Epistolae [Dubiae]

Saint Felix I, Pope and Martyr, Four Letters of Doubtful Authenticity. Letter 1. To Paternus, Bishop. Concerning judgments, accusations, and defenses of the sacred orders. I. — That detractors and abettors of enemies be removed from episcopal accusation. II. — That lesser persons not be accused by greater ones. III. — That in a doubtful matter, a definitive sentence not be passed concerning those who have a case against a cleric in the province. IV. — That clerics exercise their own actions. V. — How primates ought to conduct themselves regarding an accused bishop. VI. — That judges of the Church not pronounce sentence in the absence of the one whose case is being tried, and that the calumny or voice of a traitor not be heard. To his most dear and most beloved fellow bishop Paternus, Felix, bishop, sends greetings in the Lord. Your letters have caused me to rejoice greatly and to exult in the Lord, for they clearly show how much you love the Catholic faith and how much you detest heretical error. For heresy is a most impious thing, and an enemy of evangelical truth, which attempts not merely to harm some portion, but to tear out the very foundations of the Christian religion. For it causes all whom it seizes not only to fall into this vice, but into many other vices as well; and, with the ancient enemy himself urging them on, they become not only persecutors of the Church, but also of her priests.

Therefore, let us strive with one mind to correct and pursue such persons, and endeavor to free the Church, its faithful, and the Lord's priests from their enemy. Our omnipotent Redeemer will grant strength to charity and justice (S. Greg., ep. 56, lib. iv): He Himself, whose craftsmanship has built the Church like a threshing-floor, constructed from the four sides of the world, bound together by imperishable timbers and the bitumen of charity, will grant us, far removed from one another, the unity of His Spirit, so that it may be disturbed by no adversity of the Spirit, by no swelling wave of any external force. But just as we must seek, by His governing grace, that no external wave coming upon us should trouble us, so we must pray with all our hearts, dearest brother, that the right hand of His providence may drain away the bilge-water of our interior. For the adversary, the devil, who rages against the humble, prowling like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour (1 Pet. 5:8), no longer, as we see, circles the fold, but so firmly fixes his tooth in certain necessary members of the Church that there is no doubt that unless, with the Lord's help, the entire watchful throng of shepherds rushes together unanimously, he will quickly tear apart the whole sheepfold (which may God forbid).

Therefore, we remove detractors, who are to be eradicated by divine authority, and supporters of enemies from episcopal accusation. Likewise, let no one among the highest be assailed by accusations of inferiors, nor perish. Nor shall a sentence be judged in a certain matter, nor shall any judgment be held unless it has been conducted in an orderly manner. If anyone believes that a cleric is to be accused of any crimes whatsoever, let him pursue his actions in the province where the one who is accused resides, nor let the accuser think that he is to be dragged elsewhere or farther away to judgment. However, if the one who has been accused considers the judges suspect, it shall be lawful for him to appeal to the primates. Also, when primates are examining an accused bishop, let them not pronounce a sentence of condemnation before they are supported by apostolic authority, or the accused himself confesses his guilt, or he is convicted by innocent and canonically examined regular witnesses. Otherwise, we deem the condemnation of bishops to be void and unjust, and therefore to be reconsidered by a synod, so that the oppressed may be assisted in all cases by everyone.

VI. Let the judges of the Church beware (Council of Carthage, IV, c. 28) lest they pronounce sentence in the absence of the one whose case is being tried, for it will be void; they shall also render an account for their action on behalf of the brethren in their presence. But neither the slander nor the voice of a traitor is to be heard. For no one can know a debtor better than the one who has endured his injury and wickedness (Theodosian Code, const. 3, tit. 10, lib. x). Therefore, all who wish to live piously in Christ must necessarily suffer reproaches from the impious and unlike, and be despised as foolish and insane (Prosper, Sent. 32, from Augustine on Psalm 122), those who lose present goods in order to acquire invisible and future ones. Yet the contempt and mockery of such persons will recoil upon those who assail them: for their abundance will turn into want, and their pride into confusion. And whatever adversities or evils are inflicted upon the just is not a punishment for crime, but a test of virtue. And just as gold, the more it is refined, the better it becomes, so the just man, the more he is afflicted (if he patiently bears that affliction), is rendered much purer and dearer to God. Hence Truth itself says (Matthew 5): Blessed are those who suffer persecution for the sake of justice, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs. Concerning such, the Lord speaks through Isaiah, saying (Isaiah 66): Hear the word of the Lord, you who tremble at his word.

