Wisdom of Saints: St Cedd

The Feast of Cedd, Missionary, Bishop of the East Saxons, 664

O GOD, our heavenly Father, who by thy Son Jesus Christ didst call thy blessed Apostles and send them forth to preach thy Gospel of salvation unto all the nations: We bless thy holy Name for thy servant Cedd, whose labours we commemorate this day, and we pray thee, according to thy holy Word, to send forth many labourers into thy harvest; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

St Cedd is another British saint for whom little is known apart from what was recorded by St Bede in his Ecclesiastical History. He was born around 620 and died in 664. He was born into the northern kingdom of Northumbria to a noble family, the eldest of four brothers of whom one was St Chad of Litchfield, and the other two who also became priests. They were all chosen by King Oswald to become a priest and monastic to evangelize the area, and was sent to be educated in Lindisfarne at the priory there under the instruction of St Aidan who was then the bishop of Lindisfarne.

He was ordained a priest in 653 and shortly after began missionary work. The pagan East Anglian king Peada converted to Christianity in exchange for the hand of the daughter of the King of Northumbria in marriage. St Cedd was asked to travel to the kingdom to instruct the king in the Christian faith and to convert the people. He had significant success over the next year, and eventually returned to Lindisfarne.

In 654, owing to his success in converting the people of East Anglia, he was sent to Essex, where again the King of Northumbria’s political actions had opened the door for Christian missionaries. St Cedd was sent by the bishop of Lindisfarne to convert the people there. He began his mission and established two monasteries and several churches there, and upon returning to Lindisfarne again later that year was consecrated Bishop of Essex. As Bede records:

Cedd, having received the episcopal dignity, returned to his province, and pursuing the work he had begun with more ample authority, built churches in divers places, and ordained priests and deacons to assist him in the Word of faith, and the ministry of Baptism, especially in the city which, in the language of the Saxons, is called Ythancaestir, as also in that which is named Tilaburg. The first of these places is on the bank of the Pant, the other on the bank of the Thames. In these, gathering a flock of Christ’s servants, he taught them to observe the discipline of a rule of life, as far as those rude people were then capable of receiving it.

He returned south with newfound episcopal authority, ordaining deacons and priests and continuing to raise up many monks in his two monasteries. He re-established St Paul’s, London as his Cathedral, becoming only the second Bishop of London since the first, Mellitus, had been expelled from London by the East Saxon pagans in 616 shortly after establishing St Paul’s, after he himself had arrived in England with St Augustine of Canterbury in 598.

While St Cedd continued his work in the south, he made frequent return visits to the north. On one of these in 658, he was introduced to King Aethelwald of Deira who had been instructed in the Christian faith by one of St Cedd’s other brothers who had also become a monk with him at Lindisdarne. Finding St Cedd to be a godly man, the King gifted him with land at Lastingham on which he asked St Cedd to build a royal monastery and mausoleum. St Cedd ultimately agreed, but demanded that no construction begin until the area had been cleansed by prayer and fasting. He undertook himself in Lent of 658 to fast forty days, and as St Bede records:

All which days, except Sundays, he prolonged his fast till the evening, according to custom, and then took no other sustenance than a small piece of bread, one hen’s egg, and a little milk and water. This, he said, was the custom of those of whom he had learned the rule of regular discipline, first to consecrate to the Lord, by prayer and fasting, the places which they had newly received for building a monastery or a church. When there were ten days of Lent still remaining, there came a messenger to call him to the king; and he, that the holy work might not be intermitted, on account of the king’s affairs, entreated his priest, Cynibill, who was also his own brother, to complete his pious undertaking. Cynibill readily consented, and when the duty of fasting and prayer was over, he there built the monastery, which is now called Laestingaeu, and established therein religious customs according to the use of Lindisfarne, where he had been trained.

St Cedd spent much of the rest of his life living at his monastery in Lastingham, administering his see from there. He is noted to have served at the Synod at Whiby in 664, under the Abbess Hilda, and supported the Synod’s decision to adopt Romanizing customs for the Catholic Church in the Realm of England in an effort to unify the various kingdoms. Shortly after the synod, a plague broke out in England, and St Cedd died. He was buried at Lastingham.

St Cedd led a life destined for holiness. He was educated from an early age under the pious St Aidan of Lindisfarne and dedicated his life to the transmission of knowledge of God to others. He is commemorated as the evangelist of the Middle Angles and East Saxons, and played a critical role in the spread of the Christian faith throughout many of the English kingdoms, and provided a lasting example through his monastic devotion for generations to come.

Wisdom of Saints: St Cyprian of Carthage

The Feast of Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage, Martyr, 258

ALMIGHTY God, by whose grace and power thy Martyr Cyprian was enabled to witness to the truth and to be faithful unto death: Grant that we, who now remember him before thee, may likewise so bear witness unto thee in this world, that we may receive with him the crown of glory that fadeth not away; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with thee and the Holy Spirit liveth and reigneth, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

 St Cyprian of Carthage was a bishop and martyr of the early and mid-third century, and an important early Church Father whose many writings continue to exist today. St Cyprian was born sometime around 200 AD in North Africa to pagan parents. He received a good education and became a lawyer and teacher of rhetoric. He was successful and well-known throughout Carthage, having become wealthy due to his legal and teaching success.

He converted to Christianity in the 240s and was likely baptised during the Easter Vigil of 246. He embraced asceticism and engaged in chastity and poverty during his catechesis and early years. He gave his income to the poor and sold his properties in Carthage for further revenues for the poor, and became chaste.

He was made Bishop of Carthage only two years later in 248, at the demand of the people despite his initial reluctance to take up the charge. Shortly after his consecration as Bishop of Carthage, Decius became Emperor and initiated a persecution of Christians in an effort to restore Roman paganism and, in his mind, the fortunes of the Roman Empire.

During the previous thirty-eight years of tolerance, the Church had become relatively prosperous with many bishops falling into worldliness and scandal. Many of them were, during the Decian persecution, put to death, while priests and lay Christians forced to recant their faith. Due to the deaths of so many bishops and the need to maintain the governance of the Church, rather than face death, St Cyprian want into hiding, recognizing that it would be impossible to elect and appoint new bishops during the ongoing persecution.

Many Christians apostatized rather than face rape, torture and death. They would go to the Pagan temples and offer sacrifice to receive their libelli, certificates that proved they had sacrificed to the pagan gods and were thus not Christians (though some Christians sought to buy forged libelli in order to avoid both persecution and needing to sacrifice to pagan gods).

By 251 the Decian persecution began to wane as political challenges to Emperor Decius turned his attention elsewhere. A Council was called in Carthage to address some of the issues that had arisen during the persecution, but Cyprian himself was challenged by some of the priests who had opposed his election, who schemed to keep him from participating in the Council. He famously composed a letter against one of them and also around this time published a number of works extolling the virtues of Christian unity and seeking to address some of the controversies that were dividing the Christians of the day.

He wrote several other famous works in this time, and his works were widely regarded.

In 258 a major plague broke out in Carthage, and while many of the government officials fled to avoid infection, St Cyprian remained and co-ordinated relief efforts for the city, including medical care for the sick who were being abandoned by family and friends. Despite this care for the dying, Christians were blamed for the plague by pagan Romans who felt it was the punishment of the Gods for the spread of Christianity and abandonment of Roman pagan religion. The Emperor Valerian began a persecution of Christians. This time, St Cyprian did not flee into hiding but stayed in Carthage. He was arrested, tried and beheaded on the 14th of September 258. A record of his trial and martyrdom exists along with many of his writings, the most famous of which concern the unity of the Church and the sacraments of Holy Baptism and the Holy Eucharist.

St Cyprian has extensive writings on the power and use of the Holy Eucharist, something he referred to many times in his collected epistles. In his Epistle 54, he wrote, “We may not arouse and exhort those to battle unarmed and naked, but may fortify them with the protection of Christ’s Body and Blood. The Eucharist is designate for this very purpose, that it may be a safeguard to those who receive it.” He continues in Epistle 63, outlining more of his high doctrine of the Eucharist and the role of the priest in ministering it:

If Christ Jesus, our Lord and God, is himself the high priest of God the Father; and if he offered himself as a sacrifice to the Father; and if he commanded that this be done in commemoration of himself, then certainly the priest, who imitates that which Christ did, truly functions in place of Christ.

Writing on Unity, St Cyprian addressed the issue of doctrinal disagreements and they way they should be resolved. In his 53rd Epistle he writes:

When truth is missing from practice and tradition, this is rather indicative of the longevity of falsehood. There is a very safe method for spiritual souls to discern between truth and falsehood: it suffices to return to the beginning of the divine teaching, there where the human falsehood ends. Let us return there, to the evangelical beginning, the original teaching given by our Lord; and to the apostolic tradi­tion, there where the word of our thoughts and actions emanates.

Here is a simple truth. When there is a doctrinal disagreement, first turn to the Evangelical witness, the primacy of Scripture. That is not enough, however, because there can be disagreements on the interpretation of Holy Scripture, so there he says to turn to the Apostolic Witness, the teachings of the Church Fathers, Christ’s Apostle’s and their successors to hear their interpretations of the Scriptures. Their viewpoints are not infallible, however they speak with some authority, particularly where they speak in unity, and what has traditionally been rejected by the Fathers can also speak to the limits of acceptable interpretation of the Holy Scriptures.

St Cyprian, one of the earliest writers, provides us with a wealth of writing on the understanding and early developments of Christian doctrine, reminding us that even from the earliest days the Church held a great reverence for the grace and value of the Holy Eucharist and also placed great importance on the unity of the Church and the role of priests and bishops in maintaining that unity and doctrinal orthodoxy, under the authority of Holy Scripture.

