Letter 22: Having granted the Brindisians the bishop they requested — Julian, now his brother and fellow bishop — Gelasius...

Of Pope Gelasius, to the people of Brindisi. A formal letter of the newly ordained bishop Julian, indicating those things which he promised at his ordination. Gelasius, to the clergy, the order, and the people of Brindisi. 1. Now that there has been granted to you the bishop whom you sought, my brother and fellow-bishop Julian, it was necessary, once he had soon been sent back to his own church, that we direct our writings to you as well, so that by them you might recognize that he has been instructed never to undertake unlawful ordinations: that he is to permit no man twice married, nor one who has not taken a virgin as wife, nor one unlettered or under legal liability, nor one disabled and marked in any part of the body, to approach holy orders in any manner whatsoever. This he ought likewise to guard against in the case of strangers and persons unknown, or of penitents, since men of this kind are forbidden from the venerable offices. 2. And let him not presume, on any pretext whatsoever, to transfer to another use anything of the ministries and the furnishings, or, finally, of any property whatsoever that is established to belong to the church. Let him divide the revenues and the offerings of the faithful into four parts, of which let him retain one for himself, distribute another to the clergy in proportion to their diligence in their offices, [assign] a third to the buildings, and [a fourth to the poor], of which he is to render an account at the divine examination. 3. Let him also promote those to be admitted to holy orders with this observance, that he know that priests and deacons are to be ordained at the fast of the fourth, seventh, and tenth month, on the evening of the Sabbath. Let him likewise not presume to deliver the venerable sacrament of baptism except at the festival of Easter and of Pentecost, with the exception of those suffering from sickness.

(velasii papae ad Brundisios. LiUerae formalae Juliani episcopi noviter ordinati indicanles, quae ille in ordi* ^ natione sua promiserit. Gelasius clero, ordini et plebi Brundisii*). 1. Concesso vobis, quem petistis, antistite fratre jam et co- episcopo meo Juliano necessarium fuit, eodem ad ecclesiam suam mox remisso ad vos nostra scripta pariter destinare, quibus agnosoe- i retis^), eidem fiiisse praeceptum, ne unquam ordinationes prae^mat ; illicitas: ne bigamum et qui virginem non est sortitus uxorem, at- '') c' c*^ et lib. diurn. oportet. Mox F** qui tecum vivit etc. ») D*' c' c*" et lib. diurn. et Spiritu sancto, Deinde c^ c*** et Ub. dium. poiil ^7nen subjiciunt; Et subscriptio ejus. Deus vos incolumes custodiai, dileciimm /Hit quod abest a nostris mss. Sequitur in F^ fol. 73^ Item ejusdem. Quaiis debemi em pastor ccclesiae. Diligenter investigavimus etc\ quod infra fragm. 48 producemia. ») Ita Q' Q«; Z Brundusii. alii oditi Drendesii. EPISTOLAE 15 — 17. 381 que illiteratum vel obnoxium, aut in aliqua parte corporis debilem (a. 494.) notatumque modis omnibus ad sacros ordines permittat accedere. Qnod etiain de peregrinis') atque incognitis vel ex*) poenitentibus cavere debebit, quia hujusmodi a venerabilibus prohibentur officiis. 2. Ac nihil ex ministeriis atque ornatu postremo de quacun- que re, quam constat ad ecclesiam pertinere, audeat in alterum qualibet ratione transferre. Reditus et oblationes fideliuni in quatuor partes dividat, quarum sibi unam ipse retiueat, alteram clericis pro officiorom suorum sedulitate distribuat, fabricis tertiam, quarum rationem divino est redditurus examini. 3. Sacris quoque ordinibus applicandos hac observatione pro- moveat, ut jejunio quarti, septimi et decimi mensis vespere'') sab- bati presbjrteros atque diaconos ordinandos esse cognoscat. Venera- bilis etiam baptismi sacramentum nisi iu festivitate paschali et Pentecostes tradere non praesumat, exceptis aegritudine laborantibus.