In a step that was symbolically important in view of the councils prohibition of depicting Christ as a Lamb, Sergius introduced into the liturgy the chant Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us at the breaking of the Host during Mass, and restored the damaged facade mosaic in the atrium of Saint Peters that depicted the Worship of the Lamb. The Agnus Dei would have been chanted in both Greek and Latin during this period, in the same manner as the other liturgical changes of Sergius. Enraged, Emperor Justinian II dispatched his magistrianus, also named Sergius, to arrest Bishop John of Portus, the chief papal legate to the Third Council of Constantinople and Boniface, the papal counselor. The two high-ranking officials were brought to Constantinople as a warning to the pope. Eventually, Justinian II ordered Sergiuss arrest and abduction to Constantinople by his notoriously violent bodyguard protospatharios Zacharias. However, the militia of the exarch of Ravenna and the Duchy of Pentapolis frustrated the attempt. Zacharias nearly lost his own life in an attempt to arrest Sergius. Rather than seizing upon the anti-Byzantine sentiment, Sergius did his best to quell the uprising. Sergius died on 8 September 701. He was succeeded by John VI.
Posted on: Mon, 08 Sep 2014 10:27:03 +0000