PL 3 · cols. 999–1002

S. Lucius I papa et martyr, notitia historica

Editors' preface

PL 3:999

ANNO DOMINI CCLII-CCLIII.

IN THE YEAR OF THE LORD CCLII–CCLIII.

SANCTUS LUCIUS I,

SAINT LUCIUS I,

PAPA ET MARTYR.

POPE AND MARTYR.

NOTITIA HISTORICA.

HISTORICAL NOTICE.

Lucius Pontifex ordinatur ann. 252, mense Septembri vel Octobri.—

Lucius is ordained pontiff in the year 252, in the month of September or October.—

Post Cornelii martyrium, Lucius in ejus locum ordinatus 25 septembris, uti Pagius et Maurini arbitrantur, vel 28 octobris juxta Bianchini; Romanam sedem vix adeptus, jussus est exsulare. Hinc cum Cyprianus eodem tempore ordinationem ejus, ac exsilium audisset, communicatorias ac gratulatorias, suo collegarumque suorum nomine, epistolas ad eum misit, quae etsi

After the martyrdom of Cornelius, Lucius, ordained in his place on 25 September, as Pagi and the Maurists judge, or on 28 October according to Bianchini, had scarcely obtained the Roman see when he was ordered into exile. Hence, when Cyprian had heard at the same time of his ordination and of his exile, he sent him letters of communion and of congratulation, in his own name and that of his colleagues, which, although

Editors' notes and page, col. 999

Footnotes

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(33) ‹anchor: not visible; lemma "Aeternamque"› · call not on this page (note printed in col 999)

Aeternamque. Sic edit. ferme omnes. Cod. Vatic. et tetram : quam lectionem in textum inferre non dubitarunt editores Anglicani. GALL.

"Aeternamque" ("and eternal"). So read nearly all the editions. The Vatican codex has "et tetram" ("and foul"), a reading which the English editors did not hesitate to bring into the text. GALLANDI.

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Vicinis nobis. Ita Fellus et Baluzius. Omittunt nobis Welchmanus et Jacksonus.

"Vicinis nobis" ("neighbours to us"). So Fell and Baluze. Welchman and Jackson omit "nobis".

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(35) ‹anchor: not visible; lemma "Et quos"› · call not on this page (note printed in col 999)

Et quos. Conjunctionem et redundare putat Welchmanus. Jacksono autem sensus videtur et cum quibusdam quos. Mox deest positis in cod. Lincoln. GALL.

"Et quos" ("and whom"). Welchman thinks the conjunction "et" is redundant; to Jackson, however, the sense seems to be "and with certain ones whom". Just after, "positis" is lacking in the Lincoln codex. GALLANDI.

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Credidimus. Ita ex cod. Bodl. I Fellus, Welchmanus et Jacksonus. Al. credimus. GALL.

"Credidimus" ("we believed"). So Fell, Welchman and Jackson, from Bodleian codex I. Others read "credimus" ("we believe"). GALLANDI.

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(37) ‹anchor: not visible; lemma "In suspensio… moras… sustinere"› · call not on this page (note printed in col 1000)

In suspensio... moras... sustinere. In suspenso emendavit Morellius pro eo quod antea legebatur in suspendio. Unus liber meus habet voto suspenso. Mox cod. Gratianopolitanus, qui foris possunt dilectionem sustinere. Vetustiores editiones, foris possunt dilatione sustineri. BALUZ.

"In suspensio… moras… sustinere." Morel corrected to "in suspenso" ("in suspense") in place of what was read before, "in suspendio". One manuscript of mine has "voto suspenso" ("with suspended wish"). Just after, the Grenoble codex reads "qui foris possunt dilectionem sustinere" ("who outside can sustain love"); the older editions, "foris possunt dilatione sustineri" ("outside can be sustained by delay"). BALUZE.

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Pag. ed. ann. 252, § 14; l'Art de verifier, loc. cit.

Pagi's edition, year 252, § 14; L'Art de vérifier [les dates], at the place cited.

