Fabianus, bp. of Rome Fabianus (1) (called by the Greeks and in the Liberian Catalogue Fabius, by Eutychius and in the Alexandrian Chronicle Flavianus), bp. of Rome from early in Feb.236 to Jan.20, 250, and a martyr. Eusebius relates that, the brethren being assembled in the church to choose a successor to Anteros, Fabianus, a layman lately come from the country, being indicated as the chosen of Heaven by a dove settling on his head, the people acclaimed him as worthy and placed him on the episcopal throne (H. E. vi.29). That the choice proved a good one is witnessed by Cyprian, who rejoices that "his honourable consummation had corresponded to the integrity of his administration" (Ep.39, cf.30). In the Liberian Catalogue (a.d.354) he is said to have divided the regions of the city among the deacons, and to have been martyred Jan.20, 250. In the Felician Catalogue (a.d.530) and in later editions of the Liber Pontificalis it is added that he made also seven subdeacons to superintend the seven notaries appointed to record faithfully the acts of the martyrs; also that he caused to be brought to Rome by sea the body of Pontianus (the predecessor of his predecessor Anteros), martyred in Sardinia, and buried it in the cemetery of Callixtus on the Appian Way; in which cemetery he too was buried. It is remarkable that, though the Roman calendar designates all the first 30 bishops of Rome except two as saints and martyrs, Fabianus is the first, except Telesphorus and Pontianus, whose martyrdom rests on any good authority (cf. also Eus. H. E. vi.39; Hieron. de Ill. Vir. c.54; Cypr. Epp.39, 30). Fabianus was among the earliest victims of the Decian persecution. Fragments of a slab bearing the inscription PhABIANOC + EPI + MR (Fabianus episcopus martyr), together with others inscribed with the names of Anteros, Lucius, and Eutychianus, Roman bishops of the same period, have been found in what is called the papal crypt of the cemetery of Callixtus, thus attesting the accounts given of the place of his burial (Roma Sotterranea, by Northcote and Brownlow). Fabianus is specially named by Eusebius (H. E. vi.36) as one among many bishops to whom Origen wrote in defence of his own orthodoxy. Cyprian mentions him (Ep.59) as having, with Donatus bp. of Carthage, written a letter severely censuring one Privatus, an heretical bp. of Lambaesa in Numidia, who had been condemned by a synod of 90 bishops at Lambaesa for "many and grievous faults." Nothing more is known about Fabianus with certainty. Great doubt rests on the story (accepted by Andreas du Chesne, in Vit. Pontif., and in the main by the Bollandists) of his having been the founder of the seven Gallic churches of Toulouse, Arles, Tours, Paris, Narbonne, Clermont, Limoges; to which he is said to have sent respectively Saturninus, Trophimus, Gratianus, Dionysius, Paulus, Astremonius, and Martialis as missionary bishops. The story is absent from early records, and is disputable also on other grounds. Still more improbable is the story, accepted by the Bollandists and Baronius, and resting mainly on the authority of the Acts of St. Pontius, that the emperor Philip and his son became Christians, and were baptized by Fabianus. [[231]Philippus (5).] Three spurious decretals are attributed to Fabianus. There are also ten decreta assigned to him by Gratian and others, on matters of discipline. [J.B -- Y.] Fabiola, a noble Roman lady Jerome was seeking a suitable dwelling-place for her, and engaged in writing his treatise on the mystical meaning of the high priest's garments, when the inroad of the Huns caused a panic in Palestine. Jerome and his friends hurried to the sea-coast at Joppa, and had hired vessels for flight, when the Huns abandoned their purpose and turned back. Jerome, with Paula and Eustochium, returned to Bethlehem; but Fabiola went on to Rome. The last three years of her life were occupied with incessant activity in good works. In conjunction with Pammachius she instituted at Portus a hospice (xenodochium), perhaps taking her model from that established by Jerome at Bethlehem; and it was so successful that, as Jerome says, in one year it become known from Parthia to Britain. But to the last her disposition was restless. She found Rome and Italy too small for her charities, and was purposing some long journey or change of habitation when death overtook her a.d.399. Her funeral was celebrated as a Christian triumph. The streets were crowded, the hallelujahs reached the golden roof of the temples. Jerome's book on the 42 stations (mansiones) of the Israelites in the desert was dedicated to her memory. [W.H.F.] Faustus (11), sometimes called the Breton While still youthful (probably c.426 or a little later) he entered the famous monastery of Lerins, then presided over by St. Maximus. Here he became a thorough ascetic and a great student of Holy Scripture, without, however, giving up his philosophic pursuits. Here he probably acquired the reputation, assigned to him by Gennadius, of an illustrious extempore preacher. He became a presbyter, and c.432 or 433 succeeded Maximus as abbat of Lerins. His tenure was marked by a dispute with his diocesan Theodore, bp. of Fréjus, concerning their respective rights. The third council of Arles was convened by Ravennius, bp. of Arles, for the sole purpose of settling this controversy. The decision left considerable ecclesiastical power in the hands of the abbat. The epistle of Faustus to a deacon named Gratus (al. Gratius or Gregorius), who was heretical on the union of the two natures in the Person of Christ, belongs also to this period. Faustus next succeeded St. Maximus in the episcopate of Riez in Provence. Baronius places this as late as 472, but Tillemont (Mém. vi. p.775) as early as 462 or even 456. Faustus continued as bishop the stern self-discipline which he had practised as monk and abbat. He often retired to Lerins, becoming known throughout and beyond his diocese as one who gave succour to those sick whether in body or mind. He seems to have taken a stern view of late repentances, like those so prevalent at an earlier period in the church of N. Africa. In the councils of Arles and of Lyons a presbyter named Lucidus, accused of having taught fatalism through misunderstanding Augustine, was induced to retract; and Leontius, bp. of Arles, invited Faustus to compose a treatise on grace and free choice. Faustus appears from Sidonius to have had some share in the treaty of 475 between the emperor Nepos and Euric king of the Visigoths, which Tillemont and Gibbon agree in regarding as discreditable to the Roman empire. It wrested Auvergne and subsequently Provence from an orthodox sovereign, and gave them to an Arian. This was unfortunate for Faustus, who c.481 was banished, probably because of his writings against Arianism. His banishment is naturally attributed to king Euric, on whose death in 483 he returned to Riez. His life was prolonged until at least