Church, which the Holy Ghost invisibly governs and preserves from all error. One of the most famous councils is that of Nice, in Bithynia, which was held in 325. Three hundred and eighteen bishops were assembled there; and amongst them were many holy men who, during the persecutions, had suffered for Christ's sake, and had lost their hands or eyes. They unanimously condemned the impious doctrine of Arius, who obstinately maintained that Jesus Christ was not God from all eternity, and they cut him off from the communion of the faithful. Although this sect, called Arians, was at that time very powerful, the Church, by her solemn decision, had set the seal of reprobation on it, and consequently it was gradually to vanish from the face of the earth. The same sentence of condemnation was passed on all the other heresies that sprang up in subsequent ages; and however hard the conflicts were in which the Church had to engage, she has always come off victorious.
37. [1]During this period, God illustrated His Church also by many holy and learned men who gloriously defended the true doctrine. They are called Doctors of the Church, or Fathers of the Church. Such were St. Athariasius, Patriarch of Alexandria, who had to endure from the Arians a long and severe persecution for the true faith (d. 373); St. Basil the Great,- Archbishop of Caesarea (d. 379); St. Gregory Nazianzen (d. 389), and St. John, surnamed Chrysostom, that is, Golden Mouth
- ↑ By whom did God especially illustrate His Church at this time? How are those holy and learned men called? Can you name any of them? Did any other men distinguish themselves in the Church about this time? Who were the hermits? What was their abode? What was their food and drink? Why did they renounce all, comforts? Who were the first and most famous hermits? What did the solitary Life give rise to afterwards? Who built the first monastery? Who particularly advanced the Monastic Life in Europe? For what is Europe especially indebted to the Benedictine Order? When, and by whom, was it introduced into England?
