PG 10 · cols. 121–124
S. Callistus I papa, Epistolae
Editors' preface
Migne Reading Room
PG 10 · cols. 121–124
Editors' preface
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Gelasius ep. 9.
Gelasius, Letter 9.
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dist. 76: Jejunium quod ter.
Distinction 76: "The fast which three times."
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Ant. Aug. arch. Tarr. dial. 4, libri II, de emendatione Gratiani, testatur Calixti epistolas rejectas fuisse a selectis viris qui Romae operam navarunt in Gratiano corrigendo. Idem sentiunt viri eruditi et res ipsa clamat.
Antonio Agustín, archbishop of Tarragona, in dialogue 4 of book II of De emendatione Gratiani, testifies that the letters of Calixtus were rejected by the select men who laboured at Rome on correcting Gratian. Learned men are of the same opinion, and the matter itself cries it aloud.
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Jejunium. Jejunium Quatuor temporum non a Callisto pontifice, sed ab apostolis institutum esse, praeter expressum sancti Leonis testimonium, ipse quoque Callistus hac epistola indicat, verbis sequentibus hisce: quod ter in anno apud nos celebrare didicisti; affirmans jam ante sua tempora trium temporum jejunia in Ecclesia servari esse solita; a se vero, quarti duntaxat temporis jejunium superadditum esse, ne Judaei, secundum prophetiam Zachariae capite octavo, quater in anno jejunantes, in virtutis temperantiae exercitio promptiores et alacriores esse dici possint. Jejunium mensis decembris, quod est unum atque praecipuum ex quatuor, tempore apostolorum, a Christianis observatum esse, indicat Lucas Actor. XXVII, his verbis: Incipiebat enim periculosa esse navigatio, quia jejunium jam praeterierat; quasi diceret, ut exponunt Chrysostomus et Oecumenius, Quia hibernum illud decimi mensis jejunium praeterierat, incipiebat esse periculosa navigatio, propterea quod hiems ageretur, qua navigantibus gravissima pericula imminent. Hoc igitur jejunium Callistus integrum non instituit: sed institutum ab apostolis scripto confirmavit, et, ut Bellarminus concedit, quarto superaddito saltem ampliavit. Vide Bellarminum De bon. oper. in part. lib. II, cap. 19; Baron. ann. Christi 57, num. 6 et 7. SEV. BIN.
The fast. That the fast of the Four Seasons was instituted not by Pope Callistus but by the apostles, besides the express testimony of Saint Leo, Callistus himself also shows in this letter, in these following words: which you have learned to celebrate three times a year among us; affirming that already before his own time the fasts of three seasons used to be kept in the Church, and that by him only the fast of a fourth season was added, so that the Jews, who according to the prophecy of Zechariah, chapter eight, fast four times a year, might not be said to be readier and keener in the exercise of the virtue of temperance. That the fast of the month of December, which is one of the four and the chief of them, was kept by Christians in the time of the apostles, Luke shows in Acts 27, in these words: For sailing was beginning to be dangerous, because the fast was already past; as if he were saying, as Chrysostom and Oecumenius explain, Because that winter fast of the tenth month was past, sailing was beginning to be dangerous, since it was winter, in which the gravest dangers threaten those at sea. This fast, then, Callistus did not institute as a whole: rather he confirmed in writing what the apostles had instituted, and, as Bellarmine concedes, at least enlarged it by adding a fourth. See Bellarmine, On Good Works in Particular, book II, chapter 19; Baronius, year of Christ 57, nos. 6 and 7. Severinus Binius.
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Quod ter in anno. Baron. anno Christi 226, num. 6, putat legendum esse, quater, ex eo quod prophetiam Zachariae citat, quae quater in anno jejunandum esse admonet: aliter sentit Bellarm. loco praedicto, cujus expositio textui conformior esse videtur. ID.
Which three times a year. Baronius, year of Christ 226, no. 6, thinks it should read four times, because he cites the prophecy of Zechariah, which counsels fasting four times a year; Bellarmine, in the place cited above, thinks otherwise, and his explanation seems more in keeping with the text. The same [Binius].
