1.
E quatuor illis epistolis primam Nicephorus Callisti lib. XIII, cap. 34, integram, Glycas vero Annal. part. IV, nonnullis identidem resectis, mutilam Graece nobis transmiserunt; secundam autem et quartam solus Glycas ibid. pariter Graece asservavit: verum tertia tantum Latine ad nos pervenit, opera Baronii e Vaticano exemplari descripta. Idem Cardinalis 628Dad ann. 407 epistolis illis quintam adjecit Honorii imperatoris ad Arcadium, quam e veteri Guill. Sirleti Cardinalis codice eruerat.
1.
Of those four letters, Nicephorus Callisti, book XIII, chap. 34, has handed down to us the first entire in Greek, and Glycas, Annals, part IV, mutilated, with some things cut out here and there; the second and the fourth Glycas alone preserved, in the same place, likewise in Greek: but the third has come down to us only in Latin, copied by the labour of Baronius from a Vatican exemplar. The same Cardinal, 628Dat the year 407, added to those letters a fifth, of the emperor Honorius to Arcadius, which he had dug out of an old codex of Cardinal Guglielmo Sirleto.
2.
His omnibus scriptionibus ea communis est suppositionis nota, quod Joanni Chrysostomo superstitem ponant Eudoxiam, quam triennio ante illum in partu defunctam esse, Socratis, Sozomeni, Marcellini, Prosperi, Zosimi, factorumque Graecorum testimoniis constat. Sane cum his conferendus non est Georgius Alexandrinus, quo auctore Leo imperator 629Acognomento Philosophus, Cedrenus, Nicephorus aliique posteriores Graeci vitam Eudoxiae tribus annis produxerunt. Ad haec, nulla prodit historia, summam Imperatricis hujus in Arcadii animum potestatem atque gratiam ad mortem usque tantillum imminutam esse: quod tamen in secunda et quarta epistola fingitur. Neque minus ab historica fide, quam ab ecclesiastico more abhorret quod in epistola prima legitur, ubi post Chrysostomi mortem Innocentius Arcadium et Eudoxiam a sacramentorum perceptione segregare, Arsacium etiam post mortem ab episcopali gradu dejicere, eademque poena eos plectere, qui cum illo in ejus ordinatione communicarunt, ac Theophilum non excommunicatione tantum, sed etiam anathemate percellere, et ab omni Christianorum consortio removere narratur. Primo enim Romanos Pontifices cum principibus etiam haereticis longe alia ratione gerere se consuevisse testes sunt Liberii ad Constantium, Gelasii, Symmachi, Anastasii II et Hormisdae ad Anastasium 629Bimp. epistolae. Deinde nec privato cuique poenam adeo gravem imponere solent nisi monitionibus praemissis. Ubi vero illae monitiones? Si has adhibere voluisset Innocentius; Arcadii, qui vix septem menses Chrysostomo superstes fuit, ante didicisset obitum, quam extremo illo remedio uti valuisset. Praeterea ex ipsius Innocentii litteris certum est eum totius causae Chrysostomi judicium oecumenicae synodo servasse. Quocirca is papa (Innoc. epist. 5) Theophilum, communionem cum ipso non secus atque cum Joanne habere se testatus, iteratis litteris hortatur, « ut si judicio confidit, sistat se ad synodum. » Item ad Constantinopolitanos scribens, « Cogitamus, inquit (Epist. 7, n. 4), quomodo oecumenica synodus congreganda sit, ut turbulenti motus Dei nutu tandem conquiescant. » Et ipsius rogatu Honorius imperator tertio ad Arcadium scripsit (Epist. 9), nullas intentans ei minas, sed tantum obsecrans, « ut Theophilum Alexandriae episcopum, 629Cqui omnium malorum auctor esse dicitur vel nolentem se sistere jubeat » ad synodum. Istud vero dum cogitaret Innocentius, Joannis primum, ac paulo post Arcadii mors interveniens congregandae synodo moras attulit. Neque tamen idcirco primum abjecit consilium, neque etiam donec haberi posset desiderata synodus, cum adversariis Joannis omnino rupit pacem atque communionem, sed eam intermisit tantum atque suspendit. Qua de re Palladius Vitae Chrysostomi scriptor sub finem dialogi pag. 214 ita loquitur: « Scopus ecclesiae Romanae iste est, non communicare cum Orientalibus episcopis, praesertim 630Acum Theophilo, donec Dominus dederit locum universali synodo, quae putrefactis membris eorum qui haec patrarunt medeatur. » Ubi Romanae ecclesiae non judicium, sed scopus notatur seu consilium, quo sibi, donec synodus de hac re decidat, utendum censuit. Et vero Theophilus inter Alexandrinos antistites recenseri etiam a Romanis praesulibus numquam desiit. Idem dicendum de caeteris ejus sociis, si excipiatur Arsacius, quem, Theodoreto teste (lib. V, cap. 34), Occidentis episcopi « ne salutare quidem dignati sunt. » Verum cum Attico in ejus locum suffecto Innocentius ipse communionem suspensam tenere satis habuit, ad eam illi reddendam paratus, cum pactis conditionibus satisfecisset. Quocirca Maximiano episcopo eum amice roganti, ut pacificas ad Atticum litteras mitteret, rescripsit: « Communio suspensa restituitur demonstranti causas, quibus id acciderat, jam esse detersas, et profitenti conditiones pacis impletas. » Et eum quidem, postquam nomen Joannis in sacras tabulas retulisset, ab Occidentalibus 630Bsusceptum esse Theodoretus narrat.
2.