a.d.492, possibly for some years later. His writings have not come down to us in a complete and satisfactory condition. The following are still accessible: -- (1) Professio Fidei. -- He opens with a severe attack on the teaching of Pelagius as heretical, but expresses a fear of the opposite extreme, of such a denial of man's power as a free agent as would virtually amount to fatalism. (2) Epistola ad Lucidum Presbyterum. -- Here, too, he anathematizes the error of Pelagius; but also any who shall have declared that Christ did not die for all men, or willeth not that all should be saved. (3) De Gratia Dei et Humanae Mentis libero Arbitrio. -- After again censuring Pelagius, the writer argues strongly on behalf of the need of human endeavour and co-operation with the Divine aid. In his interpretation of passages of Holy Scripture (e.g. Ex. iv.21; vii.13; Rom. ix.11-26) which favour most Augustinianism, he is most extreme and least successful. Many passages might almost have come from the pen of some Arminian controversialist at the synod of Dort. In cap. x. of bk. ii., which is entitled Gentes Deum Naturaliter Sapuisse, Faustus calls attention to the language of Daniel towards Nebuchadnezzar and his censure of Belshazzar, as a heathen recognition of God (Dan. iv., and v.). He also appeals for the same purpose to the first chapter of Jonah, the repentance of the Ninevites (Jon. iii.) and the language of Jeremiah (xviii.7-10). Perhaps the famous expression in the apology of Tertullian, O testimonium animae naturaliter Christianae, might be considered to favour the view of heathendom here taken by Faustus. (4) Ad Monachos Sermo. -- The tone of this short letter resembles that of his other writings. He refers to excommunication as a terrible weapon only to be used in the last resort. It is sad to see monks go back to the world, especially if, after doing so, they retain their monastic dress. As usual, he is energetic in his appeals to the human element in religion. "Use your will. Resist the devil. Cherish all graces, especially obedience and humility." (5) De Ratione Fidei Catholicae. -- The former part is a brief statement of the case against Arianism. It explains the distinction between Persona and Natura in reference to our Lord's Incarnation, and appears to be addressed to an orthodox but perplexed friend, whom the author treats as a superior. The second portion is metaphysical, and discusses the nature of the soul, which Faustus seems to pronounce material. Claudius Mamertus, in his de Statu Animae, wrote against Faustus on this point. Faustus may, however, not have meant to do more than draw a marked distinction between the Creator and the creature; arguing, as he does, nihil credendum incorporeum praeter Deum. (6) Homilia de S. Maximi Laudibus. -- A eulogy of his predecessor. (7) Epistolae. -- Two have already been described. The other 17 epistles touch upon problems of metaphysics and theology. Faustus was of unimpeachably good character; of an earnest, active, ascetic life; orthodox on the central doctrine of the Christian faith and suffering exile for it as a confessor; but stigmatized as a semi-Pelagian, and consequently by many authorities, both ancient and modern, denied the title of saint. But his own flock at Riez, deeply moved by his life and preaching, and warmly attached to his memory, insisted on giving him a local canonization as Sanctus Faustus Reiensis; they erected a basilica, dedicated in his name, and kept Jan.18 as his festival. The first complete ed. of his works was pub. by A. Engelbrecht in Corpus Script. Eccl. Lat. vol. xxi.; cf. other publications of Engelbrecht on the same subject. [J.G.C.] Felicissimus, deacon of Carthage [E.W.B.] Felicitas (1), martyr at Rome [G.T.S.] Felicitas (2), martyr at Carthage [G.T.S.] Felix (1) I., bp. of Rome Nothing is known with certainty of his acts, except the part he took in the deposition of Paul of Samosata from the see of Antioch. A synod at Antioch (a.d.290) having deposed this heretical bishop and appointed Domnus in his place, announced these facts in letters addressed to Maximus and Dionysius, bps. of Alexandria and Rome, and to other Catholic bishops. Felix, who had in the meantime succeeded Dionysius, addressed a letter on the subject to Maximus and to the clergy of Antioch, fragments of which are preserved in the Apologeticus of Cyril of Alexandria, and in the Acts of the council of Ephesus, and which is also alluded to by Marius Mercator, and by Vincent of Lerins in his Commonitorium; cf. Harnack, Gesch. der alt. Ch. Lit. i.659. Three decretals, undoubtedly spurious, are assigned to him (Harduin, Concil.). [J.B.] Felix II., bp. of Rome A very different account is given in the Pontifical and in the Acts of St. Felix and of St. Eusebius; the former account is undoubtedly to be preferred. But though Felix, as well as Liberius, has obtained a place in the list of lawful popes, and has even been canonized, it is thus evident that his claim is more than doubtful. Accordingly, Augustine, Optatus, and Eutychius (as did Athanasius, Jerome, and Rufinus) exclude him from their lists of popes. In the Roman church, however, his claim to the position appears to have remained unquestioned till the 14th cent., when, an emendation of the Roman Martyrology having been undertaken in 1582, under pope Gregory XIII., the question was raised and discussed. Baronius at first opposed the claims of Felix; a cardinal, Sanctorius, defended them. The question was decided by the accidental discovery, in the church of SS. Cosmas and Damian in the forum, of a coffin bearing the inscription, "Corpus S. Felicis papae et martyris, qui damnavit Constantium." In the face of this, Baronius was convinced, and retracted all he had written (Baron. ad Liberium, c. lxii.). Accordingly Felix retained his place in the Martyrology, though the title of pope was afterwards expunged from the oratio for his day in the breviary. What became of the inscribed slab is not known, and in the absence of any knowledge of its date, its testimony is valueless. [J.B -- Y.] Felix III., bishop of Rome The pontificate of this Felix was chiefly remarkable for the commencement of the schism of 35 years between Rome and the Eastern patriarchates. In 451 the council of Chalcedon had condemned the Monophysite or Eutychian heresy, adopting the definition of faith contained in the famous letter of pope Leo I. to Flavian, patriarch of Constantinople. The council had also enacted canons of discipline, the 9th and the 17th giving to the patriarchal throne of Constantinople the final determination of causes against metropolitans in the East; and the 28th assigning to the most holy throne of Constantinople, or new Rome, equal privileges with the elder Rome in ecclesiastical matters, as being the second after her, with the right of ordaining metropolitans in the Pontic and Asian and Thracian dioceses, and bishops among the barbarians therein. This last