ainment, and dismissed them with great
presents to their respective sees. St. Alexander, after this triumph of
the faith, returned to Alexandria; where, after having recommended St.
Athanasius for his successor, he died in 326, on the 26th of February,
on which day he is mentioned in the Roman Martyrology.

* * * * *

A true disciple of Christ, by a sincere spirit of humility and distrust
in himself, is, as it were, naturally inclined to submission to all
authority appointed by God, in which he finds his peace, security, and
joy. This happy disposition of his soul is his secure fence against the
illusions of self-sufficiency and blind pride, which easily betrays men
into the most fatal errors. On the contrary, pride is a spirit of revolt
and independence: he who is possessed with this devil is fond of his own
conceits, self-confident, and obstinate. However strong the daylight of
evidence may be in itself, such a one will endeavor to shut up all the
avenues of light, though some beams force themselves into his soul to
disturb his repose, and strike deep the sting of remorse: jealousy and a
love of opposition foster the disorder, and render it incurable. This is
the true portraiture of Arius, and other heresiarchs and firebrands of
the universe. Can we sufficiently detest jealousy and pride, the fatal
source of so great evils? Do we not discover, by fatal symptoms, that we
ourselves harbor this monster in our breasts? Should the eye be jealous
that the ear hears, and disturb the functions of this or the other
senses, instead of regarding them as its own and enjoying their mutual
advantage and comfort, what confusion would ensue!

Footnotes:
1. Theodoret, l. 1, c. {}. Socrates, l. 1, c. 5.
2. L. de Adv. Chr., p. 635.
3. Rufinus (l. 1, Hist. c. 1) says, that the council was assembled by
the advice of the priests. Ex sacerdotum sententia. And the third
council of Constantinople attributes convocation to St. Sylvester as
much as to the emperor. Constantinus et Sylvester magnam in Nicea
synodum congregabant. Conc. Constantinopolitanum tertium, Act. 18,
p. 1049, t. 6. Conc.
4. This is acknowledged by the oriental bishops, assembled at
Constantinople, in 552, (t. 5, Conc. pp. 337, 338.) The legates were
Vito, or Victor, and Vincent, two Roman priests, to whom the pope
joined Osius, bishop of Cordova, as being the most renowned prelate
of the West, and hi