S. Eutychiani papae et martyris epistolae duae

have established, be offered upon the altar. We desire therefore (St Gregory, Ep. 52, Book 4), dearest brothers, and we entreat almighty God with all our prayers, that He may make your love grow more and more fervent in the constancy of His love, and may grant you to remain in the peace of the Church in one concord. We also admonish your brotherhood (St Gregory, Ep. 25, Book 2) to keep careful watch over the souls committed to you, and to attend more to the gain of souls than to the advantages of the present life. And in maintaining and ordering ecclesiastical affairs be diligent guardians, so that the Judge who is to come, when He comes to judge, may approve that you have discharged worthily in every respect the pastoral office you undertook. And may almighty God guard you with His protection (St Gregory, Ep. 50, Book 4), and grant you to preserve by your conduct the honour conferred on you by God, and help you to lead the souls committed to you with manifold fruit to the eternal pastures and to present them worthily to Himself, and deign to place you among His saints and elect. Given on the second day before the Ides of April, Aurelian and Marcellus, most illustrious men, being consuls.

Letter II.

To the bishops established throughout Sicily.

I. On the manner of receiving an accusation against clerics.

II. Who are not admitted to the accusation of religious persons.

III. On the manner of proceeding in ecclesiastical business, since one must not proceed in the secular manner.

To his most beloved brothers, all the bishops established throughout Sicily, Eutychian.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who has blessed us (Eph. 1, from a version mixed from the Itala and Jerome's) with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and spotless in His sight in charity, predestining us to the adoption of sons through Jesus Christ unto Himself, according to the purpose of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, in which He has shown us favour in His beloved Son, in Whom we have redemption through His blood, the remission of sins, according to the riches of His grace, which has abounded in us in all wisdom and prudence, that He might make known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Him, in the dispensation of the fullness of times, to restore all things in Christ, which are in the heavens and which are on earth, in Him. In Whom we too have been called by lot, predestined according to the purpose of Him Who works all things according to the counsel of His will, that we may be to the praise and glory of Him, we who hoped beforehand in Christ: in Whom you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the Gospel of your salvation, in Whom also believing you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, Who is the pledge of our inheritance, unto the redemption of acquisition, unto

the praise of His glory. Therefore I also, hearing of your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and of your love towards all the saints, do not cease giving thanks for you, making remembrance of you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your heart being enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of His calling, and what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power towards us who have believed, according to the working of the might of His power, which He worked in Christ, raising Him from the dead, and setting Him at His right hand in the heavenly places above every principality, and power, and virtue, and dominion, and every name that is named not only in this age but also in the one to come. And He has subjected all things under His feet, and has given Him as head over the whole Church, which is His body, and His fullness: Who fills all things in all. And you, when you were dead in your offences and your sins (Eph. 2), in which you once walked according to the age of this world, according to the prince of the power of this air, the spirit who now works in the sons of distrust, among whom we too once lived in the desires of our flesh, doing the will of the flesh and of the thoughts, and we were by nature sons of wrath, even as the rest. Now, brothers, since from sons of wrath God by His grace and freely given mercy has made us His sons: and we, who were not worthy [to be] servants, with no merits going before, but by His grace (as we have said) have been made His sons: in Whom we cry, Abba, Father (Rom. 8): following His examples, sons at once of mercy and of justice and of love, so that with His help we may be able both to be called and to be true sons of God, laying aside (according to Peter the apostle) all malice and all guile, and pretences, and envies, and all detractions (1 Pet. 2). But those who do such things are proven to be not sons of God, but rather sons of wickedness, as Paul the Apostle says: The works of the flesh are manifest, which are fornication, impurity, lust, the service of idols, poisonings, enmities, contentions, rivalries, angers, quarrels, dissensions, sects, envies, murders, drunkennesses, revellings, and things like these, which I foretell to you, as I have foretold, that those who do such things will not attain the kingdom of God (Gal. 5). A grave word, brothers, and exceedingly dreadful, which he speaks: That those who do such things will not attain the kingdom of God. And the Truth Himself says in His own person: What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, but to suffer the loss of his own soul (Matt. 16)? Exceedingly grave are the things we have set forth, and very much to be guarded against. For to those from whom the kingdom of God is shut off, the Church too is beyond doubt denied. Concerning whom the Lord in the Gospel, announcing the power of the apostles and of their successor, says: Whose sins you shall have forgiven, they are forgiven them; and whose you shall have bound, they shall be bound (John 20; Matt. 18): that is, those whom you shall have barred from the Church, unless they have been reconciled through satisfaction,

for them too the gate of the heavenly kingdom will be shut.

I. — Therefore, guarding against these things (2 q. 6, Non ita in ecclesiasticis), and foreseeing the minds of the foolish, with pastoral care, together with all the bishops and the faithful of both orders of the holy Roman and universal Church, we decree that matters are not to be conducted in ecclesiastical affairs as they are in secular ones. For under secular laws, after someone who has been summoned has come and has begun to contend in the court, it is not permitted for him to withdraw before the case has been completed; but in ecclesiastical matters, once the case has been stated, it is permitted to withdraw, if it should be necessary, or if he should see that he is being oppressed. And we both state and order to be observed this order of accusation, that is: if any of the clergy is entangled in a charge, let him who could be accused not at once be considered guilty, lest we make innocence suspect. But whoever he is (1 q. 8, Quisquis est ille) who brings the charge, let him come into court; let him name the accused; let him take up the bond of the inscription; let him keep to the likeness [of penalty]; let him nevertheless enjoy the consideration due to his rank; and let him not perhaps suppose that he has licence to lie, since the likeness of punishment demands slanderers for retribution. For all heretics, and the suspect, and the excommunicate, murderers (Hadr., coll. 65) also and sorcerers, thieves, sacrilegious persons, robbers, poisoners, adulterers, and those who have committed abduction, or have given false testimony, or who have resorted to soothsayers and magicians, are in no way to be admitted to accusation.

