Severus of Antioch

Severus the Great of Antioch (Greek: Σεβῆρος; syr, ܣܘܝܪܝܘܣ ܕܐܢܛܝܘܟܝܐ), also known as Severus of Gaza or Crown of Syrians ( Syriac: ܬܓܐ ܕܣܘܪܝܥܝܐ; Tagha d'Suryoye; Arabic: تاج السوريين; Taj al-Suriyyun), was the Patriarch of Antioch, and head of the Syriac Orthodox Church, from 512 until his death in 538. He is venerated as a saint in the Oriental Orthodox Church, and his feast day is 8 February.

Biography

Early life and education

Severus was born in the city of Sozopolis in Pisidia in c. 459,Barsoum (2003), p. 92 or c. 465, into an affluent Christian family, however, later Miaphysite sources would assert that his parents were pagan.Witakowski (2004), pp. 115-116 His father was a senator in the city,Chapman (1911) and his paternal grandfather, also named Severus,''St. Severus of Antioch''
Northeast American Diocese of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church was the Bishop of Sozopolis and had attended the Council of Ephesus in 431. According to Severus' hagiography, he was named after his paternal grandfather as he had received a vision in which he was told, "the child who is for your son will strengthen Orthodoxy, and his name will be after your name".

After his father's death, in 485, Severus travelled to Alexandria in Egypt to study grammar, rhetoric, and philosophy, in both Greek and Latin.Barsoum (2003), p. 93 At Alexandria, he met Zacharias of Mytilene, a fellow student and friend, who persuaded him to read the works of Gregory of Nazianzus, and Basil of Caesarea, in particular his correspondence with Libanius. According to Zacharias, whilst students at Alexandria, he and Severus discovered and destroyed a hoard of pagan idols at the neighbouring city of Menouthis.

In the autumn of 486, Severus travelled to Berytus in Phoenicia and studied law and philosophy at the law school, where he was later joined by Zacharias in 487. At Berytus, Severus and Zacharias led the expulsion of necromancers and enchanters from the city, and Severus began to dedicate his free time to studying the works of the Fathers of the Church. At this time, he joined a group of students led by a certain Evagrius who prayed together at the Church of the Resurrection every evening. Severus was convinced to be baptised, as he had not yet undergone baptism due to Pisidian custom in which men could not be baptised until they had grown a beard. In 488, he was baptised at the Church of Saint Leontius at Tripolis with Evagrius as his sponsor.

Monkhood

Severus subsequently adopted an ascetic life whereby he rejected bathing and adopted fasting. He initially intended to return to Pisidia and practise law, however, after a pilgrimage to the Church of Saint Leontius in Tripolis, the head of John the Baptist at Emesa, and Jerusalem, he resolved to join Evagrius and become a monk. Severus entered the monastery of Peter the Iberian near Maiuma in Palestine, a prominent centre of non-Chalcedonianism, and remained there for several years.Youssef (2015), p. 228 He later joined a monastic brotherhood in the desert near Eleutheropolis under the archimandrite Mamas.Venables (1911a) Severus practised asceticism in the desert until c. 500, at which time he became ill and was convinced to recover at the Monastery of Saint Romanus in Maiuma,Torrance (1998), p. 3 where he was ordained a priest by Epiphanius, Bishop of Magydus. At Maiuma, Severus received his inheritance from his parents; he shared the property with his brothers, donated most of his share to the poor, and constructed a monastery.

On a walk outside the city, Severus came upon a hermit who left his cave to call out, "welcome to you Severus, teacher of Orthodoxy, and Patriarch of Antioch", despite never meeting Severus, the hermit thus prophesied Severus' ascension to the patriarchal throne. He remained at his monastery until 507/508, at which time Nephalius, a Chalcedonian monk, arrived at Maiuma and preached against Severus and other non-Chalcedonians. In 508, Nephalius wrote an ''apologia'' of the Council of Chalcedon,Torrance (1998), p. 4 to which Severus replied in his two ''Orationes ad Nephalium''. In the same year, Patriarch Elias of Jerusalem commissioned Nephalius to expel non-Chalcedonian monks from their monasteries in Palestine, and Severus was sent to Constantinople to complain to Emperor Anastasius.

Severus travelled to Constantinople alongside 200 non-Chalcedonian monks, and gained favour with the emperor soon after his arrival. Patriarch Macedonius II of Constantinople attempted to sway Anastasius to support the Council of Chalcedon and presented the emperor with a collection of edited excerpts from the works of Cyril of Alexandria, an important Father of the Church who had died prior to the council. Severus, however, wrote ''Philalethes'', and refuted Macedonius as the work of Cyril presented to the emperor was shown to be taken out of context. At Constantinople, Severus became friends with Julian, Bishop of Halicarnassus. Under Severus' influence, in 510, Anastasius allowed non-Chalcedonians to retake their monasteries, and, in 510/511, the emperor issued a ''typos'' (edict) that adopted the non-Chalcedonian interpretation of the '' Henotikon'' as law.Horn (2006), p. 110 After Macedonius' deposition and his succession by Timothy I, a non-Chalcedonian, in August 511, Severus returned to his monastery in Palestine.

Patriarch of Antioch

In 512, Flavian II, Patriarch of Antioch, was deposed by Anastasius, and a synod was held at Laodicea in Syria to elect a successor. Severus was elected on 6 November and consecrated at the Great Church of Antioch on 16 November. The consecration ceremony was attended by the bishops Dionysius of Tarsus, Nicias of Laodicea, Philoxenus of Hierapolis, Peter of Beroea, Simeon of Chalcis, Marion of Sura, Eusebius of Gabbula, Silvanus of Urima, Sergius of Cyrrhus, John of Europus, Philoxenus of Doliche, and Iulianus of Salamias. During the consecration ceremony, he affirmed the councils of Nicaea, Constantinople, and Ephesus, and the ''Henotikon''.Torrance (1998), p. 5 Despite orders from Anastasius to not act or speak against the Council of Chalcedon, Severus condemned the council, as well as Pope Leo's Tome, Nestorius, Eutyches

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