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SOON after the enactment of this law, Theodosius went to
Constantinople. The Arians, under the guidance of Demophilus,
still retained possession of the churches. Gregory of Nazianzen
presided over those who maintain the "consubstantiality" of the Holy
Trinity, and assembled them together in a little dwelling, which had
been altered into the form of a house of prayer, by those who held the
same opinions and had a like form of worship. It subsequently became
one of the most conspicuous in the city, and is so now, not only for
the beauty and number of its structures, but also for the advantages
accruing to it from the visible manifestations of God. For the power
of God was there manifested, and was helpful both in waking visions
and in dreams, often for the relief of many diseases and for those
afflicted by some sudden transmutation in their affairs. The power was
accredited to Mary, the Mother of God, the holy virgin, for she
does manifest herself in this way. The name of Anastasia was given to
this church, because, as I believe, the Nicene doctrines which were
fallen into disuse in Constantinople, and, so to speak, buried by
reason of the power of the heterodox, arose from the dead and were
again quickened through the discourses of Gregory; or, as I have
heard, some affirm with assurance that one day, when the people were
met together for worship in this edifice, a pregnant woman fell from
the highest gallery, and was found dead on the spot; but that, at the
prayer of the whole congregation, she was restored to life, and she
and the infant were saved. On account of the occurrence of this divine
marvel, the place, as some assert, obtained its name.
The emperor sent to command Demophilus to conform to the doctrines of
Nicaea, and to lead the people to embrace the same sentiments or else
to vacate the churches. Demophilus assembled the people, acquainted
them with the imperial edict, and informed them that it was his
intention to hold a church the next day without the walls of the city,
in accordance, he said, with the Divine law, which commands us when
we are persecuted in one city to "flee unto another.'' From that
day he always held church without the city with Lucius, who was
formerly the bishop of the Arians at Alexandria; and who, after
having been expelled, as above related, from that city, fled to
Constantinople and fixed his residence there. When Demophilus and
his followers had quitted the church, the emperor entered therein and
engaged in prayer; and from that period those who maintained the
consubstantiality of the Holy Trinity held possession of the houses of
prayer. These events occurred in the fifth year of the consulate of
Gratian, and in the first of that of Theodosius, and after the
churches had been during forty years m the hands of the Arians.
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