St. Peter Canisius Apostolate

In the mid-sixth century, the Church had to face the lingering effects of Nestorianism, which, if we recall, said that Jesus had both two natures and two persons. Thus, the Second Council of Constantinople was held in 533. Paragraph 468 of the Catechism speaks of this Council:

After the Council of Chalcedon, some made of Christ’s human nature a kind of personal subject. Against them, the fifth ecumenical council, at Constantinople in 553, confessed that “there is but one hypostasis [or person], which is our Lord Jesus Christ, one of the Trinity.” Thus everything in Christ’s human nature is to be attributed to his divine person as its proper subject, not only his miracles but also his sufferings and even his death: “He who was crucified in the flesh, our Lord Jesus Christ, is true God, Lord of glory, and one of the Holy Trinity.”

Because the human and divine natures were perfectly united by the person of the Son of God, we can properly say that everything Jesus Christ did on earth was done by the second person of the Holy Trinity. Thus, we can say that God was born, that God suffered and died, and that God rose from the dead.

In paragraph 469, the Catechism wraps up this section by stating the Church’s teaching about Jesus Christ:

The Church thus confesses that Jesus is inseparably true God and true man. He is truly the Son of God who, without ceasing to be God and Lord, became a man and our brother:

“What he was, he remained and what he was not, he assumed”, sings the Roman Liturgy. And the liturgy of St. John Chrysostom proclaims and sings: “O only-begotten Son and Word of God, immortal being, you who deigned for our salvation to become incarnate of the holy Mother of God and ever-virgin Mary, you who without change became man and were crucified, O Christ our God, you who by your death have crushed death, you who are one of the Holy Trinity, glorified with the Father and the Holy Spirit, save us!”

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