PL 54 · cols. 908–911

Leo the Great, Letters

Letters LXXVIII–LXXIX

τὸν ἐπίσκοπον ἡ σὴ μακαριότης ἀπέστειλε, δίχα τινὸς ὑπερθέσεως ὑπέγραψε· καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἡ σὴ εὐλάβεια, καθ' ὃν ἂν φανείη τρόπον, σημᾶναι καταξιώσει· ἵνα πάντες, καὶ πάσης τῆς Ἀνατολῆς οἱ ἐπίσκοποι, Θρᾴκης τε καὶ Ἰλλυρικοῦ, καθὼς καὶ τῷ ἡμετέρῳ δεσπότῃ τῷ εὐσεβεστάτῳ βασιλεῖ τῷ ἐμῷ συζύγῳ ἀρέσκει, εἰς μίαν πόλιν τὴν ταχίστην ἀπὸ τῶν ἀνατολικῶν μερῶν παραγένωνται· κἀκεῖσε γενομένης συνόδου περί τε τῆς καθολικῆς ὁμολογίας, καὶ περὶ τούτων τῶν ἐπισκόπων, οἵ τινες πρὸ τούτου ἐχωρίσθησαν, καθὼς ἡ πίστις, κ⟨αὶ⟩ ἡ χριστιανικὴ εὐσέβεια ἀπαιτεῖ, σοῦ αὐθεντοῦντος ὁρίσωσιν.

[…] the bishop Your Blessedness sent, he subscribed without any delay. And therefore Your Reverence will deign to signify, in whatever way may seem [fit], that all, both the bishops of the whole East and those of Thrace and Illyricum, as it pleases also our lord, the most pious emperor, my husband, should come with all speed from the eastern parts to one city; and that, a synod having been held there, they may define, under your authority, concerning the catholic confession and concerning those bishops who were separated before this, as the faith and Christian piety require.

Ἔτι δὲ γνώτω ἡ σὴ ἁγιότης, ὡς προστάγματι τοῦ ἡμετέρου δεσπότου καὶ γαληνοτάτου βασιλέως τοῦ ἡμετέρου συζύγου, ἐν τῇ ἐνδόξῳ πόλει τῆς Κωνσταντινουπόλεως τοῦ τῆς ἁγίας μνήμης ἐπισκόπου Φλαυιανοῦ τὸ σῶμα διακεκόμισται, καὶ ἐν τῇ βασιλικῇ τῶν ἀποστόλων, ἐν ᾗ εἰώθασιν οἱ προλειτουργήσαντες ἐπίσκοποι θάπτεσθαι, τῇ χρεωστουμένῃ τιμῇ ἀποτέθειται· καὶ τούτους ὁμοίως τοὺς ἐπισκόπους, οἵ τινες διὰ τὴν αὐτὴν αἰτίαν, ἐπειδὴ μετὰ τοῦ ἁγιωτάτου Φλαυιανοῦ τῇ συμφωνίᾳ τῆς πίστεως τῆς καθολικῆς συνέτρεχον, ἐξορίᾳ ὑπεβλήθησαν, ἐπανελθεῖν διὰ κυριώσεως ἰδίου πραγματικοῦ προσέταξεν· ὥστε διὰ τῆς δοκιμασίας τῆς συνόδου, καὶ πάντων τῶν ἐπισκόπων τῶν συνελθόντων τῆς ἀποφάσεως, τὴν ἐπισκοπήν, καὶ τὰς ἰδίας ἐκκλησίας κριθῶσιν ἀπολαβεῖν.

Further, let Your Holiness know that by the command of our lord and most serene emperor, our husband, the body of Flavian, the bishop of holy memory, has been conveyed to the glorious city of Constantinople, and has been laid with the honour due to it in the basilica of the apostles, in which the bishops who ministered before are accustomed to be buried; and that he has likewise ordered, by the authority of his own pragmatic [rescript], that those bishops who for the same cause, because they concurred with the most holy Flavian in the agreement of the catholic faith, were subjected to exile, should return; so that by the examination of the synod and the decision of all the bishops assembled they may be judged to recover their episcopate and their own churches.

EPISTOLA LXXVIII.

