Migne Reading Room

PL 54 · cols. 941–944

Leo the Great, Letters

Letters XCIV–XCV

PL 54:941
EPISTOLA XCIV.
LETTER XCIV.
AD MARCIANUM AUGUSTUM.
TO MARCIAN AUGUSTUS.
LEO episcopus MARCIANO Augusto.
LEO, bishop, to MARCIAN Augustus.
Sanctum clementiae vestrae studium, quo ad reparationem pacis ecclesiasticae synodum habere voluistis, adeo libenter accepi, ut, quamvis eam fieri intra Italiam poposcissem, et aptius exspectari tempus optassem, quo scilicet plurimi possent episcopi etiam de longinquioribus provinciis evocari, mox tamen ut mihi pietatis vestrae scripta sunt tradita, et Bonifacium de compresbyteris meis ab Urbe direxerim, et de episcopis fratrem meum Paschasinum de Sicilia fecerim navigare, qui vicem meam sufficienter implerent, datis per eosdem epistolis ad eos qui legationem ante susceperant, ut ipsi quoque praedictis ad implendas partes meae praesentiae jungerentur, gloriosissime imperator.
The holy zeal of your clemency, by which you have willed to hold a synod for the restoration of the peace of the Church, I have received so gladly that, although I had asked that it be held within Italy and had wished that a more suitable time be awaited, when, that is, very many bishops could be summoned even from the more distant provinces, yet as soon as the writings of your piety were delivered to me, I both sent Boniface, of my fellow presbyters, from the City, and had my brother Paschasinus, of the bishops, sail from Sicily, to fulfil my part adequately, letters having been given through them to those who had previously undertaken the legation, so that they too might be joined to the aforesaid in fulfilling the part of my presence, most glorious emperor.
Unde quamvis nimis arctus dies synodo fuerit constitutus, spero tamen affuturum Dei omnipotentis auxilium, quo omnes valeant ad praefinitum tempus occurrere et unanimiter cum sanctae fraternitatis assensu, quae universali Ecclesiae congruant definire. Compressa enim vel remota inquietudine ac pravitate paucorum, facile firmabitur probanda concordia, si in eam fidem quam evangelicis et apostolicis praedicationibus declaratam, per sanctos Patres nostros accepimus et tenemus, omnium corda concurrant, nulla penitus disputatione cujusquam retractationis admissa: ne per vanam fallacemque versutiam aut infirma videantur, aut dubia, quae in ipso angulari lapide, qui
Hence, although too narrow a day has been set for the synod, I hope nevertheless that the help of almighty God will be present, by which all may be able to arrive by the appointed time and, with the assent of the holy brotherhood, unanimously to define what befits the universal Church. For when the restlessness and perversity of a few have been suppressed or removed, a concord worthy of approval will easily be made firm, if the hearts of all run together into that faith which, declared by the preaching of the Gospels and the apostles, we have received through our holy Fathers and hold, no disputation of any reconsideration whatever being admitted: lest through vain and deceitful cunning those things should seem either weak or doubtful which on the very cornerstone, who […]
Editors' notes and page, col. 941

Footnotes

(a) ‹EPISTOLA XCIV› · printed under col 941

Alias 74. Quae autem antea 94 erat, nunc 121. Scripta 20 Julii an. 451.

Otherwise 74. The one that was formerly 94 is now 121. Written 20 July in the year 451.

(b) ‹AD MARCIANUM› · printed under col 941

Haec epistola legitur in mss. collect. 12, 18, 19, 24, et in peculiari codice Vat. 1322, nec non in exemplo Sichardi.

This letter is read in the mss. of collections 12, 18, 19, 24, and in the separate codex Vat. 1322, and also in Sichard's copy.

(c) ‹intra Italiam poposcissem› · printed under col 941

Vid. epist. 83.

See letter 83.

(d) ‹etiam de longinquioribus› · printed under col 941

Editi ante Quesn. cum mss. collect. 24, de longinquis.

The editions before Quesnel, with the mss. of collection 24: de longinquis.

(e) ‹pietatis vestrae scripta› · printed under col 941

Confer. annot. 2 (Col. 934, n. m) in epist. 91.

Compare annotation 2 (col. 934, n. m) on letter 91.

(f) ‹per eosdem epistolis› · printed under col 941

Eae epistolae ad Lucentium episcopum et Basilium presbyterum desunt.

Those letters to Lucentius the bishop and Basil the presbyter are lacking.

