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| Gregory, the Theologian, receives from Theodosius the Government of the Churches. Expulsion of Demophilus, and of all who deny that the Son is “Consubstantial” with the Father.
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Chapter V.—Gregory,
the Theologian, receives from Theodosius the Government of the
Churches. Expulsion of Demophilus, and of all who deny that the Son is
“Consubstantial” with the Father.
Soon after the enactment of
this law, Theodosius went to Constantinople.1524
| 1524Soc. v. 6; Philost. ix. 19; Theodoret, H. E.
v. 8; Marcellinus Comes, Chronicon, s. a.d. 380.
|
The Arians, under the guidance of Demophilus, still retained possession
of the churches. Gregory of Nazianzen presided over those who maintain
the “consubstantiality” of the Holy Trinity, and assembled them together in a little
dwelling, which had been altered into the form of a house of prayer, by
those who held the same opinions and had a like form of worship. It
subsequently became one of the most conspicuous in the city, and is so
now, not only for the beauty and number of its structures, but also for
the advantages accruing to it from the visible manifestations of God.
For the power of God was there manifested, and was helpful both in
waking visions and in dreams, often for the relief of many diseases and
for those afflicted by some sudden transmutation in their affairs. The
power was accredited to Mary, the Mother of God, the holy virgin, for
she does manifest herself in this way. The name of Anastasia was given
to this church, because, as I believe, the Nicene doctrines which were
fallen into disuse in Constantinople, and, so to speak, buried by
reason of the power of the heterodox, arose from the dead and were
again quickened through the discourses of Gregory; or, as I have heard,
some affirm with assurance that one day, when the people were met
together for worship in this edifice, a pregnant woman fell from the
highest gallery, and was found dead on the spot; but that, at the
prayer of the whole congregation, she was restored to life, and she and
the infant were saved. On account of the occurrence of this divine
marvel, the place, as some assert, obtained its name.
The emperor sent to command Demophilus to conform to the
doctrines of Nicæa, and to lead the people to embrace the same
sentiments, or else to vacate the churches. Demophilus assembled the
people, acquainted them with the imperial edict, and informed them that
it was his intention to hold a church the next day without the walls of
the city, in accordance, he said, with the Divine law, which commands
us when we are persecuted in one city to “flee unto
another.”1525
From that day he always held church without the city with Lucius, who
was formerly the bishop of the Arians at Alexandria; and who, after
having been expelled, as above related, from that city, fled to
Constantinople and fixed his residence there. When Demophilus and his
followers had quitted the church, the emperor entered therein and
engaged in prayer; and from that period those who maintained the
consubstantiality of the Holy Trinity held possession of the houses of
prayer. These events occurred in the fifth year of the consulate of
Gratian, and in the first of that of Theodosius, and after the churches
had been during forty years in the hands of the Arians.
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