But if a more violent tribulation should press upon us, let us not be so terrified as if we were to resist that adversity by our own powers, since both our counsel and our fortitude is Christ, and without whom we can do nothing, through Him we can do all things; who, confirming the preachers of the Gospel and the ministers of the sacraments, says, 'Behold, I am with you all days, even unto the consummation of the world' (Matt., last chapter). And again: 'These things,' He says, 'I have spoken to you, that in me you may have peace: but in this world you shall have tribulation; yet be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world' (John XVI).
Since these promises are without doubt manifest, we ought to be weakened by no scandals, lest we seem ungrateful to the election of God, whose helps are as evident as His promises are true. But concerning the consultations of your love, which your archdeacon brought written separately, what ought to be thought might more conveniently be inquired into between persons present, if the abundance of beholding you should befall us; for since some of them seem to exceed the manner of inquiry, I understand them to be more fitted to conversations than to writings. Because just as there are some things which can by no reasoning be compelled, so there are many which ought to be tempered either out of consideration for ages, or out of the necessity of circumstances:
always with this condition preserved, that in those things which are either doubtful or obscure, we know this is to be followed which is found neither contrary to the Gospel precepts, nor opposed to the decrees of the saints. Here begin the answers subjoined to the inquiries of the same bishop. That those are not to be held as bishops whom neither the clergy elected, nor the people sought out, nor the bishops of the province consecrated: yet if any clerics are ordained by these pseudo-bishops, such an ordination can stand valid. XV. No reason permits that they be held among the bishops, who were neither elected by the clergy, nor sought by the people, nor consecrated by the bishops of the same province with the judgment of the metropolitan.
Whence, since a question often arises concerning an ill-received honour, who would doubt that what is not taught to have been conferred can by no means be bestowed by these men? But if any clerics have been ordained by these pseudo-bishops in those churches which belonged to their proper bishops, and their ordination was made with the consent and judgment of those presiding, it can be held valid: provided that they persevere in those very churches. Otherwise the consecration must be held vain, which is neither founded upon a place, nor fortified by authority. That presbyters, or deacons, if they have fallen into any crime, cannot obtain the remedy of penance through the imposition of hands. XVI.
It is foreign to ecclesiastical custom that those who have been consecrated in the honour of the presbyterate or the grade of the diaconate should, for any crime of their own, receive the remedy of penance through the imposition of hands: which without doubt descends from apostolic tradition, according to that which is written, 'If a priest shall sin, who will pray for him?' (1 Kings II). Whence for such fallen men a private retirement must be sought, in order to merit the mercy of God: where their satisfaction, if it be worthy, may also be fruitful. That deacons, like the bishop and the presbyter, ought to cease from the work of the married state: yet not to repudiate their marriages. XVII.
The law of continence is the same for the ministers of the altar as for bishops and presbyters, who, when they were laymen or lectors, were free both to take wives and to beget children: but when they reached the aforesaid grades, that began to be unlawful for them which had been lawful. Whence, that the carnal marriage may become spiritual, it behoves them not to put away their wives, but to have them as though they had them not, so that both the charity of wedlock may be preserved, and the operation of marriage may cease. That a wife is one thing, a concubine another; nor does he err who has given his daughter in marriage to one having a concubine. XVIII. Not every woman joined to a man is the man's wife, just as not every son is heir to his father.
Now the bonds of marriage are lawful between the freeborn, and between equals, and this very thing was established by the Lord much earlier than the beginning of Roman law existed. And so a wife is one thing, a concubine another: just as a maidservant is one thing, a freewoman another. On account of which the Apostle also (Gal. IV), to manifest the distinction of these persons, sets down a testimony from Genesis (ch. XXI), where it is said to Abraham: 'Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with my son Isaac.'
Whence, since the fellowship of marriage was so constituted from the beginning that, besides the joining of the sexes, it should have in itself the sacrament of Christ and the Church, there is no doubt that that woman does not pertain to matrimony in whom it is shown that the nuptial mystery was not present. Therefore the cleric of any place whatsoever, if he has given his daughter in marriage to a man having a concubine, is not so to be understood as if he had given her to a married man, unless perhaps that woman seem both to have been made freeborn, and lawfully dowered, and honoured with a public wedding. Those joined to men by paternal decision are without fault, if the women whom the men kept were not in matrimony, because a wedded wife is one thing, a concubine another.
