St. Eustathius of Antioch +337

St. Eustathius of Antioch +337

June 5th is the commemoration of the dhukrono of St. Eustathius of Antioch according to the liturgical calendar of the Syriac Orthodox Church. Sometimes surnamed the Great, St. Eustathius of Antioch was a bishop & Patriarch of Antioch in the 324-337. At the Council of Nicæa (325), since he was presiding the council, he distinguished himself zealously against the Arians & was one of the most prominent opponents of Arianism, & from 325-330 he was engaged in an almost continuous literary warfare against the Arians. But the mad Arius, as St. Eustathius called him, refused to renounce his errors. He & those who shared his opinion were excommunicated from the Church by the Council. Among the bishops who signed the Nicene Creed were some who sympathized with the heresy of Arius, but signed the Acts of the Council through fear of excommunication. After the Council, his enemies plotted against St. Eustathius. With great cunning they gained his consent to convene a local Council at Antioch. Having bribed a certain profligate woman, they persuaded her to appear at the Council with an infant at her breast, & falsely declare that St. Eustathius was the father of the infant. The Arians declared St. Eustathius deposed with the help of King Constantius (who shared the heretical views of the Arians). Even in exile, Saint Eustathius struggled for Orthodoxy with the same zeal. He died in exile in the year 337AD. For full biography visit: http://www.soc-wus.org/ourchurch/St.%20Eustathius,%20Patriarch%20of%20Antioch.htm