Saint Claude Apollinaire
Évêque d'Hiéraple
(† 180)
Claude Apollinaire, évêque de Hiérapolis en Phrygie, fut une des plus brillantes lumières de l’Église au second siècle. Il ne nous reste plus rien de ses écrits, ni aucune histoire de sa vie ; mais l’éloge que les anciens auteurs font de lui ne permet pas de douter qu’il n’ait eu toutes les vertus qui caractérisent les saints évêques.
Les hérétiques trouvèrent toujours en lui un ennemi redoutable ; il composa de savants traités où il réfutait sans réplique leurs systèmes impies, et, afin de leur ôter tout subterfuge, il montrait dans quelle secte de philosophes chacun d’eux avait puisé ses erreurs.
Le saint pasteur, attristé des ravages que la persécution faisait parmi son troupeau, ne se contenta pas d’en gémir devant Dieu : il osa prendre ouvertement la défense des Chrétiens, dont le paganisme avait juré d’anéantir la religion. Il fit l’apologie du Christianisme et l’adressa à l’empereur Marc-Aurèle, versl’an 177. Il anéantissait dans cet ouvrage tous les prétextes dont les idolâtres couvraient leur injuste acharnement contre les disciples de Jésus-Christ ; il implorait ensuite la clémence du prince en faveur des Chrétiens ; il rappelait à l’empereur que, de son aveu même, c’était aux prières de la légion chrétienne appelée depuis Fulminante qu’il avait dû une pluie abondante par laquelle son armée, mourante de soif, avait retrouvé force et courage pour vaincre des ennemis prêts à l’écraser.
Il paraît que l’empereur Marc-Aurèle reçut favorablement cet ouvrage, aussi éloquent que solide, et qu’il arrêta pour le moment la fureur des ennemis de la religion chrétienne. Ce qui le ferait croire, c’est que saint Apollinaire ne fut point inquiété dans l’exercice de son zèle et qu’il gouverna son Église en paix jusqu’au moment où il plut à Dieu de le retirer de ce monde, vers l’an 180, saint Éleuthère étant pape et Marc-Aurèle et Commode empereurs romains.
Le grand mérite de ce courageux pontife est d’avoir en même temps soutenu la Foi de son troupeau, combattu sans relâche les ennemis de la vérité chrétienne et affronté, pour la gloire de Dieu et le salut de l’Église, la puissance d’un prince persécuteur.
Voilà bien un successeur des Apôtres, comme eux ne craignant que Dieu, et pouvant dire avec eux : « La parole de Dieu doit être libre et ne se peut enchaîner ; il nous est impossible de nous taire. » À notre époque de lâcheté générale, où le respect humain fait tant de victimes, faisons œuvre de courage, montrons la liberté des enfants de Dieu. Combien de Chrétiens ont la faiblesse de rougir et de se taire, quand la religion est indignement attaquée en leur présence ! Combien se cachent pour accomplir leurs devoirs et n’osent manifester au grand jour les sentiments qui les animent ! Pour nous, ne craignons qu’une chose : le péché !
SOURCE : http://www.cassicia.com/FR/Vie-de-saint-Apollinaire-eveque-de-Hierapolis-Fete-le-8-janvier-No_1355.htm
Sources
Claudius Apollinaris, Bishop of Hierapolis, and Apologist.
Apollinaris was bishop of
Hierapolis on the Maeander, and, Lightfoot thinks, was probably with Melito and
Polycrates, known to Polycarp, and influenced by his example and doctrine. He
addressed his Apology, which is honourably mentioned by Jerome, to M.
Antoninus, the emperor. He also wrote Adversus Gentes and De
Veritate; also against the Jews. Serapion calls him "most
blessed."
"This narration (says
Eusebius, Hist., v. 5) is given" (it relates to that storm of rain which
was sent to the army of the Emperor M. Antoninus, to allay the thirst of the
soldiers, whilst the enemy was discomfited by thunderbolts hurled upon them)
"even by those historians who are at a wide remove from the doctrines that
prevail among us, and who have been simply concerned to describe what related
to the emperors who are the subjects of their history; and it has been
recorded also by our own writers. But historians without the pale of the
Church, as being unfriendly to the faith, while they have recorded the
prodigy, have refrained from acknowledging that it was sent in answer to our
prayers. On the other hand, our writers, as lovers of truth, have reported the
matter in a simple and artless way. To this number Apollinaris must be
considered as belonging. `Thereupon, 'he says, `the legion which had by its
prayer caused the prodigy received from the emperor a title suitable to the
occurrence, and was called in the Roman language the Thunder-hurling Legion.'"
