The faith of our fathers - Carmel Apologetics

168 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.Pope Stephen III., 1who then ruled the Church,sent an urgent appeal to the Emperor ConstantinoCopronymus, successor of Leo the Isaurian, imploring him to come to the relief of Rome and his Italian provinces. The Emperor manifested his usualapathy and indifference, and received the messagewith coldness and neglect.In this emergency, Stephen, who sees that no timeis to be lost, crosses the Alps in person, approachesPepin, King of France, and begs that powerfulmonarch to protect the Italian people, who wereutterly abandoned by those that ought to be theirdefenders. The pious King, after paying his homageto the Pope, sets out for Italy with his army, defeatsthe invading Lombards, and places the Pope at thehead of the conquered provinces.Charlemagne, the successor of Pepin, not onlyconfirms the grant of his father, but increases thetemporal domain of the Pope by donating him someadditional provinces.This small piece of territory the Roman Pontiffscontinued to govern from that time till 1870, withthe exception of brief intervals of foreign usurpation.And certainly, if ever any Prince merited the appellation of legitimate sovereign, that title iseminentlydeserved by the Bishops of Rome.1Sometimes called Stephen II., as Stephen, his predecessor,died three days after his election, whose name is omitted insome calendars.