PL 54 · cols. 628–635

Leo the Great, Letters

Letter X

PL 54:628

EPISTOLA X.

LETTER X.

AD EPISCOPOS PER PROVINCIAM VIENNENSEM CONSTITUTOS.

TO THE BISHOPS ESTABLISHED THROUGHOUT THE PROVINCE OF VIENNE.

In causa Hilarii Arelatensis episcopi.

In the case of Hilary, bishop of Arles.

Dilectissimis fratribus, universis episcopis per Viennensem provinciam constitutis, Leo Romae episcopus.

To his most beloved brethren, all the bishops established throughout the province of Vienne, Leo, bishop of Rome.

CAP. I. — Divinae cultum religionis, quem in omnes gentes omnesque nationes Dei voluit gratia coruscare, ita Dominus noster Jesus Christus humani

CHAP. I. — The worship of the divine religion, which the grace of God willed to shine forth upon all peoples and all nations, our Lord Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the human […]

Editors' notes and page, col. 628

Footnotes

(l) ‹EPISTOLA X.› (call printed before the heading) · printed under col 628

Circa, tempus epistolae sequentis, an. 445.

About the time of the following letter, 445.

(m) ‹AD EPISCOPOS PER PROVINCIAM VIENNENSEM› (call printed before the address heading) · printed under col 628

Perrara sunt hujus epistolae mss. exemplaria, uti observavit Quesn., not. 1. Exstat enim tantum, quod sciamus, in cod. Corbeiensi vetustissimae collect 2, sub Vigilii aetatem in Gallis digestae, necnon in ms. collect. 12 et 24. P. Sirmondus aliud quodpiam vetustum exemplar vidit, quod ex inscriptione hujus epistolae a laudatis codicibus plurimum variante, ut not. sequenti apparebit, aliam originem prodit. Nobis posteriorum tantum collectionum exemplaria invenire et conferre licuit, nimirum Vat. 1340, et Ven. 569 collect. 12, Vat. 544 collect. 24, et Vat. 541, cui ex eodem fonte collectionis 12 haec epistola sub finem addita videtur. Hi vero codices cum recentiores collectiones exhibeant, cum antiqua collectione praesertim Corbeiensi comparandi non sunt, quae originis Gallicanae, ipsam epistolam ad Viennensis provinciae episcopos scriptam, ex vetustiori atque accuratiori exemplo apud Gallos invento recepisse credenda est. Hinc non solum Quesnellus, sed etiam ante ipsum P. Sirmondus post habitis editionibus vulgatis, quae ex Merlino, id est, ex collect. 12 derivatae sunt, Corbeiensi codici in recudenda hac epistola plurimum detulere; ac propterea istorum lectiones non facile deserendas aut immutandas credidimus. Porro etsi consulatum, quo haec epistola scripta fuit, nulli codices exhibeant, satis tamen colligitur ex constitutione sequenti, quae sub idem tempus in Gallias missa fuit. Cum autem ea constitutio ex emendatione chronicae notae ope nostrorum codd. scripta fuerit post epistolam ad Dioscorum an. 445, istam quoque epistolam ab eadem constitutione non disjungendam hoc loco collocavimus.

Manuscript copies of this letter are very rare, as Quesnel observed in note 1. For it is extant, so far as we know, only in the Corbie codex of the very ancient collection 2, compiled in Gaul about the age of Vigilius, and also in the manuscripts of collections 12 and 24. Father Sirmond saw some other old copy which, from the heading of this letter, differing greatly from the codices cited, as will appear in the next note, betrays another origin. We have been able to find and collate copies of the later collections only, namely Vat. 1340 and Ven. 569 of collection 12, Vat. 544 of collection 24, and Vat. 541, to which this letter seems to have been added at the end from the same source, collection 12. But since these codices present the more recent collections, they are not to be compared with the ancient collection, especially the Corbie one, which, being of Gallican origin, must be believed to have received this very letter, written to the bishops of the province of Vienne, from an older and more accurate copy found among the Gauls. Hence not only Quesnel but, before him, Father Sirmond too, setting aside the common editions, which were derived from Merlin, that is, from collection 12, deferred greatly to the Corbie codex in reprinting this letter; and therefore we have judged that their readings are not lightly to be abandoned or altered. Further, although no codices show the consulship in which this letter was written, it is sufficiently gathered from the following constitution, which was sent into Gaul about the same time. And since that constitution, by the correction of its chronological note with the help of our codices, was written after the letter to Dioscorus in 445, we have placed this letter too in this position, as not to be separated from that same constitution.

(n) ‹Dilectissimis fratribus› (call printed before the address line) · printed under col 628

Jacobus Sirmundus siglis VV. CC. non veterem schedam, ut perperam interpretatus est Quesn. not. 2, sed veteres codices, aut unum saltem antiquum exemplar allegavit, in quo huic epistolae praefigitur, Dilectissimis fratribus universis episcopis per provincias Maximam Sequanorum et Viennensium constitutis Leo. Displicuit Quesnello additio Maximae Sequanorum, eo quod nolit Celidonium episcopum Vesontionis, quae Maximae Sequanorum metropolis est. Sed Vesontionensem hujus episcopatum vindicabimus in observat. ad diss. 5 Quesnelli, part. I cap. 2, ubi et de hac inscriptione plura.

Jacques Sirmond, by the sigla VV. CC., cited not "an old sheet", as Quesnel wrongly interpreted it in note 2, but old codices, or at least one ancient copy, in which this letter is headed: "To his most beloved brethren, all the bishops established throughout the provinces of Maxima Sequanorum and of the Viennese, Leo." The addition "Maxima Sequanorum" displeased Quesnel, because he will not have Celidonius [to be] bishop of Besançon, which is the metropolis of Maxima Sequanorum. But we shall vindicate his episcopate of Besançon in our observations on Quesnel's dissertation 5, part 1, chapter 2, where there is more also on this heading.

(o) ‹voluit gratia coruscare,› · printed under col 628, without its letter

Dist. 19, Ita Dominus noster Jesus c. 7.

[Gratian, Decretum,] Distinction 19, [canon] "Ita Dominus noster Jesus", c. 7.

Editors' prose

Synopsis. — I. Ecclesia Christo instituente collocata in Petri soliditate, a qua non recedendum. Hanc ille violat qui ejus potestatem tentat infringere. — II. Hilarium arguit Ecclesiarum statum et concordiam perturbantem. — III. Celidonium ab Hilario depositum, retractato judicio sedi suae restitutum esse, exponit. — IV. Projectus episcopus, cui aegrotanti alterum idem Hilarius substituerat, in integrum restitutus. — V. Ordinationem episcopi provincialis metropolitano reservandam. — VI. Sine cleri plebisque consensu, et extra diem legitimum neminem ordinandum. — VII. Hilario metropolitani dignitas et potestas in provinciam Viennensem adempta. — VIII. Neminem pro levi causa communione esse pellendum. — IX. Ut praeter Leontii antiquioris episcopi consensum alterius provinciae concilium non indicatur.