Your brothers, who hate and reject you because of my name, have said: “Let the Lord be glorified, and we shall see you in joy; but they themselves will be confounded.” The voice of the people from the city, the voice from the temple, the voice of the Lord rendering retribution to his enemies. Before she gave birth, she brought forth; before her offspring came, she brought forth a male. Who has ever heard such a thing? And who has seen anything like it? Does the earth give birth in a single day? Or is a people born all at once, because Zion has given birth and brought forth her sons? “Shall I, who cause others to bring forth, not myself bring forth?” says the Lord. “If I, who grant generation to others, am to be barren,” says your Lord God, “rejoice with Jerusalem, and exult in her, all who love her. Rejoice with her in universal joy, you who mourn over her, so that you may suck and be filled from the breast of her consolation, so that you may milk and abound in delights from her all-encompassing glory, for thus says the Lord: Behold, I will incline myself over her like a river of peace, and like a flooding torrent of the glory of nations which you will suck. You will be carried to the breasts, and you will be caressed upon the knees. As a mother caresses someone, so I will console you, and in Jerusalem you will be consoled. You will see, and your heart will rejoice, and your bones will sprout like grass. And the hand of the Lord will be known to his servants, and he will be indignant toward his enemies.

Behold, the Lord will come in fire, and his chariot like a whirlwind, to render his fury in indignation and his rebuke in a flame of fire. For the Lord judges in fire, and with his sword against every city, and the slain by the Lord will be multiplied. Those who sanctified themselves and thought themselves pure in the gardens within the gate, who ate swine’s flesh, and abomination, and the mouse—they will all be consumed together, says the Lord. But I come to gather the works and thoughts of them together with all nations and tongues; and they will come and see my glory, and I will place a sign in them. And I will send from among those who have been saved to the nations, on the sea, into Africa, into Lydia, stretching an arrow into Italy, and Greece, to the far islands, to those who have not heard of me and have not seen my glory. And they will proclaim my glory to the nations, and will bring all your brothers from every nation as a gift to the Lord, on horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and on mules, and in wagons, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, says the Lord: as if the sons of Israel were to offer a gift in a clean vessel in the house of the Lord. And I will take from among them as priests and as Levites, says the Lord: For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I cause to stand before me, says the Lord, so will your seed and your name stand. And there will be month from month, and sabbath from sabbath, and every sacred gathering will come to worship before my face, says the Lord.

And they will go out and see the corpses of the men who have transgressed against me. Their worm will not die, and their fire will not be extinguished, and they will be until the satiety of vision for every flesh. For what else do those who detract and do otherwise (S. Greg., ep. XLV, lib. VIII) do, but blow into dust and stir up earth into their own eyes? And the more they blow forth detraction, the more they see nothing of truth? Yet such men, dearest brother, are to be borne and corrected, because they are blind, and leaders of the blind (S. Matth., XV). To these, dearest one, I have briefly replied to your consultations, which we command you and all bishops to hold regularly. Nevertheless, we admonish your prudence, brother, that you strive to labor according to your strength for the state of the Church and its priests, and that you hold to the order of the holy Roman and apostolic Church in all things, and not permit the decrees of the saints to be violated, but instruct all whom you can, so that you may present fruitful sheaves to the Lord. Farewell. Given on the Nones of June, when Claudius and Aurelianus, most illustrious men, were consuls.

