Lucifer of Cagliari
Lucifer | |
---|---|
Bishop of Cagliari | |
Born | Early 4th century |
Died | 20 May 370 |
Feast | 20 May |
Lucifer of Cagliari (
. He is venerated as a Saint in Sardinia, though his status remains controversial.Life
Lucifer first appears in history as an envoy from Pope Liberius to the Emperor Constantius II,
requesting the convening of a church council.
Disciple of St Eusebius of Rome, he became a scholar in Greek and Hebrew languages, and then was baptized by the Pope Eusebius. St Lucifer wrote a well documented Vita S. Eusebii Vercellensis (from Latin, "Life of Saint Eusebius of Vercelli").[4]
After the death of Constantius and the accession of
He may have been excommunicated as is hinted in the writings of Ambrose of Milan and Augustine of Hippo, as well as Jerome, who refers to his followers as Luciferians. There is extant a work known as Libellus precum ad Imperatores, written by two Luciferian clergy called Faustinus and Marcellinus . Jerome discusses Lucifer and his supporters in his polemic Altercatio Luciferiani et orthodoxi ("Altercation of a Luciferian and an Orthodox"),[8] as well as describing the bishop's career in De Viris Illustribus (chapter 95).
Alban Butler writes of the life of Saint Jerome as he reflects on the history of the Council of Alexandria in 362: "This indulgence of forgiveness, offered to the repentant Bishops, displeased Lucifer, Bishop of Cagliari, a person famous for his zeal and writings against the Arians, in the reign of Constantius. St Jerome composed a dialogue against the Luciferians, in which he plainly demonstrates, by the acts of the Council of Rimini, that in it the bishops were imposed upon."[10] Constantius, for the purpose of wearying out the orthodox bishops (Sulpitius Severus says: E.H.., ii, 41), delayed allowing the bishops home, keeping them there for several months until they finally accepted the Sirmian Creed.[11]
Works
Lucifer of Cagliari's surviving writings, all of which date from the period of his exile, are directed against Arianism and reconciliation with heresy. His works are written in the form of speeches delivered directly to Constantius and repeatedly address the emperor in the second person throughout. His texts quote extensively from the Bible and so are useful as sources for the Vetus Latina. Also extant is a pair of letters which are allegedly correspondence between Lucifer and the emperor's secretary Florentius on the subject of some of Lucifer's inflammatory works that he had sent to Constantius.[citation needed]
Textual tradition
The editio princeps of his writings was printed by bishop Jean du Tillet (lat. Ioannes Tilius; Paris, 1568). In modern times they were edited by Wilhelm von Hartel (CSEL, vol. 14, 1886) and Gerardus Frederik Diercks (Corpus Christianorum, Series Latina, vol. 8, 1978). When Hartel prepared his edition, only one manuscript with Lucifer's works (Vaticanus Reginensis 133 = V) was known. But in 1893 another one was found in the Sainte-Geneviève Library in Paris (Genouefensis 1351 = G), and only since 1921 have scholars paid attention to it, thanks to dom André Wilmart's article.[12] There was also a third manuscript (Corbiensis deperditus), which is mentioned in a library catalogue of Corbie Abbey. Moreover, there is a note in G indicating that it was transcribed from a very old book in Corbie (ad exemplar vetustissimum abbatie antique corbye in dyocesi Ambianensi).[13]
Diercks in his edition concludes that G is an indirect copy of V, through a lost Corbie intermediary. However, Lambert Ferreres showed that some good readings are transmitted only in G, which is difficult to explain if it depends on V.[13]
List of works
- De non conveniendo cum haereticis (On not Coming Together with Heretics)
- De regibus apostaticis (On Apostate Kings)
- Quia absentem nemo debet iudicare nec damnare, sive De Athanasio (That No One Ought to be Judged or Condemned while Absent, or Concerning Athanasius), 2 books
- De non parcendo in Deum delinquentibus (On not Sparing those who Commit Offences Against God)
- Moriundum esse pro Dei filio (The Necessity of Dying for the Son of God)
- Epistulae Luciferi et aliorum (Letters by Lucifer and Others)
- Fides sancti Luciferi episcopi (Faith of Saint Bishop Lucifer), dubious
Veneration
Lucifer's status as a Saint is a matter of controversy. According to John Henry Blunt's 1874 Dictionary of Sects, Heresies, Ecclesiastical Parties, and Schools of Religious Thought,
The Church of
Congregation of the Inquisition imposed silence on both parties, and decreed that the veneration of Lucifer should stand as it was. The Bollandists defend this decree of the Congregation ... contending that the Lucifer in question is not the author of the schism, but another Lucifer who suffered martyrdom in the persecution of the Vandals."[14]
A chapel in Cagliari's cathedral is dedicated to a Saint Lucifer.
