PL 54 · cols. 1132–1139

Leo the Great, Letters

Letters CLVII–CLIX

cum nimis benigne parcit, segnior invenitur, dignamini pro fide vestra, etiam istam Ecclesiae praestare medicinam, ut tales non solum ab ordine clericatus, sed etiam ab urbis habitatione pellantur: ne ulterius sanctus Dei populus perversorum hominum contagio polluatur. Cultores autem pietatis tuae Julianum episcopum et Aetium presbyterum, mea petitione commendo, ut suggestiones eorum pro catholicae defensione fidei placide digneris audire: quia verent sunt ejusmodi, ut fidei vestrae possint per omnia utiles inveniri.

[…] is found too slack, since he spares too kindly, deign, for the sake of your faith, to furnish this remedy also to the Church, that such men be driven not only from the order of the clergy but also from dwelling in the city: lest the holy people of God be any further polluted by the contagion of perverse men. And I commend by my petition the devoted servants of your piety, Bishop Julian and the priest Aetius, that you deign to hear kindly their suggestions for the defence of the catholic faith: for they are truly [printed verent] such that they can be found useful to your faith in all things.

Data kalendis Decembris, Constantino et Rufo viris clarissimis consulibus.

Given on the Kalends of December, in the consulship of the most illustrious men Constantinus and Rufus.

EPISTOLA CLVII.

LETTER CLVII.

AD ANATOLIUM EPISCOPUM CONSTANTINOPOLITANUM.

TO ANATOLIUS, BISHOP OF CONSTANTINOPLE.

LEO ANATOLIO episcopo Constantinopolitano.

LEO to ANATOLIUS, bishop of Constantinople.

CAP. I. — Rursus acceptis dilectionis tuae litteris, omnia quae Alexandriae insanissime gesta sunt cum magno dolore cognovi; si tamen ullae epistolarum paginae tam atrocia facinora explicare potuerunt. Sed non jam nobis in deflendis adversitatibus est morandum, cum utilius sit providere quae prosint, et quae haereticorum furorem tandem aliquando ab Ecclesiae quiete depellant. Cum enim talem principem nobis divina providentia prospexerit, ut fides ipsius sollicitudinem pene superet sacerdotum, tuae dilectionis maxime exspectatur instantia, ut venerandissimo imperatori pro universali Ecclesia supplicare non desinas, et creris suggestionibus poscere, ut quamprimum a pervasoribus suis Alexandrina Ecclesia liberetur. Ego sane quantum potui, piissimum principem precatus sum, ut et statuta sanctae synodi Chalcedonensis manere inviolata praeciperet, et haereticorum assertiones in magna vergere ignorantiae

CHAP. I. — Having again received your affection's letter, I have learned with great sorrow all that has been most insanely done at Alexandria; if indeed any pages of letters could set out crimes so atrocious. But we must no longer linger in bewailing adversities, since it is more useful to provide what may be of profit, and what may at long last drive the fury of the heretics from the quiet of the Church. For since divine providence has provided us with such a prince that his faith almost surpasses the solicitude of the priests, the urgency of your affection is above all looked for, that you do not cease to entreat the most venerable emperor on behalf of the universal Church, and to ask with the other [printed creris] suggestions that the Alexandrian Church be freed as soon as possible from its usurpers. I, for my part, as far as I could, have besought the most pious prince both to command that the statutes of the holy synod of Chalcedon remain inviolate, and to recognize that the assertions of the heretics tend towards great […]

Editors' notes and page, col. 1132

Footnotes

(g) ‹Julianum episcopum et› (before Aetium) · printed under col 1131

Eaedem editiones cum mss. collect. 12, Eutychium, male. Cod. Griman. et codicis encyclii editiones et mss., Aetium.

The same editions, with the manuscripts of collection 12, Eutychium, wrongly. The Grimani manuscript and the editions and manuscripts of the Codex encyclius, Aetium.

(h) ‹inveniri. Data› (before kalendis) · printed under col 1131

Eaedem editiones Leonis cum iisdem mss. collect. 12. kal. Novembris. Codicis encyclii lectio cum Quesnello praeferenda fuit, cum eadem occasione transmissae videantur duae sequentes epistolae, quarum altera iisdem kal. Decembris signatur.

The same editions of Leo, with the same manuscripts of collection 12, kal. Novembris. The reading of the Codex encyclius had to be preferred, with Quesnel, since the two following letters seem to have been sent on the same occasion, one of which is dated on the same Kalends of December.

(i) ‹EPISTOLA› (before CLVII) · printed under col 1131

Alias 126. Eodem die quo praecedens.

Otherwise 126. On the same day as the preceding.

(j) ‹EPISTOLA CLVII.› (before AD ANATOLIUM) · printed under col 1131, running over under col 1132

Episcopi catholici, praeter libellum imperatori oblatum, cujus in Admonitione praecedenti epistolae praefixa meminimus, alium libellum Anatolio Constantinopolitano episcopo obtulere, qui in codice encyclio legitur c. 8. In hoc eumdem episcopum rogarunt ut per synodicas litteras sanctissimo Ecclesiae Romanae pontifici Leoni suos gemitus indicaret. Hunc quidem ad pontificem scripsisse testis est ejus epistola ad imperatorem in eodem codice recitata cap. 13. Anatolii porro litteras ad S. Leonem una cum litteris Augusti transmissas fuisse Epiphanius scholasticus docet c. 10. Haec propterea pontificis epistola Anatolii litteris reddita ex Leonis more eodem tempore data fuit quo praecedens ad imperatorem epistola signatur, nimirum kalend. Decembris anni 457, quod tempus aliis argumentis Quesnellus in notis constituit. Ex cod. Grim editam nullo alio in ms. reperire potuimus.

The catholic bishops, besides the petition offered to the emperor, which we mentioned in the Admonition prefixed to the preceding letter, presented another petition to Anatolius, bishop of Constantinople, which is read in the Codex encyclius, c. 8. In it they asked the same bishop to make known their groans by synodal letters to Leo, most holy pontiff of the Roman Church. That he did write to the pontiff is attested by his letter to the emperor, quoted in the same codex, cap. 13. Further, Epiphanius Scholasticus shows, c. 10, that Anatolius's letter to St Leo was sent together with the Augustus's letter. This letter of the pontiff, therefore, given in reply to Anatolius's letter, was, according to Leo's custom, dated at the same time as the preceding letter to the emperor, namely the Kalends of December of the year 457, a date which Quesnel established by other arguments in his notes. Edited from the Grimani manuscript, we have been able to find it in no other manuscript.

(k) ‹CAP. I. —› (before Rursus) · printed under col 1132

Rursus, inquit, quia alias Anatolii litteras de Aegyptiorum tumultibus acceperat, quibus respondit epist. 155.

"Again", he says, because he had received another letter of Anatolius about the disturbances of the Egyptians, to which he replied in Letter 155.

(l) ‹Ego sane quantum potui,› (before piissimum) · printed under col 1132

Epist. 156.

Letter 156.

Editors' prose

Synopsis. — I. Ut apud imperatorem, quem laudat, pro comprimendis haereticis strenue agat; idque curet ut Chalced. synodus firma permaneat, et pax Ecclesiae Alexandrinae restituatur. — II. Ut parricidae ab ea pellantur, et afflicti Aegypti episcopi adjuventur. — III. Profugis ex Aegypto episcopis opem esse ferendam; synodi adversariis constanter resistendum esse — IV. De Attico presbytero et Andrea, ut vel corrigantur, vel repellantur ab Ecclesia.

Synopsis. — I. That he should act vigorously with the emperor, whom he praises, for the suppression of the heretics; and should take care that the synod of Chalcedon remain firm and that peace be restored to the Alexandrian Church. — II. That the parricides be driven from it, and the afflicted bishops of Egypt be helped. — III. That help must be given to the bishops who have fled from Egypt; that the adversaries of the synod must be steadfastly resisted. — IV. On the priest Atticus and Andrew, that they be either corrected or driven from the Church.