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Page

running head: S. LUCIUS PAPA ET [cut off at image edge]
marginal letters: A sacramento, sed in ipsius; B cessibilem lucem, sed paravit; C Lucius Pontifex ordinatur ann. 252; D (none)
old-edition numerals: 970 after coram
other: a full-width band stands across cols 999/1000 in mid-page; the text above it in both columns is the end of the previous unit (Novatian's letter) and is not set here; 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 opens with the end of the previous work (another unit); not set here: the unit begins at Lucius Pontifex ordinatur
running head: 999 S. LUCIUS PAPA ET MARTYR. 1000
marginal letters: C beside this unit's opening line in col. 999 ("Lucius Pontifex ... Sep-"); A and B on this page stand beside the previous unit's text (A persecutionis istius ardor; B tamen anxie curantibus)
old-edition numerals: (none) in this unit; 970 after "coram" in the previous unit's text above the band

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perierint, ex altera tamen, quae adhuc exstat, ad eumdem post reditum data, id totum constat: « Nuper quidem, » scribit Cyprianus, « tibi, frater charissime, gratulati sumus, cum te honore geminato in Ecclesiae suae administratione confessorem pariter et sacerdotem constituit divina dignatio, sed et nunc non minus tibi et comitibus tuis, atque universae fraternitati gratulamur, quod cum eadem gloria, et laudibus vestris reduces vos denuo

they have perished, yet from another, which still survives, written to the same man after his return, the whole of this is established: “Lately indeed,” writes Cyprian, “we congratulated you, dearest brother, when the divine favour appointed you, with a twofold honour in the administration of His Church, at once confessor and bishop; but now also we congratulate no less you and your companions and the whole brotherhood, because with the same glory and with your praises the kind and generous protection of the Lord has brought you back anew

Editors' notes and page, col. 1000

Footnotes

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Cyprian., Ep. 61, ad Lucium, al. 58.

Cyprian, Letter 61, to Lucius (in other editions 58).

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Page

running head: …US PAPA ET MARTYR. 1000 (left part cut off at the image edge)
marginal letters: A persecutionis istius ardor ejecerat; B tamen anxie curantibus; C perierint, ex altera tamen
old-edition numerals: (none)
other: the paragraph of this column above the full-width band is the end of the previous unit (Novatian's letter) and is not set here; the band itself is set under col 999
running head: 999 S. LUCIUS PAPA ET MARTYR. 1000
marginal letters: C perierint, ex altera tamen (C printed between the columns beside "Lucius Pontifex ... Sep-" / "perierint"); D not on this page's portion; A and B stand beside the previous unit's text
old-edition numerals: (none)
other: the last word, "de-" as printed, is set whole as "denuo" (tail "nuo" printed at the top of col 1001)

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ad suos fecerit benigna Domini et larga protectio, ut pascendo gregi pastor, et gubernandae navi gubernator, et regendae plebi rector redderetur, et appareret relegationem vestram sic divinitus esse dispositam, non ut episcopus relegatus, et pulsus Ecclesiae deesset, sed ut ad Ecclesiam major rediret. » Haec de exsilio et reditu Lucii pontificis Cyprianus : quem anno sequenti rediisse verosimile est, quo et martyrium subiit die quarta vel quinta Martii. Violenta morte occubuisse ex LVII S. Cypriani ad Stephanum epistola eruere licet : « Illi (verba divi sunt pleni Spiritu Dei et in glorioso martyrio constituti) servandus est « antecessorrm nostrorum, beatorum martyrum Cornelii et Lucii honor gloriosus, etc. »

to His own, so that the shepherd should be restored to feed the flock, the helmsman to steer the ship, and the ruler to govern the people, and that it should appear that your banishment was so arranged by God, not so that the bishop, banished and driven out, should be lacking to the Church, but so that he should return to the Church greater." Thus Cyprian concerning the exile and return of the pontiff Lucius: who, it is likely, returned in the following year, in which he also underwent martyrdom, on the fourth or fifth day of March. That he died a violent death may be gathered from the 57th letter of St Cyprian to Stephen: "Those men (the words of the saint are: full of the Spirit of God and established in glorious martyrdom) there must be preserved the glorious honour of our predecessors, the blessed martyrs Cornelius and Lucius, etc."

