Appendix III. Epistolae

APPENDIX III, TO SAINT EUSEBIUS THE POPE. FIRST LETTER, OF POPE EUSEBIUS TO ALL THE BISHOPS OF GAUL. 1° Laymen are prohibited from accusing priests, likewise those who are in any way subject to them. 2° Which accusations ought not to be heard by ecclesiastical judges; and which accusers are to be removed from accusation. To the dearest brothers, the bishops beloved of the Lord and God, constituted throughout the Gallic provinces, Eusebius. I have received the writings of your holiness with great thanksgiving (S. Greg. lib. II, ep. 36), rejoicing indeed in your well-being, but greatly saddened by your oppression. For as to what you have signified (al. IIItem), concerning what ought to be done about converted heretics, know that we receive those who have been baptized in the faith of the Holy Trinity through the imposition of hands. Concerning the accusations of clerics, about which you have instructed, know that from the time of the apostles it has been preserved in this holy city that accusers and accusations which the laws of foreign customs do not admit (Hadr. coll. can. 11) are removed from the accusation of clerics. Likewise, that laymen have not accused bishops has hitherto been observed and established, because they are not of the same manner of life (Vide Hincmar. c. libri Lv). And indeed certain persons are hostile to them, since their life and conversation ought to be secret and removed from the acts of laymen.

They ought not to be assailed by those who are unwilling to imitate their chastity and gravity, especially since these same persons do not wish to receive them in their own accusations. Concerning these very men, namely their farmers and ministers, the Lord says to the laity and to all who persecute them: "Do not touch my anointed ones, and do not malign my prophets" (Psalm 104). And Sacred Scripture itself says: "Whoever touches you touches the apple of my eye" (Zechariah 2). For such things and similar ones, the holy fathers, foreseeing dangers, forbade laymen serving in the world from accusing priests; likewise they removed slaves and freemen, those subject to public or private taxes, and all infamous persons from the same accusation or tergiversation. For it is not fitting that carnal men be permitted to persecute spiritual men, nor that those entangled in crimes or serving the world be allowed to defame, attack, or bring charges against bishops. For if the apostles or their successors were to permit this, very few would remain who would serve the Lord in the priestly order. Therefore, we also, following in the footsteps of the fathers, for the salvation of the servants of God, remove the license to attack another from us for any persons whom the public laws do not admit to accusation (Ennodius in the apology for Symmachus from canon 7 of the Second Council of Carthage). And no accusations shall be heard by ecclesiastical judges which are prohibited by the laws of the world.

Therefore, those who do not possess a polished perfection to the very nail should remain silent about such matters, so that they are neither mutilated nor brought forward. Nor should those who are suspected either in the Catholic faith or of enmity be admitted to the accusation of the aforementioned persons, because the infidelity of their profession and enmity usually hinder the truth. Nor should those who voluntarily confess the crimes of others be believed or admitted. And therefore the truth of these matters must be diligently examined: the voice voluntarily uttered in them cannot possess this truth; rather, a rigorous torturer must extract it from its hiding places through various torments, so that while bodies are subjected to punishments, what was done may be faithfully and truthfully sought out. Hence, I ask, first turn your eyes to the public laws, then to the judges, who can and wish to speak justly in defense of all. For are we (whom the service of God, after the rejection of such things, has made free, who either despise or mock the insults or reproaches of such persons, to whom it is written concerning servants and common people by the Apostle [Ephesians 6]: "Remember that your Lord and theirs is in heaven") to be recalled to these evils of the world? Are we to do what we contend is profane when another does it? What would defile the sight through the ministry of command and another's hand, shall it be carried out by our authority?