Synopsis. — I. The Church, by Christ's institution, is set upon the solidity of Peter, from which there must be no departing. He violates it who tries to break down his power. — II. He rebukes Hilary for disturbing the state and concord of the Churches. — III. He sets out that Celidonius, deposed by Hilary, has been restored to his see after the judgement was reconsidered. — IV. Bishop Projectus, in whose place, while he was sick, the same Hilary had put another, is restored in full. — V. That the ordination of a bishop of the province is to be reserved to the metropolitan. — VI. That no one is to be ordained without the consent of clergy and people, and outside the lawful day. — VII. The dignity and power of metropolitan over the province of Vienne is taken away from Hilary. — VIII. That no one is to be driven from communion for a light cause. — IX. That a council of another province is not to be summoned without the consent of Leontius, the senior bishop.

Page

running head: 627 S. LEONIS MAGNI EPISTOLAE. 628 (shared with col 627)
marginal letters (gutter, shared with col 627): A ‹(l) EPISTOLA X.›; B ‹quioris episcopi consensum› (synopsis); C ‹riante, ut not. sequenti› (footnote (m)); D ‹ex constitutione sequenti› (footnote (m))
old-edition numerals: 633 within the synopsis, before ‹II. Hilarium arguit›
signature: none
other: the italic line "In causa Hilarii Arelatensis episcopi." under the heading is set in layer 1 as a sub-caption (authorship uncertain); the column holds only the letter's headings, the synopsis, the address and three lines of text; "hu-" at the foot is completed by "mani" at the head of col 629, set whole here

PL 54:629

generis Salvator instituit, ut veritas, quae antea legis et prophetarum praeconio continebatur, per apostolicam tubam in salutem universitatis exiret, sicut scriptum est: In omnem terram exivit sonus eorum, et in fines orbis terrae verba eorum (Ps. XVIII, 5). Sed hujus muneris sacramentum ita Dominus ad omnium apostolorum officium pertinere voluit, ut in beatissimo Petro apostolorum omnium summo, principaliter collocarit; et ab ipso quasi quodam capite, dona sua velit in corpus omne manare, ut exsortem se mysterii intelligeret esse divini, qui ausus fuisset a Petri soliditate recedere. Hunc enim in consortium individuae unitatis assumptum, id quod ipse erat, voluit nominari, dicendo: Tu es Petrus, est super hanc petram aedificabo Ecclesiam meam (Matth. XVI, 18); ut aeterni templi aedificatio, mirabili munere gratiae Dei, in Petri soliditate consisteret; hac Ecclesiam suam firmitate corroborans, ut illam nec humana temeritas posset appetere, nec portae contra illam inferri praevalerent.

[…] race, so established that the truth, which before was contained in the proclamation of the law and the prophets, should go forth through the apostolic trumpet for the salvation of the whole world, as it is written: Their sound has gone forth into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world (Ps. 18:5). But the Lord willed the sacrament of this gift to belong to the office of all the apostles in such a way that He placed it principally in the most blessed Peter, the highest of all the apostles; and He wills His gifts to flow from him, as from a kind of head, into the whole body, so that anyone who had dared to depart from the solidity of Peter should understand that he had no share in the divine mystery. For He willed that this man, taken up into the partnership of the undivided unity, should be named what He Himself was, saying: You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My Church (Matt. 16:18); so that the building of the eternal temple, by the wonderful gift of the grace of God, should stand on the solidity of Peter; strengthening His Church with this firmness, so that neither human rashness could assail it nor the gates of hell prevail against it.

Verum hanc petrae istius sacratissimam firmitatem, Deo, ut diximus, aedificante constructam, nimis impia vult praesumptione violare qnisquis ejus potestatem tentat infringere, favendo cupiditatibus suis, et id, quod accepit a veteribus, non sequendo: cum nulli se subditum legi, nullis institutionis Dominicae credit regulis contineri, a vestro nostroque, per novae usurpationis ambitum, more desciscens, praesumendo illicita, et quae custodire debuit, negligendo.

But whoever tries to break down its power, by favouring his own desires and not following what he received from those of old, wills with too impious a presumption to violate this most sacred firmness of this rock, built, as we have said, by God's building: since he believes himself subject to no law and bound by no rules of the Lord's institution, departing from your custom and ours through the ambition of a new usurpation, presuming what is unlawful and neglecting what he ought to have kept.

CAP. II. — Verum haec nos, Deo, ut credimus, aspirante, servata circa vos nostrae charitatis gratia, quam sanctitati vestrae apostolica semper sedes, ut meministis, impendit, nitimur consilio maturiore corrigere, et vestrarum Ecclesiarum statum communicato vobiscum labore, componere, non nova instituentes, sed vetera renovantes: ut in status consuetudine, quae nobis a nostris patribus est tradita, perduremus, et Deo nostro per boni operis ministerium, remotis perturbationum scandalis, placeamus. Nobiscum itaque vestra fraternitas recognoscat

CHAP. II. — But these things, with God, as we believe, inspiring us, and preserving towards you the favour of our charity which the apostolic see, as you remember, has always bestowed on your holiness, we strive to correct by riper counsel, and to set in order the state of your Churches, sharing the labour with you, not instituting new things but renewing old ones: so that we may persevere in the customary order handed down to us by our fathers, and may please our God through the ministry of good work, the scandals of disturbance being removed. Let your fraternity, therefore, recognize with us […]

Editors' notes and page, col. 629

Footnotes

(a) ‹In omnem terram› · printed under col 629

Quesnellus, exiet; et notavit in margine: Ita mss. codd., quod et antiquis Patribus familiare. At Sirmondus cum omnibus nostris codd. et anterioribus excusis exivit; et ita etiam apud plures Patres a P. Sabatier allegati, quorum nonnulli exiit, uti etiam in antiquissimo Psalterio ms. capituli Veronensis et in Sangermanensi ab eodem laudato: nulli autem Patres ab eo citantur pro exiet. Si originalis textus haberet exibit, tum subsistere posset exiet. Forte typographorum lapsu in Quesnelli edit. exiet pro exibit impresssum fuit.

Quesnel has "exiet", and noted in the margin: "So the manuscript codices, which is also familiar to the ancient Fathers." But Sirmond, with all our codices and the earlier printings, has "exivit"; and so also in many Fathers cited by Father Sabatier, some of whom have "exiit", as also in the very ancient manuscript Psalter of the chapter of Verona and in the Saint-Germain one cited by the same: but no Fathers are cited by him for "exiet". If the original text had "exibit", then "exiet" could stand. Perhaps by a printers' slip "exiet" was printed for "exibit" in Quesnel's edition.

(b) ‹apostolorum omnium summo, principaliter› · printed under col 629

Ita codd. Corb. et Thuan. apud Quesnel. not. 3, quam confer cum nostra observat. Sirmondus, collocaret atque ab ipso quasi quodam capite dona sua vellet in corpus omne manare. Aliae editiones cum nostris mss., collocaret, ut ab ipso quasi quodam capite dona sua velut in corpus diffunderet.

So the Corbie and Thuanus codices in Quesnel, note 3, which compare with our observation. Sirmond: "placed it, and willed His gifts to flow from him, as from a kind of head, into the whole body". Other editions, with our manuscripts: "placed it, so that from him, as from a kind of head, He might pour out His gifts as into a body".

Vide not. 4 Quesn. et observat. nostram.

See Quesnel's note 4 and our observation.

(d) ‹ut credimus, aspirante,› · printed under col 629

Sirmondus, reservata.

Sirmond: "reservata".