Page

running head: 1131 S. LEONIS MAGNI EPISTOLÆ. 1132 (one head across page 571)
marginal letters: A ‹lius, cum nimis›; B beside the synopsis ‹comprimendis haereticis›; C ‹nobis divina providentia›; D beside note (j) ‹runt ut per synodicas›
old-edition numerals: 1326 before the heading EPISTOLA CLVII
signature: none
other: the first word, lius, completes Ana-lius, set whole at the end of col 1131

PL 54:1133

caecitate cognosceret, et quae de pervadendo sacerdotio parricidae sacrilegi commiserunt nulla posse dissimulatione tolerari; nec alio modo totam causam posse consumi, nisi praedictae synodi constitutiones perennitatis robur accipiant, et insanissimi pervasores ab aliena sede pellantur; fiatque tandem Alexandrinus populus suae quietis et pacis: ne paucorum haereticorum arbitrio in Ecclesiae noxam et in Dei praecipitentur offensam.

[…] blindness of ignorance, and that what the sacrilegious parricides committed in usurping the priesthood can be tolerated by no dissembling; and that the whole cause can be brought to an end in no other way than if the constitutions of the aforesaid synod receive the strength of perpetuity, and the most insane usurpers are driven from a see not their own; and that the Alexandrian people may at last become possessed of its own quiet and peace: lest by the will of a few heretics they be hurled into harm to the Church and into offence against God.

CAP. II. — Multum autem in eo consolationis accepi, quod ex omni numero episcoporum qui Aegyptiacis dioecesibus praesunt, solum dudum damnati potuerunt quatuor inveniri qui Timotheo et impietate haereseos et sceleris latrocinio jungerentur; qui ad petendam synodum admitti nullatenus possent, etiamsi de solo haeretico arguerentur errore. Cum autem et in occupando episcopatum, et interficiendo episcopum, inauditum facinus perpetrarint, quid illis in Ecclesia loci est, etiamsi catholicam suscipiant veritatem? Omnibus igitur intra Aegyptum sacerdotibus Domini, sive recentioribus, sive ex antiqua constitutione residentibus, uno auxilio remedioque praestandum est ut tam indignis persecutionibus liberentur, et hoc malum, quod se penetralibus tantae urbis ingessit, salubri auctoritate pellatur, et Christiana plebs fide atque operibus ante devota paternis constitutionibus valeat cum quiete servire.

CHAP. II. — But I have received much consolation from this, that out of the whole number of the bishops who preside over the dioceses of Egypt, only four, condemned long ago, could be found to join Timothy both in the impiety of heresy and in the brigandage of crime; and these could by no means be admitted to ask for a synod, even if they were accused of heretical error alone. But since they have perpetrated an unheard-of crime both in seizing the episcopate and in killing the bishop, what place have they in the Church, even if they accept the catholic truth? To all the priests of the Lord within Egypt, therefore, whether the more recent or those who hold their sees by ancient appointment, one and the same help and remedy must be furnished, that they may be freed from such undeserved persecutions, and that this evil, which has thrust itself into the inmost parts of so great a city, may be driven out by salutary authority, and that the Christian people, formerly devoted in faith and works, may be able to serve the fathers' constitutions in quiet.

CAP. III. — Fratres autem nostros qui Constantinopolim ab Aegypti parte venerunt, litteris meis imperatori commendare non destiti; sed etiam te tuae humanitatis admoneo ut ad consolationem peregrinationis ipsorum quantum potes studii adhibere digneris, quorum praesentia multum dilectionem tuam juvare apud clementissimum principem potest, ne petitioni haereticorum ad novam synodum, quae universali Ecclesiae inimica est, annuatur. Quamvis apostolica sedes ea fide ac stabilitate fundata sit, ut nequaquam recipiat istius novitatis assensum, ac si quis adversariorum machinationibus connivendum esse crediderit, ipse se a communione catholicae Ecclesiae separabit, cum secundum inspirationem Dei et in fide incarnationis Christi, et in custodia Chalcedonensis synodi, universalis Ecclesiae sit una sententia; et praecipue in nostris paribus tam firmiter evangelica doctrina teneatur, ut magnum sacrilegium putetur si a traditione apostolica vel in exiguo aliquo devietur.

CHAP. III. — Our brethren who have come to Constantinople from the region of Egypt I have not ceased to commend to the emperor in my letters; but I also admonish you, of your kindness, to deign to apply as much zeal as you can to the consolation of their exile, since their presence can greatly help your affection with the most clement prince, so that the heretics' petition for a new synod, which is hostile to the universal Church, may not be granted. Although the apostolic see is founded on such faith and stability that it by no means admits assent to this novelty, and if anyone should believe that the machinations of the adversaries are to be connived at, he will separate himself from the communion of the catholic Church, since, according to the inspiration of God, both in the faith of the incarnation of Christ and in the keeping of the synod of Chalcedon, there is one judgement of the universal Church; and above all among our equals the teaching of the Gospel is held so firmly that it is reckoned a great sacrilege if there be any departure from the apostolic tradition even in some small thing.

CAP. IV. — Jampridem dilectioni tuae scripsisse me recolo, ut in clero Ecclesiae tuae nullum Eutychianae haeresi consentire patiaris: quoniam capitis periculum respicit, si quid saucium inveniatur in membris. Sed cum hoc nulla adhuc correctione purgatum sit, et Atticum presbyterum tuum ad eam insolentiam

CHAP. IV. — I remember that I wrote long ago to your affection that you should not allow anyone in the clergy of your Church to consent to the Eutychian heresy: since it concerns the danger of the head if anything is found wounded in the members. But since this has not yet been purged by any correction, and [I learn that] your priest Atticus has advanced to such insolence […]

Editors' notes and page, col. 1133

Footnotes

(a) ‹CAP. IV. —› (before Jampridem) · printed under col 1133

Epist. 152, 156.

Letters 152, 156.

(b) printed under this column; its call is in col 1134, set in n1134 (c) printed under this column; its call is in col 1134, set in n1134 (d) printed under this column (running over under col 1134); its call is in col 1134, set in n1134

Page

running head: 1133 EPISTOLA CLVIII. 1134 (one head across page 572)
marginal letters: A ‹caecitate cognosceret›; B ‹si de solo haeretico›; C ‹humanitatis admoneo›; D ‹gium putetur si a traditione›
old-edition numerals: 1327 after commiserunt
signature: none
other: the last word, in-solentiam, is hyphenated across into col 1134 and set whole here

PL 54:1134

profecisse cognoscom, ut in Ecclesia contra catholicam fidem et Chalcedonensem synodum audeat disputare: cogor vehementius de tua dissimulatione causari. Nam quod incommonitus facere debuisti, miror etiam post evidentia nostra scripta neglectum. Et ideo acrius moneo neque amplius dissimulandum esse protestor, si hominem pestilentem ulterius in tua habendum communione credideris; quem nos, si fieri potest, emendari malumus quam perire: ut scilicet si correctum se videri cupit et in societate ecclesiastica permanere, de eo loco unde contra catholicam fidem multa disseruit, aperte nunc ipsius fidei praedicator appareat, et nihil Eutychiani dogmatis praetermittat, quod non manifestatione suae professionis Christiano populo audiente condemnet: ne, ut dixi, plurimum dissimulatio ista te maculet, si vel hic tam noxius, vel Andreas impietatis ipsius socius, nec correcti fuerint, nec repulsi.

[…] has advanced, as I learn, so that he dares to dispute in the Church against the catholic faith and the synod of Chalcedon, I am compelled to complain more strongly of your dissembling. For what you ought to have done without being admonished, I am surprised has been neglected even after our plain letters. And therefore I admonish you more sharply, and I solemnly declare that there must be no more dissembling, if you should think that the pestilent man is to be kept any longer in your communion; though we would rather, if it can be done, that he be amended than perish: namely, that if he wishes to be seen corrected and to remain in the fellowship of the Church, from that very place where he has discoursed much against the catholic faith he should now openly appear as a preacher of that faith, and should pass over nothing of the Eutychian doctrine without condemning it by a declaration of his profession in the hearing of the Christian people: lest, as I have said, this dissembling should greatly stain you, if either this man, so harmful, or Andrew, his partner in impiety, should be neither corrected nor expelled.

