PL 54 · cols. 624–627

Leo the Great, Letters

Letter IX

librarum auri multa percellat, si quem hac superstitione pollutum siverint militare; neque enim aliquid nimium in eos videtur posse decerni, quorum incesta perversitas religionis nomine lupanaribus quoque ignota, vel pudenda committit.

[…] pounds of gold shall strike, if they have allowed anyone polluted by this superstition to serve; for nothing, it seems, can be decreed too severe against those whose incestuous perversity, under the name of religion, commits things unknown even to brothels, or shameful.

Dat. XIII kal. Jul. Romae Valent. A. VI, et Nomo v. c. coss.

Given on the thirteenth day before the Kalends of July, at Rome, in the consulship of Valentinian Augustus for the sixth time and of Nomus, a man of clarissimus rank.

EPISTOLA IX.

LETTER IX.

AD DIOSCORUM ALEXANDRINUM EPISCOPUM.

TO DIOSCORUS, BISHOP OF ALEXANDRIA.

Leo episcopus Dioscoro episcopo Alexandrino salutem.

Leo, bishop, to Dioscorus, bishop of Alexandria, greeting.

Quantum dilectioni tuae Dominicae charitatis impendamus affectum, ex hoc poteris approbare, quod tua firmius fundare desideramus initia, ne quid charitati tuae ad perfectionem deesse videatur, cum tibi spiritalis gratiae merita, ut probavimus, suffragentur. Paterna igitur et fraterna collatio debet sanctitati tuae esse gratissima, et a te taliter suscipi, quemadmodum a nobis eam intelligis proficisci. Unum enim nos sentire oportet et agere, ut sicut legimus

How great an affection of the Lord's charity we bestow upon your beloved self you will be able to judge from this: that we desire to found your beginnings more firmly, so that nothing may seem to be lacking to your charity for its perfection, since the merits of spiritual grace, as we have found, support you. A paternal and fraternal conference, therefore, ought to be most welcome to your holiness, and to be received by you in the same spirit in which you understand that it proceeds from us. For we ought to think and act as one, so that, as we read, […]

Editors' notes and page, col. 624

Footnotes

(e) continued from col 623, set in n623

(f)–(i) calls in col 623, printed under col 624, set in n623

(j) ‹auri multa percellat,› · printed under col 624

Idem cod., si aliquem ex his sciverint militare.

The same codex: "if they have known anyone of these to serve".

(k) ‹neque enim aliquid› · printed under col 624

Ms. Wur., nimietate.

The Wur. manuscript has "nimietate" [excess].

(l) ‹lupanaribus quoque ignota,› · printed under col 624

Ms. Oxon. delet vel pudenda.

The Oxford manuscript deletes "vel pudenda" [or shameful].

(m) ‹vel pudenda committit.› · printed under col 624

Cod Wur., Dat. XIV kal. Jul. Mox cod. Ottob. et editi ante Quesn., Valent. VII, pro VI, male. Tandem Numo vulgati habebant. Correximus ex ms. Wur. Nomus enim, non Numus in aliis pluribus documentis vocatur, qui cum Valentiniano consulatum gessit an. 445.

The Wur. codex: "Given on the fourteenth day before the Kalends of July". Next, the Ottob. codex and the editions before Quesnel have "Valentinian VII" for VI, wrongly. Finally, the common editions had "Numo". We have corrected from the Wur. manuscript; for the man who held the consulship with Valentinian in 445 is called Nomus, not Numus, in many other documents.

(n) ‹628 EPISTOLA› · printed under col 624

Al. 11. Quae autem erat 9, nunc in appendice. Scripta 21 Junii an. 445.

Elsewhere 11. The one that was 9 is now in the appendix. Written 21 June 445.

(o) ‹EPISTOLA IX.› · printed under col 624

Exstat haec epistola in mss. collectionum 3, 8, Hisp, 9, Isid. 10, 12, 18, 20, ac reliquis usque ad 24, et apud Sichardum. Quesnellus hanc epistolam anni notatione carentem, an. 445 esse affigendam optime constituit not. 1.