canon the legates of pope Leo had protested against at the council, and Leo himself had afterwards repudiated it, as contrary (so he expressed himself) to the Nicene canons, and an undue usurpation on the part of Constantinople. In connexion with the heresy condemned by the council of Chalcedon and with the privileges assigned by its canons to Constantinople, the schism between the East and West ensued during the pontificate of Felix. The condemnation of Monophysitism at Chalcedon by no means silenced its abettors, who in the church of Alexandria were especially strong and resolute. They supported Peter Mongus as patriarch; the orthodox supporting first Timotheus Solofacialus, and on his death John Talaia. [[235]Acacius (7); [236]Joannes (11).] Felix, in a synod at Rome, renewed his predecessor's excommunication of Peter Mongus, addressed letters to the emperor Zeno and Acacius, patriarch of Constantinople. Acacius is urged to renounce Peter Mongus, and induce the emperor to do the same. Felix sent also a formal summons for Acacius to appear at Rome and answer the charge of having disregarded the injunctions of Simplicius. The letter to Zeno implored the emperor to refrain from rending the seamless garment of Christ, and to renew his support of the one faith which had raised him to the imperial dignity, the faith of the Roman church, against which the Lord had said that the gates of hell should not prevail; but both the emperor and Acacius continued to support Peter. The papal legates having returned to Rome, Felix convened a synod of 67 Italian bishops, in which he renewed the excommunication of Peter Mongus, and published an irrevocable sentence of deposition and excommunication against Acacius himself. The sentence of excommunication was served on Acacius by one of those zealous champions of Felix, the Sleepless Monks ("Acoemetae"), who fastened it to the robe of the patriarch when about to officiate in church. The patriarch discovered it, but proceeded with the service, and then, in a calm, clear voice, ordered the name of Felix, bp. of Rome, to be erased from the diptychs of the church. This was on Aug.1, 484. Thus the two chief bishops of Christendom stood mutually excommunicated, and the first great schism between the East and West began. The emperor and the great majority of the prelates of the East supported Acacius; and thus the patriarchates of Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem, as well as Constantinople, remained out of communion with Rome. Another noted Monophysite, called Peter Fullo (i.e. the Fuller), had excited the orthodox zeal of Felix, patriarch of Antioch. He had added to the Tersanctus the clause, "Who wast crucified for us," and was charged with thus attributing passibility to the Godhead. To him, therefore, from a Roman synod, Felix addressed a synodical letter in which, in the name of Peter, the chief of the apostles and the head of all sees, he pronounced his deposition and excommunication. In 489 Acacius died, and was succeeded by Flavitas, or Fravitas. Felix, on hearing of the vacancy of the see, wrote to Thalasius, an archimandrite of Constantinople, warning him and his monks (who appear throughout to have espoused the cause of Rome) to communicate with no successor till Rome had been fully apprised of all proceedings and had declared the church of Constantinople restored to its communion. Flavitas having died within four months after his accession, the popes' letter to him was received by his successor Euphemius. Felix, though satisfied as to the faith of Euphemius, insisted on the erasure of the name of Acacius, which condition being demurred to, the breach continued. After his rupture with the East, Felix helped to reconstitute the African church, which had cruelly suffered at the hands of the Arian Vandals. This persecution, which had raged under king Hunneric, who died in 484, ceased under his successor Gundamund, when a number of apostates sought readmission to catholic communion. A synod of 38 bishops held at Rome under Felix in 488 issued a synodical letter dated Mar.15, laying down terms of readmission. Felix died Feb.24, 492. His extant works are 15 letters (Migne, Patr. Lat. lviii.893 ff.). Gratian gives also a decretum as his, to the effect that the royal will should yield to priests in ecclesiastical causes. The ancient authorities for his Life are his letters and those of his successor Gelasius, the Breviarium of Liberatus Diaconus, and the Histories of Evagrius and Nicephorus Callistus. [J.B -- Y.] Felix (4) IV., bp. of Rome For this pope's letter, esp. letter to Caesarius of Arles, requiring probation from candidates for the priesthood before their ordination, see Migne, Patr. Lat. lxv. An important decretum of this pope was made known by Amelli in 1882, and edited by Mommsen in Neuer Archiv fur älter deutsch. Gesch. Kunde, 1886. See Duchesne, La Succession du pape Félix IV. (Rome, 1883). [J.B -- Y.] Felix (26) I., bp. of Aptunga [H.W.P.] Felix (174), bp. of Tubzoca [G.T.S.] Felix (186) of Nola Felix (212) Firmilianus (1), bp. of Caesarea In 256 he is addressed by Cyprian in a letter now lost as to the Asiatic practice of rebaptizing those baptized by heretics. In his long reply (Cyp. Ep.75) Firmilian describes it as impossible to add much to the strength of Cyprian's arguments. He is clear as to the antiquity of the practice in Asia, which he regards as ratified by the action of the council of Iconium in the case of the Montanists. He speaks of several meetings of the Cappadocian bishops, one immediately before his writing. Baronius, Labbe, and other Roman writers have been anxious to prove that the baptismal dispute originated with Firmilian and the East, but the attempt is against the whole tenor of Cyprianic correspondence as well as the express statement of Eusebius (vii.3). To Firmilian the see of Jerusalem appears to be the central see, so far as such an idea arises. He presided at Antioch, a.d.266, in the first synod held to try Paul of Samosata, and visited Antioch twice on this business (Concil. Antioch. contr. Paul. Samos. in Routh, R. S. iii.304; Eus. vii.30). Imposed upon by Paul's promises, he procured the postponement of a decision against him. But when it was necessary to convene another synod in 272, Firmilian, who was to have again presided, died on his journey, at Tarsus. To his contemporaries his 40 years of influential episcopate, his friendship with Origen and Dionysius, the appeal to him of Cyprian, and his censure of Stephanus might well make him seem the most conspicuous figure of his time. Routh (vol. iii. p.149) points to him as one of the oldest authorities who states with precision the anti-Pelagian doctrine. Basil (de Spiritu Sancto, xxix.) speaks of his discourses as early testimonies to the exactness of his own doctrine, and quotes his agreement with Cyprian on baptism in the epistle to Amphilochius (Ep.188). [E.W.B.] Flavianus (4) I., bp. of