Do not maintain this mindset throughout all the churches, like the manner and nature of rapacious wolves: because after a bloody investigation has perhaps stained us according to their desires, they will not achieve the effect in these matters toward which they strive, as the prophet says to us: Let us place a ring in their nostrils, and a bridle on their lips, and let us lead them back onto the right path. For, as the same prophet asserts, those who say, "They will be as if they were not, and the men who contradict us will perish," are assailed. For without doubt, the assailants of bishops are infamous, as are all who arm themselves against the fathers, and the tramplers upon the churches and its priests, and those who flee from public battles, and those who despise the commands of God, and those who are spattered with the stains of some disgraceful fault—from all these we remove the license to assail bishops, following the Institutes of the Fathers; because God so hates those who persecute the fathers, as the invaders of the fathers, who are marked with infamy throughout the whole world, and therefore are justly and regularly rejected. Now there is no need for a long admonition. We must already cover with hatred the lost ones, concerning whom there no longer remains anything to be condemned by the authors. Concerning them the Lord speaks through the prophet, saying: Rejecting the word, you have rushed into calumny and into much, and you have leaned upon it. Therefore this iniquity will be for you like a rupture.

Again, the prophet cries out concerning such people (Isa. 57), saying: "Come here, seed of adultery and fornication. Over whom have you played? Over whom have you opened wide and stuck out your tongue? Are you not wicked children, a lying seed? Shall the impious falsehoods cease to lie with deceit against the simple?" "Guard," says the prophet (Ps. 33), "your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking deceit. Withdraw from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it. The eyes of the Lord are upon the just, and His ears are open to their cry. But the face of the Lord is upon those who do evil, so that He may destroy their memory from the earth." And a little later: "The wicked man will be destroyed by his own malice, and those who hate the just will be blamed." Although we suffer much from such people, let us love one another, dearest ones, because charity is from God. And everyone who loves is born from God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God has appeared in us, because God sent His only-begotten Son into the world, so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not as if we have loved God, but because He Himself has loved us and sent His Son as a propitiation for our sins. Dearest ones, if God has loved us, we too ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God. If we love one another, God dwells in us, and His love in us is perfect.

In this we understand that we abide in him, and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen, and we testify, that the Father sent his Son, the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. And we have recognized, and we believe, the truth which God has in us. God is love: and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God in him. In this love is perfected with us, that we may have confidence on the day of judgment: because as he is, so we are in this world. Fear is not in love, but perfect love casts out fear, because fear has punishment. But whoever fears is not perfect in love. Therefore let us love God, because God first loved us. If anyone says that he loves God, and hates his brother, he is a liar. But he who does not love his brother, whom he sees, how can he love God, whom he does not see? And we have this commandment from God, that whoever loves God should also love his brother. Everyone who believes that Jesus is Christ is born of God. And everyone who loves the one who begot also loves the one who was born of him. In this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and do his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome; because everything that is born of God conquers the world.

And this is the victory that conquers the world, our faith. Who is it that conquers the world, if not he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? This is he who came through water and blood, Jesus Christ, not in water alone, but in water and blood. And it is the Spirit who bears witness that Christ is truth. For there are three who give testimony: the Spirit, the blood, and the water; and these three are one. If we accept the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater. For this is the testimony of God, which is greater, because he has testified concerning his Son. He who believes in the Son of God has the testimony of God within himself. He who does not believe the Son makes him a liar, because he does not believe in the testimony that God has given concerning his Son. And this testimony is that God has given us eternal life. And this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you so that you may know that you will have (Vulgate: have) eternal life, you who believe in the name of the Son of God. And this is the confidence we have in him: that whatever we ask according to his will, he hears (Vulgate: hears) us. And we know that he hears us, whatever we ask. We know that we have the petitions that we request from him. He who knows that his brother is committing a sin that is not unto death, let him ask, and life will be given to the one sinning not unto death. There is a sin unto death; I do not speak of that, that anyone should ask for it.

Every iniquity is a sin, and there is a sin unto death. We know that everyone who is born from God does not sin: but the generation of God preserves him, and the evil one does not touch him. For we know that we are from God, and the whole world is placed in evil. And we know that the Son of God came and gave us understanding, so that we might know the true God and be in His true Son. This is the true God and eternal life (1 John 4 and 5). Because of their evils, many powerful men have been greatly oppressed, and glorious ones have been handed over into the hands of others. But the blessing of God hastens as a reward for the just man, and in honor (Vulg., hour) its swift process bears fruit. Blessed is the man who has not slipped in a word from his mouth, and has not been stung by the sadness of transgression (Sirach 11 and 14). Know, dearest ones, that for the piety (St. Leo, ep. 46) which is to be shown to you, servants of God, I have graciously received all your suggestions as beneficial to the Catholic faith, so that by their work both Christian peace may be restored and impious error may be abolished. And if anything more about such matters or about things similar to these should need to be deliberated, let a report be quickly directed to us, so that, after the nature of these matters has been thoroughly examined, our solicitude may determine what must be observed. Given on the sixth day before the Kalends of August, under the consulship of Constantine (al. Constantius) (al. Constans).

