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PL 3 · cols. 697–710
In S. Cornelium papam et martyrem prolegomena (vitae historia; scripta)
Editors' preface
ANNIS DOMINI CCL-CCLII.
IN THE YEARS OF THE LORD CCL–CCLII.
S. CORNELIUS PAPA ET MARTYR.
ST CORNELIUS, POPE AND MARTYR.
⟨HIERON⟩YMUS, lib. de Viris Illustribus, cap. LXVI, p. 148.
JEROME, book On Illustrious Men, chapter LXVI, p. 148.
⟨Corneli⟩us, Romanae urbis Episcopus, ad quem ⟨octo Cypri⟩ani exstant Epistolae. Scripsit episto⟨lam ad Fa⟩bium, Antiochenae Ecclesiae episcopum, ⟨de s⟩ynodo Romana, Italica, Africana: et aliam de Novatiano, et de his qui lapsi sunt, tertiam de gestis synodi, quartam ad eumdem Fabium valde prolixam, et Novatianae haereseos causas et anathema continentem. Rexit Ecclesiam annis duobus sub Gallo et Volusiano; cui ob Christum martyrio coronato successit Lucius.
Cornelius, bishop of the city of Rome, to whom eight letters of Cyprian are extant. He wrote a letter to Fabius, bishop of the Church of Antioch, on the Roman, Italian and African synod; and another on Novatian and on those who have lapsed; a third on the proceedings of the synod; a fourth to the same Fabius, very lengthy, containing the causes and the anathema of the Novatian heresy. He ruled the Church for two years under Gallus and Volusianus; and when he had been crowned with martyrdom for Christ, Lucius succeeded him.
PROLEGOMENA.
PROLEGOMENA.
ARTICULUS PRIMUS.
FIRST ARTICLE.
S. CORNELII VITAE HISTORIA.
THE HISTORY OF THE LIFE OF ST CORNELIUS.
†, sacerdotibus Dei, ut Cyprianus loqui⟨tur, p⟩rimis infestus, cavit ne Romae succes⟨sor⟩ † sufficeretur: eoque prohibente factum ⟨est ut ine⟩unte anno 250 (quo 20 Januarii seu 13
†, most hostile to the priests of God, as Cyprian puts it, took care that no successor † should be appointed at Rome; and through his prohibition it came about that from the beginning of the year 250 (in which, on 20 January or the 13th
Editors' notes and page, col. 697
Footnotes
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(1) ‹anchor: Cornelius› · call in col 697 (Jerome's notice)
⟨Cor⟩nelius Fabiano, qui A. 250, 20 Jan., ⟨…⟩m subiit, successor datus an. 251, 2 Jun., ⟨…e⟩piscopus Romae ad a. 252, 14 Sept., quo ⟨…⟩llis in exsilio obiit. Vide Jo. Pearsonii ⟨Annales C⟩yprianicos ad illos annos. FABRICIUS. — ⟨…⟩ minime ante paschalem anni 251 diem ⟨…⟩ esse, pluribus argumentis colligit Tille⟨…⟩ati monuit Coustantius ad Rom. Pontif. ⟨…⟩ 123. Nonnihil autem de Cornelii morte, ⟨…⟩cruenta fuerit, infra dicendum est ad ⟨…⟩rthag. IV. ROUTH.
Cornelius, given in the year 251, on 2 June, as successor to Fabian, who [suffered martyrdo]m in A.D. 250, on 20 January, [was] bishop of Rome to the year 252, 14 September, on which [day] he died in exile at […]llae. See John Pearson's [Annales C]yprianici for those years. Fabricius. — That […] not at all before Easter day of the year 251, Tillemont gathers from several arguments […] as Coustant noted at Rom. Pontif. […] 123. But something about Cornelius's death, [whether] it was […]bloody, is to be said below at […]rthag. IV. Routh.
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⟨Un⟩iversae octo ad Cornelium Epistolae adhuc ⟨…⟩ant et inter S. Cypriani Opera leguntur, ⟨…⟩odum duae Cornelii ad Cyprianum. FABRI⟨CIUS.⟩
All eight letters to Cornelius are still [ext]ant and are read among the works of St Cyprian, […] two of Cornelius to Cyprian. Fabricius.
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⟨Non⟩nullae editt. et mss. Flavianum. Rufin. ⟨…⟩ Sed Eusebius, VI, 43 et Nicephori Co⟨…⟩ seq. successorem Babylae iterum ite⟨…⟩άβιον appellant, et Codices quamplurimi ⟨…⟩idus Petri et Marcianaeus inspexere, Fa⟨…⟩antum hoc loco, sed etiam infra, cap. 69. ⟨…⟩Ἦλθον δ' οὖν εἰς ἡμᾶς ἐπιστολαὶ Κορνη⟨λίου Ῥωμ⟩αίων ἐπισκόπου πρὸς τὸν τῆς Ἀντιοχέων ⟨ἐκκλησίας⟩ Φάβιον, δηλοῦσαι τὰ περὶ τῆς Ῥωμαίων ⟨συνόδου, κ⟩αὶ τὰ δόξαντα πᾶσι τοῖς κατὰ τὴν Ἰτα⟨λίαν καὶ Ἀ⟩φρικὴν καὶ τὰς αὐτόθι χώρας. FABRICIUS. ⟨…⟩ altera epistola Cornelii ab Eusebio non ⟨co⟩mmemoratur, sed illius loco Epistola Cy⟨…⟩episcoporum Africae, Ῥωμαϊκῇ φωνῇ ⟨…⟩ καὶ τῶν ἅμ' αὐτῷ κατὰ τὴν Ἀφρικὴν
Some editions and manuscripts [read] Flavianum. Rufinus […] But Eusebius, VI, 43, and Nicephorus […] ff. call the successor of Babylas again […] Fabios, and very many codices, which […]idus Petri and Marcianaeus inspected, [have] Fa[bium, not only] in this place but also below, ch. 69. "There came to us, then, letters of Cornelius, [bishop of the Rom]ans, to Fabius of [the church] of the Antiochenes, setting out what concerned the [synod] of the Romans, [a]nd what had been resolved by all those throughout Ita[ly and A]frica and the regions there." Fabricius. […] the other letter of Cornelius is not [me]ntioned by Eusebius, but in its place a letter of Cy[prian and his fellow] bishops of Africa: "in the Roman tongue […] and of those with him throughout Africa".
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⟨…⟩ Pro Novatiano Novati nomen habent ⟨…⟩sebii, Rufini, Nicephori, etsi Hieronymum plerisque in locis ubi Novatus hodie exstat Novatianum legisse haud dubitat Cuil. Beveregius notis ad Synodicon magnum. p. 70. FABRICIUS. — De hujusce nominis scriptura fusius nos infra ad Cornelii Epistolam priorem ad Cyprianum. De Hieronymo autem verba Eusebii male intelligente videndus el. Keil. ad Fabricii Bibl. Gr., tom. VII, p. 293 ed. novae, qui insuper notat, nullam fecisse mentionem Hieronymum Cornelianae epistolae in causa Novati ad Dionysium Alex. scriptae, quam commemorat Eusebius H. E. VI, 46 ROUTH.
For Novatian, [the manuscripts of Eu]sebius, Rufinus and Nicephorus have the name Novatus, although William Beveridge, in his notes on the Synodicon magnum, p. 70, does not doubt that Jerome read Novatianus in most of the places where Novatus now stands. Fabricius. — On the spelling of this name we speak more fully below, at Cornelius's first letter to Cyprian. On Jerome's misunderstanding of Eusebius's words, however, see the distinguished Keil on Fabricius's Bibliotheca Graeca, vol. VII, p. 293 of the new edition, who notes besides that Jerome made no mention of Cornelius's letter on the case of Novatus written to Dionysius of Alexandria, which Eusebius records, H. E. VI, 46. Routh.
Misprints kept as printed: (4) "Cuil." for Guil.; (4) "el." for cl. (as it reads in these crops). (printed under page 400)
(1) ‹anchor: not visible (call cut off at the crop's left edge)› · call in col 697
[Cypr]ian. Epist. lii, pag. 168. Edit. Venet.
Cyprian, Letter 52, p. 168, Venice edition.
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- running head: (not visible: the top of the page, with the running head, is cut off in all three images)
- marginal letters: A ‹aliam de Novatiano› (gutter, beside the first line of Jerome's notice); B ‹(5) Euseb.› (in the foot notes); C ‹clesiast., p. 196› (in the foot notes); D ‹Kal. Februarii martyrio› (lower part, beside col 698)
- old-edition numerals: 678 after ‹anathema›
- other: ANNIS DOMINI CCL-CCLII and S. CORNELIUS PAPA ET MARTYR are printed across both columns at the head of page 400: the volume's heading for Cornelius, set once here.
- other: the text from "et aliam de Novatiano" to "successit Lucius" stands in the upper part of col 698 above the full-width PROLEGOMENA band; set here in reading order. Its English should match the imported English of c698.
- other (Q2): in the main text, "loqui⟨tur, p⟩rimis": the cut may hold a word before "primis" (imprimis or cum primis); unresolved from these crops.
Kal. Februarii martyrio coronatus fuit Fabianus) ad annum 251 usque Romana sedes menses sexdecim et dies quatuordecim vacaret. Hoc durante interpontificio, penes clerum Romanorum erat ejus Ecclesiae regimen, qui etiam in causa lapsorum ad Cyprianum luculentam dedit epistolam.
day before the Kalends of February, Fabian was crowned with martyrdom) until the year 251 the Roman see was vacant for sixteen months and fourteen days. While this interregnum lasted, the government of that Church lay with the clergy of the Romans, who also, in the matter of the lapsed, gave Cyprian a splendid letter.
Editors' notes and page, col. 698
Footnotes
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Euseb. Ἄλλη τις ἐπιστολὴ συνῆπτο Κορνηλίου περὶ τῶν κατὰ τὴν σύνοδον ἀρεσάντων. Synodum intellige Romanam me⟨n⟩se Octobri a. 251 in causa Novatiani habitam, cujus meminit S. Cyprianus Epist. 55 ad Antonianum, p. 103. FABRICIUS.
Eusebius: "Another letter of Cornelius was attached, on what had been resolved at the synod." Understand the Roman synod held in the month of October in the year 251 in the case of Novatian, which St Cyprian mentions in Letter 55, to Antonianus, p. 103. Fabricius.
(printed mid-page, in the note block above the PROLEGOMENA rule, page 400)
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Ex hac epistola Cornelii prolixa fragmenta Eusebius nobis, vi, 43, conservavit, qui eam laudat his verbis : Καὶ πάλιν ἑτέρα ἐπιστολὴ περὶ τῶν κατὰ Ναουάτον πραχθέντων. Iterum Novatum vides pro Novatiano. FABRICIUS.
Of this letter of Cornelius Eusebius has preserved lengthy fragments for us, VI, 43, and he cites it in these words: "And again another letter, on what was done concerning Novatus." Again you see Novatus for Novatian. Fabricius.
