Epistolae et Dicta

LETTERS AND SAYINGS. (COUST. col. 421-464.) LETTER OF POPE LIBERIUS TO BISHOP OSIUS OF CORDUBA. (At the end of the year, or the beginning.) Concerning the embassy and fall of Vincentius, bishop of Capua. Since I must not pass over your conscience in any matter: many bishops from Italy have assembled, who together with me had entreated the most religious emperor Constantius to order, as he himself had long ago agreed, that a council be gathered at Aquileia. I inform your sanctity that Vincentius of Capua, together with Marcellus, likewise a bishop from Campania, undertook our embassy. Concerning him, although I had great hopes—both because he retained the case most excellently and had frequently sat as a judge in that same case together with your sanctity—I had believed that the integrity of the Gospel of God could be preserved through his embassy. Not only did he obtain nothing, but he himself was led into that same pretense. After his deed, consumed by a twofold grief, I resolved that I would rather die for God, lest I appear as the last informer or lend consent to sentences contrary to the Gospel.

LETTER. POPE LIBERIUS TO CAECILIANUS, BISHOP OF SPOLETUM. (At the same time.) Concerning the same matter. I do not wish the deed of Vincentius to recall you from the intention of a good work, most dear brother. LETTER POPE LIBERIUS TO EUSEBIUS, BISHOP OF VERCELLA. (At the same time.) Concerning the embassy of Lucifer, bishop of Calaris, to the emperor Constantius, that a council by which the affairs of the Churches may be settled be requested from him. That Eusebius himself be his helper so that he may obtain the petition. Liberius, bishop, to his most dear brother Eusebius. I. Your faith, most dear brother, which, following the precepts of the Gospels, has in no way diverged from the fellowship of the apostolic see, raises me to the solace of this present life: which I believe not without the impulse of God, who retains those worthy of him in the priesthood, you have fulfilled with benevolence. Since, therefore, after the embassy, Vincentius was led into that pretense, and the remaining bishops throughout Italy had been compelled by a public assembly to obey the sentences of the Easterners, by God's providence, our brother and fellow bishop Lucifer from Sardinia arrived, who, when he had learned the hiding places of the cause of error and had come to understand that, under the pretext of the name of Athanasius, the heretics were attempting these things, wished, for the devotion of his faith, to undertake a just labor and to proceed to the court of the religious prince: so that, having finally set forth the whole order of the cause, he might obtain that all things which have come into the midst might be able to be treated in a council of the priests of God.

II. Therefore, because I know that the holy zeal of your faith is in harmony with his mind, I ask your prudence that, if, by God’s providence, he has you present, you strive to keep watch diligently through whomever you can, so that you may be able to make known to the most clement emperor all that the Catholic faith requires: so that at last, setting aside the indignation of his mind, he may do what can be fitting in all things both for our peace and for his own salvation. But I believed it superfluous to set forth the arrangement of the entire matter in a letter of honorificence, since my aforementioned brother or his companions can in person report everything by their own account. May God keep you safe, most dear lord brother. LETTER SENT TO THE EMPEROR CONSTANTIUS BY LIBERIUS, BISHOP OF THE CITY OF ROME, THROUGH LUCIFER, BISHOP. (Year 354.) He attempts to appease Constantius and to obtain from him a council by which the peace of the churches may be provided for.

To the Most Glorious Constantius Augustus, Liberius, bishop. I. Constantius’s implacable animus toward Liberius. A council requested.— I beseech you, most tranquil Emperor, that your clemency grant me kindly ears, so that the purpose of my mind may appear to your gentleness. For from a Christian emperor and the son of the blessed Constantine, I deserve to obtain this very thing without hesitation. But I understand that I labor in this, because I cannot recall your placable mind, even toward the guilty, into my favor through repeated satisfaction. For the speech of your piety, long since sent to the people, greatly lacerates me, whom it is necessary to bear everything patiently; but that your mind, which is always devoted to gentleness, which never, as it is written, keeps anger until the setting of the sun, should retain indignation toward me is a miracle in itself. For I, most religious Emperor, seek true peace with you, which is not composed of words with internal disposition of deceit, but rationally confirmed by the precepts of the Gospels. Not only the business of Athanasius, but many other things have come into the open, on account of which I had besought your gentleness that a council be held: so that above all, which the sincere devotion of my mind toward God especially desires, when the cause of the faith, in which our first hope is toward God, had been diligently treated, those who ought to admire our observance toward God could be ended.

And it had been fitting for a worshiper of God, fitting for your Empire, which is ruled and increased by the piety of Christ, that your clemency, especially for the reverence of the holy religion to which you are prudently devoted, should grant us these things for which we petition. II. Liberius falsely accused of suppressing the letters of the Easterners.—But many hasten to tear apart the members of the Church, who have fabricated that I suppressed letters, lest the crimes of him whom they were said to have condemned be revealed to all. What letters? Those of the Eastern and Egyptian bishops, which contained the same charges against Athanasius in all respects? Yet it is clear enough to all, and no one denies, that I communicated the letters of the Easterners, read them to the church, read them to the council, and also replied thus to the Easterners: that we did not lend our own faith and judgment, because at the same time the judgment of the eighty Egyptian bishops concerning Athanasius contradicted it, which we likewise recited and presented to the Italian bishops. Hence, contrary to divine law, it seemed even, since the number of bishops in favor of Athanasius was greater, to lend consent in some part. These writings, if Eusebius, who had been sent in haste to the African, owes faith to God, he left with us: yet afterwards all these writings, lest they be lacking for obtaining a council, Vincentius, who had been sent with the others, carried to Arles.