Wisdom of Saints: St Aidan of Lindisfarne

The Feast of Aidan, Missionary, Bishop of Lindisfarne, 651

O GOD, our heavenly Father, who by thy Son Jesus Christ didst call thy blessed Apostles and send them forth to preach thy Gospel of salvation unto all the nations: We bless thy holy Name for thy servant Aidan, whose labours we commemorate this day, and we pray thee, according to thy holy Word, to send forth many labourers into thy harvest; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

St Aidan of Lindisfarne was born in Ireland, but little else is known of the details of his early life, though St Bede later recorded in significant detail much of his later life. Whatever the exact details and when and where he was born, he ultimately became a Christian monk living in St Columba of Iona’s monastery at Iona. He would later go on to become a great missionary to Northern England, helping to bring the kingdom of Northumbria to faith.

The history of Christianity in England plays a significant role in St Aidan’s life. It had likely arrived within the first century brought by Roman soldiers who had been converted to Christianity. Over the next centuries, however, despite initially flourishing in Britain, as the Western Roman Empire suffered collapse and Roman troops were pulled out of Britain, pagan invaders began to de-Christianize Britain. While Christianity was never fully stamped out, many of the Christians in Britain lost contact with the Christians of the rest of the world, including the Celtic Christians of Scotland and Ireland.

When St Aidan was still a younger man, in 597, St Augustine of Canterbury landed in Kent on a mission from the Bishop of Rome to restore the connections with the Western Catholic Church on the continent. St Augustine began sending missionaries north from his base in Canterbury, while Iona and the Celtic Christians had been making some efforts to send missionaries into the north. The King of Northumbria, Edwin, was converted to Christianity by one of the southern missions, however after only a few years he was killed. His nephew, Oswald, had been exiled. Fortuitously, Oswald had gone to Iona to stay with the monks during his exile, before eventually returning to Northumbria to reclaim the kingdom from the pagans who had killed King Edmund.

Upon regaining the kingdom, King Oswald sought to re-Christianize it, but rather than turning to the southern missionaries from Rome who had originally brought the Gospel to his uncle, Oswald turned to the monks with whom he had resided during his exile. The first missionary sent from Iona returned in failure, though St Aidan commented that the other monk’s methods had perhaps been too strict. Citing St Paul, St Aidan argued that the English people needed milk and not just solid food (I Cor 3. 2) and sought to try a gentler approach. St Aidan replaced him and, rather than seeking to establish himself at York, as his predecessor had, St Aidan established a new monastery at Lindisfarne off the NE coast of England.

Over the years, St Aidan was able to restore Christianity in Northumbria, and eventually his missionary journeys took him as far south in England as London. He established missions all over the North, and St Bede recorded numerous stories of his works, commending his piety, humility and love of the Gospel, and commending him as model for other missionary Bishops in England.

St Bede writes:

Among other lessons in holy living, Aidan left the clergy a most salutary example of abstinence and continence; it was the highest commendation of his doctrine with all men, that he taught nothing that he did not practice in his life among his brethren; for he neither sought nor loved anything of this world, but delighted in distributing immediately among the poor whom he met whatsoever was given him by the kings or rich men of the world. He was wont to traverse both town and country on foot, never on horseback, unless compelled by some urgent necessity; to the end that, as he went, he might turn aside to any whomsoever he saw, whether rich or poor, and call upon them, if infidels, to receive the mystery of the faith, or, if they were believers, strengthen them in the faith, and stir them up by words and actions to giving of alms and the performance of good works. [Bede’s Ecclesiastical History of England III:V]

Bede commended St Aidan for his study of the Scriptures, and his encouragement to all those who followed him to do the same. He also regularly fasted on Wednesdays and Fridays. Whenever he received gifts from wealthy visitors he would distribute them to the poor and needy. St Bede also records that he would use money he received as gift to ransom slaves taken by pagans, many of whom after receiving their freedom he converted to Christianity, and in many cases instructed them and ultimately ordained them into Holy Orders.

St Aidan maintained a close relationship with King Oswald, who was himself sainted, feast day of August 5th, who was himself a holy man upon his conversion and under St Aidan’s continued influence. One story recorded by St Bede says that as they sat down to eat, a servant came and told the king that a great number of needy were outside begging for alms. King Oswald, ordered his meal to be served to the poor on its silver platter and then for the platter to be broken up and distributed to the poor as alms.

King Oswald was killed in battle a few years later, and recognizes as a martyr, and succeeded by St Oswin, another man who followed St Aidan’s teachings, though not without some need for correction. In another story told by St Bede, St Oswin gifted St Aidan with a horse and cart, which St Aidan gave to a beggar. St Oswin, upon hearing this, chastised him saying that had he known St Aidan was going to give the gift away there were plenty of more common horses in the stable suited for a beggar. St Aidan chastised the King, asking him if he considered the foal of a mare more highly than a son of God. King Oswin wept tears of repentance and promised never again to criticize St Aidan’s acts of charity.

His faith, piety, gentleness, charity and earnestness is living out the Gospel that he so cherished and preached throughout his missionary journeys made him an extremely successful missionary, helping to establish Christianity throughout England.

Wisdom of Saints: St Mary Magdalene

The Feast of Mary Magdalene

ALMIGHTY God, whose blessed Son did sanctify Mary Magdalene, and call her to be a witness to his resurrection: Mercifully grant that by thy grace we may be healed of all our infirmities, and always serve thee in the power of his endless life; who with thee and the Holy Spirit liveth and reigneth, one God, world without end. Amen.

Saint Mary Magdalene, the apostle to the Apostles, is one of the most famous people of the Scriptures and certainly the most famous woman next to the Blessed Theotokos herself. She is also significantly misunderstood and at the same time a wonderful example of saintly virtue to be followed.

There is extremely little biographical information on St Mary Magdalene, despite the fact that she played an important role in the Scriptures as a disciple of Christ. Because of the numerous persons named Mary in the Scriptures, and also unnamed women, there is some level of conjecture as to which passages actually refer to Mary.

Most clearly, however, St Mark’s Gospel identifies that Christ had cast seven demons out of her, and after which she had become a disciple of Christ, one of a number of women who had followed him and his Apostles during their missionary journeys and supported them. This includes standing at the cross with the other women during Christ’s crucifixion, seeking to attend to his body after his death and also being present with the Apostles in the upper room after the resurrection.

There is an association with St Mary Magdalene also having been a sinner, often even the sinner referred to in St Luke’s Gospel (Lk 7. 37), though a possible explanation for this seems to be the fact that Magdalena, the place of St Mary’s birth, had a reputation for evil among Jews. It is likely for similar reasons that St Mary is variously viewed or described as an adulteress or prostitute.

In more recent years, popular rumours have sought to suggest St Mary Magdalene was the wife of Jesus, however while the speculation that St Mary was a prostitute or adulteress may still be supported through some valid inferences based on the Scriptures, there is absolutely no evidence in the Scriptures that Jesus was married to anyone during his earthly life, and indeed the documents used in recent years to popularize this rumour have all been shown to have been false or improperly translated.

Yet it is sometimes this mystique of St Mary Magdalene as having not only been held in bondage by seven demons but also having been living in a sinful life that enhances the hope found in her. She goes from being bound by seven demons, potentially also living a life of sin, to being one of the chief disciples of Christ, and witness to his ministry. She was present at his crucifixion and was witness to his resurrection.

It is from the latter that she earns her title “apostle to the Apostles.” This in and of itself is often misunderstood. St Mary Madgalene, though an important disciple of Christ, was not one of the twelve. The title “apostle to the Apostles” becomes clearer when it is understood that apostle simply means “messenger” she was the messenger of the resurrection to the Apostles who were those commissioned by Christ to proclaim his gospel and bear witness to his ministry.

Her life and ministry is a testament to the power of Christ’s redemption and reconciliation. She went from being bound by demons to serving at the feet of Christ and bearing witness to his resurrection, just as we are all able to go from being bound in sin to serving Christ and bearing witness to the power of his resurrection in others.

Just as there is little biographical evidence of her origins, there is little in the way of evidence of what happened to St Mary Magdalen after the end of her Biblical accounts. Some evidence suggests she retired to Ephesus where she lived out her life, though there is no real strong evidence in favour of this understanding. Neither is it particularly important to her witness to the power of Christ, instead emphasizing only those parts of her life in which she was redeemed and called by Christ.

St Mary Magdalen is an important witness to the power of forgiveness and redemption and models the life all Christians aspire to, responding to our Baptism in Christ through faithful discipleship.

Wisdom of Saints: St Basil the Great

The Feast of Basil the Great, Doctor, Bishop of Caesarea, Cappadocia, 379

O GOD, who by thy Holy Spirit hast given unto one man a word of wisdom, and to another a word of knowledge, and to another the gift of tongues: We praise thy Name for the gifts of grace manifested in thy servant Basil, and we pray that thy Church may never be destitute of the same; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Third Sunday after Trinity

LORD, we beseech thee mercifully to hear us; and grant that we, to whom thou hast given an hearty desire to pray, may by thy mighty aid be defended and comforted in all dangers and adversities; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

St Basil the Great, one of the Cappadocian fathers and friend of St Gregory of Nazianzus, St Basil is one of the great Doctors of the Church and one of the foremost Christian theologians of the patristic age. St Basil came from a famous Christian family, the son of St Basil the Elder, he and two of his brothers (Peter and St Gregory of Nyssa) were raised to the episcopate alongside St Basil while in addition to St Gregory and St Basil, their sister St Macrina the Younger, was also honoured as a saint.

