CrucisSt. Maximus the Confessor
St. Maximus the Confessor was born around 580, and died on 13 August 662 in exile in the region of Lazica (in modern Georgia). Having served in the imperial administration at Constantinople, he left the world to become a monk, and grew into one of the most profound theologians of the Christian East. He became the leading opponent of Monothelitism, the heresy — favored by emperors seeking compromise — that Christ possessed only a single, divine will.
Maximus taught that Christ, being fully God and fully man, possesses two wills, human and divine, in perfect harmony, safeguarding the reality of the Incarnation and of human freedom redeemed in Christ. For refusing to abandon this orthodox doctrine, he was tried, and according to tradition his tongue and right hand were cut off to silence his witness before he was banished, dying soon after. His teaching was vindicated at the Third Council of Constantinople in 680–681, and he is venerated as a saint and a Father of the Church, his very title 'the Confessor' testifying to his suffering for the faith.
Selected quotes
“Guard your thoughts, for from the thoughts come the words and the deeds that shape the soul.”
“The Incarnation did not happen only to redeem us from sin; it was always the purpose of creation — the destined meeting point of God and man.”
“Charity is not a feeling but a state of the soul — the charitable soul sees in every person the image of God that Christ died to restore.”