PL 3 · cols. 1147–1148

S. Dionysius Alexandrinus, Epistolae ad Stephanum papam fragmentum

Editors' preface

EPISTOLAE DIONYSII ALEXANDRINI EPISCOPI AD STEPHANUM PAPAM FRAGMENTUM.

FRAGMENT OF THE LETTER OF DIONYSIUS, BISHOP OF ALEXANDRIA, TO POPE STEPHEN.

PROOEMIUM.

PREFACE.

Subnexo fragmentum Eusebius praemittit: Ad Stephanum Dionysius primam earum, quae de Baptismo conscriptae sunt, epistolam exaravit: cum non mediocris controversia exorta esset, utrum eos, qui ex qualibet haeresi convertuntur, baptismo purgari oporteret. Quippe antiqua consuetudo invaluerat, ut in ejusmodi suscipiendis sola manuum impositio cum precationibus adhiberetur. Primus Cyprianus qui Carthaginensem tunc regebat Ecclesiam, nonnisi per baptismum prius ab errore mundatos admittendos esse censuit. Verum Stephanus, nihil adversus traditionem quae jam inde ab initio obtinuerat innovandum ratus, gravissime id tulit. Ad hunc igitur cum de hoc argumento multa Dionysius per litteras scripsisset, illi sub finem significat omnes ubique Ecclesias, mollito jam persecutionis furore, Novati turbulentam novitatem detestantes, inter se pacem iniisse. Sic autem scribit (Euseb., lib. VIII, c. 2, 3 et 4).

Eusebius sets this before the fragment appended below: "To Stephen Dionysius wrote the first of the letters that were composed on Baptism, since no small controversy had arisen whether those who are converted from any heresy whatever ought to be cleansed by baptism. For an ancient custom had prevailed that in receiving such persons only the laying on of hands with prayers was used. Cyprian, who then governed the Church of Carthage, was the first to judge that they were not to be admitted unless first cleansed from error by baptism. But Stephen, thinking that nothing should be innovated against the tradition which had obtained from the very beginning, took this very gravely. When, therefore, Dionysius had written much to him by letter on this subject, he tells him towards the end that all the Churches everywhere, the fury of persecution now abated, had made peace among themselves, detesting the turbulent novelty of Novatus. And he writes thus" (Eusebius, Book VIII, ch. 2, 3 and 4).

Scias autem, frater, cunctas per Orientem et ulterius positas Ecclesias, quae prius erant discissae, nunc tandem ad unitatem reversas esse, et omnes ubicunque ecclesiarum antistites unum idemque sentire, et ob redditam insperato pacem incredibili gaudio exsultare, Demetrianum scilicet episcopum Antiochiae, Theoctistum Caesareae, Mazabenem Aeliae, post mortem Alexandri, Marinum Tyri, Laodiceae Heliodorum post obitum Thelymidris, Helenum Tharsi et omnes Ciliciae Ecclesias, Firmilianum cum omni Cappadocia. Solas enim illustriores episcopos nominavi, ne forte epistola nostra prolixior, et oratio molestior redderetur. Syriae quidem totae et Arabia, quibus identidem necessaria suppeditatis, et quibus litteras nunc scripsistis, Mesopotamia quoque et Pontus ac Bithynia, et, ut uno verbo absolvam, omnes ubique terrarum laetitia gestiunt, ob hanc concordiam fraternamque charitatem laudantes Deum.

Know, moreover, brother, that all the Churches throughout the East and those situated further beyond, which formerly were divided, have now at last returned to unity, and that all the prelates of the churches everywhere think one and the same thing, and exult with incredible joy on account of the peace unexpectedly restored: namely Demetrianus, bishop of Antioch, Theoctistus of Caesarea, Mazabenes of Aelia after the death of Alexander, Marinus of Tyre, Heliodorus of Laodicea after the decease of Thelymidres, Helenus of Tarsus and all the Churches of Cilicia, Firmilian with all Cappadocia. For I have named only the more illustrious bishops, lest perhaps our letter should become too long and the discourse too tiresome. All the Syrias, indeed, and Arabia, to which you repeatedly supply what is needed, and to which you have now written letters, Mesopotamia also, and Pontus and Bithynia, and, to sum up in one word, all everywhere on earth exult with gladness, praising God for this concord and brotherly charity.

Editors' notes and page, col. 1147

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: Primam (lemma; call above the visible foot)› · call in col 1147

Primam. Ideo primam Eusebius vocat, quia idem Dionysius exinde quatuor alias tum ad Xystum, tum ad Dionysium, Stephani successores, pariter de Baptismo haereticorum conscripsit. COUSTANT.

First. Eusebius calls it the first because the same Dionysius afterwards wrote four others on the baptism of heretics as well, to Xystus and to Dionysius, Stephen's successors. COUSTANT.

(printed under page 625)

(2) ‹anchor: Primus (lemma; call above the visible foot)› · call in col 1147

Primus. Ipse Cyprianus epist. 71. ad Quintum et alibi Agrippinum, decessorem suum, sequi se profitetur. Firmilianus autem sententiam, quam Cyprianus propugnabat, ante ab Iconiensi concilio firmatam docet. Non igitur sententiae de baptizandis haereticis, sed controversiae ea de re inter Afros ac Romanos Pontifices natae primus auctor Cyprianus censendus est. COUSTANT.

