Deepertruth: Stand In The Gap With Us And His Holiness Pope Saint Martin I

Stand In The Gap With Us And His Holiness Pope Saint Martin I 4/13/2024

St. Martin I, (born, Todi, Tuscany [Italy]—died September 16, 655, Cherson, Crimea [now Kherson, Ukraine]; feast day April 13), pope from 649 to 653.

When Martin I became pope in 649, Constantinople was the capital of the Byzantine empire and the patriarch of Constantinople was the most influential Church leader in the eastern Christian world. The struggles that existed within the Church at that time were magnified by the close cooperation of emperor and patriarch.

A teaching, strongly supported in the East, held that Christ had no human will. Twice, emperors had officially favored this position: Heraclius by publishing a formula of faith, and Constans II by silencing the issue of one or two wills in Christ.

Elected pope in 649, Martin I had gotten in trouble for refusing to condone silence in the face of wrong. At that time there existed a popular heresy that held that Christ didn't have a human will, only a divine will. The emperor had issued an edict that didn't support Monothelism (as it was known) directly, but simply commanded that no one could discuss Jesus' will at all.