This letter is extant in the manuscripts of collections 3, 8, the Spanish, 9, the Isidorian, 10, 12, 18, 20, and the rest up to 24, and in Sichard. Quesnel, in note 1, very rightly determined that this letter, which lacks a note of the year, is to be assigned to 445.

(p) ‹AD DIOSCORUM ALEXANDRINUM EPISCOPUM.› · printed under col 624

Vulgati ante Quesn. ex mss. collectionum posteriorum hos titulos praefixerunt, qui ex collect. Hisp. sumpti fuere: I. De ordinatione presbyteri vel diaconi, ut sabbato sancto celebretur, id est die Dominico. II. De festivitatibus, ut si una Agenda (in Vulg. explicandi causa additur, id est missae celebratio) populis non suffecerit, nulla sit dubitatio iterari sacrificium. Cum vero haec synopsis minus sit congrua, Quesnellus aliam substituit.

The common editions before Quesnel, from manuscripts of the later collections, prefixed these titles, which were taken from the Spanish collection: I. On the ordination of a presbyter or deacon, that it be celebrated on the holy Sabbath, that is, on the Lord's day. II. On festivals, that if one Agenda (in the common editions there is added, to explain it, "that is, the celebration of Mass") has not sufficed for the people, there be no hesitation in repeating the sacrifice. But since this synopsis is less fitting, Quesnel substituted another.

(q) ‹Dominicae charitatis› · printed under col 624

Codd. Vat., Hisp. et Isid., impendimus. Mox pro desideramus mss. Hisp. et Isid. et Vat. collect. 11, festinemus; editi in margine cum mss. Cantabr. et Thuan. Quesnelli, ac duobus nostris Vatt. collect. 21, festinamus. Paulo post editi Quesn. in textu, specialis gratiae, in margine spiritualis.

The Vatican, Spanish and Isidorian codices have "impendimus". Next, for "desideramus" the Spanish and Isidorian manuscripts and the Vatican one of collection 11 have "festinemus"; the editions in the margin, with Quesnel's Cambridge and Thuanus manuscripts and our two Vatican ones of collection 21, have "festinamus". A little after, the editions of Quesnel have in the text "specialis gratiae" [of special grace], in the margin "spiritualis".

(r) ‹spiritalis gratiae merita,› · printed under col 624

In antiquiss. Vatt. collect. 8, ut probamus.

In the very ancient Vatican manuscripts of collection 8, "ut probamus" [as we find].

Editors' prose

Synopsis. — I. De ordinatione episcoporum, presbyterorum et Diaconorum, ut post sabbatum, vel circa exordia noctis quae proxime succedit, vel mane ipso Dominico die celebretur. — II. De iteratione sacrificii, quod repetere oportet eadem festivitatis die, cum et basilica angustior est quam ut totum simul populum capere queat, et ingens fidelium multitudo convenit.

Synopsis. — I. On the ordination of bishops, presbyters and deacons: that it be celebrated after the Sabbath, either about the beginning of the night that immediately follows, or in the morning of the Lord's day itself. — II. On the repetition of the sacrifice, which must be repeated on the same day of the festival when both the basilica is too narrow to be able to hold the whole people at once and a very great multitude of the faithful assembles.

Page

running head: 623 S. LEONIS MAGNI EPISTOLAE. 624 (shared with col 623)
marginal letters (gutter, shared with col 623): A ‹cem librarum auri›; B ‹Leo episcopus Dioscoro›; C ‹(h) Haec quoque inclusa› (footnotes); D ‹(p) Vulgati ante Quesn.› (footnotes)
old-edition numerals: 628 before ‹EPISTOLA (n) IX.›
signature: none
other: the Synopsis (call (p)) is the editors', set above under Editors' prose; "cem" at the head is the end of "decem", set whole in col 623

PL 54:625

in nobis quoque unum esse cor, et una anima comprobetur (Act. IV, 32). Cum enim beatissimus Petrus apostolicum a Domino acceperit principatum, et Romana Ecclesia in ejus permaneat institutis, nefas est credere quod sanctus discipulus ejus Marcus qui Alexandrinam primus Ecclesiam gubernavit, aliis regulis traditionum suarum decreta formaverit: cum sine dubio de eodem fonte gratiae unus spiritus et discipuli fuerit et magistri, nec aliud ordinatus tradere potuerit, quam quod ab ordinatore suscepit. Non ergo patimur, ut cum unius nos esse corporis et fidei fateamur, in aliquo discrepemus; et alia doctoris, alia discipuli instituta videantur.