Your prudence therefore sees that nothing has entered my mind which it was not fitting for a servant of God to contemplate. For me, God is my witness, and the whole Church with all its members is my witness, that I, in faith and fear of my God, trample and have trampled upon all worldly things, just as evangelical and apostolic reason commands. Not with reckless fury, but with steadfastness and observance of divine law, and living in another ecclesiastical ministry, I have fulfilled nothing pertaining to the law through boastfulness or through desire for glory; and to this office, my God is my witness, I came unwillingly; in which I desire indeed, without offense to God, to remain as long as I am in this world. And I have always ensured that my decrees were not my own, but apostolic, so that they might always be confirmed and preserved. Following the custom and order of my predecessors, I have suffered nothing to be added to the episcopate of the city of Rome, nothing to be diminished; and preserving that faith which has run through the succession of so many bishops, of whom many were martyrs, I always desire that it be kept inviolate.

IV. Why He Cannot Commune with the Orientals.— Finally, ecclesiastical concern and devotion itself now persuade me to open the cause to your piety. The Orientals indicate they wish to join our peace. What peace is this, most clement emperor, when from those very regions there are four bishops—Demophilus, Macedonius, Eudoxius, and Martyrius—who eight years ago, when at Milan they refused to condemn the heretical opinion of Arius, left the council with angry minds? If it is permissible to yield consent to the judgments of such men, your equity and clemency will be able to assess what sort of thing this is, or what danger it holds. It is not new, what is now subtly attempted under the occasion of the name of Athanasius. The letters of Bishop Alexander, once sent to Silvester of blessed memory, remain, by which he indicated that before the ordination of Athanasius, he had expelled from the Church eleven men, both presbyters and deacons, because they followed the heresy of Arius; from among these, some now, placed outside the Catholic Church, are said to have found for themselves conventicles, with which it is asserted that even George in Alexandria communicates by letters. What peace, then, can there be, most tranquil emperor, if the bishops presented, as has now been done throughout Italy, are forced to obey the judgments of such men?

V. The Condition Under Which the Condemnation of Athanasius Was Proposed at the Synod of Milan.— Hear another matter, since your Serenity patiently permits it. The letters of the legates (Vincent and Marcellus), who had been sent to your Clemency, remain; they have recently arrived, in which they indicate that, on account of the disturbance indeed of all the churches, they themselves wished to yield to the judgments of the Orientals, but they proposed a condition: that if the same [Orientals] condemned the heresy of Arius, they would, being inclined in this manner, obey their judgments. The agreement, as they themselves indicate, is confirmed by the testimony of a document; they go into the council; they receive, after deliberation, responses: that they cannot condemn the doctrine of Arius; that Athanasius, which alone they demanded, must be deprived of communion. From this, let your Clemency also consider this: whether, with the right of the catholic religion duly preserved, the matter of a man ought to be diligently and thoroughly examined.

VI. Liberius Earnestly Requests a Council.—Wherefore again and again we beseech your Clemency and your mind devoted to God, through the power of Him who has shown to all mortals how great He is in your defense, that you keep before your eyes His benefits, who governs your empire in all things, and that you diligently cause these matters to be treated with full consideration in a gathering of bishops: so that, in peaceful times through you, with God’s favor, and with your tranquility consenting, all things may be discussed in such a way that what has been confirmed by the judgment of God’s priests, when it is established that all have agreed to the exposition of the faith which was confirmed among so many bishops at Nicaea in the presence of your father of blessed memory, may be preserved for the future by their example: so that the Savior Himself, who from above beholds the intention of your mind, may rejoice in so great an expedition of affairs, that you have not undeservedly preferred the cause of faith and peace even to the necessities of the republic.

VII. He Commends the Legates.—Therefore, to beseech your Clemency that you deign to hear our allegations with a benevolent mind, it has been decided that my brother and fellow bishop, the holy man Lucifer, together with Pancratius the presbyter and Hilarius the deacon, should set forth. We believe that, through your Clemency, they can without difficulty obtain a council for the peace of all catholic churches. May the Clemency of Almighty God preserve you, most Clement and most Religious Augustus. LETTER POPE LIBERIUS TO EUSEBIUS, BISHOP OF VERCELLA. (Year 354.) That He Should Join Those Going to Constantius on a Legal Mission. Liberius, bishop, to his most beloved brother Eusebius. As my son Callepius returns to his homeland, I have thought it best to greet your Holiness through him, O lord, most dear brother, praying to the Clemency of God that you may receive my letter safe and cheerful. Indeed, because I know that your unconquered mind faithfully does what God commands, I commend to you our brother and fellow bishop Lucifer, and also my most dear sons Pancratius the presbyter and Hilarius the deacon, who for the state of the Church, with manly spirit and deifying virtue, at a timely moment, have set out against the enemies of the Church, whom God will destroy with the spirit of His mouth.

For I know that the fervent spirit of God is in you, so that you may set upon it together with them: that the faith which has been handed down from the Apostles to the Catholic Church may in no way be broken (certainly you deign to retain it if public laws do not condemn an absent person): that your faith may join itself to their fellowship, and where it is similar, your holiness may be present, that you may do with one conversation, one counsel what pleases God and his angels, and what is expedient for the Catholic Church. For this labor, a heavenly reward, an unfading crown, such an heir of the kingdom of heaven, our Lord Christ, will repay you. We greet all who faithfully serve God with you. Greet the entire clergy... May God keep you safe, dearest lord brother. LETTER OF POPE LIBERIUS TO BISHOP EUSEBIUS OF VERCELLA. How great was the joy felt by Eusebius at the letters by which he learned that he had joined himself to the legates themselves. That he had likewise written to Fortunatianus of Aquileia that they should keep watch, and if necessary, not deny them his presence.