St Basil himself was born around 329 in Caesarea Cappadocia. He was raised in a well-known Christian household, and from a young age St Basil was instructed in the Christian faith and piety. Though his father died when he was young, the family continued and St Basil received a full education studying in Caesarea, Constantinople and Athens. It was during the course of his education that he first became acquainted with St Gregory of Nazianzus who would become his lifelong friend. After completing his education, he returned to Caesarea to teach.

Upon his return to Caesarea Cappadocia, he was baptised ordained a reader (readers were a minor ordained order in the early Church and remain so to this day in the Christian East) by the Bishop of Cappadocia, Dianius. Another influential figure in St Basil’s life at this time was his sister, St Macrina. While St Basil had travelled far and wide for his education. St Macrina had dedicated herself to founding a religious community among the family’s various holdings. Her witness helped open St Basil’s eyes to the Gospel and in particular to turn away from material concerns of wealth. To pursue Godly perfection, St Basil began exploring monasteries and monastic piety throughout the known world before returning to Pontus, where he had lived after the death of his father, and founded his own monastic community there. Due in large part to this, St Basil became known as the father of Oriental monasticism.

St Basil was convinced to be ordained a priest in 363 by the new Bishop of Caesarea, and was given a prominent position within the administration of the diocese. He was extremely well-regarded within the diocese, earning for himself a particular reputation as the saviour of the poor after supporting them during a famine. The 14th of June 370 he was consecrated Bishop of Caesarea. As Bishop of Caesarea, St Basil was Metropolitan of Cappadocia, a vast ecclesial territory, which ranked in importance behind only the five patriarchates and Ephesus.

St Basil was very active in his ministry, as the over three hundred existent letters profess plainly. His letters are a form of chronology that help illustrate the many challenges faced in his day. Along with St Athanasius the Great, St Basil was a great defender of Christian orthodoxy during a turbulent time in the Church when orthodoxy was under significant attack by Arians, and particular at times when Arian Emperors controlled the Empire.

One of his famous letters, XLVI, To a fallen virgin, helps to illustrate St Basil’s pastoral heart which was the foundation for all his ministry. It is not known exactly who the recipient of the letter was, as is the case with a number of his letters, but it seems she was a Christian who publicly professed virginity but later in some way admitted to St Basil that it was not true. St Basil quotes liberally from Scriptures, focusing largely on the Prophet Jeremiah and then from the New Testament, drawing upon comparisons of the bride of Christ and Israel as God’s bride. In quoting from these passages, St Basil begins his letter by stressing a case for the fallen virgin’s actions being of severe importance. Basil writes:

I used to describe the high dignity of virginity, and, addressing you as a temple of God, used as it were to give wings to your zeal as I strove to lift you to Jesus. Yet through fear of evil I helped you not to fall by the words “if any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy.” So by my prayers I tried to make you more secure, if by any means “your body, soul, and spirit might be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Yet all my toil on your behalf has been in vain.

Mirroring Jeremiah’s lament for Israel, St Basil concludes this section by noting his own disappointment, yet it also begins to hint at his pastoral heart as he reminds the recipient that he himself had prayed for her. He uses strong words to show how sincerely he cares for the recipient because of the harm she has done herself:

You have been deceived by the serpent more bitterly than Eve; and not only your mind but also your body has been defiled. Even that last horror has come to pass which I shrink from saying, and yet cannot leave unsaid, for it is as a burning and blazing fire in my bones, and I am undone and cannot endure.

This is again a hint at his pastoral heart. While his words are harsh, he is clearly aggrieved at the sinfulness of what has happened, and laments that he had not been able to do more to prevent it from happening, for the way in which the sin has defiled her soul. Immediately, however, in Chapter 5 of his letter, he turns to the divine remedy:

“Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? Why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?” You might indeed find many remedies for evil in Scripture, many medicines to save from destruction and lead to health; the mysteries of death and resurrection, the sentences of terrible judgment and everlasting punishment; the doctrines of repentance and of remission of sins; all the countless illustrations of conversion, the piece of money, the sheep, the son who wasted his substance with harlots, who was lost and was found, who was dead and alive again. Let us not use these remedies for ill; by these means let us heal our soul.

St Basil had previously described how her sin was in effect worse than the sin of Eve, yet immediately he points to Holy Scripture, to God’s testimony of love and repentance and makes clear that there is a solution. He continues in Chapter 6, the conclusion of the letter, where he says:

While we can, let us lift ourselves from the fall: let us never despair of ourselves, if only we depart from evil. Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. “O come, let us worship and fall down; let us weep before Him.” The Word Who invited us to repentance calls aloud, “Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” There is, then, a way of salvation, if we will. “Death in his might has swallowed up, but again the Lord hath wiped away tears from off all faces” of them that repent. The Lord is faithful in all His words. He does not lie when He says, “Though your sins be as scarlet they shall be as white as snow. Though they be red like crimson they shall be as wool.” The great Physician of souls, Who is the ready liberator, not of you alone, but of all who are enslaved by sin, is ready to heal your sickness.

St Basil concludes his letter with a call to repentance available even to one who had fallen farther than Eve as he described it earlier, and finally ends his letter on a note of assurance as he alludes to the parable of the two sons:

If any of those who think they stand find fault because of your quick reception, the good Father will Himself make answer for you in the words, “It was meet that we should make merry and be glad for this” my daughter “was dead and is alive again, was lost and is found.”

Wisdom of Saints: St Gregory of Nazianzus

 The Feast of Gregory of Nazianzus, Doctor, Bishop of Constantinople, 389

O GOD, who by thy Holy Spirit hast given unto one man a word of wisdom, and to another a word of knowledge, and to another the gift of tongues: We praise thy Name for the gifts of grace manifested in thy servant Gregory, and we pray that thy Church may never be destitute of the same; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Octave of the Ascension

O GOD the King of Glory, who hast exalted thine only Son Jesus Christ with great triumph unto thy kingdom in heaven: We beseech thee, leave us not comfortless; but send to us thine Holy Ghost to comfort us, and exalt us unto the same place whither our Saviour Christ is gone before; who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen.

St Gregory of Nazianzus was one of the three Cappadocian Fathers, along with his friend St Basil the Great and Basil's brother St Gregory of Nyssa, and one of the most eminent theologians of the Patristic age. He is one of the four great doctors of the East and continues to exert a great influence on the theology of the Church.

St Gregory was born in a small village near Nazianzus in Cappadocia. His mother had converted his father to Christianity, and indeed it seems that St Gregory was born after his father had been ordained a priest and just prior to his consecration as Bishop of Nazianzus. His parents were wealthy, and he soon outgrew his original education at home by his uncle and was sent to Caesarea Cappadocia to receive the remainder of his classical education there, where he ultimately studied under the same tutor who would later educate St John Chrysostom. His education took him even further afield, as far as Athens. It was during this trip to Athens that St Gregory, already a Christian by virtue of his parents, dedicated himself to Christ. While journeying by sea there was a terrible storm. Fearing for his life, St Gregory prayed that if God would see him through the storm to safety he would dedicate the remainder of his life to serving his Lord.

St Gregory had originally met and befriended St Basil while at school in Caesarea, however it was in Athens that they reconnected and renewed their friendship which would continue for the rest of their lives. They began a collaboration in Athens to compile some of the works of Origen, who was then the greatest and most prolific Christian writer. All serious Christians knew and read Origen.

St Basil found himself drawn to the ascetic and monastic lifestyle and soon after would invite his friend St Gregory to join him in the monastic life. St Gregory's monastic life was cut short, as ultimately St Basil's would be as well, when his father, the Bishop of Nazianzus, called him home to serve in the Church. St Gregory was ordained as priest and eventually became Suffragan Bishop serving throughout Cappadocia, assisting his father in combating heresy and persecution.

St Gregory had been born into a turbulent time in the Church. While the Edict of Milan had ended official persecution against Christianity, the moment the government ceased official persecution of the Church, the Church descended into division over the need to articulate doctrinal orthodoxy over a number of issues that were now splitting the Church. First and foremost among these was Arianism. In 325, Emperor Constantine had called the Council of Nicaea, which had ultimately condemned Arianism and proclaimed the first part of what would become the Nicene Creed. When St Gregory was born, however, Arianism continued to thrive, as it would for several more centuries.

Arianism found wide purchase in Cappadocia in St Gregory's day, and to make matters worse, around the time of his ordination, St Gregory found himself also challenged by Emperor Julian the Apostate who had come to the throne. St Gregory had studied with Julian and early on, even before his declared apostasy and efforts as Emperor to return the Empire to Roman paganism, had found Emperor Julian to be troubled and described him as an evil the Roman state was nourishing.

St Gregory would begin his ministry combating both the heresy of Arianism and the threat of persecution under Julian, though ultimately Arianism would prove to be the larger threat with Julian's reign being short lived and his successor, Emperor Jovian, being an avowed Christian.

St Gregory's father died in 374 and St Gregory succeeded him as the Bishop of Nazianzus. His fame continued to grow and in 379 he was invited to go to Constantinople following the death of the Arian Emperor Valens. He did, and had significant success in reducing the Arian influence in the capitol. In 381 he presided at the Council of Constantinople, called to conclude the formation of the anti-Arian Nicene Creed first began in 325 shortly before St Gregory's birth. He continued to serve in Constantinople until 382 when he retired, returning to Nazianzus living out his final days in relative quiet before passing away in peace in 391.

St Gregory is known in many quarters as St Gregory the Theologian. This is both to distinguish him from St Gregory of Nyssa, brother to St Basil the Great and also reflects on the importance of his doctrinal statements, many of which remain in extant. He was a well-known orator, having recorded many of his writings. Earlier in his career just after his ordination he wrote an oration discussing the nature of the priestly office. This oration forms the basis of much of the theology of later writers such as St John Chrysostom and St Gregory the Great.

