Severus cites Peter the Iberian's handling of Timothy and mentions the debt-strapped Antiochene church. Source id I.35; Brooks page 102; original Syriac source-text backfill remains pending.
When I read the letter of Your God-loving Reverence, I wanted to do what you asked and to beg Jesus, who is God, to grant the devout brother John ordination as a deacon through my sinful and unworthy hand. But the strictness of the canons opposed me strongly and blocked my readiness. They do not allow a man burdened with the yoke of slavery to enter the sacred clergy unless he has first received manumission and the bond of slavery has been removed from him.
Peter, the saintly bishop from Iberia, observed this same rule in everything according to God's judgments. When father Timothy from the convent of Majuma was approved for admission to the presbyterate, Peter would not allow him to be ordained until those considered his masters had first granted him freedom. Only then did the God-loving presbyter Theodore go with him and complete the legal act of manumission in the church of Anthedon.
For the monastery that Your Religiousness is building, and that by God's help is almost finished, I have sent a very small gift. Please receive it contentedly. The holy church here has been loaded with many debts by the man who was expelled, so I cannot show generosity even in urgent matters. We received our common Christ-loving brother, the lord Genesius, with joy and offered him all that was in our power, since he deserves every effort.
When I had read the letter of your love of God, I was desirous of carrying out what you ask and begging Jesus, who is God, to bestow the ordination of a deacon upon the devout brother John through my sinful and unworthy hand. But I was greatly opposed in this and my readiness hindered by the strictness of the canons, which do not on any other condition allow a man who has been afflicted with the yoke of slavery to enter the sacred clergy unless he has received manumission and removed from him the bond of slavery. This principle was in fact observed by Peter who is among the saints, the bishop from Iberia, a man who in all things acted in accordance with the judgments of God. When father Timothy, an inmate of what is called the convent of Majuma, had been approved for admission to the presbyterate, he would not on any other condition allow him to receive ordination, unless those who were thought to be his masters had first bestowed freedom upon him: and then the God-loving presbyter father Theodore went with him and had the legal forms of manumission carried out in the church called that of Anthedon. For the monastery that is being built by your religiousness, and by help from God is on the point of being finished, we have sent you a very small present: which please receive contentedly: since the holy church here, having been laden with many debts by him who was ejected, does not allow me to show munificence or liberality even in urgent matters. Our common Christ-loving brother the lord Genesius we received with joy, and we offered him all that was in our power, seeing he is a man who deserves any trouble or effort.
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When I read the letter of Your God-loving Reverence, I wanted to do what you asked and to beg Jesus, who is God, to grant the devout brother John ordination as a deacon through my sinful and unworthy hand. But the strictness of the canons opposed me strongly and blocked my readiness. They do not allow a man burdened with the yoke of slavery to enter the sacred clergy unless he has first received manumission and the bond of slavery has been removed from him.
Peter, the saintly bishop from Iberia, observed this same rule in everything according to God's judgments. When father Timothy from the convent of Majuma was approved for admission to the presbyterate, Peter would not allow him to be ordained until those considered his masters had first granted him freedom. Only then did the God-loving presbyter Theodore go with him and complete the legal act of manumission in the church of Anthedon.
For the monastery that Your Religiousness is building, and that by God's help is almost finished, I have sent a very small gift. Please receive it contentedly. The holy church here has been loaded with many debts by the man who was expelled, so I cannot show generosity even in urgent matters. We received our common Christ-loving brother, the lord Genesius, with joy and offered him all that was in our power, since he deserves every effort.
AI-assisted translation - This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek below for scholarly use.
Latin / Greek Original
Original text not yet available in this corpus.
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