(printed mid-page, in the note block above the PROLEGOMENA rule, page 400)
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Non sane integris, ut ex iis quae initio hujus capitis dicta, apparet, licet Eusebius vii, 2, ubi Lucii etiam successoris meminit, ait Cornelium ad tres annos Romae episcopatum tenuisse, illud tempus quo sedes a Fabiani martyrio vacavit, Cornelio, ut videtur, attribuens. Κατὰ δὲ τὴν Ῥωμαίων πόλιν Κορνηλίου ἔτεσιν ἀμφὶ τὰ τρία τὴν ἐπισκοπὴν διανύσαντος Λούκιος κατέστη διάδοχος .. Ita et alii veteres. Vide Schelstrateni Antiquitat. Ecclesiast., p. 196 seq. et 429. FABRICIUS.
Not, indeed, full years, as is clear from what was said at the beginning of this chapter, although Eusebius, VII, 2, where he also mentions Lucius the successor, says that Cornelius held the episcopate at Rome for about three years, attributing to Cornelius, it seems, the time during which the see stood vacant after Fabian's martyrdom: "At the city of the Romans, when Cornelius had completed the episcopate in about three years, Lucius was appointed his successor." So too other ancient writers. See Schelstrate, Antiquitas Ecclesiastica, p. 196 ff. and 429. Fabricius.
(printed mid-page, in the note block above the PROLEGOMENA rule, page 400)
(2) ‹anchor: dedit epistolam› · call in col 698
Vide Cypriani Epist. xxxi laudat. edit.
See Cyprian, Letter 31, in the edition cited.
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- marginal letters: A aliam de Novatiano; B (5) Euseb. (footnote area); C clesiast., p. 196 seq. (footnote area); D Kal. Februarii martyrio
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Favente Decii absentia, die mercurii quarta Junii 251, communi Romani cleri consensu Cornelius electus est, de cujus ordinatione haec Cyprianus ad Antonianum, ex Novatiani epistolis aliquatenus de eadem anxium ac titubantem: « Venio jam nunc, frater charissime, ad personam Cornelii collegae nostri, ut Cornelium nobiscum verius noveris, non de malignorum et detrahentium mendacio, sed de Domini Dei judicio, qui episcopum fecit, et coepiscoporum testimonio, quorum numerus universus per totum mundum concordi unanimitate consensit. Nam quod Cornelium charissimum nostrum Deo et Christo, et Ecclesiae ejus, item consacerdotibus cunctis laudabili praedicatione commendat, non iste ad episcopatum subito pervenit, sed per omnia ecclesiastica officia promotus, et in divinis administrationibus Dominum saepe promeritus, ad sacerdotii sublime fastigium cunctis religionis gradibus ascendit. Tum deinde episcopatum nec ipse postulavit nec voluit, nec ut caeteri, quos arrogantiae et superbiae tumor inflat, invasit; sed quietus, et modestus, et quales esse consueverunt, qui ad hunc locum divinitus eliguntur, pro pudore virginalis conscientiae suae, et pro humilitate ingenitae sibi et custoditae verecundiae, non ut quidam vim fecit, ut episcopus fieret, sed ipse vim passus est, ut episcopatum coactus exciperet. Et factus est episcopus a plurimis collegis nostris, qui tunc in urbe Roma aderant, qui ad nos litteras honorificas, et laudabiles, et testimonio suae praedicationis illustres de ejus ordinatione miserunt. Factus est autem Cornelius episcopus de Dei et Christi ejus judicio, de clericorum pene omnium testimonio, de plebis, quae tunc adfuit, suffragio, et de sacerdotum antiquorum, et bonorum virorum collegio; cum nemo ante se factus esset, cum Fabiani locus, id est, locus Petri et gradus cathedrae sacerdotalis vacaret. » Haec Cyprianus de Cornelii electione, cui una cum Romano clerico episcopi sexdecim ex vicinioribus provinciis collecti, ac duo, qui ex Africa in Urbem venerant, Pompeius scilicet et Stephanus, consenserunt. Unde Cyprianus idem de episcoporum numero, qui Cornel⟨i⟩i ordinationem probaverant, ad Antonianum: « Nisi tibi episcopus videtur, qui episcopo in Ecclesia a sexdecim coepiscopis facto, adulter atque extraneus fieri a desertoribus nititur, » id est a Novotiani fautoribus.
Taking advantage of the absence of Decius, on Wednesday, the fourth of June 251, Cornelius was elected by the common consent of the Roman clergy. Concerning his ordination Cyprian writes as follows to Antonianus, who on account of Novatian's letters was somewhat anxious and wavering about it: "I come now, dearest brother, to the person of Cornelius our colleague, so that you may know Cornelius more truly along with us, not from the lie of the malicious and the slanderers, but from the judgement of the Lord God, Who made him bishop, and from the testimony of his fellow bishops, the whole number of whom throughout the entire world has agreed with concordant unanimity. For what commends Cornelius, our dearest, to God and Christ and to His Church, and likewise to all his fellow priests, with laudable proclamation, is this: he did not come to the episcopate suddenly, but, promoted through all the ecclesiastical offices, and having often deserved well of the Lord in the divine ministrations, he ascended by all the steps of religion to the sublime summit of the priesthood. Then, further, he neither asked for the episcopate himself nor wished for it, nor did he seize it, as others do whom the swelling of arrogance and pride puffs up; but quiet and modest, and such as those are wont to be who are chosen for this place by God, in keeping with the modesty of his virginal conscience, and with the humility of his innate and guarded bashfulness, he did not, as a certain man did, use force so as to become bishop, but himself suffered force, so that he accepted the episcopate under compulsion. And he was made bishop by very many of our colleagues who were then present in the city of Rome, who sent us letters concerning his ordination that were honourable and laudatory and illustrious with the testimony of their proclamation. Moreover, Cornelius was made bishop by the judgement of God and of His Christ, by the testimony of almost all the clergy, by the vote of the people who were then present, and by the college of aged priests and good men, when no one had been made before him, when the place of Fabian, that is, the place of Peter and the rank of the priestly chair, was vacant." This is what Cyprian writes on the election of Cornelius, to which, together with the Roman clergy, sixteen bishops gathered from the nearer provinces consented, as well as two who had come from Africa to the City, namely Pompeius and Stephen. Hence the same Cyprian, on the number of bishops who had approved the ordination of Cornelius, writes to Antonianus: "Unless he seems to you to be a bishop who, when a bishop has been made in the Church by sixteen fellow bishops, strives to be made an adulterous and alien [bishop] by deserters," that is, by the supporters of Novatian.
Egregiis eum meritis virtutibusque exornatum fuisse, vel inde Cyprianus arguit, quod, Decio superstite, Romanam Ecclesiam gubernandam susceperit. « Etenim post episcopatum non exambitum, non extortum, sed de Dei, qui sacerdotes facit, voluntate susceptum, quanta in ipso suscepto episcopatu suo virtus! quantum robur animi! qualis firmitas
That he was adorned with outstanding merits and virtues Cyprian argues even from this, that he undertook to govern the Roman Church while Decius was still alive. "For after an episcopate not canvassed for, not extorted, but received by the will of God, Who makes priests, how great was the virtue in the very episcopate he had received! how great the strength of mind! what firmness
Editors' notes and page, col. 699
Footnotes
(3) ‹anchor: not visible (call above the crop)› · call in col 699
Cyprian. Epist. lii, pag. 165 et seqq.
Cyprian, Letter 52, p. 165 and following.
(printed under page 401)
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Cyprian. loc cit.
Cyprian, in the place cited.
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- running head: 699 IN S. CORNELIU (cut off at the image edge)
- marginal letters: A Favente Decii absentia, die mercurii quarta; B et in divinis administrationibus Dominum saepe; C est autem Cornelius episcopus de Dei et Christi; D fieri a desertoribus nititur
- old-edition numerals: 679 after ‹a› (in Ecclesia a 679 sexdecim)
fidei! quod nos simplici corde et perspicere penitus, et laudare debemus, sedisse intrepidum Romae in sacerdotali cathedra, eo tempore, cum tyrannus infestus Dei sacerdotibus fanda atque nefanda comminaretur, cum multo patientius et tolerabilius audiret, levari adversus se aemulum principem, quam constitui Romae Dei sacerdotem:» quem ideo ante martyrium martyrem voluntate sua fuisse praedicat.
of faith! which we ought with a simple heart both to perceive thoroughly and to praise, that he sat fearless at Rome in the priestly chair at a time when a tyrant hostile to the priests of God was threatening things speakable and unspeakable, when he would hear with far more patience and tolerance that a rival prince was being raised up against him than that a priest of God was being appointed at Rome." He therefore proclaims him to have been a martyr by his own will before his martyrdom.
II. Cornelium natione Romanum, ex patre Castino natum esse scribit Anastasius Bibliothecarius vel, quisquis illi praeivit; cui etiam nonnulla Actorum apographa, et quod Romanam patriam etiam Catalogus Romanorum Pontificum, e serenissimae Reginae Sueciae bibliotheca ante tom. I aprilis ab Henschenio editus, consentinnt. Forte igitur fuerit e celeberrima illa inter Romanas familias gente Cornelia progenitus, ut Franciscus Blanchinus censuit (ex Cornelii arbitror vocabulo), in Notis historicis ad laudatum bibliothecarium.
II. Anastasius the Librarian, or whoever preceded him, writes that Cornelius was a Roman by nation, born of a father Castinus; with him some copies of the Acts also agree, and, as regards his Roman fatherland, so does the Catalogue of the Roman Pontiffs from the library of the most serene Queen of Sweden, published by Henschenius before vol. I of April. Perhaps, therefore, he was descended from that most celebrated gens Cornelia among the Roman families, as Francesco Bianchini judged (from the name Cornelius, I suppose) in his historical Notes on the aforementioned librarian.
Illum per omnes ecclesiasticos ordines insigniaque in Ecclesiam merita ad supremi pontificatus apicem ascendisse, irrefragabilis testis est S. Cyprianus in saepius jam laudata Epistola ad Antonianum. At ejusdem gesta a nemine recensita reperimus. Attamen cum e Romano clero fuerit, haud dubie ad ipsum spectat pars et fors non minima eorum, quae clerus ille, S. Petri cathedra per Fabiani martyrium vacante, in calamitosa illa Ecclesiae tempestate egregie praestitit. Exstant variae inter Cyprianicas epistolae ex quibus perspicuum est, quanto zelo Clerus ille non modo Romanam dioecesin, sed et Carthoginiensem, aliasque curarit.
That he ascended through all the ecclesiastical orders and through distinguished services towards the Church to the summit of the supreme pontificate, St Cyprian is an irrefutable witness in the Letter to Antonianus already often cited. But we find his deeds recorded by no one. Yet since he was of the Roman clergy, there undoubtedly belongs to him a part, and perhaps not the least, of those things which that clergy performed so excellently in that calamitous storm of the Church, while the chair of St Peter was vacant through the martyrdom of Fabian. There are extant among the Cyprianic letters various letters from which it is clear with what zeal that clergy cared not only for the Roman diocese but also for the Carthaginian and others.