LETTER II, OF POPE EUSEBIUS TO THE EGYPTIANS. Concerning bishops who have been despoiled of their property or driven from their see, that they are not to be judged unless they are first restored in full, and concerning the convoking of synods, so that they may be heard by all the bishops of their province. Eusebius, bishop of the Roman and apostolic Church, to the most beloved brothers, united in the charity of Christ and bound by the glue of charity, serving the Lord throughout Alexandria and Egypt and holding the true faith, greetings in the Lord. Blessed is God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the God of all consolation, who consoles us in all our tribulation so that we ourselves may be able to console those who are in every distress, through the exhortation with which we ourselves are exhorted by God. For just as the passions of Christ abound in us, so too does our consolation abound through Christ. Whether we are afflicted for your exhortation and salvation, or we exhort for your exhortation and salvation, this also produces the endurance of those same passions which we also suffer. And your hope is firm for you, knowing that just as you are companions in passion, so too will you be in consolation. The old things (most beloved) have passed away, and behold, new things have come to be. But all things are from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: since indeed God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, not holding their offenses against them; and he placed in us the word of reconciliation.

Therefore, we act as ambassadors for Christ, as if God were exhorting through us. We beseech you for Christ's sake: be reconciled to God. He who knew no sin made sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him. And we, assisting, exhort you not to receive the grace of God in vain. For he says: "At an acceptable time I heard you, and on the day of salvation I helped you." Behold, now is the acceptable time, behold, now is the day of salvation. Giving no one any offense, so that our ministry may not be reviled, but in all things we show ourselves as ministers of God, there is much patience, in tribulations, in necessities, in distress, in plagues, in prisons, in seditions, in labors, in vigils, in fasts, in chastity, in knowledge, in long-suffering and gentleness, in the Holy Spirit, in unfeigned charity, in the word of truth, in the power of God, through the weapons of righteousness on the right and on the left, through glory and ignobility, through infamy and good repute, as deceivers and truthful, as those unknown and known: as if dying, and behold we live: as chastened and not mortified: as if sad, yet always rejoicing: as needy, yet enriching many: as having nothing, yet possessing all things. Our mouth is open to you, Corinthians, our heart is enlarged. Do not be straitened in carnal things, but be straitened in spiritual things.

Having the same reward, I speak as to sons: be enlarged also yourselves. Do not bear the yoke with the unbelievers. For what participation has justice with iniquity? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What agreement has Christ with Belial? Or what part has the faithful with the unfaithful? What concord has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God, as the Lord says: "Because I will dwell in them, and I will walk, and I will be their God, and they will be my people." Therefore, "Come out from among them, and separate yourselves from among them," says the Lord: "and do not touch the unclean, and I will receive you, and I will be a father to you, and you will be to me sons and daughters," says the almighty Lord. Having these promises, therefore, dearest ones, let us cleanse ourselves from every pollution of flesh and spirit, perfecting sanctification in the fear of God (II Cor., 1, 5, 6, 7). Correct your error, brothers, and guard yourselves from every stain of error, so that you may be able to offer a pure gift to God. Do not persecute the servants of God, do not defame or accuse bishops, because God wished them to be reserved for his own judgment. For that he did not wish them to be corrupted or accused by human beings or men of depraved life, he himself gave an example, when through himself (St. Gregory, Moralium, book 25), and not through another, he cast the negligent priests out of the temple, and overturned the tables of the money-changers with his own whip, and drove them out of the temple.