That it is not a doubling of marriage, when the maidservant being left, a wife is taken. XIX. To cast off a maidservant from the bed, and to take a wife of assured free birth, is not a doubling of marriage, but an advance of honourableness. Surely the negligence of such men is to be blamed, yet not utterly abandoned: so that, roused by frequent exhortations, they may faithfully carry out what they necessarily sought. For no one is to be despaired of while he is established in this body, since sometimes what is deferred by the diffidence of youth is accomplished by maturer counsel. Concerning communion for those deprived of it, and so dying. XX. The case of these is to be reserved to the judgment of God, in whose hand it lay that the death of such men should not be deferred even to the remedy of communion.
But we, who did not communicate with them while they lived, cannot communicate with them when dead. Concerning those who defer to do penance. XXI. This delay can be not out of contempt of the remedy, but out of fear of offending more grievously. Whence penance, which has been deferred, when it is more earnestly sought, let it not be denied: that in whatever way the wounded soul may come to the medicine of indulgence. That he who asks pardon for unlawful things ought to abstain even from many lawful things. XXII. It is one thing to demand back what is justly owed, another to despise one's own things for the love of perfection; but he who asks pardon for unlawful things ought to abstain even from lawful things, since the Apostle says: 'All things are lawful, but not all things are expedient' (1 Cor. VI).
Whence, if penitents have a cause which perhaps they ought not to neglect, it is better for one to seek an ecclesiastical rather than a forensic judgment. That it does not befit a penitent to carry on any gains of trade. XXIII. The quality of the gain either excuses or accuses the trader, since there is honest profit and base. Yet it is more useful for a penitent to suffer losses than to be bound by the perils of trade, since it is difficult that sin should not intervene in the commerce of buyer and seller. That one ought not to return to secular military service after penance. XXIV. It is altogether contrary to ecclesiastical rules to return to secular military service after the act of penance, since the Apostle says:
'No one warring for God entangles himself with secular affairs' (II Tim. II). Whence he is not free from the snares of the devil, who has willed to entangle himself with worldly military service. That a young man, if, urged by any peril whatsoever, he has done penance, and does not contain himself, can be supported by the remedy of a wife. XXV. One established in youth, if, urged by the peril of disease or of captivity, he has done penance, and afterward, fearing the lapse of incontinence, has chosen the pardonable banquet of a wife, lest he should incur the crime of fornication, seems to have done a pardonable thing, if besides his marriage he has known no other woman at all. In which, however, we do not establish a rule, but estimate what is more tolerable:
for according to true knowledge nothing more befits him who has done penance than persevering chastity, both of mind and of body. That if anyone forsakes the purpose of a monk, he is to be purged by the satisfaction of public penance. The purpose of a monk, undertaken by one's own decision or will, cannot be forsaken without sin. For what one has vowed to God, he ought also to render. Whence he who, having left the profession of the solitary life, has slipped down to military service or to marriage, is to be purged by the satisfaction of public penance, since although military service is innocent, and marriage can be honourable, it is a transgression to have forsaken the better choice. That maidens who, not compelled,
but by their own will took up the purpose of virginity, transgress when they marry, even if they had not yet been consecrated. XXVII. Maidens who, not compelled by the command of their parents, but of their own spontaneous judgment, took up the purpose and habit of virginity, if afterward they choose marriage, transgress, even if the grace of consecration had not yet come to them: of whose gift assuredly we would not be defrauded, if they remained in their purpose. Concerning those of whom it is doubtful whether they have received baptism, it is necessary that they be reborn. XXVIII.
If there exist no indications among kinsfolk or household members, none among the clergy or neighbours, by which those concerning whom inquiry is made may be shown to have been baptized, it must be done that they be reborn, lest they manifestly perish; for in those cases where what was done is not shown, reason does not permit that it be seen as repeated. But those who are able to remember that they came to church with their parents are able to recall whether they received what was given to their parents: but if this also is foreign to their very memory, it seems right to confer upon them what is not known to have been conferred, since no rashness of presumption intervenes where there is the diligence of piety.