[…] in us too there may be proved to be one heart and one soul (Acts 4:32). For since the most blessed Peter received the apostolic primacy from the Lord, and the Roman Church abides in his institutions, it is wrong to believe that his holy disciple Mark, who first governed the Church of Alexandria, framed the decrees of his traditions by other rules: since without doubt the disciple and the master had one spirit from the same fountain of grace, and the one ordained could not hand on anything other than what he received from the one who ordained him. We do not, therefore, allow that, while we confess ourselves to be of one body and faith, we should differ in anything, and that the institutions of the teacher should seem to be one thing and those of the disciple another.

CAP. I. Quo die sacerdotalis vel levitica benedictio celebrari debeat. — Quod ergo a patribus nostris propensiore cura novimus esse servatum, a vobis quoque volumus custodiri, ut non passim diebus omnibus sacerdotalis vel levitica ordinatio celebretur; sed post diem sabbati, ejus noctis quae in prima sabbati lucescit, exordia deligantur, in quibus his qui consecrandi sunt jejunis, et a jejunantibus sacra benedictio conferatur. Quod ejusdem observantiae erit, si mane ipso Dominico die, continuato sabbati jejunio, celebretur, a quo tempore praecedentis noctis initia non recedunt, quam ad diem resurrectionis, sicut etiam in Pascha Domini declaratur, pertinere non dubium est. Nam praeter auctoritatem consuetudinis, quam ex apostolica novimus venire doctrina, etiam sacra Scriptura manifestat (Act. XIII), quod cum apostoli Paulum et Barnabam ex praecepto Spiritus sancti ad Evangelium gentibus mitterent praedicandum, jejunantes et orantes imposuerunt eis manus: ut intelligamus quanta

CHAP. I. On what day the priestly or levitical blessing ought to be celebrated. — What, therefore, we know to have been observed by our fathers with especially earnest care, we wish to be kept by you also: that the priestly or levitical ordination be not celebrated indiscriminately on any day; but that, after the day of the Sabbath, the beginning of the night which dawns into the first day of the week be chosen, in which the sacred blessing may be conferred on those who are to be consecrated while they are fasting, and by those who are fasting. It will be of the same observance if it is celebrated in the morning of the Lord's day itself, the Sabbath fast being continued, for from that time the beginnings of the preceding night do not depart, and there is no doubt that this night belongs to the day of the resurrection, as is also made plain in the Lord's Pasch. For besides the authority of custom, which we know comes from the apostolic teaching, sacred Scripture also shows (Acts 13) that when the apostles were sending Paul and Barnabas, by the command of the Holy Spirit, to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles, they laid hands on them, fasting and praying: so that we may understand how great […]

Editors' notes and page, col. 625

Footnotes

(a) ‹comprobetur (Act. IV, 32).› · printed under col 625

24 qu. 1, Cum beatissimus, c. 10.

[Gratian, Decretum, part 2, causa] 24, question 1, [canon] "Cum beatissimus", c. 10.

(b) ‹nefas est credere quod› · printed under col 625

Mss. Vat. Hisp. et Isid., sanctus episcopus discipulus ipsius Marcus. Vindeb. Hisp. solum delet episcopus. Mox suarum deest in Vat. 5845 collect. 8.

The Vatican manuscripts of the Spanish and Isidorian [collections] have "his holy disciple, the bishop Mark". The Vienna manuscript of the Spanish [collection] alone deletes "bishop". Next, "suarum" [of his] is missing in Vat. 5845 of collection 8.