Bishop Liberius to his most beloved brother Eusebius. I. Praise of Eusebius’s Piety. — I knew, my lord and dearest brother, that, being fervent with the Spirit of God in the cause of the faith, which can commend us to the Lord, you would deign to offer faithful comforts to our brother and fellow bishop Lucifer, and to Pancratius, our fellow presbyter, who had set out together with my son Hilary the deacon, and that you could not deny yourselves to those whom you knew had undertaken so great a labor of travel for the devotion of their faith. Therefore, my mind received great relief from the reading of your letters; indeed, I trust, with God’s favor, that the cause itself can now advance for the better, because you did not wish to abandon our brothers. Labor, then, as a good soldier who awaits the reward of the eternal emperor, and strive to display (or, to exert) the strength of spirit, by which I know you have scorned the allurements of this world, against those who are indeed a light to the world for the Church. Having, as you do, contempt for this life, show yourself to be a truthful priest: so that, while you labor for the state of the Church, a council may be celebrated; so that all things which those coming from the opposite side have craftily contrived to the prejudice of the faith may be reformed for the better. This labor, which your excellent faith knows better, is accompanied by eternal rewards; and just as we ought to persist in it, even if exhortation should grow cold, so does the fervent Holy Spirit, who is in you.

for the unity of the holy Church, would at every moment spur your mind to greater consolations. II. Also to our brother and fellow bishop Fortunatian, whom I knew to fear neither human persons and to think rather of future rewards, I sent letters; so that he too, with the sincerity of his heart and for the faith which he knows he has preserved even at the risk of his present life, might deign now to keep watch with you. I know indeed that, on account of the holiness of his heart, he will undoubtedly strengthen your prudence with his counsel, and, if it pleases you, will in no way deny his presence to your love. May God keep you safe, my lord and most dear brother. LETTER OF POPE LIBERIUS TO EUSEBIUS, DIONYSIUS, AND LUCI(??)FER, PLACED IN EXILE. (Year 355.) Having congratulated them on the glory of their confession, he commends himself to their prayers and asks that they inform him of all that was done at Milan.

I. Liberius desires exile and boasts of the persecution by false brothers.— Although under the image of peace, the enemy of the human race seems to have raged more violently against the members of the Church, yet you, most beloved priests in the Lord, your outstanding and singular faith has shown you to be acceptable to God here, and has already marked you out as martyrs for future glory. Therefore, with what proclamation of praise, with what exultation of voice I might set forth the merits of your virtue, placed as I am between the grief of your absence and the joy of glory, I can by no means discover: except that I know I offer you more acceptable consolations in this, if you believe that I have been driven into exile together with you. Finally, I am still hanging in expectation, and I am sufficiently saddened that a harsher necessity for the moment separates me from your company. For I had wished, most devoted brothers, to be offered up first on behalf of all of you: so that your love might obtain the example of glory through me rather. But let this be the palm of your merits, that you have come first to the illustrious glory of confession through perseverance of faith. Therefore I beseech your love, that you believe me to be present with you; and that you feel me not to be absent in that affection; and that you understand that I am grieved because I am for the time being separated from your company.

Finally, that you have attained glory you can know all the more from this: if any have been crowned in persecution, they were able to feel only the bloody swords of the persecutor; but you, devoted soldiers of God in all things, have also experienced false brothers as enemies, and have borne victory from their treachery; the more their violence could increase in the world, the more it is found to confer rewards of praise upon holy priests. II. Confessors become closer to God.— Therefore be secure in the heavenly promise; and because you have been made closer to God, by your prayers raise up me, your fellow priest and servant of God, to the Lord, so that we may bear with tolerance the oncoming assaults, which day by day announce themselves and inflict heavier wounds; so that with inviolate faith and the state of the Catholic Church preserved, the Lord may deign to make me equal to you. And because I desire to know more faithfully what took place in that very encounter, I beseech your holiness to deign to communicate everything faithfully in writing; so that either the mind itself, which is tormented by various rumors, or the strength of the body itself, which is already weakened, may be able to feel a greater addition from your encouragement. (And in another hand), May God keep you safe, lord brothers.

Who, I ask, can bring it about that what you urge be done against Athanasius? For how can we condemn one whom not one but two synods, convened from the whole world, have declared pure and innocent by right, and whom the Roman synod dismissed in peace? Or who will approve of us if we, who loved him when present and admitted him to communion, now reject him when absent? That is not of the ecclesiastical canon, nor have we ever received such a tradition from the fathers, who themselves received it from the blessed and great apostle Peter. But if the emperor is zealous for ecclesiastical peace, if he orders that what has been written among us in favor of Athanasius be annulled, let whatever has been done against him by them be annulled likewise, and let whatever has been done against all be annulled; and finally, let an ecclesiastical synod be convened far from the palace, where neither the emperor appears, nor the count approaches, nor the judge threatens; but let only the fear of God suffice, together with the apostolic constitution, so that the ecclesiastical faith may be preserved in the same way as it was defined by the fathers at the Synod of Nicaea.

Let the followers of the Arian perversity be cast out, and their heresy condemned by anathema; and only then, after judgment has been rendered concerning the crimes alleged against Athanasius or anyone else, as well as concerning those of which the accusers themselves are accused, let the guilty be expelled, and the innocent live with confidence and security. For it is not right that those who are impious in faith be counted among the synod; nor is it fitting that the investigation of any other business be placed before the investigation of the faith. First, indeed, every disagreement concerning the faith must be cut away; and then other matters are to be examined. For our Lord Jesus Christ did not heal the sick before they showed and declared in words what faith they had toward him. These things we have learned from the fathers; report these things to the emperor: for they conduce to the edification of both him and the Church. Let Ursacius and Valens not be heard: for, having done penance for their past deeds, whatever they now say is utterly unworthy of trust.