And as it is said elsewhere: "God stood in the assembly of gods, and in their midst He judges the gods" (Psalm 81). Therefore, he who accuses or condemns bishops, while pursuing worldly things rather than spiritual ones, accuses the ordinance of God. For the cause of faith and love, on which Christian salvation depends, compels me to labor with great anxiety, fearing that depravity, which ought to have been cut off at its beginnings, may become more stubborn and more deeply rooted over time. For it is exceedingly hostile and unfitting that those who persecute bishops and other true priests should be indiscriminately mingled with the names of Catholics, since, not abandoning their condemned impiety, they themselves are condemned by their own depravity; and it is fitting that they be struck down for their faithlessness, or else set free only after penance. For just as it is full of piety to restore the Lord's charity to the oppressed, so it is just to cut off the authority of those who disturb everything. I am amazed, dearest ones, that you are so quickly moved and turned from your own judgment, when it is written: "Do not go after your own desires, and turn away from your own will. If you grant your soul its desires, it will make you a joy to your enemies. Do not take pleasure in crowds, nor in trivial things. For their conspiracy is ever present. Do not be mediocre in a dispute arising from usury, and have nothing in your purse.

For you will be envious of your own life. A drunken workman will not grow rich; and he who scorns small things will gradually fall. Wine and women cause even the wise to apostatize, and they reprove the sensible; and he who joins himself to fornicators will be wicked. Rot and worms will inherit him, and he will be raised up as a greater example, and his soul will be removed from the number. He who believes quickly is light of heart, and will be diminished; and he who offends against his own soul will be held in contempt. He who rejoices in iniquity will be marked; and he who hates correction will have his life diminished; and he who hates loquacity extinguishes malice. He who sins against his own soul will repent; and he who delights in malice will be marked. Do not repeat a wicked and harsh word, and you will not be diminished. Do not reveal your mind to friend and enemy alike; and if you have a fault, do not expose it. For he will hear you and will watch you; and as if defending the sin, he will hate you, and thus he will always be with you. Have you heard a word against your neighbor? Let it die within you, trusting that it will not break forth. In the face of a word, a fool gives birth, like the groaning of a newborn infant. An arrow fixed in the flesh of the thigh is like a word in the heart of a fool. Reprove a friend, lest perhaps he did not understand, and when he has done an injury and did not understand, he may say, "I did not do it"; or if he did it, that he not add to doing it again. Reprove your neighbor, lest perhaps he did not speak; and if he did speak, lest he repeat it.

Reprove your friend, for a fault is often committed, and do not believe every word. There is one who slips in his speech, but not from the heart. For who is there that has not erred in his speech? Reprove your neighbor before you threaten him; and make room for the fear of the Most High, because all wisdom and knowledge is the fear of God, and in all wisdom is the ordering of the law. There is no wisdom, nor knowledge, and there is no good thought except in that. The prudence of sinners is wickedness, and in it is abomination; and he is foolish who is diminished in wisdom. Better is a man who lacks wisdom, and lacking in sense, in the fear of God, than one who abounds in sense and transgresses the law of the Most High. There is a certain shrewdness, and it is iniquitous; and there is one who utters a certain word, telling the truth. There is one who wickedly humbles himself, and his inner parts are full of deceit. For there is a just man who submits himself too much from great humility; and there is a just man who lowers his face and pretends not to see what is unknown. And if he is prevented from sinning by weakness of strength, if he finds an opportunity for doing evil, he will do evil. A man is known by his appearance, and a sensible man is known by the meeting of his face. The clothing of the body, the laughter of the teeth, and the gait of a man reveal him. There is a false reproof in the mouth of an abusive man; and there is a judgment which is not proven to be good; and there is one who is silent, and he himself is prudent. How good it is to reprove, rather than to be angry, and not to hinder one who confesses in prayer!

The lust of a eunuch deflowers a young girl: so does he who by force renders an unjust judgment. How good it is for the reproved to show repentance! For thus you will escape willful sin. There is a silent man who is found wise, and there is a hateful man who is forward in speaking. There is also one who lies down, having no sense of speech, and there is one who is silent, knowing the fitting time. A wise man will be silent until the time; a lascivious and imprudent man will not observe the time. He who uses many words harms his own soul, and he who unjustly assumes power will be hated. There is a procession in evils for an undisciplined man, and there is a discovery to his detriment. There is a gift that is not useful, and there is a gift whose return is double. There is a diminution for the sake of glory, and there is one who from humility will lift his head. There is one who redeems much at a small price, and there is one who restores it sevenfold. A wise man makes himself lovable in words, but the graces of fools are poured out. The gift of a fool will not be useful to you, for his eyes are sevenfold. He will give little, and reproach much, and the opening of his mouth is an inflammation. Today one lends, and tomorrow demands, and such a man is hateful. A fool will have no friend, and there will be no grace in his goods. For those who eat his bread have false tongues. How often and how many will mock him? For he did not distribute what was to be had with right sense, and likewise what was not to be had.