Opinions about Lucifer vary among Catholics who know of him; some consider him to have been "the champion of correct belief against Arianism and friend of St. Athanasius,"[15] while others consider him to have been a religious fanatic who ferociously berated his opponents.[3]
See also
Notes
- ^ "Lucifer (bishop of Cagliari)." Encyclopædia Britannica. Available online <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/350593/Lucifer>.
- ^ Cross, F. L., and Elizabeth A. Livingstone. "Lucifer." Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (pg. 841). Second Edition. New York: Oxford University Press, 1984.
- ^ a b MC GUIRE, M.R.P. "Lucifer of Cagliari", New Catholic Encyclopedia (Volume 8, pp. 1058). McGraw-Hill Co., New York, 1967. Copyright by The Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C.
- ^ François Baert; Conrad Janninck (1685). Godofredus Henschen; Daniel van Papenbroeck (eds.). Acta Sanctorvm Maii: quo continentur dies XX, XXI, XXII, XXIII, XXIV (in Latin). p. 197. Retrieved 23 December 2018.
- ^ Schaff, Philip. "Principal Works of St. Jerome", Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church (Volume VI, pg. 319). Second Series. Christian Literature Publishing Co., New York, 1892. Available online through The Christian Classics Ethereal Library <http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf206/Page_319.html>.
- ^ LECLERCQ, H. "Lucifer of Cagliari." Catholic Encyclopedia (Volume IX, pg. 410). Robert Appleton Company. New York, 1907. Available online <"Lucifer of Cagliari - Original Catholic Encyclopedia". Archived from the original on 24 December 2013. Retrieved 28 December 2013.>.
- ^ Jerome, Chron. Ol. CCLXXXVII 2.
- ^ "NPNF2-06. Jerome: The Principal Works of St. Jerome - Christian Classics Ethereal Library". www.ccel.org. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
- ^ Butler, Alban, Butler's Lives of The Saints, "St Athanasius", bartleby.com. Accessed 23 September 2022.
- ^ Butler, Alban, Butler's Lives of The Saints, "St. Jerome", bartleby.com. Accessed 23 September 2022.
- ^ T. Gilmartin, Manual of Church History, Vol.1, Ch XVII, 1890.
- ^ André Wilmart. Un manuscrit du De cibis et de oeuvres de Lucifer. Revue bénédictine, 33, 1921, p. 124–135.
- ^ a b Lambert Ferreres. Sobre la relación entre el Ms. Genouefensis 1351 y el Vaticanus Reginensis Lat. 133 . Revista Catalana de teologia, xvii, 1992. P. 193—199.
- ^ John Henry Blunt, Dictionary of Sects, Heresies, Ecclesiastical Parties, and Schools of Religious Thought (1874), p. 263.
- ^ BENIGNI, U. "Cagliari, Archdiocese of." Catholic Encyclopedia (Volume III, pp. 139). Robert Appleton Company. New York, 1907. Available online <"Archdiocese of Cagliari - Original Catholic Encyclopedia". Archived from the original on 28 December 2013. Retrieved 28 December 2013.>.
References
- Cross, F. L. ed. The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. New York: Oxford UP, 1978.
- Englebert, Omer. The Lives of the Saints. Christopher and Anne Fremantle, trans. New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1994. Nihil obstat, Imprimatur 1951.
- Hartel, Wilhelm, ed. Luciferi Calaritani opuscula. Wien, 1886 (CSEL, vol. 14)
- Diercks, G. F. ed. Luciferi Calaritani Opera quae supersunt. Turnhout: Brepols, 1978 (Corpus Christianorum, vol. 8)