DIALOGUE OF LIBERIUS, BISHOP OF ROME, AND CONSTANTIUS THE EMPEROR, HELD THREE DAYS BEFORE LIBERIUS WAS SENT INTO EXILE. (Year 355.) I. Both the sentence and the subscription condemning Athanasius were unjust.—The Emperor Constantius said: "We, since you are both a Christian and the bishop of our city, have therefore thought it right to summon you and to admonish you to renounce communion with the impious Athanasius in his nefarious madness. For the whole world has judged this to be just, and has decreed by synodal sentence that he is alien to ecclesiastical communion." Bishop Liberius said: "Ecclesiastical judgments, O Emperor, ought to be made with the utmost fairness. Therefore, if it pleases your Piety, order a court to be established: and if Athanasius should then appear worthy of condemnation, sentence will be pronounced against him according to the form of ecclesiastical order. For a man whom we have not judged cannot be condemned by us." The Emperor Constantius said: "The whole world has passed sentence on his impiety; and from the beginning he has been trifling with the times." Bishop Liberius said: "Those who subscribed did not themselves see the events; but they subscribed for the sake of glory, or from fear, or lest they be visited with disgrace by you." The Emperor said: "What glory, what fear, what disgrace is this?

Liberius responded: “Whoever do not love the glory of God, preferring your gifts to it, have condemned him whom they themselves had not seen, with no prior judgment; which is foreign to Christians.” II. Athanasius was judged in his absence—The Emperor said: “And he was judged in person at the Council of Tyre, and all the bishops of the world condemned him in council.” Liberius said: “He was never judged in person. For all those who were then assembled and condemned Athanasius did so after his departure from the trial, condemning him without reason.” Eusebius the eunuch said: “At the Council of Nicaea he was shown to be alien to the Catholic faith.” Liberius said: “Only five judged from among those who sailed with Ischyras to the Mareotis; these indeed they had sent to draw up acts against the accused. Of those who were then sent, two have departed this life, namely Theognius and Theodorus; but three others are still alive, namely Maris, Valens, and Ursacius. Against those who were sent, a sentence was passed at Sardica for that reason. Those who later in a synod presented libels, seeking pardon for the acts which they had done by calumny, with only one party present, against Athanasius in the Mareotis. These libels we now have in our hands. To which of these ought we to assent and communicate, Emperor? To those who, having previously condemned Athanasius, later sought pardon, or to those who recently condemned these (at Sardica)?

Epictetus, bishop of Centumcellae, said: “It is not for the sake of the faith, nor for the defense of ecclesiastical judgments, that Liberius speaks today, O Emperor, but so that he may boast among the Roman senators that he has overcome the Emperor.” III. How Liberius wishes to provide for the peace of the Church.—The Emperor said to Liberius: “What part of the world are you, that you alone wish to support an impious man, and to dissolve the peace of the whole world and the entire earth?” Liberius said: “Even if I am alone, the cause of the faith is not thereby diminished; for once there were found only three who resisted the king’s command.” Eusebius the eunuch said: “Are you making our Emperor a Nebuchadnezzar?” Liberius said: “Not at all, but you rashly condemn a man whom we have not judged. I, however, demand that first a general subscription be circulated, which confirms the faith set forth at Nicaea; then, that our exiled brothers be recalled and restored to their sees; if those who now stir up tumults in the churches are seen to consent to the apostolic faith, then let us all assemble at Alexandria, where both the accused and the accusers and their defender are, and after examining their case, let us pronounce a unanimous sentence.” Epictetus the bishop said: “Indeed, the public post will by no means suffice for the conveyance of the bishops.

Liberius said: “Ecclesiastical matters do not require public conveyance; for the churches can easily bring their own bishops to the sea at their own expense.” IV. An absent person is not to be accused. It is unworthy for a bishop to pursue the private enmities of the emperor.—The Emperor said: “Matters that have already received a form cannot be undone again; for the judgment of the majority of bishops ought to prevail. You alone retain the friendship of that impious man.” Liberius said: “We have never heard, Emperor, of a judge charging an absent defendant with impiety, as if he were waging private enmities with him.” The Emperor said: “Indeed, he inflicted injury upon all in common, yet upon no one as much as upon me; for, not content with the exile of my elder brother, he never ceased to incite even Constantius of blessed memory to take up enmities with us—had we not, with greater forbearance, sustained the attack of both the inciter and the incited. Therefore, I count no victory so great—not even that which I won over Magnentius and over Silvanus—as the removal of this criminal from the administration of the Church.” Liberius said: “Do not, Emperor, avenge your enmities through bishops. For the hands of churchmen ought to be free for sanctifying and blessing.

Therefore, if it pleases you, order that the bishops be recalled to their own sees, and if they are seen to agree with him who upholds the orthodox faith once set forth at Nicaea, then, coming together as one, let them provide for the peace of the whole world; lest a man who has done no wrong be proven to be marked with infamy. The Emperor said: “There is one thing that is sought: I wish to send you back to Rome once you have embraced the communion of the churches. Therefore, assent to peace, and subscribe, and so return to Rome.” Liberius said: “I have already bid farewell to the brothers who are at Rome. For the laws of the Church are more powerful than a home in Rome.” The Emperor said: “Therefore, you have a space of three days to deliberate whether, by subscribing, you wish to return to Rome, or to consider to what place you desire to be deported.” Liberius said: “An interval of three days or of three months does not change my mind: therefore, send me wherever you wish.

He rejected gifts brought to him. Two days later, when the emperor had summoned Liberius and he would not depart from his opinion, the emperor ordered him to be banished to Beroea, a city of Thrace. And when Liberius had gone out, the emperor sent him five hundred solidi for expenses. But Liberius said to the one who had brought them: "Go, return these to the emperor; for he has need of them to provide for his soldiers." Likewise the Augusta sent him the same amount. Liberius said: "Return these to the emperor; for he has need of them for the soldiers' pay. But if the emperor has no need of them, let him give them to Auxentius and Epictetus, for they have need of them." When therefore he had refused to accept from them, the eunuch Eusebius brought him others. To him Liberius said: "You have made the churches of the world empty and desolate, and you bring me alms as if I were a criminal: go, and first become a Christian." LETTER OF POPE LIBERIUS TO THE EASTERNERS.

