Saint Agapetus I

Emperor Justinian I (527 L'empereur Justinien Ier Byzantine emperor under whose reign Simeon began his religious life. -565) was threatening the Gothic King Theoda Théodat King of the Goths who compelled the Pope to undertake a diplomatic mission. had. To avert the storm, the latter forced the Pope to go to the court of C onstantinople, Constantinople City where the saint exercised his ministry and patriarchate. and did not even provide him with the money necessary to make the journey; the Pontiff was obliged to pawn the sacred vessels of the Church of Saint Peter for a certain sum of money which the prince's treasurers advanced to him. Agapetus passed through Greece where he miraculously healed a man who was mute and crippled, who could neither utter a word nor rise from the ground, and he made his entry into Constantinople on February 2, 536.

This journey changed nothing in the political affairs of Italy, which Belisarius was about to conquer; but it contributed powerfully to the good of the Church in the East. Yielding to th e solicitations of Emp l'Impératrice Théodora Empress regent who restored the veneration of icons in 842. ress Theodora, who was entirely devoted to the Eutychians, Justinian had consented to the tra Anthime Brother of Cosmas and Damian, martyr with them. nslation of Anthimus, the Eutych Trébizonde Original episcopal see of the heretic Anthimus. ian bishop of Trebizond (Turkey in Asia), to the very see of Constantinople. Agapetus, asked to communicate with the intruder and heretical patriarch, refused; the obsessions of the emperor and the empress found him inflexible. The Pope would only consent to receive Anthimus into the communion of the Church if he renounced his error and returned to Trebizond. In the end, pushed by Theodora, Justinian said to him: "Agree with us, or I will exile you."

The Pope, casting upon the prince a look full of angelic serenity, replied: "I had come to Constantinople in the hope of meeting a most Christian emperor: but it is a Nicene that I encounter. Your threats do not make me tremble. I wish, however, to show you that your bishop is not worthy of being one; have him come so that he may confess the two natures in Jesus Christ."

Anthimus was summoned, but he refused to make a profession of orthodox faith. Justinian, who had been deceived regarding Anthimus, acknowledged his error. The Pope solemnly deposed this Eutychian bishop and ordained M ennas Mennas Patriarch of Constantinople ordained by Agapetus I to replace Anthimus. in his place, thus performing an act of supreme authority in the very capital of the Eastern Empire.

Saint Agapetus had just convened a Council to settle all the matters that were troubling the Church of the East, when he suddenly fell ill in Constantinople and died there (April 536). He had reigned for eleven months and eighteen days. His body, enclosed in a lead coffin, was brought back to Rom e an Rome Birthplace of Maximian. d buried in the church of Saint Peter at the Vatican (September 20, 536).

Excerpt from the Proper of Rome; from the Popular History of the Popes, by J. Chantre l; and from the Li Liber Pontificalis Primary historical source cited for this biography. ber Pontificalis.