§ 157. Св. Амфилохий, епископ Иконийский.

Contemporary and friend of St. Basil and Gregory of Nazianzus, St. Amphilochius 706 1), was from Cappadocia and was born in the same Caesarea where Basil 707 was born. His father, also called Amphilochius, was the brother of the blessed one. Nonna, mother of the Theologian Gregory 708. “He found,” says St. Gregory, the key of understanding for every book, whether written by mortals or heavenly, once surpassed all the Cappadocians in eloquence and kindness. He was happy, noble, strong in words, served as a help to all relatives, pious, noble, learned, and a mentor in words” 709. If he was such a caring mentor for young relatives, including his nephew, St. Gregory 710, it is clear what kind of education he gave to his children: they were given the best, brilliant education of that time. His eldest son, Euthymius, after completing his education, was betrothed to a beautiful and rich bride and died 711; daughter Theodosius remained a virgin and raised Olympias, famous for her wealth and holiness, 712. Young Amphilochius entered the rank of lawyer 713. One of the first cases of the new lawyer was the defense of Deacon Euphaly, who, due to his origin from a taxable estate, they wanted to exclude from the clergy. St. Gregory asked Amphilochius to begin a new service with a good deed - to protect Deacon Euphalios; otherwise, he wrote, this one will suffer the saddest fate; he alone will not take advantage of the philanthropy of the present time and the honor that kings give to sacred persons 714. These words of St. Gregory is also given to see that Amphilochius assumed the title of lawyer under the emperor. Jovinians, around 364. Young Amphilochius liked the activities of a lawyer, but they got him into trouble and caused him a lot of trouble. One man, being guilty of an important crime, knew how to present himself to Amphilochius as completely innocent, and the young lawyer passionately defended him. The first consequence was that the lawyer received the most unfavorable reviews, and then he faced liability before the law. St. Gregory on another occasion wrote to Amphilochius: “we were not often together, but this should have been due to our friendship and the friendship of our fathers” 715. Now he asked for Amphilochius and Sophronius. “I can rather,” he wrote, “expect something incredible and extraordinary than think that he will do or think ignoble things for money. The general voice ascribes so much rightness and prudence to him that it even exceeds his age.... Do not allow yourself to watch indifferently as they torment him with slander 716. In 372 Amphilochius, according to the conviction of St. Gregory 717, retired into the desert. Here his activities were prayer, reading Scripture and fasting 718. The very place of solitude was such that sometimes even involuntarily it was necessary to fast. The desert was rich in greenery and flowers: but bread had to be expected from the side; St. Gregory sent bread to the hermit and once wrote with a sincere smile: “Send us greens more generously, or we will threaten to withhold our supply of bread and then we will find out whether grasshoppers truly feed on dew 719.” After the death of Faustus, bishop of Iconium, who died in 373, 720 bl. Amphilochius, “caught by an unbreakable net of grace and brought to Pisidia by the wave of God,” 721 was installed as bishop of Iconium, then the main city of the Lycaonian region, next. with the right to manage all churches in the region 722. This greatly burdened the soul of Amphilochius. St. Basil wrote to him in consolation: “if you yourself had to bear the burden: then, of course, it is heavy and even unbearable. And if the Lord carries it with you, then cast your sorrow upon the Lord” 723. Soon after his dedication, Amphilochius undertook a trip to Caesarea to confer with Basil and managed to earn the love of all Caesarea residents. St. Basil, inviting him to his place (in the same year 374) for the Caesarea feast of St. Eutyches wrote to him: “Be assured, most venerable and truly dear to me, that my people, having recognized many from experience, desire your arrival more than success in anything. Thus you aroused their love for you during your short stay with us. Therefore, so that the Lord may be glorified, and the people may rejoice, and the martyrs may be honored, and I, the elder, may receive a favor from my sincere son, please welcome me; Let us lead up to the days of the holiday so that you and I can spend our leisure time together and be comforted by the communion of spiritual gifts. The festival (in memory of St. Eutyches) takes place on September 5th. Therefore, I ask you to arrive in three days” 