(g) ‹declaratam, per sanctos› · printed under col 941

Vulgati ante Quesn. cum mss. collect. 24, per antiquos Patres.

The printed editions before Quesnel, with the mss. of collection 24: per antiquos Patres.

(h) ‹aut dubia, quae› · printed under col 941

Iidem vulgati et codices, quae in ipso angulari lapide Christo fundata sunt, et sine fine, etc. Quesnelli emendationem ex Grimanico comprobant nostri Ratisp. et Vat. 1322.

The same printed editions and codices: quae in ipso angulari lapide Christo fundata sunt, et sine fine, etc. Our Ratisbon and Vat. 1322 confirm Quesnel's emendation from the Grimani [codex].

1 ‹Εὐτυχοῦς μετὰ› (full-width Greek lines of Letter XCIII at the head of page 476) · printed under col 942 Male excidit a vulg. praepositio μετὰ, quam nos supplemus ope mss. Ven., atque indicio Latini textus, qui habet, cum suis auctoribus.

The preposition μετὰ has wrongly dropped out of the printed editions; we supply it with the help of the Venetian mss. and on the evidence of the Latin text, which has cum suis auctoribus.

2 ‹ἐπίσης καταδικάζει› · printed under col 942 Mss. Ven., καταδικάζεται.

The Venetian mss.: καταδικάζεται.

3 ‹προσφιλέστατοι. Ἐδόθη› · printed under col 942, running on under col 943 Desunt haec in codd. Ven. secundo loco, nimirum in actione Chalcedonensi inedita, quam in appendice dabimus. Sed ante gesta, ubi eadem epistola pariter profertur, uti a Romanis exinde edita fuit, in iisdem Ven. mss. leguntur. Porro ex epistola 95 patet Pulcheriam praecepisse synodum, quae Marciani litteris indicta fuit. Nam ipsa Pulcheria in epist. ad Strategum consularem Bithyniae de eadem synodo Nicaeae tunc coacta similiter scripsit: Secundum nostram sanctionem reverendissimi quidem episcopi convenerunt. Commune scilicet Marciano et conjugi, cui ille imperium debebat, in indicenda synodo consilium fuit, licet in imperiali sanctione feminae nomen praetermissum fuerit, eo quod hujusmodi inscriptio a consuetudine earumdem sanctionum esset aliena.

These words are lacking in the Venetian codices in the second place, namely in the unedited session of Chalcedon, which we shall give in the appendix. But before the acts, where the same letter is likewise produced, as it was thence edited by the Romans, they are read in the same Venetian mss. Further, it is plain from letter 95 that Pulcheria ordered the synod which was summoned by Marcian's letter. For Pulcheria herself, in her letter to Strategius, consular of Bithynia, concerning the same synod then being gathered at Nicaea, wrote likewise: "According to our sanction the most reverend bishops have indeed assembled." Marcian, that is, and his wife, to whom he owed the empire, shared the counsel in summoning the synod, although the woman's name was passed over in the imperial sanction, because an inscription of this kind was foreign to the custom of those sanctions.

Editors' prose

SYNOPSIS. — Legatos quos ad synodum mittit, commendat Augusto, postulatque ne disputatio de fide illic instauretur.

SYNOPSIS. — He commends to the Augustus the legates whom he sends to the synod, and asks that no disputation about the faith be renewed there.

Ancient version (Greek)

(two full-width lines at the head of page 476, ending the Greek version of Letter XCIII, in reading order after n940:) ὥσπερ οἱ ἅγιοι ηατέρες ἡμῶν, καὶ τὴν Νεστορίου, καὶ Εὐτυχοῦς μετὰ τῶν ἡγουμενων αὐτῶν ἐπίσης καταδικάζει, καὶ διώκει κακοδοξίαν. Ἔρρωσθε ἐν Κυρίῳ, ἀδελφοὶ προσφιλέστατοι. Ἐδόθη τῇ πρὸ πέντε καλανδῶν Ἰουλίων……