The fall of a false tongue, like one who falls from a pavement, so the fall of the wicked will come swiftly. An ungrateful man (Vulg., acharis) will be like an empty fable, ever on the lips of the undisciplined. A parable is rejected from the mouth of a fool: for he does not speak it at its proper time. There is one who is prevented from sinning by poverty, and in his need he will be goaded. There is one who will lose his soul for shame, and through an imprudent person who will lose it, but by partiality he will lose himself. There is one who, out of shame, makes a promise for a friend (Vulg., promises a friend), and having gained him, has made him an enemy for nothing. A wicked reproach in a man is a lie, and it will be ever on the lips of the undisciplined. The persistence of a lying man praises a thief (Vulg., a thief is better than), but both will inherit perdition. The habits of lying men are without honor, and their shame is with them without ceasing (Ecclus., XVIII, XIX and XX). We admonish you (brothers) to pursue unceasingly what is beneficial to men mutually in the charity of Christ: likewise we beseech you in the Lord, that you walk worthily of the calling by which you are called, with all humility and meekness, with patience supporting one another in charity, careful to preserve the unity of spirit in the bond of peace, one body and one spirit, as you are called in the one hope of your calling: one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God the father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in all of us.

To each of us, however, grace is given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. On account of this it says: “Ascending into the height, he led captivity captive; he gave gifts to all” (Ps. 67). But what is this ascending, except that he first descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is the same who ascended above all the heavens, so as to fill all things. And he himself gave some as apostles, some as prophets, others as evangelists, others as pastors and teachers, for the perfection of the saints, for the work of ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ, until we all meet together in the unity of faith and knowledge of the Son of God, into a perfect man, into the measure of the full age of Christ, so that we are no longer wavering little ones, carried about by every wind of doctrine, in the wickedness of men, in cunning for the circumvention of error (Eph. 4). For it is unjust to judge rashly concerning the hidden things of another’s heart (Prosper, Sent. 21), and it is a sin to reproach from suspicion one whose works alone are seen as good. Therefore, the sheep that are entrusted to their pastor (Council of Rome under Symmachus) ought neither to reproach him (unless he has deviated from right faith) nor can they accuse him in any way; because the deeds of pastors are not to be struck by the sword of the mouth (or: of the sheep), even if they seem to be covertly blameworthy.

We say these things because we find in your scriptures that certain bishops in your regions have been accused by their own sheep, some out of suspicion and others on certain grounds, and that therefore some have been stripped of their properties, others driven from their own sees. Know that they can be summoned neither to a provincial synod nor to a general one, nor be judged in any way, until all things taken from them are restored by law to their authority. First, therefore, all things must be restored to them by law, and the churches taken from them must be given back with every privilege, and afterwards, not within a narrow space of time, but a period as long as they appear to have been despoiled or expelled must be granted to them before they are summoned to a synod and heard by all the bishops of their province. For one who has been despoiled or expelled can neither be summoned to a case nor judged, since he does not have the privilege of which he could be stripped when already laid bare. Hence it was decreed of old that all possessions and all things taken from him, and all fruits, be restored by the receiver or the first possessor before the contestation of the suit. And elsewhere it is written: he who suffered violence shall receive everything in the state in which it was, and shall hold securely what he possesses.