St Gregory begins his oration reflecting that:

But in the case of man, hard as it is for him to learn how to submit to rule, it seems far harder to know how to rule over men, and hardest of all, with this rule of ours, which leads them by the divine law, and to God, for its risk is, in the eyes of a thoughtful man, proportionate to its height and dignity.  For, first of all, he must, like silver or gold, though in general circulation in all kinds of seasons and affairs, never ring false or alloyed, or give token of any inferior matter, needing further refinement in the fire; or else, the wider his rule, the greater evil he will be.  Since the injury which extends to many is greater than that which is confined to a single individual.

In this he reflects on the gravity of the priestly office. That those who are called to it must be above reproach both because they will be examined by others, and also because, through their leadership, a small evil in their own lives may extend that sin to those under his care.

He continues by noting that simply being free of vice is not sufficient call for the office of priest due to its importance:

But granted that a man is free from vice, and has reached the greatest heights of virtue:  I do not see what knowledge or power would justify him in venturing upon this office.  For the guiding of man, the most variable and manifold of creatures, seems to me in very deed to be the art of arts and science of sciences.  Any one may recognize this, by comparing the work of the physician of souls with the treatment of the body; and noticing that, laborious as the latter is, ours is more laborious, and of more consequence, from the nature of its subject matter, the power of its science, and the object of its exercise.

In this, St Gregory begins hinting at the greater divine purpose that underlies the Priesthood. He expounds with a command of language that hints at his enduring popularity. It is also telling that while his primary purpose was an exposition of the Priesthood, St Gregory could not refrain from making a defence of Nicene orthodoxy against Arian heresy when he wrote, “It is necessary neither to be so devoted to the Father, as to rob Him of His Fatherhood, for whose Father would He be, if the Son were separated and estranged from Him, by being ranked with the creation.” He similarly cannot help but highlight the importance of the, “the aid of the Spirit, by Whom alone we are able to perceive, to expound, or to embrace, the truth in regard to God.” His reference here to the Holy Spirit is a reminder also of the second characteristic of his expositions, that of Trinitarianism, and an emphasis on all three persons of the Trinity.

St Gregory the Theologian remains an enduring and foundational father on which much of the theology of the Church today can trace its roots. His influence on several of the other great Doctors, both East and West, solidifies his continued importance, and the blessing in studying his original works.

Wisdom of Saints: St Anselm of Canterbury

The Feast of Anselm, Doctor, Archbishop of Canterbury, 1109

O GOD, who by thy Holy Spirit hast given unto one man a word of wisdom, and to another a word of knowledge, and to another the gift of tongues: We praise thy Name for the gifts of grace manifested in thy servant Anselm, and we pray that thy Church may never be destitute of the same; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 St Anselm is sometimes called the proto-scholastic and the Father of Scholasticism, the first of the scholastic theologians who sought to use reason to understand theology. His work would pave the way for St Thomas Aquinas, whose work was considered to be the pinnacle of medieval scholasticism. While scholasticism has its detractors as it can sometimes lead to extrapolating too far and conclusions in error when attempting to explain divine mysteries, the scholastic movement left a lasting impression on theology in the West, and St Anselm himself made many notable contributions to the scholastic movement.

St Anselm was born in what is modern Italy in the early 1030s. His mother, Ermengerga, taught him piety and a love of learning in his early years. Interestingly, some of these early stories were preserved by a biographer of St Anselm who was able to record some of St Anselm’s early memories. At a young age he entered a nearby Benedictine monastery in order to begin his education. His mother passed away and after a period of mourning, St Anselm began to travel around to different monasteries throughout Europe. He resolved to leave in large part because his father treated him quite harshly, pushing him to leave home. Eventually settling at the Benedictine monastery at Bec in Normandy, St Anselm sought to learn from one of the monks there, Lanfranc, due to his reputation for his spirituality and intellectualism.

St Anselm quickly applied himself under Lanfranc and became Lanfranc’s chief disciple, even sharing in his teaching responsibilities. It was at this time that St Anselm first began to contemplate taking a monastic habit and joining the abbey at Bec. His biographer records that he felt some trepidation over this, fearing his reasons for seeking the habit, so he consulted with Lanfranc and ultimately the local bishop, both of whom encouraged him. He became a monk in 1060, and three years later Lanfranc was appointed Abbot of Caen and St Anselm succeeded him as prior of Bec.

It was during this time as a monk that St Anselm would begin composing some of his most notable works. After serving fifteen years as prior in 1078 he was appointed abbot, a testament to the high regard in which he was held by the other monks of Bec. Finally in 1094 St Anselm was summoned to England, ordained and installed as the Archbishop of Canterbury, owing to his increasing reputation as a theologian, negotiator and stateman.

St Anselm continued to serve as Archbishop of Canterbury, despite the occasional bouts of exile during times of confrontation with various monarchs, until his death in 1109. His biography, The Life of St Anselm, by Eadmer, provides significant insight into his life and his own thoughts—having been interviewed by his biographer and willingly provided details on aspects of his early life missing from many other saints.

While St Anselm had many notable works, it is his theological treatises and his role in the development of scholasticism, the school of though which St Anselm helped to popularize which  sought to apply logic and philosophy to the study and defence of theology. It was St Anselm’s work that laid the foundation for what would become the pinnacle of Christian Scholasticism, St Thomas Aquinas’ Summa Theologica.

This can be seen in some of his earlier, shorter works, such as Cur Deus Homo, usually rendered into English as Why God Became a Man. This work holds to the dialectical style that would become extremely popular with other Scholastic theologians. In it, St Anselm explores numerous questions relating to the incarnation, beginning with a systematic approach that deals not simply with atonement, but also issues of the fall and issues of sufficiency and necessity relating to God’s intervention. The entire work is presented as a dialogue between St Anselm and his opponent, giving the entire work a very neo-platonic feel, but also helping to make some of the theology more accessible to readers than might otherwise have been the case (excepting of course the reality that those who would have been able to read at the time in which Anselm was writing were a select group already).

Many of St Anselm’s works continue to exist today, famously his ontological argument for God from his Proslogium. In the preface, St Anselm writes that:

I began to ask myself whether there might be found a single argument which would require no other for its proof than itself alone; and alone would suffice to demonstrate that God truly exists, and that there is a supreme good requiring nothing else, which all other things require for their existence and well-being; and whatever we believe regarding the divine Being.

This would become the basis for his famous ontological argument, which would draw criticism and praise from many famous theologians and philosophers of his day and for centuries to come. Proslogion is usually rendered into English by the title Discourses on the Existence of God, however his original intended title was Faith Seeking Understanding, and perhaps more accurately represents the theology of his longest lasting influence.

The basis of much of St Anselm’s work, and its popularity, was that it was not self-referential in the sense of requiring readers to accept all previous dogmatic statements as foundational truths before moving on to new arguments. St Anselm often addressed arguments based only on proofs from natural reason, rather than relying on his own dogmatic beliefs.

In the beginning of his Monologium, St Anselm notes:

If any man, either from ignorance or unbelief, has no knowledge of the existence of one Nature which is the highest of all existing beings, which is also sufficient to itself in its eternal blessedness, and which confers upon and effects in all other beings, through its omnipotent goodness, the very fact of their existence, and the fact that in any way their existence is good; and if he has no knowledge of many other things, which we necessarily believe regarding God and his creatures, he still believes that he can at least convince himself of these truths in great part, even if his mental powers are very ordinary, by the force of reason alone.

This approach mirrors the modern apologetic Mere Christianity by CS Lewis which is viewed as being thoroughly accessible because it similarly does not simply rely on the acceptance of previous dogmatic statements, but rather proceeding from a position of faith seeks to apply reason to achieve understanding.

For St Anselm, while engaged in rigorous philosophical arguments, still he believed that faith must hold a place of primacy to guide reason. A statement of his that has become a modern axiom is, “I believe in order that I may understand.” Reason, to St Anselm, was the servant of faith, which must come first in order to guide reason into understanding.

Wisdom of Saints: St Gregory the Great

The Feast of Gregory the Great, Doctor, Bishop of Rome, 604

O GOD, who by thy Holy Spirit hast given unto one man a word of wisdom, and to another a word of knowledge, and to another the gift of tongues: We praise thy Name for the gifts of grace manifested in thy servant Gregory, and we pray that thy Church may never be destitute of the same; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Lent

ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, who hatest nothing that thou hast made, and dost forgive the sins of all them that are penitent: Create and make in us new and contrite hearts, that we worthily lamenting our sins, and acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain of thee, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

St Gregory the Great, also known as St Gregory the Dialogist due to his Dialogues, was the Bishop of Rome in the late 6th century, and played an important role in reconnecting the English Church with the rest of the Western Catholic Church, along with his role in preserving Christianity in Rome itself.

St Gregory was born in Rome around 540 AD to a wealthy and politically influential family. His father, Gordianus, was a Christian and a Roman senator. In his later life, Gordianus would renounce his secular life and become a deacon in Rome. Due to his family’s wealth, St Gregory was afforded a high quality education and in 574, despite being in his mid-thirties, St Gregory was appointed the Prefect of Rome by Emperor Justin the Younger.

His political career was cut short by the death of his father. St Gregory renounced his own political career and began founding a number of monasteries. Six were founded throughout Sicily, and finally in 575 he founded a seventh in Rome itself in his own home, where he took up the monastic habit himself. By 579, he became the personal representative of the Bishop of Rome to the Patriarch of Constantinople where he spent six years. He then returned home only for the Pope to die shortly after his return in 590, and St Gregory was himself elected Pope and installed as the Bishop of Rome.

