The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1916-04-08
Continued from page H.
HISTORIAN MONUMENT.


HISTORIAN MONUMENT.
vine, the man Jesus of Nazareth from
the divine Son of God, SO that in the
ReGeemer there would be two distinct
persons.
Nestorius objected to the term
'theotokos" or Mother Of God APP
piled to the Blessed Virgin Mary. He
said that she was indeed the Mother
Of Christ but should not be called the
Mother of God, for the Divinity can
not have mother. Now in truth, she
is rightly called the Mother OF God
because her Son was most truly God.
No one claimed so absurd thing
as that she was mother of His Divin-
ity. And if she be denied the title
of Mother of God and be called only
Mother Of Christ, the implication is
that Christ is not truly God. II full
est truth her Son was GOD, the Holy
One, the Sacred Person who was born
Of her. was both God and man. Her
title OF Mother OF God is insisted on
IS a safeguard of His divinity and OF
the union Of the human and divine
in His one, divine Person. Mary is
h0nored for the sake of her Son, not
fer her own sake, but because He
That is mighty hath done great things
to her, and Holy be His Name.
The HISTORIAN Sect.
Neetorius was opposed chiefly by ST.
Cyril, the Patriarch Of Alexandria, and
was condemned at the Council OF
EDhesus in the year 431. While the
HISTORIAN church is named after him,
he is not really its founder. It's dis
tinctive doctrines, the same for which
he was condemned and deposed, were
taught mere fully and Systematically
bv those who were the teachers Of
Nestorius, Diodore of Tarsus and
Theodore of Mopsuestia. Nestorlus
was not in any direct way, says Mon
siqncr Duchesne, the originator of
Nestorianism in Syria and Persia.
Bat his prominence as Patriarch OF
C0nstantinople and as the central
figure in a great controversy, and the
striking misfortune Of his career, made
his name the watchword Of a party.
Besides the influence Of the writ
iugs of DiodCre Of Tarsus and Thee
,lere Of Mopsuestia, which propagated
NestOranism, first in Syria, and then
in Persia, other causes also worked
to this end. Father Fortesque points
out firstly, that NestOrianiSm grew
in Persia and the East because it
was rejected and banned in the EN-
pirc Of Constantinople, and, secondly,
that NeStOrianiSm in Syria was at first
largely a movement in opposition to
another extreme which was also con
demned as heretical by the Church,
namely MCnophisism, which made the
Redeemer not only one Person, but
even one Nature. In Syria these two
often seemed the only alternatives be-
tween which man must choose.
The HISTORIAN church Of the present
day is a sad remnant of what is was
| in the day Of its youthful strength
in Persia, the day of its glorious mis-
/ sicnary activity in Asia. The branch
which does not remain in the vine
will wither. Cut off from union with
/ the head and center of the Church
isolated, surrounded by an alien
/ faith and an alien civilization, it
gradually sank till it became a poor
/ group of families in Kurdestan, har.
assed and prosecuted by all its neigh,
/ bors.
/ Significance Of the Monument.
! The Monument of Sian-Iu is the
/ record Of success and failure. But
Of failure only in a limited sense
| For the mission work in China was
resumed in the 18th and again in the
/ 18th centuries; and at these times not
/ by HISTORIANS, but by missionaries
/ sent forth by the very Vicar of Christ
/ And the missions of the 18th century
! begun at st. Francis Xavier, continue
to the present day.
Missionaries now at work in China
and Christians the world over, who
! follow with devout interest the labors
! of these modern apostles, have reason
! to trust that this work will not pass
away, that the champions of Chris
! tan civilization will succeed in con
yerting to Christ that vast people for
whom is opening new era of prog
ress, and in making of that immense
empire a chosen portion of the great
universal Church"
Meanwhile the Monument OF Sian
FL, in its resting place in China, and
/ in its replica in New York, is proof
/ that China is not a strange land to
/ Christianity; that Divine Providence
guides its destiny; that the grace OF
God has long been working there in
/ the ways of Divine Wisdom.
Looking back through the mist OF
/ the ages We have a glimpse Of the
most yirtuous Olopun, observing the
azure clouds and bringing the true
sacred books to the accomplished En-
peror Taitsung, bringing tie lllustri
| Gus Religion TO China, thirteen hun
dred years ago