There are, then, some who
through ignorance raise disputes about these things (though their conduct is
pardonable: for ignorance is no subject for blame-it rather needs further
instruction), and say that on the fourteenth day the Lord ate the lamb with the
disciples, and that on the great day of the feast of unleavened bread He
Himself suffered; and they quote Matthew as speaking in accordance with their
view. Wherefore their opinion is contrary to the law, and the Gospels seem to
be at variance with them.
The fourteenth day, the
true Passover of the Lord; the great sacrifice, the Son of God instead of the
lamb, who was bound, who bound the strong, and who was judged, though
Judge of living and dead, and who was delivered into the hands of sinners to be
crucified, who was lifted up on the horns of the unicorn, and who was pierced
in His holy side, who poured forth from His side the two purifying elements,
water and blood, word and spirit, and who was buried on the day of the
passover, the stone being placed upon the tomb.
A.D. 175.
Claudius Apollinaris, bishop of Hierapolis, in Phrygia, was one of the most illustrious prelates of the second age. Notwithstanding the great encomiums bestowed on him by Eusebius, Saint Jerome, Theodoret, and others, we know but very little of his actions; and his writings which then were held in great esteem, seem now to be all lost. Photius, who had read them, and who was a very good judge, commends them both for their style and matter. He wrote against the Encratites and other heretics, and pointed out, as Saint Jerome testifies, from what philosophical sect each heresy derived its errors. The last of these works was against the Montanists and their pretended prophets, who began to appear in Phrygia about the year 171. But nothing rendered his name so illustrious, as his noble apology for the Christian religion, which he addressed to the Emperor Marcus Aurelius, about the year 175, soon after the miraculous victory that prince had obtained over the Quadi by the prayers of the Christians, of which the saint made mention.
Marcus Aurelius having long attempted, without success, to subdue the Germans by his generals, resolved in the thirteenth year of his reign, and of Christ 171, to lead a powerful army against them. He was beyond the Danube, for Germany was extended much further eastward than it is at present, when the Quadi, a people inhabiting that tract now called Moravia, surrounded him in a very disadvantageous situation: so that there was no possibility that either he or his army could escape out of their hands, or subsist long where they were, for want of water. The twelfth legion, called the Melitine, from a town of that name in Armenia, where it had been quartered a long time, was chiefly composed of Christians. These when the army was drawn up, but languid and perishing with thirst, fell upon their knees, “as we are accustomed to do at prayer,” says Eusebius, and poured forth earnest supplications to God in this public extremity of their state and emperor, though hitherto he had been a persecutor of their religion. The strangeness of the sight surprised the enemies, who had more reason to be astonished at the event; for all on a sudden the sky was darkened with clouds, and a thick rain showered down with impetuosity just as the Barbarians had assailed the Roman camp. The Romans fought and drank at the same time, catching the rain as it fell, in their helmets, and often swallowing it mingled with blood. Though by this means exceedingly refreshed, the Germans were much too strong for them; but the storm being driven by a violent wind upon their faces, and accompanied with dreadful flashes of lightning and loud thunder, the Germans were deprived of their sight, beaten down to the ground, and terrified to such a degree, that they were entirely routed and put to flight. Both heathen and Christian writers give this account of the victory. The heathens ascribe it, some to the power of magic, others to their gods, as Dio Cassius; 3 but the Christians unanimously recount it as a miracle obtained by the prayers of this legion, as Saint Apollinaris in his apology to this very emperor; who adds, that as an acknowledgment, the emperor immediately gave it the name of the Thundering Legion, and from him it is so called by Eusebius, Tertullian, Saint Jerome, and Saint Gregory of Nyssa.
The Quadi and Sarmatians brought back thirteen thousand prisoners whom they had taken, and begged for peace on whatever conditions it should please the emperor to grant it to them. Marcus Aurelius hereupon took the title of the seventh time emperor, contrary to custom, and without the consent of the senate, regarding it as given him by heaven. Out of gratitude to his Christian soldiers, he published an edict, in which he confessed himself indebted for his delivery to the shower obtained, perhaps, by the prayers of the Christians, and more he could not say without danger of exasperating the pagans. In it he forbad, under pain of death, any one to accuse a Christian on account of his religion; yet by a strange inconsistency, especially in so wise a prince, being over-awed by the opposition of the senate, he had not the courage to abolish the laws already made and in force against Christians. Hence, even after this, in the same reign, many suffered martyrdom, though their accusers were also put to death; as in the case of Saint Apollonius and the martyrs of Lyons. Trajan had in like manner forbid Christians to be accused, yet commanded them to be punished with death if accused, as may be seen declared by him in his famous letter to Pliny the Younger. The glaring injustice of which law Tertullian demonstrates by an unanswerable dilemma.