LETTER LXXVIII.

AD MARCIANUM AUGUSTUM.

TO MARCIAN AUGUSTUS.

Pro datis litteris et fide defensa gratias agit.

He gives thanks for the letter sent and for the faith defended.

LEO episcopus MARCIANO semper Augusto.

Leo, bishop, to Marcian, ever Augustus.

Litteras pietatis vestrae accepisse me gaudeo, et ad significationem totius prosperitatis pertinere cognosco, cum sermones vestri initia pro fidei nos faciant integritate securos. Quantas itaque clementiae vestrae gratias referamus, non ex verbis nostris, sed ex beneficiis vestris, quae Ecclesiae contulistis, agnoscite: non ambigentes qualem illum

I rejoice to have received the letter of Your Piety, and I recognize that it pertains to the signifying of all prosperity, since the beginnings of your speech make us secure for the integrity of the faith. How great thanks, therefore, we return to Your Clemency, recognize not from our words but from your benefits which you have conferred on the Church: not doubting what manner of […]

Editors' notes and page, col. 908

Footnotes

(f) continued from col 907, set in n907. Notes (g), (h), (i), printed under this column, answer calls in col 907 and are set in n907.

(1) ‹anchor: "τῇ χρεωστουμένῃ τιμῇ" (Letter LXXVII)› · printed under col 908

In marg. edit. Rom., ἀποτίθεται.

In the margin of the Roman edition: ἀποτίθεται [is laid].

(2) ‹anchor: "τῆς συνόδου," before "καὶ πάντων" (Letter LXXVII)› · printed under col 908

Deest καὶ in ms. Ven.

καὶ [and] is missing in the Venice manuscript.

(3) ‹anchor: "τῶν συνελθόντων" (full-width line, Letter LXXVII)› · printed under col 908

In ms. Ven., καὶ τῆς ἀποφάσεως.

In the Venice manuscript: καὶ τῆς ἀποφάσεως [and of the decision].

(j) ‹anchor: "cognosco," before "cum sermones vestri" (Letter LXXVIII)› · printed under col 908

Vulgati antiquiores, cum sermones vestri vos faciant. Idem est in nostris codd. collect. 12, qui dumtaxat melius mutant vos in nos. Quesnellus ex Grimanico, cum sermones vestri pro fidei nos faciant. Potior visa est lectio praestantissimi ms. Ratisp., in quo voces sermonis vestri initia innuunt epistolam 76, qua Marcianus primo ad pontificem de negotio fidei scripsit; in epistolam enim 73 simplicem assumptionis suae notitiam dederat.

The older printed editions: cum sermones vestri vos faciant. The same is in our manuscripts of collection 12, which only, and better, change vos into nos. Quesnel, from the Grimani: cum sermones vestri pro fidei nos faciant. The reading of the most excellent Ratisbon manuscript seemed preferable, in which the words the beginnings of your speech point to letter 76, in which Marcian first wrote to the pontiff about the matter of the faith; for in letter 73 he had given simple notice of his accession.

Page

running head: 907 S. LEONIS MAGNI EPISTOLAE. 908 (across the page, page 459)
marginal letters: A ‹τὸν ἐπίσκοπον ἡ σὴ›; B ‹σῶμα διακεκόμισται›; C ‹cheriae eadem die› (footnotes); D ‹(Col. 902, n. j)› (footnotes)
old-edition numerals: 1031 after ‹ἐχωρίσθησαν,›; 1034 after ‹nos faciant›
signature: none
other: col 908 opens with "νὸν", the end of "Φλαυιανὸν" set whole in c906_b (the Greek runs from col 906 to col 908). The last line of LXXVII's Greek is printed full-width across the page, below both columns; it is set here, where the Greek reading ends. The heading and first line of Letter LXXVIII, printed in col 907, are set under this rail after it. In "καθὼς ἡ πίστις, κ⟨αὶ⟩" the word is damaged in our scan (it looks like "κτλ"); supplied from the sense and the Latin "et".