And elsewhere in the synodal decrees of the fathers and the edicts of kings it is read as established: all things are to be restored to bishops who have been despoiled or expelled, by the present ordination of the pontiffs, and into their places from which they departed, they are to be fully recalled, whatever the condition of time, or by deceit, or captivity, or the power of greater men, or through whatever unjust causes, they are known to have lost church property or their own possessions or their substance before accusation or their regular summons to a synod, and the rest. It is also decreed in the ancient statutes of the Church that whoever invades another’s property shall not go unpunished, but shall restore everything with multiplication. Whence it is written in the Gospel: “But if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I repay fourfold” (Luke 19). And in the laws of the age it is provided: whoever steals another’s property shall restore to the one whose property was plundered ten times what was taken. And in the divine law it is read: “Cursed is everyone who moves his neighbor’s boundary markers. And all the people shall say, Amen” (Deut. 28). Therefore such things are not to be presumed without vengeance nor exercised without their own condemnation (Thus far the words of Pope Symmachus, in the cited council). Seek peace, and not harm or injustice to anyone, among yourselves and toward all.

But making truth in charity, let us grow, in him through all things, who is the head Christ, from whom the whole body is compacted and connected through every joint of subministration, according to the operation in the measure of each single member, making the increase of the body in its own edification in charity. For the rest, dearest ones, rejoice, and be perfected: exhort one another, think the same, have peace, and the God of peace and love will be with you (Heb. 12, Eph. 4). May the Lord guard you both now and into the day of eternity (2 Pet. 3). Amen. Given on the ninth day before the Kalends of October, with Constantius (Constantius) the most illustrious consul. LETTER III, OF POPE EUSEBIUS, DIRECTED TO THE BISHOPS OF TUSCIA AND CAMPANIA. Concerning those of ill repute not being admitted to testimony, and who are called infamous, and concerning heretics who are duly baptized, if they return to the faith, being received through the imposition of hands, which imposition of hands is shown to pertain only to the high priests.

To all the most beloved brother bishops established throughout Campania and Tuscany, Eusebius. Blessed is our Lord God, who (Hormisdas, ep. 25) through his mercy enriched the Roman Church with the priesthood of the blessed Peter, prince of the apostles, and granted to us, for the universal care which is ours by reason of the privilege of that same Church, the way of showing charity toward one another, so that we who cohere in the firmness of faith may also be joined in the joyful exchange of converse; so that more easily, when we reach out to you through the ministry of letters, we may also incite your hearts to religious devotion by apostolic admonitions; and when we render to the affection of our hope, as it were, a certain debt, we may show full devotion toward God. Let us therefore join together, most beloved brothers, in continuous and humble prayers; and supplicating our God with tears of mouth and heart, let us ask with constant entreaty that by institution and work we may cleave to him whose members we desire to be, and never turn aside from that way which is Christ by a devious path, lest we, who impiously abandon him, be justly deserted by him, unhappy as we are. This can happen to us with the help of divine favor, if we keep the apostolic teachings, if we keep the commands of the fathers. For our Lord says: He who loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him, and we will make our abode with him (John 14).

And although these things, spoken generally, might suffice, so that we either avoid errors or preserve catholic teaching, yet we know it was established by the apostles and their successors (Sixtus, Sententia; Hadr. Coll. cap. 67) that accusations against teachers ought not to be accepted, nor foreign judgments be made (Cod. Theod. I. ii, tit. i, const. 10), nor should anyone be bound by the sentence of a judge other than his own (Cod. Just. l. VII, tit. 48, const. 4). For the head of the Church is Christ. The vicars of Christ, however, are the priests, who discharge the embassy of Christ in the Church (Hormisdas, ep. 25, already cited). Therefore, whatever injury is done to them pertains to Christ, who said: "He who hears you, hears me; and he who scorns you, scorns me. And he who scorns me, scorns him who sent me" (Luke 10:16). These things, brothers, are terrible, and must be very diligently considered and guarded against, both for the sake of those who, through lust, or avarice, or envy, strive to destroy themselves, lest they slip into the depths or fall into such evils, and for the sake of the persecutions of the Church and its servants, who, according to the voice of truth, having eyes, do not see, and having ears, do not hear, nor understand what pleases God. Therefore, following in all things the apostolic rule, and proclaiming all its ordinances (John, ep. cp. in the booklet after Hormisdas, ep. 3, quest.

