Appendix IV. Epistolae

APPENDIX IV, TO SAINT MELCHIADES THE POPE. LETTER OF POPE MELCHIADES TO ALL THE BISHOPS OF SPAIN. Concerning accusations and quarrels, and that no one should be hostile to another; concerning baptism and the imposition of hands by bishops, whether one of them without the other suffices, or appears to be greater. I. Concerning judgments of bishops, or greater causes to be referred to the apostolic see; and that no one be prohibited from appealing to it. II. Which is the greater sacrament, the imposition of the bishop's hand, or baptism. III. Concerning the fast of the Lord's day, and of the fifth day. To the most beloved brothers, Marinus, Benedictus, Leontius, and the other bishops of Spain, and those established in those parts, Melchiades (Melciades or Miltiades). The words of the apostolic precept are that we ought to be without offense among Jews and Gentiles. (1 Cor. 10.) This every Christian guards with all the strength of his soul. Since this is so, no small danger of that evil will be able to stand before God for him who refuses to show this even to the faithful. For how these things, which strike Christian souls from Christian authors, sadden us, who wish no one to perish, the Lord's word in the Gospel testifies. For the Savior himself says that it is expedient for one who scandalizes one of the little ones to be plunged into the depths of the sea (Matt. 18; Luke 17). Therefore, let us ask what his punishment now is, for whom we read that such a penalty is expedient.

Therefore, dearest ones, these words are to be weighed very carefully, and caution is to be taken lest for the sake of temporal things eternal things be lost, and for the sake of fleeting things lasting things, and for the sake of very small temporal things perpetual joys be lost (which may God forbid). Hence we ask and beseech you that no one harm another, nor be hostile or injurious, but (according to the Apostle) let each bear the burdens of the other, so as to fulfill the law of Christ (Galatians 6). And do not judge one another, but (according to the same Apostle) rather judge this, that you place no stumbling block or scandal before a brother (Romans 14). Always first and before all things inquire diligently, so that you may define with justice and truth (and charity). Condemn no one before a true and just judgment (condemning no one beforehand). Judge no one by the standard of suspicion, but first test, and afterwards pronounce a charitable sentence. And what you do not wish to be done to you, do not do to another. Always remember the word of the Lord, who says: Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, so that you may not be condemned (Luke 6). For by whatever judgment you judge, you will be judged (Matthew 7). Do not judge bishops, do not condemn them without the authority of this See. If you do so, your judgments will be void, and you yourselves will be condemned. For this privilege has been established for this holy See from the times of the apostles to be preserved, and it remains unimpaired to the present day.

Therefore, the bishops, whom the Lord chose for Himself as eyes, and whom He wished to be the pillars of the Church, to whom He also gave the power of binding and loosing, He reserved to His own judgment, and this privilege He entrusted to the blessed key-bearer Peter alone in His stead. This prerogative of his justly accrues to that See, and this prerogative, having succeeded, is to be inherited and held for future times, because even among the blessed apostles there was a certain distinction of authority. And although the election of all was equal, it was nevertheless granted to blessed Peter that he should take precedence over the others, and prudently dispose of the causes and inquiries that came to complaint. We believe that this was so ordained by God's arrangement, lest all their successors should claim everything for themselves, but that the greater causes, such as those of bishops, and the care of more important affairs, should always flow together to the one See of the blessed prince of the apostles, Peter, so that they might receive the conclusion of judgments from the same place from which they received the beginning of institutions, lest at any time they should diverge from their head.

If any of you should see himself burdened, let him appeal to this see, let him have recourse here, as has always been the established custom; for we will willingly sympathize with them, and gladly, as the Lord shall grant, we will bring assistance. Nor, brothers, should anyone be forbidden or rebuked who wishes to be a sharer of our communion, but rather assistance for coming should be provided to him, because rebuke that comes from many is not suitable for everyone, so that (according to the apostle) you may rather give and console, lest perhaps he who is in distress be swallowed up by excessive sadness (2 Cor. 2). For this reason I beseech you, as he himself says, that you confirm charity in him. For we block the mouths of those accusing priests, or testifying against them, whom we know to be dead not by human voices but by divine voices, since an unfaithful man (Sixtus, Sentences, from Rufinus' version) is dead while living in the body. Nor should a faithful man fall under suspicion (same Sentences, and 169), so as to say or do those things which he himself would not wish to suffer. If anyone is faithful, let him see that he does not speak falsely, or lay snares for anyone. It is easy (same Sentences, 176, 291, 203), therefore, to deceive a man, but not God. He is not wise who harms. And he who is faithful wishes no evil. For in these things we can know a faithful man from an unfaithful one, in harming and in helping, as the Truth itself says: A good man brings forth good from the good treasure of his heart; and an evil man brings forth evil from the evil treasure of his heart (Matt. 12).