(e) call in col 630, printed under col 629, set in n630 (f) call in col 630, printed under col 629, set in n630

Page

running head: 629 EPISTOLA X. 630 (shared with col 630)
marginal letters (gutter, shared with col 630): A ‹mani generis Salvator›; B ‹mirabili munere gratiae›; C ‹aspirante, servata›; D ‹Patres ab eo citantur› (footnote (a))
old-edition numerals: 634 after ‹mirabili munere gratiae›
signature: none
other: "mani" at the head completes "humani", set in col 628

PL 54:630

apostolicam sedem, pro sui reverentia a vestrae etiam provinciae sacerdotibus, innumeris relationibus esse consultam, et per diversarum, quemadmodum vetus consuetudo poscebat, appellationem causarum, aut retractata, aut confirmata fuisse judicia: adeo ut servata unitate spiritus in vinculo pacis, commeantibus hinc inde litteris, quod sancte agebatur, perpetuae, proficeret charitati: quoniam sollicitudo nostra, non sua quaerens, sed quae sunt Christi, dignitatem divinitus datam nec Ecclesiis, nec Ecclesiarum sacerdotibus abrogabat.

[…] that the apostolic see, out of reverence for itself, has been consulted in innumerable reports by the priests of your province too, and that through the appeal of various cases, as the old custom demanded, judgements have been either reconsidered or confirmed: so that, the unity of the spirit being preserved in the bond of peace, and letters passing to and fro, what was done in holiness advanced towards a perpetual charity: since our solicitude, seeking not its own things but the things that are Christ's, took away the dignity given by God neither from the Churches nor from the priests of the Churches.

Sed hunc tramitem semper inter majores nostros et bene tentum, et salubriter custoditum Hilarius Ecclesiarum statum et concordiam sacerdotum novis praesumptionibus turbaturus excessit; ita suae vos cupiens subdere potestati, ut se beato apostolo Petro non patiatur esse subjectum, ordinationis sibi omnium per Gallias Ecclesiarum vindicans, et debitam metropolitanis sacerdotibus in suam transferens dignitatem; ipsius quoque beatissimi Petri reverentiam verbis arrogantioribus minuendo: cui cum prae caeteris solvendi et ligandi tradita sit potestas (Matth. XVI), pascendarum tamen ovium cura specialius mandata est (Joan. XXI). Cui quisquis principatum aestimat denegandum, illius quidem nullo modo potest minuere dignitatem; sed inflatus spiritu superbiae suae, semetipsum in inferna demergit.

But this path, always both well held and wholesomely kept among our forefathers, Hilary has abandoned, intending to disturb the state of the Churches and the concord of the priests by new presumptions; desiring so to subject you to his own power that he does not suffer himself to be subject to the blessed apostle Peter, claiming for himself [the right] of ordination for all the Churches throughout the Gauls, and transferring to his own dignity what is owed to the metropolitan priests; lessening also, by rather arrogant words, the reverence due to the most blessed Peter himself: to whom, although the power of loosing and binding was handed over before the rest (Matt. 16), yet the care of feeding the sheep was more specially entrusted (John 21). Whoever thinks that the primacy is to be denied to him can in no way lessen his dignity; but, puffed up with the spirit of his own pride, he plunges himself into the lower regions.

CAP. III. — Quae igitur apud nos in causa Celidonii episcopi gesta confecta sint, et quae Hilarius dixerit, dum cum eodem, praesente supradicto episcopo, audiretur, inditus chartis rerum ordo demonstrat. Ubi postquam Hilarius rationabile, quod in sanctorum concilio sacerdotum posset respondere, non habuit, ad ea se occulta cordis ipsius transtulerunt, quae nullus laicorum dicere, nullus sacerdotum posset audire. Doluimus, fateor, fratres, et hunc ejus mentis tumorem medelis patientiae nostrae curare tentavimus. Nolebamus etenim ea illi exacerbare vulnera, quae suae animae insolentibus subinde sermonibus infligebat, et quem susceperamus ut fratrem, delinire magis ipsum, quamvis ipse

CHAP. III. — What proceedings, therefore, were completed before us in the case of Bishop Celidonius, and what Hilary said while he was heard together with him, the aforesaid bishop being present, the order of events set down in the records shows. There, when Hilary had nothing reasonable that he could answer in the council of the holy priests, the hidden things of his heart carried him over to such things as no layman could say and no priest could hear. We grieved, I confess, brethren, and we tried to cure this swelling of his mind with the remedies of our patience. For we did not wish to exacerbate those wounds which he was repeatedly inflicting on his own soul by insolent speeches, and, having received him as a brother, we were striving rather to soothe him, although he himself […]

Editors' notes and page, col. 630

Footnotes

(e) ‹perpetuae, proficeret charitati:› · printed under col 629

Editi ante Quesn. cum solis codd. collect. 24 et Sirmondo, quam.

The editions before Quesnel, with only the codices of collection 24 and Sirmond, have "quam".

(f) ‹et bene tentum, et salubriter› · printed under col 629

Sic cum Quesn. nostri codd. Al., constitutum. Vide not. 5 Quesn. et observat. nostram.

So our codices, with Quesnel. Others have "constitutum". See Quesnel's note 5 and our observation.

(g) ‹ordinationis sibi› · printed under col 630

Vide not. ejusdem, et nostram observationem.

See the note of the same [Quesnel], and our observation.

(h) ‹debitam metropolitanis sacerdotibus› · printed under col 630

Sirmondus cum editis ante Quesn., in suum jus transferens dignitatem. Nostri codd., in suum jus transferre dignitatem, quod alia interpunctione ad participium cupiens refertur. Quesn. praetulit lectionem mss. collect. 2.

Sirmond, with the editions before Quesnel: "transferring the dignity into his own jurisdiction". Our codices: "to transfer the dignity into his own jurisdiction", which, with other punctuation, is referred to the participle "cupiens". Quesnel preferred the reading of the manuscripts of collection 2.

(i) ‹minuendo: cui cum› · printed under col 630

Ita omnes nostri codd., immo etiam Quesnelli atque Sirmondi, omnesque editiones. Conjecturas Quesnelli, quibus mallet legi pro caeteris expendemus in observat. ad not. ejusdem 7.

So all our codices, and indeed also those of Quesnel and Sirmond, and all the editions. Quesnel's conjectures, by which he would prefer to read "pro caeteris", we shall weigh in our observations on his note 7.

(j) ‹sacerdotum posset respondere,› · printed under col 630

Tres nostri mss., non habuerit.

Three of our manuscripts: "non habuerit".

(k) ‹non habuit, ad ea se› · printed under col 630

Quesn., in marg.: S. Paulus I Cor. XIV, 25: Occulta cordis ejus manifesta fient.

Quesnel, in the margin: St Paul, 1 Cor. 14:25: "The hidden things of his heart shall be made manifest."

(l) ‹audire. Doluimus,› · printed under col 630

Verbum fateor, quod erat in editionibus ante Quesn. ex nostris mss. et Sirmondo revocavimus.

The word "fateor", which was in the editions before Quesnel, we have brought back from our manuscripts and Sirmond.

(m) ‹quem susceperamus ut fratrem,› · printed under col 630

Nostri codices, delinire magis (quamvis ipse suis responsionibus invitaret, forte incitaret) quam contristare, etc. Idem legitur apud Sirmondum hac una exceptione, quod pro invitaret habet innodaret. Noluimus tamen mutare lectionem anteriorum editionum, etiam Quesnelli, qui ad marginem notavit pro innodaret: Alias, irretiret, vel implicaret.