Common to all these writings is this mark of forgery, that they make Eudoxia survive John Chrysostom, though it is established by the testimonies of Socrates, Sozomen, Marcellinus, Prosper, Zosimus, and of the Greek acts, that she died in childbirth three years before him. Certainly George of Alexandria is not to be compared with these, on whose authority the emperor Leo, 629Asurnamed the Philosopher, Cedrenus, Nicephorus and other later Greeks prolonged the life of Eudoxia by three years. Besides, no history reports that the supreme power and favour of this Empress over the mind of Arcadius was diminished in the least, right up to her death: which is nevertheless feigned in the second and fourth letter. Nor is it less foreign to historical faith than to ecclesiastical custom, what is read in the first letter, where Innocent is related, after the death of Chrysostom, to separate Arcadius and Eudoxia from the receiving of the sacraments, to cast Arsacius down from the episcopal rank even after death, and to strike with the same penalty those who communicated with him in his ordination, and to smite Theophilus not only with excommunication but also with anathema, and to remove him from all fellowship of Christians. For in the first place, that the Roman Pontiffs were accustomed to conduct themselves by a far different method with princes, even heretical ones, the letters of Liberius to Constantius, and of Gelasius, Symmachus, Anastasius II and Hormisdas to the emperor Anastasius 629Bare witnesses. Next, they are not wont to impose so grave a penalty even on any private person, except after admonitions sent before. But where are those admonitions? If Innocent had wished to employ them, he would have learned of the death of Arcadius, who survived Chrysostom by scarcely seven months, before he could have used that extreme remedy. Moreover, it is certain from Innocent's own letters that he reserved the judgment of the whole cause of Chrysostom to an ecumenical synod. Wherefore this pope (Innoc. epist. 5), having testified that he held communion with Theophilus no otherwise than with John, exhorts him by repeated letters « that if he trusts in the judgment, he present himself at the synod. » Likewise, writing to the people of Constantinople, « We are considering, he says (Epist. 7, n. 4), how an ecumenical synod may be assembled, so that the turbulent commotions may at last, by the nod of God, be quieted. » And at his request the emperor Honorius wrote a third time to Arcadius (Epist. 9), threatening him with no threats, but only beseeching « that he order Theophilus, bishop of Alexandria, 629Cwho is said to be the author of all the evils, to present himself even against his will » at the synod. But while Innocent was considering this, the death first of John, and a little after of Arcadius, intervening, brought delays to the assembling of the synod. Yet he did not for that reason cast aside his first counsel, nor even, until the desired synod could be held, did he altogether break off peace and communion with the adversaries of John, but only interrupted and suspended it. Of which matter Palladius, the writer of the Life of Chrysostom, speaks thus toward the end of the dialogue, page 214: « This is the aim of the Roman church: not to communicate with the Eastern bishops, especially 630Awith Theophilus, until the Lord shall have given place to a universal synod, which may heal the putrefied members of those who perpetrated these things. » Where it is not the judgment of the Roman church that is noted, but its aim, or counsel, which it judged it should use until a synod should decide concerning this matter. And indeed Theophilus never ceased to be counted among the bishops of Alexandria even by the Roman prelates. The same is to be said of his other associates, if Arsacius be excepted, whom, as Theodoret witnesses (lib. V, cap. 34), the bishops of the West « did not deign even to greet. » But with Atticus, put into his place, Innocent himself held it enough to keep communion suspended, being ready to restore it to him when he had satisfied the agreed conditions. Wherefore, to the bishop Maximian, who amicably asked him to send letters of peace to Atticus, he wrote back: « Suspended communion is restored to one who shows that the causes by which it had happened are now wiped away, and who professes that the conditions of peace have been fulfilled. » And Theodoret relates that he was in fact, after he had put the name of John back into the sacred tablets, received by the Westerns 630B.
3.
Ex iis tamen, quae Theodoretus loco citato scribit, materiam et occasionem praebuisse videtur primae epistolae, adeoque et caeteris, quae cum prima sic congruunt, ut earum omnium unum artificem esse nihil prope dubitemus. Nec obstat quod cum Theodoretus de Arsacio, dum viveret narret, sic ab ejus communione abhorruisse episcopos Occidentis, ut eum ne salutare quidem dignarentur; prima tamen epistola eumdem post mortem, non ante, ordine suo movet. Ab impostore enim, qui veritate continere se nequit, in eis etiam quae imitatur exprimendis, summa fides nequaquam exspectanda est. Verum ex illo adjuncto, etiam post mortem, quod dedita opera insertum esse apparet, tempus expiscari licet, quo epistolae illae adornatae sunt. Certe si publicae tum fuissent, cum Justinianus imperator undique conquireret exempla, quibus Theodorum Mopsuestenum etiam post mortem excommunicari licere 630Cprobaretur, cum istud tam insigne Arsacii etiam post mortem ordine suo moti non fugisset. Illud tamen in medium protulisse nusquam legitur: quod non levi argumento est, etiam epistolas illas nusquam tum, hoc est medio VI saeculo, exstitisse. Sed et affectata illa locutio, etiam post mortem, non alia de causa videtur inserta, nisi ut iis, qui Theodorum Mopsuestenum excommunicari volebant, faveretur. Unde conjicere licet epistolas illas ipso saeculo sexto, cum praedicta controversia necdum sopita esset, fuisse confictas.
3.
Yet from those things which Theodoret writes in the place cited, he seems to have furnished the matter and occasion for the first letter, and so for the others as well, which so agree with the first that we scarcely doubt at all that there was one fabricator of them all. Nor does it stand in the way that, although Theodoret relates of Arsacius, while he was living, that the bishops of the West so shrank from communion with him that they did not deign even to greet him, the first letter nevertheless removes this same man from his rank after death, not before. For from an impostor, who cannot hold himself to the truth even in expressing the things he imitates, the highest fidelity is by no means to be expected. But from that addition, even after death, which appears to have been inserted of set purpose, one may fish out the time at which those letters were got up. Certainly, if they had been public at the time when the emperor Justinian was searching everywhere for examples by which it might be 630Cproved that Theodore of Mopsuestia could lawfully be excommunicated even after death, so notable a case of Arsacius, removed from his rank even after death, would not have escaped him. Yet it is nowhere read that he brought it forward: which is no light argument that those letters too did not yet exist anywhere at that time, that is, in the middle of the VI century. And that affected expression, even after death, seems to have been inserted for no other reason than to favour those who wished Theodore of Mopsuestia to be excommunicated. Whence one may conjecture that those letters were forged in the sixth century itself, when the aforesaid controversy was not yet laid to rest.