Cornelium tanquam vitio creatum episcopum Romanum calumniatus est Novatianus Romanus presbyter, instigante Novato, presbytero Carthaginiensi, idque tam vafre et malitiose, ut nonnullos ex confessoribus traheret in partes suas, ac per tres episcopos qua fraude, qua vi compulsos episcopus Romanus clam ordinatus, primum in Ecclesia Romana schisma excitaret. Eam ob rem Cornelius sexaginta episcoporum concilio Romam anno 25⟨1⟩ convocato, Novatianum, ejusque sectatores anathemate damnavit, et confessores, qui lapsi fuerant, ad reconciliationem et poenitentiam admittendos esse decrevit. Hoc in concilio lapsorum causa decretorio judicio finita est, statutumque ut lapsi ad communionem non admitterentur, nisi peracta poenitentia diuturna et integra: ita tamen ut ipsis in supremo vitae discrimine subveniretur, neque absolutio et communio negaretur.
Novatian, a Roman presbyter, at the instigation of Novatus, a presbyter of Carthage, slandered Cornelius as having been created Roman bishop irregularly, and did so with such cunning and malice that he drew some of the confessors to his side, and, having been secretly ordained Roman bishop by three bishops compelled partly by fraud and partly by force, he stirred up the first schism in the Roman Church. For this reason Cornelius, having convoked a council of sixty bishops at Rome in the year 251, condemned Novatian and his followers with anathema, and decreed that the confessors who had lapsed were to be admitted to reconciliation and penance. In this council the cause of the lapsed was concluded by a decisive judgement, and it was laid down that the lapsed should not be admitted to communion unless they had completed a long and entire penance: yet in such a way that they should be succoured at the final crisis of life, and neither absolution nor communion be denied them.
Eumdem pontificem e catacumbis transtulisse corpora sanctorum Petri et Pauli narrat auctor libri Pontificalis: subditque ad extremum exsulasse Centumcellis, et plumbatis os ejus contu-
The author of the Liber Pontificalis relates that the same pontiff translated the bodies of Saints Peter and Paul from the catacombs; and he adds at the end that he was exiled at Centumcellae, and that with leaded scourges his mouth was bru-
Editors' notes and page, col. 700
Footnotes
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Vide Cypriani Epistolas, num. xxx, xxxi, xii.
See Cyprian's Letters, numbers 30, 31, 12.
(printed under page 401)
(6) ‹anchor: libri Pontificalis› · call in col 700
Hæc translatio incerta est Baronio ad ann. 221, § 3, Pagio ad eumd. annum§ et Blanchino in Notis ad Anastasium Bibliothecarium, t. II, pag, 205.
This translation is held uncertain by Baronius, at the year 221, § 3, by Pagi at the same year, and by Bianchini in his Notes on Anastasius the Librarian, vol. II, p. 205.
(printed under page 401)
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- running head: S. CORNELIUM 700 (the left part of the running head is cut off at the image edge)
- marginal letters: A ‹mitas fidei! quod nos›; B ‹aprilis ab Henschenio editus›; C ‹quanto zelo Clerus ille›; D ‹cretorio judicio finita est›
- old-edition numerals: 680 after ‹communionem›
- other: the column ends with the half-word contu- and col 701 does not begin with its rest (damaged type): left as printed; join the word where its rest stands
⟨D⟩ecii jussu. Sub Cornelii pontificatu non ⟨sol⟩a persecutionis procella, quae Decii interitu ⟨exti⟩ncta videbatur, a Gallo et Volusiano denuo ex⟨citata⟩, Ecclesiam exagitavit; sed etiam duplex ⟨schis⟩ma: primum a Novato Carthaginensi et Nova⟨tiano⟩ Romano presbyteris, Romanam praesertim ⟨Eccle⟩siam, alterum ab eodem quidem Novato olim ⟨auc⟩tore, sed duce Felicissimo, et Novatianis er⟨rori⟩s plane oppositum, Ecclesiam Dei in Africa ⟨pertur⟩bavit. Ut enim Novatiani detestabili severi⟨tate o⟩mnem spem veniae lapsis penitus negandam ⟨cre⟩debant, ita illi, damnabili pariter conniven⟨tia⟩ primo statim persecutionis die, cum recentia ⟨delinq⟩uentium facinora ferverent, et sacrificiis ne⟨fariis⟩ non tantum diaboli altaria, sed adhuc manus ⟨l⟩apsorum atque ora fumarent, communicare ⟨cum l⟩apsis, et poenitentiae agendae intercedere non ⟨timu⟩erunt, teste Cypriano, epistola LV ad Corne⟨lium.⟩ Felicissimus, cum se ab Africanis episcopis ⟨in co⟩ncilio congregatis damnatum videret, ut jus ⟨comm⟩unionis quo exciderat, in Ecclesia Romana ⟨repar⟩aretur, Romam navigavit, et fucum facere ⟨ips⟩o Cornelio Pontifici Maximo conatus est. Sed ⟨nihil o⟩btinuit, nisi suae damnationis confirmatio⟨nem,⟩ ut ex supra laudata constat S. Cypriani ⟨episto⟩la.
by order of Decius. Under the pontificate of Cornelius it was not only the storm of persecution, which had seemed extinguished by the death of Decius, that, stirred up anew by Gallus and Volusianus, harassed the Church; but also a twofold schism: the first, by Novatus of Carthage and Novatian of Rome, presbyters, troubled above all the Roman Church; the other, whose author was indeed once the same Novatus, but whose leader was Felicissimus, and which was flatly opposed to the error of the Novatianists, troubled the Church of God in Africa. For just as the Novatianists, with a detestable severity, believed that all hope of pardon was to be utterly denied to the lapsed, so these, with an equally damnable indulgence, from the very first day of the persecution, while the crimes of the offenders were still fresh and hot, and while not only the altars of the devil but even the hands and mouths of the lapsed were still smoking with the abominable sacrifices, did not fear to hold communion with the lapsed and to stand in the way of the performance of penance, as Cyprian bears witness in Letter 55 to Cornelius. Felicissimus, when he saw himself condemned by the African bishops gathered in council, sailed to Rome in order that the right of communion from which he had fallen might be restored to him in the Roman Church, and tried to deceive Cornelius himself, the Supreme Pontiff. But he obtained nothing except the confirmation of his condemnation, as is established from the letter of St Cyprian cited above.
Ipso persecutionis exordio anni 252, Corne⟨lius R⟩omanus Pontifex Centumcellas (Civita Vec⟨chia)⟩ a Gallo imperatore relegatus est, cujus in fide ⟨consta⟩ntiam Cyprianus epistolis suis quam maxime ⟨comm⟩endat: « Cognovimus, frater charissime, ⟨f⟩idei ac virtutis vestrae testimonia gloriosa, et ⟨confe⟩ssionis vestrae honorem sic exsultanter accepi⟨mus,⟩ ut in meritis ac laudibus vestris nos quoque ⟨partici⟩pes et socios computemus; » et post plurima: « ⟨Ducat⟩us illic Episcopi praecedentis publice compro⟨batus e⟩st, adunatio sequentis fraternitatis ostensa ⟨est. D⟩um apud vos unus animus et una vox est, ⟨Eccles⟩ia omnis Romana confessa est. Claruit, fra⟨tres c⟩harissimi, fides, quam de vobis beatus Apo⟨stolus⟩ praedicavit. » Haec aliaque plurima Cyprianus ⟨ad Co⟩rnelium, qui exsilii aerumnis laboribusque ⟨confe⟩ctus, paulo post die decima quarta septembris ⟨marty⟩r ibidem occubuit: « Post hoc, ait Pontifi⟨calis⟩ Damasi, « Centumcellas expulsus, ibi cum ⟨gloria⟩ dormitionem accepit. » Diem obitus Hiero⟨nymu⟩s docet, dum de Cypriano ait: « ⟨Pass⟩us est sub Valeriano et Gallieno persecu⟨tione⟩ octava, eodem die, quo Romae Cornelius, sed ⟨non e⟩odem anno: » nempe decimo octavo kal. oc⟨tobris⟩, qua die Cyprianum constat martyrio coro⟨natum⟩ fuisse, et utriusque memoria celebratur.
At the very beginning of the persecution of the year 252, Cornelius the Roman Pontiff was banished by the emperor Gallus to Centumcellae (Civitavecchia), whose constancy in the faith Cyprian commends in the highest degree in his letters: "We have learned, dearest brother, of the glorious testimonies of your faith and virtue, and have received the honour of your confession with such exultation that we count ourselves also sharers and companions in your merits and praises"; and after a great deal more: "There the leadership of the bishop going before was publicly approved, the unanimity of the brotherhood following was shown. While among you there is one mind and one voice, the whole Roman Church has confessed. The faith, dearest brethren, which the blessed Apostle proclaimed of you, has shone forth." These and very many other things Cyprian [wrote] to Cornelius, who, worn out by the hardships and toils of exile, shortly afterwards, on the fourteenth day of September, died there a martyr: "After this," says the Pontifical of Damasus, "having been driven out to Centumcellae, he there fell asleep with glory." The day of his death Jerome teaches, when he says of Cyprian: "He suffered under Valerian and Gallienus in the eighth persecution, on the same day as Cornelius at Rome, but not in the same year": namely on the eighteenth day before the Kalends of October, on which day it is established that Cyprian was crowned with martyrdom, and the memory of both is celebrated.
Quo autem mortis genere aut supplicio sanc⟨tus Po⟩ntifex obierit, plane incompertum est: nam
But by what manner of death or punishment the holy Pontiff died is altogether unknown: for
Editors' notes and page, col. 701
Footnotes
[(7)] ‹anchor: not visible (call cut off at the crop's left edge; the note glosses the plumbatae of col. 700)› · call in col 701 [E]rat id genus tormentorum quasi flagellum [fu]niculis, in quarum summitatibus glandes [plumb]eae erant impactae. Baron ad Martyrolog. Ro[man.] die 6 junii. Gallonius de Martyrum Crucia[tibus], pag. 204.
This kind of torture was a sort of scourge of cords, with lead balls fixed at their tips. Baronius on the Roman Martyrology, 6 June. Gallonio, On the Torments of the Martyrs, p. 204.
(printed under page 402)
(8) ‹anchor: commendat› · call in col 701
Cyprian. Epist. lvi.
Cyprian, Letter 56.
(printed under page 402)
(9) ‹anchor: de Cypriano ait› · call in col 701
Hieronym. de Script. Eccles. in Catalog. cap. 67.
Jerome, On Ecclesiastical Writers, in the Catalogue, ch. 67.