Our codices: "rather to soothe (although he himself invited [it] by his answers, perhaps 'incited') than to sadden", etc. The same is read in Sirmond with this one exception, that for "invitaret" he has "innodaret". We did not wish, however, to change the reading of the earlier editions, including Quesnel's, who noted in the margin for "innodaret": "Elsewhere, irretiret [ensnared] or implicaret [entangled]".

Page

running head: 629 EPISTOLA X. 630 (shared with col 629)
marginal letters (gutter, shared with col 629): A ‹apostolicam sedem, pro sui›; B ‹esse subjectum, ordinationis›; C ‹monstrat. Ubi postquam›; D ‹(i) Ita omnes nostri codd.› (footnotes)
old-edition numerals: 635 after ‹ordinationis›
signature: none
other: "ip-" at the foot with "se" at the head of col 631 makes "ipse", set whole here

PL 54:631

se suis responsionibus in⟨no⟩daret, quam contristare nostris interlocutionibus, nitebamur. Absolutus est Celidonius episcopus, quoniam se injuste sacerdotio fuisse dejectum, manifesta testium responsione, ipso etiam praesente, monstraverat; ita ut, quod Hilarius nobiscum residens posset opponere, non haberet. Remotum est ergo judicium, quod prolatum in hac sententia legebatur, quod tamquam viduae maritus sacerdotium tenere non posset.

[…] entangled himself in his own answers, than to sadden him by our interventions. Bishop Celidonius was acquitted, since he had shown by the plain answer of witnesses, in the presence of [Hilary] himself, that he had been unjustly thrown out of the priesthood; so that Hilary, sitting with us, had nothing that he could object. The judgement was therefore set aside which was read as pronounced in this sentence: that, as the husband of a widow, he could not hold the priesthood.

Quod nos quidem servantes legalia constituta, sollicitius voluimus custodiri, non solum circa sacerdotes, sed circa clericos quoque minoris officii: ne ad sacram militiam hi permittantur accedere quibus sit tale conjugium, vel qui contra apostolicam disciplinam non unius tantum uxoris viri fuisse monstrentur. Sed sicut eos, quos factum suum non potest excusare, aut non admittendos, aut si fuerint, decernimus removendos, ita quibus hoc falso objicitur, habita necesse est examinatione purgemus, et suum officium perdere non sinamus. Mansisset namque in illum prolata sententia, si objectorum veritas exstitisset. Redditus itaque est Ecclesiae suae, et huic, quam amittere non debuit, dignitati coepiscopus noster Celidonius, sicut gestorum series, et post decursam cognitionem sententia, quae a nobis est prolata, testatur.

This indeed, observing the legal enactments, we have willed to be kept with special care, not only with regard to priests but also with regard to clerics of lower office: that those who have such a marriage should not be permitted to approach the sacred service, nor those who, against the apostolic discipline, are shown to have been the husband of more than one wife. But just as we decree that those whom their own deed cannot excuse are either not to be admitted or, if they have been, to be removed, so those against whom this is falsely alleged we must clear after holding an examination, and not allow them to lose their office. For the sentence pronounced against him would have stood if the truth of the charges had been established. Our fellow bishop Celidonius has therefore been restored to his Church and to this dignity, which he ought not to have lost, as the series of the proceedings attests, and the sentence which was pronounced by us after the hearing had run its course.

CAP. IV. — Huic negotio sic finito, fratris et coepiscopi nostri Projecti querela successit: cujus ad nos litterae lacrymabiles et dolendae, de superordinato sibi episcopo, sunt directae. Epistola quoque ingesta est civium ipsius, et numerosa singulorum

CHAP. IV. — When this business had been thus concluded, there followed the complaint of our brother and fellow bishop Projectus, whose tearful and lamentable letter was addressed to us concerning a bishop ordained over his head. A letter of his citizens also was pressed upon us, confirmed by the numerous […]

Editors' notes and page, col. 631

Footnotes

(a) ‹quod tamquam› · printed under col 631

Confer not. 8 Quesnelli.

Compare Quesnel's note 8.

(b) ‹tale conjugium,› · printed under col 631

Ita nostri codd. cum Quesn. Al., vel contra: Sirmondus, ut contra.

So our codices, with Quesnel. Others: "vel contra"; Sirmond: "ut contra".

Sirmondus addit adimssi, quod tamen etiam in nostris mss. omissum subintelligitur.

Sirmond adds "admissi" [admitted], which, however, is understood even where it is omitted in our manuscripts.

(d) ‹quibus hoc falso objicitur,› · printed under col 631

Editi ante Sirmondum, et Quesn. cum aliquibus mss., perperam, ab ea necesse est.

The editions before Sirmond, and Quesnel with some manuscripts, wrongly: "ab ea necesse est".

(e) ‹suum officium perdere non sinamus.› · printed under col 631

Celidonium Vesontionensem fuisse episcopum liquebit ex his quae adversus Quesnellum disputabuntur in observationibus ad dissertationem ejus 5, c. 1. Nihil itaque juris in illum Arelatensis episcopus obtinebat, ac propterea cum S. Leo scripsit: Mansisset in illum prolata (ab Hilario Arelatensi) sententia, si objectorum veritas exstitisset, non eo sensu accipiendum est, ac si S. pontifex jus ullum Hilarii proprium in Celidonium agnoscat; Valentinianus enim in constitutione mox subjicienda, quae ex Leonis mente scripta et edita est, de Hilario pronuntians, alios incompetenter removit, quod ad Celidonii depositionem refertur; voce incompetenter jus in Celidonium eidem defuisse palam insinuat. Itaque depositionis sententiam mansuram fuisse asseruit S. Leo non Hilarii jure, sed vel jure aliorum episcoporum ejusdem Celidonii provinciae, quos convenisse auctor Vitae Hilarii indicat, vel saltem facto, quatenus ex legalibus institutis viduarum maritum a sacris altaribus arcendum S. pontifex pariter judicasset; unde praemisit: Quod nos quidem servantes legalia constituta, sollicitius voluimus custodiri non solum circa sacerdotes, sed circa clericos quoque minoris officii. Hinc expungendam credimus postillam a Quesnello huic loco appositam: Hilarii potestatem in provinciam Viennensem non impetit S. Leo, quod Celidonium Hilarii jure, Leone fatente, depositum falso praesumit.

That Celidonius was bishop of Besançon will be clear from what will be argued against Quesnel in the observations on his dissertation 5, chapter 1. The bishop of Arles therefore held no jurisdiction over him; and so, when St Leo wrote, "For the sentence pronounced against him (by Hilary of Arles) would have stood if the truth of the charges had been established", it is not to be taken in the sense that the holy pontiff acknowledges any jurisdiction of Hilary's own over Celidonius; for Valentinian, in the constitution soon to be subjoined, which was written and issued according to Leo's mind, declaring concerning Hilary that "he removed others incompetently", which refers to the deposition of Celidonius, plainly implies by the word "incompetently" that he lacked jurisdiction over Celidonius. St Leo therefore asserted that the sentence of deposition would have stood, not by Hilary's jurisdiction, but either by the jurisdiction of the other bishops of the same Celidonius' province, who, the author of the Life of Hilary indicates, had assembled, or at least in fact, inasmuch as the holy pontiff would likewise have judged, from the legal institutions, that the husband of a widow was to be kept from the sacred altars; whence he said beforehand: "This indeed, observing the legal enactments, we have willed to be kept with special care, not only with regard to priests but also with regard to clerics of lower office." Hence we think the marginal gloss set at this place by Quesnel should be struck out: "St Leo does not attack Hilary's power over the province of Vienne", because it falsely presumes that Celidonius was deposed by Hilary's jurisdiction, as Leo acknowledged.

