I. AD CAROLUM MAGNUM ODILBERTI ARCHIEPISCOPI RESPONSIO.[Ex Mabill. Vet. Analect.)
Domino Christianissimo et a Deo conservato Carolo, invictissimo atque piissimo imperatori, Odilbertus servus servorum Dei, sanctae vestrae Mediolanensis Ecclesiae archiepiscopus et orator vester, perennem in Christo Domino salutem.
Igitur immensae omnipotentis Dei nostri misericordiae sine intermissione omnibus nobis peragendae sunt gratiae, quae vos in tam sublimissimam dignitatem collocavit imperii: simulque provolutis genibus omnes ejusdem Redemptoris nostri supplicamus clementiam, ut vitam vestram atque incolumitatem per multorum annorum curricula ad profectum omnium ecclesiarum Dei, sive et fidelium populorum vobis a Deo commissorum conservare dignetur, quia in vestra 935Dtranquillitate salutem nostrorum omnium adesse cognoscimus atque tenemus, qui vos sollicitudinem habentes orthodoxae fidei magis prae caeteris omnibus, qui ante vos Christiani imperatores in universo mundo fuerunt devotione quique et divino zelo commoti, id est Constantinus, Theodosius Major, Martianus, et Justinianus. Hi omnes, ut Christianum populum ab omni erroris macula liberarent divinitus inspirati, quae Domini sacerdotes diffiniebant, illa tantum principalis auctoritas confirmabat. Quorum vos meritis et scientia praecellentes, David sanctum imitantes, qui se pro populi salute in typo nostri exhibuit Redemptoris, cujus vos strenuus cultor pro credulitate rectae fidei divino amore accensi de Domino nostro Jesu Christo Dei omnipotentis Filio per omnia et super omnia, qui cum sit splendor gloriae et imago substantiae ejus et candor lucis aeternae, propter nimiam charitatem qua dilexit nos, semetipsum exinanivit, et juxta apostolicam auctoritatem 936Bvel caetera quae sequuntur, exhibuit sibi gloriosam 936CEcclesiam non habentem maculam aut rugam: cujus abluens peccati contagium, pretioso sanguine suo redemptioni nostrae tribuens sacramenta, et peractum mysterium post ascensionem suam, qua ad Patrem ascendit, apostolica traditione nos confirmat, quam fidei integritatem universis gentibus apostoli praedicaverunt, ut nullis ventorum flatibus et ictibus adversantium conquassetur Ecclesia Christi, sed in vero atque perpetuo fundamine permanendo constabilita persistat. Sic et nos confirmati sanctorum Patrum spiritualibus instrumentis, et corroborati inviolata fide et illibata, de credulitate Patris et Filii et Spiritus sancti rectam fidem credimus atque tenemus.
Sed quid religioso convenit principi, ut super omnes polleat adversos, nisi de bonis sit semper sollicitus libenter operibus? quod vestra sincera pietas summo amplectitur studio, ut neque in qualibet parte Ecclesia Dei vulnerum maculis torpeat, aut in ea sanies ignorantiae crescendo ebulliat: sed quod magis 936Dvestris felicissimis temporibus sacerdotum Dei corda accensa ad sollicitudinem evigilando vera et recta custodia perseverent, et vos pro tanti vestri laboris certamine aeterna praemia a Domino consequi valeatis. Sed ne aliquem nostrum existimemus, qui verbis eloqui atque cogitatione capere possit, ut putet se omnia mysteria coelestia liquido comprehensa tenere. Suscipientes nos itaque epistolam a pietate vestri imperii nobis emissam, qua perlecta redolentiam sensimus nectaris suavissimi nimio fragrante odore, multimodas Deo nostro gratias referentes, qui in corda vestra inspirare dignatus est pro statu Ecclesiae suae: quod a clementia vestra commoniti, rationem verae fidei, et quaeque per ordinem gerimus atque docemus, a nobis cognoscere debeatis. Itaque etsi ad id quod dominatio vestra flagitat plenius a nobis ipsis nequimus responsa proponi, oportet tamen ut quanto pauperiores nos cognoscimus esse in nostris responsis, tanto magis in Scripturis sanctis 937Aconvenit fieri devotiores: ut qui propriis sermonibus minores sumus in dicendo, sanctorum quoque testimoniis accrescere valeamus, et de eruditissimorum labore, qui nihil in Scripturis divinis obscurum reliquerunt vel clausum quod ad veram non perducerent claritatem, et Davidicam clavem acceperunt ut aperirent nobis, etiam tribuendo proficerent in salutem, et labor sanctorum nos inertes securiores et paratos faceret ad danda responsa. Haec nos vero non per prolixitatem verborum scribendi compendiose tentavimus, sed valde subjecti per humilitatem veram pietati vestrae constringentes breviter perscripsimus, currentes per sanctorum Patrum exempla ad significandum dignissimae praesentiae [ Forte, prudentiae] vestrae, quae velut mirificis floribus ex nimio rutilat ornata fragranti odore, auri ac pretiosarum devincens gemmarum, crescente vobiscum late