Saint Apollinaris, who could not see his flock torn in pieces and be silent, penned his apology to the emperor, about the year 172, to remind him of the benefit he had received from God by the prayers of the Christians, and to implore his protection. We have no account of the time of this holy man’s death, which probably happened before that of Marcus Aurelius. The Roman Martyrology mentions him on the 8th of January.
We believe the same great truths, and divine mysteries, we profess the same faith which produced such wonderful fruits in the souls of the saints. Whence comes it that it has not the like effects on us? Although we acknowledge virtue to be the richest treasure of the soul of man, we take little pains about it; passionately seek the things of this world, are cast down and broken under every adversity, and curb and restrain our passions only by halves! The most glorious objects, God and heaven, and the amazing and dreadful truths, a judgment to come, hell and eternity, strike us so feebly, and operate so little on us! The reason is plain, because we meditate not sufficiently on these great truths. Our notions of them are dim and imperfect; our thoughts pass so slightly over them, that they scarce retain any print or traces of them. Otherwise it is impossible that things so great and terrible should excite in us no fear, or that things in their own nature infinitely amiable, should enkindle in us no desire. Slight and faint images of things move our minds very weakly, and affect them very coldly; especially in such matters as are not subject to our senses. We therefore grossly deceive ourselves in not allotting more time to the study of divine truths. It is not enough barely to believe them, and let our thoughts now and then glance upon them: that knowledge which shows us heaven, will not bring us to the possession of it, and will deserve punishments, not rewards, if it remain slight, weak, and superficial. By serious and frequent meditation it must be concocted, digested, and turned into the nourishment of our affections, before it can be powerful and operative enough to change them, and produce the necessary fruit in our lives. For this all the saints sought solitude and retreats from the noise and hurry of the world, as much as their circumstances allowed them.
MLA Citation
Saint Claude Apollinaire
Évêque d’Hiéraple (mort vers l’an 180)
Claude Apollinaire, évêque d’Hiéraple, en Phrygie, fut une des plus
brillantes lumières de l’Église au second siècle. Il ne nous reste plus rien de
ses écrits, ni aucune histoire de sa vie ; mais l’éloge que les anciens
auteurs font de lui ne permet pas de douter qu’il n’ait eu toutes les vertus
qui caractérisent les saints évêques.
Les hérétiques trouvèrent toujours en lui un ennemi redoutable ; il
composa de savants traités où il réfutait sans réplique leurs systèmes impies,
et, afin de leur ôter tout subterfuge, il montrait dans quelle secte de
philosophes chacun d’eux avait puisé ses erreurs. Le saint pasteur, attristé
des ravages que la persécution faisait parmi son troupeau, ne se contenta pas
d’en gémir devant Dieu : il osa prendre ouvertement la défense des
chrétiens, dont le paganisme avait juré d’anéantir la religion. Il fit
l’apologie du christianisme et l’adressa à l’empereur Marc-Aurèle.
Dans cet ouvrage, il anéantissait tous les prétextes dont les idolâtres
couvraient leur injuste acharnement contre les disciples de Jésus-Christ ;
il implorait ensuite la clémence du prince en faveur des chrétiens ; il
rappelait à l’empereur que, de son aveu même, c’était aux prières de la légion
chrétienne appelée depuis Fulminante, qu’il avait dû une pluie abondante par
laquelle son armée, mourante de soif, avait retrouvé force et courage pour
vaincre des ennemis prêts à l’écraser. Il paraît que l’empereur Marc-Aurèle
reçut favorablement cet ouvrage, aussi éloquent que solide, et qu’il arrêta
pour le moment la fureur des ennemis de la religion chrétienne. Ce qui le
ferait croire, c’est que saint Apollinaire ne fut point inquiété et qu’il
gouverna son Église en paix jusqu’à sa mort.
Le mérite de ce courageux Pontife est d’avoir en même temps soutenu la
foi de son troupeau et combattu sans relâche les ennemis du christianisme.
SOURCE : http://viechretienne.catholique.org/saints/488-saint-claude-apollinaire
St. Apollinaris Claudius
A Christian apologist, Bishop of Hierapolis in Phrygia in the second century.
He became famous for his polemical treatises against the heretics of his day, whose errors he showed to be entirely borrowed
from the pagans. He
wrote two books against the Jews, five against the pagans, and two on "Truth." In
177 he published an eloquent "Apologia" for the Christians, addressed to Marcus Aurelius, and appealing to the Emperor's
own experience with the "Thundering
Legion", whose
prayers won him the victory over the Quadi.