PL 54:909

retributorem in omnibus habeatis pro cujus tam pie estis religione solliciti; et qui vos, ut res ipsa demonstrat, ad hoc ut fides catholica ab insidiis inimicorum suorum defenderetur, elegit, gloriosissime. Haec me nunc breviter per fratris mei Anatolii clericos pietas vestra scripsisse dignanter accipiat. Pleniora autem de omnibus quae ad curam meam pro statu Ecclesiarum et concordia pertinent Domini sacerdotum, per legatos nostros scripta direximus. Data idibus Aprilis, Adelfio viro clarissimo consule.

[…] rewarder you have in all things in Him for whose religion you are so piously solicitous, and Who, as the matter itself shows, chose you for this, that the catholic faith might be defended from the snares of its enemies, most glorious [emperor]. Let Your Piety graciously accept that I have now written this briefly through the clerics of my brother Anatolius. But fuller writings on all the things that belong to my care for the state of the Churches and the concord of the Lord's priests we have directed by our legates. Given on the ides of April, Adelfius, a most illustrious man, being consul.

EPISTOLA LXXIX.

LETTER LXXIX.

AD PULCHERIAM AUGUSTAM.

TO PULCHERIA AUGUSTA.

Editors' notes and page, col. 909

Footnotes

(a) ‹anchor: "pro cujus tam" (Letter LXXVIII)› · printed under col 909

Iidem Vulgati cum mss. collect. 12, tam pia: Emendationem Quesnelli probat cod. Ratisponensis.

The same printed editions, with the manuscripts of collection 12: tam pia. The Ratisbon manuscript confirms Quesnel's emendation.

(b) ‹anchor: "elegit," before "gloriosissime" (Letter LXXVIII)› · printed under col 909

Vox gloriosissime a Quesnello inducta eodem ms. Ratisp. confirmatur.

The word most glorious, introduced by Quesnel, is confirmed by the same Ratisbon manuscript.

Ita omnes nostri codd. Quesnellus, conscripsisse. In anterioribus editis et scripsisse et conscripsisse deerat.

So all our manuscripts. Quesnel: conscripsisse. In the earlier editions both scripsisse and conscripsisse were missing.

(d) ‹anchor: "per legatos nostros" (Letter LXXVIII)› · printed under cols 909–910

