Severus of Antioch

Severus of Antioch also known as Severus of Gaza and nicknamed the Crown of Syrians, was the Patriarch of Antioch and head of the Syriac Orthodox Church from 512 until his death in 538. He is venerated as a saint in the Oriental Orthodox Church, and his feast day is celebrated on 29 September by the Syriac Orthodox Church and 8 February by the Coptic Orthodox Church

Born in Sozopolis, Severus studied grammar, rhetoric and philosophy in the city of Alexandria, Egypt. He then travelled to Phoenicia to study law and dedicated his time to study the works of the Church Fathers. After his baptism at the Church of Saint Leontius, Severus became a monk and entered the monastery of Peter the Iberian near Maiuma, which was a center of non-Chalcedonianism.

In 512, when Patriarch Flavian II of Antioch was deposed by Anastasius, Severus was elected as the Patriarch of Antioch after a synod was conducted in Laodicea, Syria. During the consecration ceremony, he affirmed the Councils of Nicaea, Constantinople, Ephesues and condemned the Council of Chalcedon as well as the Tome of Leo. Failing to accept the Council of Chalcedon, Justin I ordered Severus to be arrested and his tongue cut. Severus fled to Alexandria after discovering the emperor's orders. He was continued to be seen as the legitimate Patriarch of Antioch by the non-Chalcedonians. Severus continued to reside in the city of Sakha until his death on 5 February 538. His body was later shifted to Zogag monastery.

Life Early life Severus was born in the city of Sozopolis in Pisidia in 459, or , into an affluent Christian family, however, later Miaphysite sources would assert that his parents were pagan. His father was a senator in the city, and his paternal grandfather, also named Severus, was the Bishop of Sozopolis and had attended the Council of Ephesus in 431. According to Severus' hagiography, he was named after his paternal grandfather as he had received a vision in which he was told, "the child who is for your son will strengthen Orthodoxy, and his name will be after your name". Severus practised asceticism in the desert until , at which time he became ill and was forced to recover at the Monastery of Saint Romanus in Maiuma, where he was ordained a priest by Epiphanius, Bishop of Magydus. At Maiuma, Severus received his inheritance from his parents; he shared the property with his brothers, donated most of his share to the poor, and constructed a monastery.

On a walk outside the city, Severus came upon a hermit who left his cave to call out, "Welcome to you Severus, teacher of Orthodoxy, and Patriarch of Antioch", despite never meeting Severus, the hermit thus prophesied Severus' ascension to the patriarchal throne. Justin I demanded Severus to affirm the Council of Chalcedon, to which he refused. Despite his deposition, Severus did not cease to be seen as the legitimate Patriarch of Antioch by non-Chalcedonians.

During his exile in Egypt, Severus resided at the monastery of the Ennaton with Pope Timothy, and is known to have performed a number of miracles. Dorotheus had Severus' body moved to the Zogag Monastery, and the relocation of his body is celebrated on 19 December. However, because his writings were condemend by the emperor in 536, they are better preserved in Syriac translation. Although he must have been well exposed Syriac during his time as patriarch, there is no evidence Severus ever learned it.

Severus' best preserved writings are homilies and theological treatises. Although he wrote many letters in Greek, only a few survive in Syriac translation. Several hymns attributed to him are found in the Syriac Octoechos and some excerpts of biblical exegesis are foud in various Greek catenae.

Homilies The Cathedral Homilies is a collection of 123 sermons preached while Severus was patriarch. They survive in two Syriac recensions: the original translation, probably by Paul of Callinicum, and a later revision made by Jacob of Edessa. The 77th homily is the only one that survives in its original Greek, and onle because it was mistakenly attributed to Gregory of Nyssa or Hesychius of Jerusalem.

The 123rd homily is famously anti-Manichaean. Parts of it have been translated by Kugener and Cumont. In this work he mentions an unnamed book by Mani, which is possibly The Pragmateia, a Manichaean work now lost, but not certain. Although he opposed the Manichaeans, as he writes "From where did the Manichaeans, who are more wicked than any other, get the idea of introducing two principles, both uncreated and without beginning, that is good and evil, light and darkness, which they also call matter?", his direct citations and explanations of Manichaean beliefs are considered a valuable source by Western scholarship, as the works he cites from are otherwise lost, and his citations of Manichaean texts are among the longest we possess.

Theological treatises His theological treatises are mostly polemical. Among them are the anti-Chalcedonian works:

Against the Grammarian, directed against John of Caesarea Discourses addressed to Nephalius Philalethes

He also wrote against more extreme anti-Chalcedonians, like Julian of Halicarnassus and Sergius the Grammarian.