Particulam et a Quesnello omissam restituimus ex septem potioribus nostris mss. Postea ordinatis pro ordinatus in duobus codd.

We have restored the particle "et", omitted by Quesnel, from seven of our better manuscripts. Afterwards, "ordinatis" for "ordinatus" in two codices.

(d) ‹ut cum unius nos› · printed under col 625

Verbum esse, quod Quesnellus omisit, ex aliis editionibus et ex codd. Hisp. et Isid. revocavimus. Dein statuta pro instituta in Vindebon. Hisp.

The word "esse", which Quesnel omitted, we have brought back from the other editions and from the Spanish and Isidorian codices. Then "statuta" for "instituta" in the Vienna Spanish [manuscript].

(e) ‹celebrari debeat. —› · printed under col 625

Dist. 75, Quod a Patribus, c. 4.

[Gratian, Decretum,] Distinction 75, [canon] "Quod a Patribus", c. 4.

(f) ‹a vobis› · printed under col 625

Quesnellus pro quoque habet hoc, uti quidam inferioris notae codices praeferunt. In Merlino et Sichardo utrumque omittitur. Secuti sumus non tam caeteras editiones, quam plures et potiores nostros codices.

Quesnel has "hoc" for "quoque", as certain codices of lower standing show. In Merlin and Sichard both are omitted. We have followed not so much the other editions as the more numerous and better of our codices.

(g) ‹exordia deligantur› · printed under col 625

Post verbum deligantur in Vulg. Quesnello anterioribus hoc glossema inseritur ex mss. collect. 21, hoc est sub lege divini officii substituantur. Hoc glossema jure expunxit Quesnellus ex suis cod. nota 2 allegatis, quibus et reliqui nostri astipulantur. Solum Vat. Hisp. alia interpunctione praefert: Ut non passim diebus omnibus sacerdotalis, vel levitica ordinatio celebretur, sed post diem sabbati, ejusque noctis, quae in prima sabbati lucescit, exordio consecrandi eligantur. Idem est in Isidor. Vat. et Vindeb. Hisp., exceptis extremis vocibus exordio consecrandi eligantur, pro quibus legitur ut in textu, exordia deligantur.

After the word "deligantur", in the common editions earlier than Quesnel, this gloss is inserted from manuscripts of collection 21: "that is, let them be put in place under the law of the divine office". Quesnel rightly struck out this gloss on the strength of his codices cited in note 2, with which the rest of ours also agree. Only the Vatican Spanish [manuscript] shows, with other punctuation: "That the priestly or levitical ordination be not celebrated indiscriminately on all days, but that after the day of the Sabbath, and at the beginning of its night which dawns into the first day of the week, those to be consecrated be chosen." The same is in the Vatican Isidorian and the Vienna Spanish [manuscripts], except the last words "exordio consecrandi eligantur", for which one reads, as in the text, "exordia deligantur".

(h) ‹consecrandi sunt jejunis,› · printed under col 625

Duo nostra mss. Hisp. delent et Paulo post, ex eadem observantia erit in Vindeb. Hisp.

Two of our Spanish manuscripts delete "et". A little after, "ex eadem observantia erit" in the Vienna Spanish [manuscript].

(i) ‹si mane ipso› · printed under cols 625–626

Vide not. 3 Quesn. et dissert. ejusdem de Jejunio sabbati.

See Quesnel's note 3 and his dissertation On the Fast of the Sabbath.

(j) ‹initia non recedunt,› · printed under col 626

Duo mss. Hisp. et Vat. Isid., Quod ad diem.

Two Spanish manuscripts and the Vatican Isidorian have "Quod ad diem".

(k) ‹apostolica novimus venire doctrina,› · printed under col 626

Ms. Vat. Hisp., etiam sacram habemus in exemplo Scripturam, quod cum apostoli.

The Vatican Spanish manuscript: "we have also sacred Scripture for an example, that when the apostles".

(l) ‹ad Evangelium› · printed under col 626

Vox gentibus desideratur in Vindeb. Hisp. et apud Sichardum.

The word "gentibus" [to the Gentiles] is missing in the Vienna Spanish [manuscript] and in Sichard.

