Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series • VOLUME 12
Leo the Great & Gregory the Great
SECTION 41
Letter LXI.
Letter LXI. To Martinus and Faustus, Presbyters. (Reminding them of a former letter he has written to them, viz. Lett. LI.) (Letters LXII., LXIII., LXIV., are the Emperor Theodosius' answers (a) to Valentinian, (b) to Galla Placidia, and (c) to Licinia Eudoxia (assuring them of his orthodoxy and care for the Faith.) Letter L…
892 wordsSECTION 42Letter LXVIII.
Letter LXVIII. From Three Gallic Bishops to St. Leo. Ceretius, Salonius and Veranus to the holy Lord, most blessed father, and pope most worthy of the Apostolic See, Leo. I. They congratulate and thank Leo for the Tome. Having perused your Excellency's letter, which you composed for instruction in the Faith, and sent to the …
1,616 wordsSECTION 43Letter LXX.
Letter LXX. To Pulcheria Augusta. (In which he again says he is waiting for Anatolius' acceptance of Cyril's and his own statement of the Faith, and looks forward to a Synod in Italy.) Letter LXXI. To the Archimandrites of Constantinople. (Complaining of Anatolius' silence.) Letter LXXII. To Faustus, One of the Archimandr…
988 wordsSECTION 44Letter LXXX.
Letter LXXX. (To Anatolius, Bishop of Constantinople.) Leo, the bishop, to Anatolius, the bishop. I. He rejoices at Anatolius having proved himself orthodox. We rejoice in the Lord and glory in the gift of His Grace, Who has shown you a follower of Gospel-teaching as we have found from your letter, beloved, and our brothers'…
1,098 wordsSECTION 45Letter LXXXI.
Letter LXXXI. To Bishop Julian. (Warning him to be circumspect in receiving the lapsed.) Letter LXXXII. To Marcian Augustus. I. After congratulating the Emperor on his noble conduct, he deprecates random inquiries into the tenets of the Faith. Although I have replied [415] already to your Grace by the hand of the Constanti…
1,342 wordsSECTION 46Letter LXXXVI.
Letter LXXXVI. To Julian, Bishop of Cos. (Begging him for friendship's and the Church's sake to assist his legates in quelling the remnants of heresy.) Letter LXXXVII. To Anatolius, Bishop of Constantinople. (Commending to him two presbyters, Basil and John, who being accused of heresy had come to Rome, and quite convinced …
1,017 wordsSECTION 47Letter LXXXIX.
Letter LXXXIX. To Marcian Augustus. (Appointing Paschasinus the bishop and Boniface a presbyter, and Julian the bishop, his representatives at the Synod, as the Emperor is determined it should be held at once.) Letter XC. To Marcian Augustus. (Assenting perforce to the meeting of the Synod, but begging him to see that the F…
815 wordsSECTION 48Letter XCIV.
Letter XCIV. To Marcian Augustus. (Commending his legates to him and praying for the full success of the Synod, if it adhere to the Faith once delivered to the saints.) Letter XCV. To Pulcheria Augusta by the Hand of Theoctistus the Magistrian [430] . Leo, the bishop to Pulcheria Augusta. I. He informs the Empress that he …
930 wordsSECTION 49Letter XCVI.
Letter XCVI. To Ravennius, Bishop of Arles. (Requesting him to keep Easter on March 23 in 452.) Letter XCVII. From Eusebius, Bishop of Milan, to Leo. (Informing him that the Tome has been approved by the Synod of Milan, and containing the subscriptions of the bishops there assembled.) Letter XCVIII. From the Synod of Chal…
1,788 wordsSECTION 50Letter XCIX.
Letter XCIX. From Ravennus and Other Gallic Bishops. (Announcing that the Tome has been accepted in Gaul also as a definitive statement of the Faith, with the bishops' subscriptions.) Letter C. From the Emperor Marcian. (Dealing much more briefly with the same subjects as Letter XCVIII. above.) Letter CI. From Anatolius, …
1,967 wordsSECTION 51Letter CV.