(Year of Christ 357.) That he had desisted from the defense of Athanasius, but that he had peace with them, and that the faith of Sirmium, set forth to him by Demophilus, had been accepted by him. Let them also labor that he be released from exile. To the most beloved brothers, the presbyters and co-bishops of the East, greeting. I. On account of the fear of God, your holy faith is known to God and to men of good will. As the law says: "Judge justly, sons of men" (Psalm 57:2), I do not defend Athanasius: but because the bishop of blessed memory, my predecessor Julius, had received him, I feared lest I be judged a prevaricator by anyone. But when I learned, when it pleased God, that you had justly condemned him, I soon gave my consent to your sentences, and I gave letters concerning his name to be carried to the Emperor Constantius through our brother Fortunatianus. Therefore, with Athanasius removed from the communion of all of us, whose letters are not to be received by me, I declare that I have peace and unanimity with all of you and with all the Eastern bishops throughout all the provinces.

II. For that you may know more truly that I speak the truth of faith through this letter, our common lord and brother Demophilus, who deigned out of his goodwill to set forth your faith and the catholic faith, which was treated, set forth, and accepted at Sirmium by many of our brothers and fellow bishops, and was accepted by all who were present, this I have willingly accepted, in nothing have I contradicted, I have given my consent; this I follow, this is held by me. Indeed, I have believed it right to ask your holiness, since you already see that in all things I am in agreement with you, that you deign to labor with common counsel and effort, so that I may now be released from exile and return to the see which has been divinely entrusted to me. LETTER. POPE LIBERIUS TO URSACIUS, VALENS, AND GERMINUS. (Year 357, near the end.) That he is separated from communion with Athanasius, and has peace with the Easterners and also with Auxentius and Epictetus. That they should take care that he himself be sent back to his church by Constantius.

Liberius from exile to Ursacius, Valens, and Germinius. I. Because I know you are sons of peace, and also love concord and unity of the Catholic Church, therefore, not compelled by any necessity—I say this with God as my witness—but for the sake of peace and concord, which is preferred to martyrdom, I now address you, my most beloved lord brothers. Let your prudence therefore know that Athanasius, who was bishop of the church of Alexandria, before he came to the court of the holy emperor according to the letters of the Eastern bishops (add: I would write, or something similar), was separated from the communion of the Roman Church, as the entire presbytery of the Roman Church bears witness. But this was the reason that I seemed slower to send letters concerning his name to our Eastern brothers, so that my legates, whom I had sent from the city of Rome to the court, or the bishops who had been deported, might themselves, together with these, if possible, be recalled from exile.

II. I also wish you to know that I have asked brother Fortunatianus to deliver my letter to the most clement emperor, which I wrote to the eastern bishops, so that they might know that I myself, together with him, am separated from communion with Athanasius. I believe that his piety will gladly accept this for the sake of peace. I have sent a copy of this letter to Hilary, the emperor's faithful servant. Let your charity consider that I have done these things with a kind and innocent mind. Therefore, by this letter of mine, I call upon you and adjure you by Almighty God and by Christ Jesus, his Son, our God and Lord, that you deign to go to the most clement emperor Constantius Augustus and petition that, for the sake of peace and concord—in which his piety always rejoices—he order me to return to the church divinely entrusted to me, so that in his time the Roman church may suffer no tribulation. Moreover, you should know by this letter of mine, dearest brothers, that I have peace with all of you, bishops of the Catholic Church, with a fair and simple mind. For you will acquire great consolation on the day of reckoning if through you the peace of the Roman church is restored. I also wish you to let our brothers and fellow bishops Epictetus and Auxentius know that I have peace and ecclesiastical communion with them, and I believe they will receive this gladly.

Whoever, however, dissents from our peace and concord, which has been established throughout the world by the will of God, should know that he is separated from our communion. LETTER OF POPE LIBERIUS TO VINCENTIUS, BISHOP OF CAPUA. (Year of Christ 357.) Concerning the consolation which he used to receive through the help of Urbicus, now taken from him. That he has withdrawn from the name of Athanasius and has peace with the Easterners. That Vincentius should inform the Campanian bishops of this matter, and together with them write to the emperor, so that he may be recalled from exile. From exile, Liberius to Vincentius. I. I do not teach, but I admonish your holy mind, most dear brother, because evil conversations corrupt good morals (1 Cor. 15:33). The snares of evil men are well known to you, whence I have come to this labor; and pray that the Lord may grant endurance. My most beloved son (our Baronius) Urbicus the deacon, whom I seemed to have as a consolation, has been taken from me by Venerius, who is acting in matters.

I thought it necessary to indicate to Your Holiness that I have withdrawn from that contention concerning the name of Athanasius, and have given letters to our brothers and fellow bishops of the East concerning his name. Wherefore, since by the will of God peace exists everywhere among you, you will deign to convene all the bishops of Campania, and to communicate these matters to them, and from among their number, together with your letter, to write to the most clement emperor concerning our unanimity and peace, so that I too may be freed from great sorrow. (And in his own hand): May God keep you safe, brother. (Likewise in his own hand, at the bottom of the page): We have peace with all the Eastern bishops, and with you. I have absolved myself before God; you will see to yourselves: if you wish me to perish in exile, God will be judge between me and you. LETTER OF LIBERIUS, BISHOP OF THE CITY OF ROME, MADE TO THE CATHOLIC BISHOPS OF ITALY. (In the year 363.) That pardon is not to be denied to those who lapsed at Ariminum. On what condition they are to be admitted.