For the mouth speaks from the abundance of the heart (Luke 6). For the Lord says through the prophet on our behalf: "But those who judge you, I will judge" (Isaiah 49). And again He said to His servants: "Do not fear the reproach of men, and do not dread their blasphemies" (Isaiah 31). Concerning such men, the prophet also sang, saying: "Not so the impious, but like dust which the wind casts forth. Therefore the impious will not rise in judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the just: for the Lord knows the way of the just, and the path of the impious will perish" (Psalm 1). "Why are the nations troubled, and the peoples disturbed by empty things? The kings of the earth will rise up, and the princes will conspire together against the Lord and against His Christ. Let us break their bonds, and cast off their yoke from us. The dweller of heaven will laugh, and the Lord will mock them. Then He will speak to them in His wrath, and in His fury He will confound them" (Psalm 2). And elsewhere He said: "The wickedness of the impious is in the midst of his heart; there is no fear of God before his eyes. For (from the version of Jerome, most of what is cited here) he acted deceitfully against him in his eyes, so that he might find his iniquity to hatred. The words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit; he ceased to think of doing good. He meditates iniquity in his bed; he will stand in a way that is not good; he will not cast off evil. Lord, in heaven your mercy reaches to the clouds. Your justice is like the mountains of God; his judgments are a great abyss.

You will save men and beasts, O Lord: how precious is your mercy, O God? And the sons of Adam will rest in the shadow of your wings. They will be inebriated with the fatness of your house, and you will water them with the torrent of your delights. For the fountain of life is with you, and in your light we will see the light. Draw your mercy to those who know you, and your justice to the upright of heart. Let not the foot of pride come to me, and let not the hand of the impious move me. There the workers of iniquity fell, they were cast out, and they could not rise (Psalm 35). We have heard from certain brothers, to whom you were excessively hostile, that quarrels and discords exist among you. Therefore we have written these things to you, commanding that you hold to them, just as they are commanded to be held by you from the apostolic see. Whence also the Lord’s forerunner in the Gospel, responding to questioning soldiers, said: Do not shake down anyone, nor commit calumny, but be content with your stipends (Luke 3). For a man shakes down another when he unjustly disturbs him. Concerning these matters, let these things suffice for you for now. But if you should need greater ones, with life as companion, they will be sent to you mildly.

II. Concerning those matters about which you have asked to be informed, that is, whether the greater sacrament is the imposition of hands by bishops or baptism, know that both are great sacraments. And just as one is performed by greater persons, that is, by supreme pontiffs, which cannot be completed by lesser ones, so it is to be venerated and held with greater reverence. But these two sacraments are so joined together that they cannot be separated from each other unless death intervenes, and one cannot be duly performed without the other. For one (if death intervenes) can save without the other, but the other cannot. Whence it is written: "In those days," says the Lord, "I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh" (Joel 2). Let us note the immense riches of God's goodness. What the imposition of hands in confirming neophytes grants to individuals, that the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the believing peoples then gave to all. But because we have said that the imposition of hands and confirmation pertain to the perfection of baptism, and that one already regenerated in Christ can lack something, perhaps someone thinks: what benefit is the mystery of confirmation to me after the mystery of baptism? And as far as I can see, we have not received everything from the font if after the font we need the addition of a new kind. It is not so, dearest ones. Let your charity attend.

Just as military order requires that when an emperor receives someone into the number of soldiers, he not only marks the recruit but also equips him with suitable arms for fighting, so in the baptized person that blessing is a fortification. You have given a soldier; give him the equipment of soldiery. What good does it do if some parent bestows a great fortune upon a ward (or little one), unless he also takes care to provide a guardian? Thus the Paraclete is for those regenerated in Christ a guardian, a comforter, and a tutor. Hence the divine word says: "Unless the Lord guards the city, he who watches over it watches in vain" (Psalm 126). Therefore the Holy Spirit, who descends in a salutary descent upon the waters of baptism, in the font bestows fullness for innocence, and in confirmation grants increase for grace. And because in this world, for those who are to live through every age, one must walk among invisible enemies and perils, in baptism we are regenerated for life, after baptism we are confirmed for battle; in baptism we are washed, after baptism we are strengthened. But if for those who are about to pass away immediately the benefits of regeneration suffice, for those who are to live on, the aids of confirmation are nevertheless necessary. Regeneration by itself saves those who are soon to be received into the peace of the blessed age; confirmation, however, arms and equips those who are reserved for the struggles and battles of this world.

