Letter 104: Part of the papal correspondence surrounding the Acacian Schism (484-519), the major breach between Rome and...

Justin Augustus to Pope Hormisdas. With what zeal we have always been, and still are, for the reconciling of the opinions of those who reverence the catholic faith, so that with one and the same mind all may venerate the undivided light of the Trinity, we are recognized to have made plain even now, by sending to your Beatitude, of our own accord and for this very purpose, a legate, Gratus, a man of senatorial rank, master of the secretariat, so that at last a remedy may be found for the discords of those contending in various ways; receiving now, with a ready and willing affection, those most religious men whom your Apostolic See believed should be appointed as mediators of unity. For indeed we have looked upon them as if upon peace itself, and with joyful eyes, and have judged that they should be embraced with outstretched hands; and moreover with all our effort we have so ordered matters that the venerable church of Constantinople, and likewise very many others, may take up your desires, not only in the rest but also in the removing of the names from the sacred diptychs, which you most especially demanded be removed. But there have been not a few cities and churches, both of Pontus and of Asia, and especially the Eastern ones, whose clergy or peoples, though assailed by every threat and persuasion, have nonetheless by no means been bent to remove the names of their bishops and to repel those whose reputation flourished among them, but they reckon a life harder than death, if they should condemn the dead in whose surviving life they had gloried. What, therefore, are we to do with stubbornness of this kind, which neither stands forth as one giving heed to what is said, and so despises torments that it judges it an ample and festive thing for itself, if it perish in the body sooner than it desist from its religious resolve? To us indeed it seems that there is need of acting more gently and more mercifully. And if these qualities cannot be found in your Holiness, then they will be able to be found in no one else. For we have not taken up this petition as men greedy for blood and punishments, which is grievous even to say, nor that the desires of concord should remain unfulfilled for the sake of a small distinction, but in order to extend, by whatever order we can, the joining together of the members of the Church. Which then will be the more excellent: that on account of the lesser folk such great multitudes should be wholly cut off from us, or that, with small things conceded and remitted, the greater things, which by every reckoning are to be sought, should be set right, so that the things which were not permitted in all respects may at least, in the necessary parts, be brought together? We therefore ask pardon for the names — not of Acacius, not of either Peter, not of Dioscorus or Timothy, whose names the letters of your Holiness sent to us contained, but for those whom episcopal reverence has honored in other cities, and this with the exception of those cities where the petition of your Beatitude has already been admitted in full — unless your benevolence shall also have determined that this part too is to be corrected more gently. Yet the matter is not without the judgment of the Apostolic See, so that it should be called not so much a pardon as a definition already deliberated and clearly examined: since indeed Anastasius of most religious memory, the summit of your church, plainly and openly established, when he wrote concerning this same business to our predecessor, that it is enough for those who strive for peace, if only the name of Acacius be passed over in silence. He therefore follows the earlier ordinances of your See, who judges that not all the memorials of the dead are to be despised, so that it would be