Page

  • running head: 941 · EPISTOLA XCV. · 942 (across the page, page number over this column)
  • marginal letters: A ‹est Christus Dominus› (col 942; beside the first line below the full-width Greek); B ‹cienter implerent›; C in the text, beside ‹autdubia, quae in ipso›; D in the footnotes (beside note h)
  • old-edition numerals: 1075 before ‹EPISTOLA XCIV›; 1076 after ‹quae in ipso›
  • signature: none
  • other: page 476 opens with two full-width lines finishing the Greek version of Letter XCIII (transcribed above; calls 1–3 left out). Letter XCIV then begins in this column under the 941 rail. The second part of note 3 ("Porro ex epistola 95 … aliena.") concerns Pulcheria and in sense continues note (p) of col 942 ("Nec mirum videatur scribi Pulcheriam."); it is set where printed, as part of note 3. Greek printed "ηατέρες" (for πατέρες).
PL 54:942
est Christus Dominus (Ephes. II, 20), ab initio sunt fundata, et sine fine mansura: hoc nobis indesinenter orantibus, ut a sacramento singularis fidei nemo inveniatur alienus, sed damnata impietate haereseos, nullum de perditione cujusquam catholica Ecclesia sentiat detrimentum. Quod autem pietatem vestram his quas per meos misi epistolis obsecravi, nunc quoque simili fiducia precor, ut vice mea acturos, commendatos per omnia habere dignemini, quo facilius ac diligentius, quae optimo fidei vestrae ordinata sunt studio salubri impleantur effectu. Data XIII kalendas Augusti, Adelfio viro clarissimo consule.
[…] is Christ the Lord (Eph. 2:20), have been founded from the beginning and will remain without end: we praying unceasingly for this, that no one may be found estranged from the sacrament of the one faith, but that, the impiety of heresy having been condemned, the catholic Church may suffer no loss from the perdition of anyone. And what I besought of your piety in the letters which I sent through my people, I now also beg with like confidence: that you deign to hold those who are to act in my stead commended in all things, so that what has been ordered by the excellent zeal of your faith may the more easily and diligently be fulfilled with a salutary effect. Given on the thirteenth day before the kalends of August, Adelfius, a man of clarissimus rank, being consul.
EPISTOLA XCV.
LETTER XCV.
AD PULCHERIAM AUGUSTAM.
TO PULCHERIA AUGUSTA.
Per Theoctistum magistrianum.
By Theoctistus, the magistrianus.
LEO episcopus PULCHERIAE Augustae.
LEO, bishop, to PULCHERIA Augusta.
CAP. I. — Religiosam clementiae vestrae sollicitudinem, quam catholicae fidei indesinenter impenditis, per omnia recognosco; et Deo gratias ago, quod tantam universalis Ecclesiae curam habere vos video, ut quod et justitiae et benevolentiae congruere arbitror, confidenter insinuem, quo celerius, quae, propitio Christo, pietatis vestrae studio irreprehensibiliter hactenus gesta sunt, ad gratulandum perducantur effectum, gloriosissima Augusta. Quod ergo synodum Nicaeae haberi clementia vestra praecepit,
CHAP. I. — I recognize in all things the religious solicitude of your clemency, which you unceasingly spend on the catholic faith; and I give thanks to God that I see you have so great a care for the universal Church that I may confidently suggest what I judge to befit both justice and benevolence, so that the things which, Christ being favourable, have hitherto been done blamelessly by the zeal of your piety may the more quickly be brought to an effect to be rejoiced in, most glorious Augusta. As to your clemency's having ordered, then, that the synod be held at Nicaea,
Editors' notes and page, col. 942

Footnotes

Note 3 (Greek version of Letter XCIII) and notes 1–2 printed under this column answer calls in the full-width Greek lines at the head of page 476: set in n941.

(i) ‹vestram his quas per meos› · printed under col 941

Iidem codd. et editi, de his per quos meas misi epistolas. Lectionem a Quesnello inductam ex Grimanico praeferunt etiam Vat. 1322 et Ratisp. qui postremus solum loco per meos habet per eos.

The same codices and editions: de his per quos meas misi epistolas. The reading introduced by Quesnel from the Grimani [codex] is also displayed by Vat. 1322 and the Ratisbon, the last of which only has per eos in place of per meos.

(j) ‹effectu. Data› · printed under col 941

Ita nostri codices Ratisp. et Vat. 1322, nec non Quesnellus in margine, ut credimus, ex Grimanico, concordatque cum chronica notatione epistolae sequentis. Vulgati cum mss. collect. 12 et 24, Data XIV kal. Augusti.

So our codices, the Ratisbon and Vat. 1322, and also Quesnel in the margin, from the Grimani, as we believe; and it agrees with the chronological note of the following letter. The printed editions, with the mss. of collections 12 and 24: Data XIV kal. Augusti.

