Μνήμη τοῦ θαύματος τῆς Δ΄ Οἰκουμενι� �ῆς Συνόδου.pdf

The Church honors the holy great martyr Euphemia today, although her memory is actually in September. Euphemia struggled against Diocletian and the idolaters, and her struggles did not end there. 170 years after her martyrdom, the Church was engaged in a dogmatic struggle, which led to the formulation of its doctrine. The main issue at that time was the teaching about the divine-human person of Jesus Christ. The Church preached that Christ is both God and human, but many people, even today, do not want to understand this. They accept Christ as a poet, philosopher, sociologist, or revolutionary, but they do not want to confess that Christ is God.

The heretics Arius, Nestorius, and Eutyches appeared, trying to shake the truth. Arius denied the divinity of Christ, Nestorius separated the human and divine natures, and Eutyches claimed that the divine nature absorbed the human nature. The Church Fathers fought against these heresies, and the Fourth Ecumenical Council was convened in Chalcedon. 630 holy fathers attended the council, and they formulated the doctrine of the two natures of Jesus Christ.

The miracle of Saint Euphemia took place during this council. The two parties, the orthodox and the heretics, wrote their beliefs in two books and placed them in the relics of Saint Euphemia. After three days of prayer and fasting, the books were opened, and the book of the heretics was found under the feet of Saint Euphemia, while the book of the orthodox was in her hands. This miracle proved that the faith of the orthodox is the true one.

Unfortunately, the heresy of monophysitism, which was condemned by the Church, still exists today. About 15 million people, mainly Armenians, Abyssinians, and Copts, do not accept the decision of the Fourth Ecumenical Council and have been separated from the Church. They accept all the teachings of Orthodoxy up to the Fourth Ecumenical Council but refuse to accept the council itself and the subsequent ones. This difference separates us from them.

Today, we remember the miracle of Saint Euphemia, who confirmed the Fourth Ecumenical Council. We pray for the Armenians, Abyssinians, and Copts to return to Orthodoxy and accept the orthodox doctrine, so that nothing separates us from these noble nations.