EPISTOLA CLVIII.

LETTER CLVIII.

AD EPISCOPOS CATHOLICOS AEGYPTI APUD CONSTANTINOPOLIM CONSTITUTOS.

TO THE CATHOLIC BISHOPS OF EGYPT STAYING AT CONSTANTINOPLE.

LEO Aegyptiis episcopis catholicis apud Constantinopolim constitutis.

LEO to the catholic bishops of Egypt staying at Constantinople.

Olim me commissorum apud Alexandriam scelerum indicia contristaverunt, et ita animum meum ipsius immanitate facinoris vulneraverunt, ut quibus hoc lacrymis, qua lamentatione defleatur ignorem; meritoque illa prophetica voce proclamem: Quis dabit capiti meo aquam, et oculis meis fontem lacrymarum? Querelas tamen dilectionis vestrae praeveniens, clementissimo et Christianissimo principi de tantorum malorum remediis supplicavi, et per filios nostros Gerontium et Olympium subadjuvas diverso tempore depospoci, ut illius civitatis Ecclesiam, in qua tot catholici floruere doctores, praeciperet damnatae haereseos purgari, et parricidales animos quos a rectoris sui sanguine nec veneratio loci potuit deterrere nec temporis, nihil de clementia sua sineret obtinere; maxime cum in eversionem fidei Chalcedonense concilium cupiant retractari. Proinde dilectionis vestrae tolerantiam eadem causa debet quae vos de propriis sedibus expulit, consolari quia certum est tribulatos animos et propter nomen suum patientes adversa, nequaquam Domini protectione destitui. Ferte igitur magnanimiter, et illam quae vestra est patriam cogitantes, de praesenti peregrinatione gaudete. Absit a vobis exilii dolor nec, aliquid de hac fatigatione moeroris habeatis, qui scitis propter fidem Domini etiam de periculis plurimis Apostolum gloriari. Habetis cum praeparatis retributionis praemiis istius certaminis cognitorem. Nemo

Long ago the reports of the crimes committed at Alexandria saddened me, and so wounded my mind by the very monstrousness of the deed that I do not know with what tears, with what lamentation this is to be bewailed; and rightly may I cry out in that prophetic voice: Who will give water to my head, and a fountain of tears to my eyes? Yet, anticipating the complaints of your affection, I have made supplication to the most clement and most Christian prince concerning remedies for such great evils, and through our sons the assistants Gerontius and Olympius I have, at different times, earnestly demanded [printed depospoci] that he should command the Church of that city, in which so many catholic teachers have flourished, to be purged of the condemned heresy, and should allow the parricidal minds, which neither the reverence of the place nor of the season could deter from the blood of their ruler, to obtain nothing from his clemency; above all since, to the overthrow of the faith, they desire the council of Chalcedon to be reconsidered. Accordingly, the very cause which drove you from your own sees ought to console the endurance of your affection, since it is certain that minds afflicted and suffering adversity for His name are by no means left destitute of the Lord's protection. Bear it, therefore, with greatness of soul, and, thinking of that fatherland which is yours, rejoice in your present exile. Far from you be the pain of banishment, nor should you have any grief from this weariness, you who know that the Apostle gloried for the faith of the Lord even in very many perils. You have, with the prepared rewards of recompense, One Who is judge of this contest. No one […]

Editors' notes and page, col. 1134

Footnotes

(b) ‹EPISTOLA› (before CLVIII) · printed under col 1133

Alias 127. Scripta 1 Dec. an. 457.

Otherwise 127. Written 1 December in the year 457.

Haec epistola, ex Grimanico edita, in nullo alio codice hactenus inventa est.

This letter, edited from the Grimani manuscript, has so far been found in no other manuscript.

(d) ‹per filios nostros› (before Gerontium) · printed under col 1133, running over under col 1134

Epistola per Gerentium missa, est epistola 148, scripta kal. Septembris hujus anni 457; eodem enim die datae fuerunt epistolae 152 et 153, quae per Gerontium missae fuere. Epistola vero per Olympium missa desideratur. Vide annot. 4 Cl. 1126, n. f) in epist. 155.

The letter sent by Gerontius [printed Gerentium] is Letter 148, written on the Kalends of September of this year 457; for on the same day were given Letters 152 and 153, which were sent by Gerontius. But the letter sent by Olympius is lost. See note 4, col. 1126, n. f), on Letter 155.

(e) ‹nec veneratio› (before loci) · printed under col 1134

Proterius scilicet in baptisterio die Coenae Domini interfectus fuit.

Proterius, that is, was killed in the baptistery on the day of the Lord's Supper.

Editors' prose

Synopsis. — Consolatur episcopos pro fide extorres, et ad patientiam hortatur spe coelestis retributionis objecta, et promissa sua apud imperatorem actione.

Synopsis. — He consoles the bishops exiled for the faith, and exhorts them to patience, holding out the hope of heavenly recompense, and promising his own intervention with the emperor.

Page

running head: 1133 EPISTOLA CLVIII. 1134 (one head across page 572)
marginal letters: A ‹solentiam profecisse›; B ‹demnet: ne, ut dixi›; C ‹bit capiti meo aquam›; D ‹suum patientes adversa›
old-edition numerals: 1328 after Ecclesia (first line); 1329 after certum est
signature: none
other: the first word, solentiam, completes in-solentiam, set whole at the end of col 1133

PL 54:1135

fugiat hunc laborem, cujus merces est in aeternum regnare vel vivere. Sint in atriis Jerusalem fixi pedes omnium dimicantium, qui spe retributionis illius, nec inimicorum castra poterunt formidare nec praelia. De reliquiis hostis abjecti pariter ab universitate perculsis numquam est ardua victoria nec palma difficilis, praecipue de his quarum prostratos jam videtis auctores. Assiduis ergo precibus (sicut et ipse non tacuit) favorem, qui Deo propitio promptus est, Christianissimi imperatoris ambite: ut secundum scripta quae misi, communis fidei causam ea mentis devotione quam probavimus eum habere communiat, dilectionisque vestrae reditum, praejudiciis omnibus quae haereticorum furore sunt generata sublatis, pro sua pietate disponat, et singulas quasque provincias omnesque Ecclesias cum sacerdotibus suis inconcussa faciat Christi pace gaudere.

[…] should flee this labour, whose reward is to reign, or rather to live, for ever. Let the feet of all who fight be set fast in the courts of Jerusalem, who in the hope of that recompense will be able to fear neither the camps nor the battles of the enemy. Over the remnants of a cast-down foe, struck down alike by the whole body, the victory is never arduous nor the palm difficult, above all over those whose authors you already see laid low. With constant prayers, therefore (as he himself too has not kept silent), seek the favour of the most Christian emperor, which, God being gracious, is ready: that, according to the letter which I have sent, he may fortify the cause of the common faith with that devotion of mind which we have proved him to have, and may, in his piety, arrange the return of your affection, all the prejudicial measures that were produced by the fury of the heretics being removed, and may make each and every province and all the Churches with their priests rejoice in the unshaken peace of Christ.

Datum kalendis Decembris, Constantino et Rufo consulibus.

Given on the Kalends of December, in the consulship of Constantinus and Rufus.

EPISTOLA CLIX.

LETTER CLIX.

Ad NICETAM episcopum Aquileiensem.

To NICETAS, bishop of Aquileia.

Editors' notes and page, col. 1135

Footnotes

(a) ‹in aeternum regnare› (before vel vivere) · printed under col 1135

Sic ms. Grim., ex quo uno haec epistola edita est. Vide editionem P. Cacciarii. Quesnellus mutavit vel in et eo arbitrio quo epist. 149 concilium mutavit in judicium, et epist. 128 similem particulam vel mutavit in et. Hoc autem exemplo confirmatur quod alibi animadvertimus, vel pro et identidem a Leone acceptum.