That those who acknowledge themselves baptized, but do not know in what faith, ought to be received through the imposition of hands. XXIX. But those of whom you wrote, who know themselves to have been baptized, but profess that they do not know of what faith were those who baptized them: since in whatever manner they received the form of baptism, they are not to be baptized, but through the imposition of hands they are to be joined to the catholics by the power of the Holy Spirit, which they could not receive from heretics. Concerning those who have partaken of the banquet of the heathen and of foods offered to idols. XXX.
If they have only partaken of the banquet of the heathen and of foods offered to idols, they can be purged by fastings and the imposition of hands, so that thenceforth, abstaining from things sacrificed to idols, they may be able to be partakers of the sacraments of Christ. But if they have either adored idols, or been defiled by homicides or fornications, they ought not to be admitted to communion except through public penance. That the bishop of Thessalonica has always fulfilled the vicariate of the apostolic see. XXXI. Leo, bishop of the city of Rome, to Anastasius, bishop of
of Thessalonica. — How great things have been committed to your fraternity from the authority of the most blessed apostle Peter, and what manner of things have been entrusted to you by our favour also, if you would perceive it with true reasoning, and weigh it with just examination, we could greatly rejoice over the devotion of the solicitude enjoined upon you. For just as my predecessors to your predecessors, so I also to your love, following the example of those before me, have delegated the office of my governance:
that you, as an imitator of our gentleness, might aid the care which we owe principally to all the churches by divine institution, and in some way expend the presence of our visitation upon the provinces far from us, and that by a continual and opportune oversight it might be ready for you to recognize what in each several matter you should either settle by your own effort, or reserve for our judgment. For since it was free for you to suspend the greater affairs and the more difficult outcomes of cases under the expectation of our sentence, there was for you neither reason nor necessity of deviating into that which would exceed your measure.
For with you abound the writings of our admonitions, by which we have frequently instructed you concerning the temperance of all actions, that you should, through the exhortation of charity, provoke the churches of Christ commended to you to the wholesomeness of a hearing: because, although there often arise among negligent or slothful brethren things which ought to be cured with greater authority, yet correction is so to be applied that love may always be preserved. Whence also the blessed apostle Paul, instructing Timothy in ecclesiastical governance, says: 'Rebuke not an elder, but entreat him as a father; young men as brethren, old women as mothers, young women as sisters, in all chastity' (1 Tim. V).
Which moderation, if it is owed by apostolic institution to any lower members whatsoever, how much more is it to be rendered without offence to our brethren and fellow-bishops, so that, although things sometimes occur which are to be reprehended in priestly persons, nevertheless benevolence rather than severity should act towards those to be corrected, exhortation rather than commotion, charity rather than power. But by those who seek the things which are their own, not the things which are Christ Jesus' (Phil. II), it is easily departed from this law; and while it pleases them to domineer over their subjects rather than to consult for them, honour inflates pride, and what was provided for concord tends to harm — which, as we are constrained so to say, proceeds from no small grief of mind.
For I in some manner feel myself dragged into blame, when I learn that you have immoderately departed from the rules handed down to you; who, if you were little careful of your own estimation, you ought at least to have spared my reputation: lest things which were done only by your own mind should seem to have been done by our judgment. Let your fraternity read over again our pages, and run through all the writings sent to your predecessors by the prelates of the apostolic see, and you will find ordained either by me or by my predecessors that which we have learned to have been presumed by you.
For there came to us, together with the bishops of his province, our brother Atticus, metropolitan bishop of Old Epirus, and with a tearful pleading he complained of the most unworthy affliction which he endured, in the presence of your deacons standing by: who, bringing nothing in reply against his lamentable complaints, showed that those things which were laid before us did not lack credibility. It was also read in your letters, which these same deacons of yours brought, that brother Atticus had come to Thessalonica, and that he had signed his consent even by a written profession, so that nothing else could be understood by us concerning him than that what he had come for was of his own decision and spontaneous devotion, and that he had drawn up a document concerning a promise of obedience:
in the mention of which document, however, a sign of injury was betrayed. For it had not been necessary that he be bound by writing, who was already proving his obedience by the very office of his voluntary coming; whence to the lamentations of the aforesaid these words of your letter furnished testimony, and through this, which is not kept silent, that was laid bare which had been covered over by silence — namely, that the prefecture of Illyricum, and a power most lofty among earthly summits, was incited to the producing of an innocent bishop, so that, a terrible execution being dispatched which would join to itself all the public offices for the carrying out of the command, the priest was dragged from the sacred sanctuaries of the Church, accused of no crime, not even a false one:
to whom, neither on account of the trouble of sickness, nor on account of the savagery of winter, were any respites granted, but he was compelled to make a rough journey, full of perils, through pathless places, which was of such great labour and such great danger that, of those who accompanied the bishop, some are said to have given out. I am much amazed, dearest brother, and also grieve exceedingly, that against him concerning whom you had indicated nothing further than that, being summoned, he deferred to appear and pleaded the excuse of infirmity, you could be moved so atrociously and so vehemently: especially since, even if he had deserved any such thing, you ought to have awaited what I would write back to your consultations.