Bishop Liberius to the Catholic bishops throughout Italy, eternal greeting in the Lord. I. A mistake is blotted out by repentance. This, moreover, is to be observed from the Holy Scriptures. We read that piety is useful for all things (1 Tim. 4:8); to it yields bodily exercise, although that too retains the fruits of usefulness, which the reason of the present time also demands that we pursue. For if some, perhaps, who bear this zeal, have imprudently, with a harsher judgment, thought to destroy what was providently established, and to innovate upon what has already been fortified by apostolic authority concerning piety, when it was said that those who acted ignorantly at Ariminum should not be spared—for whom it was unlawful to be ignorant, and who fell into error by being caught—therefore the truth must be retraced. But for me, who ought to weigh everything moderately, especially since all the Egyptians and Achaeans have accepted the sentence of the accused, many of those we have discussed above are indeed to be spared, but the authors are to be condemned, who with oblique and malignant subtlety and obscurity offended the senses of the innocent, through which they might draw a veil over the truth, hawking darkness as light and light as darkness.

II. Therefore, if anyone, having been caught by ignorance, upon coming to his senses through the very brief exhortation of our address, had experienced that pestilential poison of the Arian dogma—deceitful and shadowy—in himself, let him, once restored, drain it out, condemn it, and rage all the more violently against its authors, whom he has experienced as violent toward himself, and let him commit himself entirely to the apostolic and catholic faith, and to the council of Nicaea, anew. Through this profession, even if it seems to some light and lax, let him recover what he had lost through the cunning of false rectitude. But if anyone of such stupid mind—which I do not believe—should be found, who not only refuses to be converted, receiving the antidote of health, but believes that the poison and harmful venom will vindicate itself, he will be overcome by reason and will be consigned as a lost man to the author of perfidy. He will be struck by the spiritual vigor of the Catholic Church. A warning concerning the two following letters.

I. The first of the two subsequent epistles we owe to Socrates, book IV, chapter 12, and also to Sozomenus, book VI, chapter 11; the other to Socrates alone in the same place, although Sozomenus also makes mention of this one. But what occasion gave rise to the writing of those epistles, it will be worthwhile to preface here from both authors. Namely, when Eudoxius, relying on the authority of the Emperor Valens, began to harass the Macedonians, these, fearing the impending evils, after sending embassies among themselves through each city, judged it better to flee to Valentinian and to the bishop of the city of Rome, and to be joined to their communion, than to communicate in the doctrine of the faith with the followers of Valens and Eudoxius. Therefore, they send from their number three bishops: Eustathius of Sebaste, Silvanus of Tarsus, and Theophilus of Castabala, with letters both from the city of Smyrna in Asia, and from Pamphylia, Isauria, and Lycia, where they had held councils, written to Liberius, the Roman bishop, and to the Western bishops, "by which," says Sozomenus, "they urged them to assist their legates with all their might, and to consider with them what was to be done, and to correct the state of the Church as it seemed best to them: since they retained the sound and stable faith handed down from the apostles, and ought, above all others, to have care for religion." These letters were lengthy, and therefore omitted by Socrates. Whence it happened that they have not come down to us at all.

When the legates came to Rome, since they were not permitted to approach Valentinian, who was detained by war in Gaul, they delivered their letters to Liberius. "And at first he refused to admit them, saying that they were of the Arian party and could not be received by the Church, especially since they had abrogated the Nicene faith. But they replied that they had long since repented and acknowledged the truth; that they had already abjured the doctrine of the Anomoeans; and that they had confessed the Son to be like the Father in all respects, and that 'like' does not differ from 'consubstantial.'" Then Liberius demanded from them a written profession of their belief. When they had presented him with a libellus in which they professed, both in their own name and in the name of those whose embassy they were conducting, to condemn the depraved doctrine of Arius and other heretics, as well as the acts of the Synod of Ariminum, and to accept the faith of the consubstantial and of the Nicene Council inserted in their own libellus, they obtained communion from Liberius and those letters which we present, transcribed from Socrates.

Besides these letters, if one clings to the words of Basil the Great, epistle 74, to the Westerners, one is easily led to believe, with Baronius in his annals, that another letter was given by Liberius, by which he ordered Eustathius to be restored by name to his own see; and that Eustathius, gathered with the Easterners in the synod of Tyana, offered that letter, which favored him, and concealed the other letters. For thus Basil writes about him in epistle 74: "What were those things proposed to him by the most blessed bishop Liberius, and what he himself agreed to, is hidden from us, except that he brought a letter by which he would be restored, and when he presented it to the synod of Tyana, he was restored to his place." Therefore, the same Basil soon asks "that it be written to the churches on what conditions he was received into communion; and at the same time it be added, how, with his opinion now changed, he renders void the grace received from the fathers who were then (with Liberius)." But no room is left for this suspicion when one comes to the same doctor's epistle 82. For there Basil, now better informed about the events, clearly teaches that "Eustathius of Sebaste brought from Rome to Tyana a document in which he professed the faith of the consubstantial." But what that document was, there, page.

He explains, discussing the same Eustathius and his associates as follows: “They do not consider this, that their own document, by which they confessed the Nicene faith, is preserved at Rome; nor that at the synod of Tyana they delivered with their own hands a libellus brought to Rome, which is also in our possession, in which that same faith is contained.” By these words Basil both mentions the libellus which Liberius required from Eustathius and his associates, and the letters which the same pontiff thereafter gave to them to be carried to the Easterners, to which letters, of course, the aforesaid libellus was appended. He also relates that those letters were delivered to the synod of Tyana by the very hand of Eustathius and his associates. Since, therefore, in these matters Liberius openly sets forth on what condition he was admitted to communion, it is clear that Basil, when he wrote the epistle, had learned the acts of the synod of Tyana only from an uncertain rumor; and thus those who, relying on a single passage of this epistle, desire another letter by which Liberius ordered Eustathius to be restored to his see, rest on a very slight and unstable foundation—especially since Socrates and Sozomenus, who wrote about this whole affair with sufficient accuracy, were entirely silent about that other letter. Nevertheless, from what has been said of the aforementioned epistle, it is concluded that the synod of Tyana, when it learned from Liberius’s own letters that Eustathius had been admitted by him into his communion, restored to the same bishop both communion and his see.

