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St. Martin the Confessor, pope of Rome (655) Commemorated on April 13 "Martin became Pope on July 5th, 649, at the time of a furious
quarrel between the Orthodox and the Monothelite heretics. Constans the Second,
Heraclius' grandson, was on the throne at the time, and Paul was Patriarch of
Constantinople. To restore peace in the Church, the Emperor himself wrote a
dogmatic decree, the Typos, which leaned heavily towards heresy. Pope Martin
summoned a Council of 105 bishops, at which the Emperor's statement was
condemned. At the same time, the Pope wrote a letter to Patriarch Paul, begging
him to uphold the purity of the Orthodox faith and to counsel the Emperor to
reject the theories of the heretics. This letter infuriated both the Patriarch
and the Emperor. The Emperor sent one of his generals, Olympius, to take the
Pope to Constantinople in bonds. The general did not dare to bind the Pope with
his own hands, but instructed one of his soldiers to kill him with the sword in
church. But, when the soldier entered the church with his sword concealed, he
was instantly blinded. So, by the providence of God, Martin escaped death. At
that time, the Saracens fell upon Sicily, and Olympius went off there, where he
died. Then, by the intrigues of the heretic Patriarch Paul, the Emperor sent a
second general, Theodore, to bind and take the Pope on the charge that he, the
Pope, was in collusion with the Saracens and that he did not reverence the most
holy Mother of God. [!!] When the general arrived in Rome and read the
accusation against the Pope, he replied that it was a libel; that he had no
contact of any sort with the Saracens, the opponents of Christianity, 'and
whoever does not confess the most holy Mother of God and do her reverence, let
him be damned in this age and in that which is to come.' But this did not affect
the general's decision. The Pope was bound and taken to Constantinople, where he
lay long in prison in great sickness, tortured by both anxiety and hunger,until
he was finally sentenced to exile in Cherson, where he lived for two years
before his death. He gave his soul into the hands of the Lord, for whom he had
suffered so greatly, in 655. The evil Patriarch, Paul, died two years before him
and, when the Emperor visited him on his deathbed, he smote his head against the
wall, confessing with tears that he had greatly sinned against Pope Martin and
asking the Emperor to set Martin free.' (Prologue) |
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