August 2 is the Memorial Feast of St. Eusebius of Vercelli (283-371). Among his contemporaries, there was Eusebius of Caesarea (264-34) and Eusebius of Nicomedia (?-341). During the time of Eusebius of Vercelli, the Arianism was a powerful and popular Christological heresy. Arianism was rejected at the Council of Nicaea (325) because it denies the consubstantiality of the Father and the Son, therefore, denying the co-eternity of the Son with the Father.
Doctrinally, Eusebius of Nicomedia was corrupt with the
Arianism. Eusebius of Caesarea became a
compromiser with Arianism for the sake of “peace” but became hostile to those
who refuse to tolerate this heresy.
Because Eusebius of Nicomedia baptized Roman
Emperor, Constantine the Great at his death bed in 337, his successor, Constantine
II, who reigned from 337 to 340, because Arian.
This means that Arianism had the political power support. Because of
this, some bishops and priests did not fight against Arianism for their fear of
persecution. Eusebius of Caesarea is one
of such compromisers.
In such a climate, St. Eusebius of Vercelli, like St.
Athanasius of Alexandria (296?297?298? -373), steadfastly defended the orthodox
Christological and Trinitarian doctrine of the consubstantiality and
co-eternity of Christ the Son and the Father against the Arian heresy. And, as
Athanasius of Alexandria was persecuted for not making “peace” with this
popular and politically powerful heresy, so was Eusebius of Vercelli.
As Bishop of Vercelli, St. Eusebius promoted
Christ-centered life and devotion to Mary. In doing so, he emphasized that the
true citizenship of the faithful is of Rome but heavenly Jerusalem. Namely, as a
bishop, St. Eusebius pastored his people on the path to heavenly Jerusalem in
the Kingdom of God.
The Gospel Reading of his feast (Matthew 5:1-12a),
which is on the beatitudes pointing to the Kingdom, reflects St. Eusebius
promoting a life of the beatitudes, through a Christ-centered life and Marian
devotion, as Bishop of Vercelli. And the kind of faith-filled Christ-centered
life with Marian devotion, as emphasized by St. Eusebius of Vercelli, really puts
the faithful closer to the Father through the Son, as children of God, as
reflected in the First Reading (1 John
5:1-5).
St. Eusebius of Vercelli shepherded people not only
on the right path to the Kingdom but also to the correct Christological
doctrine without any compromise. For
this mission as a bishop, he made no compromise at all – even being put under
political pressure and being persecuted.
Today, we also live in an age of heresies. Even some priests and bishops mislead us to make “peace” with popular heretical views, for the sake of “aggiornamento”. But in honoring St. Eusebius of Vercelli on his feast day, we are empowered to staunchly defend “ad fontes” principle on the Church doctrine, including its Christology in the Trinitarian context.
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