EPISTOLA I. Adversus Arcadium, Eudoxiam, Arsacium ac Theophilum sententia profertur.
INNOCENTII ARCHIEPISCOPI ROMANI Nicephorus hanc epistolam velut Arcadio, Attico ac Theophilo communem censuit. Is quippe praemittit, Innocentium propterea quod legati, quos Constantinopolim miserat, male habiti fuissent et indigne tractati, valde indignatum esse, et cum paulo post Joannis mortem didicisset, epistolam ad Arcadium, Atticum et Theophilum dedisse, qua illos excommunicationi et exauctorationi subjecit. Tum hanc epistolam hujusmodi verbis conscriptam esse notat: Vox sanguinis fratris mei Joannis, etc. In ea tamen nullum est de Attico verbum. Sed observatoni huic quasi occurrere vellet, tota epistola descripta, proxime subjicit: Haec Innocentius pro Joanne pugnans scripsit. Neque vero etiam Atticum, qui post Arsacium in magni illius (Joannis) sedem inrasit (ἔξω αἰτίας ἐποίει) crimine absolvit. Verum ut ea res composita sit, historia suo loco ostendet, scil. lib. xiv, c. 25, ubi pax reddita dicitur, ex quo Atticus Joannis mentionem in precationibus fieri jussit. AD ARCADIUM IMPERATOREM.
EPISTLE I. Sentence is pronounced against Arcadius, Eudoxia, Arsacius and Theophilus.
OF INNOCENT, ARCHBISHOP OF ROME, Nicephorus judged this letter to be common, as it were, to Arcadius, Atticus and Theophilus. He, namely, states first that Innocent, because the legates whom he had sent to Constantinople had been ill-used and unworthily treated, was greatly indignant, and, when a little later he had learned of the death of John, gave a letter to Arcadius, Atticus and Theophilus, by which he subjected them to excommunication and deposition. Then he notes that this letter was written in words of this kind: The voice of the blood of my brother John, etc. In it, however, there is no word about Atticus. But, as if he wished to meet this observation, having copied out the whole letter he subjoins next: These things Innocent wrote, fighting for John. Nor yet did he absolve from the charge Atticus either, who after Arsacius inrasit into the see of that great man (John) (ἔξω αἰτίας ἐποίει) . But how that matter was composed, history will show in its place, namely in book XIV, chap. 25, where peace is said to have been restored, from the time Atticus ordered mention of John to be made in the prayers. TO ARCADIUS THE EMPEROR.
1.
629DVox sanguinis fratris mei Joannis clamat ad Deum contra te, o imperator, sicuti quondam Abel justi contra fratricidam Cain: et is omni modo vindicabitur. Nec id modo admisisti, sed etiam pacis tempore persecutionem magnam adversus Deum et Ecclesiam ejus concitasti. Ejecisti ex Apud Nicephor. hic omittitur τῆς ἐπισκοπῆς, sed infra n. 3 retinetur idem vocabulum. episcopali 631Asede sua, re non judicata, magnum totius orbis Doctorem, et una cum eo Christum persecutus es. Neque de illo ita queror (sortem enim atque haereditatem consecutus est cum sanctis Apostolis in Dei et servatoris nostri Jesu Christi regno): quamvis intolerabilis ea jactura sit; sed affligor propterea, quod primum de animarum vestrarum salute, deinde de eis, qui cum sapientissima et spiritali et divina doctrina et institutione ejus destituti sint, famem jam pati coguntur. Neque enim Constantinopolitana tantum ecclesia mellitae hujus linguae jacturam fecit, sed et viduata est omnis terra quae sub sole est, amisso divino hujusmodi viro persuasione unius mulieris, quae hoc flagitium admitti permisit. Caeterum illa et praesentem hic poenam et sempiternum 631Bposthac supplicium, quod ei non ita multo post superventurum est, excipiet. Tametsi enim beatus Joannes, postquam fidem servasset, eosque qui fluctuabant confirmasset, vitam reliquit, in aeterna tamen saecula sempiternarum deliciarum et immortalis vitae hereditatem consecutus est. Eudoxia autem, nova illa Dalila, quae paulatim imposturae novacula te rasit, sibi ipsi ex multorum ore induxit maledictionem, grave Apud Glycam portatuque difficillimum. Magis placet quod portari nequeat, cum hunc locum expressum esse pateat ad imitationem hujus Matth. xxiii, 4: Alligant enim onera gravia et importabilia. et quod portari nequeat alligavit peccatorum onus, illudque prioribus peccatis suis superaddidit (Jud. XVI, 19).
1.