Antioch Leontius was succeeded by Eudoxius, then by the excellent Meletius, who was deposed, and in 361 by Euzoïus, the old comrade of Arius. Euzoïus was repudiated with horror by all the orthodox. Those who had till now remained in communion with the bishops recognized by the state, separated themselves and recognized Meletius as their bishop. The old Catholic body, however, who bore the name of Eustathians, would not submit to a bishop, however orthodox, consecrated by Arians, and continued to worship apart from their Meletian brethren, as well as from Euzoïus, having as leader Paulinus, a presbyter highly esteemed by all parties. This schism between two orthodox bodies caused much pain to Athanasius and others. A council at Alexandria, early in 362, wisely advised that Paulinus and his flock should unite with Meletius, who had now returned from exile; but the precipitancy of Lucifer of Cagliari perpetuated the schism by ordaining Paulinus bishop. The Arian emperor Valens came to reside at Antioch in June 370; and this was the signal for a violent persecution of the orthodox. Meletius was banished a third time, and the duty of ministering to the faithful under their prolonged trials devolved on Flavian and Diodorus. The Catholics, having been deprived of their churches, took refuge among ravines and caverns in the abrupt mountain ranges overhanging the city. Here they worshipped, exposed to the assaults of a rude soldiery, by whom they were repeatedly dislodged. The persecution ceased with the death of Valens in 378. The exiles were recalled, and Meletius resumed charge of his flock. His official recognition as the Catholic bp. of Antioch was more tardy. Gratian had commanded that the churches should be given up to prelates in communion with Damasus, bp. of Rome, and that Arian intruders should be expelled. But here were two bishops with equal claims to orthodoxy, Paulinus and Meletius, and a third, Vitalian, who held Apollinarian views. Sapor, a high military officer, to whom Gratian had committed the execution of the edict, was much perplexed. Flavian convinced him that the right lay with Meletius. The separation, however, still continued. Paulinus declined the proposal of Meletius that they should be recognized as of equal authority and that the survivor should be sole bishop. The Oriental churches recognized Meletius, the West and Egypt Paulinus (ib. v.1-3). In 381 Flavian accompanied Meletius to the council of Constantinople, during the session of which Meletius died. Gregory of Nazianzus entreated his brother-bishops to heal the schism by recognizing Paulinus as orthodox bp. of Antioch (Greg. Naz. de Vita Sac. v.1572 seq. p.757). But this, however right in itself, would have been a triumph for the Westerns. The council was composed of Oriental bishops, and, in spite of the remonstrances of Gregory, Flavian was elected to succeed Meletius. Flavian cannot be altogether excused for this continuance of the schism; and the less so if, as Socrates (v.5) and Sozomen (vii.3, 11) state, he was one of the six leading clergy of Antioch who had sworn not to seek the bishopric themselves at the death of Meletius or Paulinus, but to acknowledge the survivor. This charge, however, is rendered very doubtful by the absence of reference to it in the letters of Ambrose or any contemporary documents published by adherents of Paulinus during the controversy. Flavian was consecrated by Diodorus of Tarsus and Acacius of Beroea with the ratification of the council. Paulinus remonstrated in vain (Theod. v.23), but his cause was maintained by Damasus and the Western bishops and those of Egypt; while even at Antioch, though most of the Meletians welcomed Flavian with joy (Chrys. Hom. cum Presbyt. fuit ordinatus, § 4), some, indignant at his breaking an engagement, real or implied, separated from his communion and joined Paulinus (Soz. vii.11). The West refused all intercourse with Flavian, and the council at Aquileia in Sept.381 wrote to Theodosius in favour of Paulinus, and requested him to summon a council at Alexandria to decide that and other questions. Theodosius acquiesced, but selected Rome. The Eastern prelates declined to attend, and held a synod of their own at Constantinople in 382. Even here the bishops of Egypt, Cyprus, and Arabia recognized Paulinus, and demanded the banishment of Flavian, who was supported by the bishops of Palestine, Phoenicia, and Syria (Socr. v.10). A synodal letter was, however, dispatched to Damasus and the Western bishops, recognizing Flavian's consecration as legitimate (Theod. v.9). Paulinus himself attended the council at Rome, accompanied by Epiphanius and his ardent supporter Jerome. At this council the West refused to acknowledge Flavian as canonically elected. It is said that they even excommunicated him and his two consecrators (Soz. vii.11). The two rivals continued to exercise episcopal functions for their respective flocks. Consequently church discipline became impossible. Early in his episcopate Flavian exercised his authority against the Syrian sect of perfectionists known as Euchites or Messalians, and to make himself acquainted with their doctrines, which it was their habit to conceal, he condescended to an unworthy act of deception. In 386 Flavian ordained Chrysostom presbyter, and Chrysostom preached a eulogistic inaugural discourse (Chrys. u.s. §§ 3, 4). The sedition at Antioch and the destruction of the Imperial Statues, 387, shewed Flavian at his best. When the brief fit of popular madness was over and the Antiochenes awoke to their danger, Flavian at their entreaty became their advocate with the emperor, starting immediately on his errand of mercy (Chrys. de Statuis, iii.1, xxi.3). The success of his mission was complete. Though Paulinus died in 388, the schism continued; for on his deathbed he had consecrated Evagrius, a presbyter of his church, as his successor (Socr. v.15; Soz. vii.15; Theod. v.23). Theodosius summoned Flavian to meet him at a synod at Capua. Flavian excused himself as winter was setting in, but promised to obey the emperor's bidding in the spring (Theod. v.23). Ambrose and the other leading Western prelates urged Theodosius to compel Flavian to come to Rome and submit to the judgment of the church. Flavian replied to the emperor that if his episcopal seat only was the object of attack, he would prefer to resign it altogether. The knot was before long cut by the death of Evagrius. Flavian's influence prevented the election of a successor. The Eustathians, however, still refused to acknowledge Flavian, and continued to hold their assemblies apart (Soz. vii.15, viii.3; Socr. v.15). This separation lasted till the episcopate of Alexander, 414 or 415. The division between Flavian and Egypt and the West was finally healed by Chrysostom, who took the opportunity of the presence of Theophilus, patriarch of Alexandria, at Constantinople for his consecration in 398, to induce him to become