held unworthy and unfitting, if a mildness more gentle to all — not only to the dead but also to the living — were not spread abroad by you to every end of the earth. And this indeed we shall not doubt to be so gratifying to you, that by a peaceful reply the world may at once be rendered more joyful. But your Holiness retains the memory of what we wrote some time ago: that from the East supplications have been directed to us, containing their will and judgment, in which they show that they will firmly persist and from which they reckon they ought by no reasoning to desist. This document, therefore, according to our promises, we have rightly believed should at present be sent to you by John, a most reverend man and bishop, so that, its tenor being admitted also by your See, it may avail for the gathering together and uniting everywhere of the venerable churches, and especially the church of Jerusalem, to which all show such great favor, as to a mother of Christian peoples, that no one may dare to separate himself from her. It is fitting, therefore, that your Holiness declare your own consent by an epistolary page as well, so that, it being made known and revealed to all that the tenor of this same document is praised by you also and tenaciously guarded, the world may stand forth more joyful. Given the fifth day before the Ides of September, at Chalcedon, Rusticius being consul. Received the day before the Kalends of December, in the consulship aforesaid. (233a) A COPY OF THE PETITION. To the God-beloved and most pious Emperor, Augustus from God, and Prince Justin, most Christian: an entreaty and supplication from the clergy and abbots and landholders of Jerusalem and of Antioch and of Second Syria, of the province of Syria. "Draw water with gladness from the springs of salvation" [Isaiah 12:3], the prophet Isaiah cries aloud, manifestly pointing out the springs of salvation to be the evangelical preachings of the truth, from which the blessed apostles, and those who in succession were their disciples, and the wise teachers of the Church, drawing the saving water of faith, watered all the holy Church of God, which, resting upon the rock of the chief of the apostles and keeping the right and uninflexible confession, with confidence cries out together with him to the only-begotten Son of God at all times, saying: "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God" [Matthew 16:16]. Receiving this saving confession from the four holy synods, which have been honored by the evangelical precepts, we have never, by the grace of Christ, deviated from the right doctrines handed down to us, as the proof of facts testifies and the constancy of faith demonstrates in time of necessity. If, therefore, as Christians we are partakers of the reason of the faith, most pious lord, and hasten toward common peace and toward unity, we make our faith, which we received from the beginning, manifest to your Piety through this our declaration, so that it may be known that we both run together toward peace and do not turn aside from the right faith with the help of God, but equally execrate every heresy, anathematizing with our whole soul, while hating, not only the Eutychianists and the Acephali, but also the Nestorians and those who worship the man. But we, most Christian lord and emperor, as was said above, having been baptized from the beginning into the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and believing, adore one essence of God in three subsistences, according to the teaching of the holy Fathers and the creed, believing in one God the Father almighty, and in one Lord our Jesus Christ, the only-begotten God the Word, and likewise in one Holy Spirit; and according to this divine teaching we also understand and accept the definition promulgated by the holy synod of Chalcedon, confessing and believing that there is one substance or person — which the