♱Daily Synaxarium ♱Saturday, July 25, 2026translated

On this day, the Holy Church commemorates:

*The Dormition of Saint Anne, mother of the Mother of God. *Saint Fathers of the Fifth Ecumenical Council. *Saint Euphroxia. *Saint Deacon Olympia. *The righteous Saint Macarius the Russian wonderworker. *Martyrs of Lyon and Vienna in Gaul (France).

✤ Saint Fathers of the Fifth Ecumenical Council (553 AD) ✤

The number of these fathers was one hundred and sixty-five. They met in Constantinople under the chairmanship of the Patriarch of Constantinople, Saint Eutychios, between the fifth of May and the second of June of the year 553 AD. There is a difference of opinion regarding the purpose of convening the council: Is it to reconcile those opposed to the Fourth Ecumenical Council (Chalcedon) or is it to address the latent schism between the East and the West regarding what is known as the “Three Chapters”, i.e. Theodore of Mesa, Theodoret of Cyrus, and Ibas of Rahawi. Our statement, here, takes into account the latter point of view.

As for Theodoros of Al-Masisa, he was highly respected in the East due to his biblical interpretations. He was also the founder of the biblical school known as “Antioch.” However, he left in his theology an exaggerated aspect of intellectual speculation and the postulates of Aristotelian philosophy, and as a result he concluded by refuting the possibility of true unity between the created and the uncreated in the person of Christ. For him, the Word did not become a human being, but rather the human will united in him with the divine will, which preserved…