By Henry Aloysius Barry
CHAPTER XVI. THE WAGES OF SIN.
Photius, who in the year 866 began the bombardment of the Article of Faith wherein we believe that the Holy Ghost proceedeth from the Father and the Son and Cerularius, who in the year 1043 carried on or resumed the assault, were both of them patriarchs of Constantinople. The rupture which the latter brought about lasted until the Council of Lyons 1274. The Greek legates nominally subscribed to the council and a temporary restoration of peace eventuated and lasted during the reign of John Beccus, who replaced the patriarch Joseph upon the latter's unwilling retirement from the patriarchate; but the latter was reseated and the old wound reopened upon the death in 1283 of Michael Palaeologus. Exile, poverty and disgrace were visited upon the Greeks who kept the Latin faith. Manuel Calecas, the illustrious chronicler, was among those who fell under the iron hoof of cruel treatment. This last outbreak A was brought on by the very men among the Greeks who had subscribed to the Council of Lyons. Again, in the reign of Eugenius IV., another truce was patched up between the Latins and the Greeks, in the Ferrarian or Florentine Council. John Palaeologus and the patriarch with other leading dignitaries attended the synod in 1439. Marcus Ephesinus maintained the anti-Latin side with vigor, but peace was restored between the East and West. This same Marcus Ephesinus, who would not subscribe to the Council, soon after with other mutinous churchmen succeeded in bringing about a final rupture between the Greeks and Latins. Worse than dogs the Greeks returned, not once, but many times, to their emesis. It is worthy of observation that the Latin side had among the Greeks such men as Nicephorus Blemmydis, the most erudite and devout man of his era, John Beccus and Manuel Calecas. On the other hand, it is a case of the "hind that would be mated to the lion." Photius and Cerularius were dominated by a fierce pride; they would have no superior. The ambitions of these men led them into a plot whereby they should achieve perfect independence of the Pope, the Vicar of Christ on earth. The Holy Ghost's procession "from the Son" was but the weapon or rather the mask they used to hide their real purpose and deceive and dupe the faithful. Whilst focussing public attention upon the apparent point of attack the heretics were in reality undermining, with malice prepense and diabolical design, the very structure of faith, the supreme authority of Rome in Greece. It is a most lurid bit of infernal politics when ambition is let go so far and pride is so allowed to romp, with no bounds set to its liberties, that the faith of millions is slain to nourish Photius, in the first place, was but a tool of royalty. Ignatius was removed by force from his See because, following in the footsteps of John Beccus, he did his duty in correcting Barda from an incestuous life. Law and order give no credentials to Photius, his suborned successor. The character of this man was such, however, as to make him a choice that would not embarrass the evildoer in high places,—a snap shot of him, but all that is necessary. This is the Father of the Greek schismatics; this is the man who closed the Latin churches in Constantinople and banished the Monks who faithfully adhered to the Roman See. Priests and laics who would not obey his injunctions were thrown into prisons vile and publicly lashed. The divinity of our Blessed Lord was irrigated by blood; the Holy Ghost has had His victims. How indeed can men be convinced of any divine message being sent to the world and entrusted to such foul hands as those of Henry VIII., Luther and Photius. Impure, unchaste rulers, they scattered the seed of antagonism to truth. Herod, Henry and Barda—a lewd trio. Power will always find however, enough tools among the ambitious to needle their way. Like any passion it will deaden conscience and lend itself to what will bring grist to its mill, food to its vanity or furnish salve for its pruriency. Ambition and sensuality make sociable mates; each gets from the collusion all that portion of the booty that he cares to have.
We have said that in 1439 the Greeks subscribed to the Latin Synod in the Council of Florence, but, they did not generally live up to it, afterwards. At most they did so for no more than a brief space, for, we find that Pope Nicholas in 1451 indignantly, with deep feeling and in a prophetic tone, wrote the Greeks as follows:—"We put up with your delays out of consideration for Jesus Christ, the eternal Pontiff, Who let the sterile fig tree stand until the third year, though the gardener was ready with axe in hand to cut it down because it bore no fruit. We have waited three years to see if you would not, at the voice of our divine Saviour, retreat from your schism—very well! If we have waited in vain, you shall be cut down so that you will no longer vex the earth with your useless presence." Three years after or about fourteen years dating from the Council of Florence, Mahomet the Second stood under the walls of Constantinople, the capital of Greece.
The Greeks shouted for help but the Latins stopped their ears to the cry. Bloody battles were fought but the Greek Empire was undone. Her fate was settled on May 29th, 1453, on the very feast of Pentecost, of all days of the year the one especially dedicated to the Holy Ghost. Twice the Turks were repulsed, but the third assault made them victors.