So the Grimani manuscript, from which alone this letter has been edited. See the edition of P. Cacciari. Quesnel changed vel into et, by the same licence by which in Letter 149 he changed concilium into judicium, and in Letter 128 changed a similar particle vel into et. But this example confirms what we have observed elsewhere, that vel is repeatedly taken by Leo for et.

(b) ‹prostratos jam videtis› (before auctores) · printed under col 1135

Eutychen et Dioscorum damnatos et in exsilium pulsos.

Eutyches and Dioscorus, condemned and driven into exile.

Epist. 156.

Letter 156.

(d) ‹EPISTOLA› (before CLIX) · printed under col 1135

Alias 129. Scripta 21 Martii an. 458.

Otherwise 129. Written 21 March in the year 458.

(e) ‹EPISTOLA CLIX.› (before Ad NICETAM) · printed under col 1135

Invenimus hanc epistolam in mss. collect. 1, 3, 5. Dionys., Hadrian., His., Isid, 11, 12, 13 et 21 usque ad 24, ac in exemplo Sichardi. Contulimus etiam cum Veronen. 60, Cresconii, et nonnulla cum exemplo Herovalliano, quod a Petit editum fuit. In hoc ad Nicetium inscribitur.

We have found this letter in the manuscripts of collections 1, 3, 5, the Dionysian, the Hadrianic, the Spanish, the Isidorian, 11, 12, 13 and 21 to 24, and in Sichard's copy. We have also collated it with the Verona manuscript 60, with Cresconius, and in some places with the Herovallian copy, which was edited by Petit. In this it is inscribed ad Nicetium.

(f) ‹Ad NICETAM episcopum Aquileiensem.› (before SYNOPSIS) · printed under col 1135, running over under col 1136

In mss. collect. 5 dividitur in quatuor capita, quorum primum quatuor priora ex Dionysio edita complectitur, secundum correspondet quinto, tertium sexto, quartum autem septimo. In tabula vero collectioni praefixa hi tituli praeferuntur cap. 74: Ad Nicetam Aquileiensem episcopum super quatuor titulorum interrogatione responsio, id est: I. De mulieribus quae hostilitatis tempore, maritis in captivitatem adductis, aliis conjunctae sunt viris. II. De his Christianis qui captivitatis necessitate immolatitiis escis polluti sunt. III. De his qui baptisma vel metu hostium vel errore traducti, visi sunt iterasse. IV. De his qui ab haereticis primum baptismum acceperunt, cum ante non fuerint baptizati.

In the manuscripts of collection 5 it is divided into four chapters, of which the first comprises the first four edited from Dionysius, the second corresponds to the fifth, the third to the sixth, and the fourth to the seventh. But in the table prefixed to the collection these titles are put forward, cap. 74: Reply to Nicetas, bishop of Aquileia, on an inquiry under four heads, that is: I. On women who, in time of hostilities, their husbands having been led into captivity, have been joined to other husbands. II. On those Christians who, through the necessity of captivity, have been polluted by foods offered to idols. III. On those who, led on either by fear of the enemy or by error, appear to have repeated baptism. IV. On those who received their first baptism from heretics, not having been baptized before.

Editors' prose

Synopsis (Ex Dionysio Exiguo). — I. Quod debeant feminae, quae, captis viris, nupserant aliis, regressis de captivitate viris prioribus copulari, ut quod suum est unusquisque recipiat. — II. Quod non probetur esse culpabilis, qui uxorem captivi [Al., capti] in matrimonium videtur esse sortitus. — III. Ut si viri de captivitate regressi intemperantia uxorum offensi non fuerint, et voluerint eos in conjugium recipere, liberam habeant facultatem. — IV. Ut si mulieres ad priores maritos redire noluerint, velut impiae ecclesiastica communione privandae sint. — V. Captivis aut terrore [Al., errore], aut fame, non veneratione, cibos immolatitios edere compulsis, poenitentia concedenda est. — VI. Quod hi qui ad iterationem baptismi, vel vi vel errore [Al., timore] coacti, animos inclinarunt, sint sublevandi remedio, ita ut senilis aetatis, periculorum quoque et aegritudinum, caeterarumque necessitatum habeatur sollicita consideratione respectus. — VII. Ut qui ab haereticis baptizati sunt, sola sancti Spiritus invocatione firmentur.

Synopsis (from Dionysius Exiguus). — I. That women who, their husbands having been taken captive, had married others, ought to be united to their former husbands when these return from captivity, so that each may receive what is his own. — II. That he is not held to be culpable who appears to have obtained in marriage the wife of a captive [otherwise, of one taken]. — III. That if husbands returned from captivity have not been offended by their wives' incontinence and wish to receive them back into marriage, they should have free power to do so. — IV. That if women are unwilling to return to their former husbands, they are to be deprived of ecclesiastical communion as impious. — V. To captives compelled by terror [otherwise, by error] or by hunger, not by veneration, to eat foods offered to idols, penance is to be granted. — VI. That those who, forced either by violence or by error [otherwise, by fear], inclined their minds to the repetition of baptism, are to be relieved by a remedy, in such a way that regard be had, with careful consideration, to old age, and also to perils and sicknesses and other necessities. — VII. That those who have been baptized by heretics are to be confirmed by the invocation of the Holy Spirit alone.

Page

running head: 1135 S. LEONIS MAGNI EPISTOLÆ. 1136 (one head across page 573)
marginal letters: A ‹fugiat hunc laborem›; B ‹que provincias omnesque›; C beside the synopsis ‹tentia concedenda est›; D beside note (e) ‹5. Dionys., Hadrian.›
old-edition numerals: 1330 in the synopsis, after recipiat. — (before II.)
signature: none
other: the synopsis runs over to the head of col 1136 (ba-ptizati sunt … firmentur); set whole here

PL 54:1136

LEO episcopus NICETAE Aquileiensi episcopo salutem.

LEO, bishop, to NICETAS, bishop of Aquileia, greeting.

Regressus ad nos filius meus Adeodatus sedis nostrae diaconus, dilectionem tuam poposcisse memoravit, ut de his a nobis auctoritatem apostolicae sedis accipere, quae quidem magnam difficultatem dijudicationis videntur afferre. Sed pro inspectione temporalium necessitatum adhibenda curatio est, ut vulnera quae hostilitatis adversitate illata sunt, religionis maxime ratione sanentur.

My son Adeodatus, deacon of our see, on returning to us, reported that your affection had asked to receive from us the authority of the apostolic see concerning matters which indeed seem to bring great difficulty of decision. But care must be applied with regard to the necessities of the times, so that the wounds which have been inflicted by the adversity of hostilities may be healed above all by the reasoning of religion.

CAP. I. De feminis quae occasione captivitatis virorum suorum, aliis nupserunt. — Cum ergo per bellicam cladem et per gravissimos hostilitatis incursus, ita quaedam dicatis divisa esse conjugia, ut abductis in captivitatem viris feminae eorum remanserint destitutae, quae cum viros proprios aut interemptos putarent, aut numquam a dominatione crederent liberandos, ad aliorum conjugium, solitudine cogente, transierint. Cumque nunc statu rerum, auxiliante Domino, in meliora converso, nonnulli eorum qui putabantur periisse, remeaverint, merito charitas tua videtur ambigere quid de mulieribus quae aliis junctae sunt viris, a nobis debeat ordinari. Sed quia novimus scriptum, quod a Deo jungitur, mulier viro (Prov. XIX. 14), et iterum praeceptum agnovimus ut quod Deus junxit homo non separet (Matth. XIX. 6), necesse est ut legitimarum foedera nuptiarum redintegranda credamus, et remotis malis quae hostilitas intulit, unicuique hoc quod legitime habuit reformetur, omnique studio procurandum est ut recipiat unusquisque quod proprium est.