(printed under page 402)
Page
- running head: PROLEGOMEN… (cut off at the image's right edge)
- marginal letters: A ‹Decii jussu (7). Sub Cornelii›; B ‹lapsorum atque ora fumarent›; C ‹fidei ac virtutis vestrae testimonia›; D ‹nymus docet, dum 681 de Cypriano›
- old-edition numerals: 681 after ‹dum›
quae de illis in urbe Romana sub Decio martyrii Acta ejusdem referunt, nihil omnino probant, cum ab eruditis inter spuria rejiciantur. Vetustissimi catalogi Pontificum auctor tantum dicit, illum cum « gloria dormitionem » Centumcellis accepisse. Unde nonnulli existimarunt, eum naturali potius quam violenta morte defunctum esse, per exsilii tamen, ac forte etiam carceris aerumnas accelerata, ideoque ab ecclesia ut martyrem merito coli. Verumtamen non desunt testimonia gravia, quae ambiguam illam phrasim, « cum gloria dormitionem accepit, » de martyrio per supremum supplicium consummato accipiendam suadent. Imprimis S. Cyprianus in Epistola LVIII ad S. Lucium, Cornelii successorem, illum beatum martyrem diserte appellat. Idem facit Epistola LVII ad S. Stephanum pariter Papam: « Servandus est, inquiens, antecessorum nostrorum, beatorum martyrum Cornelii et Lucii honor gloriosus... Illi enim, pleni Spiritu Dei et in glorioso martyrio constituti, dandam esse lapsis pacem censuerunt. Consonat Eusebius in Chronico dicens: « Romanae Ecclesiae episcopatum, post Fabiani gloriosam mortem, XX suscepit Cornelius annis duobus; qui et ipse martyrio coronatus est. » S. Pacianus in Epistola II ad Sympronianum, S. Cornelium occisum fuisse, non obscure insinuat. Adhuc clarius loquitur S. Hieronymus in Vita S. Pauli Eremitae, tom. IV Opp., edit. Paris., part. 2, col. 69; « Cornelius Romae, Cyprianus Carthagine felici cruore martyrium pertulerunt. » Non obscure etiam loquitur Prosper in Chronico integro dicens: « Romanae Ecclesiae episcopatum, post Fabiani gloriosam mortem, XX suscipit Cornelius annis duobus, qui post biennium eodem martyrio coronatur. »
what the Acts of the same [Cornelius] report about these things concerning his martyrdom in the city of Rome under Decius prove nothing at all, since they are rejected by the learned among the spurious [writings]. The author of the most ancient catalogue of the Pontiffs says only that he "received falling-asleep with glory" at Centumcellae. Hence some have thought that he died by a natural rather than a violent death, though one hastened by the hardships of exile, and perhaps also of prison, and that he is therefore rightly venerated by the Church as a martyr. Nevertheless there is no lack of weighty testimonies which suggest that that ambiguous phrase, "he received falling-asleep with glory," is to be understood of a martyrdom completed by the supreme penalty. First of all St Cyprian, in Letter 58 to St Lucius, Cornelius's successor, expressly calls him a blessed martyr. Letter 57, to St Stephen, likewise Pope, does the same: "There must be preserved," he says, "the glorious honour of our predecessors, the blessed martyrs Cornelius and Lucius... For they, full of the Spirit of God and established in glorious martyrdom, judged that peace should be given to the lapsed. Eusebius agrees in the Chronicle, saying: "After the glorious death of Fabian, Cornelius, the twentieth, took up the episcopate of the Roman Church for two years; and he too was crowned with martyrdom." St Pacian, in Letter 2 to Sympronianus, implies not obscurely that St Cornelius was killed. St Jerome speaks still more clearly in the Life of St Paul the Hermit, vol. 4 of the Works, Paris edition, part 2, col. 69: "Cornelius at Rome, Cyprian at Carthage, underwent martyrdom with happy bloodshed." Prosper too speaks not obscurely in the complete Chronicle, saying: "After the glorious death of Fabian, Cornelius, the twentieth, takes up the episcopate of the Roman Church for two years, and after two years is crowned with the same martyrdom."
V. Episcopatum tenuisse dicitur Cornelius ab Eusebio quidem « annis circiter tribus, » in Chronico autem, cui Hieronymus concinit « annis duobus; » in libro Pontificali, « annis tribus, diebus decem; » in exemplari Corbeiensi, ut in Bucheriano catalogo « annis duobus mensibus tribus diebus decem; » in Fossatensi, nunc Colbertino, nec non apud Bollandum ex Codice olim Suecorum reginae, nunc Vaticano, « anno uno, mensibus duobus, diebus tribus, » pontificatum gessisse dicitur. At neminatum Bucherianum catalogum, in quo Cornelium sedisse legimus « annos duos, menses tres, dies decem, a consulibus Decio IV, et Decio II, usque Gallo et Volusiano, » mendosum esse observat. Antonius Pagius, cum in annis pontificatus Cornelii, tum in Deciorum consulatibus designandis. Nullus enim est aut Decii patris quartus, aut Decii filii secundus consulatus. Gallum autem Volusianum Decio Augusto secundo seu tertio, et Decio
V. Cornelius is said to have held the episcopate, by Eusebius indeed "for about three years," but in the Chronicle, with which Jerome agrees, "for two years"; in the Pontifical Book, "for three years, ten days"; in the Corbie copy, as in the Bucherian catalogue, "for two years, three months, ten days"; in the Fossatensis, now Colbertine, and also in Bolland from the codex formerly of the queen of the Swedes, now Vatican, he is said to have held the pontificate "for one year, two months, three days." But Antonius Pagius observes that the aforementioned Bucherian catalogue, in which we read that Cornelius sat "two years, three months, ten days, from the consuls Decius for the fourth time and Decius for the second, until Gallus and Volusianus," is faulty, both in the years of Cornelius's pontificate and in designating the consulships of the Decii. For there is no fourth consulship of Decius the father, nor second of Decius the son. Moreover, that Gallus [and] Volusianus succeeded Decius Augustus, consul for the second or third time, and Decius
Editors' notes and page, col. 702
Footnotes
(10) ‹anchor: sebio quidem (call printed "(18)")› · call in col 702
Euseb. H. E. lib. vii, cap. 2.
Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, book 7, ch. 2.
(printed under page 402)
(11) ‹anchor: Hieronymus concinit› · call in col 702
Hieronym., de Vir. illustr., cap. 66.
Jerome, On Illustrious Men, ch. 66.
(printed under page 402)
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- running head: PROLEGOMENA. 702
- marginal letters: A ‹quae de illis in urbe Romana›; B ‹pellat. Idem facit Epistola›; C ‹gro dicens: « Romanae Ecclesiae›; D ‹lium sedisse legimus›
- old-edition numerals: 682 after ‹mendosum›
- misprints kept as printed (Q3): "neminatum" (for nominatum); full stop after "observat" (the sentence's subject is "Antonius Pagius"; the English follows the sense)
Caesare primum consulibus successisse ex fastis certum est: adeoque in catalogo mox dicto non annos duos, sed annum unum Cornelio fuisse ascribendum. Quocirca cum sic corrigendum laudatus Pagius censet, ut « annum unum Decio III et Decio, II loco verborum annos duos Decio IV, et Decio II substituantur. Unde sequitur ut si Cornelius annum unum, quemadmodum illo in catalogo scribitur, et « menses tres, » ac « dies decem » sedit, cum eumdem, « Gallo et Volusiano consulibus » (hoc est anno Christi 252), die 14 septembris martyrio coronatum esse vera monimenta fidem faciant, anno Christi 251, junii 4 die pontificatum inierit.
Caesar, consul for the first time, is certain from the fasti; and so in the catalogue just mentioned not two years but one year ought to have been ascribed to Cornelius. Therefore, since the already cited Pagi judges that it should be corrected thus, that "one year, Decius III and Decius II" be substituted in place of the words "two years, Decius IV and Decius II", it follows that if Cornelius sat one year, as is written in that catalogue, and "three months" and "ten days", then, since genuine records attest that he was crowned with martyrdom "in the consulship of Gallus and Volusianus" (that is, in the year of Christ 252) on 14 September, he began his pontificate in the year of Christ 251, on the 4th day of June.
Placuit etiam haec opinio erudito Tillemontio qui et praeterea Cornelium minime ante paschalem anni 251 diem ordinatum esse pluribus argumentis colligit. Probabile est, non multo postquam Decius ex Urbe ad expeditionem contra Gothos discessisset, quod circa verum tempus anni 251 contigit, clerum populumque Romanum, hac occasione oblata, convenisse, et in Cornelii electionem consensisse, Et haec quidem Cypriani de Decio verba: « Quod tolerabilius audiret levari adversus se aemulum principem, quam constitui Romae Dei sacerdotem, » sic interpretari licet, ut tyrannus ille nuntio eodem. et imperium a Julio Valente usurpatum, et Cornelium in episcopum Urbis cooptatum didicerit. Porro Julius purpura circa mensem Maium anni 251 arrepta, nec multo post occisus est. Demum Eusebius et cum hac sententia et secum conciliari sic potest, ut, cum Cornelium « annis circiter tribus » episcopatum tenuisse scribit, tempus a Fabiani obitu ad Cornelii mortem interjectum indicare voluerit; ubi autem eum « duobus annis » sedisse docet, unum completum et alterum inchoatum pro duobus computarit. » Huc usque Coustantius noster. Videsis etiam clarissimi inter Bollandistas Constantini Suyskeni commentarium historicum de S. Cornelio Papa et Martyre, § II, III et IV, et praesertim § XII, pag. 177 et seqq. tom. IV Septembris.
This opinion also pleased the learned Tillemont, who moreover gathers from several arguments that Cornelius was by no means ordained before the Easter day of the year 251. It is probable that, not long after Decius had departed from the City on the expedition against the Goths, which happened about the true time of the year 251, the clergy and people of Rome, this opportunity having presented itself, assembled and agreed upon the election of Cornelius. And indeed these words of Cyprian concerning Decius: "That he would hear with more patience that a rival prince was being raised up against him than that a priest of God was being established at Rome", may be interpreted thus, that the tyrant learned by the same message both that the empire had been usurped by Julius Valens and that Cornelius had been chosen bishop of the City. Now Julius seized the purple about the month of May of the year 251, and was killed not long after. Finally, Eusebius can be reconciled both with this view and with himself thus: that when he writes that Cornelius held the episcopate "for about three years", he meant to indicate the time between the death of Fabian and the death of Cornelius; but where he states that he sat "for two years", he counted one completed year and a second begun as two." Thus far our Coustant. See also the historical commentary on St Cornelius, Pope and Martyr, by Constantine Suysken, most distinguished among the Bollandists, §§ II, III and IV, and especially § XII, p. 177 ff., vol. IV of September.
ARTICULUS II.
Article II.
S. CORNELII P. ET M. SCRIPTA.
The Writings of St Cornelius, Pope and Martyr.
I. Complura sollicitudinis apostolicae monumenta litteris consignasse sanctus Pontifex perhibetur, quorum tamen pars maxima interiit. De his ita Eusebius: Ἦλθον δ' οὖν εἰς ἡμᾶς ἐπιστολαὶ Κορνηλίου Ῥωμαίων ἐπισκόπου πρὸς τὸν τῆς Ἀντιοχέων Ἐκκλησίας Φάβιον. — Ταύταις ἄλλη τις
I. The holy Pontiff is said to have committed to writing a great many records of his apostolic solicitude, of which, however, the greatest part has perished. Of these Eusebius speaks thus: "There have come down to us, then, letters of Cornelius, bishop of the Romans, to Fabius of the Church of the Antiochenes. — To these another
Editors' notes and page, col. 703
Footnotes
(12) ‹anchor: Tillemontio› · call in col 703
Tillemont. Mémoir. sur S. Corneille, t. III, art. 13, pag. 354.