LETTER II. ON THE AUTHORITY OF THE JUDGE OF THE APOSTOLIC SEE, AND ON ACCUSED BISHOPS. Felix the bishop to all bishops established throughout the provinces of Gaul, greeting in the Lord. That God is the author of good works and spiritual studies (S. Leo, ep. 32) is not in doubt, for He incites their minds and aids their actions. Hence your writings made me rejoice, from the good zeal and the integrity of faith of your devotion; but for the most part they saddened me on account of your affliction and contrition. For sad, I read your sad letters with sadness (Peter Chrysologus, ep. to Eutyches), and I ran through the sorrowful writings with due grief: because just as the peace of the Churches, the concord of her priests, and the tranquility of the people cause us to hear joy, so fraternal affliction afflicts and casts us down. Yet do not be greatly saddened (S. Gregory, ep. 45, book VIII), because as Truth itself says: If you were of this world, the world would love what is its own; but because you are not of this world, but I have chosen you from the world, therefore the world hates you (S. John, xv), that is, the lovers of the world. Yet whatever they may say, or do against you, do you always preserve an integral faith and keep a pure conscience, so that an integral spirit and soul may be preserved on the day of the Lord (I Thessalonians, v).

We, however, have called together for your assistance more than seventy of our brothers and fellow bishops, with whom we have decreed that these matters inserted below are to be treated according to rule. For after your letters were read aloud in the hearing of all, which contained many complaints and oppressions of yours (as you know), and after the decrees concerning accusations of bishops, the holy synod said: These are the things which, on account of the plots of evil men who rage indiscriminately against the Church and against ecclesiastical men, we wish to be most firmly observed in the future: If any bishop is accused by those accusers who are to be received, after he has been charitably summoned by them to correct the matter himself and has refused to amend it, then—not before, but at that time—the case is to be canonically referred to the highest primates, who, at a suitable place within that same province and at a suitable time, that is, in autumn or summer, ought to convoke a council according to rule, so that he may be heard there by all the bishops of that province. And he himself, if regularly summoned, ought to be present, unless illness or some other grave necessity detains him; for there is no license to accuse beyond the boundaries of the province before that hearing is requested.

If he has been despoiled of his own property or of the goods of the church committed to him, or (which may God forbid, and which ought to be foreign to all the faithful) has been cast out from his own see, or has been separated from his sheep by some detention, then, canonically, before he is restored to his former state with every privilege of his honor, and all his possessions which were taken from him by the machinations of his enemies are legally reinstated, he can neither be summoned nor judged, unless he himself has freely chosen to come for his own necessity (though he is by no means to be judged). Therefore, let him by no means be required to answer from anyone before all things which he lost through the suggestions of his enemies are most fully restored to his authority by the honorable council in legal order; and the bishop is to be restored with all honor to his former state, and he, having freely and securely arranged and ordered his own affairs, then, regularly, within four or five or seven months, according to what possibility he has, and not before, having been summoned in due time, he may come to the council in a legitimate and canonical manner to the case: and if it seems just so, he may answer the accusations of the accusers. For this is to be most carefully provided, that he not be compelled to answer before these things are done, because contention is always to be avoided. For to deprive a bishop of his bishopric (Council of Africa, canon 87) before the outcome of his case appears cannot seem just to any Christian, because such presumption is sacrilege, and the author of such things is a sacrilegious person.

If a bishop should be ill, or some grave necessity detain him, he may send a legate in his place to the synod. Nor shall one against whom a charge is brought be suspended from communion, unless, having been summoned by letters to a set day of chosen judges to plead his case, he has failed to appear: that is, unless some necessity has overtaken him within the space of the aforesaid months, and more besides, as the case may require. But if both parties have come to plead the case, since one ought not to be heard without the other, it must be inquired in the judgment what sort of character, faith, and freedom from suspicion the accusers have, or with what intention they act: for they ought not to be admitted unless they are men of good character and right faith, that is, those who are free from all suspicion, of good life, and not infamous. But if the persons of the accusers in the judgment appear blameworthy, they are not to be admitted to bring a charge, unless they wish to assert their own causes (yet not criminal ones) or ecclesiastical ones. For an infamous person can be neither a procurator nor a cognitor. In the absence of the adversary, the accuser is not to be heard: nor shall a sentence pronounced by a judge in the absence of the other party have any force.

nor may an absent person be accused through another, or accuse through another, nor shall a relative of theirs be admitted. Therefore, no one ought to be brought from one province to another, or to the imperial court, except upon the report of the judge to whom the appeal was made, that is, so that the accuser always follows the forum of the defendant. If anyone perceives that a judge is hostile to him, he shall present his right of appeal, which must be denied to no one. We forbid foreign judgments by a general sanction, for it is unworthy that one who ought to have judges from his own province and chosen by himself should be judged by outsiders. These things, brothers, have been unanimously decreed in the synod for your aid and defense and that of all fellow bishops, so that if any, deceived by the error of diabolical deception, should wish to accuse you foolishly, when they read or hear these things, they may come to their senses and return to the concord of unity; and what was formerly for vengeance will pass into glory. For without doubt there are many who, according to the apostle's word, with itching ears turn their hearing away from the truth and turn instead to fables and to harming the good.