CHAP. I. On women who, on the occasion of their husbands' captivity, have married others. — Since, then, you say that through the disaster of war and the most grievous incursions of the enemy certain marriages have been so divided that, their husbands having been led away into captivity, their wives were left destitute, and these, thinking their own husbands either killed or believing they would never be freed from [the enemy's] domination, have, under the pressure of loneliness, passed into marriage with others; and since now, the state of affairs having with the Lord's help changed for the better, some of those who were thought to have perished have come back, your charity seems rightly to be in doubt what ought to be ordained by us concerning the women who have been joined to other husbands. But since we know that it is written that a woman is joined to a man by God (Prov. 19:14), and again we acknowledge the precept that what God has joined man should not separate (Matt. 19:6), it is necessary that we believe the bonds of lawful marriages must be restored, and that, the evils which hostility brought being removed, to each man should be restored what he lawfully had, and every effort must be made that each one receive what is his own.

CAP. II. An culpabilis sit qui locum captivi mariti assumpsit. — Nec tamen culpabilis judicetur, et tamquam alieni juris pervasor habeatur, qui personam ejus mariti, qui jam non esse existimabatur, assumpsit.

CHAP. II. Whether he is culpable who has taken the place of a captive husband. — Yet he is not to be judged culpable, nor held to be a usurper of another's right, who took the part of that husband who was thought no longer to exist.

Editors' notes and page, col. 1136

Footnotes

(f) printed partly under this column (its last lines); its call is in col 1135, set in n1135

(g) ‹filius meus Adeodatus› (before sedis) · printed under col 1136

Vat. Hisp. et Isid. omittunt sedis nostrae. Postea a nobis deest in mss. Vat. Reg. collect. Vindebon, collect. 5. Florent., S. Marci collect. 13, et in Justello.

The Vatican Spanish and Isidorian manuscripts omit sedis nostrae. Next, a nobis is missing in the manuscripts Vatican Regina, the Vienna collection, collection 5, Florence, St Mark's collection 13, and in Justel.

(h) ‹adversitate illata sunt,› (before religionis) · printed under col 1136

Vindebon. collect. 5, in religionis.

The Vienna manuscript of collection 5, in religionis.

(i) ‹Cum ergo per› (before bellicam) · printed under col 1136

Clades indicatur, quam Attila Italiae intulit an. 452, quaque Aquileiam praecipue vastavit.

The disaster meant is the one which Attila inflicted on Italy in the year 452, by which he especially laid waste Aquileia.

(j) ‹quaedam dicatis› (before divisa) · printed under col 1136

Vat. Reginae collect. 1. diversa.

The Vatican Regina manuscript of collection 1, diversa.

(k) ‹remanserint destitutae, quae› (before cum viros) · printed under col 1136

Particulam cum desiderant cum vulg. antiquis mss. codd. Vindebon. collect. 5, utrique Hisp. Vat. Isid., alii Vat. collect. 21, nec non exemplaria Justelli, Merlini, atque Sichardi. Mox iidem vulg., putarint.... crediderint.... et ad aliorum conjugium. Sex codices diversarum collectionum, licet cum Justello praeferant putarent et crederent, habent nihilominus, et in aliorum; Vindebon. Hisp., sed in aliorum; Vat. Hisp., et aliorum; Vindebon collect. 5, sed et in aliorum. Dein pro solitudine uterque Hisp. cum Vat. Isid. aliisque inde profectis codd., sollicitudine Quesnellus in margine. Al., ad aliorum conjugum amplexus sollicitudine cogente.

The particle cum is lacking, together with the common editions, in the old manuscripts: the Vienna manuscript of collection 5, both Spanish ones, the Vatican Isidorian, other Vatican manuscripts of collection 21, and also the copies of Justel, Merlin and Sichard. Next, the same common editions, putarint.... crediderint.... et ad aliorum conjugium. Six manuscripts of different collections, although with Justel they give putarent and crederent, nonetheless have et in aliorum; the Vienna Spanish manuscript, sed in aliorum; the Vatican Spanish, et aliorum; the Vienna manuscript of collection 5, sed et in aliorum. Then, for solitudine, both Spanish manuscripts, with the Vatican Isidorian and other manuscripts derived from it, sollicitudine; [so] Quesnel in the margin. Others, ad aliorum conjugum amplexus sollicitudine cogente.

(l) ‹novimus scriptum,› (before quod a Deo) · printed under col 1136

Vat. Dionys. 5845, et Veron. Grescon. delent quod, et praeferunt a Domino.

The Vatican Dionysian manuscript 5845 and the Verona Cresconius [printed Grescon.] delete quod, and give a Domino.

(m) ‹hostilitas intulit, unicuique› (before hoc) · printed under col 1136

Codd. Vat. collect. 3. Vindebon. collect. 5, utrique Hisp. Cresc., Isid., cum Justello, id quod.

The Vatican manuscripts of collection 3, the Vienna manuscript of collection 5, both Spanish ones, Cresconius, the Isidorian, with Justel, id quod.

(n) ‹legitime habuit reformetur,› (before omnique) · printed under col 1136

Vindebon. Hisp., omniumque.

The Vienna Spanish manuscript, omniumque.

Editors' prose

(none; the last line of the synopsis of Letter CLIX, printed at the head of this column, is set whole with the rest in n1135)

Page

running head: 1135 S. LEONIS MAGNI EPISTOLÆ. 1136 (one head across page 573)
marginal letters: A beside the end of the synopsis ‹ptizati sunt›; B ‹tutae, quae cum viros›; C ‹cipiat unusquisque›; D beside note (k) ‹Isid., alii Vat.›
old-edition numerals: 1331 after viros
signature: none
other: the last word, assum-psit, is hyphenated across into col 1137 and set whole here

PL 54:1137

Sic enim multa quae ad eos qui in captivitatem ducti sunt pertinebant in jus alienum transire potuerunt, et tamen plenum justitiae est ut eisdem reversis propria reformentur. Quod si in mancipiis vel in agris, aut etiam in domibus ac possessionibus rite servatur, quanto magis in conjugiorum redintegratione faciendum est, ut quod bellica necessitate turbatum est pacis remedio reformetur?

For in this way many things which belonged to those who were led into captivity could pass into another's right, and yet it is fully just that, when they have returned, their own property should be restored to them. And if this is duly observed in the case of slaves or fields, or even of houses and possessions, how much more must it be done in the restoring of marriages, that what was disturbed by the necessity of war should be restored by the remedy of peace?

CAP. III. Restituendam esse uxorem primo marito. — Et ideo, si viri post longam captivitatem reversi ita in dilectione suarum conjugum perseverent, ut eas cupiant in suum redire consortium, omittendum est et inculpabile judicandum quod necessitas intulit, et restituendum quod fides poscit.

CHAP. III. That the wife is to be restored to the first husband. — And therefore, if the husbands, returning after a long captivity, so persevere in love for their wives that they desire them to return to their fellowship, what necessity brought about is to be passed over and judged blameless, and what fidelity demands is to be restored.

CAP. IV. Excommunicandas esse mulieres ad primum maritum redire nolentes. — Si autem aliquae mulieres ita posteriorum virorum amore sunt captae, ut malint his cohaerere quam ad legitimum redire consortium, merito sunt notandae; ita ut etiam ecclesiastica communione priventur: quae de re excusabili contaminationem criminis elegerunt, ostendentes sibimet pro sua incontinentia placuisse, quod justa remissio poterat expiare. Redeant ergo in suum statum voluntaria redintegratione conjugia, neque ullo modo ad opprobrium malae voluntatis trahatur, quod conditio necessitatis extorsit: quia sicut hae mulieres, quae reverti ad viros suos nolunt, impiae habendae sunt, ita illae quae in affectum ex Deo initum redeunt merito sunt laudandae.

CHAP. IV. That women unwilling to return to the first husband are to be excommunicated. — But if any women are so captivated by love of their later husbands that they prefer to cleave to them rather than return to the lawful fellowship, they deserve to be censured; so that they are even deprived of ecclesiastical communion: for out of an excusable matter they have chosen the defilement of a crime, showing that, in keeping with their incontinence, what a just remission could have expiated was pleasing to them. Let marriages, then, return to their proper state by a voluntary restoration, and let what the condition of necessity extorted by no means be dragged into the reproach of an evil will: for just as those women who are unwilling to return to their husbands are to be held impious, so those who return to the affection entered upon from God are deservedly to be praised.