724. During this second stay, St. Amphilochius begged the Great Basil to write about the Holy Spirit to expose the Doukhobors and to stop various offensive rumors 725. Amphilochius, in addition to a personal conference, more than once asked the Great Basil to resolve his doubts about church deanery on paper. And at his request, among other things, the “canonical epistle” of the great shepherd of Caesarea was written 726. Next year St. Basil again invited Amphilochius to his place and, due to his illness, entrusted him with the Church of Caesarea 727. Amphilochius, being sick himself, but not knowing about Vasily’s illness, invited him to Iconium for the Council. St. Basil asked to wait for him until he recovered 728. But the disease did not stop throughout the year. Therefore, Vasily sent a book about the Holy Spirit to the Council in his place. At the Council of 376 the Doukhobors were condemned 729. After that blzh. Amphilochius, for a successful fight against the Eunomians, asked St. Vasily to resolve several issues of Eunomian dialectics. Vasily loved the truth and Amphilochius so much that, despite his serious illness, he wrote him answers 730. In 381 St. Amphilochius was present at the second Ecumenical Council, and the fathers of the Council instructed him to restore the pure faith in the regions of Asia 731. In 383 he was again in Constantinople. Out of holy zeal for the truth and the salvation of his neighbors, he asked Emperor Theodosius to prohibit the Arians from holding public meetings. Theodosius “at first considered this measure quite harsh.” The saint saw that heretics were using freedom to the detriment of the Holy Church 732. And he decided to take a bold action. Appearing in the royal chambers, he saw that next to the king stood his son Arkady, who had recently also been proclaimed king; he greeted the king with due respect, but did not give due respect to his son Arkady. Theodosius, thinking that Amphilochius had forgotten, ordered him to give due greetings to Arkady. It is enough that the king is saluted, said Amphilochius. The angry emperor recognized his son's dishonor for insulting himself and ordered Amphilochius to be expelled. Then the saint said: “You see, Sovereign, how unbearable the dishonor of your son is for you, you are in great anger at those who insult him: believe that the Heavenly Father, the God of all, is indignant at those who humiliate His Son.” Then the king understood everything, asked for an apology from Amphilochius and issued a decree in agreement with his wishes 733. Around the same time, the Messalians, or Euchtites, penetrated into the Lycaon region. St. Amphilochius managed to protect his church from this infection 734. He wrote a book against the Messalians 735. Then he was present at the Council of Sides in Pamphylia, where the heresy of the Euchites was condemned and Amphilochius, on behalf of the Council, wrote a letter about this to Flavian, Archbishop of Antioch 736. St. Amphilochius had now succeeded so much in spirit that he could ask for healing for the sick. About this St. Gregory wrote to him like this: “I had barely freed myself from the suffering with which the illness aggravated me, when I turned to you, the giver of healing: a tongue that meditates on the Lord restores the sick” 737. On Sept. 394 St. Amphilochius was present at the Council of Constantinople, which was held regarding the discord between the Arabian bishops Bagadius and Agapius 738. This was the last feat of St. Amphilochius, known from monuments, and he probably died the following year 739. Quite a detailed description of the life of St. Amphilochia - in Add. to creativity St. fathers, M. 1856 Hieronymus Er. 70.at. 84. § 4. Basil the Great letter 161. Amphilochius the elder is called by Gregory (Epist. 30) “the great son of Philtates and Gorgonia.” Nonna is the daughter of Filtat (Epist. 415). Poems by St. Gregory. V, 353–355. Epitaph 30 ends like this: “I wrote this Gregory, word for word, which I learned from you, Amphilochius.” S. Gregorii Epitaphia 19. 20. 21. Epist. 230 ad Theodosium. S. Gregorii ad Olympiadem: “You have, my dear, Theodosia: she is a living example for you in word and deed; she is the sister of the impeccable bishop Amphilochius.” Basil the Great letter 150. Basil the Great letter 133. Basil the Great letter 161. Theodorit East. village 4, and Socrates 5, 8. Basil the Great letter 156. St. Basil book about the Holy Spirit § 1. Amphilochii epistola synodica in Patrolog. T. 39. r. 93–98. Basil the Great letters 223–228. Socrates 5, 8. Sozomen 7, 9. Theodorit 5, 8. Theodorit East. 5, 16. Sozomen 7, 6. Theodorite Haeret, fab. 4, 2. Mansi Concil. 3, 851. 852. You might be interested in: