Course 3, Chapter 24

Christianity preserved and propagated. — St. Chrysostom, St. J erome, St. Arsenius. — Third and fourth General Councils. — Fifth Century continued.

1. Who were the other doctors raised up by God to defend religion during the fifth century?

During the fifth century God raised up a great number of other doctors to defend religion; such as St. Cyril of Alexandria, St. Is-idore of Pelusium, St. Epiphanius, and above all St. Chrysostom, patriarch of Constantinople, and St. Jerome.

2. Who was St. Chrysostom?

St. Chrysostom was son of one of the generals in the Roman army; he was born at Antioch, and raised in piety by a virtuous mother; he became so skilled in eloquence, that he changed the whole face of the city of Antioch.

3. How did he become the patriarch of Constanti nople?

The emperor Arcadius had him carried off and consecrated archbishop of Constantinople. The saint there displayed the same zeal as at Antioch, and with the same success. But the heretics and the evil disposed caused him to be sent into exile, where he died in 407.

4. Who was St. Jerome?

St. Jerome, born in Pannonia, was sent to Rome to perfect himself in the sciences. He there forgot, for a time, the good principles received from his family; but entering into himself, he was baptized, and consecrated himself entirely to prayer and study. He re-

tired to Bethlehem, and spent the rest oi his life in great austerities. It was from the depth of his solitude that he refuted the schismatics and heretics, and enlightened the church by a great number of learned works.*

5. Who were the principal solitaries of the fifth century?

The principal solitaries of the fifth century wem St. Nilus, St. Simon Stylites, St. Arsenius and St. Gerasimus. Whilst great doctors were doing battle for the church, great saints were praying in the desert for the triumph of the church and to stay the justice of God.

6. Who was St. Arsenius?

St. Arsenius was first the preceptor of the children of the emperor Theodosius. After having passed eleven years at court, he retired into the desert, where, till the age of ninety-five, he led a life wholly angelic, after saying to himself: " Arsenius, why did you quit the world? why have you come hither? "

7. Who was St. Gerasimus?

St. Gerasimus fixed his habitation in Palestine, on the banks of the Jordan, and founded there a very celebrated laura. A laura signifies a habitation of solitaries, whose cells are ranged in a circle, separated from one another, but all opening into the church, which is built in the centre of the circle. These saints all lived in perpetual silence; each in his own cell occupied in prayer and manual labor. On Sunday they all assembled in the church, to participate in the holy mysteries.

8. How did God punish the sins of the heretics and pagans?

During the fifth century God punished the sins of the heretics and pagans by bringing down upon the Roman empire hordes of barbarians, led on by the redoubtable chiefs, Attila, king of the Huns, and Alaric,

294 CATECHISM OF PERSEVERANCE.

king of the Visigoths. The pope St. Leo twice saved Koine from their fury.

9. Were there not two general councils held in the fifth century?

There were two general councils held in the fifth century; one at Ephesus in 431, which condemned Nestorius; the other at Chalcedon, in 451, in which Eutyches was condemned.