(For the same apostle says concerning the ignorance of unbelievers: "If they had known, they would never have crucified the Lord of glory" [1 Cor. 2:8]. Similarly, if these men had fully known and loved the Lord, they would never have disturbed his servants, nor persecuted them in word or deed. Since we have been reconciled to God through the death of his Son [Rom. 5:10], why do we pursue our brothers? Why do we disturb the state of the Church of God, and afflict those who ought to serve it? For martyrs have suffered [same cited Council], yet their souls were not killed in the passion of the body, as the mouth of Truth attests: "Fear not those who kill the body, for they cannot kill the soul" [Matt. 10:28]. Where it must be recognized that if the souls of martyrs, when the body is destroyed, cannot be extinguished by punishments, then the souls of preachers and teachers ought not to have been persecuted, or disturbed, or turned away from the service of God, because they do not fail with their bodies. But such disturbers of the Church not only do the aforementioned evils, but also execrate the memories [Council of Gangra, ch. 20, interp. Dionysius] of the martyrs. Therefore, in the aforementioned synod we have decreed, and we command you and all Churches to hold and to do, that masses be celebrated over the memories of the martyrs, lest their memories be extinguished by such men, or veneration be able to be prohibited. But you, brothers, do not be greatly troubled, do not be vexed, but be strengthened in the Lord, and in the power of his glory [Eph. 6:10].)

Hold meanwhile these decrees, established by apostolic authority, for your support; and know that we are always prepared, even to death if necessary, to accomplish whatever may be needful for you (with the Lord's help). Yet they, with God as their judge, will perish, and you will stand firm, provided your labor is not in vain but full of faith and charity. "He," says the prophet, "who gives drink to his friend, mixing in his gall" (Hab. 2). And again the most wise Solomon says (these same words in the letter of Felix II to the Egyptians): "He who speaks iniquity cannot be hidden, nor will the judgment that rebukes him pass him by. Therefore in the thoughts of the impious there will be an interrogation. But the hearing of his words will reach the Lord, and will lead to the correction of his iniquities. For the ear of zeal hears all things, and the tumult of murmurings will not be concealed" (Wis. 1). For if they had wished to embrace these things with their own sound judgment, they would by no means have fallen into reprobate thinking; but through fear of God, taking care to guard their words, they would surely have preserved the pious definition of the holy fathers without any presumption of harm. For sacred Scripture says: "Good counsel will preserve you, and a good mind will guard you" (Prov. 2).

For not from the life-giving springs do such accusations and detractions proceed spiritually toward the acquisition of eternal life; and therefore the blessed apostle Paul fittingly warns us in advance, saying: "One ought not to know more than it is fitting to know, but to know with sobriety" (Rom. 12), persevering in the definition of piety. For those who pass over these things have not only been harmed, falling away from their own strength, but have left behind the memory of their own foolishness in their homes, so that in those things in which they have sinned, they could by no means remain hidden. For "glory and contumely are in speech" (Eccles. 5), and in the speech of a man's tongue lies his downfall. Therefore it is fitting that this display of their reproaches be inserted into our acts, so that you may no longer suffer such things, with them sowing tares and scandals, but may merit rejoicing in your offices and teachings. So let them blush, and hasten to withdraw such and similar blasphemy, if they do not wish to be separated from our priestly college and torn away from the fellowship of the whole Christian people. For although we could have said and written many more and necessary things concerning these matters, which are found established in the decrees of the apostolic see and by the apostles and their successors, namely our predecessors, nevertheless it has seemed better to us to close the letter with a prayer.

