Saint Servatius - History

History

A widely-travelled diplomat, Servatius presence is recorded at several synods and church councils, and a determined prosecutor of Arianism. Servatius died in Maastricht in 384. In 343, "Sarbatios"—Greek texts rendering v as b—was present at the Council of Sardica (modern Sofia). In the debates, Servatius represented the Trinitarian Christological views of the Western Emperor. Because the eastern bishops shared the opinions of their ruler, the Synod of Sardica was a failure.

When Athanasius was in exile in Trier, he met with Servatius, and the two campaigned against the Arian bishops and priests of the area. In the Council of Cologne in 346, Servatius testified against the bishop of Cologne, saying that, "Our churches are adjacent" and the bishop of Cologne "denied the divinity of Jesus Christ. It has even happened in the presence of Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria." Thus Servatius appears to have been bishop of Tongeren at this time.

After the western emperor Constans had been assassinated (350), Servatius was sent to Edessa as envoy to Constantius II, the Eastern Emperor, by the court party of the usurper Magnentius, to represent the late Constans as an unworthy tyrant and oppressor, in the unsuccessful hope of obtaining Constantius' recognition of Magnentius as co-Augustus. The outcome was a civil war that resulted in the death of Magnentius (353). The commission is a sign of the high standing of Servatius.

In 359, at the Council of Rimini, Sulpicius Severus reports that Servatius again eloquently denounced Arianism.

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