Tillemont, Mémoires, on St Cornelius, vol. III, art. 13, p. 354.
(printed under page 403)
(13) ‹anchor: verba› · call in col 703
Cyprian, l. c. n. 19.
Cyprian, in the place cited, no. 19.
(printed under page 403)
(14) ‹anchor: Coustantius noster› · call in col 703
Coustant. Epist. Romanor. Pontific., pag. 123.
Coustant, Letters of the Roman Pontiffs, p. 123.
(printed under page 403)
(15) ‹anchor: pars maxima interiit› · call in col 703
Haec et quae sequuntur ex Galland. Biblioth. Max. Vett. PP. t. III, Prolog, p. 35, cap. vii, desumuntur.
This and what follows are taken from Gallandi, Bibliotheca Maxima of the Ancient Fathers, vol. III, Prolegomena, p. 35, ch. 7.
(printed under page 403)
(16) ‹anchor: ita Eusebius› · call in col 703
Euseb. H. E. lib. vi, cap. 48.
Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, book 6, ch. 48.
(printed under page 403) Misprints kept as printed: (16) "cap. 48" (the passage quoted is H. E. VI, 43).
Page
- running head: 703 IN S. CORNELIU[...] (cut off at the image edge)
- marginal letters: A ‹cio Caesare primum consulibus›; B ‹paschalem anni 251 diem›; C ‹et secum conciliari sic potest›; D ‹litteris consignasse sanctus Pontifex›
- old-edition numerals: 682 after ‹Ῥωμαίων›
ἐπιστολὴ συνῆπτο τοῦ Κορνηλίου περὶ τῶν κατὰ τὴν σύνοδον ἀρεσάντων κοὶ πάλιν ἑτέρα περὶ τῶν κατὰ Ναουάτον πραχθέντων Hoc est, interprete Valesio: « Exstant adhuc epistolae Cornelii Romanorum episcopi ad Fabium Antiochensis Ecclesiae praesulem missae. — His adjuncta erat alia ejusdem Cornelii epistola, de his quae in synodo decreta fuerant: et rursus alia de facinoribus Novati. » » Ad quem quidem locum observat eruditus Cotelerius, Eusebium verbis illis, ἐπιστολαὶ Κορνηλίου, unam tantummodo Cornelianam epistolam significasse: quod sane perspexit et Hieronymus. Dum enim Eusebium assectatus, inter scriptores ecclesiasticos Cornelium recenset, haec habet: « Cornelius, Romanae urbis episcopus, — scripsit epistolam ad Fabium Antiochenae Ecclesiae episcopum. » Rem conficit V. C. aliquot ejusmodi locutionum exemplis in medium adductis. Epistulas, inquit, et de una epistola dici, observatum doctis Scripturarum interpretibus ad libros Macchabaeorum. Sic sanctus Polycarpus, alloquens Philippenses, ait ex vetere interprete: « Nequc ego, neque similis alius mei, poterit sequi sapientiam beati et gloriosi Pauli, — qui et absens scripsit vobis Epistolas: » ὃς καὶ ἀπὼν ὑμῖν ἔγραψεν ἐπιστολάς. Attamen, ex eodem interprete, sanctus ille Smyrnensis antistes paulo post unius tantum Paulinae Philippensibus inscriptae Epistolae meminisse comperitur. Qui estis, inquit in principio epistolae ejus. Aliud praesto est exemplum ex ipso Eusebio, cujus haec verba: Μνημονεύει γέτοι καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ Ἀλέξανδρος ἐν ἰδίαις ἐπιστολαῖς ταῖς πρὸς Ἀντινοείτας εἰς ἔτι νῦν παρ' ἡμῖν σωζομέναις τῆς Ναρκίσσου σὺν αὐτῷ προεδρίας, κατὰ ταῦτα λέξιν ἔτι τελεῖ γράφων τῆς αὐτῆς ἐπιστολῆς.
letter of Cornelius was attached concerning the things approved at the synod, and again another concerning the things done in the matter of Novatus. That is, in Valesius's translation: "There are still extant letters of Cornelius, bishop of the Romans, sent to Fabius, prelate of the Church of Antioch. — To these was joined another letter of the same Cornelius, about the things that had been decreed in the synod; and again another about the misdeeds of Novatus." " On which passage the learned Cotelier observes that Eusebius, by those words, "letters of Cornelius", meant only a single letter of Cornelius; and this Jerome certainly perceived as well. For while, following Eusebius, he lists Cornelius among the ecclesiastical writers, he says this: "Cornelius, bishop of the city of Rome, — wrote a letter to Fabius, bishop of the Church of Antioch." The distinguished man settles the matter by bringing forward several examples of expressions of this kind. That "letters", he says, is also said of a single letter has been observed by learned interpreters of the Scriptures on the books of the Maccabees. Thus Saint Polycarp, addressing the Philippians, says, according to the old translator: "Neither I, nor another like me, will be able to follow the wisdom of the blessed and glorious Paul, — who also, when absent, wrote you Letters:" who also, when absent, wrote you letters. Yet, according to the same translator, that holy prelate of Smyrna is found a little later to mention only one Pauline Letter addressed to the Philippians. "You who are", he says, at the beginning of his letter. Another example is at hand from Eusebius himself, whose words are these: Alexander himself also mentions, in his own letters to the Antinoites which are still preserved among us, the presidency of Narcissus shared with him, writing these words at the end of the same letter.
Quae quidem sanctus Hieronymus paucis complectens sic reddit: « Hic (Alexander) in fine cujusdam epistolae, quam scribit ad Antinoitas super pace Ecclesiae, etc. » Nimirum, ut viri eruditi verba usurpem, frequenti apud omne genus auctores usu venit, quod de singulari epistola, dialogo, libroque loquentes, quandoque plurali numero utantur.
Saint Jerome, summarizing this in a few words, renders it thus: "He (Alexander), at the end of a certain letter which he writes to the Antinoites about the peace of the Church, etc." Clearly, to borrow the words of a learned man, it happens by frequent usage among authors of every kind that, when speaking of a single letter, dialogue or book, they sometimes use the plural number.
III. Ad haec in allato textu Eusebiano cum docto ejus interprete observandum occurrit, historicum Caesariensem tres duntaxat Cornelil epistolas recensere: primam ad Fabium, Antiochensem episcopum, de Romana synodo, deque Italiae et Africae episcoporum consensu: secundam de decretis synodi: tertiam de facinoribus Novatiani ad eumdem Fabium Antiochenae urbis episcopum; ex qua luculentissimum excerptum nobis Eusebius servavit.
III. Moreover, in the cited text of Eusebius it is to be observed, together with his learned translator, that the historian of Caesarea lists only three letters of Cornelius: the first to Fabius, bishop of Antioch, on the Roman synod and on the agreement of the bishops of Italy and Africa; the second on the decrees of the synod; the third on the misdeeds of Novatian, to the same Fabius, bishop of the city of Antioch; from which Eusebius has preserved for us a most splendid excerpt.
Editors' notes and page, col. 704
Footnotes
(17) ‹anchor: not visible (call above the crop)› · call in col 704
Coteler. ad cap. 3, Epist. S. Polycarpi.
Cotelier, on ch. 3 of the Letter of St Polycarp.
(printed under page 403)
(18) ‹anchor: not visible (call above the crop)› · call in col 704
Hieronym. de Vir illustr., cap. 66.
Jerome, On Illustrious Men, ch. 66.
(printed under page 403)
(19) ‹anchor: not visible (call above the crop)› · call in col 704
Polycarp. epist. ad Philipp., cap. 3.
Polycarp, Letter to the Philippians, ch. 3.
(printed under page 403)
(20) ‹anchor: Qui estis, inquit› · call in col 704
Id. ibid. cap. 11.
The same, in the same place, ch. 11.
(printed under page 403)
(21) ‹anchor: cujus hæc verba› · call in col 704
Euseb. H. E. lib. vi, cap. 11.
Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, book 6, ch. 11.
(printed under page 403)
(22) ‹anchor: sic reddit› · call in col 704
Hieronym. de Vir illustr. cap. 62.
Jerome, On Illustrious Men, ch. 62.
(printed under page 403)
(23) ‹anchor: verba usurpem› · call in col 704
Smith. Schol. ad S. Polycarpi Epistol. pag. 110.
Smith, Scholia on the Letter of St Polycarp, p. 110.
(printed under page 403)
Page
- running head: S. CORNELIUM 704 (left part of running head cut off at image edge)
- marginal letters: A ἐπιστολὴ συνῆπτο τοῦ Κορνηλίου; B Antiochenae Ecclesiae episcopum; C ταῖς πρὸς Ἀντινοείτας; D pum, de Romana synodo
- old-edition numerals: (none)
At Hieronymus quatuor enumerat : « Cornelius, inquit, Romanae urbis episcopus, ad quem octo Cypriani exstant epistolae scripsit epistolam ad Fabium Antiochenae Ecclesiae episcopum de synodo Romana, Italica, Africana ; et aliam de Novatiano, et de his qui lapsi sunt ; tertiam de gestis synodi ; quartam ad eumdem Fabium valde prolixam, et Novatianae haereseos causas et anathema continentem. » Verum aliud egisse videtur doctor maximus, dum locum Eusebianum inspexit, ut post Valesium advertit Cotelerius. Eusebius enim, postquam primae Cornelii epistolae ad Fabium Antiochensem mentionem injecit, statim subdit : « Aliae praeterea latino sermone conscriptae exstant epistolae Cypriani et aliorum antistitum, qui cum ipso in Africa congregati erant : ex quibus colligitur, ipsis etiam placuisse, ut subveniretur iis qui in tentationem inciderunt, utque auctor nefariae opinionis simul cum iis, qui ad partes ipsius desciverant, ab Ecclesiae catholicae consortio merito abdicaretur. » Quibus relatis secundam memorat Cornelii epistolam de his, quae in synodo, Romana scilicet, decreta fuerunt. Quam ergo secundo loco laudat epistolam S. Hieronymus, non Cornelio, sed Cypriano ascribenda. Neque etiam Rufinus Eusebii verba probe accepisse comperitur : siquidem quae Cesariensis episcopus de secunda Cornelii epistola tradit, interpretatur ipsemet de prima Fabio Antiochensi episcopo inscripta.
But Jerome enumerates four: "Cornelius," he says, "bishop of the city of Rome, to whom eight letters of Cyprian are extant, wrote a letter to Fabius, bishop of the Church of Antioch, on the Roman, Italian and African synod; and another on Novatian and on those who have lapsed; a third on the proceedings of the synod; a fourth to the same Fabius, very lengthy, containing both the causes of the Novatian heresy and the anathema." But the greatest doctor seems to have been inattentive when he looked at the passage of Eusebius, as Cotelier noted after Valesius. For Eusebius, after he has made mention of the first letter of Cornelius to Fabius of Antioch, immediately adds: "There are extant besides other letters, written in the Latin language, of Cyprian and of other prelates who had been assembled with him in Africa: from which it is gathered that it had pleased them too that help should be given to those who had fallen into temptation, and that the author of the wicked opinion, together with those who had gone over to his side, should deservedly be cut off from the fellowship of the Catholic Church." Having related these things, he mentions a second letter of Cornelius on the things that were decreed in the synod, the Roman one, that is. The letter, therefore, which St Jerome cites in the second place is to be ascribed not to Cornelius but to Cyprian. Nor is Rufinus found to have understood the words of Eusebius correctly: for what the bishop of Caesarea relates of the second letter of Cornelius he himself interprets of the first, addressed to Fabius, bishop of Antioch.
