Prayer to St. Maximinus of Trier, Bishop
Father, You gave us St. Maximinus to defend the Divinity of Your Son. Grant that we may enjoy his teaching and protection and grow continually in our knowledge and love of You.
St. Maximinus of Trier, Bishop
Native of Poitiers, France, St. Maximinus left for Trier early in his life, drawn by the saintly reputation of its Bishop, St. Agritius. He received his education there and eventually succeeded to the episcopacy upon the death of St. Agritius in 325. This provided an ideal base for Maximinus to carry on his lifelong battle with Arianism, since Trier at that time was the usual residence of the Emperors of the West and the capital of the Western Empire.
Maximinus deemed it an honor to have St. Athanasius living under his protection during his first exile from 335 to 337; and he later provided equal protection for St. Paul, Patriarch of Constantinople, when the latter was banished by the same Emperor, Constantius. St. Athanasius praised the nobility, vigilance, and courage of his host who was famous for miracles.
St. Maximinus convened the Synod of Cologne that declared Euphratas a heretic and removed him from his See; he also participated in the Council of Sardica in 347. Perhaps his finest moment came when he was coupled with the great St. Athanasius and anathematized by Arians at their Council of Philippopolis. This provided irrefutable evidence of his redoubtable opposition to Arianism and his marked success in that regard. Unfortunately, through he seems to have written much, we do not possess any of the works of this intrepid defender of the true Faith, who died about the year 346.
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