629DThe voice of the blood of my brother John cries to God against thee, O emperor, as once that of Abel the just against the fratricide Cain: and he shall be avenged in every way. Nor hast thou committed this only, but even in time of peace thou hast stirred up a great persecution against God and his Church. Thou hast cast out of his In Nicephorus τῆς ἐπισκοπῆς is omitted here, but below, at n. 3, the same word is kept. episcopal 631Asee, the case not judged, the great Teacher of the whole world, and together with him thou hast persecuted Christ. Nor do I so lament for him (for he has obtained his lot and inheritance with the holy Apostles in the kingdom of God and of our saviour Jesus Christ), although that loss is intolerable; but I am afflicted on this account, that first concerning the salvation of your souls, then concerning those who, being deprived of his most wise and spiritual and divine teaching and instruction, are now compelled to suffer famine. For not only did the church of Constantinople suffer the loss of this honeyed tongue, but the whole earth also which is under the sun has been widowed, having lost such a divine man through the persuasion of one woman, who permitted this outrage to be committed. But she will receive both the present punishment here and the everlasting 631Btorment hereafter, which will come upon her not so very long after. For although blessed John, after he had kept the faith and had strengthened those who were wavering, left this life, yet he has obtained for the eternal ages the inheritance of everlasting delights and of immortal life. But Eudoxia, that new Delilah, who little by little shaved thee with the razor of imposture, has brought upon herself a curse out of the mouth of many, has bound a burden of sins heavy In Glycas portatuque difficillimum. Quod portari nequeat pleases more, since it is evident that this place was expressed in imitation of this in Matth. xxiii, 4: For they bind heavy and unbearable burdens. and such as cannot be carried, and has added it over her former sins (Jud. XVI, 19).
2.
Quamobrem ego minimus et peccator, ut cui magni apostoli Petri sedes credita est, segrego te et illam a perceptione immaculatorum mysteriorum Christi Dei nostri. Sed et omnem episcopum aut 631Cclericum ordinis sanctae Dei Ecclesiae, qui ea vobis administrare aut tradere ausus fuerit ab ea hora, qua Lab. ex Glyca Graece, τὸν πεμφθέντα σύνδεσμον. vinculum quo vos ligo, notum vobis fuerit, dignitate sua excidisse [decerno]. Quod si ut homines potentes quemquam ad id vi adegeritis, et canones vobis a Servatore per sanctos Apostolos traditos transgressi fueritis; in tremenda judicii die comperietis primum quidem non parvum hoc vobis futurum esse peccatum, deinde nec quemquam ulla hujus saeculi dignitate tum adjuvari posse: sed animorum occulta erumpent et exhibebuntur ante conspectum omnium.
2.
Wherefore I, the least and a sinner, as one to whom the see of the great apostle Peter has been entrusted, separate thee and her from the receiving of the immaculate mysteries of Christ our God. And also every bishop or 631Ccleric of the order of the holy Church of God who shall have dared to administer or to hand them to you from that hour at which Labbe, from Glycas, in Greek: τὸν πεμφθέντα σύνδεσμον. the bond with which I bind you shall have become known to you, to have fallen from his dignity [I decree]. But if, as powerful men, you shall have driven anyone to this by force, and shall have transgressed the canons handed down to you by the Saviour through the holy Apostles, you will find on the dread day of judgment, first indeed, that this will be no small sin for you, and next, that no one can then be helped by any dignity of this age: but the hidden things of souls will break forth and be displayed before the sight of all.
3.
Arsacium autem, quem magni Joannis loco in sedem episcopalem Is Arsacius, qui fratri suo Nectario, tactis Evangeliis, spoponderat atque juraverat, se nullius umquam episcopatus ordinationem admissurum, uti narrat Palladius pag. 94, quatuordecim post ordinationem mensibus exactis, mortuus est. intrusistis, etiam post mortem ordine movemus cum episcopis omnibus, qui Verbum graecum προθέσει apud Glycam desideratur. Additum est dedita opera: ne hac sententia teneri viderentur et ii, qui cum Arsacio inviti communicarant. Etiam cum ipsius successore Attico plerosque omnes non sponte communicasse Palladius pag. 95 tradit. consulto cum ipso communicarunt. Neque nomen illius sacris in tabulis inscribatur: hoc enim indignus est 631Dhonore, utpote qui episcopatum quodam adulterio polluit. Omnis quippe plantatio, quae plantata non fuerit a Patre nostro qui est in coelis, eradicabitur (Matth. XV, 13). Theophilum autem non modo dejectum e sede sua, sed etiam excommunicatione et anathemate multatum omnino a Christianorum consortio alienum declaramus.
ΕΠΙΣΤΟΛΗ ΙΝΝΟΚΕΝΤΙΟΥ ΡΩΜΗΣ ΑΡΧΙΕΡΕΩΣ ΠΡΟΣ ΑΡΚΑΔΙΟΝ ΑΥΤΟΚΡΑΤΟΡΑ. 630C
630D1. Φωνὴ αἵματος τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ μου Ἰωάννου βοᾷ πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν κατὰ σοῦ, βασιλεῦ, ὥς ποτε Ἄβελ τοῦ δικαίου κατὰ τοῦ ἀδελφοκτόνου Καῒν, καὶ παντὶ τρόπῳ ἐκδικηθήσεται. Οὐ μόνον καὶ τοῦτο πέπραχας, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν καιρῷ εἰρήνης διωγμὸν μέγαν κατὰ τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ Ἐκκλησίας καὶ τῶν ἱερέων αὐτοῦ συνεστήσω. Ἐξέωσας τὸν μέγαν τῆς 632Aοἰκουμένης διδάσκαλον ἐκ τοῦ θρόνου τῆς ἐπισκοπῆς αὐτοῦ ἀκρίτως, συνεκδιώξας αὐτῷ καὶ τὸν Χριστόν. Οὔτε γὰρ οὕτως ὀδύρομαι περὶ ἐκείνου (οὗτος γὰρ τὸν κλῆρον ἔλαχε μετὰ τῶν ἁγίων ἀποστόλων ἐν τῇ τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ βασιλείᾳ)· κᾂν ἀφόρητος ἡ συμφορά· ἀλλὰ θλίβομαι φροντίζων, πρῶτον μὲν τῆς σωτηρίας τῶν ὑμετέρων ψυχῶν, καὶ περὶ τῶν στερηθέντων καὶ λιμωξάντων τῆς ἐκείνου πανσόφου καὶ πνευματικῆς θείας διδαχῆς καὶ νουθεσίας. Οὐ γὰρ μόνον ἡ Κωνσταντινουπολιτῶν ἐκκλησία ἐζημιώθη τῆς ἐκείνου μελιῤῥύτου γλώττης, ἀλλὰ καὶ πᾶσα ἡ ὑφήλιος ἐχήρευσεν ἀπολέσασα τοιοῦτον ἔνθεον ἄνδρα, πειθηνίας μιᾶς γυναικὸς παραχωρησάσης τοῦτο γενέσθαι τὸ δραματούργημα. Πλὴν ἐκδέξηται τὴν ἐντεῦθεν τιμωρίαν καὶ τὴν μέλλουσαν ἀτελεύτητον κόλασιν, οὐ μετὰ πολλὰς ταύτας ἡμέρας ἐπερχομένην 632Bαὐτῇ. Εἰ καὶ γὰρ ὁ μακάριος Ἰωάννης τὸν βίον κατέλιπε, τὴν πίστιν τηρήσας καὶ στηρίξας τοὺς σαλευομένους, ἀλλ' εἰς ἀλήκτους αἰῶνας τὴν ἀδαπάνητον τρυφὴν καὶ ἀθάνατον ζωὴν ἐκληρονόμησεν. Ἡ καὶ νέα Δαλιλὰ Εὐδοξία, ἡ κατὰ μικρὸν τῷ ξυρῷ τῆς πλάνης ξυρήσασά σε, ἐπήγαγεν ἑαυτῇ κατάραν ἐκ πολλῶν στομάτων, δεσμεὺσασα φορτίον ἁμαρτημάτων βαρὺ καὶ δυσβάστακτον, προσθεῖσα τοῦτο τοῖς πρώην αὑτῆς ἁμαρτήμασι.