De tempore quidem, quo Lucius pontificatum tenuit, dissident eruditi. Biennio sedisse aliqui tradunt : longe tamen breviori tempore eum Romanae Ecclesiae praefuisse Bucherii catalogus indicat, dum Volusiano III, et Maximo coss. Stephanum ejus loco ordinatum refert : quod clarius testatur Eusebius, qui menses octo eidem ascribit. Nicephorus vix septem menses pontificatum tenuisse affirmat : Henschenius vero in Conatu Chronologico historico, anno 253, quidem ordinatum fuisse tradit Stephanum, sed per biennium tanquam Lucii vicarium, Romanam administrasse Ecclesiam : quare biennium quoque Lucii martyrium differt. At cum pontificum Romanorum vicarii, judice Pagio, antiquis scriptoribus ignoti fuerint, et eorumdem pontificum Chronotaxim difficultatibus saepe tenebrisque obvolutam, obscuriorem ac intricatiorem reddant, idcirco ab eruditis vix probantur ; unde septem aut octo menses Romanam rexisse Ecclesiam, cum Eusebio annotasse contenti sumus. Caeterum in errore versantur martyrologia auctoresque, quibus placet Lucium

Concerning the time, indeed, during which Lucius held the pontificate, the learned disagree. Some relate that he sat for two years; yet the catalogue of Bucherius indicates that he presided over the Roman Church for a much shorter time, since it records that Stephen was ordained in his place when Volusianus for the third time and Maximus were consuls: which Eusebius attests more clearly, who assigns eight months to him. Nicephorus affirms that he held the pontificate scarcely seven months; Henschenius, however, in his Chronological and Historical Essay, relates that Stephen was indeed ordained in the year 253, but that he administered the Roman Church for two years as it were as vicar of Lucius: wherefore he also puts off the martyrdom of Lucius by two years. But since vicars of the Roman pontiffs, in the judgement of Pagi, were unknown to the ancient writers, and render the chronology of those same pontiffs, often wrapped in difficulties and darkness, more obscure and more intricate, they are therefore scarcely approved by the learned; hence we are content to have noted, with Eusebius, that he ruled the Roman Church for seven or eight months. For the rest, the martyrologies and authors are in error who are pleased [to hold] Lucius

Editors' notes and page, col. 1001

Footnotes

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Cyprian., Ep. 78, ad Stepnanum, al. 67.

Cyprian, Letter 78, to Stephen (in other editions 67).

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Euseb. Hist. eccles., lib. VII, cap. 2.

Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, book VII, chapter 2.

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Nicepbor., Hist. eccless., lib. VI, cap. 7.

Nicephorus [Callistus], Ecclesiastical History, book VI, chapter 7.

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(6) ‹anchor: Chronologico historico› · call in col 1001

Propylaeum ad Acta Sanetor. Maii.

The Propylaeum to the Acta Sanctorum for May.

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Pag., not. ad ann. 253.2,3; Pearson., Annal. Cyprian. ann. 253.

Pagi, note on the year 253, [§§] 2, 3; Pearson, Annales Cyprianici, year 253.

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Cum Cyprianus Stephanum Lucii vicarium successoremque dicit, alio plane sensu vicarii phrasin adhibuit ab eo quae vulgo solet usurpari, ut nempe illum significet, qui alterius vices gerit : nam vicarius et successor idem est apud Cyprianum, ideoque Stephanum non solum vicarium dicit sed et Cornelii.cujus sane vicarium dici non potest

When Cyprian calls Stephen the vicar and successor of Lucius, he used the expression "vicar" in a sense quite other than the one commonly in use, namely to mean him who takes another's place: for vicar and successor are the same thing in Cyprian, and so he calls Stephen not only the vicar [of Lucius] but also of Cornelius, whose vicar he certainly cannot be called

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Page

running head: 1001 NOTITIA HISTOR[ICA] (cut off at image edge)
marginal letters: A nuo ad suos fecerit benigna; B De tempore quidem / tenuit, dissident eruditi; C ficultatibus saepe tenebrisque obvolutam, obscu-; D (none)
old-edition numerals: 971 after redderetur,
other: the column opens with "nuo", the tail of "denuo", which is set whole at the end of col 1000

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exstinctum esse imperante Valeriano, quorum sententiam refellit Dionysius Alexandrinus, qui de Valeriano illud memoriae prodit: « Nullus superiorum Principum, ne illi quidem ipsi qui palam Christiani fuisse dicuntur, tanta humanitate et benevolentia nostros complexus est, quantam ille prae se ferebat initio principatus sui. »

to have been put to death in the reign of Valerian. Their opinion is refuted by Dionysius of Alexandria, who records this about Valerian: «None of the earlier emperors, not even those who are said to have been openly Christians, embraced our people with such kindness and goodwill as he showed at the beginning of his reign.»

