Saint Victor I

Theodotus of Byzant Théodote de Byzance Heresiarch who denied the divinity of Christ. ium, a tanner by trade, having apostatized to save his life during the last persecution, dared to say, in order to diminish the enormity of his fault, that Jesus Christ, whom he had denied, was not God, but was merely a pure man; in this, he went further than the Arians, who also regarded Jesus Christ as a creature, but one who had existed before the world. Having co me t Rome Birthplace of Maximian. o Rome, he published his error there and gained several disciples; but Saint Victor halted the progress of his heresy by excommunicating him along with Ebion, Artemon, and another Theodotus who taught the same blasphemy. This Theodotus, called the Trapezite or the Banker, formed the sect of the Melchizedekians, who claimed that Melchizedek was greater than Jesus Christ.

Around the same time, a new convert was seen attacking the Church, after having uselessly tried to obtain the highest positions within it. He was born in Mysia, on the borders of Phrygia, and was named M ontanu Montan Founder of the Montanist heresy opposed by the saint. s. Ambition and pride led him insensibly to enthusiasm; he contradicted the enlightened. Sometimes losing the use of his senses, he used quite extraordinary expressions. Prisca or Priscilla and Maximilla, both women of quality but of ill repute, abandoned their husbands to follow this new prophet; they imitated his extravagances, claiming to have succeeded those among the disciples of the Apostles who had the gift of prophecy. Montanus even placed himself above the Apostles, in that he had, he said, received the Holy Spirit promised by the Savior to give the evangelical law its final perfection. He took away from the Church the power to remit the sins of idolatry, homicide, and impurity; he taught, against the doctrine of Saint Paul, that second marriages were illicit and contrary to chastity; he did not want Christians to flee in times of persecution. An austere exterior and a pretended zeal for the purity of morals attracted many disciples to him, to whom the name of their master was given. They are also known by that of Cataphrygians, because of their country, and by that of Pepuzians, because of the small town of Pepuza, which they had made their headquarters, and which they called Jerusalem. They boasted of their martyrs, although there were few among them who had suffered for religion. But what is martyrdom without humility? One noticed in the new sect a great fund of hypocrisy and very corrupt morals: thus Apollonius, cited by Eusebius, publicly reproached these vices to the two prophetesses of Montanus. "What," he said, "did one ever see a prophet paint his hair and eyebrows, play at dice, and lend his money at usury? I am, however, in a position to demonstrate that they are guilty of these crimes." The learned priest Asterius Urbanus confounded these heretics in a conference held at Ancyra in 188. He convinced their prophecies of falsehood, in that they had not been verified by the event, in that they were proscribed by the Church, and in that the true prophets had not been beside themselves when speaking like the new enthusiasts. Finally, Montanism was condemned as impious, and the Church cut off from its bosom those who professed it. Eusebius, who reports what has just been said, adds that Montanus and Maximilla fell into Montanisme Heterodox movement based on new prophecies and rigorous asceticism. despair, and that they hanged themselves.

Tertullian, who became a Montanist towards the end of Saint Victor's life, says that this Pope sent letters of communion to the alleged prophets. It is easy to conceive how Victor could have been deceived. It was a matter of fact; he was far from the places where the people lived: the Montanists, moreover, hid their vices and their dogmas under the mask of hypocrisy; but Praxeas, who had come from the East, had no sooner informed him of the true state of things than he revoked his letters and condemned the innovators. The faith of this Praxeas was, however, anything but orthodox. Swollen with the honor he had had of being imprisoned for Jesus Christ, he became a heresiarch in Rome itself. He taught that there was only one person in God, and that the Father had been crucified as well as the Son, which caused his followers to be given the name of Patripassians. His errors had no sooner been known than he was cut off from the number of the faithful.

Tatian also ma de shi Tatien Christian author who became a heretic, founder of Encratism. pwreck of the faith, under the pontificate of Victor. He was a Platonic philosopher born in Syria; he had taught for some time in Rome, after the death of Saint Justin, martyr, his master. Having returned to Syria in the year 171, he published his errors there, which he had not dared to circulate in Rome. Marcion, Valentinus, and Saturninus were his principal guides. He taught, like them, that there were two principles, one good and the other evil, and that the Creator of the world was the evil one. He added that Adam was damned, and that marriage was no less criminal than adultery. It is for this reason that his disciples were named Encratites or Continents. They were also called Hydroparastates or Aquarians, because they used only water in the consecration of the Eucharist, consistent with the horror they had for wine. They also condemned the use of meat. Tatian, according to the remark of the Fathers, only departed from the principles of the faith as a result of that alleged philosophical spirit which is only too common. When one imagines having lights superior to those of others, one disdains the beaten paths, one creates new systems for oneself that self-love then prevents one from abandoning.

Saint Victor fought all these heresiarchs and endeavored to stifle scandals at their birth; he also showed great zeal in the dispute that had arisen concerning the celebration of Easter. The Asians celebrated this feast with the Jews, on the fourteenth day of the moon after the spring equinox, on whatever day of the week it might fall; on the contrary, the Roman Church and the other churches of the Christian world always celebrated it on the Sunday immediately following the fourteenth day. Pope Anicetus allowed the Asians to follow their custom, even in Rome; but Soter, his successor, obliged them to conform to what was practiced in the places where they happened to be. Various Councils held in the East and West ordered that the discipline on this point should henceforth be uniform and that the custom of the Roman Church should be adopted. However, Polycrates, Bishop of Ephesus, strongly defended the Asians. He claimed that they could not be disturbed, and that they had on their side the authority of Saint Philip, who died at Hierapolis, of Saint John the Evangelist, of Saint Polycarp, bishop and martyr, of Sagaris, also bishop and martyr, who died at Laodicea, and of several other figures whose memory was in blessing among the faithful. Pope Victor, seeing that the Asians could not be Le pape Victor Pope of African origin who reigned at the end of the 2nd century. brought to heel, threatened to excommunicate them. Some moderns have concluded from the expressions of Eusebius that Saint Victor did indeed excommunicate the Asians, but that he immediately revoked the sentence; others, on the contrary, think that he stopped at a simple threat, and this opinion seems the most probable. The schism that the priest Blastus had formed in Rome on the occasion of this dispute, and for which he had been degraded by Pope Eleutherius, was undoubtedly what determined Saint Victor to show vigor, in order to prevent the evils that could arise from the diversity in question; but, out of a motive of charity and prudence, he avoided carrying severity too far, and in this he followed the advice given to him by Saint Irenaeus in a letter he wrote to him on this subject in saint Irénée Bishop of the Gauls who advised moderation to Pope Victor. his own name and in the name of the faithful of Gaul. He died on July 28 of the year 197 of Jesus Christ, after having held the see for twelve years, two months, and ten days. Some writers of the 5th century call him *martyr*, and his name is found with this title in an ancient pontifical written in 530. In two ordinations held in the month of December, he created four priests, seven deacons, and twelve bishops for various places. Some epistles are attributed to him, and particularly two, to Desiderius and to Paracode, bishops of Vienne. He was buried at the Vatican.

Acta S anctoru Vatican Burial place of Saint Gelasius. m; Godescard. — Cf. Histoire de l'Église, by Abbé Darras.

SAINT INNOCENT I, POPE AND CONFESSOR.