St Gregory, of many of the Bishops of Rome, was most clearly empowered by the Holy Spirit with the gift of Administration. As pope, he many many revisions to the life of the Western Church, standardizing the liturgy and musical styles with the plainchant which takes its common name of Gregorian Chant from him. He also famously sent St Augustine of Canterbury to Kent on his missionary journey, something St Gregory himself had wanted to do earlier in his life. When St Augustine arrived in 597, he would report back to St Gregory of the existence of the English Church, to which St Gregory famously replied to give the English Church their liberty in local customs (at a time when throughout Western Christendom St Gregory was enforcing uniformity in the liturgy) and to continue to proclaim the Gospel.

The Roman Empire was in significant decline by the time St Gregory became Bishop of Rome, and like several other Popes, he found himself wielding significant political as well as religious authority—with the Pope’s secular political authority helping to increase and solidify his religious authority over time. He defended Rome against various foreign invasions and also co-ordinated relief for Rome in times of plague and famine.

St Gregory the Great was a great writer and theologian, and indeed is counted as one of the four great doctors of the Western Church, along St Augustine of Hippo, St Jerome and St Ambrose of Milan. His lifetime does present an interesting transition point in the life of the Western Church as well, in that St Gregory worked exclusively in Latin. Prior to his lifetime, Greek had remained common in Rome and the West, and was included as an integral part of any form of quality education. Despite the fact that he was emissary to the Bishop of Constantinople for six years, though, there is no clear evidence that St Gregory spoke Greek, and if he did then like St Augustine he refused to use it whenever possible. It is unlikely that St Gregory himself was the reason for the abandonment of Greek in the West, but it does mark his lifetime as an important transition point and point of divergence between the Catholic Church in the East and in the West.

One of Gregory’s famous works is Liber Regulæ Pastoralis (The Book of Pastoral Rule) which provides advice and instruction to priests. It contains a number of eloquent comments on the importance of the role of priests as examples, pastors and shepherds of the faithful. He begins by noting that qualifications are required to become a priest, and that it is not a vocation open to everyone: “No one presumes to teach an art till he has first, with intent meditation, learnt it.  What rashness is it, then, for the unskilful to assume pastoral authority, since the government of souls is the art of arts!” He continues by asserting that even those who are prepared through learning and instruction must still, by example, set forth their teaching before they are truly prepared to be priests:

There are some also who investigate spiritual precepts with cunning care, but what they penetrate with their understanding they trample on in their lives:  all at once they teach the things which not by practice but by study they have learnt; and what in words they preach by their manners they impugn.

He continues on, promoting the humility of priests as necessary for their office. He himself was quite humble and greatly respected the importance of showing humility when in position of authority, to avoid falling into the sin of pride.

In addition to his many theological works, many of his letters remain in existence, including his correpondence with the Eastern Patriarchs. Of particular note is one of his letters to Eulogius, the Bishop and Greek Patriarch of Alexandria from 581 to 608 AD. In his letter, St Gregory writes:

Your Blessedness has also been careful to declare that you do not now make use of proud titles, which have sprung from a root of vanity, in writing to certain persons, and you address me saying, “As you have commanded.” This word, “command,” I beg you to remove from my hearing, since I know who I am, and who you are. For in position you are my brethren, in character my fathers. I did not, then, command, but was desirous of indicating what seemed to be profitable.

St Gregory here seems to be declaring his equality with the Patriarch of Alexandria, something which the Bishop of Rome in the future would deny, when claiming universal jurisdiction over all Christendom. When the Patriarch responded to a previous comment of St Gregory saying St Gregory had commanded him to say something, St Gregory responds that he in no way meant the Patriarch to understand his comments as anything more than a suggestion for he considers them equal. St Gregory makes this even more explicit as he continues in his response, commenting on the fact that in his last letter, Eulogius had addressed St Gregory as the Universal Pope:

But I beg your most sweet Holiness to do this no more, since what is given to another beyond what reason demands is subtracted from yourself. For as for me, I do not seek to be prospered by words but by my conduct. Nor do I regard that as an honour whereby I know that my brethren lose their honour. For my honour is the honour of the universal Church: my honour is the solid vigour of my brethren. Then am I truly honoured when the honour due to all and each is not denied them. For if your Holiness calls me Universal Pope, you deny that you are yourself what you call me universally. But far be this from us. Away with words that inflate vanity and wound charity.

Here he specifically rejects the idea of the universality of his jurisdiction, and indeed continues to affirm equality with the Patriarch of Alexandria. These comments were consistent with comments he had made previously in his correspondence both with Eulogius and also with the Patriarch of Antioch, where St Gregory had recognized the fact that St Peter the Apostle had directly founded the See of Antioch, and ascribed his leadership to the See of Alexandria through St Mark the Evangelist whose Gospel was written on behalf of St Peter, when he remarks in the closing of one of his letters to Eulogius, “We have received with the kindliness wherewith it was sent the blessing of Saint Mark the Evangelist, nay, it may be said more truly, of Saint Peter the Apostle.”

St Gregory’s impact was great, but perhaps his most important contribution is a reminder that even, or especially, priests ought to shy from vanity and pride, and focus instead on holiness of living as an example to their people by which they may learn.

The Wisdom of Saints: George Herbert

The Feast of George Herbert, Pastor and Poet, 1633

O GOD, who by thy Holy Spirit hast given unto one man a word of wisdom, and to another a word of knowledge, and to another the gift of tongues: We praise thy Name for the gifts of grace manifested in thy servant George, and we pray that thy Church may never be destitute of the same; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

While many Christian saints are remembered for their contributions to theology or as martyrs and confessors who stood up to persecution of Christianity, some are commemorated in honour of the extraordinary gifts and talents they received from God and exercised for his glory. George Herbert is one of these saints, being noted chiefly not as a priest but as a poet, whose prose has stirred the hearts of Christians now for centuries, inspiring other Christian writers including notably TS Eliot.

George Herbert was born in Wales in April of 1593, the son of Richard and Magdalen Newport Herbert. His parents were aristocratic and wealthy, able to provide him with an excellent education, despite being the fifth child born to them. His father died in 1597, when he was only three years old, but this did not prevent his mother from sending him—and his brothers—to Westminster School and in 1609 George was admitted to Trinity College at Cambridge University with the intention of eventually entering into Holy Orders as priest in the Church of England.
Early in his studies, evidence of his developing poetic talents and love of God survive in the form of his first recorded sonnets from 1610 which he sent to his mother. Both presented the idea that poetry was meant for expressing the love of God and not the love of women. Two years later in 1612 his first works were published, poetry commemorating Prince Henry upon his death.

He obtained his BA In 1613 and MA in 1616, and elected to continue on at Cambridge as a fellow at Trinity College. He continued to develop his oratory and poetry and in 1618 he was appointed Reader in Rhetoric at Cambridge, and then again two years later as the Public Orator, the person responsible for conveying the sentiments of the University to the King.

This seemed to forestall his possible call to Holy Orders and indeed he was subsequently elected to Parliament as the MP for Montgomery. His status as an MP and public orator led to speculation he could well be selected as Secretary of State. In 1627 his mother died, and some of his patrons, including King James I with whom George had found favour, also died. These setbacks may have contributed to his decision to abandon the secular life and return to his original goal of pursuing Holy Orders.

In 1629 he was ordained a priest. He was appointed rector at a small rural parish and he began a career of preaching and writing poetry. His career was relatively short-lived as he passed away in 1633 of consumption, however during this period he still managed a prolific and influential portfolio of poetry.

His works are viewed as being technically influential and unique in the era, and his subjects often were influenced both by his Christianity but also specifically by his Anglican context.

He wrote on many subjects. Displaying his Anglican influence is the poem Even-Song and The British Church. He wrote on prayer, Scripture and on Love. One of his more famous works, Love (III) which presents love as God:

Love bade me welcome, yet my soul drew back,
        Guilty of dust and sin.
But quick-ey'd Love, observing me grow slack
        From my first entrance in,
Drew nearer to me, sweetly questioning
        If I lack'd anything.

“A guest,” I answer’d, “worthy to be here”;
        Love said, “You shall be he.”
“I, the unkind, the ungrateful? ah my dear,
        I cannot look on thee.”
Love took my hand and smiling did reply,
        “Who made the eyes but I?”

“Truth, Lord, but I have marr’d them; let my shame
        Go where it doth deserve.”
“And know you not,” says Love, “who bore the blame?”
        “My dear, then I will serve.”
“You must sit down,” says Love, “and taste my meat.”
        So I did sit and eat. 

The poem illustrates a number of themes. From man’s sinfulness to God’s repeated calling to us to return, repent and feast with him. It captures the shame and distance felt between created and creator, and the creator’s loving desire to reconcile us all to himself.

George’s poem Colossians 3. III is based on Col 3. 3b: “your life is hidden with Christ in God,” and expresses that indwelled identity:

MY words and thoughts do both express this notion,
That LIFE hath with the sun a double motion.
The first IS straight, and our diurnal friend :
The other HID, and doth obliquely bend.
One life is wrapt IN flesh, and tends to earth ;
The other winds t’wards HIM whose happy birth
Taught me to live here so THAT still one eye
Should aim and shoot at that which IS on high—
Quitting with daily labour all MY pleasure,
To gain at harvest an eternal TREASURE. 

God graced George Herbert with a skill for language, and in loving devotion to him who he recognized as imparting that gift, George devoted his considerable talents to honouring God in a way that has inspired many through their simple reading and also inspired others to follow on in similar techniques. He is a testament to the right-use of God-gifted talents and abilities.