We establish, together with all the bishops who are with us, just as we have found it decreed long ago, that homicides, sorcerers, thieves, sacrilegious persons, plunderers, adulterers, those guilty of incest, poisoners, suspects, criminals, household members, perjurers, and those who have committed abduction or given false testimony, or those who have resorted to sacrilegious persons and diviners, and those similar to them, are by no means to be admitted to accusation or to testimony, because they are infamous and are justly repelled, since their voice is deadly. For a deadly voice ought rather to be forbidden in all things than heard. Therefore, the danger that threatens teachers must always be greatly feared and avoided, and they are to be borne and guarded by all, as the Lord says: "What you have done to one of my least, you have done to me" (Matt. 25). For the first salvation is to keep the rules of right faith and in no way to deviate from the constitutions of the fathers. Nor can the sentence of our Lord Jesus Christ be passed over, who says: "You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church" (Matt. 16).

And these things that have been said are proven by their effects, because in the apostolic see the catholic religion has always been preserved without stain. Therefore, dearest ones, as the holy Scripture says: learn to do good (Isaiah 1), and to avoid evil (Proverbs 16), and to be imbued with the rules of the fathers, as it is written: Son, if you have, do good with yourself, and offer offerings worthy of God. Remember that death does not delay, and the testament of the underworld, because it has been shown to you. The testament of this world will die with death. Before death, do good to your friend, and according to your means, reaching out, give to the poor. Do not be cheated of a good day, and let not a portion of a good day's gift pass you by. Will you not leave to others your sorrows and your labors in the division of the inheritance? Give, and receive, and justify your soul. Before your death, work justice, because in the underworld there is no food to be found. All flesh will grow old like hay, and like a leaf bearing fruit on a green tree. Some are generated, and others are cast down: so the generation of flesh and blood, some ends, and others are born. Every corruptible work will fail in the end: and he who performs it will go with it. And every elect work will be justified: and he who performs it will be honored in it. Blessed is the man who dwells in wisdom, and who meditates on his justice, and in his mind thinks on the circumspection of God.

He who ponders her ways in his heart, and will be understanding in her hidden things, going after her as an investigator, and standing in her ways. He who looks through her window, and at her door, listening. He who rests near her house, and fixes his hand in her walls. He will set his little hut at her hand, and good things will rest in his little hut forever. He will set his sons under her shelter, and he will dwell under her branches. He will be protected under her branches from the heat, and will rest in her glory (Ecclesiasticus XIV). He who fears the Lord will do that (Vulgate: good things): and he who is continent of justice will grasp her: and she will meet him like a honored mother, and like a woman from virginity she will receive him. She will feed him with the bread of life and understanding, and will give him to drink the water of saving wisdom. And he will be strengthened in her, and will not be bent: and she will contain him, and he will not be confounded, and she will exalt him among his neighbors. And in the midst of the Church she will open his mouth, and will fill him with the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, and will clothe him with a robe of glory. She will store up joy and exultation over him, and will make him heir to an eternal name. Foolish men will not grasp her, and sensible men will meet her. Foolish men will not see her: for she is far from pride and gift. Lying men will not be mindful of her, and truthful men will be found in her, and access (Vulgate.

...success) will have up to the inspection of God. There is no fair praise in the mouth of a sinner, because wisdom has proceeded from God. For the praise of God's wisdom will stand, and in the mouth of the faithful it will abound, and the ruler will give it to him. Do not say: It is absent through the Lord: for what you hate, do not do. Do not say: He has ensnared me: for impious men are not necessary to him. God hates every abomination of error, and it will not be lovable to those who fear him. From the beginning, God established man and left him in the hand of his own counsel. He added his commandments and precepts. If you wish to keep the commandments, they will keep you, and to make a pleasing faith forever. He set before you water and fire: stretch forth your hand to whichever you wish. Before man are life and death, good and evil. What pleases him will be given to him: because the wisdom of God is great, and strong in power, seeing all without ceasing. The eyes of the Lord are upon those who fear him, and he himself knows every work of man. He commanded no one to act impiously, and he gave no one space for sinning. For he does not desire a multitude of unfaithful and useless children (Ecclus. xv). Do not rejoice in impious children, if they multiply, nor delight in them, if the fear of God is not with them. Do not trust in their life, and do not look upon their labors. For one man who fears God is better than a thousand impious children. And it is better to be without children than to leave impious children.