Page

running head: 625 EPISTOLA IX. 626 (shared with col 626)
marginal letters (gutter, shared with col 626): A ‹in nobis quoque unum›; B ‹celebrari debeat.›; C ‹nabam ex praecepto›; D ‹caeteras editiones› (footnote (f))
old-edition numerals: 629 after ‹Alexandrinam primus Ecclesiam›
signature: none
other: "quan-" at the foot completed by "ta" at the head of col 626, set whole here

PL 54:626

et dantium et accipientium devotione, curandum sit, ne tantae benedictionis sacramentum negligenter videatur impletum. Et ideo pie et laudabiliter apostolicis morem gesseris institutis, si hanc ordinandorum sacerdotum formam per Ecclesias quibus Dominus praeesse te voluit, etiam ipse servaveris: ut his qui consecrandi sunt numquam benedictio nisi in die resurrectionis Dominicae tribuatur, cui a vespera sabbati initium constat ascribi, et quae tantis divinarum dispositionum mysteriis est consecrata, ut quidquid est a Domino insignius constitutum, in hujus diei dignitate sit gestum. In hac mundus sumpsit exordium. In hac per resurrectionem Christi, et mors interitum, et vita accepit initium.

[…] is the devotion, both of those who give and of those who receive, with which care must be taken lest the sacrament of so great a blessing should seem to be performed negligently. And therefore you will piously and laudably comply with the apostolic institutions if you yourself also observe this form of ordaining priests throughout the Churches over which the Lord has willed you to preside: namely, that the blessing be never bestowed on those who are to be consecrated except on the day of the Lord's resurrection, whose beginning is agreed to be reckoned from the evening of the Sabbath, and which has been consecrated by such great mysteries of the divine dispensations that whatever has been more signally appointed by the Lord has been done in the dignity of this day. On this day the world took its beginning. On this day, through the resurrection of Christ, both death received its destruction and life its beginning.

In hac apostoli a Domino praedicandi omnibus gentibus Evangelii tubam sumunt (Matth. XXVIII, 20), et inferendum universo mundo sacramentum regenerationis accipiunt. In hac, sicut beatus Joannes evangelista testatur, congregatis in unum discipulis, januis clausis, cum ad eos Dominus introisset, insufflavit, et dixit: Accipite Spiritum sanctum; quorum remiseritis peccata remittuntur eis; et quorum detinueritis, detenta erunt (Joan. XX, 22, 23). In hac denique promissus a Domino apostolis Spiritus sanctus advenit (Act. II, 1; Joan. XIV, 16; XVI, 7); ut coelesti quadam regula insinuatum et traditum noverimus, in illa die celebranda nobis esse mysteria sacerdotalium benedictionum, in qua collata sunt omnia dona gratiarum.

On this day the apostles receive from the Lord the trumpet of the Gospel to be preached to all nations (Matt. 28:20), and they receive the sacrament of regeneration to be brought to the whole world. On this day, as the blessed John the Evangelist testifies, when the disciples were gathered together and the doors were shut, the Lord came in to them, breathed on them, and said: Receive the Holy Spirit; whose sins you remit, they are remitted to them; and whose you retain, they shall be retained (John 20:22, 23). On this day, finally, the Holy Spirit promised by the Lord to the apostles came (Acts 2:1; John 14:16; 16:7); so that we may know it to have been intimated and handed down by a kind of heavenly rule that the mysteries of priestly blessings are to be celebrated by us on that day on which all the gifts of graces were conferred.