(k) ‹EPISTOLA XCV› · printed under col 942

Alias 75. Quae autem antea 95 erat, nunc 122. Scripta 20 Julii an. 451.

Otherwise 75. The one that was formerly 95 is now 122. Written 20 July in the year 451.

(l) ‹AD PULCHERIAM› · printed under col 942

Est in codd. collect. 12, 18, 19, 24, et in exemplo Sichardi.

It is in the codices of collections 12, 18, 19, 24, and in Sichard's copy.

(m) ‹Per Theoctistum› · printed under col 942

Haec verba invenimus in solis mss. collect. 12. Magistriani dicebantur agentes in rebus, quia magistro officiorum suberant. De his vide Gothofredum in Comment. ad legem 3 Cod. Theod., de agentibus in rebus, ubi inter eorum officia recenset imperiales epistolas perferre.

We have found these words only in the mss. of collection 12. The agentes in rebus were called magistriani because they were subject to the master of the offices. On these see Godefroy in the Commentary on law 3 of the Theodosian Code, de agentibus in rebus, where among their duties he lists carrying imperial letters.

(n) ‹ut quod et justitiae› · printed under col 942

Addidimus et ex cod. Ratisp.

We have added et from the Ratisbon codex.

(o) ‹gloriosissima Augusta› · printed under col 942

Voces gloriosissima Augusta omissae in editis ante Quesn., etiam in nostris codicibus desiderantur, nec non in exemplo Sichardi. Inductae fuerunt ex uno cod. Grim.

The words gloriosissima Augusta, omitted in the editions before Quesnel, are also missing in our codices, and in Sichard's copy. They were introduced from the single Grimani codex.

(p) ‹Quod ergo synodum› · printed under col 942

Editi, synodum Chalcedonensem; cum tamen hoc tempore synodus Nicaeam indicta, nondum Chalcedonem translata fuerit. Veram lectionem dedit praestantissimus Ratisp. Nec mirum videatur scribi Pulcheriam.

The editions: synodum Chalcedonensem; although at this time the synod, summoned to Nicaea, had not yet been transferred to Chalcedon. The most excellent Ratisbon has given the true reading. Nor should it seem strange that Pulcheria is written [as ordering it] [cf. the end of note 3, set in n941].

Editors' prose

SYNOPSIS. — I. Ad concilium legatos se misisse, licet in Italia congregari optasset. — II. Servandam esse in causis ecclesiasticis moderationem quae procul ab Ephesino latrocinio abfuit. — III. Numquam se correctis veniam denegasse. — IV. Etiam haeresiarchas indulgentiam poscentes rejiciendos non esse, etsi non temere recipiendos.

SYNOPSIS. — I. That he has sent legates to the council, although he had wished it to be assembled in Italy. — II. That in ecclesiastical cases the moderation must be kept which was far absent from the Ephesine robbery. — III. That he has never refused pardon to those corrected. — IV. That even heresiarchs asking for indulgence are not to be rejected, although they are not to be received rashly.