IV. Verum illud potius nostra interest, inquit doctissimus Gallandius, cum docto Eusebiano interprete advertere, ex epistolis Cornelii primam ac tertiam fuisse a sancto illo pontifice graeco sermone perscriptas. « Cum enim, inquit Valesius, Eusebius ex tertia epistola plurima adducat testimonia, nusquam dicit ea ex latino sermone in graecum fuisse translata : quod tamen perpetuo monere consuevit, quoties latini scriptoris testimonium citat : exempli gratia, cum locos profert ex Tertulliani Apologetico ; aut cum epistolas Romanorum principum. » Deinde Eusebius ipse heic satis innuit, primam illam Cornelii ad Fabium epistolam scriptam fuisse graeco sermone. Postquam enim de illa commemoravit, addit conjunctam ei fuisse aliam latino sermone scriptam epistolam Cypriani : quod quidem non adderet, nisi Cornelii epistola superius memorata diverso sermone scripta fuisset. Haec ille satis apposite ; quae quidem sententia eruditissimis viris probatur.
IV. "But this rather concerns us," says the most learned Galland, "to observe with the learned interpreter of Eusebius that of the letters of Cornelius the first and the third were written out by that holy pontiff in the Greek language. 'For since,' says Valesius, 'Eusebius brings forward very many testimonies from the third letter, he nowhere says that they were translated from the Latin language into Greek: which nevertheless he has been accustomed constantly to point out whenever he cites the testimony of a Latin writer: for example, when he quotes passages from the Apology of Tertullian, or when [he quotes] letters of the Roman emperors.' Then Eusebius himself here sufficiently intimates that that first letter of Cornelius to Fabius was written in the Greek language. For after he has made mention of it, he adds that there was joined to it another letter of Cyprian written in the Latin language: which indeed he would not add unless the letter of Cornelius mentioned above had been written in a different language." Thus he, quite aptly; and this opinion indeed is approved by most learned men.
V. Praeter hasce epistolas graeco sermone exaratas, scripsit etiam S. Cornelius aliquot litteras ad S. Cyprianum, inter cujus epistolas duae etiamnum
V. Besides these letters composed in the Greek language, St Cornelius also wrote several letters to St Cyprian, among whose letters two even now
Editors' notes and page, col. 705
Footnotes
(24) ‹anchor: not visible (call above the crop)› · call in col 705
Hieronym. de Vir. illustr, cap. 65.
Jerome, On Illustrious Men, ch. 65.
(printed under page 404)
(25) ‹anchor: not visible (call above the crop)› · call in col 705
Coteler. loc. cit.
Cotelier, in the place cited.
(printed under page 404)
(26) ‹anchor: doctissimus Gallandius› · call in col 705
Galland. Biblioth. Maxim. SS PP. tom. III, in Prolegom., cap. 6, n. 4, pag. 25.
Gallandi, Bibliotheca Maxima of the Holy Fathers, vol. III, in the Prolegomena, ch. 6, no. 4, p. 25.
(printed under page 404)
(27) ‹anchor: viris probatur› · call in col 705
Bolland. Act. SS. Septembr. tom. IV, pag. 180. Coustant. Epistol. Rom. Pontific. pag. 145, tom. I, not. A, et apud Mansi Collect. Concil. Ampliss. tom. I, col. 817, not. 1.
The Bollandists, Acta Sanctorum, September vol. IV, p. 180. Coustant, Letters of the Roman Pontiffs, p. 145, vol. I, note A; and in Mansi, Amplissima Collectio Conciliorum, vol. I, col. 817, note 1.
(printed under page 404)
Page
- running head: 705 PROLEGOMENA (rest cut off at the image edge)
- marginal letters: A ‹At Hieronymus quatuor enumerat›; B ‹qui cum ipso in Africa congregati erant›; C ‹interprete advertere, ex epistolis Cornelii primam›; D ‹memorata diverso sermone scripta fuisset›
- old-edition numerals: 684 after ‹lapsi sunt ;›
leguntur, videlicet 46 et 48, caeterae pariter perierunt.
are read, namely the 46th and the 48th; the rest have likewise perished.
Sub ejusdem nomine circumferuntur insuper duae Decretales, ab Isidoro Mercatore productae, et apud Labbeum et Mansium relatae. Harum altera ad universam Ecclesiam dirigitur, agitque de translatione SS. Petri et Pauli, tanquam ab eo facta, ac de Novatiano, aliisque haereticis; altera, Rufo vel Rustico episcopo Orientali inscripta, tractat de sacramento, sive jurejurando episcoporum et eorum causis. Utraque ab eruditis, et ab ipso etiam Labbeo velut spuria rejicitur, suamque ipsamet falsitatem per ascriptos consulatus probat. Prior enim « data septimo (alibi octavo) idus septembris, Decio et Maximo, viris clarissimis, consulibus; » posterior « undecimo kalendas junii, » iisdem consulibus signata est; quorum ultimum nonnisi anno 253; id est secundo post Decii interitum anno, et aliquot post S. Cornelii martyrium mensibus consulatum iniisse e fastis constat. Si quis velit per « Maximum » ibi designari « Gratum, » cui id nomen etiam fuisse legitur, nihil tamen efficiet, cum hujus consulatus ad annum 250 spectet, quo Cornelius nondum pontifex ordinatus fuerat. Plura manifestae suppositionis indicia adducit Natalis Alexander, inter quae primum Scripturae sacrae secundum versionem Vulgatam citatio; et sententiae ex Actis concilii Carthaginensis, ex epistola de Vita clericorum, ac Oceanum sub nomine S. Hieronymi, ex concilio Romano V, sub Symmacho, ex sancto Ambrosio, Epistola 20, et aliunde corrogatae.
Under his name there circulate, besides, two Decretals, brought forward by Isidore Mercator and reproduced in Labbe and Mansi. The one of them is addressed to the universal Church and treats of the translation of Saints Peter and Paul, as though carried out by him, and of Novatian and other heretics; the other, inscribed to Rufus or Rusticus, an Eastern bishop, treats of the oath, that is, the swearing of bishops, and of their cases. Both are rejected as spurious by the learned, and even by Labbe himself, and each proves its own falsity by the consulships ascribed to it. For the former is dated "on the seventh (elsewhere the eighth) day before the Ides of September, Decius and Maximus, most illustrious men, being consuls"; the latter is signed "on the eleventh day before the Kalends of June", under the same consuls; and it is established from the Fasti that the last of these entered upon the consulship only in the year 253, that is, in the second year after the death of Decius and some months after the martyrdom of St Cornelius. If anyone should wish that by "Maximus" "Gratus" is there meant, who is read to have also borne that name, he will nevertheless achieve nothing, since his consulship belongs to the year 250, when Cornelius had not yet been ordained pontiff. Natalis Alexander adduces further indications of manifest forgery, among which is, first, the citing of Holy Scripture according to the Vulgate version; and sentences gathered from the Acts of the Council of Carthage, from the letter On the Life of Clerics, and [the letter to] Oceanus under the name of St Jerome, from the Fifth Roman Council under Symmachus, from St Ambrose, Letter 20, and from elsewhere.
Coustantius noster in Epistolis summorum Pontificum, col. 26, praeterea observat decretum quo statuitur ut juramentum a jejunis praestetur, et ne pueri ante annum aetatis 14 jurare cogantur, quod exstat in compilatione Gratiani, 22, quaest. 5, c. 16. ab Ivone et Burchardo, sancto pontifici nostro pariter perperam ascriptum.
Our Coustant, in the Letters of the Supreme Pontiffs, col. 26, observes moreover that the decree by which it is laid down that an oath be taken by those fasting, and that boys be not compelled to swear before the fourteenth year of their age, which is extant in the compilation of Gratian, 22, question 5, chapter 16, was likewise wrongly ascribed to our holy pontiff by Ivo and Burchard.
Commentitia etiam certe est ista epistola acris ac vehemens, quae post Cyprianicas in editione Veneta, qua utimur, col. 30⟨ ⟩, inter dubias recitatur, velut a Cornelio ad Cyprianum de non rebaptizandis haereticis data. Constat enim hanc controversiam sub Cornelio agitatam non fuisse, sed Cyprianum inter ac Stephanum, illius post Lucium successorem, primum ortam fuisse; constat quoque summam semper consensionem Cornelium inter et Cyprianum intercessisse.
Fabricated too, certainly, is that sharp and vehement letter which, after the Cyprianic letters in the Venetian edition which we use, col. 30⟨ ⟩, is printed among the doubtful ones, as though sent by Cornelius to Cyprian concerning not rebaptizing heretics. For it is established that this controversy was not agitated under Cornelius, but first arose between Cyprian and Stephen, the successor of Cornelius after Lucius; it is established also that the fullest agreement always existed between Cornelius and Cyprian.
VI. Eminentissimus Robertus Bellarminus, libro de Scriptoribus ecclesiasticis in S. Cornelio alterius perbrevis epistolae ad Lupicinum Viennensem episcopum
VI. The most eminent Robert Bellarmine, in his book On Ecclesiastical Writers, under St Cornelius, of another very short letter to Lupicinus, bishop of Vienne,
Editors' notes and page, col. 706
Footnotes
(28) ‹anchor: not visible (call above the crop)› · call in col 706
Labb., tom. I Concilior. col. 668 et seqq.
Labbe, Councils, vol. I, col. 668 and following.
(printed under page 404)
(29) ‹anchor: not visible (call above the crop)› · call in col 706
Mansi, tom. I Coll. Ampl. Conc. col. 811-817.
Mansi, Amplissima Collectio Conciliorum, vol. I, cols. 811–817.
(printed under page 404)
(30) ‹anchor: Natalis Alexander› · call in col 706
Natal. Alexandr. Hist. Eccles. sæculo iii, p. 4, art. 3, pag. 72.
Natalis Alexander, Ecclesiastical History, third century, part 4, art. 3, p. 72.
(printed under page 404)
(31) ‹anchor: intercessisse› · call in col 706
Vide Maran. Vit. S. Cypriani § 35, p. 115,
See Maran, Life of St Cyprian, § 35, p. 115.