But this is also certain, both from the aforementioned letter of Basil 74 and from the fact that Eustathius immediately broke the faith given at Rome. III. Nor, however, was Liberius to be blamed for this, as if he had too readily granted communion to those legates: indeed, he even required something more from them than what Athanasius, in his letter to Rufinianus, according to the Alexandrian synod, established should be required from those who return to the Church. For Athanasius considers it sufficient "that they anathematize by name the doctrine of Eudoxius and Euzoius, and confess the faith declared by the fathers at Nicaea, and place no other synod before this one." And indeed there was no need for Eustathius and his associates to profess anew that they abhorred the doctrine of Eudoxius, since they had already openly declared this at the council of Lampsacus, whose legation they were fulfilling. IV. The learned man wonders that this was not additionally demanded of them, that they profess the divinity of the Holy Spirit in more explicit words. But this would be more a matter for wonder if this inscription, which Socrates supplies for the following letter, were to be admitted: "Letter of Liberius... to the bishops of the Macedonians," that is, if the bishops who sent legates to Liberius, and to whom he replies, were already called Macedonians by the author of the sect which denied that the Holy Spirit is God.

But since Sozomenus simply calls these men "Orientals," and Liberius addresses his letter to "all the orthodox bishops of the East," it is clear that these men were called Macedonians by Socrates through a certain anticipation, because many of those whom Liberius names individually were later openly devoted to that sect. Yet it must not be denied, and it is evident from the tome of Athanasius to the Antiochenes, that from the beginning at least there existed those who, while pretending to admit the Nicene faith, affirmed that the Holy Spirit was a created thing. For this reason, the Alexandrian synod, in the aforementioned tome, no. 3, prescribing to its legates sent to Antioch to whom peace was to be granted, gives this instruction: "You shall require nothing more of them than that they condemn the Arian heresy by anathema and profess the faith promulgated by the holy fathers at Nicaea; likewise condemn those who affirm that the Holy Spirit is a creature and divided from the substance of Christ... For those who pretend to profess the Nicene faith, yet at the same time do not hesitate to blaspheme against the Holy Spirit, do nothing other than deny the Arian heresy in words, while retaining it in mind and intention." Therefore, at the end of the tome, Paulinus professes: "I anathematize those who despise the faith promulgated at Nicaea, and those who deny that the Son is from the substance of the Father and consubstantial with the Father. I also anathematize those who say that the Holy Spirit is a creature made by the Son.

Nor may it be said that this new heresy arose in the East and was known later in the West, since the acts of the Council of Alexandria, by which it is made manifest, were celebrated also in the West, and are cited by Liberius himself in his letter; and besides, the leading and principal envoys sent from that same council to Antioch were Eusebius of Vercelli and Lucifer of Cagliari, who surely did not allow Liberius to be ignorant of anything that was then done. It remains, therefore, for us to say that Liberius was least suspicious of this new heresy in those who had written to him, and so he thought nothing else should be required of them than what he was accustomed to require of the bishops of the West who sought his peace and communion; although some of them, as soon as they obtained Liberius’ communion and letters, laying aside all pretense, did not delay in attacking the divinity of the Holy Spirit. Basil testifies specifically to this concerning Eustathius, in his letter: “This man now lays waste the faith into which he was received, and acts with those who strike the Homoousion with anathema, and is the standard-bearer of the heresy of the Pneumatomachi” (that is, those who attack the divinity of the Holy Spirit).

Concerning the time at which the two following letters were written, there is no reason to discuss it at greater length. The first was sent from Rome and presented to Liberius by the legates dispatched from the Synod of Lampsacus; the second, not long afterward, was received by the same legates from Liberius and delivered to the bishops assembled at the Synod of Tyana. From this it follows that they were written in the interval between the two synods. Now the Synod of Lampsacus, according to Socrates, Book IV, chapter 4, was held in the year 365, and indeed, according to the more learned critics, toward the beginning of autumn; the Synod of Tyana, however, was held at the beginning of the spring of the following year. It remains, therefore, that the aforesaid letters were composed in the intervening year, 366. LETTER OF THE LEGATES OF THE SYNOD OF LAMPSACUS TO POPE LIBERIUS. (In the year 366.) Both in their own name and in the name of those by whom they were sent, they profess that they hold and will preserve the Nicene faith, and that if anyone accuses them, they will plead their cause before the bishops whom Liberius shall approve.

To the lord brother and fellow priest Liberius, Eusathius, Theophilus, and Silvanus send greeting in the Lord. I. Desiring to remove every occasion from the insane suspicions of heretics, who do not cease to bring causes of offense to Catholic churches, we profess and affirm that the synod of orthodox bishops which was celebrated at Lampsacus, Smyrna, and in various places, and on whose embassy we act, bearing letters both to your kindness and to all the bishops of Italy and the West, holds and guards the Catholic faith which was confirmed in the holy Synod of Nicaea in the time of the blessed Constantine by three hundred and eighteen bishops, and which has remained whole and unshaken perpetually to this day, in which the term *consubstantialis* was piously and rightly established against the perversity of Arius.

Similarly, we with the aforementioned persons profess by our own hand that we have held, do hold, and will preserve until our last breath the same faith, condemning Arius and his impious doctrine together with his deceits; also every heresy of the Patripassians, Marcion, Photinus, Marcellus, and Paul of Samosata, their doctrine, and all who think the same as they do, and finally all heresies opposing the aforesaid holy faith, which was piously and catholicly set forth by the holy Fathers at Nicaea: first pronouncing anathema against Arius, and against all those things which were done at the Synod of Ariminum contrary to the aforesaid faith of the holy Council of Nicaea, to which, brought from Nicea, a town of Thrace, to Constantinople, we subscribed, circumvented by deceit and perjury. Now our faith and that of the aforementioned, whose legation we bear, is this. II. We believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of all things visible and invisible. And in one only-begotten God, the Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, born from the Father, that is, from the substance of the Father, God from God, light from light, true God from true God; begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father, through whom all things were made, both those in heaven and those on earth; who for us men and for our salvation descended and was incarnate, and became man; he also suffered and rose again on the third day, ascended into heaven, and will come to judge the living and the dead. And in the Holy Spirit.