3.
But Arsacius, whom you intruded into the episcopal see This Arsacius, who had promised and sworn to his brother Nectarius, with the Gospels touched, that he would never accept ordination to any episcopate, as Palladius relates, page 94, died when fourteen months had passed after his ordination. in the place of the great John, we remove from his rank even after death, together with all the bishops who The Greek word προθέσει is lacking in Glycas. It was added of set purpose: lest those too should seem to be held by this sentence who had communicated with Arsacius unwillingly. Palladius, page 95, relates that almost all communicated not of their own accord with his successor Atticus as well. by design communicated with him. And let his name not be inscribed in the sacred tablets: for he is unworthy of this 631Dhonour, inasmuch as he polluted the episcopate by a kind of adultery. For every planting which has not been planted by our Father who is in heaven shall be rooted up (Matth. XV, 13). But Theophilus, not only cast down from his see, but also punished with excommunication and anathema, we declare altogether estranged from the fellowship of Christians.
EPISTLE OF INNOCENT, HIGH PRIEST OF ROME, TO ARCADIUS THE EMPEROR. 630C
630D1. The voice of the blood of my brother John cries to God against thee, O king, as once that of Abel the just against the fratricide Cain, and in every way it shall be avenged. Not only hast thou done this too, but even in a time of peace thou hast set on foot a great persecution against the Church of God and his priests. Thou hast thrust the great teacher of the 632Ainhabited world out of the throne of his episcopate without judgment, persecuting Christ together with him. For neither do I so lament over him (for he has obtained his lot with the holy apostles in the kingdom of God and our saviour Jesus Christ); even if the calamity is unbearable; but I am afflicted, being anxious, first for the salvation of your souls, and for those who have been deprived of his all-wise and spiritual divine teaching and admonition and have hungered for it. For not only has the church of the Constantinopolitans been bereft of his honey-flowing tongue, but the whole world under the sun has also been widowed, having lost so godly a man, through the compliance of one woman who allowed this drama to take place. But she shall receive the punishment from this world and the endless chastisement to come, coming upon 632Bher not many days after these. For even though blessed John has left this life, having kept the faith and strengthened those who were shaken, yet for unending ages he has inherited the unfailing delight and immortal life. And the new Delilah, Eudoxia, who little by little shaved thee with the razor of deceit, has brought upon herself a curse out of many mouths, having bound up a burden of sins heavy and hard to bear, adding this to her former sins.
2.
Διὸ ἐγὼ ὁ ἐλάχιστος, καὶ ἁμαρτωλὸς, ὡς πιστευθεὶς τὸν θρόνον τοῦ μεγάλου ἀποστόλου Πέτρου, ἀφορίζω σέ τε κᾳκείνην τῆς μεταλήψεως τῶν ἀχράντων μυστηρίων Χριστου τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡμῶν· οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ παντοῖον ἐπίσκοπον, 632Cἢ κληρικὸν ὄντα τοῦ τάγματος τῆς ἁγίας τοῦ Θεοῦ Ἐκκλησίας τολμῶντας ἐπιχειρῆσαι καὶ μεταδοῦναι ὑμῖν, ἀφ' ἧς ὥρας ἀναγνῶτέ μου τὸν παρόντα δέσμον, ὑπὸ καθαίρεσιν εἶναι. Εἰ δὲ βιάσησθέ τινα, ὡς ἐξουσιασταὶ, καὶ παρεξελθῆτε τοὺς δοθέντας ὑμῖν κανόνας παρὰ τοῦ σωτῆρος διὰ τῶν ἁγίων ἀποστόλων, ἔσεσθε ἐπιστάμενοι ὡς πρώτον μὲν οὐ μικρὸν ὑμῖν τὸ ἁμάρτημα γενήσεται ἐν τῇ φοβέρᾳ ἡμέρᾳ τῆς κρίσεως, οὔτε οὐ δυνήσεται ἀξίωμα βιωτικόν τινα ὠφελῆσαι· ἐκείνων δὲ τὰ ἐντὸς ἐκχυθήσονται πρὸς ὑπόδειγμα πάντων.
2.