(printed under page 404)
Page
- running head: [P]ROLEGOMENA. 706 (initial P cut off at the image edge)
- marginal letters: A ‹num leguntur, videlicet›; B ‹libus ; » posterior›; C ‹corrogatae.›; D ‹rem, primum ortam fuisse›
- old-edition numerals: 685 after ‹ad›
meminit. Exstat ea tomo III Bibliothecae Patrum editionis Parisiensis anni 1589, apud Labbeum tomo I Conciliorum, col. 829, et Joannem a Bosco in Antiquitatibus bibliothecae Floriacensis, ex qua primum erutam Baronius descripsit ad annum 225 n. 47, et Coustantius noster in appendice ad tom. I Epistol. Romae pontif. pag. 25, suspectam habet.
makes mention. It is extant in volume III of the Library of the Fathers of the Paris edition of the year 1589, in Labbe, volume I of the Councils, col. 829, and in Jean du Bois in the Antiquities of the library of Fleury, from which Baronius, who first brought it to light, copied it out under the year 225, no. 47; and our Coustant, in the appendix to vol. I of the Letters of the Roman Pontiffs, p. 25, holds it suspect.
Quanquam vero Labbeus de hac epistola nihil notet, nisi quod eam Baronius e Floriacensi Bibliotheca acceperit, mentem tamen suam satis manifestat, dum ad duas certe genuinas, quas ibidem subdit, sic notat: « Haec et sequens epistola cum iis quas clerus Romanus scripsit, docent, quid distent aera lupinis, et subaeratae merces aureis veterum scriptis. » Eamdem Tillemontius, et citati Natalis Alexander ac Coustantius, aliique, inter supposititias similiter reponunt: et certe ea magna prae se fert suppositionis indicia. Imprimis « Archiepiscopi » titulus aetate Cornelii in usu non erat; et si fuisset, sanctus Pontifex, seipsum tantummodo episcopum dicens, Lupicinum Viennensem eo nomine non compellasset. Baronius quidem in Annalibus ad annum 255, nu⟨m⟩. 47, ubi eam pro genuin⟨a⟩ refert, Archiepiscopi titulum omittit; sed et in laudata Bibliotheca Patrum, ac Labbei Collectione conciliorum, in hunc modum inscribitur: « Cornelius, episcopus Romanus, fratri Lupicino Viennensi episcopo salutem. » At praeterquam quod Incertum sit apud quos Floriacensi autographo conformius legatur; nec haec inscriptio Cornelii scribendi methodo congruit: hic enim epistolas suas ad Cyprianum datas quae etiamque exstant, omisso utriusque episcopatus titulo, his verbis exorditur: « Cornelius Cypriano fratri salutem; » quod et Cyprianus in suis ad Cornelium pariter factitavit.
But although Labbe notes nothing about this letter, except that Baronius received it from the Library of Fleury, he nevertheless makes his mind sufficiently plain when, at the two certainly genuine ones which he adds in the same place, he notes thus: "This and the following letter, together with those which the Roman clergy wrote, show how far bronze coins differ from lupines, and goods plated over bronze from the golden writings of the ancients." Tillemont, and Natalis Alexander and Coustant, who have been cited, and others likewise place the same letter among the spurious ones; and it certainly bears on its face great marks of forgery. In the first place, the title of "Archbishop" was not in use in the age of Cornelius; and had it been, the holy Pontiff, who calls himself only bishop, would not have addressed Lupicinus of Vienne by that name. Baronius, indeed, in the Annals under the year 255, no. 47, where he reports it as genuine, omits the title of Archbishop; and in the Library of the Fathers mentioned above and in Labbe's Collection of the councils too it is headed in this manner: "Cornelius, bishop of Rome, to his brother Lupicinus, bishop of Vienne, greeting." But besides the fact that it is uncertain in which of them it is read in closer conformity with the Fleury autograph, neither does this heading agree with Cornelius's method of writing: for he begins his letters addressed to Cyprian, which are also extant, with these words, the title of the episcopate of either being omitted: "Cornelius to his brother Cyprian, greeting"; which Cyprian also likewise regularly did in his own letters to Cornelius.
Secundo, dubium est an S. Lupicinus, superstite Cornelio, Ecclesiae Viennensi jàm praesederit. Certe id in Baronii sententia rogandum est: is enim ad annum 262, num. 58, S. Florentium, Lupicini decessorem, sub Valeriano passum scribit; ad quod Eminentissimus Annalista non advertit, dum memoratam epistolam admisit, vel contra, dum illius martyrium tam sero collocavit. Laudatus Joannes a Bosco de eodem S. Florentio sic ait: « Tempora Gordiani, Philippi, Decii, Galii et Volusiani decucurrit. » De Lupicino autem: « Ipsi successit B. Lupicinus martyr, qui cathedram rexit, dum Valerianus et Gallienus in humanis degebant. » Eadem habet Joannes Chenu in Episcopatibus Galliae. Quin imo Tillemontio valde probabile visum est, Lupicinum non nisi post annum 374 illam sedem obtinuisse. Tertio vel ipsa epistola illa scripta est post Decium, ante, vel post inchoatam a Gallo persecutionem. Si primum, qua veritatis
Secondly, it is doubtful whether St Lupicinus already presided over the Church of Vienne while Cornelius was still living. Certainly in Baronius's opinion this must be denied: for under the year 262, no. 58, he writes that St Florentius, Lupicinus's predecessor, suffered under Valerian; a point to which the Most Eminent Annalist paid no attention when he admitted the aforesaid letter, or conversely when he placed that man's martyrdom so late. The Jean du Bois mentioned above says thus of the same St Florentius: "He ran through the times of Gordian, Philip, Decius, Gallus and Volusianus." And of Lupicinus: "There succeeded him the blessed Lupicinus, martyr, who ruled the see while Valerian and Gallienus were among the living." Jean Chenu has the same in the Bishoprics of Gaul. Indeed, it seemed to Tillemont highly probable that Lupicinus obtained that see only after the year 374. Thirdly, that letter itself was written after Decius, either before or after the persecution begun by Gallus. If the former, with what of truth
Editors' notes and page, col. 707
Footnotes
(32) ‹anchor: Tillemontius› · call in col 707
Tillemont. Mémoires, note xv, sur S. Corneille, tome III, pag. 352.
Tillemont, Mémoires, note 15, on St Cornelius, vol. III, p. 352.
(printed under page 405)
(33) ‹anchor: Tillemontio› · call in col 707
Ibid.
In the same place.
(printed under page 405)
(34) ‹anchor: not in col 707 (call in col 708)› · call in col 708
Tillemont. Mémoires sur S. Corneille, tom. III art. xxii, pag. 208.
Tillemont, Mémoires, on St Cornelius, vol. III, art. 22, p. 208.
(printed under page 405)
Page
- running head: 707 IN S. CORNELIU[...] (cut off at the image edge)
- marginal letters: A ‹scopum meminit. Exstat ea tomo III Bibliothecae›; B ‹terum scriptis. » Eamdem Tillemontius›; C ‹bendi methodo congruit›; D ‹currit. » De Lupicino autem›
- old-edition numerals: 986 after ‹Bibliotheca›
- misprints kept as printed (Q1): "225" (ad annum 225 n. 47; the same place is cited lower in the column as 255, num. 47); "rogandum" (sense requires negandum; the English follows the sense); "Galii" (for Galli)
specio ait, « Christianos ubique tormentis variis affici, et jam plures martyrio coronatos fuisse? » Si secundum, cur de sua confessione aut exsilio non meminit, cum ex dictis constet illum inter primos confessum comprehensumque esse? Caetera, quae in eadem epistola insuper nonnullis displicent, apud Tillemontium ac Coustantium videri possunt: nolim tamen cum posteriori asserere, vocem « Missas, » quae in ea occurrit, Cornelii aevo certo recentiorem esse.
appearance does he say, 'that Christians everywhere are afflicted with various torments, and that already many have been crowned with martyrdom'? If the second, why does he make no mention of his own confession or exile, since from what has been said it is established that he was among the first to have confessed and been seized? The other things in the same letter which moreover displease some can be seen in Tillemont and Coustant: yet I would not wish to assert with the latter that the word 'Missas', which occurs in it, is certainly more recent than the age of Cornelius.
VII. Praeterea notat Tillemontius, tractatum de Disciplina et Bono pudicitiae, qui inter dubia S. Cypriani Opuscula recensetur, Erasmo visum fuisse, S. Cornelio posse ascribi. Sed eum non alia ratio ⟨a⟩dducatur, quam quod is ab episcopo, qui a grege suo aberat, conscriptus sit, non video cur S. Cornellio, Centumcellis exsulanti, potius quam cuilibet alteri episcopo a suis absenti attribuendus sit. Nec minus divinavit idem Erasmus, dum Tillemontio denuo teste credidit, sermonem ad Novatianum haereticum, Cypriano a nonnullis similiter adscriptum, Cornelii etiam opus esse. Quin imo non improbabile est, ut observat Tillemontius, eum post Galli persecutionem, in cujus exordio sanctus Pontifex relegatus et coronatus est, scriptum fuisse, in eoque de ejusdem confessione ac martyrio sub boni pastoris typo memorari..
VII. Moreover Tillemont notes that the treatise On the Discipline and Good of Chastity, which is reckoned among the doubtful works of St Cyprian, seemed to Erasmus capable of being ascribed to St Cornelius. But since no other reason is adduced than that it was written by a bishop who was absent from his flock, I do not see why it should be attributed to St Cornelius, an exile at Centumcellae, rather than to any other bishop absent from his own people. Nor did the same Erasmus divine any better when, again on Tillemont's testimony, he believed that the sermon to the heretic Novatian, likewise ascribed by some to Cyprian, is also a work of Cornelius. Indeed it is not improbable, as Tillemont observes, that it was written after the persecution of Gallus, at whose outset the holy Pontiff was banished and crowned, and that in it his confession and martyrdom are commemorated under the figure of the good shepherd.
ARTICULUS III.
Article III.
SYNOP⟨S⟩IS EPISTOLAE CORNELII AD FABIUM ANTIOCHENUM.
Synopsis of the letter of Cornelius to Fabius of Antioch.
Magnum framentum affert Eusebius, ex epistola tertia Cornelii ad Fabium, in qua Cornelius describit artificia quibus usus erat Novatianus, ut episcopus ordinaretur, abusus simplicitate et facilitate trium episcoporum, quorum unus culpam agnovit, ac illius eum poenituit. Postea observat hisce temporibus jam esse in Ecclesia Romana 46 presbyteros, septem diaconos, totidemque subdiaconos, quadraginta et duos acolythos, quinquaginta duos tum ostiarios, tum exorcistas, cum lectoribus, viduas cum thlibomenis, i. e. indigentibus, uti non male substituit Rufinus, plus mille quingentas: quibus universis Domini gratia et benignitas alimenta suppeditat. Ex hoc loco colligi potest, quot basilicas tunc Romae habuerint Christiani. Cum enim singuli presbyteri suas regerent basilicas, si 46 fuerint presbyteri, totidem basilicas fuisse dicendum est. In hunc locum gravissime peccat Blondellus, cum eum ita perstringit, ut nullam subdiaconorum faciat mentionem, exindeque confici putet nullos tum Romae subdiaconos fuisse institutos. Sed lectionis illius falsitatem tum Graecus Eusebii textus, tum Latina Rufini interpretatio demonstrant. Tradit et Optanus, quadraginta et amplius basilicas
Eusebius presents a large fragment from the third letter of Cornelius to Fabius, in which Cornelius describes the artifices which Novatian had used in order to be ordained bishop, abusing the simplicity and pliancy of three bishops, of whom one acknowledged his fault and repented of it. Afterwards he observes that at that time there were already in the Roman Church 46 presbyters, seven deacons and as many subdeacons, forty-two acolytes, fifty-two exorcists and doorkeepers together with readers, and widows together with the thlibomenoi, that is, the needy (as Rufinus not badly substituted), more than one thousand five hundred: to all of whom the grace and kindness of the Lord supplies sustenance. From this passage it can be gathered how many basilicas the Christians then had at Rome. For since each presbyter governed his own basilica, if there were 46 presbyters, it must be said that there were as many basilicas. On this passage Blondel errs most gravely, when he summarizes it in such a way as to make no mention of the subdeacons, and thence thinks it to be concluded that no subdeacons had then been instituted at Rome. But the falsity of that reading is shown both by the Greek text of Eusebius and by the Latin translation of Rufinus. Optatus too relates that forty and more basilicas
Editors' notes and page, col. 708
Footnotes
(35) ‹anchor: affert Eusebius› · call in col 708
Euseb H. E. lib. vi, cap. 43.
Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, book 6, ch. 43.
(printed under page 405)
(36) ‹anchor: et Optanus› · call in col 708
Optat. lib. ii De schismate Donatistarum.
Optatus, On the Schism of the Donatists, book 2.
(printed under page 405)
Page
- running head: S. CORNELIUM 708 (start of the running head cut off at the image's left edge)
- marginal letters: A ‹specio ait, « Christianos ubique›; B ‹grege suo aberat, conscriptus sit›; C ‹Magnum framentum affert Eusebius›; D ‹singuli presbyteri suas regerent›
- old-edition numerals: 687 after ‹Cypriani›
Romae exstitisse, quando illuc Victor Gabiensis proxime post exortum Donatistarum schisma ab his schismaticis missus est. « Hi quippe, inquirit Optatus, ubi inter 40 et quod excurrit basilicas, locum ubi colligerent, non habebant. » Quem locum dum Blondellus, Apolog. pag. 223, de ipsius Optati aetate interpretatur, ab eo male intellectum esse Valesius recte notat.
to have existed at Rome, when Victor of Gabia was sent there by these schismatics shortly after the rise of the Donatist schism. "For these men," says Optatus, "among forty-odd basilicas, had no place where they could assemble." And while Blondel, in his Apology, p. 223, interprets this passage as referring to the age of Optatus himself, Valesius rightly notes that it was misunderstood by him.
Addit Cornelius Novatianum non posse sperare se ad episcopatum venturum, siquidem in lecto baptizatus non receperat impositionem manuum episcopi, hoc est, sacramentum Confirmationis. Sed neque postquam liberatus est a morbo, reliqua percepit, quae secundum regulam Ecclesiae « percipienda sunt, neque ab episcopo consignatus est, τοῦ τε σφραγισθῆναι ὑπὸ τοῦ ἐπισκόπου. Hoc autem signaculo minime percepto, quomodo Spiritum sanctum potuit accipere? » Postea scribit Cornelius, quod tantum rogatu epi⟨s⟩copi contra mandatum Ecclesiae, quae sic baptizatos ordinari prohibebat, presbyter Novatianus ordinatus fuerit. Dein exprobrat eidem, quod sacerdotium suum abnegaverit persecutionis tempore, cogatque suos, corpus et sanguinem Christi eis praebendo, jurare, cum respondere deberent Amen, uti mos Ecclesiae erat, se nunquam ad Cornelium reversuros. Denique Fabium monet, R⟨o⟩manos confessores partes Novatiani deseruisse, multosque episcopos, quorum ad eum nomina mittit, in concilio eumdem damnasse.
Cornelius adds that Novatian could not hope to come to the episcopate, since, having been baptized in bed, he had not received the imposition of the bishop's hands, that is, the sacrament of Confirmation. Nor, after he was freed from the illness, did he receive the remaining things which according to the rule of the Church "are to be received, nor was he sealed by the bishop (and to be sealed by the bishop). And since this seal was not received at all, how could he receive the Holy Spirit?" Afterwards Cornelius writes that it was only at the request of the bishop, against the command of the Church, which forbade those baptized in this way to be ordained, that Novatian was ordained presbyter. Next he reproaches the same man with having denied his priesthood in the time of persecution, and with compelling his followers, while offering them the body and blood of Christ, to swear, when they ought to have answered Amen, as was the custom of the Church, that they would never return to Cornelius. Finally he informs Fabius that the Roman confessors had abandoned the party of Novatian, and that many bishops, whose names he sends to him, had condemned the same man in a council.
Cornelii stilus, judice doctissimo Dupinio, quantum de eo judicari potest ex paucis, quae exstant, ejus epistolis, non est valde sublimis, tamen iis, quae dicit satis ponderis affert, res sibi accommodat, adversario suo nullo modo parcit.
The style of Cornelius, in the judgement of the most learned Dupin, so far as one can judge of it from the few letters of his that are extant, is not very lofty; yet it lends sufficient weight to what he says, adapts things to his purpose, and in no way spares his adversary.
Editors' notes and page, col. 709
Footnotes
<!-- Notes (37) and (38) are read from the column crops (the foot crop cuts their top). The calls of (39) and (40) stand in col 710's moved text, set under this column's rail; (41) is in n710. The middle of (40), printed at the head of col 710's foot block, is supplied from Q1's reading (n710), partly confirmed at the crop's right edge. -->
(37) ‹anchor: Valesius recte notat› · call in col 709
Vales. in hunc Eusebii locum.
Valesius on this passage of Eusebius.
(printed under page 406)
(38) ‹anchor: potuit accipere› · call in col 709
En sacramentum Confirmationis ! Rufinus Graeca Cornelii verba ita Latine expressit : Nec reliqua in eo, quae baptismum subsequi solent, solemniter adimpleta sunt, nec signaculo chrismatis consummatus est.
Behold the sacrament of Confirmation! Rufinus rendered Cornelius's Greek words in Latin thus: "Nor were the other things that usually follow baptism solemnly fulfilled in him, nor was he consummated with the seal of chrism."
(printed under page 406)
(39) ‹anchor: ordinatus fuerit› · call in col 710's text (set under this rail)
Vide Canon. xii Synodi Neocaesar. et Laodicenae Canon. xlvii.
See Canon 12 of the Synod of Neocaesarea, and Canon 47 of the Synod of Laodicea.
(printed under page 406)
(40) ‹anchor: Ecclesiae erat› · call in col 710's text (set under this rail)
Sancti Patres Ambrosius, Hieronymus et Augustinus hujus consuetudinis mentionem faciunt. Hieronymus quidem adv. erroris Joan. Hierosolym. ad Pammachium : Qua conscientia, inquit, ad Eucharistiam accedam, et respondebo : Amen, cum de charitate dubitem porrigentis? Huc spectat illud Augustini Serm. 272, nov. edit. : Audis corpus Christi, et respondens : Amen. Et lib. xii, contra Faustum, cap. 10. Habei enim magnam vocem Christi sanguis in terris, cum eo accepto ab omnibus respondetur : Amen. Ritus hic apud Ambrosium lib. iv de Sacr., cap. 5, explicatur his verbis : Ergo non otiose cum accipis, tu dicis : Amen, jam in spiritu confitens quod accipias verum. Cum his consensit et Cyrillus Hierosolym. Cateches. ultima.
The holy Fathers Ambrose, Jerome and Augustine mention this custom. Jerome, against the errors of John of Jerusalem, to Pammachius: "With what conscience," he says, "shall I come to the Eucharist and answer Amen, when I doubt the charity of the one who offers it?" To this refers that saying of Augustine, Sermon 272, new edition: "You hear 'The body of Christ', and you answer 'Amen'." And in book XII against Faustus, ch. 10: "For the blood of Christ has a great voice on earth, when, after it has been received, all answer: Amen." Ambrose, On the Sacraments book 4, ch. 5, explains this rite in these words: "So it is not idly that, when you receive, you say Amen, confessing already in the spirit that you receive what is true." Cyril of Jerusalem agrees with them, in his last Catechesis.
(printed under page 406) Misprints kept as printed: (40) "Habei" for Habet (per Q1's reading of col 710's foot block).
Page
- running head: 709 NOTITIA. (right part of the head cut off at the image edge)
- marginal letters: A ‹Romae exstitisse, quando›; B ‹τε σφραγισθῆναι ὑπὸ τοῦ ἐπισκόπου. Hoc autem si-›; C ‹I / 1. Cornelii ad Cyprianum›; D ‹fratres cum litteris ad episcopum›
- old-edition numerals: 688 after ‹40›
- other: a full-width band stands across cols 709/710 in mid-page: the 2 paragraph(s) above it in col 710 are set here, after the 2 above it in col 709 (reading order, moved on receipt); the word split at the break (Corne-|lius) is joined whole and the two paragraphs merged (Q2); the band itself (its title lines) is not set by the volunteer page: set it here, at the move, with full_width
- other: the column continues with I (another unit); not set here
- other (Q2): Q1 reads "Ritus ille" in (40); in these crops the word reads as "hic" (top of the line cut): left as "hic", UNSURE.
Editors' notes and page, col. 710
Footnotes
(41) ‹anchor: Dupinio› · call in col 710
Dupin. Bibliothec., tom. I, edit. Lat. Colon. pag. 280.
Dupin, Bibliothèque, vol. I, Latin edition, Cologne, p. 280.
(printed under page 406)
Page
- running head: NOTITIA. 710
- marginal letters: A lius, quod tantum rogatu; B men iis, quae dicit; C Caldonium et Fortunatum; D nuntiassent, edocebant
- old-edition numerals: (none)
- other: the 2 paragraph(s) of this column above the full-width band are set under col 709 (reading order, moved on receipt)
- other: the text of this column below the full-width band belongs to the next unit; not set here (rail-only part)
- other (Q1, for c709/n709, not written here): the calls of notes (39) (after "fuerit") and (40) (after "erat") are in this column's moved text, not in col 709. The gap marked [...] in n709's note (40) is printed at the head of this column's foot block and reads, between "cum de" and "Amen. Ritus": charitate dubitem porrigentis? Huc spectat illud Augustini Serm. 272, nov. edit. : Audis corpus Christi, et respondens : Amen. Et lib. xii, contra Faustum, cap. 10. Habei enim magnam vocem Christi sanguis in terris, cum eo accepto ab omnibus respondetur : (misprint kept as printed: Habei, for Habet). English: charity of the one who offers it?" To this refers that saying of Augustine, Sermon 272, new edition: "You hear 'The body of Christ', and you answer 'Amen'." And in book XII against Faustus, ch. 10: "For the blood of Christ has a great voice on earth, when, after it has been received, all answer: Amen." Also in n709's note (40) the page prints "Ritus ille", not "Ritus hic".
- other (Q1, for c709): the word split at the 709/710 break (Corne-|lius) is not joined in c709: the column's last paragraph ends with the fragment and this column's first paragraph begins with the tail, in source and English. They are one paragraph; join the word whole and merge the two paragraphs.
- other (Q1): the band's second line prints ATTINENT, not SPECTANT; and "AD S, CORNELIUM" with a comma as printed.