Haec ac tres sequentes epistolae datae idibus Aprilis, per Constantinopolitanos clericos missae fuerunt. Cum autem S. pontifex has epistolas scriberet, legatos pariter cum aliis plenioribus litteris et instructionibus simul dirigere cogitabat: unde sicut de clericis Constantinopolitanis scribit epist. 80, cap. 1: Post venerabilem diem festi Paschatis remisimus, sic de legatis epist. 81 ait: Nostros post diem venerabilem dirigemus. At causas aliquas subinde incidisse dicendum est, quae hanc legatorum transmissionem in longius tempus distulerunt, nimirum in mensem Junium, cum per Lucentium episcopum et Basilium presbyterum apostolicae sedis legatos Constantinopolim misit epistolas 83, 84, 85 et 86, signatas die 9 Junii: ubi sermonem esse de legatis quos memorat in his epistolis traditis idibus Aprilis, patet ex epist. 83, c. 1, in qua se legatos mittere ait, ut praecedentibus litteris indicavi, et epist. 84, c. 1, quod facturum me aliis litteris indicaveram. Causam hujus dilationis fuisse arbitramur serum reditum priorum legatorum, quos exspectandos credidit, ante quam novos legatos Constantinopolim dirigeret. Cum has litteras scripsit, sperabat eos brevi perventuros, eo quod fortassis sive ex clericis Anatolii, sive ex ipsorum legatorum litteris intellexerat, discedentibus clericis Constantinopoli, eos quoque in eo fuisse, ut proxime subsequerentur. Hinc novos legatos una cum iisdem clericis Constantinopolim reversuris post Pascha dirigendos indicavit. At cum illorum reditum differri vidit, clericos cum his litteris dimisit quidem idibus Aprilis; at novam legationem protraxit usque ad Junium, quo illi in Urbem rediere. Ita porro de novis legatis, qui nondum missi fuerant, S. Leo hoc loco inquit direximus, quemadmodum de clericis Constantinopolitanis, qui, cum haec scriberet, Roma nondum discesserant, ait epist. 80, c. 1: Cum epistolis nostris remisimus: quippe qui in eo erant ut Constantinopolim redirent. Similiter epist. 75, c. 2, de eadem mox transmittenda scribit: Volumus autem ut hae litterae nostrae, quas ad vestram dilectionem misimus, etc. ac epist. 83, de legatis quibus eamdem deferendam tradidit, Fratres, inquit, meos . . . direxi. Familiare scilicet Leoni est praeteritum tempus usurpare de rebus vel actionibus quae futurae quidem erant dum scriberet: at relatae ad tempus quo epistolae legerentur, praeteritae fuissent. Hinc conciliantur formulae quae videntur contrariae, cum de iisdem legatis mox, uti meditabatur, transmittendis nunc praeterito utitur epist. 79 et 80, quos misimus; nunc autem futuro, nostros . . . . dirigemus epist. 81. Illud enim ad tempus quo litterae legendae erant, istud vero ad tempus quo scribebantur, ex Leonis mente referendum est. Observamus porro neque in hac neque in sequenti epistola quidquam responderi de concilio quod imperator et ejus conjux Pulcheria in suis litteris expetiverant. Id vero Leonem remisisse plenioribus scriptis, quae per legatos dirigenda commemorat, liquet ex epist. 82. c. 2. ad eumdem Marcianum: Piissimae sollicitudini vestrae, quam de indicenda synodo habere dignamini, per legationem, quae confestim ad clementiam vestram Deo annuente perveniet, quidquid ad causae utilitatem arbitror pertinere, plenius atque opportunius suggeretur. Id autem consulto factum fuit, eo quod mutatis rerum circumstantiis post Theodosii mortem (cum scilicet novo imperatore rectae fidei patrocinante. Eutyches ejusque fautores repressi et catholici episcopi in Epheso depositi, ab exsilio fuerant revocati, plures vero jam decepti ad sanam mentem in dies revertebantur), Leo non ita necessarium generale concilium credidit ut antea judicaverat; vel saltem eo quod illud non in Oriente habendum putaret, sed in Italia, ubi cum per hoc tempus bellum ingrueret, concilium differendum censuit, uti traditur epist. 83, 90 et 94. Haec et similia per legatos utilius et plenius viva voce quam litteris tractanda existimavit.

This and the three following letters, dated on the ides of April, were sent by the clerics of Constantinople. And when the holy pontiff was writing these letters, he was intending to send legates at the same time as well, with other, fuller letters and instructions: hence, as he writes of the clerics of Constantinople in letter 80, chap. 1: We have sent [them] back after the venerable day of the feast of Easter, so of the legates he says in letter 81: We shall send ours after the venerable day. But it must be said that some causes then arose which put off this sending of the legates to a later time, namely to the month of June, when he sent to Constantinople, by Lucentius the bishop and Basil the presbyter, legates of the apostolic see, letters 83, 84, 85 and 86, signed on 9 June: that the talk there is of the legates whom he mentions in these letters handed over on the ides of April is clear from letter 83, chap. 1, in which he says that he is sending legates, as I indicated in the preceding letter, and letter 84, chap. 1, which I had indicated in another letter that I would do. We judge that the cause of this delay was the late return of the earlier legates, whom he believed he should wait for before sending new legates to Constantinople. When he wrote this letter he was hoping that they would arrive shortly, because perhaps he had understood, either from Anatolius' clerics or from the legates' own letters, that when the clerics were leaving Constantinople the legates too were on the point of following them very soon. Hence he indicated that new legates would be sent after Easter together with the same clerics on their return to Constantinople. But when he saw that the others' return was being put off, he did dismiss the clerics with these letters on the ides of April, but he postponed the new legation until June, when those returned to the City. Thus, further, of the new legates, who had not yet been sent, St Leo says in this place we have sent, just as of the clerics of Constantinople, who, when he was writing this, had not yet left Rome, he says in letter 80, chap. 1: We have sent [them] back with our letters: since they were on the point of returning to Constantinople. Similarly in letter 75, chap. 2, he writes of that letter, soon to be sent: And we wish that this letter of ours, which we have sent to your Love, etc.; and in letter 83, of the legates to whom he handed it to be delivered, he says: I have sent my brethren . . . Namely, it is familiar to Leo to use the past tense of things or actions which were indeed future when he wrote, but, referred to the time when the letters would be read, would be past. Hence formulas that seem contrary are reconciled, when of the same legates, soon to be sent, as he was planning, he now uses the past, in letters 79 and 80, whom we have sent, and now the future, we shall send ours . . . ., in letter 81. For the one is to be referred, in Leo's mind, to the time when the letters were to be read, the other to the time when they were being written. We observe further that neither in this letter nor in the following is any answer given about the council which the emperor and his wife Pulcheria had requested in their letters. That Leo put this off to fuller writings, which he mentions as to be sent by the legates, is clear from letter 82, chap. 2, to the same Marcian: To the most pious solicitude of Yours which you deign to have about summoning a synod, whatever I judge to pertain to the benefit of the cause will be suggested more fully and more opportunely through the legation which, God willing, will shortly come to Your Clemency. And this was done deliberately, because, the circumstances of affairs having changed after the death of Theodosius (when, namely, with the new emperor protecting the right faith, Eutyches and his supporters had been checked and the catholic bishops deposed at Ephesus had been recalled from exile, while most of those who had been deceived were daily returning to a sound mind), Leo did not believe a general council as necessary as he had judged before; or at least because he thought it should be held not in the East but in Italy, where, since war was pressing at this time, he decided that the council should be put off, as is reported in letters 83, 90 and 94. These and similar matters he judged were better and more fully dealt with by the living voice through legates than by letters.