Page

  • running head: 941 · EPISTOLA XCV. · 942 (across the page, page number over this column)
  • marginal letters: A ‹est Christus Dominus›; B ‹Per Theoctistum magistrianum› (beside the synopsis); C ‹tur effectum›; D in the footnotes (beside note p)
  • old-edition numerals: 1077 after ‹perducantur effectum,›
  • signature: none
  • other: the column's last word, prae-|cepit, is hyphenated across to col 943 and set whole at the end of col 942. The col-942 half of the two full-width Greek lines at the head of the page is transcribed in n941.
PL 54:943
cum a me ut in Italia haberetur mansuetudo vestra retineat postulatum, ut omnes nostrarum partium convocati antistites, si securitas temporis suppeteret, convenirent, adeo tamen non aspernanter accepi, ut binos de coepiscopis meis et compresbyteris ordinarem, qui vicem meam implere sufficerent, etiam datis ad venerabilem synodum congruentibus scriptis, quibus fraternitas advocata cognosceret quam formam servare in hac dijudicatione deberet: ne ulla temeritas aut fidei regulis, aut canonum statutis, aut benignitatis remediis obviaret,
although your gentleness remembers that I asked that it be held in Italy, so that all the prelates of our parts, having been summoned, might assemble, if the security of the time allowed, I nevertheless received it so far from disdainfully that I appointed two each of my fellow bishops and fellow presbyters, to be sufficient to fulfil my part, suitable writings having also been given to the venerable synod, by which the brotherhood summoned might know what form it ought to keep in this adjudication: lest any rashness should stand in the way either of the rules of the faith, or of the statutes of the canons, or of the remedies of kindness,
CAP. II. — Sicut enim a principio hujus causae frequentissime scripsi, hanc inter discordes sensus et carnales aemulationes moderationem volui custodiri, ut integritati quidem fidei nihil evelli, nihil liceret apponi; ad unitatem vero pacemque redeuntibus, remedium veniae praestaretur. Quia TUNC OPERA diaboli potentius destruuntur, cum ad Dei proximique dilectionem hominum corda revocantur. Sed quam contraria tunc his monitis atque obsecrationibus meis acta sint, multum est explicare; nec opus est epistolari pagina comprehendi quidquid in illo Ephesino non judicio, sed latrocinio potuit perpetrari; ubi primates synodi nec resistentibus sibi fratribus nec consentientibus pepercerunt: cum ad infringendam catholicam fidem, et ad exsecrabilem haeresim roborandam, alios privilegio honoris exuerent, alios consortio impietatis inficerent: saeviores profecto in eos quos persuadendo ab innocentia separabant, quam in illos quos beatos confessores persequendo faciebant.
CHAP. II. — For, as I wrote very frequently from the beginning of this case, I wished this moderation to be kept amid discordant opinions and carnal rivalries: that nothing might be torn away from the integrity of the faith, nothing be allowed to be added; but that to those returning to unity and peace the remedy of pardon should be afforded. Because THEN the WORKS of the devil are the more powerfully destroyed, when the hearts of men are called back to the love of God and of neighbour. But how contrary to these admonitions and entreaties of mine were the things done then, it would take long to set out; nor is there need to include in the page of a letter whatever could be perpetrated in that Ephesine robbery rather than judgement; where the leaders of the synod spared neither the brothers who resisted them nor those who consented: since, to break down the catholic faith and to strengthen an execrable heresy, they stripped some of the privilege of their honour and infected others with fellowship in impiety: more savage, surely, towards those whom by persuasion they separated from innocence than towards those whom by persecution they made blessed confessors.
CAP. III. — Verumtamen quia tales sibi maxime
CHAP. III. — Nevertheless, since such men chiefly […]
Editors' notes and page, col. 943

Footnotes

(3) continued from col 942 (Greek-version note 3, "cheriam praecepisse synodum … esset aliena."), set in n941

(a) ‹sufficerent, etiam› · printed under col 943

In ms. Veneto S. Marci collect. 12 et in Ratisp. omittitur etiam.

In the Venetian ms. of St Mark of collection 12 and in the Ratisbon, etiam is omitted.

(b) ‹Sicut enim a principio› · printed under col 943

Nimirum in epist. 28 et seqq. scriptis idibus Junii an. 449, ubi Eutychi, si resipisceret, et professionem fidei cum damnatione erroris emitteret, suum gradum relinquendum monuerat; nec non in epist. 14, cap. 3, ubi omnibus etiam scandalorum auctoribus, qui Ephesi praevaricati fuerant, si melioribus consiliis acquiescerent, veniam spopondit. Post nonnulla editi Quesnello anteriores cum mss. collect. 11 et Sichardo: Operum diaboli potentiae destruuntur.

Namely in letter 28 and the following, written on the ides of June in the year 449, where he had advised that Eutyches should be left his rank if he came to his senses and put forth a profession of faith with a condemnation of his error; and also in letter 14, ch. 3, where he promised pardon even to all the authors of the scandals who had transgressed at Ephesus, if they acquiesced in better counsels. A little further on, the editions earlier than Quesnel, with the mss. of collection 11 and Sichard: Operum diaboli potentiae destruuntur.

(c) ‹perpetrari; ubi› · printed under col 943

Eaedem editiones cum codd. collect. 12 et 24, atque Sichardo, praemisso puncto: Ibi primates.

The same editions, with the codices of collections 12 and 24, and Sichard, with a full stop before it: Ibi primates.

(d) ‹fratribus nec consentientibus› · printed under col 943

Ratisp. omittit nec consentientibus. Respicitur autem Dominus Antiochenus; qui licet infirmitate animi in Flaviani condemnationem et in Eutychis absolutionem actione prima consenserit, nihilominus paulo post in eadem pseudosynodo depositus fuit, Maximo in ejus locum subrogato.