reconciled with Flavian, and to join in dispatching an embassy to Rome to supplicate Siricius to recognize Flavian as canonical bishop of Antioch. Their mission was entirely successful (Socr. v.15; Soz. viii.3; Theod. v.23). To shew that all angry feeling had ceased, and to conciliate his opponents, Flavian put the names of Paulinus and Evagrius on the diptychs (Cyril. Alex. Ep.56, p.203). Flavian lived long enough to see the deposition and exile of Chrysostom, against which he protested with his last breath. His death probably occurred in 404 (Pallad. Dial. p.144; Soz. viii.24; Theophan. p.68). He governed the church of Antioch for 23 years; and Tillemont thinks it probable that he lived to the age of 95. The Greek church commemorates him on Sept.26. He left behind certain homilies, of which a few fragments are preserved. Theodoret, in his Eranistes, quotes one on John i.14 (Dial. i. p.46), another on St. John the Baptist (ib. p.66), on Easter, and the treachery of Judas (Dial. iii. p.250) or the Theophania, and a passage from his commentary on St. Luke (Dial. ii. p.160). [E.V.] Flavianus (8), bp. of Constantinople Flavian having assembled a council of 40 bishops at Constantinople Nov.8, 448, to compose a difference between the metropolitan bp. of Sardis and two bishops of his province, Eusebius, bp. of Dorylaeum, appeared and presented his indictment against Eutyches. The speech of Flavian remains, concluding with this appeal to the bp. of Dorylaeum: "Let your reverence condescend to visit him and argue with him about the true faith, and if he shall be found in very truth to err, then he shall be called to our holy assembly, and shall answer for himself." For the particulars of this great controversy see [245]Dioscorus and [246]Eutyches. When, on Aug.8, 449 the Latrocinium assembled at Ephesus, Eutyches violently attacked the archbishop. On Aug.11, 449, Flavian expired at Hypepe in Lydia from the effects of the barbarous ill-usage which resulted from this attack. When Pulcheria returned to power, after her brother's death, she had Flavian's remains, which had been buried obscurely, brought with great pomp to Constantinople. It was more like a triumph, says the chronicler, than a funeral procession. Among the documents which touch on the career of Flavian are the reply of Petrus Chrysologus, archbp. of Ravenna, to a circular appeal of Eutyches, and various letters of Theodoret. Leo wrote Flavian a beautiful letter before hearing that he was dead. Leo. Mag. Epp.23, 26, 27, 28, 44; Facund, Pro Trib. Capit. viii.5; xii.5; Evagr. ii.2. etc.; Liberatus Diac. Breviar. xi. xii.; Soz. H. E. ix.1; Theophan. Chronogr. pp.84-88, etc.; Niceph. Constant. xiv.47. [W.M.S.] Flavianus (16), bp. of Antioch [E.V.] Florentius, chief minister of state at Constantinople Florentius (50), a chief minister of state at Constantinople under Theodosius II. and Marcian, a man of the highest reputation for soundness of faith, purity of life, and statesmanlike wisdom (Labbe, Concil. iv.220). He was consul in a.d.429, patrician in 448, prefect of the praetorian guards, and the high dignity of prefect of the East was bestowed on him a seventh time by Marcian in 450. In 448, when Flavian had resolved to put Eutyches on his trial for heretical doctrine, Theodosius demanded that Florentius should have a seat at the synod as his representative. Hitherto the ostensible reason for the presence of imperial officers at ecclesiastical synods was the preservation of order. The ground expressly assigned by the emperor for requiring the admission of Florentius, viz. that the matters under discussion concerned the faith, was a startling innovation which Flavian withstood as long as he dared (Acac. Hist. Brevicul. p.112; Liberat. Breviar. c. xi.; Labbe, Concil. iv.247). On the opening of the trial Florentius took his seat among the metropolitans, next to Seleucus, bp. of Amasea (Labbe, 238; Liberat. p.60), and disclaimed all desire to dogmatize, or to forget his position as a layman; but he took a very leading and authoritative part in the discussion, and manifested a strong leaning towards the acquittal of Eutyches. But his efforts to induce Eutyches to acknowledge the two natures in Christ or to adopt language which might satisfy the council were fruitless, and the interests of orthodoxy compelled him to assent to his condemnation (Labbe, 507, 517). As Eutyches left the hall he lodged with Florentius an appeal against his condemnation to the churches of Rome, Alexandria, and Jerusalem. The bishop availed himself of the plea that the trial was closed to exclude the registration of the appeal (ib.244). When the council of Chalcedon met, Florentius was present with other high civil dignitaries; but there is no record of the part he took. We have letters to Florentius from Theodoret (Ep.89), Isidore of Pelusium (Ep. lib. i.486), and Firmus of Caesarea (Ep.29). [E.V.] Florinus, presbyter at Rome [G.S.] Fortunatus, bp. of Poictiers His works comprise: (1) Eleven Books of Miscellanies, chiefly in elegiac verse, interesting for the light they throw upon the manners of the time and the history of art (Miscell. i.12; iii.13), but as literature all but worthless. (2) The Life of St. Martin of Tours in four books, consisting of 2,245 hexameter lines, hastily composed, and little more than a metrical version of Severus Sulpicius's incomparably better prose. (3) An elegiac poem in three cantos, written in the character, and evidently under the inspiration, of Rhadegund. The first, de Excidio Thuringiae, is dedicated to her cousin Amalfred (or Hermanfred); the second is a panegyric of Justin II. and his empress Sophia, who had presented Rhadegund with a piece of the true cross. (4) A collection of 150 elegiac verses addressed to Rhadegund and Agnes, and a short epigram ad Theuchildem. (5) The Lives of eleven saints -- Hilary of Poitiers, Germain of Paris, Aubin of Angers, Paternus of Avranches, Rhadegund of Poictiers, Amant of Rodez, Médard of Noyon, Remy of Rheims, Lubin of Chartres, Mauril of Angers, and Marcel of Paris -- but the first book of the Life of Hilary and the Lives of the three last named saints ought probably to be attributed to another Fortunatus. To these must be added an account of the martyrdom at Paris of St. Denys, St. Rusticus, and St. Eleutherius. His style is pedantic, his taste bad, his grammar and prosody seldom correct for many lines together, but two of his longer poems display a simplicity and pathos foreign to his usual style -- viz. that on the marriage of Galesuintha, sister of Brunehaut, with Chilperic, and his Elegy upon the Fall of Thuringia. The latest and best ed. of his works is by Leo and Krusch (Berlin, 1881-1885). A good earlier ed. by Luchi is reprinted in Migne's Patr. Lat. lxxxviii. Augustin Thierry, Récits mérovingiens, t. ii. Recit. vi.; and Ampère, Hist. lit. de la France, t. ii. c.13. [E.M.Y.] Fortunatus (18), bp [E.M.Y.] Forty Martyrs, The (1) Forty