ANFILOCHIO, saint. — Bishop of Iconium in Lycaonia, friend of ss. Basil and Gregory Nazianzen, born in Caesarea of Cappadocia around 340–45. Libanius (v.) in Antioch, he followed his father in the legal profession, which he practised in Constantinople from 364 onward. Disenchanted, in 369 he withdrew to Ozitala to assist his now-aged father and devote himself to the service of God. The invitation extended to him shortly afterwards by s. Basil to go to Caesarea, which he accepted (373), was decisive for his life. It does not appear that until then he had received holy orders; but at the beginning of 374 he was a bishop. After the death of their bishop Faustino, the inhabitants of Iconium had turned to s. Basil to appoint a successor. His choice fell upon A., who, though reluctant, had to assume the care of that see, recently raised to metropolitan status. Until his death, Basil maintained an intimate and affectionate correspondence with A., to whom he gave abundant counsel and assistance in matters relating to his office. The bishop of Caesarea dedicated to him the De Spiritu Sancto, written at his suggestion; and at the same time (374–75) addressed to him the three canonical epistles on ecclesiastical order, in response to questions submitted by his spiritual son, who was deeply involved in ecclesiastical affairs in Isauria, Lycia, and Lycaonia. S. Basil, by then prostrated by illness, also invited him to assist in the administration of his own diocese, which had become a very heavy burden.
In 381, A. took part in the Ecumenical Council of Constantinople and subscribed to the formula fidei against the errors of Macedonius. Tireless in combating heresy, in 383 he brought about Theodosius’s edicts against the Arians and presided at Sida in Pamphylia over a synod that condemned the Messalians. It seems that his energy provoked the religious crusade that eradicated this heresy. The date of his death is unknown, though it probably occurred before 403; he was still alive in 394, when he took part in a Synod of Constantinople. His feast is celebrated on 23 November.
Most of his writings have been lost. In addition to fragments preserved by Theodoret, John of Damascus, and others (PG 39, 97–118), the following still remain: 1) Iambi ad Seleucum (published by Migne among the works of Greg. Nazianzen: PG 37, 1577 ff.), a poem of 333 iambic trimeters in which he exhorts the nephew of the general Trajan to the Christian life; 2) Epistola Synodica, against the Macedonian heresy, composed by order of the synod of Iconium in 376; 3) Orationes et Homediae. Further clarifications and discoveries concerning the writings of A. have resulted from the studies of K. Holl and G. Ficker. What remains of his works is insufficient to judge A.’s worth as a theologian and writer; but the enthusiastic judgment of his contemporaries (cf. PG 39, 27–34) leaves no doubt on this point. Above all, the testimonies of S. Basil and S. Gregory Nazianzen, to whom we owe the scant information about A.’s life, present him as a man devoted to study and investigation, an irreproachable bishop and herald of truth. The Christian East regarded him as a champion of orthodoxy and one of the most representative figures of the Greek Church.
A.’s works were collected by Migne in PG 39, 9–130, according to the text of Gallandi, Bibliotheca Veterum Patrum, VI, Venice 1770, pp. 457–514.