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Ut sicut annus per quatuor. His verbis Callisti pontificis tres causae jejunii quatuor temporibus observandi indicantur. Prima, ne Christiani Judaeis hac in parte remissiores viderentur. Constat enim ex verbis prophetiae sequentibus Judaeos quater in anno jejunasse solemni jejunio: aequum igitur fuit ut Christiani, qui perfectiores Judaeis esse debebant, etiam sua quatuor tempora haberent; quibus solemni ac communi jejunio per totum orbem jejunarent. Hanc eamdem rationem instituti jejunii quatuor temporum, reddit etiam sanctus Leo sermone 7 de jejunio septimi mensis. Item sermone 4 et 6 de jejunio decimi mensis. Secunda est, ut his temporibus Deo supplicaremus pro frugibus ac fructibus terrae ac pro iisdem perceptis gratias ageremus. Nam in iis quatuor temporibus, aeris temperies maxime variatur, ac fructus omnes cum frugibus vel seruntur, vel nascuntur, vel maturantur, vel colliguntur. Hanc rationem affert sanctus Leo sermone 2, 5 et 8 de jejunio decimi mensis. Tertia causa est, ut singulis mensibus certum aliquod stativum ac solemne jejunium servetur, sicut singulis annis quadragesimale, singulis hebdomadibus feria sexta et quarta olim, nunc sabbato jejunatur, ac proinde quatuor anni temporibus tribus diebus unius hebdomadae jejunemus, pro tribus mensibus: nimirum mense Martio jejunamus semel tribus diebus, pro primo, secundo ac tertio mense; mense Junio circa Pentecosten jejunamus per dies tres, pro tribus sequentibus mensibus, Junio videlicet, Julio, et Augusto; mense Septembri, pro septimo, octavo et nono; Decembri, pro decimo, undecimo ac duodecimo mense anni, scilicet pro Decembri, Januario ac Februario. Idque majoris commoditatis gratia factum est. Haec Leo serm. 9 de jejunio septimi mensis; et serm. 8 de jejunio decimi mensis, Amalarius De offic. eccles., lib. II, c. 2. Quarta causa instituti jejunii Quatuor temporum est ordinatio clericorum: quae cum his temporibus ordinarie per universam Ecclesiam fiat, omnes et singuli Christi fideles exemplo primitivae Ecclesiae, quam Actor. XIII, tempore ordinationis jejunasse constat, merito cum jejunio orant, ut Christus Dominus fideles operarios in vineam suam mittere dignetur. Et quanquam primi summi pontifices, ut perspicuum est ex libro Pontificali, ac testimonio Amalarii lib. II De offic. eccles., cap. 1, mense Decembri tantum ordines sacros contulerint, tamen crescente ordinandorum numero, recte institutum est, ut aliis etiam tribus temporibus sacri ordines conferrentur: ita Gelasius epistola prima. Vide Bellarm. praedicto loco. ID.
That as the year through four. In these words of Pope Callistus three [as printed; four follow] reasons are indicated for keeping the fast at the four seasons. The first, that Christians should not seem slacker than the Jews in this respect. For it is clear from the words of the prophecy that follow that the Jews fasted four times a year with a solemn fast; it was fitting, therefore, that Christians, who ought to be more perfect than the Jews, should also have their four seasons, in which they would fast with a solemn and common fast throughout the whole world. This same reason for the institution of the fast of the four seasons Saint Leo also gives in sermon 7 on the fast of the seventh month, and likewise in sermons 4 and 6 on the fast of the tenth month. The second is that at these seasons we should make supplication to God for the crops and fruits of the earth, and give thanks for them when gathered. For in these four seasons the temper of the air varies most, and all fruits together with crops are either sown, or spring up, or ripen, or are gathered in. This reason Saint Leo gives in sermons 2, 5 and 8 on the fast of the tenth month. The third reason is that in each month some fixed and solemn fast should be kept, just as the Lenten fast is kept each year, and each week a fast was formerly kept on the sixth and fourth days and is now kept on Saturday; and accordingly at the four seasons of the year we fast for three days of one week on behalf of three months: that is, in the month of March we fast once for three days, for the first, second and third month; in the month of June, about Pentecost, we fast for three days for the three following months, namely June, July and August; in the month of September, for the seventh, eighth and ninth; in December, for the tenth, eleventh and twelfth month of the year, that is, for December, January and February. And this was done for greater convenience. So Leo, sermon 9 on the fast of the seventh month, and sermon 8 on the fast of the tenth month; Amalarius, On the Church's Offices, book II, chapter 2. The fourth reason for instituting the fast of the Four Seasons is the ordination of clergy: since this is ordinarily done throughout the whole Church at these seasons, all the faithful of Christ, each and every one, after the example of the primitive Church, which, as is clear from Acts 13, fasted at the time of ordination, rightly pray with fasting that Christ the Lord may deign to send faithful labourers into His vineyard. And although the first supreme pontiffs, as is plain from the Liber Pontificalis and from the testimony of Amalarius, book II On the Church's Offices, chapter 1, conferred holy orders only in the month of December, yet as the number of those to be ordained grew, it was rightly established that holy orders should be conferred at the other three seasons as well: so Gelasius in his first letter. See Bellarmine in the place cited above. The same [Binius].
