promised to uphold with his authority the decisions of the council. The council condemned the doctrine of Arius, which denied that God the Son was equal to God the Father; and drew up a symbol called the Nicene Creed, published several canons, and settled many points of discipline. POST-NICENE PERIOD. A.D. 381. Second General Council at Constantinople. 431. Third General Council at Ephesus. 431. Conversion of Ireland. 451. Fourth General Council at Chalcedon. 476. Subversion of the Roman Empire and end of Ancient History. CHAPTER XL. THE heresy of the Do-na'-tists was proscribed 1 by particular councils assembled at Carthage, Rome, and Arles,2 which were sanctioned by the Pope. The Macedonian heresy, which denied the divinity of the Holy Ghost, necessitated the convocation of another general council A.D. 381. It was held at Constantinople. Lac-tan'-ti-us, Eu-se'-bi-us of Cesaræa, St Hil'-ary of Poitiers,3 St Cyril of Jerusalem, St Ephrem, besides the other illustrious doctors of whom we have already spoken, propagated and defended by their writings, the religion of which St Anthony, St Pa-cho'-mi-us, and St Basil traced the rules for those who wished to lead a more perfect life. In the fifth century, Pope St Leo merited his title of Great, by his fine writings, as well as by his great deeds. He is classed amongst the Doctors of the Church. A pious bishop named St Mammertus, instituted, in his diocese 4 of Vi'-enne in Dau'-phiny, the processions 5 of the Rogation, which have since been adopted by the Church. 1 Pro, before, scribo, I write. Means to publish as infamous, to forbid. 2 In Southern France, near the Rhône. 3 In the west of France. 4 Diocese means district, province. Dia, through; oikeo, to manage or keep the house.-Passow's Dictionary. 5 Pro, before; cedo, I go. 6 The days immediately preceding Ascension Day, and kept as days of prayer, devotion, and, in some countries, abstinence. The monastery of Lerins was founded A.D. 409, one year before the death of St Maro, whose name is retained up to the present time by the Ma'-ro-nites in the East. This monastery is supposed to have been the first established of the kind; it preceded that founded towards the end of the century by St Benedict, after he had passed three years of perfect solitude 1 in a grotto at Subiaco, about forty miles from Rome. In France, St Ger-ma'-nus, Bishop of Aux'-erre (born 469), and St Geneviève, were possessed of many miraculous gifts, and Ireland was converted to the faith by St Patrick, A.D. 431. Clovis, principal founder of the French monarchy,2 was instructed and baptized by St Ved'-ast, and St Rem-i'-gius, Bishop of Rheims; he merited the title of Very Christian King. Heresy still continued its attacks upon the Church. Pel-a'-gi-us denied the necessity of grace, whilst Nestorius endeavoured to establish the error of there being two distinct persons in Jesus Christ, and, consequently, denied that Mary was the Mother of God. Eu-ty'-ches mingled the two natures, and admitted but one. The Nestorian error was condemned by Pope St Zos'-i-mus, and later, by the General Council of Ephesus,3 which likewise proclaimed the Divine Maternity 4 of the blessed Virgin. This council was held A.D. 431, under Pope St Celest'-ine, and was followed, in 451, by the Fourth General Council at Chal'-ce-don,5 under Pope St Leo. This council condemned the error of Eutyches, and declared 6 that in Jesus Christ are united two natures in one person; that He is equal to His Father by His Divine nature, and inferior 7 only in His humanity.8 St Paul-i'-nus, Theo-do'-ret, St Peter Chry-sol'-o-gus, St Prosper, and St Salvian, are the most noted writers of this century. 1 Loneliness. 2 Monos, alone; archo, I rule. 3 In Asia Minor, near Smyrna. 4 Mater, mother, motherhood. 5 In Asia Minor, near Constantinople. 6 De, from; clarus, clear. To make clear, to point out. 7 Inferus, below. 8 Manhood. Homo, a man. MEDIEVAL HISTORY. PERIOD OF THE BENEDICTINE MISSIONS. A.D. 543. St Benedict died. 553. Fifth General Council. 590. Pope St Gregory the Great. 622. Hegira of Mohammed. 680. Sixth General Council. 723. Conversion of the Germans. 726-797. Iconoclast Heresy and Persecutions. 778. Conversion of the Saxons. 787. Seventh General Council. 800. Charlemagne crowned Emperor of the West. CHAPTER I. THE sixth century was rendered illustrious by many famous bishops, as St Ces-a'-ri-us of Arles, St Ful-gen'-tius, St Malo, St Gregory of Tours,1 St Mé'-dard, St Ger'-main or Germanus of Paris, St Kent'-i-gern or Mungo, Bishop of Glasgow, who have nearly all left very valuable writings. Early in this century the body of the great St Augustine was taken into Sardinia, and conveyed a little later to Pavia; 2 but only a few years ago, about 1844, it was taken to Hippo, in Algeria,3 the place of which St Augustine had been bishop more than 1400 years before. Monastic institutions now began to spread very rapidly. St Benedict established his celebrated monastery at Mon'-te Cassi'-no, between Rome and Naples, A.D. 529. St Gregory the Great considered the rule which St Benedict made for his order quite 1 On the Loire, in the west of France. 