et sapientia, et adesse semper tenemus: a quo veluti vivo fonte, et ad instar fluminis, ad singulorum irriganda corda dulcedine nimia profluente, mellis et butyri emanante 937Blonge lateque decurrens, telluris ariditatem perfusione sui implet. Unde petimus ut dulcia nobis dona magnifici eloquii vestri tribuatis: sed sicut solis radii mundum illuminans, ita scientia nostra sanctae vestrae doctrinae dono circumfusa fulgescat, quia quod nobis adipiscendum pro nostra inquisitione laboriosum esse conspicimus, vos vero plenius dispensatione Dei, sancto affluente in visceribus vestris Spiritu, manifestare et aperire sacramenta divina valetis. Dominus omnipotens prolixa per tempora gloriam imperii vestri incolumen conservare dignetur. Amen.
I. THE REPLY OF ARCHBISHOP ODILBERT TO CHARLEMAGNE.[Ex Mabill. Vet. Analect.)
To the most Christian lord, preserved by God, Charles, the most invincible and most devout emperor: Odilbert, servant of the servants of God, archbishop of your holy Church of Milan and your suppliant, wishes everlasting salvation in Christ the Lord.
Therefore thanks are to be rendered by us all without ceasing to the boundless mercy of our almighty God, which has placed you in so most sublime a dignity of empire; and at the same time, with knees bowed, we all beseech the clemency of the same our Redeemer, that he would deign to preserve your life and safety through the courses of many years for the advancement of all the churches of God, and of the faithful peoples committed to you by God, since in your 935Dtranquility we know and hold that the safety of us all is present — you who, having a care for the orthodox faith more than all the rest, who before you were Christian emperors in the whole world moved by devotion and by divine zeal, that is, Constantine, Theodosius the Elder, Marcian, and Justinian. All these, that they might free the Christian people from every stain of error, being divinely inspired, what the Lord's priests defined, that alone the sovereign authority confirmed. Excelling them in merits and knowledge, imitating the holy David, who for the salvation of the people presented himself as a type of our Redeemer — of whom you are the strenuous worshipper, for the belief of the right faith kindled with divine love concerning our Lord Jesus Christ the Son of God almighty through all things and above all things, who, since he is the splendor of glory and the image of his substance and the brightness of eternal light, on account of the exceeding charity with which he loved us, emptied himself, and according to the apostolic authority 936Bor the rest which follows, presented to himself a glorious 936CChurch having neither spot nor wrinkle: washing away the contagion of whose sin, granting by his precious blood the sacraments to our redemption, and the mystery accomplished after his ascension, by which he ascended to the Father, he confirms us by apostolic tradition — which integrity of faith the apostles preached to all nations, that the Church of Christ might not be shattered by any blasts of winds and blows of adversaries, but might persist established, remaining upon a true and perpetual foundation. So we too, confirmed by the spiritual instruments of the holy Fathers, and corroborated by an inviolate and untouched faith, believe and hold the right faith concerning the belief of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
But what befits a religious prince, that he may prevail over all adversaries, unless he be always gladly solicitous for good works? which your sincere devotion embraces with the utmost zeal, that the Church of God may not in any part grow numb with the stains of wounds, or the corruption of ignorance boil up in it by growing; but that rather 936Din your most happy times the hearts of the priests of God, kindled, may by keeping watch persevere in a true and right guardianship, and that you, for the striving of so great a labor of yours, may be able to obtain the eternal rewards from the Lord. But let us not suppose any one of us to be such as could utter in words and grasp in thought, so as to think that he holds all the heavenly mysteries clearly comprehended. And so, receiving the letter sent to us by the devotion of your empire, when it had been read through we perceived the fragrance of a most sweet nectar breathing forth with abundant scent, rendering manifold thanks to our God, who has deigned to inspire your hearts for the state of his Church: that, admonished by your clemency, you should learn from us the account of the true faith, and whatever things we perform