(e) ‹anchor: "Aprilis," before "Adelfio" (Letter LXXVIII)› · printed under col 910

Editi, Adelphio. At ms. Ratisp. semper Adelfio; et similiter habent in aliis epistolis antiquissimus codex Vat. 1322, utrique codd. Hisp. et Vat. Isid. aliique veteres libri. Ita etiam Prosper et Marcellinus tum in vulgatis, tum in mss. Idipsum confirmatur inscriptione apud Aringhium t. II, p. 419: ADELFO.

The editions: Adelphio. But the Ratisbon manuscript always has Adelfio; and so, in other letters, have the very ancient Vatican manuscript 1322, both manuscripts of the Spanish [collection] and the Vatican manuscript of the Isidorian, and other old books. So too Prosper and Marcellinus, both in the printed editions and in the manuscripts. The same is confirmed by an inscription in Aringhi, vol. II, p. 419: ADELFO.

(f) ‹anchor: "EPISTOLA" (heading of Letter LXXIX)› · printed under col 910

Al. 59. Quae autem antea 79 erat, nunc 105. Scripta 13 Aprilis an. 451.

Otherwise 59. The one that was formerly 79 is now 105. Written on 13 April, in the year 451.

(g) ‹anchor: before "AD PULCHERIAM AUGUSTAM" (title of Letter LXXIX)› · printed under col 910

Exstat haec epistola in mss. collect. Hisp., Isid. 11, 12, 18 usque ad 24, et in exemplari Sichardi.

This letter is extant in the manuscripts of the Spanish and Isidorian collections, 11, 12, 18 up to 24, and in Sichard's copy.

(h) ‹anchor: before "SYNOPSIS" (Letter LXXIX; the mark is printed like "(n)")› · printed under col 910

In collect. Hispanica haec synopsis legitur: Epistola Leonis ad Pulcheriam Augustam, in qua gratias agit quod Nestorianam et Eutychianam haeresim fidei defensione destruxit.

In the Spanish collection this synopsis is read: Letter of Leo to Pulcheria Augusta, in which he gives thanks that she destroyed the Nestorian and Eutychian heresy by her defence of the faith.

Editors' prose

SYNOPSIS. — I. De repressis ejus auctoritate Nestorio et Euthychete gratias agit. — II. De legatis adjutis, reductis ad sedes suas sacerdotibus, revocatis in urbem Flaviani reliquiis, et lapsis, si subscribant fidei, recipiendis. — III. De Eusebio communione sedis apostolicae fruente, et Juliano Coensi; et de clericis CP. Flaviano faventibus.

