A Schism among the Novatians over Easter

Agelius was bishop of the Novatian church at Constantinople for forty years, from the reign of Constantine until the sixth year of the emperor Theodosius, as I have said somewhere earlier. Seeing his end approaching, he ordained Sisinnius to succeed him as bishop. Sisinnius was a presbyter of the church over which Agelius presided, a remarkably eloquent man, who had been taught philosophy by Maximus at the same time as the emperor Julian. But the Novatian laity were unhappy with this choice. They would rather he had ordained Marcian, a man of outstanding piety, whose influence had kept their sect from being troubled during the reign of Valens. So, to quiet his people’s discontent, Agelius laid his hands on Marcian as well. Having recovered a little from his illness, he went to the church and, of his own accord, spoke to the congregation: “After my death, let Marcian be your bishop, and after Marcian, Sisinnius.” He lived only a short time after saying this. [a]

Marcian, then, was made bishop of the Novatians, and a division arose in their church too, for the following reason. Marcian had raised to the rank of presbyter a converted Jew named Sabbatius, who nevertheless kept many of his Jewish prejudices, and who was, besides, very eager to be made a bishop. Sabbatius drew to his side two presbyters, Theoctistus and Macarius, who were in on his plans, and he set out to defend the innovation the Novatians had made in the time of Valens at Pazum, a village of Phrygia, concerning the festival of Easter, which I have spoken of already. First, under the pretext of a stricter way of life, he quietly withdrew from the church, saying that he was grieved on account of certain people whom he suspected of being unworthy to share in the sacrament. It was soon discovered, however, that his aim was to hold assemblies of his own. When Marcian understood this, he blamed himself bitterly for the mistake of ordaining to the presbyterate men so set on empty glory. He often said: “It would have been better for me to have laid my hands on thorns than to have laid them on Sabbatius.”

To check what Sabbatius was doing, Marcian had a synod of Novatian bishops called together at Angarum, a market town near Helenopolis in Bithynia. When they had assembled, they summoned Sabbatius and asked him to explain the cause of his discontent. He declared that he was troubled by the disagreement that existed about the Feast of Easter, and that it ought to be kept according to the custom of the Jews, as those who had met at Pazum had ruled. The bishops at the synod saw that this claim was a mere excuse to cover his desire for a bishop’s chair, and they made him swear an oath that he would never accept a bishopric. When he had sworn it, they passed a canon about this feast which they called “indifferent.” In it they declared: “A disagreement on such a point is not a sufficient reason for separating from the church, and the Council of Pazum did nothing to harm the catholic rule. Although the ancients who lived nearest to the times of the apostles differed about keeping this festival, it did not stop them from sharing communion with one another, nor did it cause any quarrel. Besides, the Novatians in the imperial city of Rome have never followed the Jewish practice, but have always kept Easter after the equinox; and yet they did not separate from those of their own faith who celebrated it on a different day.” From these and many similar considerations they made the “Indifferent” Canon, as it was called, concerning Easter. Under it everyone was free, if he wished, to keep the custom he preferred in this matter. It was to make no difference to communion: even though they celebrated on different days, they were to be at one in the church.

Once this rule was established, Sabbatius, being bound by his oath, did this: whenever the date of the Easter feast fell differently, he kept the fast ahead of the others, in private, and after watching all night he celebrated the sabbath of the Passover. Then on the next day he went to church and shared in the sacraments with the rest of the congregation. He kept this up for many years, so that it could not be hidden from the people. Some of the more ignorant, chiefly the Phrygians and Galatians, imitated him, supposing they would be counted righteous by doing so, and kept the Passover in secret after his manner. But later Sabbatius disregarded the oath by which he had renounced the office of bishop. He held schismatic meetings and was made bishop of his followers, as we will show later on.