Letters 32
32 To the Archimandrites of Constantinople PL 54, 795
To his well-beloved sons Faustus, Martinus, and the rest of the archimandrites, Leo the bishop.
He acknowledges their zeal and refers them to the Tome.
As on behalf of the faith which Eutyches has tried to disturb, I was sending legates de latere to assist the defence of the Truth, I thought it fitting that I should address a letter to you also, beloved: whom I know for certain to be so zealous in the cause of religion that you can by no means listen calmly to such blasphemous and profane utterances: for the Apostle’s command lingers in your hearts, in which it is said, “If any man hath preached unto you any gospel other than that which he received, let him be anathema.” And we also decide that the opinion of the said Eutyches is to be rejected, which, as we have learnt from perusing the proceedings, has been deservedly condemned: so that, if its foolish maintainer will abide by his perverseness, he may have fellowship with those whose error he has followed. For one who says that Christ had not a human, that is our, nature, is deservedly put out of Christ’s Church. But, if he be corrected through the pity of God’s Spirit and acknowledge his wicked error, so as to condemn unreservedly what catholics reject, we wish him not to be denied mercy, that the Lord’s Church may suffer no loss: for the repentant can always be readmitted, it is only error that must be shut out. Upon the mystery of great godliness, whereby through the Incarnation of the Word of God comes our justification and redemption, what is our opinion, drawn from the tradition of the fathers, is now sufficiently explained according to my judgment in the letter which I have sent to our brother Flavian the bishop: so that through the declaration of your chief you may know what, according to the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, we desire to be fixed in the hearts of all the faithful. Dated 13th June, in the consulship of the illustrious Asturius and Protogenes (449).
Sensum Eutychis exsecratur: ipsum ad saniorem mentem redire cupit, et sic communioni restitui.
859 Dilectissimis filiis FAUSTO, MARTINO et reliquis archimandritis LEO episcopus.
Cum propter causam fidei, quam Eutyches perturbare tentavit, de latere meo mitterem, qui defensioni veritatis assisterent, congruum credidi, ut etiam ad vestram dilectionem scripta dirigerem: quos certum habeo ita studere pietati, ut blasphemas et impias voces nullatenus aequanimiter audire possitis; manente in cordibus vestris apostolica institutione, qua dicitur: Si quis vobis evangelizaverit praeter id quod accepistis, anathema sit . Sensum autem praedicti, qui, sicut gestorum lectione cognovimus, merito reprobatus est, etiam nos detestandum esse decernimus: ita ut si assertor insipiens in sua pravitate voluerit permanere, habeat cum his consortium, quorum est secutus errorem. Merito 861 enim fiet extra Christi Ecclesiam, qui in Christo humanam, id est nostram, negat esse naturam. Sed si idem spiritu Dei miserante correctus, impietatem sui erroris agnoverit, et quae catholici exsecrantur, plena satisfactione damnaverit, volumus ei misericordiam non negari, ut Ecclesia Domini nullum sentiat damnum; cum et resipiscens possit recipi, et solus debeat error excludi. De sacramento autem pietatis magnae, in qua nobis per incarnationem Verbi Dei justificatio est et redemptio, quae sit nostra ex Patrum traditione sententia, in litteris, quas ad fratrem meum Flavianum episcopum misi, nunc sufficienter, quantum arbitror, explicatum est; ut per insinuationem praesulis vestri, quid secundum Evangelium Domini nostri Jesu Christi in omnium fidelium cordibus fixum esse cupiamus, noscatis. Datum idibus Junii, Asturio et Protogene viris clarissimis consulibus.
860 Ἀγαπητοῖς τέκνοις, Φαύστῳ καὶ Μαρτίνῳ καὶ λοιποῖς ἀρχιμανδρίταις, Λέων ἐπίσκοπος.
Ἐπειδὴ διὰ τὴν αἰτίαν τῆς πίστεως, ἣν Εὐτυχὴς διαθορυβῆσαι ἐπεχείρησεν, ἐντεῦθεν ἐπέμπομεν τοὺς συστησομένους τῇ ἀληθείᾳ ἀκόλουθον ἐνόμισα καὶ πρὸς τὴν ὑμετέραν ἀγάπην γράμματα διαπέμψασθαι· οὒς οἶδα σαφῶς οὕτω σπουδάζειν τῇ εὐσεβείᾳ, ὥστε τὰς βλασφήμους καὶ ἀσεβεῖς φωνὰς μηδ' ὅσον ταῖς ἀκοαῖς προσδέχεσθαι δύνασθαι, μενούσης ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις ὑμῶν τῆς ἀποστολικῆς παραδόσεως, ἐν ᾗ λέγεται· Εἴ τις ὑμᾶς εὐαγγελίζεται παρ' ὃ παρελάβετε, ἀνάθεμα ἔστω. Τὴν δὲ γνώμην τοῦ προλεχθέντος, ὅς τις, ὡς ἐκ τῆς ἀναγνώσεως τῶν ὑπομνημάτων ἔγνωμεν, ἀξίως ἀπεχειροτονήθη, καὶ ἡμεῖς ἐκβλητέον ἐκρίναμεν. Καὶ ἐὰν μὲν ὁ ἄφρων συνήγορος τῆ ἰδίᾳ σκαιότητι ἐπιμεῖναι βουληθείη, ἐχέτω μετὰ τούτων μοῖραν, ὧν ἠκολούθησε τῇ πλάνῃ 862 δικαιότατα γένοιτο ἂν ἔξω τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ Ἐκκλησίας, ὅστις ἐν τῷ Χριστῷ τὴν ἀνθρωπίνην, τουτέστι τὴν ἡμετέραν ἀρνεῖται φύσιν. Ἐὰν δἐ ὁ αὐτὸς ἐλέει τοῦ πνεύματος τοῦ Θεοῦ διορθωθεὶς, τὴν ἑαυτοῦ πλάνην ἐπιγνοίη, καὶ ἅπερ οἱ τῆς καθολικῆς Ἐκκλησίας ἀναθεματίζουσιν, ἐξ ὅλης ψυχῆς ἀναθεματίσαι βουληθῇ, τοῦτον ἐλέου τυχεῖν βουλόμεθα, ὥστε τῇ Ἐκκλησίᾳ τοῦ Δεσπότου μηδεμίαν ἔσεσθαι ζημίαν· ἐπεὶ δὲ καὶ μετανοῶν δύναται δέχεσθαι, καὶ μόνη ἡ πλάνη ὀφείλει συγχωρεῖσθαι. Περὶ δὲ τῆς ἁγιότητος τῆς μεγάλης πίστεως, ἐν ᾖ ἡμῶν διὰ τῆς ἐν σωματώσεως τοῦ Λόγου τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡ δικαίωσις καὶ ἡ ἐξαγορασία ἐστὶ, τί φρονοῦμεν ἐκ τῶν Πατέρων παραδόσεως, ἐν τοῖς γράμμασιν, ἃ πρὸς τὸν ἀδελφὸν τὸν ἐμὴν Φλαυιανὸν τὸν ἐπίσκοπον νῦν ἔπεμψα, ἱκανῶς, καθ' ὅσον οἶμαι, εἴρηται· ὥστε ὑμᾶς ἐμφανίζοντος τοῦ ἰδίου προέδρου μαθεῖν, τί κατὰ τὸ Εὐαγγέλιον τοῦ ἡμετέρου Δεσπότου λεχθὲν, ταῖς πάντων τῶν πιστῶν ψυχαῖς βέβαιον μένειν ἐπιθυμοῦμεν. Ὁ Θεὸς ὑμᾶς φυλάττοι, τέκνα ἀγαπητά.