The exact date of his death is not known, but it was probably while Marcus Aurelius was still Emperor. None of his
writings is extant. His feast is kept 8 January.St. Apollinaris Claudius
Sources
BUTLER, Lives
of the Saints, 8 January; MICHAUD, Biog. univ.; VERSCHAFFEL, in Dict.
de théol. cath.; SALMON in Dict. of Christ. Biogr.
From
an Unknown Book.
From
the Book Concerning the Passover.
From
the Same Book.
Claudius Apollinaris, Bishop of Hierapolis, and Apologist.
Claudius Apollinaris, Bishop of Hierapolis, and Apologist.
[a.d. 160-180.] This
author, an early apologist, is chiefly interesting as a competent witness, who
tells the story of the Thundering Legion in an artless manner, and gives
it the simple character of an answer to prayer. This subject is treated by
Lightfoot, in his recent work on the Apostolic Fathers, in an exhaustive
manner; and the story, reduced to the simple narrative as Apollinaris gives it,
receives from him a just and discriminating approval.
Apollinaris, as well
as Rhodon, has been imagined the author of the work (ascribed to Asterius
Urbanus) against Montanism, dedicated to Abiricius Marcellus. This is
sufficiently refuted by Routh whose Greek text, with notes, must be consulted
by the studious.
A.D. 175.
Claudius Apollinaris, bishop of Hierapolis, in Phrygia, was one of the most illustrious prelates of the second age. Notwithstanding the great encomiums bestowed on him by Eusebius, Saint Jerome, Theodoret, and others, we know but very little of his actions; and his writings which then were held in great esteem, seem now to be all lost. Photius, who had read them, and who was a very good judge, commends them both for their style and matter. He wrote against the Encratites and other heretics, and pointed out, as Saint Jerome testifies, from what philosophical sect each heresy derived its errors. The last of these works was against the Montanists and their pretended prophets, who began to appear in Phrygia about the year 171. But nothing rendered his name so illustrious, as his noble apology for the Christian religion, which he addressed to the Emperor Marcus Aurelius, about the year 175, soon after the miraculous victory that prince had obtained over the Quadi by the prayers of the Christians, of which the saint made mention.
Marcus Aurelius having long attempted, without success, to subdue the Germans by his generals, resolved in the thirteenth year of his reign, and of Christ 171, to lead a powerful army against them. He was beyond the Danube, for Germany was extended much further eastward than it is at present, when the Quadi, a people inhabiting that tract now called Moravia, surrounded him in a very disadvantageous situation: so that there was no possibility that either he or his army could escape out of their hands, or subsist long where they were, for want of water. The twelfth legion, called the Melitine, from a town of that name in Armenia, where it had been quartered a long time, was chiefly composed of Christians. These when the army was drawn up, but languid and perishing with thirst, fell upon their knees, “as we are accustomed to do at prayer,” says Eusebius, and poured forth earnest supplications to God in this public extremity of their state and emperor, though hitherto he had been a persecutor of their religion. The strangeness of the sight surprised the enemies, who had more reason to be astonished at the event; for all on a sudden the sky was darkened with clouds, and a thick rain showered down with impetuosity just as the Barbarians had assailed the Roman camp. The Romans fought and drank at the same time, catching the rain as it fell, in their helmets, and often swallowing it mingled with blood. Though by this means exceedingly refreshed, the Germans were much too strong for them; but the storm being driven by a violent wind upon their faces, and accompanied with dreadful flashes of lightning and loud thunder, the Germans were deprived of their sight, beaten down to the ground, and terrified to such a degree, that they were entirely routed and put to flight. Both heathen and Christian writers give this account of the victory. The heathens ascribe it, some to the power of magic, others to their gods, as Dio Cassius; 3 but the Christians unanimously recount it as a miracle obtained by the prayers of this legion, as Saint Apollinaris in his apology to this very emperor; who adds, that as an acknowledgment, the emperor immediately gave it the name of the Thundering Legion, and from him it is so called by Eusebius, Tertullian, Saint Jerome, and Saint Gregory of Nyssa.
The Quadi and Sarmatians brought back thirteen thousand prisoners whom they had taken, and begged for peace on whatever conditions it should please the emperor to grant it to them. Marcus Aurelius hereupon took the title of the seventh time emperor, contrary to custom, and without the consent of the senate, regarding it as given him by heaven. Out of gratitude to his Christian soldiers, he published an edict, in which he confessed himself indebted for his delivery to the shower obtained, perhaps, by the prayers of the Christians, and more he could not say without danger of exasperating the pagans. In it he forbad, under pain of death, any one to accuse a Christian on account of his religion; yet by a strange inconsistency, especially in so wise a prince, being over-awed by the opposition of the senate, he had not the courage to abolish the laws already made and in force against Christians. Hence, even after this, in the same reign, many suffered martyrdom, though their accusers were also put to death; as in the case of Saint Apollonius and the martyrs of Lyons. Trajan had in like manner forbid Christians to be accused, yet commanded them to be punished with death if accused, as may be seen declared by him in his famous letter to Pliny the Younger. The glaring injustice of which law Tertullian demonstrates by an unanswerable dilemma.