CAP. V. De his qui captivi cum essent idolothyta

CHAP. V. On those who, when they were captives, things offered to idols […]

Editors' notes and page, col. 1137

Footnotes

(a) ‹in dilectione suarum conjugum› (before perseverent) · printed under col 1137

Vulg. antiqui cum Vat. Reg. collect. 1 et Vindeb. collect. 5, perseverant. Postea pro omittendum Vat. collect. 3, admittendum est.

The old common editions, with the Vatican Regina manuscript of collection 1 and the Vienna manuscript of collection 5, perseverant. Afterwards, for omittendum, the Vatican manuscript of collection 3, admittendum est.

(b) ‹quod necessitas intulit, et› (before restituendum) · printed under col 1137

Vindeb. collect. 5 et apud Justellum, restituendum est.

The Vienna manuscript of collection 5 and in Justel, restituendum est.

Quesnellus omisit his; ex omnibus nostris codd. et anterioribus editis revocavimus.

Quesnel omitted his; we have restored it from all our manuscripts and the earlier editions.

(d) ‹communione priventur:› (before quae de re) · printed under col 1137

Antiqui vulg. cum ms. Vat. collect. 24 et Sichardo, quid inexcusabiliter contaminationem, etc. Emendationem a Quesnello ex duobus suis codd. Cresc. ac Dionys. inductam, nostra caetera decem et septem exemplaria approbant.

The old common editions, with the Vatican manuscript of collection 24 and Sichard, quid inexcusabiliter contaminationem, etc. The emendation introduced by Quesnel from his two manuscripts, the Cresconian and the Dionysian, is approved by our other seventeen copies.

(e) ‹ostendentes› (before sibimet) · printed under col 1137

Vat. collect. 3, sibimetipsis. Dein potuit pro poterat in Vulg. antiquis cum Vindeb. collect. 5 et Sichardo.

The Vatican manuscript of collection 3, sibimetipsis. Then potuit for poterat in the old common editions, with the Vienna manuscript of collection 5 and Sichard.

(f) ‹reverti ad viros suos› (before nolunt) · printed under col 1137

Vat. Dionys. cum Justello, noluerint. Vercell. Hadrian. cum Cresc., noluerunt.

The Vatican Dionysian manuscript with Justel, noluerint. The Vercelli Hadrianic manuscript with Cresconius, noluerunt.

(g) ‹redeunt merito sunt› (before laudandae) · printed under col 1137

Codd. trium vetustiorum collectionum 1, 3 et 5 laudabiles judicandae.

The manuscripts of the three older collections 1, 3 and 5, laudabiles judicandae.

(h) printed under this column; its call is in col 1138, set in n1138 (i) printed under this column; its call is in col 1138, set in n1138 (j) printed under this column; its call is in col 1138, set in n1138 (k) printed under this column; its call is in col 1138, set in n1138 (l) printed under this column; its call is in col 1138, set in n1138 (m) printed under this column; its call is in col 1138, set in n1138 (n) printed under this column; its call is in col 1138, set in n1138 (o) printed under this column (running over under col 1138); its call is in col 1138, set in n1138

Page

running head: 1137 EPISTOLA CLIX. 1138 (one head across page 574)
marginal letters: A ‹psit. Sic enim›; B ‹mulieres ita posteriorum›; C in the gutter below the text, above the footnotes; D beside note (g) ‹5 laudabiles judicandae›
old-edition numerals: 1332 before CAP. IV.
signature: none
other: the first word, psit, completes assum-psit, set whole at the end of col 1136

PL 54:1138

fame vel metu compellente comederunt. — De his autem Christianis qui inter eos a quibus fuerant captivati immolatitiis cibis asseruntur esse polluti, consultationi charitatis tuae hoc etiam respondendum esse credidimus, ut poenitentiae satisfactione purgentur, quae non tam temporis longitudine quam cordis compunctione pensanda est. Et sive hoc terror extorserit, sive fames suaserit, non dubitetur abolendum, cum hujusmodi cibus pro metu aut indigentia, non pro religionis veneratione sit sumptus.

[…] ate, under the compulsion of hunger or fear. — But concerning those Christians who are said to have been polluted by foods offered to idols among those by whom they had been taken captive, we have thought that this too should be answered to the consultation of your charity: that they be purged by the satisfaction of penance, which is to be weighed not so much by length of time as by compunction of heart. And whether terror extorted this or hunger urged it, let there be no doubt that it is to be done away with, since food of this kind was taken out of fear or want, not out of religious veneration.

CAP. VI. De his qui metu vel errore rebaptizati sunt. — His vero de quibus dilectio tua similiter nos credidit consulendos, qui ad iterandum baptismum vel metu coacti sunt vel errore traducti, et nunc se contra catholicae fidei sacramentum egisse cognoscunt, ea custodienda est moderatio, qua in societatem nostram non nisi per poenitentiae remedium, et per impositionem episcopalis manus, communionis recipiant unitatem; tempora poenitudinis, habita moderatione, tuo constituente judicio, prout conversorum animos perspexeris esse devotos: pariter etiam habens senilis aetatis intuitum, et periculorum quorumque aut aegritudinis respiciens necessitates. In quibus si quis ita graviter urgeatur, ut dum adhuc poenitet, de salute ipsius desperetur, oportet ei per sacerdotalem sollicitudinem communionis gratia subveniri.

CHAP. VI. On those who have been rebaptized through fear or error. — But in the case of those about whom your affection likewise thought we should be consulted, who were either forced by fear or led astray by error to repeat baptism, and now recognize that they have acted against the sacrament of the catholic faith, that moderation is to be kept by which they may receive the unity of communion in our fellowship only through the remedy of penance and through the imposition of the bishop's hand; the times of penance, with moderation observed, being fixed by your judgement, according as you perceive the minds of the converted to be devout: having regard likewise to old age, and considering the necessities of any perils or of sickness. And if any of these is so gravely pressed that, while he is still doing penance, his life is despaired of, he ought to be succoured through priestly solicitude with the grace of communion.

CAP. VII. De his qui semel baptizati sunt, sed ab haereticis. — Nam hi qui baptismum ab haereticis acceperunt, cum antea baptizati non fuissent, sola

CHAP. VII. On those who have been baptized once, but by heretics. — For those who have received baptism from heretics, when they had not been baptized before, […] by the sole […]

Editors' notes and page, col. 1138

Footnotes

(h) ‹comederunt. —› (before De his) · printed under col 1137

Cod. Veron. Cresc. ejusque editio: Hi autem Christiani. Dein in Vat. Dionys., fuerant captivi duccti immolatitiisse se asserunt esse pollutos.

The Verona manuscript of Cresconius and its edition: Hi autem Christiani. Then in the Vatican Dionysian, fuerant captivi ducti [printed duccti] immolatitiis [printed immolatitiisse] se asserunt esse pollutos.

(i) ‹respondendum esse› (before credidimus) · printed under col 1137

Vat. collect. 3, utrique Hisp. Vat., Isid., cum Merlino et Sichardo, credimus.

The Vatican manuscript of collection 3, both Vatican Spanish ones, the Isidorian, with Merlin and Sichard, credimus.

(j) ‹sive hoc› (before terror) · printed under col 1137

Vat. purus Dionys. cum uno Vercell. Hadrian et Justello, error.

The Vatican pure Dionysian manuscript with one Vercelli Hadrianic manuscript and Justel, error.

(k) ‹rebaptizati sunt. —› (before His vero) · printed under col 1137

Vercell. Hadrian. cum Justello et editione Cresconii, Hi vero, male.

The Vercelli Hadrianic manuscript with Justel and the edition of Cresconius, Hi vero, wrongly.

(l) ‹ea custodienda est› (before moderatio) · printed under col 1137

Vat. collect. 24 et exemplum Sichardi, ratio.

The Vatican manuscript of collection 24 and Sichard's copy, ratio.

(m) ‹communionis recipiant unitatem;› (before tempora) · printed under col 1137

26, qu. 7, Tempora poenitudinis, c. 2.