Constantine, the Emperor, fought with his soldiers; he threw aside his royal mantle and flung himself with true, kingly valor upon the ranks of the enemy, wielding his sword and shouting in a stentorian voice encouragement and direction to his troops. He fell, and by his side fell in their own blood the noblest of the Grecian Empire and their crimson life-current mingled with the blood of the fatalist Musselmen. Three days were consumed in massacre, looting and fire. On the fourth day Mahomet made his entrance into the city, took possession of the Imperial Palace and made a Mosque out of the Church of St. Sophia. To this day the Greeks groan under the bitter rule of the Sultan. They have freedom of worship, to be sure, but the patriarch must be confirmed by the Sultan and pay a very enormous sum for his letter of confirmation. Thus the tomb of Greece was erected by the Turk beside the sarcophagus of Imperial Rome in the cemetery of nations. The latter fell in the bloody war against the Son of God, and the divinity of Jesus Christ; the former fell in the war against the Holy Ghost, that began with Photius in the ninth century and was waged with only intermittent spells of harmony down to the fatal hour when the star of the Grecian Empire faded out of sight in the Western sky, leaving in its wake a trail of black night. Whilst from the Latin altars the fumes of incense arose on that fatal Pentecost—aye, fatal indeed for Grecian Imperialism— and mingled with the song of praise and of peace, what a lurid contrast it made with the smoke of battle, the fury of arms and the sad chant of the slain around the walls of Constantinople, reading to us the fate of those who resist the Holy Ghost; for, with nations as with individuals, such resistance is doomed to catastrophe. The cruel weight of the Turkish Sultan presses hard upon the Greeks, but, a more horrid, cunning and crafty power, that, namely, of the Evil Spirit, lowers upon the soul that offers resistance to the power and attraction of grace and overshadows sin's captives with the midnight darkness of future and eternal doom. Says Pope Leo:—"As with individuals, so with nations, these all must necessarily tend to ruin if they go astray from the way. The Son of God, the Creator, Redeemer of Mankind is King and Lord of the earth and holds supreme dominion over men, both individually and collectively'." 'And He gave Him power, glory, and a kingdom, and all peoples, tribes and tongues shall serve Him—I will give Thee the Gentiles for Thy inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for Thy possession.' (Ps. ii, 6, 8.) But when men's minds are clouded, both rulers and ruled go astray, for they have no safe line to follow or any to aim at." The message which the Holy Father would deliver unto nations and men is that they shall keep their minds, hearts, deeds and words pure by walking in the light of the "Spirit of Jesus," by cultivating an abiding consciousness of the Spirit's presence and a stern fidelity to the momentary promptings and guidance of the Spirit of Jesus. Come, Holy Spirit!
CHAPTER XVI. THE WAGES OF SIN.
Photius, who in the year 866 began the bombardment of the Article of Faith wherein we believe that the Holy Ghost proceedeth from the Father and the Son and Cerularius, who in the year 1043 carried on or resumed the assault, were both of them patriarchs of Constantinople. The rupture which the latter brought about lasted until the Council of Lyons 1274. The Greek legates nominally subscribed to the council and a temporary restoration of peace eventuated and lasted during the reign of John Beccus, who replaced the patriarch Joseph upon the latter's unwilling retirement from the patriarchate; but the latter was reseated and the old wound reopened upon the death in 1283 of Michael Palaeologus. Exile, poverty and disgrace were visited upon the Greeks who kept the Latin faith. Manuel Calecas, the illustrious chronicler, was among those who fell under the iron hoof of cruel treatment. This last outbreak A was brought on by the very men among the Greeks who had subscribed to the Council of Lyons. Again, in the reign of Eugenius IV., another truce was patched up between the Latins and the Greeks, in the Ferrarian or Florentine Council. John Palaeologus and the patriarch with other leading dignitaries attended the synod in 1439. Marcus Ephesinus maintained the anti-Latin side with vigor, but peace was restored between the East and West. This same Marcus Ephesinus, who would not subscribe to the Council, soon after with other mutinous churchmen succeeded in bringing about a final rupture between the Greeks and Latins. Worse than dogs the Greeks returned, not once, but many times, to their emesis. It is worthy of observation that the Latin side had among the Greeks such men as Nicephorus Blemmydis, the most erudite and devout man of his era, John Beccus and Manuel Calecas. On the other hand, it is a case of the "hind that would be mated to the lion." Photius and Cerularius were dominated by a fierce pride; they would have no superior. The ambitions of these men led them into a plot whereby they should achieve perfect independence of the Pope, the Vicar of Christ on earth. The Holy Ghost's procession "from the Son" was but the weapon or rather the mask they used to hide their real purpose and deceive and dupe the faithful. Whilst focussing public attention upon the apparent point of attack the heretics were in reality undermining, with malice prepense and diabolical design, the very structure of faith, the supreme authority of Rome in Greece. It is a most lurid bit of infernal politics when ambition is let go so far and pride is so allowed to romp, with no bounds set to its liberties, that the faith of millions is slain to nourish Photius, in the first place, was but a tool of royalty. Ignatius was removed by force from his See because, following in the footsteps of John Beccus, he did his duty in correcting Barda from an incestuous life. Law and order give no credentials to Photius, his suborned successor. The character of this man was such, however, as to make him a choice that would not embarrass the evildoer in high places,—a snap shot of him, but all that is necessary. This is the Father of the Greek schismatics; this is the man who closed the Latin churches in Constantinople and banished the Monks who faithfully adhered to the Roman See. Priests and laics who would not obey his injunctions were thrown into prisons vile and publicly lashed. The divinity of our Blessed Lord was irrigated by blood; the Holy Ghost has had His victims. How indeed can men be convinced of any divine message being sent to the world and entrusted to such foul hands as those of Henry VIII., Luther and Photius. Impure, unchaste rulers, they scattered the seed of antagonism to truth. Herod, Henry and Barda—a lewd trio. Power will always find however, enough tools among the ambitious to needle their way. Like any passion it will deaden conscience and lend itself to what will bring grist to its mill, food to its vanity or furnish salve for its pruriency. Ambition and sensuality make sociable mates; each gets from the collusion all that portion of the booty that he cares to have.