Page

running head: 631 S. LEONIS MAGNI EPISTOLAE. 632 (shared with col 632)
marginal letters (gutter, shared with col 632): A ‹se suis responsionibus›; B ‹aut non admittendos›; C ‹(a) Confer not. 8› (footnotes); D ‹nium eidem defuisse› (footnote (e))
old-edition numerals: 636 after ‹viduae maritus sacerdotium›
signature: none
other: "se" at the head completes "ipse", set in col 630; in "innodaret" (line 1) the letters "no" are lost in damaged type and supplied in the text

PL 54:632

subscriptione firmata, invidiosissimis contra Hilarium plena querimoniis: quod Projecto episcopo suo aegrotare liberum non fuisset, ejusque sacerdotium in alium praeter suam notitiam esse translatum, et tamquam in vacuam possessionem ab Hilario pervasore haeredem viventis inductum. Quid hic fraternitas vestra sentiat, cuperemus audire. Quamquam de vestris animis nostra non debeat sententia dubitare: cum fratrem in lectulo constitutum, tam non infirmitate corporis aggravari quam alio videatis dolore torqueri. Quae spes illi de vita relinquitur, cui de sacerdotio suo desperatio, dum illi alter substituitur, irrogatur?

[…] subscription of individuals, full of most odious complaints against Hilary: that their bishop Projectus had not been free to be ill, that his priesthood had been transferred to another without his knowledge, and that, as into a vacant property, an heir of a living man had been brought in by Hilary the invader. What your fraternity thinks of this we should like to hear. Although our judgement need not be in doubt about your minds, since you see that the brother lying on his sickbed is not so much weighed down by the infirmity of his body as tormented by another grief. What hope of life is left to him on whom despair of his priesthood is inflicted while another is put in his place?

Apparet quam mitis sit corde Hilarius, qui obesse praesumptioni suae fraternae mortis credidit tarditatem. Quantum enim in se fuit, illi subtraxit lucem, abstulit vitam, qui hunc dolorem in locum ejus alterum subrogando, ne ad salutem illi recursus esset, injecit. Esto ut brevis fratri evenerit humanae conditionis consueta migratio, quid sibi Hilarius quaerit in aliena provincia, et id quod nullus decessorum ipsius ante Patroclum habuit, quid usurpat? cum et ipsum, quod Patroclo a sede apostolica temporaliter videbatur esse concessum, postmodum sit sententia meliore sublatum? Exspectarentur certe vota civium, testimonia populorum; quaereretur honoratorum arbitrium, electio clericorum, quae in sacerdotum solent ordinationibus ab his qui noverunt Patrum regulas, custodiri: ut apostolicae auctoritatis norma in omnibus servaretur, qua praecipitur ut sacerdos Ecclesiae praefuturus, non solum attestatione fidelium, sed etiam eorum

It is plain how meek of heart Hilary is, who believed that his brother's slowness to die stood in the way of his own presumption. For, as far as lay in him, he took away his light and removed his life, since by substituting another in his place he inflicted on him this grief, so that there should be no way back for him to health. Suppose that the customary departure of the human condition had befallen the brother quickly: what does Hilary seek for himself in another's province, and why does he usurp what none of his predecessors before Patroclus had? since even that which seemed to have been granted to Patroclus by the apostolic see for a time was afterwards taken away by a better judgement. Surely the wishes of the citizens and the testimonies of the peoples should have been awaited; the judgement of the notables and the election of the clergy should have been sought, which are customarily kept in the ordinations of priests by those who know the rules of the Fathers: so that the norm of apostolic authority might be observed in all things, by which it is commanded that a priest who is to preside over a Church be [chosen] not only with the attestation of the faithful but also of those […]

Editors' notes and page, col. 632

Footnotes

(f) ‹irrogatur? Apparet› · printed under col 632

Editi anteriores Sirmondo et Quesnello, et quidam codd, addunt ergo.

The editions earlier than Sirmond and Quesnel, and certain codices, add "ergo" [therefore].

(g) ‹qui hunc› · printed under col 632

Sirmondus inserit ei.

Sirmond inserts "ei" [on him].

(h) ‹injecit. Esto ut› · printed under col 632

Sensus exigere videtur brevi. Editi ante Sirmondum, brevis fratri invenerit, vel, inventa fuerit humanae conditionis consueta migratio. Apud Quesn. cum duobus nostris codicibus perperam, conditioni.

The sense seems to require "brevi" [shortly]. The editions before Sirmond: "brevis fratri invenerit", or "inventa fuerit humanae conditionis consueta migratio". In Quesnel, with two of our codices, wrongly, "conditioni".

(i) ‹ante Patroclum habuit,› · printed under col 632

Ita Quesnellus, et quidam nostri codices. Al., cur usurpat? Paulo ante editi vetustiores Sirmondo et Quesnello, aut Patroclus habuerit, male; ante Patroclum enim habent tum nostri tum Sirmondi et Quesnelli codices, ac praesertim Corbeiensis; ipseque sermonis contextus idipsum flagitare cognoscitur.

So Quesnel and certain of our codices. Others: "cur usurpat?" [why does he usurp?]. A little before, the editions older than Sirmond and Quesnel have "aut Patroclus habuerit", wrongly; for both our codices and those of Sirmond and Quesnel, and especially the Corbie codex, have "ante Patroclum"; and the context of the passage itself is seen to demand this very thing.

(j) ‹postmodum sit› · printed under col 632

Indicatur Bonifacii I papae decretum confirmatum a Coelestino, quo Narbonensi prima Patroclo antea tributa decreto Zosimi eidem adempta fuit, et Narbonensi episcopo restituta. In hoc autem Zosimus Patroclo faverat, quia is decessores suos ea provincia semper potitos iis argumentis statuit, quibus tum episcopus Narbonensis apte respondere non potuit. Cum vero sub Bonifacio I idem episcopus Narbonensis resumptis viribus contrarium ostenderit ejusmodi documentis, quae allatis ab Arelatensi adeo praestabant, ut omnino convincentia sequentes pontifices approbaverint, hinc eam provinciam eidem Arelatensi meliore sententia sublatam Leo affirmat.

The decree of Pope Boniface I, confirmed by Celestine, is meant, by which Narbonensis Prima, formerly assigned to Patroclus by a decree of Zosimus, was taken away from him and restored to the bishop of Narbonne. Zosimus had favoured Patroclus in this because he established that his predecessors had always held that province, by arguments to which the bishop of Narbonne could not then fittingly reply. But when, under Boniface I, the same bishop of Narbonne, having regained his strength, showed the contrary by documents of such a kind, so superior to those brought forward by the bishop of Arles that the following pontiffs approved them as entirely convincing, Leo therefore affirms that this province was taken away from that same bishop of Arles by a better judgement.

(k) ‹in sacerdotum solent ordinationibus ab his› · printed under col 632

Sirmondus, qui norunt. Porro Patrum regulae videntur esse canones Patrum Sardicensium praecipientium can. 5 cum ordinandum episcopum quia populo petitur. De hac autem re apertius statuentes Julius I, Innocentius, et Coelestinus, non tam populi quam cleri votnm flagitarunt.