CAP. II. De iterando missae sacrificio, ut plebi super venienti satisfiat. — Ut autem in omnibus observantia nostra concordet, illud quoque volumus custodiri, ut cum solemnior quaeque festivitas conventum populi numerosioris indixerit, et ea fidelium

CHAP. II. On repeating the sacrifice of the Mass, so that the people coming in later may be satisfied. — And so that our observance may agree in all things, we wish this also to be kept: that when any of the more solemn festivals has called together an assembly of a more numerous people, and such a multitude of the faithful […]

Editors' notes and page, col. 626

Footnotes

(i) continued from col 625, set in n625

(j)–(l) calls in col 625, printed under col 626, set in n625

(m) ‹tantis divinarum› · printed under col 626

Vulg. ante Quesn. cum Vat. Hisp. et Isid. ac mss. collect. 21, dispensationum. Emendationem Quesnelli ex codd. Grimanico, et Victorino, ac ex editionibus Merlini, Nicolini, Surii, et Sichardi, caeteri nostri mss. libri, etiam Vindeb. Hisp. confirmant.

The common editions before Quesnel, with the Vatican Spanish and Isidorian [manuscripts] and the manuscripts of collection 21, have "dispensationum". Quesnel's emendation, made from the Grimani and Victorinus codices and from the editions of Merlin, Nicolini, Surius and Sichard, is confirmed by the rest of our manuscript books, including the Vienna Spanish.

(n) ‹et mors interitum, et› · printed under col 626

Cod. Vat. 1342 collect. 3, vita accepit aeterna principium. Tria mss. collect. 8, vita accepit aeternum principium. Quidam codd. collect. 21, et Vindeb. Hisp., vita accipit principium.

Vat. codex 1342 of collection 3: "eternal life received its beginning". Three manuscripts of collection 8: "life received an eternal beginning". Certain codices of collection 21, and the Vienna Spanish: "life receives its beginning".

(o) ‹In hac,› · printed under col 626

Vindeb. Hisp., sicut beatus Joannes testatur, cum congregatis in unum discipulis, clausis januis ad eos Dominus introisset.

The Vienna Spanish: "as the blessed John testifies, when, the disciples being gathered together, the Lord had come in to them with the doors shut".

(p) ‹remittuntur eis; et› · printed under col 626

Antiquiss. Vat. 5845 et Vindeb. Hisp., quorum retinueritis, retenta sunt. Vat. Hisp., erunt.

The very ancient Vat. 5845 and the Vienna Spanish: "whose you retain, they are retained". The Vatican Spanish: "erunt" [they shall be].

(q) ‹sacerdotalium benedictionum,› · printed under col 626

Editi, in quo. Correximus ex memorato antiquiss. Vat., ex duob. Hisp. et Vat. Isid., ac Vallicellano collect. 8.

The editions have "in quo". We have corrected it from the very ancient Vatican [manuscript] already mentioned, from two Spanish [manuscripts] and the Vatican Isidorian, and from the Vallicelliana codex of collection 8.

(r) ‹ut cum solemnior› · printed under col 626

Vox quaeque deest in editis ante Quesn. et quinque nostris codd., nec non apud Sichardum.

The word "quaeque" is missing in the editions before Quesnel and in five of our codices, and also in Sichard.

(s) ‹populi numerosioris indixerit, et› · printed under col 626

In mss. Hisp. Isid. et collect. 21, et ad eamdem fidelium multitudo. Merlinus, et eam fidelium, etc. Editi ante Quesn. cum mss. collect. 24, et ad eam tanta fidelium multitudo. Similiter Sichardus, qui solum omittit fidelium. Quesn. in marg., et ad eam tanti sacrificii oblatio iterata, quod nullibi reperimus,

In the Spanish and Isidorian manuscripts and those of collection 21: "and to the same, a multitude of the faithful". Merlin: "and it, of the faithful", etc. The editions before Quesnel, with the manuscripts of collection 24: "and to it so great a multitude of the faithful". Likewise Sichard, who omits only "fidelium". Quesnel in the margin: "and to it the offering of so great a sacrifice repeated", which we find nowhere, […]

Page

running head: 625 EPISTOLA IX. 626 (shared with col 625)
marginal letters (gutter, shared with col 625): A ‹ta et dantium›; B ‹Evangelii tubam sumunt›; C ‹vantia nostra concordet›; D ‹Vindeb. Hisp., vita accipit› (footnote (n))
old-edition numerals: 630 after ‹Et ideo pie et›; 631 before ‹CAP. II.›
signature: none
other: "ta" at the head completes "quanta", set in col 625; "fide-" at the foot is completed by "lium" at the head of col 627 and set whole here. Note (s) ends at the foot of col 626 with a comma, and no continuation is printed under cols 627 or 628 (checked): the rest of the note appears to be lost in this printing