same holy synod proclaimed in two natures, that is, in deity and humanity, indivisibly and without confusion, to be God the Word — and that our Lord Jesus Christ is one of the holy Trinity of one essence. For if we receive one God in three subsistences, as has been said, while the Father was not incarnate nor the Holy Spirit, but God the Word was incarnate and was made man, one of the holy Trinity of one essence according to the property of sonship: so, believing thus according to the aforesaid four holy synods, we do not refuse to confess also the second nativity of God the Word according to the flesh (whence she is properly believed to be the God-bearing Virgin, inasmuch as by nature and in truth she, by an immutable nature, bore as a man the very Son of the Father, God the Word, of one essence, made man for her) and, confessing two natures in Christ united through essence or substance, as in one person or substance, we neither remove the diversity or property of these after the union, nor have we been taught to divide them into two persons and substances through the union; and we know the same to be the only-begotten Son of God both before his incarnation and after, that is, God and man together, passible in the flesh, impassible in deity, circumscribed in body, not circumscribed in spirit, that is, earthly and heavenly, whom the world received as a man and could not contain as God, mortal and immortal, with the diversity of the natures nowhere abolished, nor dividing the union through essence. For this is truly the great mystery of piety: that one of the holy Trinity of one essence, incarnate and made man, God the Word, is known and adored in each nature, of deity and of humanity, indivisibly and without confusion, undergoing no conversion or change, but preserving in himself, in one person, the property of each nature. On account of this faith, therefore, receiving and guarding the aforesaid holy synods, we anathematize all who at any time or in any manner have written anything against them, and especially John Egeota [the Egean], who like a Nestorian vomited forth many blasphemies against the said holy synod of Chalcedon; likewise condemning also Timothy surnamed Aelurus, like a Eutychianist barking against it with his followers. Thus, therefore, with the help of God, we have always thought, and even now we think. Wherefore we have offered this declaration to your Piety; for you deigned to command us to set forth our own understanding and how we feel concerning the sound faith, because certain heretics, while they hasten to conceal their evil faith, attempt to detract from our liberty and right faith in Christ. We therefore beseech your Clemency, that you ought to have a care for the perfect unity of the holy churches, so that the unity, when it shall have been made with the help of God, may be guarded, and that peace may not henceforth be able to be disturbed by any kindling of occasion, reasonable or unreasonable. And may God fulfill the pious desire of all of you, unto his own glory and the discipline of the commonwealth.

ITJSTINUS AUGT78TUS HORMISDAE PAPAE. QuO fuimUS Semper et quo sumus studio pro conciliandis sententiis catholicam fidem colentium, ut eodem animo cuncti uenerentur lumen 5 indiuiduum trinitatis, palam fecisse dinoscimur nunc legatum ad uestram beatitudinem ultro ob hoc ipsum dirigentes Gratum u. s. magistrum scrinii, quo remedium tandem reperiatur discordiis uaria certantium, nunc prono libentique suscipientes affectu uiros religiosissimos, quos interuentores lounitatis uestra sedes apostolica credidit destinandos. profecto 2 etenim tamquam ipsara pacem et iucundis eos oculis aspeximus et extensis manibus duximus amplectendos; quin etiam omni intentione ordinauimus, ut uenerabilis ecclesia Constantino- politana nec non complures aliae uota suscipiant uestra non 15 solum in ceteris sed in auferendis etiam nominibus ex