Lucii Drecretalis subdita. — Una decretalis Lucio ascribitur epistola, quae multa complectitur: 1° Ut episcopus semper testes secum presbyteros ac diaconos habeat, 2° De criminationibus episcoporum, sive majorum natu, et ut audientia ad majores personas appellantibus non negetur. 3° Ut metropolitanus sine consilio episcoporum nihil agat, nec ipsi sine illius, nisi quod ad proprias ecclesias pertinet. 4° Ut metropolitanus sine episcopis causam eorum non audiat. 5° Ne posteriores episcopi prioribus se praeferant, nec eis inconsultis aliquid agant. 6° De iis qui res Ecclesiae vel oblationes fidelium auferunt, et auferentibus consentiunt. Missa est epistola ad Galliae atque Hispaniae episcopos: Data Kalendis Aprilis, Gallo et Volusiano Coss. Viris clarissimis. Quae subscriptio impostorem satis prodit. Vitam enim adhuc retinebat Cornelius Kalendis Aprilis, Gallo et Volusiano coss. Neque tam bardus aut imperitus fuit Lucius, ut imperatores Romanos titulo Virorum clarissimorum induerit. Verba haec capitis 6: « Hortor dilectionem vestram, obtestor et moneo, ut qua debetis et potestis sollicitudine vigiletis ad investigandos haereticos, » Leonis I ex epistola secunda desumpta sunt. Psalmum LXXXII laudat ex versione Hieronymi: ex Gregorii Magni libro XII, epistola 32, petitas adhibet sententias. Ejus sub pontificatu saevissima pestis in autumno coepit, et quindecim annos grassata, permultas Rsmani imperii provincias depopulata est.

The spurious decretal of Lucius. — One decretal letter is ascribed to Lucius, which covers many matters: 1. That a bishop should always have presbyters and deacons with him as witnesses; 2. On accusations against bishops, or elders, and that a hearing should not be refused to those appealing to higher persons; 3. That the metropolitan should do nothing without the counsel of the bishops, nor they without his, except what pertains to their own churches; 4. That the metropolitan should not hear their case without the bishops; 5. That later bishops should not set themselves above earlier ones, nor do anything without consulting them; 6. On those who take away the property of the Church or the offerings of the faithful, and on those who consent to those who take them away. The letter was sent to the bishops of Gaul and Spain: Given on the Kalends of April, Gallus and Volusianus being consuls. To the most illustrious men. This subscription sufficiently betrays the impostor. For Cornelius was still alive on the Kalends of April, in the consulship of Gallus and Volusianus. Nor was Lucius so dull or ignorant as to invest the Roman emperors with the title of «most illustrious men». These words of chapter 6, «I exhort your affection, I implore and admonish you, that with the care you owe and are able to give you be vigilant in searching out heretics,» are taken from the second letter of Leo I. He cites Psalm 82 in Jerome's version; he makes use of sentences drawn from Gregory the Great, book 12, letter 32. Under his pontificate a most savage plague began in the autumn, and, raging for fifteen years, laid waste a great many provinces of the Roman empire.

Editors' notes and page, col. 1002

Footnotes

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Euseb., Hist. eccl. lib. VII, cap. 10.

Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, book VII, chapter 10.

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Vid. Petr. Coustant., Epistolar. romanor. pontificum, pag. 206 et 207, ubi ostendit, quam immaniter lapsus sit in Lucio Bucherianus Catalogus et libri Pontificalis auctor.

See Pierre Coustant, Epistolae Romanorum pontificum, pp. 206 and 207, where he shows how grossly the Bucherian Catalogue and the author of the Liber Pontificalis went astray over Lucius.

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