Eusebius at Antioch and the Rise of the Luciferians

As soon as the council at Alexandria had broken up, Eusebius, bishop of Vercelli, went from Alexandria to Antioch. There he found that Paulinus had been ordained by Lucifer, and that the people were divided among themselves, for the partisans of Meletius held their meetings apart. He was deeply grieved at the lack of agreement over this election, and in his own mind he disapproved of what had been done. But his respect for Lucifer led him to keep silent about it, and on leaving he promised that everything would be set right by a council of bishops. Afterward he worked very earnestly to unite those who disagreed, but he did not succeed. Meanwhile Meletius returned from exile, and finding his followers holding their meetings apart from the others, he put himself at their head. But Euzoius, the chief of the Arian heresy, held the churches. Paulinus kept only a small church inside the city, from which Euzoius had not driven him out of personal respect for him; while Meletius gathered his followers outside the city gates. These were the circumstances in which Eusebius left Antioch at that time. [a]

When Lucifer learned that Eusebius did not approve of his ordaining Paulinus, he took it as an insult and became very angry. He not only broke off communion with him, but also began, in a quarrelsome spirit, to condemn what the synod had decided. Coming at a time of grievous disorder, these things drew many away from the church. For many attached themselves to Lucifer, and so a separate sect arose under the name of “Luciferians.” Still, Lucifer could not give full vent to his anger, since he had pledged himself through his deacon to agree to whatever the synod decided. So he held to the teachings of the church and went back to Sardinia, to his own see. But those who at first took up his quarrel remain separate from the church to this day. Eusebius, on the other hand, traveled through the eastern provinces like a good physician, fully restoring those who were weak in the faith and instructing and strengthening them in the teachings of the church. After this he crossed over to Illyricum, and from there to Italy, where he followed the same course.