|
AT the very time that these decrees were passed by the council, the
twentieth anniversary of the reign of Constantine was celebrated; for
it was a Roman custom to have a feast on the tenth year of every
reign. The emperor, therefore, thought it to be opportune, and
invited the Synod to the festival, and presented suitable gifts to
them; and when they prepared to return home, he called them all
together, and exhorted them to be of one mind about the faith and at
peace among themselves, so that no dissensions might henceforth creep
in among them. After many other similar exhortations, be concluded by
commanding them to be diligent in prayer, and always to supplicate God
for himself, his children, and the empire, and after he had thus
addressed those who had come to Nicaea, he bade them farewell. He
wrote to the churches in every city, in order that he might make plain
to those who had not been present, what had been rectified by the
Synod; and especially to the Church of Alexandria he wrote more than
this; urging them to lay aside all dissent, and to be harmonious in
the faith issued by the Synod; for this could be nothing else than the
judgment of God, since it was established by the Holy Spirit from
the concurrence of so many and such illustrious high priests, and
approved after accurate inquiry and test of all the doubtful points.
|
|