But those who say: "There was a time when he was not," and "before he was begotten he was not," and that he was made from non-existent things; or who say that the Son of God is from another substance or essence, or that he is mutable and subject to change, the catholic and apostolic Church of God anathematizes. III. I, Eustathius, bishop of the city of Sebaste, and Theophilus and Silvanus, legates of the synod of Lampsacus and Smyrna and others, have written this profession with our own hands and of our own accord. But if anyone after this exposition of our faith should wish to bring any accusation against us, or against those by whom we have been sent, let him come with letters of your holiness before the orthodox bishops whom your holiness has approved, and contend with us in judgment before them; and if any crime is proven, let the author be punished. LETTER OF LIBERIUS, BISHOP OF THE CITY OF ROME, TO ALL THE ORTHODOX BISHOPS OF THE EAST

(Year 366.) Their legates professed the Nicene faith; the strength of this faith lies in the terms "substance" and "consubstantial." The efforts of the wicked to suppress these terms at Ariminum. The acts of the Synod of Ariminum were condemned by their own legates, and are condemned with the fullest consent by those who were then deceived. To the beloved brothers and fellow ministers Evethius, Cyrillus, Hyperechius, Uranius, Heron, Elpidius, Maximus, Eusebius, Eucarpius, Heurtasius, Neon, Eumathius, Faustinus, Proclinus, Pasinicus, Arsenius, Severus, Didymion, Britannius, Callicrates, Dalmatius, Aedesius, Eustochius, Ambrosius, Gelonius, Pardatius, Macedonius, Paulus, Marcellus, Heraclius, Alexander, Adolius, Marcianus, Sthenelus, Johanis, Macer, Charisius, Silvanus, Photinus, Antonius, Anythus, Celsus, Euphranor, Milesius, Patricius, Severianus, Eusebius, Enmolpius, Athanasius, Diophantus, Menodorus, Diocles, Chrysampelus, Neon, Eugenius, Eustulbius, Callicrates, Arsenius, Eugenius, Martyrius, Hieracius, Leontius, Philagrius, Lucius, and to all orthodox bishops of the East, Liberius, bishop of Italy, and the bishops of the West, send everlasting greeting in the Lord.

Your letter, shining with the light of faith, most beloved brothers, brought us the greatly desired joy of peace and concord, delivered to us through our most dear brothers and bishops Eustathius, Silvanus, and Theophilus; and this especially because they affirmed and demonstrated that your judgment and doctrine entirely agree and harmonize with my humble self and with all Italians and Westerners. We acknowledge this Catholic and apostolic faith to be that which remained whole and unshaken up to the Council of Nicaea. And they professed that you hold to this lawful faith, and with inestimable joy, abolishing every trace and tinder of absurd suspicion, they expounded it not only by word but also in writing, a copy of which we have considered it necessary to subjoin to this letter, lest we leave any opportunity for heretics to again lay snares, by which they might, in their usual manner, rekindle the fires of discord, stirring up fresh incentives for their malice.

II. Moreover, our most dear brothers Eustathius, Silvanus, and Theophilus professed this: that both they themselves and your Charity have always held, and will preserve until their last breath, that faith which was approved by the three hundred and eighteen orthodox bishops at Nicaea—a faith which contains perfect truth and confutes and overthrows all the hordes of heretics. For it was not by chance, but by divine will, that such a great number of bishops was gathered against the madness of Arius—a number with which the blessed Abraham vanquished so many thousands through faith. This faith, encompassed in the terms "substance" and "consubstantial," like a firm and impregnable fortress, repels and beats back all the assaults and wicked machinations of Arian madness. III. Therefore, when all the bishops of the Western regions had assembled at Ariminum—whither the wickedness of the Arians had summoned them with the design that, either by some persuasion or, more truly, by the authority of secular power compelled, they might remove or obliquely deny what had been most cautiously established in the faith—their cunning accomplished nothing.

For indeed nearly all those who had gathered at Ariminum, having been deceived partly by allurements and partly by deceit, have now returned to a sound mind, condemned the formula issued by the Council of Ariminum with an anathema, subscribed to the catholic faith promulgated at Nicaea, and, having entered into communion with us, are stirred up with greater indignation against Arius and his disciples. When the legates of your Charity saw proof of this matter, they joined you yourselves in their subscription, condemning with an anathema Arius, as well as those things which were done at Ariminum against the faith established at Nicaea; to which things you also, led into fraud by perjuries, subscribed. IV. Therefore it has seemed fitting to us to write letters to your Charity and to assist those who make just requests, especially since we have learned from the profession of your legates that the Easterners, having returned to a sound mind, agree with the orthodox Westerners. Moreover, we signify to you, lest you be unaware of your own affairs, that the blasphemies of the Council of Ariminum have now been struck with an anathema by those who seemed to have been deceived through fraud, and that all, with united minds, have consented to the Nicene faith. But you also ought to indicate this to all, so that those who have suffered some detriment to their faith through force and fraud may at last be able to emerge from heretical darkness into the divine light of catholic freedom.

They who, after this council, are unwilling to spew forth the venom of perverse doctrine, and to reject all the blasphemies of Arius and condemn them by anathema, should know that they are, together with Arius and his disciples and the other serpents, whether Sabellians or Patripassians or any other heretics whatsoever, strangers and aliens from the communion of the Church, which does not admit adulterous sons. May God keep you safe, most beloved brothers.