Saint Apollinaris, who could not see his flock torn in pieces and be silent, penned his apology to the emperor, about the year 172, to remind him of the benefit he had received from God by the prayers of the Christians, and to implore his protection. We have no account of the time of this holy man’s death, which probably happened before that of Marcus Aurelius. The Roman Martyrology mentions him on the 8th of January.
We believe the same great truths, and divine mysteries, we profess the same faith which produced such wonderful fruits in the souls of the saints. Whence comes it that it has not the like effects on us? Although we acknowledge virtue to be the richest treasure of the soul of man, we take little pains about it; passionately seek the things of this world, are cast down and broken under every adversity, and curb and restrain our passions only by halves! The most glorious objects, God and heaven, and the amazing and dreadful truths, a judgment to come, hell and eternity, strike us so feebly, and operate so little on us! The reason is plain, because we meditate not sufficiently on these great truths. Our notions of them are dim and imperfect; our thoughts pass so slightly over them, that they scarce retain any print or traces of them. Otherwise it is impossible that things so great and terrible should excite in us no fear, or that things in their own nature infinitely amiable, should enkindle in us no desire. Slight and faint images of things move our minds very weakly, and affect them very coldly; especially in such matters as are not subject to our senses. We therefore grossly deceive ourselves in not allotting more time to the study of divine truths. It is not enough barely to believe them, and let our thoughts now and then glance upon them: that knowledge which shows us heaven, will not bring us to the possession of it, and will deserve punishments, not rewards, if it remain slight, weak, and superficial. By serious and frequent meditation it must be concocted, digested, and turned into the nourishment of our affections, before it can be powerful and operative enough to change them, and produce the necessary fruit in our lives. For this all the saints sought solitude and retreats from the noise and hurry of the world, as much as their circumstances allowed them.
MLA Citation
Father Alban Butler. “Saint Apollinaris, the
Apologist, Bishop”. Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and
Principal Saints, 1866. Saints.SQPN.com.
7 January 2013. Web. 9 January 2014. < http://saints.sqpn.com/butlers-lives-of-the-saints-saint-apollinaris-the-apologist-bishop/
Apollinaris of Hierapolis B (RM)
(also known as Apollinaris the Apologist)
Died c. 180. Claudius Apollinaris, bishop of Hierapolis in Phrygia, was an outstanding Christian teacher of the second century. He wrote defenses of the Catholic faith against many errors, including those of the Encratites and the Montanists. His most famous work, The Apology, was written to the Emperor Marcus Aurelius about 175. In it he described a miracle that had brought victory to the emperor in Germany when his army was surrounded by Quadi in Moravia and threatened with annihilation--a miracle ascribed by Apollinaris to the prayers of the 12th Legion, which was mainly Christian. Apollinaris's enumeration of the great benefit Christianity gave to Roman society, and request that the emperor not anger God by punishing such distinguished subjects, resulted in an imperial edict forbidding the denunciation of Christians for their religion. Unfortunately, none of his writing has survived (Benedictines, Delaney, Encyclopedia).
St. Apollinaris
St.
Apollinaris was one of the most illustrious bishops of the second century.
Eusebius, St. Jerome, Theodoret, and others speak of him in the highest terms,
and they furnish us with the few facts that are known of him. He addressed an
“Apology,” that is, a defense, of the Christian religion to the emperor Marcus
Aurelius, who, shortly before, had obtained a signal victory over the Quadi, a
people inhabiting the country now called Moravia.
One of his
legions, the twelfth, was composed chiefly of Christians. When the army was
perishing for want of water, the soldiers of this legion fell upon their knees
and invoked the assistance of God. The result was sudden, for a copious rain
fell, and, aided by the storm, they conquered the Germans. The emperor gave
this legion the name “Thundering Legion” and mitigated his persecution.
It was to
protect his flock against persecution that St. Apollinaris, who was bishop of
Hierapolis in Phrygia, addressed his apology to the Emperor to implore his
protection and to remind him of the favor he had received from God through the
prayers of the Christians. The date of the death of St. Apollinaris is not
known, but it probably occurred before that of Marcus Aurelius, about the year
175.
