychs; but whether he did it by Choice or Compulsion, is uncertain; for, in one of his Letters, he writes, that he could no longer withstand the Threats and Violence of the enraged Multitude[[1446]]; and in another, that he had done it to comply with the Will of the Emperors, and to conform to the Sentiments of his Brethren, both in the East and the West[[1447]]. However that be, it is certain, that he never changed his Sentiments with respect to Chrysostom, as is manifest from his declaring, after he had placed his Name in the Diptychs, that he thereby meant no more than to own, that he had been once Bishop of Constantinople; but that he still adhered to the Judgment that was given against him. With this, however, Innocent was satisfied; and so is Baronius.