sacris diptychis, quae remouenda maxime postulastis. uerum nonnuUae 3 fuerunt urbes et ecclesiae tam Ponticae quam Asianae ac praecipue Orientales, quarum clerici uel populi omnibus pertemptati minis atque persuasionibus tamen nequaquam 2« flexi sunt, ut toUant antistitum et repellant nomina, quorum apud eos opinio floruit, sed morte uitam duriorem aestimant, ai mortuos condemnauerint, quorum gloriabantur uita super- stitum. quid igitur faciamus huiusmodi pertinaciae, quae nec dictura audiens exsistit et tormenta in tantum despicit, ut 282* Dat. a. 520 die 9 Sept. per lohannem episcopum; accept. die 30 Nou. Praeter Auellanam hanc epistulam seruauit collectio JDio- nysio-Hadriana = H, i. e. consensus codicum h^-^^ et d^, quos enu- meraui p, 83. Edd. Car. P 547; Bar. ad a. 520, 54; Collect. Con- cil iam inde a Merlino; Thiel 941 et praeterea editiones Dionysio- Hadrianae. 5 dinoscirnur H (exceptis d^h^; ex dinoscimus corr. h^ man. 2}: dinoscitur Vd^h^ 6 ipsud h^hViVi%^ 7 gratum uestrum (uestri h^) magistrum h*h%%^^ 8 repperiatur V atque ex parte H proni H 13 ordinabinms h^hVi^K^h^^ constantinopolina V 15 c6tis V 16 dypticiis V {h^ man. 2), dypticis H (dipticis ^W, dapticis 702 Exemplar preeum ampluni sibi ac festiiium iudicet, si corpore prius quam 4 religioso desistat consilio? Dobis quidem uidetur opus esse mollius agendi et clementius. quae si non in tua sanctitudine, iam nec in alio poterunt inueniri. nam neque sanguinis et suppliciorum cupidi, quod dictu etiam graue est, libellum 5 suscepimus neque ut paruo discrimine remaneant imperfecta concordiae desideria, sed ad prorogandam quo possumus ordine coniunctionem membrorum ecclesiae. utrum itaque praestantius erit minorum gratia in totum esse nobis absectas tantas multitudines an concessis exiguis et remissis maiora et omni 10 ratione quaerenda comgi, ut, quae non licuit per omnia, 5 saltem ex necessariis partibus allegantur? ueniam itaque nominum postulamus, non Acacii, non utriusque Petri, non Dioscori uel Timothei, quorum uocabula ad nos datae sanctitatis tuae epistolae continebant, sed quos in aliis 16 celebrauit ciuitatibus episcopalis reuerentia et hoc exceptis urbibus, ubi uestrae beatitudinis libellus iam in plenum admissus est, nisi hanc quoque partem beniuolentia statuerit 6 uestra mitius corrigendam. uerum nec iudicio res caret sedis apostolicae, ut non magis uenia dicenda sit quam deliberata so iam ac perspecta definitio: Anastasius siquidem religiosissimae memoriae, uestrae culmen ecclesiae, palam aperteque consti- tuerit, cum ob hoc idem scriberet negotium decessori nostro. satis esse pacem affectantibus, si nomen tantum reticeatur Acacii. ergo priora uestrae sedis constitut^i sequitur, qui non 25 22 cf. Anastasii II papae ep. 1 = Thiel p. 617, § 4 init. guntur V, allegentur d^-, alligentnr h\ alligantur h^^ 13 accacii V. acaci plerique codd. H 17 libellum V 18 hac V 19 corrigenda h^h^W^ 22 constituerit VH: constituerat 0. constituit Car. 23 ob V: om. H scribere V 25 accatii V Epist. CCXXXII 4 — CCXXXII* 2. 703 omDes memorias mortuorum iudicat contemnendas, ut indignum habeatur et incongruum, si non placidior omnibus non solum defunctis sed etiam superstitibus uestra diuulgetur in omni fine terranim lenitas. et hoc quidem non dubitauerimus ita 7 gi^atiosum uobis futurum, ut pacifico statim responso laetior mundus reddatur. retinet autem uestra sanctitas, quod dudum scripsimus ex Oriente supplicationes nobis esse destinatas uoluntatem ipsorum continentes et arbitrium, in quo sese duraturos ostendunt firmiter et quo nuUa ratione desistendum aestimant. hanc itaque cartulam secundum nostra promissa 8 per lohannem uirum reuerentissimum episcopum dirigendam uobis in praesenti merito credidimus, ut a uestra sede etiam tenor eius admissus ad coUigendas proficiat et adunandas ubique uenerabiles ecclesias et Hierosoljmitanam praecipue, cui tantum omnes fauorem impendunt quasi matri Christiani