Verecundus
Bishop of Junca, in the African Province of Byzacena, in the middle of the sixth century, when the question of the Three Chapters was raised at Chalcedon, in the beginning of 552. Pope Vigilius’s “Judicatum” having excited almost universal discontent, both the pope and the Emperor Justinian agreed the question should be settled in a general council to be held at Constantinople. Verecundus, with Primasius of Hadrumeta, went to represent the Province of Byzacena, and arrived at Constantinople towards the middle of 551. At once the Greek bishops set out to induce them by promises and threats to anathematize the Three Chapters. Both resisted strenuously at first, and, in the grave difficulties then besetting Pope Vigilius, stood by his side; and when the latter had taken refuge in the Basilica of St. Peter’s, both, in union with him, issued a sentence of excommunication against Theodore Askidas and of deposition against Mennas, the patriarch of the imperial city (17 August, 551). Soon, however, the conditions became so unbearable that on 23 December Pope Vigilius, although his residence was carefully watched, managed to escape across the Bosporus and to reach the Church of St. Euphemia at Chalcedon. Thither Primasius and Verecundus followed him a few days later. Verecundus, up to the end an ardent champion of the Three Chapters, died shortly afterwards. After Verecundus’s death, Primasius was moved by ambition to relent from his unyielding attitude.
As an ecclesiastical writer, Verecundus is little known. His works, edited by Cardinal Petra (Spicil. Solesm.”, IV, Paris, 1858) consist first of a collection of historical documents on the Council of Chalcedon, “Excerptiones de gestis Chalcedonensis Con cilii”, of which we possess two recensions; secondly, of an exegetical commentary in nine books upon the Canticles of the Old Testament; and thirdly, of a poem of 212 hexameter lines, “De satisfactione poenitentiae”, in which exquisite thoughts are unfort unately presented in a very incorrect form. St. Isidore of Seville (De vir. ill., vii) attributes also to Verecundus another poem on resurrection and judgment, which is possibly no other than the “De iudicio Domini” or “De resurrectione mortuorum”, found among the works of Tertullian and St. Cyprian.
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Bardenhewer, Patrology, tr. Shahan (St. Louis, 1908); Hefele, Conciliengeschichte; Fr. tr. Leclercq, III (Paris, 1909), ii, 41 sq.
CHARLES L. SOUVAY
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume XVCopyright © 1912 by Robert Appleton CompanyOnline Edition Copyright © 2003 by K. KnightNihil Obstat, October 1, 1912. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., CensorImprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York
Fuente: Catholic Encyclopedia
Verecundus
Verecundus (2), d. 552, bp. of the Civitas Juncensis in Byzacena. He was summoned to Constantinople in 549, touching the question of the “Three Chapters.” He died at Chalcedon the year before the second council of Constantinople. In the controversy on the “Three Chapters” he seems to have acted until his death with Virgilius, defending the works in question, and joining with Virgilius in his censure on Theodore of Caesarea and Menas of Constantinople. He is probably the presbyter Verecundus who composed a commentary on the ecclesiastical canticles, comprehending the songs of Miriam, Moses (from Deut.), Azariah, Hezekiah, Habakkuk, and Deborah, the prayer of Manasseh, and the thanksgiving of Jonah. The commentary is printed in vol. iv. of the Spicilegium Solesmense, with other works attributed to Verecendus. It shews some philosophical learning and historical knowledge, and some illustrations are drawn from his own experience. His manner of referring to the Vandal persecution in Africa and the unsettled state of affairs seems to fix its date before 534, when the persecution ended. The poems attributed to him, and also published in the Spicilegium, are (1) “Exhortatio Poenitendi,” (2) “de Satisfactione Poenitentiae,” (3) “Crisias.”
The spirit of the first two poems is alike: both express a strong sense of the need of repentance and an earnest anticipation of the Judgment. The poems are hortatory rather than penitential. The third poem, concerning the signs of the Judgment, is probably not by the same hand. It has much more artificiality and much less earnestness.
A Breviarium Concilii Chalcedonensis, drawn up so as to favour the supporters of the “Three Chapters,” is attributed to Verecundus. It is very possibly his, but may have been composed by a more extreme partisan and issued under his name by one who regarded him as a confessor and wished to obtain the influence of his reputation. Pitra prints this also in the Spicilegium.
[H.A.W.]