Letter CV. (To Pulcheria Augusta about the self-seeking of Anatolius.) Leo the bishop to Pulcheria Augusta. I. He congratulates the Empress on the triumph of the Faith, but regrets the introduction of a new controversy into the Church. We rejoice ineffably with your Grace that the catholic Faith has been defended against her…
1,149 wordsSECTION 52Letter CVI.
Letter CVI. To Anatolius, Bishop of Constantinople, in rebuke of his self-seeking. Leo, the bishop, to Anatolius, the bishop. I. He commends Anatolius for his orthodoxy, but condemns him for his presumption. Now that the light of Gospel Truth has been manifested, as we wished, through God's grace, and the night of most pesti…
1,861 wordsSECTION 53Letter CVII.
Letter CVII. To Julian, Bishop of Cos. (Expostulating with him for putting personal considerations before the good of the Church in the matter of the precedence of the See of Constantinople.) Letter CVIII. To Theodore, Bishop of Forum Julii. Leo, the bishop, to Theodore, bishop of Forum Julii. I. Theodorus should not have …
1,084 wordsSECTION 54Letter CIX.
Letter CIX. To Julian, Bishop of Cos. Leo, the pope, to Julian, the bishop. I. He laments over the recent rioting in Palestine. The information which you give, brother, about the riotous doings of the false monks [467] is serious and to no slight degree lamentable; for they are due to the war which the wicked Eutyches by the…
1,164 wordsSECTION 55Letter CX.
Letter CX. From Marcian Augustus. (Expressing surprise that Leo has not by now confirmed the acts of the Synod, and asking for a speedy confirmation.) Letter CXI. To Marcian Augustus. (About Anatolius' mistake in deposing Actions from the office of archdeacon and putting in Andrew instead.) Letter CXII. To Pulcheria Augus…
1,430 wordsSECTION 56Letter CXIV.
Letter CXIV. To the Bishops Assembled in Synod at Chalcedon. (In answer to their Letter (XCVIII.), approving of their acts in the general so long as nothing is contrary to the canons of Nicæa.) Letter CXV. To Marcian Augustus. (Congratulating him upon the restoration of peace to the Church, and the suppression of the riotou…
1,149 wordsSECTION 57Letter CXVIII.
Letter CXVIII. To the Same Julian, Bishop of Cos. (In which, after speaking of his own efforts for the Faith, he objects to monks being permitted to preach, especially if heretically inclined, and asks Julian to stir up the Emperor's zeal for the Faith.) Letter CXIX. To Maximus, Bishop of Antioch, by the hand of Marian the P…
1,748 wordsSECTION 58Letter CXX.
Letter CXX. To Theodoret, Bishop of Cyrus, on Perseverance in the Faith. Leo, the bishop, to his beloved brother Theodoret, the bishop. I. He congratulates Theodoret on their joint victory, and expresses his approval of an honest inquiry which leads to good results. On the return of our brothers and fellow-priests, whom the …
2,269 wordsSECTION 59Letters CXXI. and CXXII.
On those matters which were mooted in the often-quoted council, in unlawful opposition to the venerable canons of Nicæa, we have written to our brother and fellow-bishop, the occupant of the See of Antioch [505] , adding that too which you had given us verbal information about by your delegates with reference to the unscrupulous…
1,356 wordsSECTION 60Letter CXXIV.
Letter CXXIV. To the Monks of Palestine. Leo, the bishop, to the whole body of monks settled throughout Palestine. I. They have possibly been misled by a wrong translation of his letter on the Incarnation to Flavian. The anxious care, which I owe to the whole Church and to all its sons, has ascertained from many sources that…
2,326 wordsSECTION 61VII. It was as being "in form of a slave," not as Son of God that he was exalted.