Wisdom of Saints: St Hilary of Poitiers

The Feast of Hilary of Poitiers, Doctor, Bishop of Poitiers, France, 368

O GOD, who by thy Holy Spirit hast given unto one man a word of wisdom, and to another a word of knowledge, and to another the gift of tongues: We praise thy Name for the gifts of grace manifested in thy servant N., and we pray that thy Church may never be destitute of the same; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Octave Day of the The Epiphany of our Lord

O GOD, who by the leading of a star didst manifest thy only-begotten Son to the Gentiles: Mercifully grant, that we, who know thee now by faith, may be led onward through this earthly life, until we see the vision of thy heavenly glory; through the same thy Son Jesus Christ, who with thee and the Holy Ghost liveth and reigneth, one God, world without end. Amen.

St Hilary of Poitiers was an influential Christian and bishop of the 4th century who was among many prominent Christians of the age who opposed the Arian heresy which swept throughout the Christian world. While St Athanasius the Great is considered the foremost opponent of Arianism and defender of Nicene Christian orthodoxy, St Hilary is widely viewed as the most prominent defender of orthodoxy in the Christian West.

He was born at the start of the 4th century in the city of Poitiers in France, then a Roman province. His parents were noble and while his exact date of birth is unknown, it is likely he was born prior to the 313 Edict of Milan which legalized Christianity throughout the Empire, and was thus raised a pagan. Due to his family’s prominence, he was able to receive a strong education. Over the course his early life he ultimately chose to study the Holy Scriptures. St Hilary had been searching throughout his studies

He was convinced of their truth and abandoned his pagan upbringing, was Baptised and ultimately admitted to Holy Orders in the late 340s. By 353 he was elected Bishop of Poitiers with unanimous support.

St Hilary became bishop at a difficult time for the Church in France, however. Arianism had taken firm root there, and the Emperor, Constantius II, was himself Arian. St Hilary immediately took to defending orthodoxy, both in writing on orthodox belief and challenging the power of Arian bishops in Gaul. The key to St Hilary’s downfall, at least in the minds of his Arian opponents, came when he refused to sign a condemnation of Athanasius the Great in 356. He himself was ordered into exile by the Emperor, and sent to Phrygia in modern day Turkey.

He participated in the Council of Seleucia in 359 which had been called between disputing Arian factions, the Semi-Arians, who favoured reconciliation with Nicene Christians, and the Anomeans, who, with the support of the Emperor, sought to persecute and repress Nicene Christianity completely. St Hilary found limited support among the semi-Arians who thought he might perhaps be a bridge between them and Nicene Christianity, however St Hilary stood firm in his orthodoxy, even leaving Phrygia for Constantinople and the heart of Arianism in the East. Tiring of his constant challenging of their doctrine, the more extreme Arians petitioned the Emperor to have St Hilary restored to his diocese in the West, if for no other reason than to remove him and his ideas from their presence in the East.

St Hilary, the, “sower of discord and disturber of the Orient,” as Sulpicius Severus records it, was ordered home and he made the best of his journey preaching against Arianism in Greece and Italy before finally returning in triumph to Poitiers in 361. In that same year, the Emperor died, ending the persecution of Nicene Christians.

St Hilary remained in Poitiers for the remainder of his life, but continued to fight against Arianism and made a number of other lasting contributions to Christianity. Also in 361, with the encouragement of St Hilary, St Martin of Tours founded Liguge Abbey within the diocese of Poitiers. One notable exception to his remanining in Potiers was in 364  when he travelled to Milan where he attacked the Arian bishop Auxentius, predecessor to St Ambrose of Milan. Auxentius was defended by Emperor Valentinian, however, who ordered St Hilary to leave Milan and return to Poitiers, where he eventually died in 368.

St Hilary had many notable writings, but one of the most important is his treatise on the Trinity, which, much like St Athanasius in the East, was an anti-Arian defence of Nicene, trinitarian Christianity. Written shortly before his return to Poitiers in 361, On the Trinity contains many notable passages.

St Hilary expounded greatly on the majesty and infiniteness of God, saying:

We are well aware that neither the speech of men nor the analogy of human nature can give us a full insight into the things of God. The ineffable cannot submit to the bounds and limits of definition; that which is spiritual is distinct from every class or instance of bodily things. Yet, since our subject is that of heavenly natures, we must employ ordinary natures and ordinary speech as our means of expressing what our mind apprehends; a means no doubt unworthy of the majesty of God, but forced upon us by feebleness of our intellect, which can use only our own circumstances and our own words to convey to others our perceptions and our conclusions. [4:2]

For all that, St Hilary had already referenced his own spiritual development, and how sublime he found the description of God in Exodus, something which drew him towards Christianity when he first stumbled upon it, and he writes, “For such an indication of God’s infinity the words ‘I Am that I Am’ were clearly adequate.” [1:6]

For St Hilary, Holy Scripture was the root of all Christian belief. Indeed, some of his desire to reconcile Arians to true faith was due to his firm belief that their error was not of faith or piety, but of interpretation, and if they could be convinced of the error of their understanding of the Scriptures they could be restored to orthodox belief. In his first book, he explains,

“My prime object is by the clear assertions of prophets and evangelists to refute the insanity and ignorance of men who use the unity of God (in itself a pious and profitable confession) as a cloak for their denial either that in Christ God was born, or else that He is very God.” [1:17]

It is his supreme dedication to the Word of God, his unfailing commitment to orthodoxy, even in the face of exile, that make St Hilary a Saint of the Church worthy of commemoration, just as the orthodoxy of his own writings make him worthy of study to this day.

Wisdom of Saints: St Clement of Alexandria

Feast of Clement of Alexandria, Doctor, c. 210

O GOD, who by thy Holy Spirit hast given unto one man a word of wisdom, and to another a word of knowledge, and to another the gift of tongues: We praise thy Name for the gifts of grace manifested in thy servant Clement, and we pray that thy Church may never be destitute of the same; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Feast of Clement of Alexandria, Doctor, c. 210
O GOD, who by thy Holy Spirit hast given unto one man a word of wisdom, and to another a word of knowledge, and to another the gift of tongues: We praise thy Name for the gifts of grace manifested in thy servant Clement, and we pray that thy Church may never be destitute of the same; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

St Clement of Alexandria is another Father for whom there is little concrete evidence of his early life, however a number of his writings continue to exist and his apologies and legacy as a teacher at the catechetical school of Alexandria have left a continues impact on Christianity. Perhaps one of his greatest impacts is on perhaps his most famous pupil, Origen, one of the most prolific writers in the early Church.

The 4th century bishop Epiphanius wrote that St Clement was born to a pagan family in Athens around the year 150. This correlates to assumptions made by numerous others who have examined his work and make the claim that his command of the Greek language suggests an Athenian origin and education. All of this, however, remains supposition.

His parents were likely quite wealthy as he received the best possible education. As a part of that education he travelled considerably. He, much like a later Egyptian bishop St Augustine of Hippo, travelled because he was seeking higher instruction and knowledge. He learned from numerous different masters, the final of which was Pantaenus of Alexandria who converted St Clement to Christianity. Pantaenus was a stoic philosopher who had converted to Christianity and is the first recorded president of the Christian catechetical school of Alexandria. St Clement would become the second when he succeeded his mentor around 180.

It was during this time when he settled in Alexandria that he began to write his Christian works. Apologies and discourses that gained him some notoriety as Christian theologian and apologist. Much of his lasting influence stems from his position at the Alexandrian school, developing its school of thought which was passed on to a number of notable students and became influential throughout the Early Church.

Perhaps the person most influenced by St Clement’s teachings was Origin, one of the most prolific Christian writers of all time. While not all of Origen’s works survive, the many that do show a clear influence from St Clement’s works which also survive.

St Clement lived in the age prior to the legitimization of Christianity, that period between the first and fourth centuries when the Church faced numerous waves of persecution by the Roman authorities. At the start of the 3rd century during the persecution of Septimius Severus, he sought refuge with Alexander of Jerusalem, then Bishop of Flaviada in Cappadocia. After his departure, St Clement lived out the remainder of his life outside of Egypt, never again returning to Alexandria. He died c.210, though the exact details of his death are unknown, but a martyr’s death was never reported.

Many of St Clement’s works remain and perhaps his most famous are the trilogy of the Protrepticus (Exhortation), Paedagogus (Instruction) and Stromata (Miscellaneous). This trilogy provides an outline of St Clement’s theology, which sought to unite the Greek pagan philosophy of his youth with Christianity. It contains a number of beautiful passages and theological observations that make it well worth consulting nearly 2,000 after St Clement first wrote it.

In the opening of his exhortation, he began by criticizing Greek mythology. Over the centuries the Greeks had become somewhat embarrassed by their own mythology, in particular by the pettiness of their gods. They sought to interpret their mythology not in literal, but in spiritual terms. In Greek philosophy, this interpretation was further bolstered by the idea that the physical world is inherently corrupt and only the spiritual world can be pure, thus a more literal interpretation of any text or philosophy would be viewed with scepticism by the Greek mind.

This led to a criticism of the Hebrew Scriptures by the Greeks. To them, the stories, interpreted literally, were laughable and of a very low level of understanding. In his opening chapter of his exhortation to the Greeks, St Clement points out that much of their criticism stems from an enforced interpretation of the Scriptures, including now the writings of the Apostles which would ultimately be canonized in the New Testament, that they no longer apply to their own mythologies to which they contrast the Scriptures. After discussing two famous Greek minstrels who vanquished their foes simply with the power of their music, St Clement asks, “How, let me ask, have you believed vain fables and supposed animals to be charmed by music; while Truth’s shining face alone, as would seem, appears to you disguised, and is looked on with incredulous eyes?”