But, as I see, you have thought well of my character, and most truly foreseen how civilly I would reply for the preservation of priestly concord. And therefore you hastened to carry out your impulses without dissembling: lest, when you had received our writings disposing otherwise of our moderation, you should not have license to do that which has been done. Or perhaps some crime had become known to you, and the weight of a new charge pressed upon the metropolitan bishop in his own conscience? But this indeed you confirm to be foreign to him, by objecting nothing against him; yet even if he had committed something grave and intolerable, our censure was to have been awaited: so that you should decree nothing first, except what you knew to please us.
For we so entrusted our vicariate to your charity, that you were called into a part of the solicitude, not into the fullness of power: whence just as those things which have been piously managed by you greatly gladden us, so those things which have been wrongly done exceedingly sadden us; and after the trials of many cases it is necessary that provision be made more carefully, and precaution be taken more diligently, to the end that, through the spirit of charity and peace, every occasion of scandals may be taken away from the churches of the Lord which we have commended to you — the eminence of your episcopate indeed pre-eminent in those provinces, but the excess of all usurpation cut away. That to metropolitans their rights be preserved. XXXII.
Therefore, according to the canons of the holy Fathers, framed by the Spirit of God and consecrated by the reverence of the whole world, we decree that the metropolitan bishops of the several provinces, over whom by our delegation the care of your fraternity is extended, are to have inviolate the right of the dignity anciently handed down to them: so that they depart from the established rules neither by negligence nor by presumption. That by the metropolitans there be ordained as bishops not laymen, not the twice-married, not husbands of widows, but men beyond reproach. XXXIII.
In the cities whose rectors have died, let this form be observed in the substituting of bishops, namely that he who is to be ordained, even if he be supported by the testimony of a good life, be not a layman, not a neophyte, nor the husband of a second wife, nor one who indeed has or has had one wife, but one whom he joined to himself as a widow. For the election of priests is so excellent that those things which in other members of the Church are not called to fault are nevertheless held unlawful in them. That carnal marriage be denied to subdeacons. XXXIV.
For although to those constituted outside the order of clerics there is free choice for the fellowship of marriage and the procreation of children, nevertheless, for the displaying of the purity of perfect continence, not even to subdeacons is carnal wedlock conceded, so that both those who have wives may be as though not having them (1 Cor. VII), and those who have them not may remain single. But if it is fitting that this be observed in this order, which is the fourth from the head, how much more in the first, or second, or third must it be maintained, lest anyone be deemed fit either for the levitical or the presbyteral honour, or for the episcopal excellence, who is detected not yet to have curbed himself from the pleasure of a wife! That no one be ordained bishop against the will of the people. XXXV.
When therefore the election of the chief priest is dealt with, let him be preferred above all whom the consent of the clergy and of the people shall harmoniously have demanded: so that if perhaps the votes of the parties be divided upon another person, by the judgment of the metropolitan let him be preferred to the other who is supported by both greater zeal and merits, only that no one be ordained over the unwilling and those not asking, lest the city should either despise or hate a bishop not desired, and become less religious than is fitting, since it was not permitted to have the one it wished. That the metropolitan of Epirus should refer to the pontiff of Thessalonica concerning the one elected whom he is about to ordain bishop, and likewise the provincial bishops concerning the elected metropolitan. XXXVI.