Sirmond: "qui norunt". Further, the rules of the Fathers seem to be the canons of the Fathers of Sardica, who in canon 5 order that one be ordained bishop who is asked for by the people. Julius I, Innocent and Celestine, deciding more openly on this matter, demanded the wish not so much of the people as of the clergy.

(l) ‹Patrum regulas, custodiri:› · printed under col 632

Quesnellus contra omnium nostrorum, codicum et anteriorum editionum auctoritatem nullo indicato ms. posuit. aut apostolicae.

Quesnel, against the authority of all our codices and of the earlier editions, and without indicating any manuscript, put "aut apostolicae".

Page

running head: 631 S. LEONIS MAGNI EPISTOLAE. 632 (shared with col 631)
marginal letters (gutter, shared with col 631): A ‹subscriptione firmata›; B ‹subtraxit lucem, abstulit›; C ‹(f) Editi anteriores› (footnotes); D ‹episcopus Narbonensis apte› (footnote (j))
old-edition numerals: 637 before ‹torqueri›
signature: none
other: none

PL 54:633

qui foris sunt testimonio muniatur (I Tim. III, 7), neque illius scandali relinquatur occasio, cum per pacem et Deo placitam concordiam consonis omnium studiis, qui doctor pacis futurus est, ordinatur.

[…] who are outside be fortified with their testimony (1 Tim. 3:7), and no occasion of scandal be left, when he who is to be the teacher of peace is ordained through peace and a concord pleasing to God, with the harmonious zeal of all.

CAP. V. — Sed ille insperatus nescientibus supervenit, et improvisus abscessit, cursu, ut didicimus celeri itinera multa conficiens, et per longinquas provincias tanta immaturitate discurrens, ut videatur gloriam de scurrili velocitate potius quam de sacerdotali moderatione captasse. Haec enim directarum ad nos civium verba sunt litterarum: Ante abscessit quam eum venisse nossemus. Non est hoc redire, sed fugere, nec salubritatem impendere diligentiae pastoralis, sed vim inferre latronis et furis, dicente Domino: Qui non intrat per januam in cortem ovium, sed ascendit aliunde, hic fur et latro est (Joan. X, 1). Non ergo Hilarius tam studuit episcopum consecrare quam eum potius qui aegrotabat occidere, et ipsum quem superposuit male ordinando decipere. Nos tamen, quod vobis credimus Deo judice placiturum, in commune cunctis fratribus consulentes, et male ordinatum submoveri, et episcopum Projectum in suo sacerdotio permanere debere decrevimus: id statuentes ut si quisquam fratrum nostrorum in quacumque provincia decesserit, is sibi ordinationem vindicet sacerdotis, quem illius provinciae metropolitanum esse constiterit.

CHAP. V. — But he came upon them unexpected while they knew nothing, and departed unforeseen, accomplishing many journeys, as we have learned, at a swift pace, and running about through distant provinces with such haste that he seems to have sought glory from a buffoon's speed rather than from priestly moderation. For these are the words of the letter of the citizens addressed to us: "He departed before we knew that he had come." This is not to return but to flee, not to bestow the wholesome care of pastoral diligence but to inflict the violence of a robber and a thief, as the Lord says: He who does not enter by the door into the sheepfold, but climbs in another way, he is a thief and a robber (John 10:1). Hilary, then, was not so eager to consecrate a bishop as rather to kill the one who was sick, and to deceive the very man whom he set over [him] by ordaining him wrongly. We, however, taking counsel in common for all the brethren, in a way which we believe will please you with God as judge, have decreed both that the one wrongly ordained be removed and that Bishop Projectus ought to remain in his priesthood: laying down this, that if any of our brethren in any province whatever has died, the ordination of a priest [for that see] shall be claimed by the one who is established to be the metropolitan of that province.

Duae, ut videmus, causae transactae sunt, in quibus tamen multa sunt quae praeter rationem ecclesiasticam videantur esse commissa, et justi judicii debeant expectare censuram. Sed nos diutius hic non possumus immorari, cum ad alia quae nobis cum vestra sanctitate sollicitius conferenda sunt provocemur.

Two cases, as we see, have been settled, in which, however, there are many things which seem to have been committed contrary to ecclesiastical principle and which ought to await the censure of a just judgement. But we cannot dwell on this any longer, since we are called on to other matters which must be discussed with special care between us and your holiness.

CAP. VI. — Militaris manus, ut didicimus, per provincias sequitur sacerdotem, et armati praesidii praesumptions suffulto ad invadendas per tumultum famulatur ecclesias, quae proprios amiserint sacerdotes. Trahuntur ordinandi ante hoc officium, his quibus praeficiendi sunt civitatibus ignorati. Ut enim notus qui fuerit et probatus per pacem petitur, ita

CHAP. VI. — A military band, as we have learned, follows the priest through the provinces, and serves him, propped up by the presumption of an armed guard, in invading amid tumult the churches which have lost their own priests. Those to be ordained are dragged before this office, unknown to the cities over which they are to be set. For as one who is known and approved is asked for in peace, so […]

Editors' notes and page, col. 633

Footnotes

(a) ‹per longinquas provincias tanta› · printed under col 633

Idem Quesnellus in marg.: Forte, maturitate, quod nec codices praeferunt, nec sensus videtur exigere.

The same Quesnel in the margin: "Perhaps 'maturitate'", which the codices do not show, nor does the sense seem to require it.

(b) ‹Qui non intrat per januam› · printed under col 633

Nostri codd., in curtem. Quidam editi, in chortem, alias in cohortem. Sed cors cortis idem est ac cohors, et proprie locum muris cinctum, quo aliquid custoditur, significat.

Our codices: "in curtem". Certain editions: "in chortem", elsewhere "in cohortem". But "cors, cortis" is the same as "cohors", and properly signifies a place enclosed by walls, in which something is kept.

Sirmondus addit de hac vita.

Sirmond adds "de hac vita" [from this life].

(d) ‹esse constiterit.› · printed under col 633

Quinam codd. cum editis ante Sirmondum, quia, ut videmus. Mox duo mss. omittunt tamen; pro quo editiones memoratae substituunt etiam.

Certain codices, with the editions before Sirmond: "quia, ut videmus". Next, two manuscripts omit "tamen"; for which the editions mentioned substitute "etiam".

(e) ‹sequitur sacerdotem, et› · printed under col 633

Locum hunc in anterioribus editionibus perturbatum Sirmondus et Quesnellus ex mss. restituerunt. Vide not. 9 ejusdem Quesn. Sic autem legebatur: Armatis praesumptione suffultum ad invadendas per tumultum famulatur ecclesias, quae proprios amiserint. Traduntur ordinandi ad hoc officium, his quibus praeficiendi sunt civitatibus ignoti.

This passage, confused in the earlier editions, Sirmond and Quesnel restored from the manuscripts. See note 9 of the same Quesnel. It used to read thus: "It serves, propped up by the presumption of armed men, in invading amid tumult the churches which have lost their own. Those to be ordained are handed over for this office, unknown to the cities over which they are to be set."

