September 18th - St. Methodius of Olympus
Bishop and ecclesiastical author, date of birth unknown; died a martyr,
probably in 311. Concerning the life of this first scientific opponent of
Origen very few re****ts have been handed down; and even these short
accounts
present many difficulties. Eusebius has not mentioned him in his "Church
History", probably because he opposed various theories of Origen. We are
indebted to St. Jerome for the earliest accounts of him (De viris
illustribus, lxxxiii). According to him, Methodius was Bishop of Olympus
in
Lycia and afterwards Bishop of Tyre. But the latter statement is not
reliable; no later Greek author knows anything of his being Bishop of
Tyre;
and according to Eusebius (Hist. Eccl., VIII, xiii), Tyrannio was Bishop
of
Tyre during the Diocletian persecution and died a martyr; after the
persecution Paulinus was elected bishop of the city. Jerome further states
that Methodius suffered martyrdom at the end of the last persecution,
i.e.,
under Maximinus Daja (311). Although he then adds, "that some assert",
that
this may have happened under Decius and Valerian at Chalcis, this
statement
(ut alii affirmant), adduced even by him as uncertain, is not to be
accepted. Various attempts have been made to clear up the error concerning
the mention of Tyre as a subsequent bishopric of Methodius; it is possible
that he was trans****ted to Tyre during the persecution and died there.
Methodius had a very comprehensive philosophical education, and was an
im****tant theologian as well as a prolific and polished author.
Chronologically, his works can only be assigned in a general way to the
end
of the third and the beginning of the fourth century. He became of special
im****tance in the history of theological literature, in that he
successfully
combated various erroneous views of the great Alexandrian, Origen. He
particularly attacked his doctrine that man's body at the resurrection is
not the same body as he had in life; also his idea of the world's eternity
and the erroneous notions it involved. Nevertheless he recognized the
great
services of Origen in ecclesiastical theology. Like him, he is strongly
influenced by Plato's philosophy, and uses to a great extent the
allegorical
explanation of Scripture. Of his numerous works only one has come down to
us
complete in a Greek text, viz., the dialogue on virginity, under the
title:
"Symposium, or on Virginity" (Symposion he peri hagneias) in P.G., XVIII,
27-220. In the dialogue, composed with reference to Plato's "Banquet", he
depicts a festive meal of ten virgins in the garden of Arete (virtue), at
which each of the participators extols Christian virginity and its sublime
excellence. It concludes with a hymn on Christ as the Bridegroom of the
Church. Larger fragments are preserved of several other writings in Greek;
we know of other works from old versions in Slavonian, though some are
abbreviated.
The following works are in the form of dialogue:
(1) "On Free Will" (peri tou autexousiou), an im****tant treatise attacking
the Gnostic view of the origin of evil and in proof of the freedom of the
human will;
(2) "On the Resurrection" (Aglaophon he peri tes anastaseos), in which the
doctrine that the same body that man has in life will be awakened to
incorruptibility at the resurrection is specially put forward in
opposition
to Origen.
While large ****tions of the original Greek text of both these writings are
preserved, we have only Slavonian versions of the four following shorter
treatises:
(3) "De vita", on life and rational action, which exhorts in particular to
contentedness in this life and to the hope of the life to come;
(4) "De cibis", on the discrimination of foods (among Jews), and on the
young cow, which is mentioned in Leviticus, with allegorical explanation
of
the Old Testament food-legislation and the red cow (Num., xix); (5) "De
lepra", on Leprosy, to Sistelius, a dialogue between Eubulius (Methodius)
and Sistelius on the mystic sense of the Old Testament references to
lepers
(Lev., xiii);
(6) "De sanguisuga", on the leech in Proverbs (Prov., xxx, 15 sq.) and on
the text, "the heavens show forth the glory of God" (Ps. xviii, 2).
Of other writings, no longer extant, Jerome mentions (loc. cit.) a
voluminous work against ****phyrius, the Neoplatonist who had published a
book against Christianity; a treatise on the "Pythonissa" directed against
Origen, commentaries on Genesis and the Canticle of Canticles. By other
later authors a work "On the Martyrs", and a dialogue "Xenon" are
attributed
to Methodius; in the latter he opposes the doctrine of Origen on the
eternity of the world. New editions of his works are: P.G., XVIII; Jahn,
"S.
Methodii opera et S. Methodius platonizans" (Halle, 1865); Bonwetsch,
"Methodius von Olympus: I, Schriften" (Leipzig, 1891).
This version taken from:
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10243a.htm
Quote:
There seems nothing unreasonable in thinking that the Roman Liturgy, as
used
in the time of Gregory the great, may have existed from a period of the
most
remote antiquity.
-Sir William Palmer, historian
Bible Quote
1 Unto the end, a canticle of a psalm of the resurrection. Shout with joy
to
God, all the earth, 2 Sing ye a psalm to his name; give glory to his
praise.
(Psalms 65:1-2)
<><><><>
This is the prayer for the sick dedicated to St. Camillus. It is
not a prayer to him, it is a prayer asking him to intercede for
us. This is the prayer
O glorious Saint Camillus, special patron of the sick, poor,
thou who for forty years, with truly heroic charity, didst devote
thyself to the relief of their tem****al and spiritual necessities,
be pleased to assist them now even more generously, since
thou art blessed in heaven and they have been committed by
Holy Church to thy powerful protection.
Obtain for them from Almighty God the healing of all their
maladies, or at least, the spirit of Christian patience and
resignation that may sanctify them and comfort them in the
hour of their passing to eternity; at the same time obtain for
us the precious grace of living and dying after thine example
in the practice of divine love. Amen.
|