A single wise person will inhabit the fatherland, and it will be deserted by three impious ones. My eye has seen many other such things, and my ear has heard stronger things than these. In the synagogue of sinners fire will blaze, in an unbelieving people wrath will flare up. The ancient giants did not atone for their sins, who were destroyed, trusting in their own strength. And He did not spare their wandering, but struck them down and cursed them because of the pride of their speech. He had no mercy on them, destroying the entire people, who exalted themselves in their sins. And like six hundred thousand foot soldiers who were gathered together in the hardness of their heart: and if even one had been stubborn, it would have been a wonder if he had been exempt. For mercy and wrath are with Him, a powerful entreaty and a pouring forth of wrath. According to His mercy, so is His correction. He will judge a man according to his works. The sinner will not escape in plunder, and the patience of the one doing mercy will not be delayed. Every mercy will act with you for each one according to the merit of his works, and according the understanding of his own wandering. Do not say: I will hide from God, and from on high who will remember me? In a great people I will not be recognized. For what is my soul in such an immense creation? Behold the sky, and the heavens of heavens, the abyss, the whole earth, and what is in them, will be shaken in His sight, mountains together, and hills, and the foundations of the earth. And when God beholds them, they will be convulsed with trembling.

And in all these things the heart has become senseless: and every heart is understood by yours, and who understands its ways, and the storm which not even the eye of man has seen? For many of its works are hidden: but who will recount the works of justice, or who will endure them? For the testament is far from some, and the questioning of men is at its end. He who is diminished in heart thinks evil things. And the imprudent and erring man thinks foolish things. Therefore, brothers, let no evil word proceed from your mouth, but if any word is good for the edification of opportunity, so that it may give grace to those hearing. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed on the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, and anger, and indignation, and shouting, and blasphemy be removed from you along with all malice. But be mutually kind, merciful, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you. Therefore, be imitators of God, as dearest children; and walk in love, and as Christ loved us, and gave himself for us as an offering, and a sacrifice to God for a sweet fragrance. But let fornication, and all uncleanness, or avarice, not even be named among you, as befits saints, nor ugliness, nor foolish talk, nor scurrility, which does not pertain to the matter, but rather thanksgiving.

Know this, you who understand, that every fornicator, or unclean person, or covetous man (which is idolatry) has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one seduce you with empty words. For because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of faithlessness. Do not, therefore, become participants with them. For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is in goodness, justice, and truth), testing what is pleasing to God, and do not share in the unfruitful works of darkness; rather, rebuke them. For what is done by them in secret is shameful even to speak of. But all things that arise are revealed by light. For everything that is revealed is light. Therefore it says: Arise, you who sleep, and rise from the dead, and Christ will illuminate you. See therefore, brothers, how cautiously you walk: not as fools, but as wise men redeeming time, for the days are evil. For this reason, do not become imprudent, but understand what the will of God is. And do not become drunk with wine, in which there is lust, but be filled with the Holy Spirit, speaking to yourselves in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and praising the Lord in your hearts, always giving thanks for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to God the Father: subject to one another in the fear of Christ (Ephesians 5).

Therefore, concerning the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, which was recently discovered while we held the governance of the holy Roman Church, on the fifth day before the Nones of May, we command you to solemnly celebrate the feast of its discovery on the aforementioned day of the Kalends. Likewise, we order that all heretics, whoever are converted by the grace of God and, believing in the name of the Holy Trinity, are baptized, holding to the rule of the Roman Church, are to be reconciled through the imposition of hands. The sacrament of the imposition of hands is to be held in great veneration, which cannot be performed by others except by the highest priests. Nor is it read or known to have been performed in the time of the apostles by anyone other than the apostles themselves; nor can it ever be performed or ought to be done by others (as has already been said) except by those who hold their place. For if it is presumed otherwise, let it be considered invalid and void, and never counted among the ecclesiastical sacraments. For the rest, brothers, rejoice and exult in the Lord, so that, illuminated and strengthened by the grace of the Holy Spirit, you may be able to reach the pastures of eternal life and lead your own there, with the Lord’s help. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit always be with us all. Amen. Given on the eighth day before the Kalends of September, with Constantinus (or Constantius), the most illustrious consul.