(f) call in col 634, printed under col 633, set in n634 (g) call in col 634, printed under cols 633–634, set in n634

Page

running head: 633 EPISTOLA X. 634 (shared with col 634)
marginal letters (gutter, shared with col 634): A ‹qui foris sunt testimonio›; B ‹tem ovium, sed ascendit›; C ‹ad alia quae nobis›; D ‹(c) Sirmondus addit› (footnotes)
old-edition numerals: 638 before ‹nossemus›
signature: none
other: none

PL 54:634

per vim necesse est, qui ignotus adducitur, imponatur. Obtestor et obsecro, et sub Dei vos invocatione convenio, prohibete, fratres, talia, et omnem dissensionis materiam de vestris provinciis removete. Certe nos ante Deum absolvimus, qui vos, ne permittatis ultra haec fieri, convenimus. Per pacem et quietem sacerdotes qui futuri sunt postulentur. Teneatur subscriptio clericorum, honoratorum testimonium, ordinis consensus et plebis Qui praefuturus est omnibus, ab omnibus eligatur. Ordinationem sibi, ut ante jam diximus, singuli metropolitani suarum provinciarum cum his qui caeteros sacerdotii antiquitate praeveniunt, restituto sibi per nos jure defendant. Alienum jus alter sibi non audeat vindicare.

[…] one who is brought in unknown must be imposed by force. I adjure and beseech you, and, calling upon God, I charge you: forbid such things, brethren, and remove all matter of dissension from your provinces. Certainly we have acquitted ourselves before God, who charge you not to allow these things to be done any longer. Let those who are to be priests be asked for in peace and quiet. Let the subscription of the clergy be held to, the testimony of the notables, the consent of the council and of the people. Let him who is to preside over all be chosen by all. Let the several metropolitans of their provinces, together with those who precede the rest in seniority of priesthood, defend the ordination for themselves, as we have already said, the right having been restored to them by us. Let no one dare to claim for himself another's right.

Suis limitibus, suis terminis sit unusquisque contentus, et privilegium sibi debitum in alium transferre se posse, noverit non licere. Quod si quis negligens apostolicas sanctiones, plus gratiae tribuens personali, sui honoris desertor esse voluerit, privilegium suum in alium transferre posse se credens, non is cui cesserit, sed is qui intra provinciam antiquitate episcopali caeteros praevenit sacerdotes, ordinandi sibi vin⟨d⟩icet potestatem. Non passim, sed die legitimo ordinatio celebretur; nec sibi constare status sui noverit firmitatem, qui non die sabbati vespere, quod lucescit in prima sabbati, vel ipso Dominico die fuerit ordinatus. Solum enim majores nostri resurrectionis Dominicae diem hoc honore dignum judicaverunt, ut sacerdotes qui sumuntur hoc die potissimum tribuantur.

Let each be content with his own boundaries and his own limits, and let him know that it is not lawful for him to be able to transfer to another the privilege owed to himself. But if anyone, neglecting the apostolic ordinances and giving more favour to personal [regard], should choose to be a deserter of his own honour, believing that he can transfer his privilege to another, then not the one to whom he has yielded it, but the one who within the province precedes the other priests in episcopal seniority, shall claim for himself the power of ordaining. Let ordination be celebrated not indiscriminately but on the lawful day; and let him know that the firmness of his standing is not secure who has not been ordained on the evening of the Sabbath, which dawns into the first day of the week, or on the Lord's day itself. For our forefathers judged the day of the Lord's resurrection alone worthy of this honour, that the priests who are taken should be bestowed on this day above all.

CAP. VII. — Suis unaquaeque provincia sit contenta conciliis, nec ultra Hilarius audeat conventus indicere synodales, et sacerdotum Domini judicia, se interserendo turbare. Qui non tantum noverit se ab alieno jure depulsum, sed etiam Viennensis provinciae, quam male usurpaverat, potestate privatum. Dignum est enim, fratres, antiquitatis statuta reparari, cum is qui sibi ordinationem provinciae indebitae vindicabat, talis in praesenti etiam probatus fuerit exstitisse, ut cum ipse frequentius

CHAP. VII. — Let each province be content with its own councils, and let Hilary no longer dare to summon synodal assemblies and to disturb the judgements of the Lord's priests by thrusting himself in. Let him know that he has not only been driven from another's jurisdiction but also deprived of the power over the province of Vienne, which he had wrongly usurped. For it is right, brethren, that the statutes of antiquity be restored, since he who claimed for himself the ordination of a province not owed to him has been proved even at present to have been such a man that, while he himself more frequently […]

Editors' notes and page, col. 634

Footnotes

(f) ‹ordinis consensus et plebis Qui› · printed under col 633

Vide not. 10 Quesn.

See Quesnel's note 10.

(g) ‹suis terminis sit unusquisque contentus,› · printed under cols 633–634

Plures hic metropolitanos perstringit. Illi autem videntur intelligi ad quorum provincias Celidonius ac Projectus pertinebant: quippe qui fortassis Hilario permittentes ut judicia et ordinationes in suis provinciis haberet, jus suum quodammodo in eum transtulerunt. Ingenuum praeterea Alpium maritimarum metropolitam a Leone fuisse culpatum ob illicitam sui juris cessionem, testatur Hilarius papa epist. 4. Incertum vero est num haec Ingenui reprehensio ad has Leonis litteras referenda sit, an vero ad alias quae interciderint; de quo vide plura in dissert. de epistolis deperditis, num 97.

Here he censures several metropolitans. Those seem to be meant to whose provinces Celidonius and Projectus belonged: since they, perhaps allowing Hilary to hold judgements and ordinations in their provinces, in a manner transferred their right to him. Moreover, Pope Hilary, letter 4, testifies that Ingenuus, metropolitan of the Maritime Alps, was blamed by Leo for the unlawful cession of his right. It is uncertain, however, whether this reproof of Ingenuus is to be referred to this letter of Leo or to others which have perished; on which see more in the dissertation on the lost letters, no. 97.

(h) ‹se interserendo turbare.› · printed under col 634

Ita cum antea editis et tribus nostris codd. Sirmondus. Quesnellus autem cum mss. collect. 24, qui tamen noverit se non solum ab alieno jure.

So Sirmond, with the earlier editions and three of our codices. Quesnel, however, with the manuscripts of collection 24: "who, however, should know that he [has been driven] not only from another's jurisdiction".

(i) ‹Viennensis provinciae,› · printed under col 634

Quesn. in margine: Forte, qua male usus fuerat. Id autem ea sola de causa scripsit, quia in sua sententia, quam in observationibus ad quintam diss. impugnabimus, Hilarium nullum jus quod sibi non competeret usurpasse contendit.

Quesnel in the margin: "Perhaps 'which he had misused'". He wrote this for this reason alone, that in his opinion, which we shall attack in the observations on the fifth dissertation, he contends that Hilary usurped no right that did not belong to him.

(j) ‹talis in praesenti etiam probatus fuerit› · printed under col 634

Editi ante Sirmondum et Quesn. cum inferioris notae codicibus omittunt exstitisse. Porro metropolitae, qui in aliquo defecisset contra regulas canonum, suae tantum Ecclesiae sacerdotium pro sedis apostolicae pietate servari, ordinationis episcoporum jure adempto, vetus disciplina erat, ut videre est apud Hilarium papam epist. 8, ad Gallicanos, n. 1. Confer etiam Leonis epist. 12, c. 9.