PL 54:627

multitudo convenerit, quam recipere basilica simul una non possit, sacrificii oblatio indubitanter iteretur; ne his tantum admissis ad hanc devotionem, qui primi advenerint, videantur hi, qui postmodum confluxerint, non recepti, cum plenum pietatis atque rationis sit, ut quoties basilicam, in qua agitur, praesentia novae plebis impleverit, toties sacrificium subsequens offeratur.

[…] has come together as one basilica cannot hold at once, the offering of the sacrifice be repeated without hesitation; lest, if only those who arrived first were admitted to this devotion, those who flocked in afterwards should seem not to have been received, since it is fully in accord with piety and reason that as often as the presence of a fresh congregation has filled the basilica in which the rite is performed, so often a subsequent sacrifice should be offered.

Necesse est autem ut quaedam pars populi sua devotione privetur, si unius tantum missae more servato, sacrificium offerre non possint, nisi qui prima diei parte convenerint. Studio ergo dilectionem tuam et familiariter admonemus ut quod nostrae consuetudini ex forma paternae traditionis insedit, tua quoque cura non negligat: ut per omnia nobis et fide et actibus congruamus. Propter quod remeanti filio nostro Possidonio presbytero, hanc ad fraternitatem tuam epistolam dedimus preferendam, qui nostris processionibus atque ordinationibus frequenter interfuit, et toties ad nos missus, quid in omnibus apostolicae auctoritatis teneremus, agnovit.

For it must needs be that some part of the people is deprived of its devotion if, the custom of only one Mass being kept, none can offer the sacrifice except those who have come together in the first part of the day. Earnestly, therefore, and in a familiar way we admonish your beloved self that your care also should not neglect what has become settled in our custom from the pattern of the fathers' tradition: so that we may agree in all things, both in faith and in acts. For this reason we have given this letter to our son Possidonius the presbyter, on his return, to be carried to your fraternity; he has often been present at our processions and ordinations, and, having been sent to us so many times, has learned what we hold in all things of apostolic authority.

Data XI kalendas Julias.

Given on the eleventh day before the Kalends of July.

Editors' notes and page, col. 627

Footnotes

(a) ‹qui postmodum confluxerint,› · printed under col 627

Exemplaria collect. 21, non recipi.

The copies of collection 21: "non recipi" [not to be received].

(b) ‹praesentia novae plebis impleverit,› · printed under col 627

Vide not. 4 Quesnelli.

See Quesnel's note 4.

De consecr. dist. 1, Necesse est, c. 51.

[Gratian, Decretum,] On Consecration, Distinction 1, [canon] "Necesse est", c. 51.

(d) ‹offerre non possint, nisi› · printed under col 627

Mss. Hisp. et Isid. omittunt qui.

The Spanish and Isidorian manuscripts omit "qui".

(e) ‹dilectionem tuam et› · printed under col 627

Vide not. 5 Quesn. et observationem nostram.

See Quesnel's note 5 and our observation.

(f) ‹tua quoque cura non negligat:› · printed under col 627

Al. cum mss. collect. 24, atque Sichardo, ut omnia nobis ex fide et actibus congruant.

Others, with the manuscripts of collection 24 and Sichard: "so that all things may agree for us from faith and acts".

(g) ‹remeanti filio nostro› · printed under col 627

Vide not. 6 Quesn.

See Quesnel's note 6.

(h) ‹preferendam, qui› · printed under col 627

Codd. collect. 8, in nostris. Mox in Vindebon. Hisp., atque orationibus.

The codices of collection 8: "in nostris". Next, in the Vienna Spanish: "atque orationibus" [and prayers].

