Pope Dioscorus
+ On the seventh day of the blessed
month of Tute of the year 451 A.D., departed the blessed father and the
great hero of the Orthodox faith, Pope Saint Dioscorus, the twenty
fifth Pope of Alexandria. His departure took
place on the island of Gagra, after he had fought a good fight defending
the Orthodox faith.
+ When he was summoned to the council
of Chalcedon by the order of Emperor Marcianus, he saw a great assembly
of six hundred and thirty bishops. Pope Saint Dioscorus said, "In
whom is faith lacking that it is necessary to gather this great assembly?"
They told him, "This
assembly has been convened by the emperor's command."
He replied, "If this assembly has been
convened by the command of our Lord Jesus Christ, I may stay and say
what God gives me to say; but if this assembly has been convened by the
emperor's command, let the emperor manage his assembly as he pleases."
When he saw that Leo the Archbishop of Rome was teaching that Christ has
two natures and two wills after His unity, he spoke to confute this new
beleif. He stated that our Lord Jesus Christ is one, He who was invited
to the wedding as a man and changed the water into wine as a God, and that
the two natures were not seperate in all of His works. Quoting his predessor Pope Cyril I, the Pillar of Faith,
he said, "The union of the Word of God
with the flesh is like the union of the spirit with the body, and like
the union of the fire with iron: even if they are of two different natures,
by unity they became one. Similarly, our Lord Jesus Christ is one Messiah,
one Nature, and one Will." None of those
who were gathered at that assembly dared to contradict him. Among them
were some who attended the Council of Ephesus, which had been convened
against Nestor. They informed the Emperor Marcianus and the Empress Policaria
that no one disobeyed their commands concerning the faith except for Pope Saint Dioscorus
the Pope of the City of Alexandria. They brought him, and the senior
bishops of the Council debated and discussed the matter till it was evening,
but St. Dioscorus would not deviate from his Orthodox belief.
+ The emperor and the empress were
irritated at this, and the empress commanded to smite him on his mouth,
and to pluck out the hair of his beard, which was done. He took the hair
and the teeth that had dropped out, and sent them to Alexandria saying,
"This is the fruit of Faith." When
the rest of the bishops saw what had happened to Pope Saint Dioscorus, they agreed
with the king, being afraid of undergoing the same fate. They signed the
document of the belief that Christ has two distinct and seperate natures.
When Pope St. Dioscorus knew this, he sent for the document pretending that
he wanted to sign it too. But when he read the document, he wrote at its
foot that he excommunicated them all as well as everyone who deviated from
the Orthodox Faith. The king was enraged and he commanded to banish him
to the isalnd of Gagra, along with St. Macarius, the bishop of Edko, and
two others, and the council of Chalcedon was resumed.
+ When they took Pope St. Dioscorus to
the island of Gagra, its bishop, because he was a Nestorian, met him with
contempt and disdain. But God performed at the hands of Pope St. Dioscorus so
that all obeyed him and magnified his greatness because God honors His
chosen ones in every place. Pope St. Dioscorus told St. Macarius, his companion
in exile, "You shall receive the crown
of martyrdom in Alexandria." He sent
him with one of the beleiving merchants to Alexandria, where he earned
the crown of martyrdom.
+ Pope St. Dioscorus, having ended his
good fight, departed from this worthless life and received the crown of
eternal life. He departed in the island of Gagra where his body was laid.
May his blessings and prayers
be with us all. Amen.
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