But those who after baptism, having acquired innocence, arrive unstained at death are confirmed by death, because they cannot sin after death. If we should also wish to inquire what the coming of the Holy Spirit brought to the apostles after the passion and resurrection of Christ, the Lord Himself clearly explains it to them. "What I say to you," He says, "you cannot bear it now. But when that Spirit of truth comes, He will teach you all truth" (John 16). Do you see that when the Holy Spirit is poured in, the faithful heart is expanded to prudence and constancy? Thus before the descent of the Holy Spirit, the apostles are deterred even to the point of denial; after His visitation, however, they are armed even to martyrdom, with contempt for their own safety. According to this, we are redeemed through Christ, but through the Holy Spirit we are illuminated, built up, taught, instructed, perfected by the gift of spiritual wisdom, so that we may hear that voice of the Holy Spirit: "I will give you understanding, and I will instruct you in this way in which you will walk" (Psalm 31). From the Holy Spirit we receive that we may become spiritual, because the animal man does not perceive those things which are of the Spirit of God (1 Cor. 2). From the Holy Spirit we receive that we may know how to discern between good and evil, to love just things, to reject unjust things, to resist malice and pride, to resist luxury and various enticements, and foul and unworthy desires.

From the Holy Spirit we receive the love of life and the ardor of glory, so that, divinely kindled, we may be able to lift the mind from earthly things to the heavenly and divine. III. No one ought to celebrate a fast on the Lord's day and on the fifth day of the week, so that a true and not false distinction may be maintained between the fast of Christians and that of Gentiles, of those who truly believe and of the unfaithful and heretics. Whence it is written: "What part has Christ with Belial? Or what part has the faithful with the unfaithful? What participation has justice with iniquity?" (2 Cor. 6). And again: "Do not bear the yoke with the unfaithful" (2 Cor. 6). And further, brothers, see that no one deceives you with empty words, nor through philosophy and vain deceit according to the tradition of men, according to the elements of the world, and not according to Christ: because in Christ dwells all the fullness of divinity bodily, and you are in him filled, who is the head of every principality and power, in whom you are also circumcised with a circumcision not made by hand, in the stripping away of the body of flesh, but in the circumcision of Christ, buried together with him in baptism, in which you have risen again through the faith of the operation of God, who raised him from the dead.

And you, when you were dead in your sins and in the foreskin of your flesh, were made alive together with him, he granting you all sins, blotting out the bond of decree that was against you, which was contrary to us, and he removed it from the midst, and affixing it to the cross, despoiling the principalities and powers, he led it forth confidently, openly triumphing over them in himself. Therefore let no one judge you in food and drink, or in part of the day, or in a feast, or in the new moon, or in the sabbaths, which are shadows of things to come: but the body of Christ. Let no one seduce you, wishing in the humility and religion of angels, which he has not seen, walking in vain, puffed up by the sense of his own flesh, and not holding the head, from which the whole body, through the bond and conjunction, supplied and constructed, grows into an increase of faith. If therefore you are dead with Christ from the elements of this world, why do you still decree as if living in the world? Do not touch, nor taste, nor handle those things which are all in destruction by their very use, according to the precepts and teachings of men, which indeed have a reason of wisdom, in superstition and humility, and not for sparing the body, not in any honor for the satiety of the flesh (Colossians 2). Therefore if you have risen with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God; taste the things that are above, not those upon the earth. For you are dead, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

When Christ has appeared as your life, then you also will appear with him in glory. Therefore mortify your members which are upon the earth: fornication, uncleanness, lust, evil desire, and avarice, which is the servitude of idols, on account of which the wrath of God comes upon the sons of unbelief, among whom you also once walked, when you lived with them. Now, however, put away from yourselves all anger, indignation, malice, blasphemy, and foul speech from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, stripping off the old man with his deeds, and putting on the new, the one who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of him who created him, so that where there is no Jew and Gentile, circumcision and foreskin, barbarian and Scythian, slave and free, but all things and in all things Christ. Therefore put on, as elect of God, holy and beloved, the bowels of mercy, kindness, humility, modesty, patience, bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another: just as Christ forgave you, so also do you. But above all these things, have charity, which is the bond of perfection. And may the peace of Christ flourish in your hearts, in which you have been called into one body, and be grateful. Let the Word of God dwell abundantly in you, teaching and admonishing one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and spiritual canticles, singing in grace to God in your hearts.

Everything that you do in word or in deed, do all in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God and Father through him (Colossians 3). Do not, my dearest ones, grow weary in doing good. But if there should be anyone who does not obey the apostolic words, mark him, and do not associate with him, so that he may be confounded. And do not consider him as an enemy, but correct him as a brother (2 Thessalonians 3). May the God of peace grant you to think the same thing towards one another and towards all, and may He Himself always be with you in every place. Amen (Romans 15). Given on the Kalends of March, under the consulship of Volusianus and Rufinus, most illustrious men.