The first. Cyprian himself, in Letter 71 to Quintus and elsewhere, professes that he follows Agrippinus, his predecessor. Firmilian, moreover, teaches that the opinion Cyprian was defending had been confirmed earlier by the council of Iconium. Cyprian is therefore to be reckoned the first author not of the opinion that heretics are to be baptized, but of the controversy that arose on this matter between the African and the Roman pontiffs. COUSTANT.

(printed under page 625)

(3) ‹anchor: Novati (lemma; call above the visible foot)› · call in col 1147

Novati. More suo Eusebius hic Novati, loco Novatiani, nomen substituit. In eo, quod antecedit, viro erudito non videtur Eusebius Dionysii mentem satis feliciter assecutus; cum pro mollito jam persecutionis furore, melius sedata jam schismatis procella dixisset. Ex hoc autem loco intelligere est, in fragmento subnexo non eas narrari turbas sedatas, quas in Oriente novissime excitarat baptismi haereticorum causa, sed eas quas aliquando ante Novatiani factio invexerat. Non male tamen Eusebius epistolam ipsam de Baptismo haereticorum scriptam notavit: quia nimirum in prima et praecipua ejus parte de hoc argumento, ut ipse Dionysius in epistola ad Systum meminit, multa edisseruerat, rogans et obtestans Stephanum, haud dubie, ne tam difficili in causa quidquam praepropere ageret, aut pacem cum tot tamque praeclaris episcopis rumperet. COUSTANT.

Of Novatus. Here, after his custom, Eusebius has put the name Novatus in place of Novatian. In the preceding words, a learned man holds, Eusebius does not seem to have caught Dionysius's meaning happily enough, since instead of the fury of persecution now abated he would better have said the storm of schism now calmed. From this passage, moreover, one may gather that the fragment appended tells not of the calming of the disturbances which the question of heretics' baptism had lately stirred up in the East, but of those which the faction of Novatian had brought in some time before. Yet Eusebius was not wrong to note that the letter itself was written on the Baptism of Heretics: for in its first and chief part, as Dionysius himself recalls in his letter to Systus, he had set out much on this subject, asking and entreating Stephen, no doubt, not to act too hastily in so difficult a cause, nor to break peace with so many and such eminent bishops. COUSTANT.

(printed under page 625)

(4) ‹anchor: Mazabenem Aeliae› · call in col 1147

Mazabenem Aeliae. Graeci textus series postularet Mazabenem Aeliae, Marinum Tyri: quod mendum esse, olim a Rufino correctum, Valesius monuit. Alexandrum enim, cujus beatum exitum Dionysius apud Eusebium lib. VI, c. 46, Cornelio papae nuntiat, Aeliae, seu ut citato loco loquitur Eusebius, Jerosolymorum, non Tyri episcopum, fuisse constat. COUSTANT.

Mazabanes of Aelia. The order of the Greek text would require Mazabanes of Aelia, Marinus of Tyre: Valesius pointed out that this is a fault, corrected long ago by Rufinus. For it is agreed that Alexander, whose blessed end Dionysius announces to Pope Cornelius in Eusebius, Book VI, ch. 46, was bishop of Aelia, or, as Eusebius puts it in the passage cited, of Jerusalem, not of Tyre. COUSTANT.

(printed under page 625)

(5) ‹anchor: necessaria suppeditatis› · call in col 1147

Suppeditatis. Servato scilicet Romanorum pio more, quem Eusebius lib. IV, c. 23, uti jam observavimus, ab ipso religionis exordio ad suam usque aetatem custoditum testatur, ut ecclesiis quamplurimis, etiam remotis, necessaria vitae subsidia transmittant. Eamdem ob causam supra, pag. 78, Soter a Dionysio Corinthiorum episcopo laudatur. COUSTANT.

You supply. That is, keeping the pious custom of the Romans, which Eusebius, Book IV, ch. 23, as we have already observed, testifies was kept from the very beginning of the religion down to his own day: that they send the necessary means of life to very many churches, even distant ones. For the same reason Soter is praised above, p. 78, by Dionysius, bishop of the Corinthians. COUSTANT.

(printed under page 625)

(6) ‹anchor: laudantes Deum› · call in col 1147

Deum. Exstant et alia fragmenta litterarum quas S. Dionysius tum ad S. Dionysium papam I, Philemonem, presbyterus, tum ad S. Xystum papam de baptismo haereticorum et de haeresi Sabelliana scripsit. Vid. inf., tom. V hujusce Bibliothecae. EDD.

God. There survive also other fragments of the letters which St Dionysius wrote, to Pope St Dionysius I, to Philemon, priest, and to Pope St Xystus, on the baptism of heretics and on the Sabellian heresy. See below, vol. V of this Library. EDITORS.