The Ratisbon omits nec consentientibus. The reference is to Domnus of Antioch, who, although through weakness of mind he consented in the first session to the condemnation of Flavian and the acquittal of Eutyches, was nonetheless deposed a little after in the same pseudo-synod, Maximus being put in his place.

Notes (e) and (f), printed under this column, answer calls in col 944: set in n944.

Page

  • running head: 943 · S. LEONIS MAGNI EPISTOLAE. · 944 (across the page, page number over this column)
  • marginal letters: A ‹cepit, cum a me›; B ‹medium veniae praestaretur›; C ‹CAP. III. — Verumtamen›; D in the footnotes (beside note b, ‹14, cap. 3›)
  • old-edition numerals: 1078 after ‹privilegio honoris›
  • signature: none
  • other: the column's first word, prae-|cepit, is set whole at the end of col 942. "TUNC OPERA" is printed in small capitals and set in capitals.
PL 54:944
sua iniquitate nocuerunt, et majoribus vulneribus diligentior est adhibenda medicina, nullis umquam epistolis definivi etiam talibus, si resipiscerent, veniam denegandam. Et quamvis incommutabiliter inimicissimam Christianae religioni haeresim detestemur, ipsos tamen, si non dubie corrigantur, et digna se satisfactione purificent, ab ineffabili misericordia Dei non judicamus alienos; sed potius cum gementibus gemimus, cum flentibus flemus, et SIC UTIMUR justitia commotionis, ut non amittamus remedia charitatis: quod sicut pietas vestra cognoscit, non verbis solis promittitur, sed etiam factis docetur. Siquidem pene omnes qui in consensum praesidentium aut traducti fuerant aut coacti, rescindendo quod statuerant, et condemnando quod scripserant, perpetuam culpae abolitionem et apostolicae pacis gratiam sint adepti.
[…] have done harm by their own iniquity, and a more diligent medicine must be applied to greater wounds, I have never laid down in any letters that pardon must be refused even to such men, if they came to their senses. And although we unchangeably detest the heresy most hostile to the Christian religion, yet we do not judge the men themselves strangers to the ineffable mercy of God, if they are corrected without doubt and purify themselves by a worthy satisfaction; but rather we groan with those who groan, we weep with those who weep, and SO WE USE the justice of indignation that we do not lose the remedies of charity: which, as your piety knows, is not promised in words alone but is also shown by deeds. For almost all who had been either led over or forced into the consent of those presiding have, by rescinding what they had decreed and condemning what they had written, obtained the perpetual abolition of their fault and the grace of apostolic peace.
CAP. IV. — Si ergo clementia vestra propositum meum considerare dignetur, probabit me eo consilio cuncta gessisse, ut sine cujusquam animae detrimento, haereseos tantum obtineretur exstinctio, et ob hoc circa auctores saevissimorum turbinum quiddam consuetudinis minuisse, ut ad indulgentiam postulandam compunctione aliqua possit eorum tarditas excitari. Qui etsi post illud judicium suum tam impium quam injustum non sunt catholicae fraternitati ita honorabiles uti fuerunt, suas tamen adhuc obtinent sedes, et episcopatus sui honore potiuntur, aut per veram et necessariam satisfactionem pacem totius Ecclesiae recepturi, aut si haeresim, quod absit, tuentur, professionis suae merito judicandi. Data decimo tertio kalendas Augusti, Adelfio viro clarissimo consule.
CHAP. IV. — If, then, your clemency deigns to consider my purpose, it will find that I have done all things with this counsel: that, without loss to anyone's soul, only the extinction of the heresy might be obtained; and that for this reason I have lessened something of custom towards the authors of the most savage storms, so that their slowness might be roused by some compunction to ask for indulgence. And although after that judgement of theirs, as impious as it was unjust, they are not so honourable to the catholic brotherhood as they were, they nevertheless still hold their sees and enjoy the honour of their episcopate, either to receive the peace of the whole Church through a true and necessary satisfaction, or, if they defend the heresy, which God forbid, to be judged by the merit of their profession. Given on the thirteenth day before the kalends of August, Adelfius, a man of clarissimus rank, being consul.
Editors' notes and page, col. 944

Footnotes

(e) ‹si non dubie› · printed under col 943

Adverbium non dubie ex Ratisp. supplevimus.

We have supplied the adverb non dubie from the Ratisbon [codex].

