Flavian I of Antioch
See also Flavian II of Antioch. For others with the name, see Flavian.Flavian I of Antioch (ca
320-February
404) was a
bishop or
patriarch of Antioch from
381 until his death.
He was born about 320, most probably in
Antioch. He inherited great wealth, but resolved to devote his riches and his talents to the service of the church. In association with
Diodorus, afterwards
bishop of
Tarsus, he supported the Catholic faith against the Arian
Leontius, who had succeeded
Eustathius as bishop of Antioch. The two friends assembled their adherents outside the city walls for the observance of the exercises of religion; and, according to
Theodoret, it was in these meetings that the practice of antiphonal singing was first introduced in the services of the church.
When
Meletius was appointed bishop of Antioch in
361 he raised Flavian to the priesthood, and on the death of Meletius in 381 Flavian was chosen to succeed him. The schism between the two parties was, however, far from being healed. The
bishop of Rome and the
bishop of Egypt refused to acknowledge Flavian, and
Paulinus, who by the extreme Eustathians had been elected bishop in opposition to Meletius, still exercised authority over a portion of the church.
On the death of Paulinus in about
383,
Evagrius was chosen as his successor. After the death of Evagrius (c. 393), Flavian succeeded in preventing the election of a successor, though the Eustathians still continued to hold separate meetings. Through the intervention of
John Chrysostom, soon after his elevation to the patriarchate of Constantinople in
398, and the influence of the emperor
Theodosius I, Flavian was acknowledged in
399 as legitimate bishop of Antioch by the Church of Rome.
Nevertheless, the Eustathian schism was not finally healed until
415. Flavian is posthumously venerated in both the Western and Eastern churches as a saint.
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