VII. It was as being "in form of a slave," not as Son of God that he was exalted. [543] Although therefore the Lord Jesus Christ is one, and the true Godhead and true Manhood in Him forms absolutely one and the same person, and the entirety of this union cannot be separated by any division, yet the exaltation wherewith "God exa…
2,124 wordsSECTION 62Letter CXXV.
Letter CXXV. To Julian, the Bishop, by Count Rodanus. (Asking him to write quickly, and not keep him in suspense.) Letter CXXVI. To Marcian Augustus. (Congratulating him on the restoration of peace in Palestine.) Letter CXXVII. To Julian, Bishop of Cos. (About (1) affairs in Palestine, (2) a letter from Proterius, (3) th…
1,302 wordsSECTION 63Letter CXXX.
Letter CXXX. To Marcian Augustus. (Praising the orthodoxy of Proterius, advocating the public recital by him of passages bearing on the present controversy from the writings of Athanasius and others, and also of the Tome itself in a new Greek translation.) Letter CXXXI. To Julian, Bishop of Cos. (Telling him he has received…
1,464 wordsSECTION 64Letter CXL.
Letter CXL. To Julian, Bishop of Cos. (Now that Dioscorus is dead, the peace of the Church will be more easily restored.) Letter CXLI. To the Same. (On several minor points of detail.) Letter CXLII. To Marcian Augustus. (Inter alia thanking him for the trouble he has taken about the Easter of 455.) Letter CXLIII. To An…
2,269 wordsSECTION 65Letter CLVII.
[584] Viz. Letters CLXII., CLXIV., and esp. CLXV. (which last is in a large measure a rescription of Letter CXXIV. q.v.). [585] Two of these are mentioned by name subsequently, e.g. in Lett. CLVII. (to Anatolius), chap. 4, viz. Atticus a presbyter and Andrew, in which chapter he blames Anatolius severely for his double-dealing …
721 wordsSECTION 66Letter CLIX.
Letter CLIX. To Nicætas, Bishop of Aquileia. (Leo, the bishop, to Nicætas, bishop of Aquileia, greeting.) I. Prefatory. My son Adeodatus, deacon of our See, on returning to us has delivered your request, beloved, to receive from us the authority of the Apostolic See upon matters which seem indeed to be hard to decide, but wh…
1,183 wordsSECTION 67Letter CLX.
Letter CLX. (See Letter CLVIII.) Letter CLXI. To the Presbyters, Deacons and Clergy of the Church of Constantinople. (Exhorting them to remain stedfast in the Faith as fixed at Chalcedon, and to have no dealings with Atticus and Andrew unless they recant.) Letter CLXII. To Leo Augustus. By the hand of Philoxenus agens in …
1,479 wordsSECTION 68Letter CLXIII.
Letter CLXIII. To Anatolius, Bishop of Constantinople. By Patritius the Deacon the Deacon. (Glorying over the harshness of his former letter, to which Anatolius had objected, but persisting that he is not satisfied with the explanation Atticus had furnished of his orthodoxy.) Letter CLXIV. [605] To Leo Augustus. Leo, the bi…
1,845 wordsSECTION 69Letter CLXV.
Letter CLXV. To Leo Augustus. [This letter, which is sometimes called the Second Tome, contains the detailed statement of the catholic doctrine of the Incarnation, which Leo had promised the Emperor in Letter CLVI. It consists of 9 chapters, but, as chaps. iii. to viii. and parts of ii. and ix. are almost identical in language…
900 wordsSECTION 70Letter CLXVII [614] .
Letter CLXVII [614] . To Rusticus, Bishop of Gallia Narbonensis, with the replies to his Questions on various points. Leo, the bishop, to Rusticus, bishop of Gallia Narbonensis. I. He exhorts him to act with moderation towards two bishops who have offended him. Your letter, brother, which Hermes your archdeacon [615] brought…
2,237 wordsSECTION 71Question XIV. Concerning monks who take to military service or to marriage.
