Collatio Episcoporum Coram Rege Gundebaldo Adversos Arianos

The Collation of the Bishops, Especially of Avitus, Bishop of Vienne, Before King Gundebald Against the Arians. With the Lord providing for His Church and inspiring for the salvation of the whole people the heart of Lord Remigius, who everywhere destroyed the altars of idols and powerfully amplified the true faith with a multitude of signs, it came about that many bishops, with the king not objecting, were gathered together, if it could be done, so that the Arians, who were rending the Christian religion, might be able to return to unity. That this might be done better, and that it might seem to have happened not by design but by occasion, Lord Stephen wrote to many bishops and invited them to the feast of Saint Justus, which was imminent, at which, because of the frequency of miracles, a very great concourse of peoples took place. Therefore there came from Vienne Avitus, from Arles Æonius, from Valence..., from Marseilles...ius, and many others, all of the Catholic profession and of laudable life in the Lord. All of these, together with Lord Stephen, proceeded to Sarbiniacum, where the king then was, to greet him. There were certain of the more powerful Arians with him there; who, if they had been able, would have prevented our people's access to the king; but with the Lord cooperating, they accomplished nothing.

After the greeting was made, Lord Avitus, to whom, although he was neither superior in rank nor in age, yet great deference was shown, said to the king: "If your Excellency would wish to procure peace for the Church, we are prepared to demonstrate our faith so clearly to be according to the Gospel and the Apostles that no one will doubt that the faith which you hold is not according to God and the Church. You have here among your own those who are instructed in all sciences: order that they may converse with us and see if they can respond to our arguments, just as we are prepared to respond more safely to their arguments." To this the king responded: "If your faith is true, why do your bishops not restrain the king of the Franks, who has declared war on me and has allied himself with my enemies to destroy me? For there is no faith where there is covetousness of another's property and a thirst for the blood of peoples: let him show his faith by his deeds.

Then Lord Avitus, whose countenance was as angelic as his speech, humbly replied: "We know not, O king, by what counsel or for what reason the king of the Franks does what you say; but Scripture teaches us that because of the abandonment of God's law, kingdoms are often overthrown, and enemies are stirred up on every side against those who set themselves up as enemies of God. But return with your people to the law of God, and He Himself will give peace within your borders; for if you have peace with Him, you will also have peace with all others, and your enemies will not prevail." To which the king said: "Do I not profess the law of God? But because I do not worship three Gods, you say I do not profess the law of God. In Holy Scripture I have not read that there are many Gods, but one." To this Lord Avitus said: "Far be it, O king, that we worship many Gods: 'Hear, O Israel, your God is one' (Deut. 6:4; Mark 12:29); but this one God in essence is three in persons; and the Son and the Holy Spirit are not other Gods, but one God, whose first person is the Father, the second the Son, the third the Holy Spirit; nor does the Father have a different substance from the Son, nor the Holy Spirit a different one from the Father and the Son; and that God who once spoke through the prophets has most recently spoken in the Son, and still speaks daily in the Holy Spirit. And although He once spoke through the prophets, then through the Son, now through the Spirit, it is one and the same God who speaks; but this is said for the distinction of persons, while in reality they are coeternal and consubstantial.

We profess this and are prepared to demonstrate it. And when he saw the king listening peaceably, he prolonged his speech and said: "O if only your wisdom might know how well founded our faith is, how much good would come to you and your people from it: for heavenly glory would not be lacking to you, and peace and abundance would be in your towers (Ps. 121:7). But your men, since they are enemies of Christ, kindle wrath from above upon your kingdom as upon the people; which, as we hope, would not be the case, if you would be willing to hear our admonitions, and command that your priests discuss these matters with us before your highness and your people: so that you may know that the Lord Jesus is the eternal Father's coeternal Son, and the Holy Spirit coeternal with both, one God blessed forever, and at the same time before all times and without any beginning." When he had said this, he fell at the king's feet, and embracing them, wept bitterly; and all the bishops fell prostrate with him: at which the king was greatly moved, and bending down to them, raised Lord Avitus together with the others, to whom he said in a friendly manner that he would give them an answer concerning their petitions.

And this was done on the following day: for the king, returning to the city by way of the Saône, sent word to the lords Stephen and Avitus that they should come to him. When they had come, the king said to them: "You have what you ask, for my priests are prepared to show you that no one can be coeternal and consubstantial with God. But I do not wish this to take place before the whole people, lest disturbances be stirred up; but only before my senators and others whom I shall choose, just as you will choose from your own those whom you wish; but not in great number, and this will take place tomorrow in this place." Having said this, the bishops saluted the king and departed, and returned to inform the other bishops of everything. It was, moreover, the vigil of the feast of Saint Justus. And although they would have preferred that this take place on the following feast day, they nevertheless did not wish to delay further on account of so great a good. But they unanimously decided to spend the night at the tomb of Saint Justus, so that, with him interceding, they might obtain from the Lord the petitions of their heart.