Wherefore I, the least, and a sinner, as one entrusted with the throne of the great apostle Peter, excommunicate thee and her from the partaking of the immaculate mysteries of Christ our God; and not only so, but also every bishop, 632Cor cleric being of the order of the holy Church of God, who dare to undertake to give them to you, from the hour at which you read this present bond of mine, to be under deposition. But if you force anyone, as men in authority, and transgress the canons given to you by the saviour through the holy apostles, you shall be knowing that, first, the sin will be no small one for you on the fearful day of judgment, nor will worldly rank be able to help anyone; and the inward parts of those shall be poured out for an example to all.
3.
Ἀρσάκιον δὲ, ὃν εἰσενήγετε εἰς τὸν θρόνον τῆς ἐπισκοπῆς ἀντὶ τοῦ μεγάλου Ἰωάννου, καὶ μετὰ θάνατον καθαιροῦμεν σὺν πᾶσι τοῖς συγκοινωνήσασιν αὐτῷ προθέσει ἐπισκόποις. Οὗτινος μηδὲ τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ ἐγγραφέσθω τοῖς ἱεροῖς διπτύχοις· ἀνάξιος γάρ ἐστιν, ὡς μοιχεύσας 632Dτὴν ἐπισκοπὴν. Πᾶσα γάρ φυτεὶα μὴ φυτευθεῖσα παρὰ τοῦ Πάτρος ἡμῶν τοῦ ἐν οὐρανοῖς, ἐκριζωθήσεται. Προστιθέμεθα δὲ τῇ καθαιρέσει Θεοφίλου ἀφορισμὸν καὶ ἀναθεματισμὸν καὶ τελείαν ἀλλοτρίωσιν τοῦ χριστιανισμοῦ.
3.
And Arsacius, whom you brought in onto the throne of the episcopate in place of the great John, even after death we depose, together with all the bishops who communicated with him by design. Of whom let not even his name be written in the sacred diptychs; for he is unworthy, as having committed adultery upon 632Dthe episcopate. For every plant not planted by our Father who is in the heavens shall be rooted up. And we add to the deposition of Theophilus excommunication and anathematization and complete estrangement from Christianity.
EPISTOLA II.
ARCADII IMPERATORIS AD INNOCENTIUM PAPAM. 633A
Ut se et Eudoxiam ab excommunicatione liberet.
Norunt omnes homines mentis compotes, commissa per ignorationem nec divinitus nec per leges puniri: sed neque quemquam alterius nomine poenas luere. Quocirca haec scripsi, ut mansuetudinem tuam certam redderem (cujus rei benignum Deum testem imploro), me nihil eorum cognitum De iis, quae cum legatis acta sunt, ita loquitur Palladius pag. 32 et seqq., ut Imperatorem eorum conscium esse non prodat. Immo missos esse narrans, qui legatos pervertere conarentur; idne aulicorum Imperatoris, an Attici opera factum sit, nescire se fatetur. Unde magis ac magis manifesta est falsitas harum litterarum, quibus gravissima poena punitur Arcadius ob ea quae legati passi fuerant; cum haec se, ipso conscio, passos esse ne illi quidem affirmare possent. Idne cum potentissimo imperatore egisse credendus est sapientissimus pontifex, quod quemvis judicem cum tenuissimo quoque homine agere puderet? cum quemlibet nisi convictum vel confessum puniri, leges vetent. habuisse, quae nostris antistitibus et clericis acciderunt, et damnationis Neque ista cum Palladii narratione consentiunt, ex qua omnia tum per vim, nullo antecedente judicio, gesta esse planum est. eorum prorsus esse insontem. Cum enim eorum communione Quomodo dici possit Arcadius eorum usus esse communione, qui nec ipsum salutare, immo nec urbem regiam ingredi, uti testis est Palladius p. 32, permissi sunt? sim usus, nihil causae erat cur eos affligerem. Quod autem ad filiam tuam Eudoxiam attinet, scito me haud mediocres ab ea pro ratione delicti poenas exegisse, ita ut prae hujusmodi moerore et angustia, gravissimo correpta morbo decumbat. Caeterum obsecro 633But nos a segregatione liberes, ac ne multipliciter punias. Nec enim ipse Dominus bis ob idem delictum percutit (Naum I, 9).
ΕΠΙΣΤΟΛΗ ΑΡΚΑΔΙΟΥ ΑΥΤΟΚΡΑΤΟΡΟΣ ΠΡΟΣ ΙΝΝΟΚΕΝΤΙΟΝ ΡΩΜΗΣ ΑΡΧΙΕΡΕΑ. 634A
Πάντες ἄνθρωποι ἴσασιν οἱ εὐφρονοῦντες, ὅτι περ τὰ κατὰ ἄγνοιαν γινόμενα, οὔτε θεὸς, οὔτε νόμοι κολάζουσιν· ἀλλ' οὐδέ τις ὑπὲρ ἑτέρου δίκην εἰσπράττεται. Ὅθεν ταῦτα γέγραφα πληροφορῶν τὴν ὑμετέραν πρᾳότητα, ὡς ἐπιμαρτυροῦντος τοῦ φιλανθρώπου Θεοῦ, οὐκ ἔγνων τι τῶν συμβάντων τοῖς ἡμετέροις ἐπισκόποις καὶ κληρικοῖς, ἀλλ' ἀθῶός εἰμι τοῦ κρίματος αὐτῶν. Εἰ γὰρ ἤμην συμμέτοχος αὐτῶν, εἰς τοῦτο οὐκ εἶχον τούτους κακῶσαι. Περὶ καὶ τῆς σῆς θυγατρὸς Εὐδοξίας γνῶθι, ὅτι καὶ αὐτῇ ἀνταπέδωκα κατὰ τὸ σφάλμα αὐτῆς οὐ μετρίως, ὡς ἐκ τῆς τοιαύτης λύπης καὶ θλίψεως ἐν ἀῤῥωστίᾳ βαρυτάτῃ κατακεῖσθαι αὐτήν. Παρακαλῶ λοῖπον, ἵνα τοῦ ἀφορισμοῦ λύσῃς ἡμᾶς, καὶ μὴ ἐκδικήσῃς πολλαχῶς. Οὐ γὰρ πατάξει Κύριος δὶς ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτό.