(f) ‹ut non amittamus› · printed under col 943, running on under col 944

Quesnellus, non omittamus. Antea editorum lectionem omnibus nostris codd. etiam Ratisponensi confirmatam revocavimus. Paulo post promittimus in cod. Ven. collect. 12.

Quesnel: non omittamus. We have restored the reading of the earlier editors, confirmed by all our codices, the Ratisbon too. A little after, promittimus in the Venetian codex of collection 12.

(g) ‹Siquidem pene› · printed under col 944

In Ratisp. deest pene; sed necessarium est, cum quidam per hoc tempus nec rescisso quod statuerant, nec condemnato quod scripserant, apostolicae pacis gratiam nondum promeruerint.

In the Ratisbon pene is lacking; but it is necessary, since some at this time, having neither rescinded what they had decreed nor condemned what they had written, had not yet earned the grace of apostolic peace.

(h) ‹aut coacti, rescindendo› · printed under col 944

Sichardus, resistendo ei, quod statutum fuerat ab illis, et condemnando, etc. Idem est in codd. collect. 12 et 24, qui solum omittunt ei. Editi ante Quesn., rescindendo quod statutum fuerat ab illis. Quesnellianam lectionem ex Grim. praefert etiam Ratisp.

Sichard: resistendo ei, quod statutum fuerat ab illis, et condemnando, etc. The same is in the codices of collections 12 and 24, which only omit ei. The editions before Quesnel: rescindendo quod statutum fuerat ab illis. The Ratisbon too displays Quesnel's reading from the Grimani.

(i) ‹propositum meum› · printed under col 944

Exemplar Sichardi cum antiquis edit. nostrum.

Sichard's copy, with the old editions: nostrum.

(j) ‹possit eorum› · printed under col 944

Ratisp., posset. Haec autem referri videntur ad Leonis decretum, ne nomina auctorum latrocinii Ephesini ad altare recitarentur, ut idem pontifex rescripsit Anatolio epist. 80, cap. 4. Id autem licet ex usu nonnullis forsitan differendum crederetur, quoad illi deponerentur. Leoni tamen necessarium visum est consuetudinem in hoc minuere, ut quoniam illi hactenus post impium scelus nihil poenae debitae incurrerant, et suis adhuc episcopatibus potiebantur, hoc saltem stimulo ad petendam indulgentiam excitarentur.

Ratisbon: posset. These words seem to refer to Leo's decree that the names of the authors of the Ephesine robbery should not be recited at the altar, as the same pontiff wrote back to Anatolius, letter 80, ch. 4. This, although by custom some perhaps believed it should be put off until they were deposed, Leo nevertheless thought it necessary to lessen custom in this point, so that, since they had so far incurred none of the due penalty after their impious crime and still held their bishoprics, they might at least be roused by this goad to seek indulgence.

(k) ‹catholicae fraternitati ita› · printed under col 944

Particulam ita a Quesnello omissam ex omnibus nostris codd. et Sichardo revocavimus. Caeteri editi, ita honorabiles ut fuerant.

The particle ita, omitted by Quesnel, we have restored from all our codices and Sichard. The other editions: ita honorabiles ut fuerant.

(l) ‹pacem totius› · printed under col 944

Vocem totius a Quesn. additam nostri mss. libri approbant.

The word totius, added by Quesnel, our ms. books approve.

(m) ‹quod absit, tuentur› · printed under col 944

Mss. collect. 12 et 24 ac exemplar Sichardi cum editis ante Quesn., tuebuntur. Melior Grim. et Ratisp. lectio. Mox in citatis collectionibus et apud Sichardum perperam Aelpidio pro Adelfio.

The mss. of collections 12 and 24 and Sichard's copy, with the editions before Quesnel: tuebuntur. The reading of the Grimani and Ratisbon is better. Shortly after, in the collections cited and in Sichard, wrongly Aelpidio for Adelfio.

Page

  • running head: 943 · S. LEONIS MAGNI EPISTOLAE. · 944 (across the page, page number over this column)
  • marginal letters: A ‹sua iniquitate nocuerunt›; B ‹CAP. IV. — Si ergo›; C ‹ti, Adelfio viro›; D in the footnotes (beside note j, ‹usu nonnullis›)
  • old-edition numerals: 1079 after ‹post illud›
  • signature: none
  • other: Letter XCV ends in this column; the rest of the page is footnotes. "SIC UTIMUR" is printed in small capitals and set in capitals.