soldiers, who suffered under Licinius, 320, at Sebaste in Armenia. A list of their names is given in the martyrology of Ado under March 11. [See SEBASTE, FORTY MARTYRS OF, in D. C. A.] They were young, brave, and noted for their services. The emperor having ordained that the military police of the cities should offer sacrifices, the governor called upon these forty to comply. They refused, and withstood both bribes and threats. Thereupon a new punishment was devised. They were immersed for a whole night in a frozen pond, a hot bath being placed within sight for any who might choose to avail themselves of it, their doing so, however, being the sign of apostasy. The trial was too great for one. He left the pond and flung himself into the bath, but as soon as he touched the hot water he died. The number of forty was not, however, broken. The sentinel who watched the bath saw in a vision angels descend and distribute rewards to all in the pond. The guard at once stripped off his clothing and took the vacant place in the pond. Next morning they were all flung into fires. There was one Melito, younger and more vigorous than the rest, whose resolution they thought they might shake. His mother, however, who was present, herself placed him in the executioner's cart, saying: "Go, my son, finish this happy voyage with thy comrades, that thou mayst not be the last presented to God." Their relics were carefully preserved and carried to various cities, where many churches were built in their honour. The mother Emmelia, and the sister Macrina, of St. Basil obtained some for their monastery near the village of Annesi in Pontus, where already a church had been built in their honour (Greg. Nys. Vit. S. Macyin.). Sozomen (H. E. ix.2) tells a strange story about another set of their relics. In addition to the authorities quoted, consult Pitra, Analect. Sacr. t. i. p.599, in Spicil. Solesmense. Their popularity throughout the entire East has ever been very great (cf. Dr. Zirecek, Geschichte der Bulgaren). In Burton's Unexplored Syria, App. ii., a church in their honour is noted at Huns, near Damascus; cf. also Melchior de Vogüé, Les Églises de la terre sainte, p.367. (2) Another set of Forty Martyrs in Persia, 375. is commemorated on May 20 (Assemani, Mart. Orient. i.141). Among them were the bishops Abdas and Ebed-Jesu. Ceillier, iii.82, 336; Bas. Menol. (3) Under Dec.24 Forty Virgin Martyrs under Decius at Antioch in Syria are noted in Mart. Hieron., Adon., Usuard. [G.T.S.] Fravitta, bp. of Constantinople Such is the account of Nicephorus Callistus. In the correspondence between Zeno, Fravitta, and pope Felix on the appointment there is no trace of this story. Fravitta at one and the same time wrote letters to Peter Mongus asking for his communion, and a synodal to pope Felix begging his sanction and co-operation. This document was carried to Rome by Catholic monks of Constantinople who had always kept separate from Acacius and his friend Mongus. An accompanying letter of Zeno showed great affection for Fravitta; Zeno had only laboured for his appointment because he thought him worthy and to restore peace and unity to the churches. Pope Felix, delighted with the letters, had Zeno's read aloud to the deputation and all the clergy of Rome, who expressed loud approval. When the pope, however, wished the monks from Constantinople to undertake that the names of Acacius and Mongus should be rejected from the diptychs, they replied that they had no instructions on that point. The joy of the pope was finally destroyed by the arrival at Rome of a copy of the letter which Fravitta had sent to Mongus. Directly contrary to that which Felix had received, it actually denied all communion with Rome. The pope would not hear a word more from the monks. Whether the story of Nicephorus Callistus be true or not, Fravitta stands disgraced by this duplicity. Niceph. Cellist. xvi.19, Patr. Gk. cxlvii. § 684. p.152; Joann. Zonar. Annal. xiv. iii. Patr. Gk. cxxxiv. § 53, p.1214; Liberat. Diac. Brev. xviii. Patr. Lat. lxviii.; Felicis Pap. Ep. xii. and xiii. Patr. Lat. lviii. p.971; Evagr. iii.23, Patr. Gk. lxxxvi. part ii.; Theoph. Chronogr.114, Patr. Gk. cviii. p 324. [W.M.S.] Fructuosus (1) M., bp. of Tarragona This is the account of the Acta printed by Tamayo in the Martyr. Hisp. (vol. i. Jan.21) from a 14th-cent. calendar in the library of the cathedral of Astorga. It omits important points contained in the Bollandist Acta (A.A. S.S. Jan. ii.), which are the same as those printed by Florez (Esp. Sag. xxv.). [M.A.W.] Frumentius Fulgentius, Fabius Claudius Gordianus, bp. of Ruspe Fulgentius (3), Fabius Claudius Gordianus, bp. of Ruspe, b.468, d.533. His life was mostly spent in the provinces of N.W. Africa ruled by the Vandal kings, Genseric, Hunneric, and Thrasimund, and he suffered from their persecutions. The writings of Fulgentius himself, a biographical memoir prefixed to his works and addressed to bp. Felicianus, his successor, supposed to be by Ferrandus, a deacon of Carthage, and a treatise de Persecutione Vandalica, by Victor Vitensis in 487 (Migne, Patr. Lat. t. lviii.), are the principal sources of information for the Vandal persecution in Africa.. Every refinement of cruelty seems to have been visited upon the presbyters, bishops, and virgins of the N. African church during the reigns of Genseric and Hunneric. At the first incursion of the Vandals the whole country was desolated, houses of prayer and basilicas razed, neither age nor sex spared, the tombs of the martyrs rifled for treasure, bishops banished from their sees, virgins basely used, and every effort made to alienate the people from the Catholic faith. At the commencement of Hunneric's reign (Victor, lib. ii.) a gleam of sunshine cheered the church, during which the vacant see of Carthage was filled by Eugenius, whose extraordinary virtues are duly recorded by his biographers. His popularity excited the rage and animosity of the conquerors, who forbade their own people to enter his church. Those who disobeyed were submitted to torture; some were blinded, and many died of the inhuman treatment. Women were scalped, stripped, and paraded through the streets. Victor says, "We knew many of these." Nor did the orthodox alone suffer. Jocundus, the Arian patriarch, was burned alive, and Manicheans were hunted down like wild beasts. At the end of his 2nd year Hunneric refused all position in the court or executive to any but Arians, and banished to Sardinia all who refused to conform; heavy pecuniary fines were imposed whenever a bishop was ordained; many Christian women died under inhuman cruelties, and many were crippled for life. In 486 the bishops and priests were exiled into the desert, and in his 8th year Hunneric issued an edict, still preserved (ib. iii.), summoning the Homoousians to renounce their faith, fixing a date for their submission and for their churches to be destroyed, books burned, and pastors banished. The