(n) ‹habita moderatione, tuo› (before constituente) · printed under col 1137

Utrique codd. Hisp. Vat., Isid., Vercell. Hadrian., Justellus et Cresconius cum editis antiquis, constituenda.

Both Vatican Spanish manuscripts, the Isidorian, the Vercelli Hadrianic, Justel and Cresconius with the old editions, constituenda.

(o) ‹pariter etiam› (before habens) · printed under col 1137, running over under col 1138

Justellus cum mss. Vercell. Hadrian., utrisque Hisp. et Vat. Isid., aliisque collect. 21, habentes, et paulo post, respicientes, male. Codd. Vat. Reg. collect., utrique Vindebon, collect. 5 et Hisp. Veronensis Cresc., cum Justello, aut aegritudinum.

Justel with the Vercelli Hadrianic manuscripts, both Spanish ones and the Vatican Isidorian, and others of collection 21, habentes, and a little later, respicientes, wrongly. The Vatican Regina manuscript of the collection, both Vienna ones, of collection 5 and the Spanish, the Verona Cresconius, with Justel, aut aegritudinum.

(p) ‹sed ab haereticis. — Nam› (before hi qui) · printed under col 1138

1. qu. 1, Hi qui baptisma. c. 71.

(q) ‹cum antea baptizati› (before non fuissent) · printed under col 1138, running over under cols 1139 and 1140

Vindebon. Hisp., non fuerunt. Quod vero de baptizatis ab haereticis subjicitur, ut sola invocatione S. Spiritus per impositionem manuum confirmentur, etc. Confirmationis sacramentum indicare Quesnellus in marginali postilla notavit; et similiter paulo post ad illa, ut quod ab haereticis nemo accipit, a catholicis sacerdotibus consequatur, confirmationis sacramentum intelligens, hanc aliam postillam affixit: Confirmatio conferri ab haereticis non potest valide; quae et in indice inseruit. Verbo scilicet confirmentur hanc significationem subjecit. Sed in duabus aliis epistolis de iisdem haereticis ad catholicam redeuntibus S. pontifex loquens, eamdem de impositione manuum sententiam repetit, nec tamen confirmandi verbo utitur. In epist, 166. ad Neonem: Hoc tantum quod ibi defuit conferatur, ut per episcopalis manus impositionem virtutem sancti Spiritus consequantur. Et in epist. 167, ad Rusticum, cap. 18: Per manus impositionem invocata virtute Spiritus sancti, quam ab haereticis accipere non potuerunt, catholicis copulandi sunt. Palam est hic impositionem manuum indicari, non qua confirmationis sacramentum semper ministratum fuit hominibus jam renatis atque justificatis, sed qua gratia Spiritus sancti carentes ob haeresim, et ab Ecclesia separati, eam gratiam recipiebant et in Ecclesiae unitatem admittebantur. Haec autem manuum impositio ritus erat poenitentiae: unde S. Stephanus in decreto de recipiendis haereticis sanxit ut manus illis imponatur in poenitentiam, quae formula confirmationis sacramento nequaquam convenit. Et similiter Crescens a Cirta in concilio Carthaginensi III. Cypriani tempore, ut per manus impositionem in poenitentiam Ecclesiae reconcilientur. Et Innocentius I, epist. 24, ad Alexandrum: Eorum (haereticorum) laicos sub imagine poenitentiae et sancti Spiritus invocatione per manus impositionem suscipimus. Et S. Cyprianus in epist. 71... in poenitentiam manum imponere. Haec verbo in poenitentiam omnem sacramenti confirmationis suspicionem amovent. Id pervidit etiam Quesnellus, dum notas scripsit in epistolam ad Rusticum. In locum enim paulo ante ex ea citatum not. 10, scripsit, manus impositionem cum solitarie ponitur, nullum significare sacramentum multoque minus confirmationem, sed solummodo orationes et supplicationes manum impositioni conjunctas. Quod si in hac epistola confirmandi verbo usus est Leo, nihil movere debuit. Cum enim de iisdem haereticis et hic, et in epistola ad Rusticum loquatur (omnes enim ad eamdem Attilae invasionem et tempus pertinent), si in epistola ad Rusticum, ubi verbum confirmare non legitur, sacramentum confirmationis ingerendum non est neque intelligendum est in hac ad Nicetam epistola, nec in alia ad Neonem Ravennatem, in qua de iisdem haereticis sermo est. Cum S. Leo serm. 4 de Nativit. c. 5, confirmationis sacramentum indicavit. Renati, inquit, per aquam et Spiritum sanctum chrisma salutis et signaculum vitae aeternae. Sola impositio manuum in laudatis epistolis memorata, quae non renatis et justificatis, sed haereticis peccatoribus ad Ecclesiam redeuntibus adhibetur, non confirmatio, sed poenitentiae ritus est. Aliud in hoc argumentum evidens ex ipso Leone producam. Multis in locis de clericis haereticis loquitur, qui ad unitatem redeuntes, in suo gradu recipiebantur; et nunquam manus iisdem imponendas indicat, sed sola fidei professione contentus est. Vide epist. I. ad Aquileiensem episcopum, ubi de recipiendis Coelestianis clericis agitur; epist. 12, ad episcopos Mauritaniae, ubi de Donato episcopo Novatianorum, et de Maximo episcopo jam Donatista; epistolam 18, ad Januarium, in qua de aliis clericis haereticis loquitur, quorum solam fidei professionem requirit: et similiter cum in aliis epistolis Eutychianos clericos in suo gradu recipi permittit, si fidei professionem sincerissimam praestent. Haec disciplina constanter servata fuit in Ecclesia, ut cum clerici ab haeresi ad Ecclesiam redirent, si non essent iterato baptismate polluti, sola professione fidei reciperentnr, et in suo gradu permanerent; nec umquam iis manus imponerentur: quod infinitis prope exemplis probare liceret. Hinc Innocentius I in textu paulo ante descripto, solos laicos manus impositione receptos tradidit. Si hac impositione manuum sacramentum confirmationis indicatum fuisset, nihil erat quod solis laicis, non autem clericis ex haeresi conversis, sed iterato baptismate nequaquam pollutis adhiberetur. Cur ergo hoc cum clericis discrimen? Quia scilicet haec impositio ritus erat poenitentiae, qui solis laicis, non autem clericis in suo gradu recipiendis congruebat. Ii vero soli clerici, qui iterato baptismate fuissent tincti, a Leone excipiuntur, quia iteratio baptismi ab omni clericali gradu arcebat: unde hi etiam cum reciperentur in Ecclesia, poenitentiae subjiciebantur, perinde ac caeteri laici, quo pariter nomine in clerum admitti non poterant. Vide epist. 24 Innocentii I ad Rufum, num. 4, cum qua conferendus est locus epist. 2, n. 11, in quo rebaptizati sub longa poenitentiae satisfactione admittendi dicuntur. Id respicit eam disciplinam qua rebaptizatorum reconciliatio, ait Vigilius epist. 2, ad Profuturum, num. 4, non per illam impositionem manus quae per invocationem sancti Spiritus operatur, sed per illam qua poenitentiae fructus acquiritur, et sanctae communionis restitutio perficitur. Prima reconciliationis ratio, quae sola impositione manuum sine exactione alterius poenitentiae perficiebatur, recepta erat cum solis laicis, eo quod clerici non rebaptizati in suo gradu reciperentur; secunda vero adhibebatur cum omnibus rebaptizatis, sive laicis, sive clericis, qui ob iteratum baptisma in clerum recipi non poterant. Primam vero illam impositionem manuum, quae etsi operibus laboriosis poenitentiae non subjiciebat, praeferebat tamen, ut ex Innocentio I vidimus, imaginem poenitentiae, clericis in suum gradum restituendis repugnasse, explorate affirmat S. Leo in eadem ad Rusticum epistola cap. 2, ubi et consuetudinem ecclesiasticam, et traditionem apostolicam allegat; de qua re dicemus plura in observationibus ad Quesnelli notas.

