The Memory of the Fathers of Chalcedon

 

On July 29 (July 16 according to the old calendar), the Orthodox Church commemorates the Fathers of the Fourth Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon, which took place in 451.

 The commemoration of the Fathers of the Ecumenical Councils — all together, the first six, or each Council individually — is not a personal memory of the individual saints who participated in them, but a collective, very ancient, one might even say archaic celebration. This is one of the unique features of Holy Orthodoxy: the Church preserves the memory not only of holy people, but also of the sacred events of its catholic life, in which its unity, faith, and self-understanding were revealed.

 Let us remember Saint Augustine (354–430) and his influence on our civilization — the fact that he is considered one of the fathers of the modern understanding of the person, time, and many other important categories.

For example, this concerns the distinction between Church and state, as well as the understanding of the Church as a twofold body — at the same time the Body of Christ and the Body of the Devil: an earthly, historical body in which both the destructive power of evil and human weakness are revealed. All these ideas had a profound influence on the development of Christian civilization.

The Council of Chalcedon is, in a certain sense, an Eastern Christian counterpart to Augustine. Why?

First, because it affirmed the fullness of humanity in Christ and thereby gave a fundamental impulse to the development and progress of the whole human civilization.

Second, because it shaped the system of patriarchates and a certain understanding of church structure, which centuries later contributed to the division of the Christian world into the Catholic and Orthodox traditions.

This also includes the complex history of the primacy of the Patriarch of Constantinople — the continual aspiration toward primacy even without possessing the resources that are usually associated with such a position. 

All of this is also connected with Chalcedon.

Perhaps the most fascinating and almost detective-like aspect of this whole story is that at the foundation of the Christological decisions of Chalcedon lies the theology of Christ developed by Saint Augustine.

It is remarkable that neither the later Fathers of the Church, nor historians, nor theologians were aware of this connection. Only in recent times has this hidden relationship begun to come to light.

Albert Schweitzer (1875–1965) once had an intuition in this direction, but it never received a full development or thorough exploration.

This makes the commemoration especially interesting: it turns out that both Chalcedon and Augustine are remembered at the same time — whether by coincidence or because of a deeper, mysterious, and incomprehensible connection.

This is where its great and astonishing duality lies: the same Council became a source of immense theological inspiration and, at the same time, of many historical consequences.