consequences of this edict are detailed with horrible circumstantiality by Victor, and even Gibbon considers them inhumanly severe. The cruelties of the Diocletian persecution were equalled, if not surpassed, by these efforts to extirpate the Homoousian faith. Gordian, the grandfather of Fulgentius, a senator of Carthage, was exiled by Genseric. His two sons returned home during an interval of grace to find their property in the hands of Arian priests. Not being allowed to remain at Carthage, they settled at Telepte in the province of Byzacene. One of them, Claudius, married Maria Anna, a Christian lady, who gave birth in 468 to Fulgentius. His mother was careful that he should study the Greek language, and would not allow him to read Roman literature until he had committed to memory the greater part of the poems of Homer and of the plays of Menander. He displayed great talent for business and much versatility. His fine character recommended him to the court, and he was appointed fiscal procurator of the province. But after perusing Augustine's comment on Ps. xxxvi. (xxxvii. Heb.), he was attracted by the "pleasures of a mind at peace with God, which fears nothing but sin." Hunneric having banished the bishops to the neighbouring deserts, young Fulgentius began to retire from society and devote himself to prayer and various austerities. One of these exiled bishops, [249]FAUSTUS, had formed a little monastery not far from Telepte, to which Fulgentius betook himself. Owing to the persecution, and at the advice of Faustus, Fulgentius removed to another small monastery, under abbat Felix, between whom and Fulgentius sprang up an enduring friendship. They divided the superintendence of the monastery between them, Fulgentius undertaking the duties of teacher. Troubles from an incursion of the Numidians compelled them to settle at Sicca Veneria or Siccensis (Vita, c. ix.). An Arian presbyter in the neighbourhood, alarmed at the influence exercised by the saintly Felix and Fulgentius, laid a plot to rob and torture them. The little company again migrated to Ididi in Mauritania, and here Fulgentius, reading the Institutiones Cassiani, resolved to go to Egypt and the Thebaid to follow a more severe rule of mortification. At Syracuse he was kindly received by bp. Eulalius, who discouraged his going to the Thebaid, as it was separated by a "perfidious heresy and schism from the communion of St. Peter," i.e. the Monophysite doctrine and the schism to which that led in the Egyptian church after the council of Chalcedon, a.d.451. The advice was followed, and for some months he resided near Syracuse. In 500 he visited Rome, was present at the gorgeous reception given to Theodoric, and that year returned to Africa. He received from Sylvester, primarius of Byzacene, a site for a spacious monastery which was at once crowded; thence he retired to a lonely island, which lacked wood, drinkable water, and access to the mainland. Here he occupied himself with manual toil and spiritual exercises. Felix, having discovered his retreat, persuaded Faustus to ordain Fulgentius a presbyter, and, under pain of The most extended of these dissertations is ad Monimum, libri tres. I. De duplice praedestinatione Dei. II. Complectens tres quaestiones. III. De vera expositione illius dicti: et verbum erat apud Deum. Monimus was an intimate friend of Fulgentius, and, on perusing Augustine's de Perfectione Justitiae Hominis, had thought that that Father taught predestination to sin as well as to virtue. Fulgentius assured Monimus that God does not predestinate men to sin, but only to the punishment merited by sin, quoting Ez. xviii.30. "Sin," said he, "is not in Him, so sin is not from Him. That which is not His work cannot be His predestination." No constraint of the will is meant by predestination, but the disposition of Divine grace by which God pardons one, though He may punish another, gives grace to one who is unworthy of it, even if He find another worthy of His anger. Bk. ii. is occupied with Arian questions as to the Trinity, and the Divinity of the Holy Spirit. The rigidity of his ecclesiastical theory is here conspicuous. The charity, the sacrifices, the services of heretics are of no avail, since they are separated from the Catholic Church. Bk. iii. replies to the Arian interpretation of "apud Deum" in John i.1; to their theory that if it had been said "verbum est in Deo," we might have thence deduced the identity of the two natures, that "apud" implies separation and dissimilarity. His argumentum ad hominem is very ingenious; the exegetical argument which follows is feeble. During this period Fulgentius wrote the Liber ad Donatum de Fide Orthodoxa et Diversis Erroribus Haereticorum (Ep. viii. Migne), elsewhere described as a letter to the Carthaginians. His object was succinctly to characterize Sabellian, Arian, Macedonian, and Manichean heresy; he condemns Photinus, and the errors of Eutyches and Nestorius by name, declaring that the true doctrine of the church was to assert the two natures, as against Eutyches, and to repudiate the two persons, against Nestorius. During his residence in Sardinia an important letter was written to Euthymius, de Remissione Peccatorum (§ xiv. Ceillier, p.527, Migne). The question was asked by Euthymius, a devout laic, whether remission of sins was possible after death. After a broad description of what remission of sin is, Fulgentius declares the human conditions to be "faith," "good works," and "time," but it can only be secured in the Catholic church, which has power to remit all sin except the sin against the Holy Ghost, which he declares to be "final impenitence." The utmost stress is laid upon the irreversible condition of the soul at death. All merits are attributed to Divine grace (Wiggers, op. cit. p 382). The 3 books, de Veritate Praedestinationis et Gratia Dei (Migne, p.604), are addressed to John and Venerius, to whom other letters were also sent during the 2nd exile (Ep. xv. Ceillier, § x.) on the doctrines of Faustus of Rhegium (de Riez, Riji, sometimes Galliarum). Fulgentius lays down, in opposition to Faustus, that grace can neither be known nor appreciated until given; that so long as man is without it, he resists it by word or deed. Faustus had spoken of an imperishable grain of good in every man which is nourished by grace. Free will is this spark of heavenly fire, not obliterated by the fall. Fulgentius urged that there may be free will, but not free will to that which is good. In 523 Thrasimund died, and his successor, Hilderic, allowed the return of the Catholic bishops, and the election of new ones in the churches still vacant. The bishops were received at Carthage with transports of joy, and none with greater enthusiasm than Fulgentius, who was welcomed with triumphal arches, lamps, torches, and banners. On arriving at Ruspe, he yielded in the monastery entire deference to Felix, took the position of the humblest