The Vienna Spanish manuscript, non fuerunt. As to what is added about those baptized by heretics, that they are to be confirmed by the invocation of the Holy Spirit alone through the imposition of hands, etc., Quesnel noted in a marginal gloss that it indicates the sacrament of confirmation; and likewise a little later, at the words "so that what no one receives from heretics he may obtain from catholic priests", understanding the sacrament of confirmation, he attached this other gloss: Confirmation cannot be validly conferred by heretics; and he inserted this in the index too. That is, he put this meaning under the word confirmentur. But the holy pontiff, speaking in two other letters about the same heretics returning to the catholic [Church], repeats the same ruling on the imposition of hands, and yet does not use the word "confirm". In Letter 166, to Neon: Let only that which was lacking there be conferred, that through the imposition of the bishop's hand they may obtain the power of the Holy Spirit. And in Letter 167, to Rusticus, cap. 18: Through the imposition of hands, the power of the Holy Spirit being invoked, which they could not receive from the heretics, they are to be joined to the catholics. It is plain that here an imposition of hands is meant, not that by which the sacrament of confirmation has always been ministered to men already reborn and justified, but that by which those who lacked the grace of the Holy Spirit on account of heresy, and were separated from the Church, received that grace and were admitted to the unity of the Church. And this imposition of hands was a rite of penance: hence St Stephen, in his decree on receiving heretics, ordained that a hand be laid on them unto penance, a formula which in no way suits the sacrament of confirmation. And likewise Crescens of Cirta, in the third council of Carthage in the time of Cyprian: that they be reconciled to the Church through the imposition of hands unto penance. And Innocent I, Letter 24, to Alexander: Their (the heretics') laymen we receive under the form of penance and with the invocation of the Holy Spirit through the imposition of hands. And St Cyprian in Letter 71: ... to lay a hand on them unto penance. These words, "unto penance", remove every suspicion of the sacrament of confirmation. Quesnel too saw this clearly when he wrote his notes on the letter to Rusticus. For on the passage from it cited a little above, note 10, he wrote that the imposition of hands, when it is set down alone, signifies no sacrament, and much less confirmation, but only the prayers and supplications joined to the imposition of hands. And if Leo used the word "confirm" in this letter, it ought not to have moved him at all. For since he speaks of the same heretics both here and in the letter to Rusticus (for all of them belong to the same invasion of Attila and the same time), if in the letter to Rusticus, where the word "confirm" is not read, the sacrament of confirmation is not to be brought in, neither is it to be understood in this letter to Nicetas, nor in the other to Neon of Ravenna, in which the discourse is about the same heretics. When St Leo, in Sermon 4 on the Nativity, c. 5, indicated the sacrament of confirmation, he said: Reborn through water and the Holy Spirit, [you have received] the chrism of salvation and the seal of eternal life. The imposition of hands alone, mentioned in the letters cited, which is applied not to the reborn and justified but to heretical sinners returning to the Church, is not confirmation but a rite of penance. I shall bring forward another evident argument on this from Leo himself. In many places he speaks of heretical clerics who, returning to unity, were received in their own rank; and he never indicates that hands are to be laid on them, but is content with a profession of faith alone. See Letter 1, to the bishop of Aquileia, where the reception of Coelestian clerics is dealt with; Letter 12, to the bishops of Mauretania, on Donatus, a bishop of the Novatians, and on Maximus, a bishop formerly a Donatist; Letter 18, to Januarius, in which he speaks of other heretical clerics, of whom he requires only a profession of faith: and likewise when in other letters he allows Eutychian clerics to be received in their own rank, if they make a most sincere profession of faith. This discipline was constantly observed in the Church, that when clerics returned from heresy to the Church, if they had not been polluted by a repeated baptism, they were received by a profession of faith alone and remained in their rank; nor were hands ever laid on them: which could be proved by almost countless examples. Hence Innocent I, in the text quoted a little above, relates that only laymen were received by the imposition of hands. If the sacrament of confirmation had been indicated by this imposition of hands, there was no reason why it should be applied to laymen alone, and not to clerics converted from heresy but in no way polluted by a repeated baptism. Why, then, this distinction with clerics? Because, that is, this imposition was a rite of penance, which suited laymen alone, not clerics who were to be received in their own rank. But only those clerics who had been dipped in a repeated baptism are excepted by Leo, because the repetition of baptism barred [them] from every clerical rank: hence these too, when they were received into the Church, were subjected to penance, just like the other laymen, by which title likewise they could not be admitted into the clergy. See Letter 24 of Innocent I to Rufus, no. 4, with which is to be compared the passage of Letter 2, n. 11, in which the rebaptized are said to be admitted under a long satisfaction of penance. To this discipline refers what Vigilius says, Letter 2, to Profuturus, no. 4: the reconciliation of the rebaptized [is made] not through that imposition of the hand which works through the invocation of the Holy Spirit, but through that by which the fruit of penance is acquired and the restoration of holy communion is accomplished. The first manner of reconciliation, which was accomplished by the imposition of hands alone without the exaction of further penance, was accepted with laymen alone, because clerics not rebaptized were received in their own rank; but the second was applied to all the rebaptized, whether laymen or clerics, who on account of their repeated baptism could not be received into the clergy. That this first imposition of hands, which, although it did not subject [them] to laborious works of penance, yet bore, as we have seen from Innocent I, the form of penance, was repugnant to clerics who were to be restored to their rank, St Leo affirms plainly in the same letter to Rusticus, cap. 2, where he alleges both the custom of the Church and the apostolic tradition; on which matter we shall say more in the observations on Quesnel's notes.

Page

running head: 1137 EPISTOLA CLIX. 1138 (one head across page 574)
marginal letters: A ‹fame vel metu›; B ‹1333 contra catholicae›; C in the gutter below the text, level with the head of the footnotes; D beside note (q) ‹verbo utitur. In epist›
old-edition numerals: 1333 before contra catholicae; 1334 before ut dum adhuc
signature: none
other: col 1138 ends with sola, a whole word (no hyphen)

PL 54:1139

invocatione Spiritus sancti per impositionem manuum confirmandi sunt, quia formam tantum baptismi sine sanctificationis virtute sumpserunt. Et hanc regulam, ut scitis, servandam in omnibus Ecclesiis praedicamus, ut lavacrum semel initum, nulla iteratione violetur, dicente Apostolo: Unus Dominus, una fides, unum baptisma.

[…] are to be confirmed by the invocation of the Holy Spirit through the imposition of hands, because they received only the form of baptism without the power of sanctification. And this rule, as you know, we proclaim is to be kept in all the Churches: that the laver once entered be violated by no repetition, as the Apostle says: One Lord, one faith, one baptism.

Cujus ablutio nulla iteratione temeranda est, sed, ut diximus, sola sanctificatio Spiritus sancti invocanda est: ut quod ab haereticis nemo accipit, a catholicis sacerdotibus consequatur. Hanc autem epistolam nostram, quam ad consultationem tuae fraternitatis emisimus, ad

Its washing must be profaned by no repetition, but, as we have said, only the sanctification of the Holy Spirit is to be invoked, so that what no one receives from heretics he may obtain from catholic priests. Now this letter of ours, which we have sent in answer to your fraternity's inquiry, […]

Editors' notes and page, col. 1139

Footnotes

(q) continued from col 1138, set in n1138 (the continuation fills the foot of col 1139 and runs on into the foot of col 1140; its mark stands in col 1138)

(a) ‹sumpserunt. Et› · printed under col 1140

1. qu. 1, Hanc regulem, c. 57.

[Gratian, Decretum, part II, cause] 1, question 1, [canon] Hanc regulem (sic, for regulam), c. 57.

(b) ‹dicente Apostolo: Unus› · printed under col 1140

Vat. Hisp. et Isid., Veron. Cresc. atque Justellus, Deus.

The Vatican manuscripts of the Spanish and Isidorian collections, the Verona manuscript of Cresconius, and Justel have Deus.

Vindebon. Hisp. et Cresc. delent est.

The Vienna manuscript of the Spanish collection and Cresconius delete est.

(d) ‹ab haereticis nemo› · printed under col 1140

Vat. Reg. collect. 1, accepit.

The Vatican manuscript of Queen [Christina], collection 1, has accepit.