It happened, however, that on that night, when the lector, according to custom, began the reading from Moses, he fell upon those words of the Lord: "But I will harden his heart and multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, and he will not hear you" (Exod. 7:3-4). Then, after the psalms had been chanted, when he recited from the prophets, the words of the Lord to Isaiah occurred, saying: "Go and say to this people: Hear, hearing, and do not understand; and see the vision and do not recognize it. Blind the heart of his people, and weigh down his ears, and close his eyes, lest he see with his own eyes, and hear with his ears, and understand with his heart, and be converted, and we take him" (Isa. 6:9-10). And when still more psalms had been chanted, and he read from the Gospel, he fell upon the words with which the Savior reproaches the Jews for their unbelief: "Woe to you, Chorazin; woe to you, Bethsaida! For if in Tyre and in Sidon the miracles had been performed that have been performed among you, they would long ago have done penance in sackcloth and ashes" (Matt. 11:21). Finally, when the reading was from the Apostle, those words were pronounced: "Do you despise the riches of his goodness and patience? and of his forbearance? Do you not know that the forbearance of God leads you to repentance? But according to your hardness and unrepentant heart, you are storing up for yourself wrath in the time of wrath" (Rom. 2:4-5).

When this had been observed by all the bishops, they realized that those readings had occurred by the will of the Lord, so that they might know that the king's heart had been hardened, and that God was abandoning him in his impenitence, to display the riches of his justice; wherefore, greatly saddened, they spent the night in tears. Nevertheless, they did not cease to assert the truth of our religion against the Arians. Therefore, at the time the king had ordered, all the bishops assemble, and together they go to the royal palace with many priests and deacons and some of the Catholics, among whom were Placidus and Lucanus, who were among the principal officers of the king's military. The Arians also came with their own. When, therefore, they had sat down before the king, the lord Avitus for the Catholics, and Bonifacius for the Arians, began the discourse. But after the lord Avitus set forth our faith with testimonies from sacred Scripture, being like a second Cicero, and as the Lord inspired grace in all that he said, such consternation fell upon the Arians that Bonifacius, who had provided a sufficiently friendly audience, could respond nothing at all to the arguments of the lord Avitus, but began to propose difficult questions, by which he seemed to wish to weary the king.

But when we were pressed by Avitus to respond to the aforementioned matters, promising that he would also reply to what he had proposed, he could not answer even one of the arguments that had been set forth by the lord Avitus, nor could he adduce anything in defense of his own party; instead, he only opened his mouth in insults and said that Catholics were sorcerers and worshipped a multitude of gods. When he said this, and the king saw the confusion of his own sect, he rose from his seat, saying that Bonifacius would reply on the following day. Therefore all the bishops departed; and since the day had not yet declined, they went together with the other Catholics to the basilica of the lord Justus, confessing the Lord, how good he is, and praising him who had given them such a victory over his enemies. On the following day, they again set out for the royal court with those who had been present on the previous day; and when they entered, they found Aredius, who wanted to persuade them to turn back; for he said that such quarrels exasperated the minds of the multitude, and that nothing good could come of them.

But the lord Stephanus, who knew that he was currying favor with the Arians in order to gain the king’s grace, although he professed our faith, replied to him that there was no need to fear that quarrels would arise from the investigation of the truth and the love for the salvation of his brothers; on the contrary, nothing was more useful for joining minds in holy friendship than to know among whom the truth lay, because wherever it is, it is lovable, and it renders its professors lovable. He added further that all had come here according to the king’s command, against which response Arcdius did not dare to recoil further. Therefore they entered; and when the king saw them, he rose to meet them, and standing between the lord Stephanus and the lord Avitus, he still said nothing against the king of the Franks, whom he accused of inciting his brother against him. But when the aforementioned bishops replied that there was no better way to enter into peace than to agree in faith, and that they would offer their labor, if it were welcome to him, for the sake of such a holy covenant to be reconciled, he said nothing further, but each one took the place he had held on the previous day.

When they had thus sat down, the lord Avitus so clearly proved that Catholics do not worship multiple gods that both Catholics and adversaries marveled at his wisdom with astonishment. He did this, moreover, to respond to the insults which Bonifacius had hurled against our faith. After he therefore fell silent, to give place for Bonifacius’s responses, that man could say nothing other than what he had done on the previous day, and, adding insults to insults, shouted with such vehemence that, from hoarseness, he could no longer speak and was almost choked. When the king saw this, and had waited quite long enough, he rose from his seat, his face showing indignation against Bonifacius. Then the lord Avitus said to the king: “If your Sublimity would wish to order that these men respond to our propositions, so that you might be able to judge which faith ought to be retained.” But the king answered nothing, nor did the other Arians who were with him; they were so astounded by the teaching and wisdom of the lord Avitus. When he saw their silence, he added: “If your men cannot respond to our arguments, what prevents us from all coming together in the same faith?

Then, as they were murmuring, secure in his faith in the Lord, he added: "If our arguments cannot convince them, I do not doubt that God will confirm our faith by a miracle: let your Highness order that both they and we go to the tomb of the man of God, Justus, and ask him about our faith; likewise Bonifacius about his; and the Lord will pronounce through the mouth of his servant in which he takes pleasure." The astonished king seemed to nod in agreement; but the Arians began to shout and say that they did not wish to do for the manifestation of their faith what Saul had done, and for that reason he had been cursed; or to resort to incantations and unlawful things; that it sufficed for them to have Scripture, which is stronger than all trickery, and repeating this constantly, and bellowing rather than shouting, the king, who had already risen, taking the lord Stephen and the lord Avitus by the hand, led them to his chamber; and as he entered, he embraced them, saying that they should pray for him. They indeed recognized the perplexity and anguish of his heart, but because the Father had not drawn him (John 6:44), he could not come to the Son, so that the truth might be fulfilled: "It is not of the willing, nor of the hastening, but of the merciful God" (Romans 9:16). And from that day many Arians came to penance, and after some days were baptized, and the Lord magnified our faith through the intercession of the lord Justus in the sight of all.