Saint Severus the Antiochene was born in the year 459 AD and reposed in the year 538 AD at about 79 years, and was ordained patriarch of Antioch in the year 512 AD. He spent more than twenty years of his life in Egypt and enjoyed the love of the Egyptians and is remembered in the liturgy before Saint Athanasius the Apostolic.

Origins, education and spiritual conversion
He grew up from a noble and rich family and was sent to study in Alexandria where he imbibed the works of the great fathers. Before his baptism his friend Zakaria the Eloquent approached him and explained the holy books to him and urged him to baptism, then he went to Jerusalem and was influenced by the holy places.

Monastic and priestly life
He left the lawyer’s clothes and distributed his possessions to the poor and joined the monastery of Saint Theodorus and put on the monastic habit. He devoted himself to prayer and contemplation and read the lives of the saints until he excelled in religious knowledge and virtue, then he was ordained a priest and attended councils as a monastic representative before his elevation to the patriarchate.

His patriarchal role and theological confrontation
When elected patriarch he gathered the shatters of the church in Antioch and stood against Chalcedonian tendencies and heresies like Nestorius and Origene, and defended the Orthodox faith of the one nature. When he was persecuted by the Chalcedonian policies of Justinian he took refuge in Alexandria to preserve the Orthodox faith.

Scholarly and theological output
He left a large heritage: about 13 books in defense of the faith, the collection “Cathedral Homilies” and letters collected in many volumes, liturgical writings and prayers and readings, and hymns and rites dedicated to feasts. He is considered an important teacher for the Syrians and the Orthodox university.

Relationship with the church and the Syrians
He had pastoral contact with the Egyptians and contributed to the affairs of his church by letters and documents. Some of his works were translated and published, and he was famous among the Syrians to the extent that he was called a teacher for them.

Spiritual and educational lessons
The lecture presents the example of Saint Severus in devoting himself to defending doctrine, and in combining spiritual knowledge with monastic life, and highlights the importance of epistolary writing and liturgical rite in preserving the faith.

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