SYNOPSIS. — I. He gives thanks that Nestorius and Eutyches were checked by her authority. — II. On the legates having been helped, the priests brought back to their sees, the remains of Flavian recalled to the city, and the lapsed to be received if they subscribe to the faith. — III. On Eusebius enjoying the communion of the apostolic see, and Julian of Cos; and on the clerics of Constantinople who favoured Flavian.

Page

running head: 909 EPISTOLA LXXIX. 910 (across the page, page 460)
marginal letters: A ‹retributorem in omnibus›; B ‹rio et Euthychete gratias agit› (synopsis); C ‹lem dirigemus. At causas› (footnotes); D ‹subsequerentur. Hinc novos› (footnotes)
old-edition numerals: 1035 before ‹Adelfio viro clarissimo›
signature: none
other: the synopsis of Letter LXXIX begins in this column and ends at the head of col 910 ("sedis apostolicae fruente … Flaviano faventibus"); it is set whole here. Notes (e)–(h), called in this column, are printed under col 910. The scan of this page is faint throughout.

PL 54:910

LEO episcopus urbis Romae, PULCHERIAE Augustae.

Leo, bishop of the city of Rome, to Pulcheria Augusta.

CAP. I. — Quod semper de sancta pietatis vestrae mente praesumpsimus, id plenissime experiendo cognovimus, Christianam fidem, quamvis diversis pravorum appeteretur insidiis, vobis tamen praesentibus et in defensionem ejus a Domino praeparatis, non posse turbari.

CHAP. I. — What we have always presumed of the holy mind of Your Piety, we have learned most fully by experience: that the Christian faith, although it has been assailed by the various snares of the wicked, yet cannot be disturbed while you are present and prepared by the Lord for its defence.

Non enim Deus aut suae misericordiae sacramentum, aut vestri laboris deserit meritum, quo dudum subdolum sanctae religionis hostem ab ipsis visceribus Ecclesiae depulistis; cum haeresim suam tueri impietas Nestoriana non potuit, quia non fefellit famulam et discipulam veritatis, quantum simplicibus infunderetur veneni per illa loquacis hominis colorata mendacia. De quo virtutum agone processit ut per sollicitudinem vestram ea quae per Eutychen diabolus molitus est, non laterent,

For God does not forsake either the mystery of His mercy or the merit of your labour, by which you long ago drove the crafty enemy of holy religion out of the very bowels of the Church; when the Nestorian impiety could not defend its heresy, because it did not escape the handmaid and disciple of the truth how much poison was being poured into the simple through those coloured lies of a talkative man. From this contest of virtues it came about that, through your solicitude, the things which the devil contrived through Eutyches should not lie hidden, […]

Editors' notes and page, col. 910

Footnotes

(d) continued from col 909, set in n909. Notes (e), (f), (g), (h), printed under this column, answer calls in col 909 and are set in n909.

(i) ‹anchor: "aut suae misericordiae" (Letter LXXIX)› · printed under col 910

Vat. Hisp. et Isid. ac mss. collect. 11 et 21, cum quatuor codd. Quesnelli, fidei sacramentum.

The Vatican manuscripts of the Spanish and Isidorian collections, and the manuscripts of collections 11 and 21, with four manuscripts of Quesnel: the mystery of the faith.

(j) ‹anchor: "visceribus Ecclesiae" (Letter LXXIX)› · printed under col 910

Vat. Hisp. et Isid., depulisti.

The Vatican manuscripts of the Spanish and Isidorian collections: depulisti [you (singular) drove out].

(k) ‹anchor: "vestram ea" (Letter LXXIX)› · printed under col 910

Quatuor mss. libri Quesn. et duo nostri, quae pereunti diabolus.

Four manuscript books of Quesnel and two of ours: which the devil, perishing, [contrived].

Page

running head: 909 EPISTOLA LXXIX. 910 (across the page, page 460)
marginal letters: A ‹sedis apostolicae fruente› (synopsis); B ‹simplicibus infunderetur›; C ‹Piissimae sollicitudini vestrae› (footnotes); D ‹et similiter habent› (footnotes)
old-edition numerals: 1036 after ‹De quo virtutum›
signature: none
other: the end of the synopsis of Letter LXXIX, printed at the head of this column, is set in n909. Col 910 ends "non laterent," with no divided word.