He continues, noting that the subject matter of Greek myth often involves tragedy, whether due to the capriciousness of the Gods or due to the character failings of the hero. “For me, I am pained at such calamities as form the subjects of tragedy, though but myths; but by you the records of miseries are turned into dramatic compositions.” In his argument, he wonders at how this is to be celebrated, and how even when examined through a spiritual interpretation the Greek tragedies to which they are holding do not provide a good example of life to live up to. He continues contrasting that with God revealed in Scripture:

But let us bring from above out of heaven, Truth, with Wisdom in all its brightness, and the sacred prophetic choir, down to the holy mount of God; and let Truth, darting her light to the most distant points, cast her rays all around on those that are involved in darkness, and deliver men from delusion, stretching out her very strong right hand, which is wisdom, for their salvation.

In contrast to the dourness of the Greek tragedies, Holy Scripture promises God’s truth and wisdom. Where the tragedies seem to idolize crime, excess and human woe, the Scriptures promise salvation.

In his second book, he opens by defining the titular instructor, saying:

The Instructor being practical, not theoretical, His aim is thus to improve the soul, not to teach, and to train it up to a virtuous, not to an intellectual life… For the word which, in matters of doctrine, explains and reveals, is that whose province it is to teach. But our Educator being practical, first exhorts to the attainment of right dispositions and character, and then persuades us to the energetic practice of our duties, enjoining on us pure commandments, and exhibiting to such as come after representations of those who formerly wandered in error.

See how he stresses not merely teaching the Scriptures, but rather teaching holiness, and not simply through explicating the principles revealed through Scripture, but also by example of holy living. From this foundation, he establishes broad guidelines not merely for the instructor, but also students, when he explains that both men and women are equally deserving and in need of instruction:

the virtue of man and woman is the same. For if the God of both is one, the master of both is also one; one church, one temperance, one modesty; their food is common, marriage an equal yoke; respiration, sight, hearing, knowledge, hope, obedience, love all alike. And those whose life is common, have common graces and a common salvation; common to them are love and training. “For in this world,” he says, “they marry, and are given in marriage,” in which alone the female is distinguished from the male; “but in that world it is so no more.”

After speaking extensively over three volumes he provides a brilliantly simple conclusion when he writes, “All that remains therefore now, in such a celebration of the Word as this, is that we address to the Word our prayer.” Once we have come to knowledge of Christ, through instruction, then all that is left is to pray to him.

St Clement’s wisdom is easily apparent when reading through his works, and his thoughts influenced the course of Christian exegesis, encouraging countless Fathers of the Church to explore the spiritual meaning of Holy Scripture with the same diligence and zeal as displayed by St Clement.

Wisdom of Saints: St Hilda of Whitby

Feast of Hilda, Abbess of Whitby, 680

O GOD Most High, the creator of all mankind, we bless thy holy Name for the virtue and grace which thou hast given unto holy women in all ages, especially thy servant Hilda; and we pray that the example of her faith and purity, and courage unto death, may inspire many souls in this generation to look unto thee, and to follow thy blessed Son Jesus Christ our Saviour; who with thee and the Holy Spirit liveth and reigneth, one God, world without end. Amen.

Details of St Hilda’s life are few and far between, with most of the account coming from St Bede’s history of the English Church in which he devotes a chapter to her life (Book 4, Chapter 23). Her story is notable for her piety, devotion to Scripture, her wisdom and role in the Synod at Whitby and finally by virtue of the fact that as a woman she retained the respect and influence that she did in seventh century Christendom.

St Hilda was born in 614 in Northumbria in England. Her father was Prince Hereric of Deira and her mother Lady Bregswith. Her father was the nephew of King Edwin of Northumbria. Born pagan, King Edwin was converted to Christianity around 627 and the royal household followed suit, with St Hilda being baptised that year at the age of thirteen.

While there is justifiable scepticism over whether or not someone has truly come to faith when they are converted to Christianity as the result of a monarch of head of their household being converted, St Hilda demonstrated throughout her life a profound commitment to Christ, and deep wisdom that comes from God (Jas 1. 5; 3. 17). St Bede records that when Hilda was still young and at a point when they were living in exile under Cedric, king of the Britons, her mother, Lady Bregswith, had a dream in which her husband, Hereric, was taken away from her and she was searching for him. No matter where she looked, she couldn’t find him. Finally she found a necklace and as she examined it the necklace blazed with bright light that filled all Britain with its brilliance. The dream is considered prophetic of St Hilda’s life, as her love of Christ, the wisdom she gave and the exemplar life she lived shone forth Christ’s light throughout Britain.

While she is viewed as having a devout and chaste youth, it wasn’t until she had reached maturity that she became determined to fully dedicate her life to Christ. At the age of 33, St Hilda chose the consecrated life, having become a nun in the Benedictine order. She had originally sought to travel to the continent. St Bede describes her determination, saying she sought, “to live an exile for our Lord’s sake… so that she might the more easily attain her eternal heavenly home.” St Bede goes on to record that St Aidan of Lindisfarne, known as the Apostle of Northumbria due to his missionary work throughout Northumbria, called on St Hilda to establish monasteries in Northumbria rather than simply living abroad. While himself a bishop, St Aidan was firmly rooted in the monastic Celtic traditions which had Christianised Britain from Iona in the north, rather than in the Roman tradition which had begun at Canterbury in the south.

St Hilda remained in Northumbria, and her noble upbringing aided in her establishment of a number of successful monasteries throughout the region. She was first made Abbess of the monastery called Heruteu (modern Hartlepool). There she earned an even greater reputation for piety and devotion to God. While she herself was Benedictine, she organized the monsastery using the traditions of St Columba and the Rule of the Irish Church. After some time as Abbess there, she established a new double monastery called Streanaeshalch, known more commonly as Whitby in 657. It was established under the same strict disciplines and Rule of Life as her previous monastery had been governed, but in this case the double monastery provided both for monks and nuns. Hilda as Abbess was considered both just, fair and wise, and as her reputation, particularly for wisdom, grew she began to be sought out for counsel by all manner of people, from bishops to kings.

She was extremely devoted to the study of Holy Scripture—a notable commonality among many of the wisest of saints—and it should be no surprise that no less than five of the monks who entered her monastery would eventually go on to ordination and consecration as bishops.

It should be noted that as an Abbess in the Celtic tradition, she was the supreme authority in the area, above even the bishops. This historical development stemmed from the missionary reality that bishops were based in cities which were connected by roads, whereas when St Patrick arrived in Ireland there were no cities or roads and so it was the monasteries that he formed which became central to the administration and maintenance of faith. When St Columba brought to the faith to Iona, that monastic-based form of Christianity began to spread throughout Britain, and was the tradition in which St Hilda had been raised.

This placed St Hilda in an important position when her monastery played host to the Synod at Whitby in 664, a synod convened to seek to determine the future of the Church in the region and whether it would continue in the Celtic tradition or would seek to adopt the more Roman styled Christianity which had arrived in Kent. St Hilda herself was a supporter of her own tradition, though the Synod ultimately sided with Rome.

In 673 and for the remainder of her life, she was afflicted with a painful illness. St Bede described it, saying God gave:

her holy soul the trial of a long infirmity of the flesh, to the end that, according to the Apostle’s example, her virtue might be made perfect in weakness. Struck down with a fever, she suffered from a burning heat, and was afflicted with the same trouble for six years continually; during all which time she never failed either to return thanks to her Maker, or publicly and privately to instruct the flock committed to her charge; for taught by her own experience she admonished all men to serve the Lord dutifully, when health of body is granted to them, and always to return thanks faithfully to Him in adversity, or bodily infirmity.

Her ability to endure and rejoice in suffering and her continued faith and rejoicing in the midst of great physical pain was an example to many, and again helped to bring many to faith in Christ by her example.

St Hilda was a patron of the arts and writing, beyond promoting learning, particularly study of the Scriptures, and some of the only words of her own in existance are a poem attributed to her, which if not written by the saint herself, certainly exemplifies her faith and teachings:

Trade with the gifts God has given you.
Bend your minds to holy learning,
that you may escape the fretting moth of
littleness of mind that would wear out your souls.

Brace your wills to action
that they may not be the spoils of weak desires.

Train your hearts and lips to song
which gives courage to the soul.
Being buffeted by trials, learn to laugh.
Being reproved, give thanks.
Having failed, determine to succeed.

Wisdom of Saints: Nicholas Ridley

Feast of Nicholas Ridley Bishop, Martyr, 1555

ALMIGHTY God, by whose grace and power thy Martyr Cyprian was enabled to witness to the truth and to be faithful unto death: Grant that we, who now remember him before thee, may likewise so bear witness unto thee in this world, that we may receive with him the crown of glory that fadeth not away; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with thee and the Holy Spirit liveth and reigneth, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Nicholas Ridley is a great example of one of the Anglican Reformers and martyrs, and also highlights the fact that just because someone is venerated by the Church it doesn't mean that absolutely everything they said was true and that we are not called to test their teachings to ensure orthodoxy.

Born in the early 16th century to a wealthy Christian family, Nicholas received an excellent education. At college, he likely met many of his contemporary reformers such as Thomas Cranmer and Hugh Latimer. The early 16th century, even before the Continental Reformation began, was building towards it, particularly among academic theological circles, and Ridley was among the reform-minded students of his day. He was ordained a priest in 1525 after obtaining his Master’s degree from Cambridge. He spent some time furthering his education in Parish and returned to Cambridge in 1530 where he began to teach, also becoming the Chaplain of Cambridge University in 1534.

With some measure of seniority and authority, in 1534 he wrote against Papal Supremacy, declaring that the Bishop of Rome had no more authority in the realm of England than any other foreign bishop. His reform-mindedness and possibly having earlier caught the eye of Thomas Cranmer, now Archbishop of Canterbury, Ridley was appointed by Cranmer as one of his chaplains. His career advanced more rapidly and after a number of additional appointments he was made chaplain to King Henry VIII.