II. — Let it never be permitted to any infamous person (5 q. 4, Nulli umquam infami) or sacrilegious person, in any matter whatever, to give testimony against a religious Christian, however humble and servile a person he may be, nor to attack a Christian over any matter, action or inscription. To all likewise let the licence of accusing or of testifying be denied who have neglected the dignity of the Christian religion and name, and the norm of their own law or of their own profession, or things forbidden by rule (Anianus, in Constant. 1, tit. 7, lib. 10, Cod. Theod.)

III. — Likewise we forbid that any cases be heard by ecclesiastical judges which are not contained in the laws, or which are known to be forbidden. Not only the ecclesiastical laws but also those of the world direct that these things be observed. For the accusation of priests ought not to be made indiscriminately (Council of Carthage 2) and at random. For if it were readily admitted, very few indeed would be found, since all who wish to live piously in Christ suffer persecution. But blessed are they who suffer persecution for the sake of justice. Whence also the Truth Himself says in His own person (1 Tim. 3; Matt. 5; John 17): Father, I have made Thy name manifest to the men whom Thou gavest Me out of the world. Thine they were

and Thou gave them to Me, and they have kept Thy word. Now they have known that all things which Thou gave Me are from Thee: for the words which Thou gave Me I have given to them, and they have received them: and they have known truly that I came forth from Thee, and they have believed that Thou sent Me. I ask for them; I do not ask for the world, but for those whom Thou gave Me, because they are Thine. And all My things are Thine, and Thine are Mine, and I am glorified in them. And now I am no longer in the world, and these are in the world, and I come to Thee. Holy Father, keep them in Thy name, those whom Thou gave Me, that they may be one, as We also are. When I was with them, I kept them in Thy name. Those whom Thou gave Me I have guarded: and none of them has perished except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. But now I come to Thee, and I speak these things in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them Thy word: and the world has held them in hatred, because they are not of the world, as I also am not of the world. I do not ask that Thou take them out of the world, but that Thou keep them from evil. They are not of the world, as I also am not of the world. Sanctify them in truth. Thy word is truth. As Thou sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. And for them I sanctify Myself, that they too may be sanctified in truth. Yet I do not ask for these only, but also for those who are to believe in Me through their word, that all may be one, and the world may believe that Thou sent Me. And the glory which Thou gave Me I have given to them, that they may be one, as We also are one. I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in one, that the world may know that Thou sent Me, and that I have loved them, as Thou also loved Me. Father, those whom Thou gave Me, I will that where I am, they also may be with Me, that they may see My glory, which Thou gave Me, because Thou loved Me before the foundation of the world. Righteous Father, the world has not known Thee, but I have known Thee, and these have known that Thou sent Me. And I have made known to them Thy name, and will make it known, that the love with which Thou loved Me may be in them, and I in them. And the same John, apostle and evangelist, speaks in his first epistle, saying (1 John 4): Dearest ones, let us love one another, because love is from God: and everyone who loves is born of God, and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God appeared in us, that God sent His only-begotten Son into the world, that we may live through Him. In this is love, not as though we had loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son as a propitiation for our sins. Dearest ones, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God. If we love one another, God abides in us and His love is perfected in us. In this we understand that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. And we have seen and bear witness that the Father sent His Son as saviour of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him and he in God. And we have seen and have believed the love which God has in us. God is love: and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him. In this love is perfected with us, that we may have confidence on the day of judgement, because as He is, so too

are we in this world. Fear is not in charity, but perfect charity casts out fear, since fear has punishment. And he who fears is not perfect in charity. Let us therefore love God, since God first loved us. If anyone says, I love God, and hates his brother, he is a liar. For he who does not love his brother whom he sees, how can he love God whom he does not see? And this commandment we have from God, that he who loves God should love his brother also. Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. And everyone who loves Him Who begot loves also him who is born of Him. In this we know that we shall love the children of God, when we love God and do His commandments. For this is the charity of God, that we keep His commandments: and His commandments are not heavy (1 John 5). And through the prophet the Lord, warning that His disciples and their successors should not be harmed, says (Ps. 32, from the version of St Jerome, which he mixes with the old and the Italic): The angel of the Lord surrounds round about those who fear Him, and will rescue them. Taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man who hopes in Him. Fear the Lord, all His saints, since there is no want for those who fear Him. Lions have been in want and have hungered: to those who seek the Lord no good thing shall be lacking. Walk, sons, hear me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord. Who is the man who wants life, loves to see good days? Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips, that they speak no deceit. Turn away from evil, and do good: seek peace, and pursue it. The eyes of the Lord are upon the just, and His ears towards their cry. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to destroy the memory of them from the earth. The just cried out, and the Lord heard them, and delivered them out of all their tribulations. The Lord is near to the contrite of heart, and will save the broken in spirit. Many are the evils of the just man, and out of them all the Lord will deliver him. The Lord keeps all his bones; not one of them shall be broken. Malice will slay the wicked man, and those who hate the just man will be found guilty. The Lord will redeem the souls of His servants, and will deliver them. You therefore, brethren (Ps. 54), set your hearts upon the Lord, and He will nourish you, for He will not give the just to waver for ever. And God our Lord will lead down our enemies, according to the voice of the Prophet, into the pit of destruction, since men of blood and deceitful men shall not halve their days. But you, always hope in the Lord, and have confidence in Him, for He will deliver us. For He is blessed from age to age, and of His kingdom there shall be no end (Luke 1). Given on the thirteenth day before the kalends of October (in the year 283), Carus for the second time and Carinus, most illustrious men, being consuls.