PL 54:911

et qui sibi singulas partes geminae impietatis elegerant, una catholicae fidei virtute procumberent. Secunda ergo haec vobis de perempto Eutychetis errore victoria est; quem, si quid sani cordis habuisset, dudum in auctoribus suis perculsum olimque prostratum facile potuerat declinare, ne de sepultis cineribus rediviva tentaret incendia commovere, ut in eorum transiret consortium, quorum secutus esset exemplum, glorisissima Augusta. Libet igitur exsultare cum gaudio, et pro vestrae clementiae prosperitate digna Deo vota persolvere, qui tibi per omnes mundi partes in quibus Domini Evangelium praedicatur duplicem jam et palmam contulit et coronam.

[…] and that those who had chosen for themselves the separate parts of a twofold impiety might fall by the one strength of the catholic faith. This, then, is your second victory, over the destroyed error of Eutyches; an error which, had he had anything of a sound heart, he could easily have avoided, since it had long ago been struck down in its authors and laid low of old, so as not to attempt to stir up revived fires from buried ashes and so pass into the fellowship of those whose example he had followed, most glorious Augusta. It is a delight, therefore, to exult with joy, and for the prosperity of your clemency to pay due vows to God, Who throughout all parts of the world in which the Gospel of the Lord is preached has now conferred upon you both a twofold palm and a twofold crown.

CAP. II. — Clementia igitur vestra cognoscat omnem Romanam Ecclesiam de universis fidei vestrae operibus plurimum gratulari, sive quod legationem nostram pio per omnia juvistis affectu, et quod sacerdotes catholicos, qui de ecclesiis suis injusta fuerant ejecti sententia, reduxistis, sive quod reliquias sanctae memoriae Flaviani innocentis et catholici sacerdotis ad Ecclesiam cui bene praefuit fecistis cum honore debito revocari. In quibus utique omnibus gloriae vestrae multiplicatur augmentum, dum et sanctos pro suis meritis veneramini, et ab agro Dominico spinas et tribulos vultis auferri. Quosdam vero episcopos de his qui rebus impiis videntur praebuisse consensum, reconciliationem poscere, et Catholicorum communionem desiderare, tam nostrorum

CHAP. II. — Let your clemency know, then, that the whole Roman Church rejoices greatly over all the works of your faith: whether because you have aided our legation with a devoted goodwill in every respect, and because you have brought back the catholic bishops who had been cast out of their churches by an unjust sentence; or because you have caused the remains of Flavian of holy memory, an innocent and catholic bishop, to be brought back with due honour to the Church over which he presided well. In all these things, assuredly, the increase of your glory is multiplied, while you both venerate the saints according to their merits and will that thorns and thistles be removed from the Lord's field. But that certain bishops, of those who appear to have given their consent to impious proceedings, are asking for reconciliation and desiring the communion of the Catholics, [we have learned] from the report both of our own [legates] […]

Editors' notes and page, col. 911

Footnotes

(a) ‹anchor: "victoria est;"› · printed under col 911

Quesnellus, qui si quid sani cordis habuisset, errorem dudum, etc. Anteriorum editionum lectionem omnibus nostris novem codicibus probatam et satis congruam revocavimus.

Quesnel: who, if he had had anything of a sound heart, the error long ago, etc. We have restored the reading of the earlier editions, approved by all nine of our manuscripts and quite fitting.

(b) ‹anchor: "Evangelium praedicatur"› · printed under col 911

Vat. Hisp. et Isid., duplicis gloriae palmam contulit.

The Vatican Hispana and Isidorian [manuscripts]: has conferred the palm of a twofold glory.

Ita ex plerisque et potioribus nostris codicibus. Vulgati cum mss. collect. 21, fuerunt.

So from most and the better of our manuscripts. The printed editions, with the manuscripts of collection 21: fuerunt [were].

(d) ‹anchor: "fecistis"› · printed under col 911

Quidam codd. omittunt cum.

Some manuscripts omit cum [with].