The editions before Sirmond and Quesnel, with codices of lower standing, omit "exstitisse". Further, it was the old discipline that a metropolitan who had failed in anything against the rules of the canons should, by the clemency of the apostolic see, keep the priesthood of his own Church only, the right of ordaining bishops being taken away, as may be seen in Pope Hilary, letter 8, to the Gauls, no. 1. Compare also Leo's letter 12, chapter 9.

Page

running head: 633 EPISTOLA X. 634 (shared with col 633)
marginal letters (gutter, shared with col 633): A ‹per vim necesse est›; B ‹tus, et privilegium›; C ‹conciliis, nec ultra›; D ‹(h) Ita cum antea› (footnotes)
old-edition numerals: 639 after ‹de vestris provinciis›; 640 after ‹antiquitatis›
signature: none
other: in "vindicet" (‹ordinandi sibi›) the "d" is broken and a gap shows in the type ("vin licet"), set vin⟨d⟩icet; the text of col 634 ends ‹ut cum ipse frequentius› with no hyphen

PL 54:635

temerariis et insolentibus verbis sententiam damnationis expeteret, suae tantum civitatis illi sacerdotium, pro sedis apostolicae pietate, praeceptio nostra servaverit. Non ergo intersit ulli ordinationi; non ordinet, qui meriti sui conscius, cum quaeretur ad causam, turpi fuga se credidit subtrahendum, exsors apostolicae communionis, cujus participes esse non meruit: Deo, ut credimus, hoc agente, qui illum, inopinantibus nobis, et ad judicia nostra pertraxit, et inter examinationes habitas, ne communionis nostrae consors fieret, ut abscederet latenter, effecit.

[…] with rash and insolent words demanded a sentence of condemnation, our injunction, out of the kindness of the apostolic see, has preserved to him the priesthood of his own city only. Let him therefore not take part in any ordination; let him not ordain, who, conscious of his own deserts, when he was sought for the hearing of the case, thought he must withdraw himself by shameful flight, cut off from the apostolic communion, of which he did not deserve to be a partaker: God, as we believe, bringing this about, Who both drew him to our judgement when we did not expect it, and caused him to depart secretly during the examinations that were held, so that he should not become a sharer in our communion.

Cap. VIII. — Nulli Christianorum facile communio denegetur, nec ad indignantis fiat hoc arbitrium sacerdotis, quod in magni reatus ultionem invitus et dolens quodammodo debet inferre animus judicantis. Cognovimus enim pro commissis et levibus verbis quosdam a gratia communionis exclusos, et animam pro qua Christi sanguis effusus est, irrogatione tam saevi supplicii sauciatam et inermem quodammodo exutamque omni munimine, diabolicis incursibus, ut facile caperetur, objectam. Certe si quando causa talis emerserit, ut pro commissi criminis qualitate aliquem juste faciat communione privari, is tantum poenae subdendus est quem reatus involvit; nec particeps debet esse supplicii, qui consors non docetur fuisse commissi. Sed quid mirum eam in laicos talem existere, qui soleat de sacerdotum damnatione gaudere?

Chap. VIII. — Let communion not be lightly refused to any Christian, nor let this be done at the will of an angry priest, [a thing] which the mind of the judge ought to inflict unwillingly and in a manner with sorrow, in punishment of a great guilt. For we have learned that some have been shut out from the grace of communion for things done and for light words, and that a soul for which the blood of Christ was shed has been wounded by the infliction of so cruel a punishment and, as it were, disarmed and stripped of all protection, and exposed to the assaults of the devil, so as to be easily taken. Certainly, if at any time a case shall arise such that, by the character of the crime committed, it justly causes someone to be deprived of communion, only he whom the guilt involves is to be subjected to the penalty; nor ought he to be a partaker of the punishment who is not shown to have been a sharer in the deed. But what wonder that such a one should show himself thus towards laymen, who is wont to rejoice at the condemnation of priests?

Cap. IX. — Unde quia nostra longe alia videtur intentio, nam omnium Ecclesiarum statum et concordiam custodiri cupimus sacerdotum, ad unitatem vos vinculo charitatis hortantes et obtestamur, et affectione congrua commonemus, ut ea quae a nobis Deo inspirante et beatissimo Petro apostolo, discussis

Chap. IX. — Wherefore, since our intention is seen to be far different, for we desire the state of all the Churches and the concord of the priests to be preserved, exhorting you to unity by the bond of charity we both adjure you, and with fitting affection admonish you, that what by us, at the inspiration of God and of the most blessed apostle Peter, after the examination […]

Editors' notes and page, col. 635

Footnotes

(a) ‹praeceptio nostra servaverit.› · printed under col 635

Locus emendatus ex mss. Sirmondi et nostris, inquit in postilla marginali Quesnellus. Legebatur autem antea: Non ergo sit illi ordinatio, qui meriti sui conscius, cum quaereretur ad accusandum, turpi fuga, etc. Corruptius in nostris mss. collect. 12 et 24: Non ergo sit illi ordinatione, non ordinet, qui meriti, etc.

"The passage is emended from Sirmond's manuscripts and ours," says Quesnel in a marginal note. Formerly it read: "Let there therefore be no ordination for him, who, conscious of his own deserts, when he was sought to be accused, by shameful flight," etc. More corruptly in our manuscripts of collections 12 and 24: "Let there therefore not be for him by ordination, let him not ordain, who, [conscious of his own] deserts," etc.

(b) ‹se credidit subtrahendum,› · printed under col 635

Male nonnulli hunc locum de excommunicatione qua S. Leo Hilarium a sua communione separaverit, interpretantur. Ex sequentibus enim palam fit ideo Hilarium dici exsortem apostolicae communionis, quia ipse Roma inopinate aufugiens inter sacra utique mysteria, communionis nostrae, subdit pontifex, consors fieri noluit. Hilarius scilicet, qui ex auctore Vitae ejus c. 17 apud Leonem questus fuerat aliquos apud Gallos publica sententia damnatos, in Urbe sacris altaribus interesse, communioni ejus (Celidonii) quem cum tantis viris damnaverat, conjungi nullatenus acquievit; et ne cogeretur cum eo, quem absolvendum praesentiebat, Romae communicare, recessit, et eatenus ab ipsa apostolica communione se subduxit.

Some wrongly interpret this passage of an excommunication by which St Leo separated Hilary from his communion. For from what follows it becomes plain that Hilary is called "cut off from the apostolic communion" because he himself, fleeing Rome unexpectedly, during the sacred mysteries in particular, "was unwilling," the pontiff adds, "to become a sharer of our communion." Hilary, that is, who according to the author of his Life, ch. 17, had complained to Leo that some who had been condemned among the Gauls by public sentence were present at the sacred altars in the City, would by no means consent to be joined in communion with him (Celidonius) whom he had condemned together with such great men; and so as not to be compelled to communicate at Rome with one whom he foresaw would be acquitted, he withdrew, and to that extent removed himself from the apostolic communion itself.

Ita Quesnellus cum duobus nostris codd. Al., vindicantis.

So Quesnel with two of our manuscripts. Others, "of the one avenging."

(d) ‹omni munimine, diabolicis› · printed under col 635

Sirmondus, incursionibus.

Sirmond, "incursionibus" [assaults].

(e) ‹ut facile caperetur, objectam. Certe› · printed under col 635

Quatuor nostri codices, si qua causa.

Four of our manuscripts, "si qua causa" [if any case].