neophyte, and only suggested more vigorous work for the clerics, more frequent fasting for the monks. In 524 a council was held at Juncensis, apparently to enforce a more rigid attention to the canons. Fulgentius was called to preside. His precedence was disputed by a bishop called Quodvultdeus, but confirmed by his brethren. After the council, Fulgentius besought out of charity that his brethren would transfer this nominal precedence to his rival, thus heaping on his head coals of fire. The primate of Carthage, Boniface, sought the presence of Fulgentius at the dedication of a new church, and wept tears of joy under his powerful discourse. During this period Fulgentius wrote his great work against Fabianus, fragments only of which remain. They discuss a variety of interesting problems bearing on the Divinity of the Holy Spirit and other elements of Trinitarian doctrine. The Sermones which remain, by their flowing eloquence, antithetic style and tender sensibility, attest the power of Fulgentius. He powerfully discriminates between the Son and the Trinity, and clearly implies the double procession of the Holy Spirit. He claims that the Father had created everything by the Son. Men are only wounded by the poison and malice of creatures by reason of their sins. The mightiest beings are submitted to man. There is no evil in nature. He draws weighty distinctions between the sins of the just and the wicked. Ferrandus the deacon asked whether he might count upon the salvation of an Ethiopian who had come as a catechumen eagerly desiring baptism, but had died at the moment of baptism. Fulgentius starts with the thesis that faith is the indispensable condition of salvation, baptism or no baptism. Heretics and enemies of the church will not be saved by baptism. The Ethiopian had given evidence of faith, and was baptized, though then unconscious, both conditions being indispensable to salvation. He is therefore saved. But he reprobates baptism of the really dead, for baptism removes the stain and curse of original sin, the seat of which is the soul. If the soul is severed from the body, baptism is worthless. He decides that the benefits of the Eucharist are contained in baptism, and hence, he says, for many centuries past, infants are not fed with the Eucharist after their baptism. In another correspondence Fulgentius argues that the passion was Christ's quâ His whole person, but quâ nature it was the experience of His flesh only. His soul and body were separated at death. His soul went to Hades, His body to the grave, but His Divine nature at that very moment filled all space and time, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Many of the same arguments are repeated in the Letter Addressed to the Monks of Scythia, who accepted all the decisions of Chalcedon, anathematized Pelagius, Julian, and even Faustus, and asked for further light. The reply of Fulgentius and 15 other bishops consists of 67 chapters. The points of chief interest are that Fulgentius denied that the Virgin was conceived immaculate, and that when speaking of the eternal generation of the Son, he used the bold expression, "ex utero Patris." He laid the strongest emphasis on the Monergistic hypothesis of regeneration, and weakened the universalism of God's love by declaring that "all" does not mean "all men," but "all kinds of men." While pursuing his literary work with such industry, Fulgentius retired from his monastery at Ruspe to another on the island of Circina, and redoubled his self-mortifications. Here his health gave way. When told that a bath was absolutely necessary to prolong his life, he obstinately refused to break his rule. He died in Jan.533, in his 65th year and the 25th of his episcopate, and Felicianus was elected his successor the same day. The most complete ed. of his works was issued in Paris (1684) by L. Mangeant. The whole, with many letters to which he replied, is in Migne, Patr. Lat. t. lxv.; Schroeckh, Kirchengeschichte, xvii. xviii.108 ff. [H.R.R.] Fulgentius (4) Ferrandus, disciple and companion of Ruspe Fulgentius (4) Ferrandus, a disciple and companion of Fulgentius of Ruspe (3); sharing his exile to Sardinia during the persecution by the Arian kings of the Vandals. Ferrandus received the hospitality of St. Saturninus at Cagliari, and on the death of Thrasimund, a.d.523, returned to Carthage, where he became a deacon. In all probability he was the author of the Vita prefixed to the works of Fulgentius of Ruspe, and dedicated to Felicianus. Hoffmann, Lex. s.n.; Herzog, Encycl. art. by Wagenmann; Petrus Pithaeus, in preface Lectori, prefixed to Breviatio Canonum Ferrandi, Cod. Canonum, p.303. Two letters of Ferrandus to Fulgentius are extant (Migne, Patr. lxv. pp.378-435), with the lengthy and careful replies of the latter. For the former see [250]Fulgentius (3). The second asked concerning: -- 1. The Separability of the Persons of the Trinity.2. Whether the Divinity of the Christ suffered on the cross, or the Divine Person suffered only in the flesh. The fifth question concerned the double gift of the cup to the apostles, as mentioned in St. Luke's gospel. Ferrandus was often appealed to for his own theological judgment. His collected writings (Biblioth. Patr. Chiffletius, 1649) preserve one entitled de Duabus in Christo naturis, and an Epistola Anatolio de quaestione an aliquis ex Trinitate passus est. He is also the author of a Breviatio canonum ecclesiasticorum (Codex Canonum, F. Pithaeus, and Miscellanea Ecclesiastica, Petrus Pithaeus, pp.303 ff.), a collection and digest of 232 canons of the earliest councils, Nicaea, Laodicea, Sardica, Constantinople, Carthage, etc., chiefly appertaining to the election, ordination, and character of bishops, presbyters, and deacons; the feasts of the church; the duties of virgins, catechumens, etc. It is thought to have been compiled during the reign of Anastasius (d.518). Ferrandus appears to have had his knowledge of the Greek councils through a translation and digest of such canons as had been previously in use in Spain. The mention of later synods and writings has led others to believe that the Breviatio was compiled c.547. [CANON LAW, D. C. A.] Ferrandus took a not unimportant part in the violent discussions produced by the edict of Justinian I. (the Capatula Tria), which condemned certain passages from Theodoret, Theodore of Mopsuestia, and Ibas of Edessa. Ferrandus was backed by the vehemently orthodox and dyophysite spirit of the N. African church, and in a letter (546) to Anatolius and Pelagius, two deacons of the Roman church, whom Vigilius instructed to communicate with him, declared against the reception of the edict of Justinian. The most complete ed. of his works is by Chiffletius (Dijon, 1649). The two letters to Fulgentius of Ruspe are in Sirmond's and Migne's edd. of Fulgentii Opp. [H.R.R.] Fundanus (1) Minueius, proconsul of Asia [C.H.] |
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