(e) ‹anchor: "tribulos vultis"› · printed under col 911

Six ex Ratisp. et exemplo Sichardi, ac mss. collect. 24, uti erat in editis ante Quesnellum apud quem auferre. Mox pro vero quidam codices et antiquiores editi habent sane.

Thus [printed "Six"] from the Ratisbon manuscript and Sichard's exemplar, and the manuscripts of collection 24, as it was in the editions before Quesnel, in whom [one reads] auferre [to remove]. Shortly after, for vero [but] some manuscripts and older editions have sane [indeed].

(f) ‹anchor: "desiderare, tam"› · printed under cols 911–912

Intelliguntur legati quos Leo Anatolii causa Constantinopolim miserat an. 450. Vide epist. 69 et seqq. Hi autem, quos post Anatolii clericos Romam missos Constantinopoli discessisse videbimus annot. 4 (Col. 919, n. e) in epist. 83, iisdem clericis rerum gestarum relationem ad Leonem dederunt, quae cum Anatolii litteris eidem pontifici tradita fuit; unde ex utrisque didicit quosdam episcopos lapsos reconciliationem poscere, et catholicam communionem desiderare. Cum vero eosdem legatos per hoc tempus Constantinopoli jam discesisse Leo praesumeret, huic reconciliationi perficiendae novam legationem dirigendam constituit, ad quam referendam sunt sequentia: Participata nostrorum quos misimus, etc. Hae duae legationes distinguendae sunt, ne maxima confusio gignatur. Ita in epistola sequenti cap. 2, verba: Illud quidem quod praesentibus et agentibus nostris constitutum est approbamus, ad priorem legationem pertinent; verba autem, quae mox subjiciuntur: Sed cum legatis nostris quod misimus, etc., spectant ad legationem secundam, quam una cum his litteris transmittere meditabatur, sed distulit in mensem Junium, uti observavimus annot. 7 (Col. 909, n. d) in epist. 78. Hic praeterea notare libet, verba laudatae epist. 80, c. 2, quod praesentibus et agentibus nostris constitutum est, videri innuere quae legati primae legationis gesserunt dum Constantinopoli essent praesentes sicut indicant etiam illa cap. 3: Dilectionem tuam hoc decet custodire quod nostri ibidem constituti dixerunt; ac si illi non amplius ibidem praesentes essent: quae eorum discessum confirmant. Hinc de iisdem cap. 1 S. Leo scribit: Fratrum nostrorum, quos Constantinopolim miseramus, relatione cognoscimus, ubi observandum tempus miseramus Vide annot. 5 (Col. 913, n, c) in epist. sequentem.

The legates are meant whom Leo had sent to Constantinople in the year 450 on Anatolius's account. See Letter 69 and following. These, who we shall see (note 4, col. 919, n. e, on Letter 83) left Constantinople after Anatolius's clerics had been sent to Rome, gave those same clerics a report of what had been done for Leo, which was delivered to the same pontiff together with Anatolius's letter; from both, therefore, he learned that certain lapsed bishops were asking for reconciliation and desiring catholic communion. But since Leo supposed that these same legates had by this time already left Constantinople, he decided that a new legation should be dispatched to complete this reconciliation, and to it the following words are to be referred: through the shared [care] of those of ours whom we have sent, etc. These two legations must be distinguished, lest the greatest confusion arise. Thus in the following letter, chapter 2, the words That indeed which was settled while our [legates] were present and acting we approve belong to the former legation; but the words that are added shortly after, But since with our legates whom we have sent, etc., look to the second legation, which he intended to send together with this letter, but put off until the month of June, as we observed in note 7 (col. 909, n. d) on Letter 78. It is worth noting here, besides, that the words of the cited Letter 80, chapter 2, which was settled while our [legates] were present and acting, seem to point to what the legates of the first legation did while they were present in Constantinople, as those words of chapter 3 also indicate: It befits your love to keep what our [legates] said when stationed there, as though they were no longer present there; and these confirm their departure. Hence in chapter 1 St Leo writes of the same men: We learn from the report of our brethren whom we had sent to Constantinople, where the tense we had sent is to be observed. See note 5 (col. 913, n, c) on the following letter.