Dominis, ut nemo audeat ab ea sese discemere. consensum 9 itaque proprium tuam sanctitudinem epistolari quoque pagina conuenit declarare, ut cognito omnibus atque patefacto tenorem eiusdem cartulae a uobis etiam laudari et tenaciter custodiri laetior mundus existat. Data V. Id. Septembr. Chal- ced. Kusticio cons. Accepta prid. Kal. Dec. cons. ss. (233 a.) EXEMPLAR PRECUM. DEO AMABILI AC PIISSIMO IMPERATORI EX DEO AUGU8T0 ET PRINCIPI lUSTINO CHRISTIANISSIMO DEPRECATIO ET SUPPLICATIO AB HIEROSOLYMITANIS ET AXTIOCHENIS ET SECUXDAE SYRIAE CLERICIS ET ABBATIBUS ET POSSESSORIBUS PROUINCIAE SYRIAE. Haurite aquam cum laetitia ex fontibus salutis 2 28 Esai. 12, 3 XXXV pars 2. 45 704 Exemplar precum uociferator Esaias propheta exclamat, fontes salutis euangelicas ueritatis praedicationes manifeste ostendens, ex quibus beati apostoli et eorum qui per ordinem fuerunt discipuli et sapientes ecclesiae doctores salutarem aquam fidei haurientes omnem sanctam dei ecclesiam irrigauerunt, quae in petra summi apostolorum subnixa rectam et inconflexibilem confes- sionem custodiens fiducialiter cum eo ad unigenitum filium dei omni tempore exclamat dicens: tu es Christus filius 3 dei uiui. hanc salutarem confessionem a sanctis quattuor synodis, quae euangelicis praeceptis sunt honoratae, suscipientes numquam per Christi gratiam a traditis nobis rectis dogmatibus deuiauimus, sicut rerum testatur probatio et tempore necessi- 4 tatis fidei constantia demonstrat. si igitur ut Christiani rationis fidei sumus participes, domine piissime, et ad com- munem pacem et ad unitatem festinamus, nostram fidem, quam ab initio suscepimus, per hanc satisfactionem nostram manifestam uestrae facimus pietati, ut notum sit, quia et paci concuiTimus et a recta cum dei iuuamine non deuertimus fiJe sed omnem ex aequo haeresim execramur, non solum Eutychianistas et acefalos, sed et Nestorianos et hominem 5 colentes toto animo odientes anatheraatizamus. nos autem, domine Christianissime imperator, sicut superius dictum est, in patrem et filium et spiritum sanctum ab initio baptizati 8 Matth. 16. 16 1 euangelicas plurimi codd. H: euangelizas F, euangelicis /i^, euangelicae /tW et man. 2 2 ueritatis pars codd. H: ueritates Vh*h%ViW^d^ et ex ueritatis /j» man. 2 3 fuerun V 4 salutarc h%Vi^^ aurientes h%%%li^H\ aurigentes /tVt' 9 im V 10 praecepti hWh^hWi^^ 13 demonstat V cristiani V 14 ra- tionis p: rationi VH (ratione h^h^, rationi ex ratione h^) do- minae /*Vt* piissimae hli-hVi^ 15 ad H: om. V 18 inbamine hWiViWi^^ diuertimus /iWiio et man. 2 h^ 19 fidem h*h%%'h^^<P omne /iWj3/j6/|7^io pq^Q ^^gi ^q^Q jj, y heresin /iViWAV»*^ heresinguin /i* execramus H 20 eutichianistas V et plurimi codd, H et ante hominem eiciendum putat Thiel 21 odentes V 22 christi- anissime H: kilie V Epist. CCXXXII* 2—8. 705 quoque et credentes unam essentiam dei in tribus subsistentiis adoramus, secundum sanctorum patrura mathema et symbolum credentes in unum deum patrem omnipotentem et in unum dorainum nosti-um lesum Christum unigenitum deum uerbum, similiter et in unura spiritum sanctum, et secundum hoc diuinum mathema definitionem a sancta Calcedonensi svnodo promulgatam intellegimus quoque et suscipimus, confitentes 6 et credentes, quia una substantia uel persona, quod idem ipsa sancta synodus in duabus naturis, id est in deitate et humanitate, indiuise et inconfuse praedicauit deum uerbum, dominus noster lesus Christus unus est ex sancta et unius essentiae trinitate. si enim unum deum in tribus subsistentiis, 7 sicut dictum est, accipimus, pater autem non est incarnatus nec spiritus sanctus, deus uerbum incarnatus est et homo factus est unus ex sancta et unius essentiae trinitate secundum filiationis proprietatem. sic ita secundum praedictas sanctas 8 quattuor synodos credentes et secundam dei uerbi natiuitatem secundum carnem confiteri non renuiraus (unde proprie dei uirgo genitrix esse creditur, tamquam natura