Saint Maximus of Jerusalem

The Roman Martyrology gives the shape of his life in one sentence. ¹ Under the Caesar Maximinus Daia, one of his eyes was put out and one of his feet burned with a hot iron, and he was condemned to forced labor; set free afterward, he was placed over the Church of Jerusalem, where he became celebrated for his confession of the faith and died in peace. ¹

The fifth-century historians describe the wounds differently. ²⁴ Sozomen, listing the surviving confessors who "adorned the churches" once the persecution had ended, names "Maximus, who succeeded Macarius in the church of Jerusalem," together with Paphnutius of Egypt, and says that Maximinus condemned the two of them "to work in the mines, after having deprived them of the right eye, and the use of the left leg." ² Theodoret calls Maximus "a man conspicuous in his struggles on behalf of religion, for he had been deprived of his right eye and maimed in his right arm." ⁴

Sozomen tells how he came to be bishop. ³ Macarius of Jerusalem had ordained him bishop of Diospolis, but the people of Jerusalem insisted that he stay with them: "since he was a confessor, and otherwise excellent, he was secretly chosen beforehand in the approbation of the people for their bishopric, after that Macarius should die." ³ For fear of a riot another man was made bishop of Diospolis, and Maximus remained in Jerusalem and "exercised the priestly functions conjointly with Macarius." ³

Sozomen gives a second version as well. ³ Macarius himself, he says, "regretted the ordination of Maximus," wanted him kept for his own succession because of his sound faith and the love the people had for him, and feared that otherwise the party of Eusebius and Patrophilus would put one of their own in the see. ³ The Catholic Encyclopedia's article on Macarius gives both versions, and adds that the coming death of Macarius would explain why the bishop or his flock did not want to lose Maximus. ⁸

When Macarius died, Maximus governed the Church of Jerusalem. ³ Bacchus says Macarius was dead before the Council of Tyre in 335, "at which his successor, Maximus, was apparently one of the bishops present." ⁸

The Council of Tyre condemned Athanasius of Alexandria, and Maximus appears to have gone along with it. ⁵⁸ Socrates says his opponents later mocked him for "having before assisted in his deposition." ⁵ Sozomen puts it more gently: when the bishops met at Antioch some five years after the death of Constantine and deposed Athanasius again, "it is said that Maximus, bishop of Jerusalem, purposely kept aloof from this council, because he repented having unawares consented to the deposition of Athanasius." ⁶

The chance to undo it came when Athanasius returned from exile through Palestine, carrying the emperor's letters in his favor. ⁵⁶ Socrates says that Athanasius told Maximus what had been decided at the Council of Sardica and proposed a synod, and that Maximus "without delay sent for certain of the bishops of Syria and Palestine, and having assembled a council, he restored Athanasius to communion, and to his former dignity." ⁵

Sozomen preserves the letter that Maximus and the other bishops sent to the Church of Alexandria. ⁶ "We can never, O beloved, return adequate thanks to God, the Creator of all things, for the wonderful works he has now accomplished," it begins, and it calls Athanasius "your shepherd and lord, and our fellow-minister." ⁶ It ends: "Receive him, then, with uplifted hands." ⁶

Socrates adds that the opponents of Athanasius "exceedingly derided Maximus, because having before assisted in his deposition, he had suddenly changed his mind, and as if nothing had previously taken place, had voted for his restoration to communion and rank." ⁵

Among the priests Maximus ordained was Cyril, who became the most famous bishop of Jerusalem in that century. ⁷⁹¹⁰ Butler says Maximus ordained him about 345, "and soon after appointed him his preacher to the people, likewise his catechist to instruct and prepare the catechumens for baptism; thus committing to his care the two principal functions of his own pastoral charge." ¹⁰ Benedict XVI, in his catechesis on Cyril, says simply: "He was ordained a priest by Bishop Maximus." ⁹

Chapman, in the Catholic Encyclopedia, raises a reason for the hostility of Acacius, the metropolitan of Caesarea, toward the bishops of Jerusalem. ⁷ The Council of Nicaea had kept the metropolitan rights of Caesarea while granting Jerusalem a special dignity, "yet St. Maximus had held a synod and had ordained bishops," which Chapman thinks may have angered Acacius as much as Maximus's attachment to the Nicene faith. ⁷

The sources do not agree on how his episcopate ended. ⁴⁵⁷ Socrates says flatly that "Acacius and Patrophilus having ejected Maximus, bishop of Jerusalem, installed Cyril in his see," and Sozomen says the same: "The adherents of Acacius and Patrophilus, having ejected Maximus, turned over the church of Jerusalem to Cyril." ⁵¹¹

Theodoret, on the other hand, writes that Cyril was made bishop "on his translation to the life which knows no old age," that is, at Maximus's death. ⁴ Jerome, as Chapman reports him, also has Cyril made bishop after Maximus died, and adds that Maximus had consecrated a man named Heraclius to succeed him. ⁷ The Roman Martyrology says that he died in peace. ¹

Benedict XVI leaves the question open: "When this Bishop died or was deposed in 348, Cyril was ordained a Bishop by Acacius." ⁹ Butler dates Cyril's succession to "about the end of the year 350." ¹⁰

None of the sources used for this page names Saint Maximus of Jerusalem the patron of anything, and none is supplied here. ¹⁷⁸ He is remembered as a confessor of the faith and a bishop of Jerusalem. ¹²

Saint Maximus of Jerusalem's feast is May 5, the day on which the Roman Martyrology commemorates him as bishop of Jerusalem. ¹ No other source used for this page gives a date. ¹

He carried the marks of the persecution for the rest of his life, and the historians who mention him describe him first by his wounds. ²⁴ The people of Jerusalem wanted him because he had suffered for the faith, and kept him when he was sent elsewhere. ³

At Tyre he agreed to something he came to regret. ⁵⁶ When the chance came to put it right, he called a synod, received the man he had helped condemn, and wrote that the Church of Alexandria should welcome its bishop "with uplifted hands," knowing that his opponents would mock him for it. ⁵⁶

He gave the two tasks closest to his own office, preaching and the preparation of the catechumens, to the young priest who would follow him. ¹⁰ How his time as bishop ended is not certain, and the page leaves the sources as they stand. ⁵⁹