Proclus of Constantinople

Proclus of Constantinople (Greek: Πρόκλος; c. 390 – 24 July 446) was the Archbishop of Constantinople from 434 until his death. Renowned for his homiletic abilities, Proclus played a central role in the Nestorian controversy. His contributions to the theology of the developing cult of the Virgin Mary place him among the early and foremost Marian theologians. He is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church, the Eastern Catholic Churches, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and Oriental Orthodoxy.

Proclus was born around the year 390 and became a reader in Constantinople at a young age. He studied rhetoric and classical authors under private tutors, and came under the influence of Alexandrian intellectuals who had emigrated to the city. He is traditionally held to have been the friend and disciple of Saint John Chrysostom (397–405), who is said to have ordained him. However, Constas shows that this link between the two men was retroactively created in the Medieval period. Instead, Proclus was a disciple of and personal secretary to archbishop Atticus of Constantinople (406–425) who was impressed by his talents as a writer, rhetorician, and orator. During his episcopate, Atticus ordained Proclus deacon and priest, and the young man quickly became an essential part of the archiepiscopal administration. He acted both as scribe and as ghost-writer for his bishop, who was less eloquent and intellectually well-rounded than his protege. During the course of pastoral and diplomatic visits to the Imperial residences, Proclus forged his lasting relationships with the Imperial family.

He was a candidate to succeed Atticus upon the latter's death in 425, but the populace favoured the elderly Sisinnius I of Constantinople (426–427) for his lack of affiliation with local rivalries and his charity to the poor. Proclus befriended him, and Sisinnius consecrated him Bishop of the dependent See of Cyzicus in 426. His enthronement was prevented when the residents of the city refused to receive him and elected their own bishop in contravention of canon law, so Proclus remained at Constantinople as titular bishop. Under Sissinius' patronage, Proclus became increasingly famous as a popular preacher, earning him comparisons with the renowned homiletic talents of John Chrysostom. On the death of Sisinnius factions broke out once again with Proclus and Philip of Side, who had also contested in 425, as the leading candidates. The competition was so fierce that the Emperor intervened and installed an outsider, the well-known Antiochene orator Nestorius, as Archbishop (sed. 428–431). In late 428, as part of his vicious and unpopular persecution of heretical groups, Nestorius and his retinue began to preach against the propriety of calling Mary the Theotokos. A traditional title that had been in use for over a century and utilised by preceding bishops of Constantinople like Gregory of Nazianzus, Theotokos was by this point deeply associated with the liturgical life of the capital. Although he was initially reticent to get involved in the emerging dispute when a monastic deacon named Basil submitted a formal accusation of heresy to the Emperor against the Archbishop, Proclus withdrew from communion with Nestorius. In 430, on the occasion of a Feast Day of the Theotokos that was probably instituted under Atticus for the Nativity Cycle, Proclus was invited by Nestorius to deliver a homily from the pulpit before a mixed crowd. He preached his celebrated panegyric sermon on the Virgin Mary, a masterpiece of exegetical insight and rhetorical flourish that has been called the most famous Marian sermon in history, and which was later inserted into the beginning of the Acts of the first Council of Ephesus.

Proclus' sermon did much to progress the case against Nestorius, and he would continue to launch homiletic attacks on the Archbishop. The controversy quickly spread beyond the capital and engulfed the Christian world. Although he did not attend the Council of Ephesus at which Nestorius was subsequently deposed, Proclus was the recipient of a letter from the conciliar president and leader of the anti-Nestorian party, Cyril of Alexandria, in which his contribution was warmly acknowledged. In the aftermath of these tumultuous events, the clergy of Constantinople were once again thrown into factionalism concerning who was to ascend the archiepiscopal throne. Proclus was now the leading candidate but because he was already a bishop, formal application of canon law prevented his transfer from one diocese to another. His opponents in government used this against him because popular support, not least among powerful women, was considered a threat in a time when religious disputes were at fever pitch. Instead, a quiet, aged priest called Maximianus was elected (sed. 431–434), who oversaw the union of the Cyrillian party with the Johannine party.

By the time Archbishop Maximianus died on Great and Holy Thursday of 434, the Imperial government had firmly come down on the side of the anti-Nestorians and were keen to avoid further electoral disturbances. To that end, Proclus was immediately enthroned by the permission of the Emperor Theodosius II and the bishops gathered at Constantinople. His first care was the funeral of his predecessor, and he then sent to both Patriarchs Cyril of Alexandria and John I of Antioch the usual synodical letters announcing his appointment, both of whom approved of it. His archiepiscopacy was dominated by the aftermath of the Council of Ephesus, and his consecration was rejected by the portion of Eastern bishops who had seceded from communion with John of Antioch after his reunion with Cyril.

In 436 the bishops of Armenia consulted Proclus upon certain doctrines prevalent in their country and attributed to Theodore of Mopsuestia asking for their condemnation. Proclus replied the next year in the celebrated letter known as the Tome to the Armenians, which he sent to the Eastern bishops, asking them to sign it and to join in condemning the doctrines of the Armenians. They approved of the letters, but from admiration of Theodore hesitated to condemn the doctrines attributed to him. Proclus replied that while he desired the extracts subjoined to his Tome to be condemned, he had not attributed them to Theodore or any individual, not desiring the condemnation of any person. A rescript from Theodosius procured by Proclus, declaring his wish that all should live in peace and that no imputation should be made against anyone who died in communion with the church, appeased the storm. The whole affair showed conspicuously the moderation and tact of Proclus and resulted in a period of peace for the Churches of the East after the Imperial Commission secured a forced union through exiling Nestorius and his closest supporters.

In continuity with the conciliation of Atticus in the latter years of his episcopacy, Proclus oversaw the transfer of the relics of Saint John Chrysostom from Comana Pontica back to Constantinople in 438, where he interred them with great honour in the Church of the Twelve apostles. This action finally reconciled to the Church those of Saint John's adherents who had separated themselves in consequence of the deposition as Archbishop which they regarded as having been unjust.

In 439, at the request of a deputation from Caesarea in Cappadocia, Proclus selected as their new bishop Thalassius, who was about to be appointed praetorian prefect of the East.