Saint Nicephorus of Constantinople

This zeal for orthodoxy, joined to great virtues and uncommon learning, made him judged worthy to succeed Saint Tarasiu s, Patriarch saint Taraise Patriarch of Constantinople who opposed the imperial divorce. of Constantinople, who died in 806. The Church could only gain much from this choice, as the event proved. On the day of his consecration, Nicephorus gave the most authentic testimony of the purity of his faith and his horror for the impiety of the time: he held in his hand, throughout the entire ceremony, a writing he had composed for the defense of the holy images, and then placed it in deposit behind the altar, as a pledge of the firmness with which he was determined to maintain the tradition of the Church until death.

Scarcely was he seated on the patriarchal throne than he undertook the reformation of the morals of his diocese. He succeeded by adding the strength of example to that of exhortations. He was indefatigable when it came to fulfilling the functions of his ministry. Gentleness and patience were the principal weapons he employed against vice, and he did not use them in vain; but the glory that came to him from the change wrought in the morals of his diocesans does not even approach that with which he was covered by the invincible firmness with which he suffered the persecutions that the enemies of the faith stirred up against him.

Leo the Armenia Léon l'Arménien Byzantine iconoclast emperor who initiated the persecution against images. n, governor of Anatolia, having been proclaimed emperor in 813, the Church found itself plunged into new troubles. This prince, entirely given over to the Iconoclasts, concerned himself only with the means of spreading their errors. Cunning, artifice, violence—nothing was too much for him, provided he could achieve his designs. He felt what weight the approval of Nicephorus would have had among the orthodox; thus he used every means to obtain it; but the holy patriarch was no more moved by his caresses than by his threats. "Prince," he said to the emperor, "your efforts are useless; we cannot change the ancient traditions; we respect the holy images, just as we do the Cross and the book of the Gospels." This was an unanswerable argument. Indeed, the first Iconoclasts, admitting that one could honor the Cross and the book of the Gospels, should consequently have confessed that one could also honor the holy images, since in both cases it was only a question of a relative cult. But it is not rare to see heretics fall into contradiction with themselves. The generous response of Nicephorus was followed by a short but eloquent apology for the Catholic faith: in it, he proved that the orthodox in no way wounded the supreme honor due to the Divinity, since it is to God that the worship they render to the angels, the saints, and the prophets is directed. It is the same, the patriarch added, with the respect we have for inanimate things that serve in divine service, such as temples, sacred vessels, and images.

The emperor, naturally imperious, was indignant at the resistance he encountered. He used a stratagem that he believed would be more effective than the means he had previously employed. He secretly ordered some soldiers to drag with contempt an image of Jesus Christ, which was on the great cross applied to one of the city gates; his order having been executed, he forbade the replacement of another image, under the pretext of preventing such a profanation. The patriarch saw clearly that a violent storm threatened the Church; but he did not lose heart. Filled with confidence in God, he redoubled the fervor of his priests, exhorted the Catholics to remain firm, gathered several holy personages around him, and prepared himself for any event.

Leo, informed of what was happening, gathered a few iconoclast bishops in his palace and sent word to Nicephorus to come as soon as possible with those of his brethren who held to his side. The patriarch obeyed and came to the palace with several other Catholic bishops. When they were in the presence of the emperor, they implored him not to interfere in the government of the Church and to leave it to those whom Jesus Christ had established as its pastors. "If the matter in question," said Aemilianus of Cyzicus, "is an ecclesiastical matter, let it be treated in the church, according to custom, and not in the palace." Euthymius of Sardis, having taken the floor, added: "For more than eight hundred years since Jesus Christ came into the world, He has been painted and adored in His image. Who would be bold enough to abolish a practice founded on such an ancient traditi on?" Saint Theodore th Saint Théodore Studite Nephew of Plato, abbot of Stoudios, and celebrated theologian. e Studite spoke after the bishops and said to the emperor: "Lord, do not disturb the order of the Church. God has placed apostles, prophets, pastors, and teachers in it; but He has not spoken of emperors. The government of the State is entrusted to you, just as that of the Church is to the pastors." Leo, transported with fury, drove out the Catholic bishops and forbade them from appearing in his presence again. He held a grudge especially against Nicephorus; he therefore thought only of ways to ruin him, and he did not take long to find them.