EPISTLE II.
OF ARCADIUS THE EMPEROR TO POPE INNOCENT. 633A
That he free him and Eudoxia from excommunication.
All men in possession of their mind know that things committed through ignorance are punished neither by God nor through the laws: but neither does anyone pay penalties in another's name. Wherefore I have written these things, to make thy gentleness certain (for which thing I implore the benign God as witness) that I had knowledge Concerning the things done with the legates, Palladius, page 32 and following, speaks in such a way as not to betray that the Emperor was privy to them. Nay rather, relating that men were sent who tried to corrupt the legates, he confesses that he does not know whether this was done by the work of the Emperor's courtiers or of Atticus. Whence the falsity of these letters is more and more manifest, by which Arcadius is punished with a most grave penalty on account of the things which the legates had suffered; since not even they could affirm that they had suffered these things with him privy to them. Is the most wise pontiff to be believed to have done with a most powerful emperor that which any judge would be ashamed to do with even the humblest man? since the laws forbid anyone to be punished unless convicted or confessed. of none of those things which befell our prelates and clerics, and that I am altogether innocent of their condemnation Nor do these things agree with the narrative of Palladius, from which it is plain that everything was then done by force, with no judgment preceding.. For since I have used their communion How could Arcadius be said to have used the communion of those who were not permitted even to greet him, nay, not even to enter the royal city, as Palladius witnesses, p. 32?, there was no cause why I should afflict them. But as regards thy daughter Eudoxia, know that I have exacted from her no mean penalties in proportion to her offence, so that because of this kind of grief and distress she lies seized by a most grave illness. For the rest I beseech thee 633Bto free us from the separation, and not to punish us manifold. For not even the Lord himself strikes twice for the same offence (Naum I, 9).
EPISTLE OF ARCADIUS THE EMPEROR TO INNOCENT, HIGH PRIEST OF ROME. 634A
All men who are right-minded know that the things done in ignorance neither God nor laws punish; nor is anyone made to pay the penalty on behalf of another. Hence I have written these things, assuring your gentleness, as the benevolent God bears witness, that I knew nothing of what befell our bishops and clerics, but am guiltless of their judgment. For if I had been a sharer with them, I would not for this have had cause to harm them. Concerning thy daughter Eudoxia also, know that I have requited her too, according to her fault, not moderately, so that from such grief and affliction she lies in a most grievous sickness. I entreat thee, then, to release us from the excommunication, and not to avenge manifoldly. For the Lord will not strike twice for the same thing.
EPISTOLA In hac epistola repetitur, quod jam in antecedente scriptum erat. Quocirca opus esse suspicamur hominis otiosi, qui stylum exercere voluerit. III. ARCADII IMPERATORIS AD INNOCENTIUM PAPAM. Se insontem esse eorum quae in legatos ipsius aut in Joannem admissa sunt, eorum auctores a se punitos. Adeoque relaxet sententiam, qua se cum conjuge a sacris mysteriis arcet.
Omnino, o pontifex Dei, nequidquam [ Forte nil quidquam] eorum, que in legatos Quemadmodum Chrysostomus statim atque ecclesia sua primum ejectus est, ad Innocentium epist. 1, n. 5, scribens, omnia quae impie tum patrata fuerant, praeter sententiam Arcadii gesta esse testatus est: ita etiam quidquid subinde adversus legatos actum est, segnem Arcadium latuisse Nicephorus lib. xiii, cap. 53, scribit. audacter perpetrata sunt, sciente me factum est: idque ex eo 633Cperspici potest, quod eos a quibus illa orta sunt, severe ultus sum. Neque quod magnus ille Joannes depositus sit, ulla in me culpa ejus rei haeret, sed infelicibus episcopis, quod scilicet cum sacros canones praetenderent, judicium depositionis illius in sua ipsorum profana capita converterunt, quorum sermone nescio quomodo inductus, etiam ipse eorum sententiae, quod utinam numquam fecissem, 634Bassensus sum. Quo fit ut ipsi magis in culpa sint. Ex quibus et qui adhuc hic exstant, Acacium et Severianum, et eos qui sceleratum Theophilum secuti sunt, ut quanta maxima celeritate, comprehendi Quam impudenter hic mentiatur harum litterarum architectus, probat ipsius Arcadii rescriptum, quod Atticus, neminem Orientalium secum communicare iniquo animo ferens, ab hoc imperatore obtinuit, in quo scilicet, teste Palladio pag. 95, sanciebatur: Si quis episcoporum non communicat cum Theophilo, Porphyrio et Attico, Ecclesia quidem dejiciatur, et a propriis facultatibus abigatur. jussimus, et eos qui illic sunt, ut poenas dent ausibus suis debitas. Nobis autem placetur paterna humanitas tua: neque deseras nos expertes mysteriorum incontaminatorum. Tunc etiam filiam tuam Eudoxiam quae peccaverit ultus sum, quae etiam ex his gravissimo morbo correpta in lectulo decumbit. Ne igitur saepius poenas sumas, o reverendissime 634Cpater: neque enim Dominus in eadem bis poenas sumit, ut scriptum est (Naum. I. 9, sec. LXX). Ubi autem erit poenitentiae Vere poenitenti primum illud agendum erat, ut Joanni honor inique sublatus restitueretur. At vix circa annum 415, hoc est post Joannis mortem annis novem, impetravit Innocentius, ut sanctissimi hujus praesulis nomen in sacras tabulas referretur. bonum, nisi iis quos poeniteat venia tribuatur? Igitur si nos quidem ex poenitentibus non essemus, merito aditus ad veniam clauderetur: et si accusavimus et condemnavimus nos ipsos ab iis quae male egimus; ne bono quidem poenitentiae, quod quidem venia est, excidamus.
