Flavian I of Antioch

Flavian I of Antioch was a fourth-century bishop of the church of Antioch, holding the see from 381 until his death in 404. He was a native of Antioch and came from a distinguished family. As a layman of means and education he became a leading figure among the Nicene Christians of the city during the middle decades of the fourth century, when Arianizing bishops occupied the official cathedral. Together with Diodore, later bishop of Tarsus, he organized gatherings of the orthodox faithful for worship, often at the shrines of martyrs outside the city walls, while the Arian bishop Leontius held the principal church. The church historian Theodoret of Cyrrhus credits Flavian and Diodore with introducing into the Greek-speaking church the practice of antiphonal psalmody, in which two choirs sang verses of the psalms in alternation, a custom they are said to have adapted from Syrian usage. Their work helped sustain Nicene congregational life in Antioch through a period of imperial and episcopal pressure against supporters of the Council of Nicaea.

After the accession of the Nicene bishop Meletius of Antioch, Flavian was ordained to the priesthood and became one of Meletius’s principal collaborators. The church of Antioch was then divided by a long-running schism. Besides the Arian hierarchy, two rival Nicene bishops claimed the see: Meletius, recognized by the greater part of the Eastern episcopate, and Paulinus, who headed the so-called Eustathian community and was recognized by Rome and Alexandria. When Meletius died in 381 while attending the Council of Constantinople, the Meletian clergy and the bishops assembled at that council elected Flavian as his successor. The election was immediately contested. Critics alleged that an earlier understanding—or even an oath—had bound the Meletian side to accept Paulinus as sole bishop if Meletius died first, so as to reunite the Nicene parties. Flavian’s supporters denied that any such obligation barred a canonical election. Emperor Theodosius I and the Council of Constantinople recognized Flavian, but Pope Damasus I and the church of Alexandria continued to regard Paulinus, and after Paulinus’s death his successor Evagrius, as the legitimate bishop of Antioch. The resulting breach lasted for most of Flavian’s episcopate.

Flavian ordained John Chrysostom to the priesthood in 386. Chrysostom’s fame as a preacher in Antioch grew under Flavian’s patronage, and the two men remained closely associated. After Chrysostom became bishop of Constantinople in 398, he used his influence, together with that of other Eastern bishops such as Acacius of Beroea, to persuade Rome and Alexandria to enter into communion with Flavian. Pope Siricius and Patriarch Theophilus of Alexandria eventually accepted Flavian, and the principal phase of the Meletian schism was thereby healed, although a small Eustathian remnant persisted for a time. In the later years of his episcopate Flavian also acted against the Messalians, also called Euchites, an ascetic movement accused of rejecting the sacraments and claiming that constant prayer alone sufficed for spiritual purity. A synod at Antioch under his presidency is reported to have examined and condemned their teaching.

Flavian remained loyal to John Chrysostom when the latter came under attack at Constantinople and did not join the Synod of the Oak in 403 that deposed him. Flavian died in 404, in the same year that Chrysostom was driven into his final exile, and was succeeded at Antioch by Porphyrius. In the Eastern Orthodox Church he is venerated as a saint, with his principal feast observed on 27 September. Contemporary and near-contemporary historians, including Theodoret, Socrates Scholasticus, and Sozomen, are the main sources for his career; they portray him as an aged, ascetic, and determined defender of Nicene orthodoxy whose long tenure helped stabilize the church of Antioch after decades of division. Precise details of his birth, family life, and burial are not preserved in the surviving sources.