The iconoclast bishops, having assembled in the imperial palace, held a so-called council there, to which Nicephorus was summoned. The patriarch did not appear, because the summons was not canonical; he only replied to those who were charged with delivering it to him: "Who gave you this authority? Is it the Pope, or one of the other patriarchs? You have no jurisdiction in my diocese." He then read to them the canon which declares excommunicated those who dare to exercise any act of jurisdiction in the diocese of another bishop, then ordered them to withdraw. This response should have intimidated the partisans of error; but heresy only respects the laws of the Church insofar as it can make them serve its designs. The iconoclast bishops therefore continued their assembly and pronounced a sentence of deposition against Nicephorus. The emperor, to satisfy his hatred by crowning the injustice, sent him into exile. Happy still to have escaped the traps that had been secretly laid for his life!

Michael the Stammerer, who succeeded Emperor Leo in 820, favored the Iconoclasts like him and persecuted the Catholics, so that Nicephorus was left in the place of his exile. He died on June 2, 828, at the monastery of Saint Theodore, which he had built. He was about seventy years old and had spent nearly fourteen in exile. His body was brought back to Constantinople in 846, by order Constantinople City where the saint exercised his ministry and patriarchate. of Empress Theodora. The ceremony of this tra impératrice Théodore Empress regent who restored the veneration of icons in 842. nslation took place on March 13, the day on which the Saint's name is found in the Roman Martyrology.

## WRITINGS OF SAINT NICEPHORUS.

Saint Nicephorus left several writings, which are:

1° A Short History, which begins at the death of Emperor Maurice and ends at the reign of Irene and her son Constantine, covering a span of about two hundred years. Photius, cod. 66, praises this history. Father Petau had it printed in Greek and Latin in Paris in 1616, in 8vo. It was reprinted in the same city in 1648 in the corpus of Byzantine history, and in Venice in 1729, following the historians who wrote since Theophanes.

2° A Chronology from the creation of the world until the time the Saint lived. Some additions were made to it in later centuries. The learned Dominican Father Goar published it in Paris in 1652, with notes, following George Syncellus; it was also reprinted in Venice in 1729 in the corpus of Byzantine history. We cite here only the best editions.

3° The Stichometry, that is to say, the enumeration of the sacred books with the number of verses that these books contain. It is usually attached to the chronology of Nicephorus, whether in the Latin or Greek editions. This work cannot be contested as belonging to our Saint.

4° The Antirrhetici, or writings against the Iconoclasts. Some have been inserted into the Library of the Fathers, in the Auctuarium of Father Combefis, and in the Lectiones antiquae of Canisius, part 2, Bonn edition. The others are found in manuscript in the libraries of Paris, Rome, and England. The real presence is established in the clearest and most precise manner in one of his writings. Almost the same terms are found in the book of Cherubinis ad Facta.

5° The Dispute with Emperor Leo the Armenian, on the subject of images.

6° The Letter to Pope Leo III. We have spoken of this in the life of Saint Nicephorus.

7° Seventeen canons inserted in the collection of pape Léon III Pope who presented the relics of Hippolytus to Charlemagne. councils, vol. VII, p. 1297, etc. Cotelier published several others with a letter to Hilarion and Eustathia.

8° Saint Nicephorus also composed a work to prove that Eusebius of Caesarea was an Arian, and that Epiphanius favored the error of the Manichaeans.

Volume CX of Migne's *Patrologia* contains the works of Saint Nicephorus. Dom Pitra published, in his *Spicilegium*, some new writings that are not found in Migne.

Godescard, from whom we borrow this biographical and critical notice, drew it himself from the *Life of Saint Nicephorus* by Ignatius, a contemporary author who was first a deacon of Constantinople, then bishop of Nicaea, and from the account of his banishment given by Theophanes. See Fleury, books XIV, XV, XVI, and Dom Cellier, vol. XII.