EPISTLE In this letter is repeated what had already been written in the preceding one. Wherefore we suspect it to be the work of an idle man who wished to exercise his style. III. OF ARCADIUS THE EMPEROR TO POPE INNOCENT. That he is innocent of the things which were committed against his legates or against John; that their authors have been punished by him. And so let him relax the sentence by which he keeps him, with his consort, from the sacred mysteries.
Altogether, O pontiff of God, not anything [ Perhaps nil quidquam] of the things which were boldly perpetrated against the legates Just as Chrysostom, as soon as he was first cast out of his church, writing to Innocent, Epist. 1, n. 5, testified that all the things which had then been impiously perpetrated had been done contrary to the mind of Arcadius, so also Nicephorus, book xiii, chap. 53, writes that whatever was afterwards done against the legates escaped the notice of the sluggish Arcadius. was done with my knowledge: and this can be 633Cperceived from the fact that I have severely punished those from whom those things arose. Nor, because that great John was deposed, does any blame for that matter cleave to me, but to the unhappy bishops, because, namely, while they put forward the sacred canons, they turned the judgment of his deposition upon their own profane heads; led on by whose speech, I know not how, I too, to their sentence, which would that I had never done, 634Bassented. Whence it comes that they themselves are the more in fault. Of whom both those who still remain here, Acacius and Severianus, and those who followed the wicked Theophilus, that with the greatest possible speed, we have ordered to be seized How shamelessly the architect of these letters lies here is proved by the rescript of Arcadius himself, which Atticus, taking it ill that none of the Easterners communicated with him, obtained from this emperor, in which, namely, as Palladius witnesses, page 95, it was enacted: If any of the bishops does not communicate with Theophilus, Porphyrius and Atticus, let him be cast out of the Church, and driven from his own means., and those who are there, that they may pay the penalties due to their daring. But let thy fatherly humanity be appeased toward us: and do not abandon us without share in the uncontaminated mysteries. Then too I punished thy daughter Eudoxia, who had sinned, who also, seized from these things by a most grave illness, lies abed. Do not therefore exact penalties more often, O most reverend 634Cfather: for neither does the Lord exact penalties twice in the same things, as it is written (Naum. I. 9, sec. LXX). But where will be the good of penitence For one truly penitent this was the first thing to be done: that the honour unjustly taken from John should be restored. But scarcely about the year 415, that is, nine years after John's death, did Innocent obtain that the name of this most holy prelate should be put back into the sacred tablets., unless pardon be granted to those who repent? Therefore, if we were not indeed of the penitent, rightly would the approach to pardon be shut: and if we have accused and condemned ourselves for the things which we did ill; let us not fall away even from the good of penitence, which indeed is pardon.
EPISTOLA Ex genuinis Innocentii epistolis 19, 21, 22 et 23, falsitas hujus, adeoque antecedentium, plane convincitur. In illis enim pacem is papa petentibus non temere, sed nonnisi praescriptis conditionibus, iisque completis, reddere probatur. Ex iis quidem conditionibus haec praecipua erat, ut Joannis nomen in sacras diptychas restitueretur. At nunc nec de Joannis nomine, nec de caeteris episcopis ipsi addictis, qui crudelissima exsilia velut Arcadii auctoritate patiebantur, nihil curat. Ita pontifex, cujus laudant majores nostri sapientiam non minus in restituenda, quam in auferenda personis augustis communione, imprudens fingitur. IV.
INNOCENTII PAPAE AD ARCADIUM IMPERATOREM. 635A
635Arcadium solvit, et sacrorum mysteriorum perceptionem ei permittit.
635AStudium vestrum Dei voluntati consentaneum, quod propter ipsius nomen ostendistis, probavi. Quapropter a sacris vinculis soluti, ad symbola dominica confirmatis animis accedite.
ΕΠΙΣΤΟΛΗ ΙΝΝΟΚΕΝΤΙΟΥ ΡΩΜΗΣ ΑΡΧΙΕΡΕΩΣ ΠΡΟΣ ΑΡΚΑΔΙΟΝ ΑΥΤΟΚΡΑΤΟΡΑ. 636A
Ἀπεδεξάμην ὑμῶν τὴν κατὰ Θεὸν σπουδὴν, ἥνπερ διὰ τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ ἀνεδείξασθε. Ὅθεν τῶν ἱερῶν δεσμῶν ἀνεθέντες, ἐν τοῖς δεσποτικοῖς συμβόλοις προσέλθετε ἐῤῥωμένοι.
EPISTLE From the genuine letters of Innocent 19, 21, 22 and 23 the falsity of this one, and so of the preceding ones, is plainly proved. For in those this pope is shown to restore peace to those who asked for it, not rashly, but only on prescribed conditions, and those fulfilled. Of those conditions this indeed was the chief, that the name of John should be restored to the sacred diptychs. But now he cares nothing, neither about the name of John, nor about the other bishops attached to him, who were suffering most cruel exiles as if by the authority of Arcadius. So the pontiff, whose wisdom our forebears praise no less in restoring communion to august persons than in taking it away, is feigned to be imprudent. IV.
OF POPE INNOCENT TO ARCADIUS THE EMPEROR. 635A
635He absolves Arcadius, and permits him the receiving of the sacred mysteries.
635AI have approved your zeal, conformable to the will of God, which you have shown on account of his name. Wherefore, loosed from the sacred bonds, approach the Lord's symbols with strengthened minds.
EPISTLE OF INNOCENT, HIGH PRIEST OF ROME, TO ARCADIUS THE EMPEROR. 636A
I have welcomed your zeal according to God, which you displayed for his name's sake. Hence, released from the sacred bonds, approach the Master's symbols in good strength.