Concerning the person of the bishop to be consecrated, and concerning the consent of the clergy and people, let the metropolitan bishop report to your fraternity, and let him make known to you what has been well approved in the province, so that your authority may also confirm the ordination that is to be celebrated; and your authority ought to bring no delay or difficulty to right dispositions, lest the flocks of the Lord be long without the care of shepherds. But when the metropolitan has died, and another is to be substituted in his place, the bishops of the province must convene at the metropolitan city, so that, the wishes of all the clergy and of all the citizens having been examined, the best man may be chosen from the presbyters of that same Church, or from the deacons.
Let the provincial priests report his name to your notice, so as to fulfill the desires of those who request, when they recognize that what has pleased them has also pleased you. For just as we will that just elections be wearied by no delays, so we permit nothing to be presumed without your knowledge. That twice in the year provincial councils of bishops be celebrated; and if a difficult matter should arise, and it has not been settled by the judgment of the bishop of Thessalonica, let it be referred to the Roman bishop. XXXVII.
Concerning episcopal councils, however, we enjoin nothing other than what the holy Fathers wholesomely ordained, namely, that two assemblies be held each year, in which judgment may be rendered concerning all the complaints that are wont to arise between the various orders of the Church; and if perchance among those who preside a case should arise concerning greater sins (which God forbid), one that cannot be settled by provincial examination, the metropolitan shall take care to instruct your fraternity concerning the nature of the whole affair, so that if, the parties having been set before you, the matter is not put to rest even by your judgment, whatever it may be, it may be transferred to our cognizance.
That if any bishop, deserting his own city, seeks a greater see out of ambition, he shall neither be able to obtain it and shall also lose his own. XXXVIII. But if any bishop, despising the lowliness of his own city, aspires to the administration of a more renowned place, and by whatever reasoning transfers himself to a larger people, let him be driven from the alien see, but he shall also lose his own, so that he may neither preside over those whom he coveted through avarice, nor over those whom he spurned through pride. Let each one therefore be content with his own bounds, nor desire to be increased beyond the measure of his own right. That no one presume to solicit or to retain another's cleric, his own bishop not granting consent. XXXIX.
Let no one receive, let no one solicit another's cleric against the will of his bishop, unless perchance it has been agreed upon between the one giving and the one receiving by the good pleasure of charity. For he is guilty of a graver injury who dares either to cast off or to retain from a brother's Church that which is more useful or more precious. And so, if the matter is conducted within the province, the metropolitan shall compel the deserting cleric to return to his own Church; but if he has withdrawn farther off, he shall be recalled by the authority of your command, so that no occasion be left either to cupidity or to ambition.
That in summoning provincial bishops, moderation be preserved by the pontiff of Thessalonica, lest under this pretext the sacerdotal honor be subjected to insults; and that no more than two bishops from the provinces, whom the metropolitans have approved, be sent. XL. In summoning bishops to yourself, we will you to be most moderate, lest under the appearance of greater diligence you seem to glory in fraternal injuries. Hence, if there be any greater cause for which it is reasonable and necessary to call a fraternal assembly, let it suffice that two bishops from each individual province, whom the metropolitans have believed should be sent, come to your fraternity.
That the bishops be detained no longer than fifteen days from the appointed time of the council; and if a contention should arise among them, let all be laid open to the Roman pontiff with a record of the proceedings, so that what shall please God may be ordained by him. XLI. So that from the predetermined time those who have convened be not detained beyond fifteen days. But if, in that which you have judged ought to be treated or determined with the brethren, their opinion should be at variance with your will, let all things be carried to us with an attestation of the proceedings, so that, ambiguities being removed, that which pleases God may be decreed.
For to this end we direct our whole affection and care, that what pertains to the unity of concord and what pertains to the safeguarding of discipline be violated by no dissension, neglected by no sloth. And therefore I exhort and admonish both you, most beloved brother, and those our brethren who are offended by your excesses—though indeed the matter of complaints is not the same for all—that the things which have been piously ordained and wholesomely disposed be disturbed by no contention; let no one seek what is his own, but what is another's (1 Cor. 10). And as the Apostle says, let each one of you please his neighbor for his good, unto edification (Rom. 15).
For the structure of our unity cannot be firm unless the bond of charity binds us together into an inseparable solidity; for just as in one body we have many members, yet all the members have not the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and each one members one of another. The connection of the whole body makes one health, one beauty. And this connection of the whole body indeed requires unanimity, but it especially demands the concord of priests, whose dignity, although it is not common to all, yet their order is general.