Commemoration of the Fourth Ecumenical Council (451) — July 16 / July 29 (Julian Calendar)

On this day, July 16 according to the Julian Calendar (July 29 civil calendar), the Georgian Orthodox Church commemorates Commemoration of the Fourth Ecumenical Council (451).

The Fourth Ecumenical Council was held in the city of Chalcedon in the year 451, during the reign of Emperor Marcian (450–457). Six hundred and thirty bishops participated in this great gathering of the Church.

The Council was convened to address the heresy of Eutyches (Monophysitism), who, in reaction to the Nestorian heresy, fell into the opposite error. While the Nestorians wrongly divided the two natures of Christ, Eutyches wrongly fused them, teaching that after the Incarnation Christ had only one nature — divine — and that His human nature was absorbed and ceased to exist.

The bishop of Dorylaeum, Eusebius, had already condemned Eutyches during the reign of Theodosius II. However, Eutyches obtained support from Dioscorus, the Patriarch of Alexandria, who convened a local council in Ephesus in 449 that rehabilitated Eutyches and deposed his opponents. This gathering became known in Church history as the ‘Robber Council of Ephesus.’

Pope Leo the Great of Rome sent his famous ‘Tome’ — a dogmatic letter on the two natures of Christ — which the bishops at Chalcedon received and affirmed. The Council formally defined the Orthodox teaching: that Jesus Christ is one Person in two natures — fully divine and fully human — without confusion, change, division, or separation. The two natures are united in the one hypostasis of the Son of God.

The Council condemned Eutyches and Dioscorus and restored those who had been wrongly deposed. It also established important canons concerning Church order, the authority of patriarchates, and monastic discipline.

The Orthodox Church commemorates the holy Fathers of the Fourth Ecumenical Council with deep veneration, honoring their faithful preservation of the apostolic faith against heresy.