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St Severus of Antioch

Patriarch of Antioch

Σεβῆρος Ἀντιοχείας

Severus, a monk and theologian from Pisidia, was patriarch of Antioch from 512 until he fled to Egypt in 518 rather than accept Chalcedon. He reposed at Sakha in 538.

Born
c. 459 or c. 465
Died
538 (5 February per Wikipedia; 8 February per OrthodoxWiki)
Feast
14 Amshir · Commemoration of his repose at Sakha (Coptic Synaxarium, 14 Amshir).
Era
5th–6th century
See
Antioch (Patriarch, 512–518)
Apologist Fathers

Life

Severus was born at Sozopolis in Pisidia, about 459 or about 465 [2][9]. He studied at Alexandria and then law at Berytus (Beirut), and was baptised in 488 at Tripolis [2]. He became a monk in the monastery of Peter the Iberian near Maiuma, and was ordained priest there [2].

About 508 he went to Constantinople to protest the expulsion of non-Chalcedonian monks [2]. He was consecrated patriarch of Antioch in November 512 (OrthodoxWiki gives 6 November) [2][3], and rejected the Council of Chalcedon and the Tome of Leo [2]. His 123 Cathedral Homilies come from this period [2].

When Justin I succeeded in July 518 and ordered him to accept Chalcedon, Severus refused and fled Antioch by boat on 29 September 518 to Alexandria, where Pope Timothy received him [2]. In Egypt he wrote against the Grammarian and against Julian of Halicarnassus, whose view of Christ's body he opposed [2][6][7].

Around 534 he was invited to Constantinople, but after Pope Agapetus I arrived in March 536 a synod excommunicated him and an edict of 6 August 536 banned his books and banished him [2]. He returned to Egypt and reposed at Sakha in 538; the Synaxarium commemorates this on 14 Amshir and records that his body was moved to the Zujaj monastery [1][2].

Where the sources disagree

Birth: c. 459 or c. 465 (Wikipedia EN, St-Takla), c. 459 (OrthodoxWiki), 456 with a footnote noting c. 465 (Arabic Wikipedia). Death day: 5 February 538 (Wikipedia EN), 8 February 538 (OrthodoxWiki; Wikipedia says 8 February is the Coptic feast day), 14 Amshir 538 (St-Takla Synaxarium); only the year 538 is common to all. Deposition in 518: Wikipedia says Justin I ordered his arrest; OrthodoxWiki says "Justinian", but Justinian did not become emperor until 527, so we follow Wikipedia's account. Visit to Constantinople: c. 534 (Wikipedia), 535 (OrthodoxWiki). The Arabic Wikipedia infobox gives his term as 512–538, while its patriarch list gives 512–518; we use 512–518 as the term in office at Antioch, since Wikipedia EN and NPNF's CCEL introduction agree. Syriac Orthodox tradition keeps 29 September, the Coptic Church 14 Amshir.

Timeline

  1. c. 459 / c. 465Born at Sozopolis in Pisidia.[2]
  2. 488Baptised at Tripolis.[2]
  3. c. 508Goes to Constantinople to protest the expulsion of non-Chalcedonian monks.[2]
  4. Nov 512Consecrated patriarch of Antioch (6 Nov per OrthodoxWiki).[3]
  5. 29 Sep 518Flees Antioch by boat to Alexandria after Justin I orders him to accept Chalcedon.[2]
  6. c. 519Completes Against the Grammarian in exile.[2]
  7. c. 534Invited by Justinian to Constantinople.[2]
  8. 536Excommunicated by Menas's synod; edict of 6 Aug bans his books and banishes him; returns to Egypt.[2]
  9. 538Reposes at Sakha (5 Feb per Wikipedia; 14 Amshir in the Synaxarium).[1]

Works

Words by topic

Ancestral Sin

Apologist Fathers1

Topics cited in

Ancestral Sin

Notes

  1. [1]St-Takla, Coptic Synaxarium, 14 Amshir (Severus)
  2. [2]Wikipedia (EN), Severus of Antioch
  3. [3]OrthodoxWiki, Severus of Antioch
  4. [4]Wikipedia (AR), سويرس الأنطاكي
  5. [5]E. W. Brooks (ed.), Severus of Antioch: A collection of letters from numerous Syriac manuscripts (1915), Introduction (CCEL)
  6. [6]R. Hespel (ed.), La polémique antijulianiste (CSCO), library catalogue record
  7. [7]P. Carrara, I frammenti greci del Contra additiones Iuliani di Severo di Antiochia, Prometheus 11.1 (1985)
  8. [8]St-Takla, Youssef Habib, The Patriarch St. Severus of Antioch (book index)
  9. [9]St-Takla, biography of St. Severus (Coptic Saints Story 1065): header gives 459/465 and 538

Bibliography