This in fact caused him some problems. Ridley’s reform-mindedness brought him into some degree of contention with King Henry VIII who, while rejecting the Bishop of Rome’s jurisdiction over England, did not reject the Catholic faith as it had been received, nor did he accept arguments of any errors in doctrine being promoted by the Church of the West. In 1543 he was accused of heresy, in particular that while vicar of Herne Church he had called for the Te Deum to be sung in English rather than Latin, that he had spoken against the efficacy of private confession and also that he had condemned some of the Church’s ceremonies. Ridley had already by this point obtained a reputation for oratory and when he was examined by the King’s royal commissioners, he managed to defend and acquit himself of the charges.

Cranmer continued to defend Ridley and offered him promotion until his eventual appointment as Bishop of Rochester. By this point in 1547 Henry VIII had died and Edward VI had been crowned king. During his regency, reform of the Church was the order of the day and Ridley’s views found favour. When he was installed as Bishop, he ordered that all the altars in his diocese be removed and replaced with simple tables. In 1548 he began helping Thomas Cranmer with assembling and editing the Book of Common Prayer.

He was translated to the see of London in 1550 after the previous year having been part of the commission that had removed the previous Bishop of London, Edmund Bonner, who had come into conflict with the Crown over the question of supremacy and jurisdiction due to growing concerns over the effect of Royal Supremacy.

Ridley similarly made his own mistake when in 1553 he supported the succesion of Lady Jane Grey to the throne over princesses Mary or Elizabeth. When Queen Mary took the throne, he sought her out to beg her pardon but was promptly arrested and imprisoned. In 1554 he, along with Hugh Latimer and Thomas Cranmer, were sent to Oxford to stand trial for heresy and were convicted, and sentenced to continued incarceration.

New laws were passed making heresy a capital offence, and Latimer and Ridley were both again summoned for trials under this new crime. Both were convicted and sentenced to death. October 16th 1555, alongside Hugh Latimer, another of the English Reformers, he was put to death by burning at the stake in Oxford. Many others were put to death in this period, which is known as the Marian Persecutions.

He is notable for his contribution to the Book of Common Prayer, the 42 Articles of Religion which would later be edited into the 39 Articles of Religion during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. While his works are not without error, there can be found no fault in his traditional use of Anglican theology. He looked to Holy Scripture and he looked to the Fathers for interpretation.

When questioned in his final heresy trial on his views towards the Real Presence, his response was to cite a ninth century monk, whom he said, “pulled me by the ear, and that first brought me from the common error of the Romish church, and caused me to search more diligently and exactly both the Scriptures and the writings of the old ecclesiastical fathers in this matter.” In that same heresy trial he would later quote St Augustine of Hippo saying, “For Christ to be corporally here on earth, when corporally he is resident in heaven, is clean contrary to the holy Scriptures, as Augustine saith: ‘The body of Christ is in heaven: but his truth is dispersed in every place.’”

His refusal to recant showed a conviction of his faith, rooted in the Scriptures and writings of the Fathers, which influences many traditionalist Anglicans today and which was, in his day, at the very heart of the English Reformation. When it is claimed that the goal of the English Reformation was to restore the Church in the realm of England to the faith, order and tradition of the Early Church under the authority of Holy Scripture, it is to the works of men like Ridley that we can point and show proof of the point.

Wisdom of Saints: St Cyprian of Carthage

Feast of Cyprian, Doctor, Bishop of Carthage, Martyr, 258

ALMIGHTY God, by whose grace and power thy Martyr Cyprian was enabled to witness to the truth and to be faithful unto death: Grant that we, who now remember him before thee, may likewise so bear witness unto thee in this world, that we may receive with him the crown of glory that fadeth not away; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with thee and the Holy Spirit liveth and reigneth, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Like many of the early Christian saints, there are few details of St Cyprian’s childhood and early life prior to his conversion to Christianity, despite the fact that many of his written works remain. St Cyprian of Carthage was born around 200 AD to a wealthy pagan family in Carthage. He received a classical education at the school of Carthage which allowed him to become a lawyer and rhetor, a profession at which he excelled and would greatly aid him as a priest later in life.

Around 245 AD he was converted to Christianity under the influence of a local priest, and was baptised. Prior to his baptism, he donated half of his family’s wealth to the poor In his epistle To Donatus, he describes his baptism writing:

While I was still lying in darkness and gloomy night, wavering hither and thither, tossed about on the foam of this boastful age, and uncertain of my wandering steps, knowing nothing of my real life, and remote from truth and light, I used to regard it as a difficult matter, and especially as difficult in respect of my character at that time, that a man should be capable of being born again—a truth which the divine mercy had announced for my salvation,—and that a man quickened to a new life in the laver of saving water should be able to put off what he had previously been; and, although retaining all his bodily structure, should be himself changed in heart and soul.

His writings show how he quickly began to apply his keen mind towards the learning of Christian doctrine and theology, and was soon after ordained as a priest. He was greatly influenced by the writings of Tertullian. When Bishop Donatus of Carthage died in 248, St Cyprian was selected to replace him as bishop.

St Cyprian lived prior to the legalization of Christianity, and indeed became Bishop just prior to the start of the Decian persecution in January of 250, in which Christians were effectively forced to renounce Christ or be killed. It was during this same persecution that St Cyprian’s contemporary Origen was tortured, and died a few years after the persecution ended due to injuries suffered in his incarceration. St Cyprian himself avoided capture during the persecution by fleeing the city of Carthage, a decision which evoked some controversy. The Decian persecution did not last long, as persecutions ordered by Roman emperors ended upon their death, and Emperor Decius died in June of 251.

In the aftermath of the persecution there was great controversy. Emperor Decius had required everyone to sacrifice to him as a god or face torture. In doing so, the person would receive what was called a libellus to prove their sacrifice. Some Christians, out of fear or after torture, would sacrifice to the Emperor and received theirs. Others bribed officials in order to receive a libellus without making sacrifice. St Cyprian determined that such Christians who had lapsed during the persecution could be re-admitted to the Church, but only after performing penance, and in so doing recognizing their error, and with the permission of the bishop.

The controversy that arose over opposition to his rules led him to pen one of his most celebrated works, his treatise On the Unity of the Church. He addressed in this case the specific issue of priests and others rebelling against him, but provides sound advice for the necessity of unity of all Christians by first referring to unity of the Church in Holy Scripture and then writes:

Does he who does not hold this unity of the Church think that he holds the faith? Does he who strives against and resists the Church trust that he is in the Church, when moreover the blessed Apostle Paul teaches the same thing, and sets forth the sacrament of unity, saying, “There is one body and one spirit, one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God?”
The Church also is one, which is spread abroad far and wide into a multitude by an increase of fruitfulness. As there are many rays of the sun, but one light; and many branches of a tree, but one strength based in its tenacious root; and since from one spring flow many streams, although the multiplicity seems diffused in the liberality of an overflowing abundance, yet the unity is still preserved in the source.  Separate a ray of the sun from its body of light, its unity does not allow a division of light; break a branch from a tree,—when broken, it will not be able to bud; cut off the stream from its fountain, and that which is cut off dries up. Thus also the Church, shone over with the light of the Lord, sheds forth her rays over the whole world, yet it is one light which is everywhere diffused, nor is the unity of the body separated. Her fruitful abundance spreads her branches over the whole world. She broadly expands her rivers, liberally flowing, yet her head is one, her source one; and she is one mother, plentiful in the results of fruitfulness: from her womb we are born, by her milk we are nourished, by her spirit we are animated.

This emphasis on the unity of the Church, throughout Scripture and through the traditions of the Church speaks to his status as an exegete and echoes a message through the centuries which remains ever relevant today in the age of countless schisms.

St Cyprian lived through the various plagues that hit Carthage, before Emperor Valerian came to the throne. Understanding that a new persecution was about to begin, he wrote his Exhortation to Martyrdom which was meant to encourage Christians to stand firm in their faith. Again he emphasizes Holy Scripture in his writing, and writes from multiple perspectives and arguments on the virtues and benefits of holding firm in our faith. He concludes in the thirteenth chapter discussing suffering and the rewards for it, recalling St Paul’s statements on suffering before concluding:

Who, then, does not with all his powers labour to attain to such a glory that he may become the friend of God, that he may at once rejoice with Christ, that after earthly tortures and punishments he may receive divine rewards? If to soldiers of this world it is glorious to return in triumph to their country when the foe is vanquished, how much more excellent and greater is the glory, when the devil is overcome, to return in triumph to paradise, and to bring back victorious trophies to that place whence Adam was ejected as a sinner, after casting down him who formerly had cast him down; to offer to God the most acceptable gift—an uncorrupted faith, and an unyielding virtue of mind, an illustrious praise of devotion; to accompany Him when He shall come to receive vengeance from His enemies, to stand at His side when He shall sit to judge, to become co-heir of Christ, to be made equal to the angels; with the patriarchs, with the apostles, with the prophets, to rejoice in the possession of the heavenly kingdom!

In 257, Emperor Valerian began a new persecution ordering all Christian clergy to sacrifice to nobility or face exile. St Cyprian refused and was exiled from Carthage. In 258 the persecution was extended to all Christian nobility as well as clergy. Clergy faced execution while the nobility faced loss of titles, property and freedom. St Cyprian voluntarily returned to Carthage to confess his faith and face martyrdom. He was sentenced to death and beheaded in 258.

NB. The Feast of Cyprian is commemorated on 13 September, but as that fell on Sunday, the feast is transferred to a ferial day.