(printed under page 625)

Editors' prose

- The title EPISTOLAE DIONYSII ALEXANDRINI EPISCOPI AD STEPHANUM PAPAM FRAGMENTUM., the heading PROOEMIUM. and the editors' italic proem (Subnexo fragmentum Eusebius praemittit ...) stand across the top of cols 1147/1148; set once, full_width, at the head of parts/c1147_a.md (Q1). The proem's reference "lib. VIII" is as printed; the passage is in Eusebius, HE Book VII (UNSURE whether a misprint or the editors' slip; English keeps VIII). Its footnote calls (1)-(3) point to the notes above.

Page

running head: 1147 DE HÆRETICORUM BAP[...] (cut off at the image edge)
marginal letters: A ‹Scias autem, frater›; B ‹thynia, et, ut uno verbo›; C ‹beside the foot notes, at "prianus censendus est. Coustant."›; D (none)
old-edition numerals: 1103 after ‹nunc›
misprints (kept as printed; the English translates the intended word): footnote (6) presbyterus for presbyterum (Q2).

PL 3:1148

Ἴσθι δὲ νῦν, ἀδελφὲ, ὅτι ἥνωνται πᾶσαι αἱ πρότερον διεσχισμέναι κατά τε τὴν Ἀνατολὴν Ἐκκλησίαι, καὶ ἔτι προσωτέρω, καὶ πάντες εἰσὶν ὁμόφρονες οἱ πανταχοῦ πρεστῶτες, χαίροντες καθ' ὑπερβολὴν ἐπὶ τῇ παρὰ προσδοκίαν εἰρήνῃ γενομένῃ· Δημητριανὸς ἐν Ἀντιοχείᾳ, Θεόκοιστος ἐν Καισαρείᾳ. Μαζαβάνης ἐν Αἰλίᾳ κοιμηθέντος Ἀλεξάνδρου, Μαρῖνος ἐν Τύρῳ, Ἡλιόδωρος ἐν Λαοδικείᾳ ἀναπαυσαμένου Θηλυμίδρου, Ἕλενος ἐν Ταρσῷ καὶ πᾶσαι αἱ τῆς Κιλικίας Ἐκκλησίαι, Φιερμιλιανὸς καὶ πᾶσα Καππαδοκίᾳ. Τοὺς γὰρ περιφανεστέρους μόνους τῶν ἐπισκόπων ὠνόμασα, ἵνα μήτε μῆκος τῇ ἐπιστολῇ, μήτε βάρος προσάψω τῷ λόγῳ. Αἱ μέντοι Συρίαι ὅλαι καὶ ἡ Ἀραβία οἷς ἐπαρκεῖτε ἑκάστοτε, καὶ οἷς νῦν ἐπεστείλατε, ἥ τε Μεσοποταμία, Πόντος τε καὶ Βιθυνία, καὶ συνελόντι εἰπεῖν, ἀγαλλιῶνται πάντες πανταχοῦ τῇ ὁμονοίᾳ καὶ φιλαδελφίᾳ δοξάζοντες τὸν Θεόν.

Know now, brother, that all the churches which were formerly divided, both throughout the East and still further beyond, have been united, and all those who preside everywhere are of one mind, rejoicing beyond measure at the peace which has come about contrary to expectation: Demetrianus at Antioch, Theoctistus at Caesarea; Mazabanes at Aelia, Alexander having fallen asleep; Marinus at Tyre; Heliodorus at Laodicea, Thelymidres having gone to his rest; Helenus at Tarsus and all the churches of Cilicia; Firmilian and all Cappadocia. For I have named only the more illustrious of the bishops, so that I might neither add length to the letter nor weight to my discourse. But all the Syrias and Arabia, whom you assist from time to time and to whom you have now written, and Mesopotamia, Pontus and Bithynia, and, to put it briefly, all everywhere exult in the concord and brotherly love, glorifying God.

Editors' notes and page, col. 1148

Editors' prose

(none; the title, PROOEMIUM and the proem printed across cols 1147/1148 are set once at the head of parts/c1147_a.md, Q1)

Page

running head: TICORUM BAPTISMATE. 1148 (left part of the running head cut off at the image edge)
marginal letters: A ‹Ἴσθι δὲ νῦν, ἀδελφὲ›; B ‹τε καὶ Βιθυνία›; C ‹Eusebius, Jerosolymorum (beside the Variorum notae, not set)›; D (none)
old-edition numerals: 1104 after ἔτι
other: full-width title (…DRINI EPISCOPI AD STEPHANUM PAPAM …RAGMENTUM.), the heading PROOEMIUM and the italic prooemium paragraph (Ad Stephanum Dionysius primam…) stand across both columns at the top of the page; set once, full_width, at the head of the unit in parts/c1147_a.md (Q1). Ἐκκλησίαι (Cilicia): second kappa faint, may print as ν; set as Ἐκκλησίαι (UNSURE). Variorum notae at the page foot not set.
misprints (kept as printed; the English translates the intended word): πρεστῶτες for προεστῶτες; Θεόκοιστος for Θεόκτιστος; Καππαδοκίᾳ (iota subscript, dative form) for the nominative Καππαδοκία (Q1).