2 In Lombardy, on the Po. Now a French colony in North Africa. a masterpiece of divine wisdom, and it became almost the universal rule of all other religious institutions. St Comgall, in Ireland, St Rad'-e-gund, at Poitiers, and St Colomban, each founded different religious communities. In 542, the festival of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin was instituted. Heresy renewed its attacks upon the Church under new forms, or with newly-invented errors. The Iconoclasts, or breakers of sacred images, continued to proscribe all use and veneration of them in the churches as idolatrous. This error was upheld by the weak and vicious emperors in the East. One of them, named Constantine Copro'-ny-mus, sent for a holy abbot, called Stephen, who lived near Nic-o-me'-di-a, and caused him to be brought to Constantinople, in the hope of gaining him over to his party, for Stephen was held in great esteem by the people, on account of his great virtues and holiness. The emperor tried to persuade him by argument, and said, "Why can I not trample on a crucifix without offending Jesus Christ?" Stephen then held up a coin which bore the emperor's effigy,1 and replied, "I may, then, stamp upon this coin without insulting 2 you." He then threw the coin on the ground, and placed his foot upon it; and, when the people round the emperor rushed forward to chastise 3 this insolence, Stephen said, "If it be a crime to profane the image of an earthly king, is it no crime at all to throw into the fire the image of the King of kings?" The emperor, having no answer to make, ordered the holy man to be put to death. The Mon'-o-thel-ites, or asserters of one will, revived the heresy of Eutyches with slight modifications. They taught that in our Divine Lord there was but one will and one operation.4 Now the Catholic Church recognises 5 in our Lord two distinct though inseparable natures. She recognises also two distinct wills-the Divine will and the human will-which can never conflict one with the other, yet can never be confounded. And other errors arose, but circulated less widely than the great heresies. Two general councils, both held at Constantinople, were 1 Effigies, image. E, out of; fingo, I make. 2 In, against; silio, I slide. 4 Work, performance. Chastise-Castigo, I punish. 5 Re, again; co, together; nosco, I know. convoked, one in A.D. 553, which examined and discussed the heterodox 1 writings of O'-ri-gen and Theo-do'-ret. The other, convoked in A.D. 680, finally condemned the Monothelites, and carefully drew up its Confession of Faith against their heresy, as being opposed to the teaching of the apostles, to the decrees of Councils, and to the Fathers of the Church. This Council of Constantinople is regarded as the Sixth General Council. In the beginning of the seventh century there lived in Mecca, a city of Arabia, a man named Mo-hamm'-ed, who, when he was about forty years of age, declared himself inspired by God to reveal a new religion. He drew up certain dogmas, compounded 2 of Judaism and Christianity, and, as he could neither read nor write, he employed a secretary. His pretended revelations were afterwards collected into a book called the Koran, which was intended to supplant 3 the Bible, and if such a thing had been possible, the fanatic armies of the false prophet would have succeeded, but the will of man cannot cope with God's revealed word. The Mohammedans do not date their era, as we do, from the birth of Christ, but from the He-gi'-ra, or flight of Mohammed from Mecca to Medina, which happened in the year A.D. 622 of our era. The Holy Cross, discovered by St Helena, had been carried away by the Persians during their invasion of Palestine, in the reign of He-rac'-li-us, A.D. 614; but it was recovered, and restored to its place in the Church of the Resurrection at Jerusalem A.D. 628, and the Emperor Heraclius bore the cross on his shoulders, in humble imitation of our divine Lord, along the Via Dolorosa, or Way of Sorrows, to the top of Calvary. The Picts in Scotland were converted by St Columba, and St Wilibrord evangelised Holland. Religious orders still continued to increase. St John Cli'mac-us, Abbot of Mount Sinai, wrote the "Ladder of Perfection;" St Gall, St Cuthbert, St El-oi' or El-i'-gi-us, St Ri'-quier, St Chad, St Bennet Biscop at Wearmouth, either founded abbeys, or extended them. St Val'-e-ry, first a recluse, then Abbot, founded the monastery which still retains his name. 1 Heteros, another; doxa, way of thinking. 2. Con, together; pono, I place. 3 To take the place of. Sub, under; planta, the sole of the foot. F Two |