May almighty God and His only-begotten Son, our Lord and Savior Christ, grant you this encouragement: that you may come to the aid with all your strength of all our brothers and fellow bishops who are laboring under any tribulations, and that, suffering with them, you may bear the cross of the same Lord and Savior, so that you may appear before all as His true disciples, and that you and those who are with you may possess here and in the future better things, which the eye has not seen, nor the ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man, which God has prepared for those who love Him (1 Cor. 2). Through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom glory is to almighty God forever and ever. Amen. I wish you well, dearest brothers. Given on the fifth day before the Ides of August, in the consulship of Claudius and Paternus, most distinguished men (A.D. 269, Dionysius not yet having died). LETTER III. TO BISHOP BENIGNUS. I. Those who contend that the Son does not see the Father are in error, because no one has ever seen God.

II. They err who affirm that the Son is lesser than the Father, because the Father is invisible, but the Son is visible. To the most beloved brother Benignus the bishop, Felix the bishop, greeting in the Lord. Having received the letters of your fraternity (Zacharias, ep. v), by which you consulted me concerning the documents of the faith, which were held by others otherwise than the true mysteries of the faith contain, as the Lord has given, we have not refused to reply for the sake of fraternal love. For always doubtful and greater matters have been accustomed to receive their determination from this holy see, from the time of the apostles, who instructed it with their teachings. And therefore you have done rightly, in that you wished yourself and the others to be confirmed and instructed by the consultation of this holy see. I. — For your letters, and those of your brothers, contained that some say that the Son cannot properly see the Father, because it is written: For no one has ever seen God. And others pretend: Therefore the Son is lesser than the Father, because the Father bears witness to him. But some prattle that the Son is lesser than the Father for this reason, because the Father himself is said to be invisible (John 1; Matt. 17; Mark 9; Luke 9; 1 Cor. 9; Col. 1; 1 Tim. 1), but the Son is proven to be visible. For these men, ignorant of the laws of the divine Scriptures and of the apostles, fabricate such things from their own or from a corrupted understanding, and seek to lead astray the hearts of the faithful.

But let us return to the very source itself, from which we teach, with clearer testimonies of the Old and New Testaments, that the Son has always been able to see the Father and is able to see Him, as Solomon says: "Wisdom is with you, which knows your works, which was present with you when you made the world, and it knows what is pleasing before your eyes." And the Lord in the Gospel: "No one knows the Son except the Father, nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and to whom the Son wishes to reveal." And again: "No one has ever seen God, except the only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he himself has told." And again He said to the Jews: "You do not know Him, but I know Him. But if I should say that I do not know Him, I will be like you, a liar." Likewise there: "He who is from God, he knows Him." And again: "I know Him, because I am from Him." Behold, we have taught that the Son always sees the Father. How do they assert that He cannot see the Father, in whose bosom He is known to remain? If you review the divine Scriptures with a clear mind, you will find not only the Father bearing witness to the Son, but the whole inseparable Trinity together, with the Lord Himself testifying, who says: "I am the one who bears witness about myself, and the Father who sent me bears witness about me" (John 8). And again: "If I bear witness about myself, my testimony is true, because I know whence I come and whither I go" (Ibid.).

And concerning the Holy Spirit: "When the Paraclete, the spirit of truth, comes, he will bear witness concerning me" (John 15). Consider, I beg you, consider that, since those to whom one power of testimony is shown, neither is judged more powerful nor inferior to the other. II.—We have already said this quite often, that the Son is called visible according to human form, but is proclaimed invisible according to the substance of divinity, with the apostle Paul bearing witness: "O the depth," he says, "of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how incomprehensible are his judgments, and unsearchable his ways" (Rom. 11)! And in Isaiah: "Whom do you think him like, when he himself is invisible" (Isa. 40)? And again the Apostle: "But to me, the least of all the saints, this grace was given among the Gentiles, to evangelize the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to enlighten all as to what is the arrangement of the sacrament hidden from the ages, in which he created all things" (Eph. 3). Likewise he himself: "Who is," he says, "the image of the invisible God" (Col. 1). And to the Colossians: "I, Paul, a minister, who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and I supply what is lacking of the tribulations of Christ in my flesh for his body, which is the Church, of which I have been made a minister according to the dispensation of God for the ministry of Christ, which was hidden from the ages and from generations" (Ibid.).