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Zach. VIII, 1-19.
Zechariah 8:1–19.
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S. Leo ep. 33 et 84.
Saint Leo, letters 33 and 84.
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I Petr. III.
1 Peter 3.
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distin. 12: Non decet a capite.
Distinction 12: "It is not fitting … from the head."
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I Cor. XII.
1 Corinthians 12.
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Joan. VI, 38.
John 6:38.
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idem habetur infra in decr. 2 Stephani I et Sixti papae III.
The same is found below in the second decree of Stephen I and of Pope Sixtus III.
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Adrian. coll. 3 et 67.
Hadrian's collection, 3 and 67.
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Prov. XXVI, 4.
Proverbs 26:4.
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Sixti sententiae 6, 167, 189, 205.
Sentences of Sixtus, 6, 167, 189, 205.
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S. Leo ep. 53.
Saint Leo, letter 53.
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Eccl. XVIII, 30.
Ecclesiasticus 18:30.
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Prosperi sent. 202, ex Aug. in ps. LIV.
Prosper, sentence 202, from Augustine on Psalm 54.
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Nulli vero dubium. Romanam Ecclesiam matrem et caput esse omnium aliarum Ecclesiarum, evidens testimonium notatu dignissimum hic traditur: plura testimonia vide apud Bellarm. De Rom. pont. SEV. BINIUS.
But no one doubts. That the Roman Church is the mother and head of all other Churches, a clear testimony, most worthy of note, is given here; see more testimonies in Bellarmine, On the Roman Pontiff. Severinus Binius.
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canon. 9 conc. Nicaeni.
Canon 9 of the Council of Nicaea.
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conc. Rom. VI, sub Symmacho papa, 11, q. 3, Injustum judicium, etc.
Sixth Roman council, under Pope Symmachus; [Causa] 11, question 3, "An unjust judgement," etc.
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S. Prosperi sent. 179, ex S. Aug. IX Confess. c. 9.
Saint Prosper, sentence 179, from Saint Augustine, Confessions IX, chapter 9.
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ejusdem ex eodem in ps. XCIII.
The same [Prosper], from the same [Augustine] on Psalm 93.
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S. Ambr. ep. 21.
Saint Ambrose, letter 21.
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S. Leo ep. 32.
Saint Leo, letter 32.
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S. Leo ep. 31, cujus verba ut praecedentium auctorum detractis additisve quibusdam interpolata.
Saint Leo, letter 31, whose words, like those of the preceding authors, have been interpolated, with some things taken away or added.
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Memor enim sum, me sub illius nomine Ecclesiae praesidere. Romanum pontificem successorem Petri esse, hic indicatur. Plura testimonia vide apud Bellarmin. De Roman. pont. lib. II, cap. 12, et multis aliis sequentibus. ID.
For I am mindful that I preside over the Church under his name. Here it is indicated that the Roman pontiff is Peter's successor. See more testimonies in Bellarmine, On the Roman Pontiff, book II, chapter 12, and in many others that follow. The same [Binius].
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