We have said that in 1439 the Greeks subscribed to the Latin Synod in the Council of Florence, but, they did not generally live up to it, afterwards. At most they did so for no more than a brief space, for, we find that Pope Nicholas in 1451 indignantly, with deep feeling and in a prophetic tone, wrote the Greeks as follows:—"We put up with your delays out of consideration for Jesus Christ, the eternal Pontiff, Who let the sterile fig tree stand until the third year, though the gardener was ready with axe in hand to cut it down because it bore no fruit. We have waited three years to see if you would not, at the voice of our divine Saviour, retreat from your schism—very well! If we have waited in vain, you shall be cut down so that you will no longer vex the earth with your useless presence." Three years after or about fourteen years dating from the Council of Florence, Mahomet the Second stood under the walls of Constantinople, the capital of Greece.
The Greeks shouted for help but the Latins stopped their ears to the cry. Bloody battles were fought but the Greek Empire was undone. Her fate was settled on May 29th, 1453, on the very feast of Pentecost, of all days of the year the one especially dedicated to the Holy Ghost. Twice the Turks were repulsed, but the third assault made them victors.
Constantine, the Emperor, fought with his soldiers; he threw aside his royal mantle and flung himself with true, kingly valor upon the ranks of the enemy, wielding his sword and shouting in a stentorian voice encouragement and direction to his troops. He fell, and by his side fell in their own blood the noblest of the Grecian Empire and their crimson life-current mingled with the blood of the fatalist Musselmen. Three days were consumed in massacre, looting and fire. On the fourth day Mahomet made his entrance into the city, took possession of the Imperial Palace and made a Mosque out of the Church of St. Sophia. To this day the Greeks groan under the bitter rule of the Sultan. They have freedom of worship, to be sure, but the patriarch must be confirmed by the Sultan and pay a very enormous sum for his letter of confirmation. Thus the tomb of Greece was erected by the Turk beside the sarcophagus of Imperial Rome in the cemetery of nations. The latter fell in the bloody war against the Son of God, and the divinity of Jesus Christ; the former fell in the war against the Holy Ghost, that began with Photius in the ninth century and was waged with only intermittent spells of harmony down to the fatal hour when the star of the Grecian Empire faded out of sight in the Western sky, leaving in its wake a trail of black night. Whilst from the Latin altars the fumes of incense arose on that fatal Pentecost—aye, fatal indeed for Grecian Imperialism— and mingled with the song of praise and of peace, what a lurid contrast it made with the smoke of battle, the fury of arms and the sad chant of the slain around the walls of Constantinople, reading to us the fate of those who resist the Holy Ghost; for, with nations as with individuals, such resistance is doomed to catastrophe. The cruel weight of the Turkish Sultan presses hard upon the Greeks, but, a more horrid, cunning and crafty power, that, namely, of the Evil Spirit, lowers upon the soul that offers resistance to the power and attraction of grace and overshadows sin's captives with the midnight darkness of future and eternal doom. Says Pope Leo:—"As with individuals, so with nations, these all must necessarily tend to ruin if they go astray from the way. The Son of God, the Creator, Redeemer of Mankind is King and Lord of the earth and holds supreme dominion over men, both individually and collectively'." 'And He gave Him power, glory, and a kingdom, and all peoples, tribes and tongues shall serve Him—I will give Thee the Gentiles for Thy inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for Thy possession.' (Ps. ii, 6, 8.) But when men's minds are clouded, both rulers and ruled go astray, for they have no safe line to follow or any to aim at." The message which the Holy Father would deliver unto nations and men is that they shall keep their minds, hearts, deeds and words pure by walking in the light of the "Spirit of Jesus," by cultivating an abiding consciousness of the Spirit's presence and a stern fidelity to the momentary promptings and guidance of the Spirit of Jesus. Come, Holy Spirit!
