Elder Paisios’ Thoughts on Anti-Chalcedonians and their Supporters

The miracle at St. Euphemia’s tomb:
O Euphemia, Christ’s comely virgin, thou didst fill the Orthodox with gladness and didst cover with shame all the heretics; for at the holy Fourth Council in Chalcedon, thou didst confirm what the Fathers decreed aright. O all-glorious Great Martyr, do thou entreat Christ God that His great mercy may be granted unto us. (Apolytikion of the saint’s miracle celebrated on July 11)

(An excerpt from The Life of Elder Paisios of Mount Athos by Hieromonk Isaac, pp. 659-660)

He considered the Anti-Chalcedonians (that is, the Monophysites)—along with the other heretics and those of other religions—to be creatures of God and our brothers according to the flesh, in terms of our common descent from Adam; but he did not consider them children of God and our brothers according to the spirit, characterizations he believed applied only to Orthodox Christians.[1] Regarding the Monophysites’ sympathizers and their fervent supporters among the Orthodox, he observed, “They don’t say that the Monophysites didn’t understand the holy fathers—they say that the holy fathers didn’t understand them. In other words, they talk as if they’re right, and the fathers misunderstood them.”[2] He considered proposals to erase from the liturgical books statements identifying Dioscorus and Severus as heretics to be a blasphemy against the holy fathers.[3] He said, “So many divinely enlightened holy fathers who were there at the time didn’t understand them, took them the wrong way, and now we come along after so many centuries to correct the holy fathers? And they don’t take the miracle of Saint Euphemia into account? Did she misunderstand the heretics’ tome too?”[4]

Without trying to seem like a confessor of the faith, the elder, in his own way, expressed his opposition regarding various matters, speaking to and writing ecclesiastical figures. “The Church,” he would say, “isn’t the ship of each bishop to do with as he pleases.” These reactions of his were accompanied by much prayer and love, not only for the Church, but also for those who were deviating from the faith; and all was the fruit of dispassion, discernment, and enlightenment from above.

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[1] The Fourth Ecumenical Council was held in Chalcedon in 451. The council taught that Jesus Christ had two natures, divine and human.  Those who rejected this teaching became known as Monophysites, from the Greek words for “single nature.” The council decided in favor of the dogma of two natures in Christ, and it condemned those who rejected its authority and persisted in their errors, expelling them from the Body of Christ. The various communions descended from those who rejected the council have been known by a variety of names, including Monophysites, Non-Chalcedonians, the “Lesser” or “Separated” Eastern Churches, Copts, and Jacobites; and in latter times by other names, including Miaphysites, Henophysites, Pre-Chalcedonians, and Oriental Orthodox. The conclusions of the Fourth Council were affirmed at the Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Ecumenical Councils, and the fathers of the council are celebrated yearly on the Sunday between July 13 and 19.—Ed.

[2] The elder refers to the claim among supporters of union with the Non-Chalcedonians that the disagreement at the Fourth Ecumenical Council was essentially a tragic misunderstanding, the holy fathers there present failing to consider that people of differing backgrounds sometimes use different words to refer to the same thing.—Ed.

[3] Dioscorus was among the leaders of the anti-Orthodox at the Fourth Council, and Severus was one of the council’s most fervent critics. Both are regarded as saints by Non-Chalcedonians (Monophysites). The Church’s liturgical texts, however, speak of the Fourth Council’s victory over heresy, some specifically identifying Dioscorus and Severus as enemies of the faith. A union of the sort the elder rejected would require all these references to be deleted; and, in general, a rewriting of liturgical texts, saints’ lives, and educational literature touching on the Fourth Council.—Ed.

[4] The church at which the Fourth Council met housed the relics of Saint Euphemia, and, after prolonged discussion failed to produce an agreement, it was decided to place each party’s confession of faith (or “tome”) in her tomb and supplicate God to reveal His will in the matter through His saint. The imperial seal was set on the tomb and a guard appointed, and those present spent days in fasting and prayer. When the tomb was opened in the presence of all, the tome of the Orthodox was found in the saint’s right hand, while that of Dioscorus and his party was at her feet. This miracle is commemorated by the Church on July 11: “O Euphimia,” reads one hymn, “Christ’s comely virgin, thou didst fill the Orthodox with gladness and didst cover with shame all the heretics; for at the holy Fourth Council in Chalcedon, thou didst confirm what the Fathers decreed aright” (Great Horologion, p. 541).—Ed.