Likewise there: "So that their hearts may be comforted in charity, in all the riches of the fullness of understanding, in the knowledge of the mystery which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (Colossians 2). And in Psalm 76: "Your way is in the sea, and your paths in many waters, and your footprints will not be known." And in Solomon: "The wisdom of God preceding all things, who will investigate it" (Ecclesiastes 1)? Likewise there: "The root of wisdom, to whom has it been revealed? and who has known its cunning" (Ibid.)? Likewise there: "The discipline of wisdom, to whom has it been manifested, and who has understood the multiplication of its entry" (Ibid.)? Likewise there: "For the works of the Lord alone are wonderful, and glorious and hidden, and his works are unseen by men" (Ecclesiasticus 2). Behold, just as the Father is invisible, so also the Son is found to be. How then is he judged inferior to the Father by those who say this which you have commanded, in that he deigned to show himself to us carnally? Do not believe such men, and teach others to turn away from their understanding. Therefore serve the Lord in fear, and exult in him with trembling (Psalm 2). Seize discipline, lest you perish from the just way. But this (24, q. i. A recta ergo fide) is the living tradition of the apostles, this is true charity, which must be preached, and truly loved and cherished, and confidently held by all. This is the holy and apostolic mother of all churches (Agath ep. ad Const. Imp., act. IV. conc.

VI (Oecumenical), the Church of Christ, which through the grace of Almighty God is proven never to have erred from the path of apostolic tradition, nor to have succumbed to being corrupted by heretical novelties, but, as at the beginning, received the norm of the Christian faith from its authors, the princes of Christ's apostles, remains inviolate to the end, according to the divine promise of the Lord and Savior Himself, who spoke to the prince of His disciples in His Gospels: "Peter," He says, "behold, Satan has sought to sift you, as one who sifts wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, once converted, confirm your brothers" (Luke 22). Let your excellent prudence therefore consider how good it is to persist in the stewardship entrusted to you, and in the right faith, and to resist heretics and enemies of Christ, and never to deviate from the path of truth. For the Lord and Savior of all, whose faith it is, who did not hesitate to die for us and redeemed us with His own blood, promised that the faith of blessed Peter would not fail, and admonished him to confirm his brothers: which the apostolic pontiffs, my humble predecessors, have always been known to have done confidently. And my own insignificance, though unequal and least, yet, for the ministry undertaken by divine grace, desires to follow in their footsteps.

Woe indeed to us, who have taken up the burden of this ministry, if we neglect to preach the truth of our Savior Jesus Christ, which the apostles proclaimed. Woe to us, if we suppress the truth by silence, which we are commanded to dispense to the money-changers, that is, to imbue and teach the Christian peoples. What shall we say at the future examination of Christ Himself, if we are confounded to preach the truth of His words? What will become of us, when the just judge, Christ our God, exacts a strict account from us concerning the souls committed to us and the office we have undertaken (1 Cor. 9; Matt. 25)? Therefore, brothers, I exhort your love (St. Leo, ep. against the Manichaeans), I implore and admonish, that as you are able and ought, you watch with solicitude to seek out heretics and enemies of the holy Church of God from sound minds, lest this pestilence spread more widely, and that you eradicate them with whatever severity you can, to the best of your ability. For just as he who has more diligently carried out what benefits the salvation of the flock entrusted to him will receive from God the reward of a worthy recompense, so before the tribunal of the Lord, whoever has been unwilling to guard his flock against the authors of sacrilegious persuasion will not be able to excuse himself from the guilt of negligence. Given on the Nones of February, in the consulship of Claudius and Paternus, most distinguished men (269, Felix not yet elected).

LETTER IV. TO MAXIMUS, BISHOP AND THE CLERGY OF ALEXANDRIA. A fragment concerning the divinity and humanity of Christ. Concerning the incarnation of the Word, and the faith, we believe in our Lord Jesus Christ, born of the Virgin Mary, because he himself is the eternal Son of God. For the Son of God did not assume a man, so that there would be another besides himself; but, being perfect God, he became at the same time perfect man, incarnate from the Virgin.