(i) ‹interfuit, et toties› · printed under col 627

Verba ad nos stricte accepta de ipso Leone indicare videntur, hunc Possidonium litteras quoque Cyrilli de Paschate an. 444, quarum fragmentum edidimus ante, epist. 3 ad eumdem Leonem, Romam attulisse an. 445. Sed vox toties non duas tantum, sed plures Possidonii transmissiones significat: cumque certum sit eumdem etiam ad Coelestinum missum fuisse cum commonitorio et epistola ejusdem Cyrilli in Nestorii causa an. 430, jam probabillissimum est voces ad nos, quae hanc quoque ipsius transmissionem videntur comprehendere, non de solo Leone, sed de praedecessore etiam ejus accipiendas esse. Nos enim pro ipsa pontificia dignitate accipi potest, quae in omnibus Petri successoribus una eademque est, uti innuimus in admonit. ad epist. 1, num. 25.

The words "to us", taken strictly of Leo himself, seem to indicate that this Possidonius also brought to Rome in 445 the letter of Cyril on the Pasch of 444, of which we have printed a fragment above, letter 3, to the same Leo. But the word "so many times" signifies not merely two but several missions of Possidonius; and since it is certain that the same man was also sent to Celestine with the memorandum and letter of the same Cyril in the case of Nestorius in 430, it is now most probable that the words "to us", which seem to include this mission of his as well, are to be understood not of Leo alone but of his predecessor too. For "we" can be taken for the pontifical dignity itself, which is one and the same in all the successors of Peter, as we indicated in the admonition to letter 1, no. 25.

(j) ‹quid in omnibus› · printed under col 627

Quesn. ita emendavit ex codicibus et editionibus nota ejusdem septima recensitis. Hanc emendationem etiam nostri potiores et antiquiores mss. libri collect. 3, 8, 23 et 24, approbant. Vulgati Leonini cum quibusdam mss. collect. 21, apostolicae sedis auctoritatis. Vat. 541 ejusdem collectionis, apostolicae sedis auctoritate. In Vat., Hisp., Isid. et mss. collect. 12, atque 22, Apostolicae sedis auctoritatibus.

Quesnel emended it thus from the codices and editions listed in his seventh note. Our better and older manuscript books of collections 3, 8, 23 and 24 also approve this emendation. The common editions of Leo, with certain manuscripts of collection 21: "of the authority of the apostolic see". Vat. 541 of the same collection: "by the authority of the apostolic see". In the Vatican Spanish and Isidorian and the manuscripts of collections 12 and 22: "by the authorities of the Apostolic see".

(k) ‹agnovit. Data› · printed under col 627

In mss. collect. 3, in Vat., Hisp. et Isid. nec non in tribus codd. collect. 21, data omittitur. Vindebon. Hisp., X kal. Julii. Editi ante Quesn. ex Merlino et mss. collect. 21 atque Sichardo kal. Juliis. Antiquissimus Vat. 5845 collect. 8, XI kal. Junias. Soli codices antiqui Vallicel. A, 5, et Vercellensis nec non Vat. 3791 habent XI kal. Julias. Cum vero codices Vallicell. et Vercell. pertineant ad eamdem collectionem 8 ad quam spectat Vat. 5825, utra lectio, praeferenda sit, dubitari posset Dubitationem tamen videtur eximere caeterorum codicum consensus in voce Jul., ac propterea ultimam lectionem a Quesnello inductam retinuimus.

In the manuscripts of collection 3, in the Vatican Spanish and Isidorian, and also in three codices of collection 21, the date is omitted. The Vienna Spanish: "the tenth day before the Kalends of July". The editions before Quesnel, from Merlin and the manuscripts of collection 21 and Sichard: "the Kalends of July". The very ancient Vat. 5845 of collection 8: "the eleventh day before the Kalends of June". Only the ancient Vallicelliana codex A 5 and the Vercelli codex, and also Vat. 3791, have "the eleventh day before the Kalends of July". But since the Vallicelliana and Vercelli codices belong to the same collection 8 to which Vat. 5825 belongs, it could be doubted which reading is to be preferred. The agreement of the other codices on the word "Jul.", however, seems to remove the doubt, and therefore we have kept the latter reading, introduced by Quesnel.