et ueritate unius essentiae patris filiura deura uerbura per naturara immutabilera ei ipsa factum hominem enixa est) et duas naturas in Christo per essentiam uel substantiam unitas confitentes sicut in i donensem d^. calcedonens? /i^ calcedonensi h^) 7 suscipimus d^ et man. 2 et si recte contuU etiam hVi'^: suscepimus V ceterique codd. H confidentes W 8 unam substantiam uel personam qaod idem ^est • 9 sancta om. h*h^ id est H: idS F 11 dominus F/tWd': et do- minus ceteri codd. H 12 essentia trinitatis VH, corr. Crabbe 14 deus o: deum VH (dni h^, dei /iW) incamatus h^hWi^^: incarnatum V ceterique codd. H 15 factum est unum ex substantia sancta et unum h^h^ essentia (6ntia V) trinitatis VH, corr. Crabhe 17 synodus h^hWiW^ secundam Merlin: secundum VH (sanctam h^ tnan. 2, et secundum om. /t*) 18 rennuimus V et ex parte H 19 uirgo geni- trix V: genetrii sancta uirgo H tamquam VH: tanquam <que> Merlin 20 patris VH: patri a incommutabilem ¥'h^k^ 45* 706 Epiphanius Constantinopolitanus Hormisdae unius persona uel substantia neque harum diuersitatem uel proprietatem post unitionem auferimus nec eas diuidere in duabus personis et substantiis per unitionem sumus edocti 9 eundemque scimus unigenitum filium dei et ante incarnationem eius et post, id est deum simul et hominem, passibilem & carne impassibiiem deitate, circumscriptum corpore non circumscriptum spiritu, id est terrenum et caelestem, quem mundus ut hominem cepit et ut deum continere non potuit, mortalem et inmortalem, nusquam naturarum diuersitate lOsublata neque diuidentes per essentiam unitionem. hoc enim lo uere magnum pietatis mysterium, quia unus ex sancta et unius esseutiae trinitate incarnatus et homo factus deus uerbum in utraque natura deitatis et humanitatis indiuise et inconfuse cognoscitur et adoratur, non conuersionem uel mutationem sustinens sed proprietatem utriusque naturae in lluna persona in semet ipso conseruans. ob hanc igitur fidem praedictas sanctas synodos suscipientes et custodientes ana- thematizamus omnes, qui aduersus eas quocumque tempore uel modo aliquid conscripserunt, praecipue lohannem Egeotam, qui aduersus memoratam sanctam Galcedonensem synodum 20 multas ut Nestorianus blasphemias euomuit, similiter condem- nantes et Timotheum Elurum cognominatum sicut Eutychi- 12 anistam aduersus eam cum suis latrantem sequacibus. ita ergo cum dei iuuamine semper sensimus et iam nunc sentimus. 3 substantiis tx subsistentiis V 5 id est Thitl\ idC F, idC utl idem B. (id 7i*o. item Thielio teste Hadrianae cod. Virdun. 21 a Cou- stantio adhibitus), eundem Binius, om. Merlin 6 carne 0*: carni VH (carni et h^h^h^h^^d^) deitati FH. corr. corpori Fff, corr. o« 7 spiritui VH, corr. id est Merlin: idS V, idem H (item hW, eundem h^ man. 2, h^ man. 2) 8 coepit H (cepit h^hH-) 9 diuersi- tate sublata H: diuersitati eius ablate F, diuersitate eius ablata Binius 12 essentia (exsentie d^» trinitatis VH, corr. Thiel 17 praedicta sancta synodo (sinodus h^) h^hViVi^ 19 egeotam V: egotam {uel ego tam) H r (egotam h^ man. 2, h^ man. 2; ego tamen d^)\ Nicaeotam ThieH colL Theophane p. 149 ed De Boor 21 blabsphemias V 22 euthiciani- stam Jf. euthiticianistam V 23 eum V 24 iubamine et iam F, et iam uel etiam H: et etiam Thiel Epist. CCXXXII* 9 — CCXXXni 2. 707 quapropter hanc satisfactionem uestrae obtulimus pietati; iubere enim dignata est nos propriura intellectum et quem- admodum de sana fide sentimus exponere, quia quidam haeretici, dum suam malara fidem olccultare festinant, nostram sin Christo libertatem et rectam fidem detractare conantur. supplicamus igitur uestram clementiam soUicitudinem del3 perfecta eeclesiarum unitione sanctarum habere debere, ut unitas, quae cum dei facta fuerit iuuamine, <cu8todiatur> nec ullo deinceps rationabili aut inrationabili occasionis fomite 10 inquietari pax possit. deus autem onmium uestrum pium adimpleat desiderium in gloriam sui et rei publicae disciplinam !