Maximus III of Jerusalem

Saint Maximus of Jerusalem (Maximus III of Jerusalem) was an early Christian saint and bishop of Jerusalem from roughly 333 AD to his death in 347 AD. He was the third bishop of Jerusalem named Maximus, the other two being in the latter half of the 2nd century. [1]

Saint Maximus of Jerusalem
Bishop of Jerusalem
Bornunknown
Died347
FeastMay 5 (West)
May 9 (East)
August 26 (Universal)

During one of the persecutions of his era he was tortured for his Christian faith, and thus became known as a confessor, although modern sources disagree as to whether this happened in the reign of Galerius Maximianus or the reign co-emperors Diocletian and Maximian. He was a priest in Jerusalem, and it is said by Sozomen that he was so popular among the people for good character and for being a confessor that when Saint Macarius attempted to appoint him as bishop of Lydda (also known as Diospolis) the populace insisted upon his retention in Jerusalem. Upon Macarius' death Maximus became bishop of Jerusalem, and was present in 335 at the first synod of Tyre, and signed that council's condemnation of Athanasius. During Athanasius' return from exile, circa 346, Maximus convoked a synod in Jerusalem of sixteen Palestinian bishops that welcomed Athanasius. Socrates Scholasticus recorded that Maximus "restored communion and rank" to Athanasius, Athanasius receiving support against the Arians and Maximus advancing the desire of the bishops of Jerusalem to have their see be equal in status to the metropolitan see of Caesarea, a desire later achieved in 451 AD.[1][2][3][4][5]

Maximus was succeeded as bishop of Jerusalem by saint Cyril, though the process is unclear. Sozomen and Socrates say that Maximus had been deposed in favor of Cyril by Acacius of Caesarea and Patrophilus of Scythopolis, both Arians. Jerome says instead that Maximus' intended successor was Heraclius, whom Maximus had named upon his death bed, but that Acacius and Cyril deposed Heraclius and made Cyril bishop. Rufinus (CH, 10.24) mentions only that the ordination was in some unspecified way "irregular". Regardless of how the succession came about, Cyril and Acacius would become bitter enemies during the next few years, disagreeing both in the Arian controversy and in terms of the precedence and rights of each see.[1][6][7]

The Roman Catholic Church marks his feast day on May 5,[8] and the Eastern Orthodox Church on May 9, locally. Eastern Orthodox Liturgics Wikipedia also notes his Universal and therefore main feast as August 26.[9]

References
  1. McClintock, John; Strong, James (1891). Cyclopaedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature. Vol. 5. Harper & brothers. p. 919. Retrieved 10 April 2009.
  2. Farmer, David Hugh; Burns, Paul (1996). Butler's Lives of the Saints: New Full Edition. Butler, Alban. Continuum International Publishing Group. p. 29. ISBN 978-0-86012-254-8. Retrieved 10 April 2009.
  3. Wirgman, A. Theodore (2008). The Constitutional Authority of Bishops in the Catholic Church: Illustrated by the History and Canon Law of the Undivided Church from the Apostolic Age to the Council of Chalcedon, A.D. 451. Fisher Press. p. 219. ISBN 978-1-4097-0111-8. Retrieved 10 April 2009.
  4. Bright, William (1903). The Age of the Fathers: Being Chapters in the History of the Church During the Fourth and Fifth Centuries. Longmans, Green. p. 199. ISBN 0-7905-4492-X. Retrieved 10 April 2009. Maximus of Jerusalem.
  5. "Father Ryder and Dr. Littledale". The Church Quarterly Review. London. XII (VVIV): 551. 1881. Retrieved 10 April 2009.
  6. Hanson, Richard Patrick Crosland (2005). The Search for the Christian Doctrine of God: The Arian Controversy 318-381 AD. Continuum. pp. 399–400. ISBN 978-0-567-03092-4. Retrieved 10 April 2009.
  7. Yarnold, Edward (2000). Cyril of Jerusalem. Routledge. p. 4. ISBN 978-0-415-19903-2. Retrieved 10 April 2009.
  8. "Saint of the day". Saint Patrick Catholic Church, Washington D.C. Retrieved 4 April 2011.
  9. (in Greek) Ὁ Ἅγιος Μάξιμος Πατριάρχης Ἱεροσολύμων. 9 Μαΐου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.
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