Question XIV. Concerning monks who take to military service or to marriage. Reply. The monk's vow being undertaken of his own will or wish cannot be given up without sin. For that which a man has vowed to God, he ought also to pay. Hence he who abandons his profession of a single life and betakes himself to military service or …
866 wordsSECTION 72Letter CLXVIII.
Letter CLXVIII. To all the Bishops of Campania, Samnium and Picenum. (Rebuking them first for performing baptisms without due preparation or sufficient cause on ordinary saints'-days (Easter and Whitsuntide being the only recognized times), and secondly for requiring from penitents that a list of their offences should be read …
806 wordsSECTION 73Letter CLXX.
Letter CLXX. To Gennadius, Bishop of Constantinople [638] . (Complaining of Timothy Ælurus having been allowed to come to Constantinople, and saying that there is no hope of his restitution.) [638] He had succeeded to the see on the death of Anatolius in 458. Letter CLXXI. To Timothy, Bishop of Alexandria. Leo, the bishop,…
2,520 wordsSECTION 74II. From Christ and through S. Peter the priesthood is handed on in perpetuity.
II. From Christ and through S. Peter the priesthood is handed on in perpetuity. Although, therefore, dearly beloved, we be found both weak and slothful in fulfilling the duties of our office, because, whatever devoted and vigorous action we desire to do, we are hindered by the frailty of our very condition; yet having the uncea…
2,487 wordsSECTION 75IV. To complete their acceptance by God, they must not neglect to lay all information against the Manichees who are in the city.
IV. To complete their acceptance by God, they must not neglect to lay all information against the Manichees who are in the city. But in order that your devotion, dearly beloved, may in all things be pleasing to God, we exhort you also to show due zeal in informing your presbyters of Manichees where ever they be hidden [676] . F…
2,202 wordsSECTION 76[685] Gal. ii. 10 and 9.
[685] Gal. ii. 10 and 9. [686] Gal. ii. 10 and 9. Sermon XII. On the Fast of The Tenth Month, I. [687] I. Restoration to the Divine image in which we were made is only possible by our imitation of God's will. If, dearly beloved, we comprehend faithfully and wisely the beginning of our creation, we shall find that man was ma…
2,316 wordsSECTION 77III. Christians' pious activity has so enraged Satan that he has multiplied heresies to wreak them harm.
III. Christians' pious activity has so enraged Satan that he has multiplied heresies to wreak them harm. But at all these acts of godliness, dearly-beloved, which commend us more and more to God, there is no doubt that our enemy, who is so eager and so skilled in harming us, is aroused with keener stings of hatred, that under a…
2,208 wordsSECTION 78And hence, whatever result follow, the money-lender's trade is always bad, for it is sin either to lessen or increase the sum, in that if he
And hence, whatever result follow, the money-lender's trade is always bad, for it is sin either to lessen or increase the sum, in that if he lose what he lent he is wretched, and if he takes more than he lent he is more wretched still. The iniquity of money-lending must absolutely be abjured, and the gain which lacks all humanit…
2,302 wordsSECTION 79Rightly therefore did the birth of our Salvation impart no corruption to the Virgin's purity, because the bearing of the Truth was the keepi
Rightly therefore did the birth of our Salvation impart no corruption to the Virgin's purity, because the bearing of the Truth was the keeping of honour. Such then beloved was the nativity which became the Power of God and the Wisdom of God even Christ, whereby He might be one with us in manhood and surpass us in Godhead. For un…
2,371 wordsSECTION 80VI. The festival has nothing to do with sun-worship, as some maintain.
VI. The festival has nothing to do with sun-worship, as some maintain. Having therefore so confident a hope, dearly beloved, abide firm in the Faith in which you are built: lest that same tempter whose tyranny over you Christ has already destroyed, win you back again with any of his wiles, and mar even the joys of the present f…
2,359 wordsSource & rights
Historical text source: Christian Classics Ethereal Library. The downloaded text itself records Public Domain.