and teach in order. And so, although we cannot of ourselves set forth more fully replies to that which your lordship demands, yet it is fitting that the poorer we know ourselves to be in our replies, the more it behooves us to become more devout in the holy Scriptures: 937Aso that we who are lesser in our own words in speaking may be able to grow also by the testimonies of the saints, and by the labor of the most learned, who left nothing in the divine Scriptures obscure or closed which they did not bring through to true clarity, and received the Davidic key that they might open to us, profiting also by imparting unto salvation, and that the labor of the saints might make us idle ones more secure and prepared to give answers. These things indeed we have attempted to write compendiously and not through prolixity of words, but, greatly subject through true humility, constraining ourselves, we have written briefly to your devotion, running through the examples of the holy Fathers to signify to your most worthy presence [ Forte, prudentiae] — which, as with wondrous flowers, shines out adorned with an exceedingly fragrant scent, surpassing that of gold and precious gems, wisdom growing far and wide with you, and which we hold to be ever present: from which, as from a living fount, and after the likeness of a river, flowing forth to water the hearts of individuals with exceeding sweetness, streaming with honey and butter 937Band running far and wide, it fills the dryness of the earth by its overflowing. Wherefore we ask that you would grant us the sweet gifts of your magnificent eloquence: but as the rays of the sun illuminate the world, so may our knowledge shine, encompassed by the gift of your holy teaching, since what we perceive to be laborious for us to attain by our own inquiry, you indeed are able more fully, by the dispensation of God, the Holy Spirit flowing abundantly in your inward parts, to make manifest and to open the divine mysteries. May the almighty Lord deign to preserve the glory of your empire unharmed through long ages. Amen.
II. EPISTOLA CAROLI MAGNI AD OFFAM REGEM. Mittit in Britanniam concilium Nicaenum II.
937CCarolus gratia Dei rex Francorum et Longobardorum ac patricius Romanorum, viro venerando et fratri carissimo Offano Merciorum regi salutem, honorem et amorem.
Cum deceat reges potentes et famosos amicitiae foedere convinciri, et mutuis gaudiis ad invicem gratulari, ut in vinculo charitatis Christus in omnibus et ab omnibus glorificetur: vestrae serenitati hoc eulogium duximus destinandum. Cum nobilissimam Longobardorum civitatem cum suis civibus omnibus nostro dominatui subjugaverimus, et Italiam totam nostro imperio feliciter subjugaverimus, Christi adjutorio (cui famulari desideramus) rex Desiderius Longobardorum, ducesque Saxoniae, quos nostris nutibus inclinavimus, Withimundus et Albion, cum fere omnibus incolis Saxoniae, baptismi susceperunt sacramentum, Domino Jesu Christo de caetero famulaturi. Hoc igitur salubri mandato, ego 937DCarolus regum Christianorum Orientalium potentissimus, vos, o Offane regum Occidentalium Christianorum potentissime, cupio laetificare et te in dilectione speciali amplecti sincerius.
II. LETTER OF CHARLEMAGNE TO KING OFFA. He sends into Britain the Second Council of Nicaea.
937CCharles, by the grace of God king of the Franks and Lombards and patrician of the Romans, to the venerable man and most dear brother Offa, king of the Mercians, greeting, honor, and love.
Since it is fitting that powerful and famous kings be bound together by a treaty of friendship, and rejoice with one another in mutual joys, that in the bond of charity Christ may be glorified in all and by all: we have thought this eulogium ought to be sent to your serenity. Since we have subjected to our dominion the most noble city of the Lombards with all its citizens, and have happily subjected all Italy to our empire, by the help of Christ (whom we desire to serve), King Desiderius of the Lombards, and the dukes of Saxony whom we have bent to our nods, Withimund and Albion, with almost all the inhabitants of Saxony, have received the sacrament of baptism, henceforth to serve the Lord Jesus Christ. By this salutary command therefore, I 937DCharles, most powerful of the Christian kings of the East, desire to gladden you, O Offa, most powerful of the Christian kings of the West, and to embrace you more sincerely in a special love.
III. EPISTOLA AD CAROLUM MAGNUM IMPERATOREM. De ritibus baptismi. (Ex Martene, Thesaurus anecd.) Haec est epistola quam ad aures domni imperatoris direximus.
Placuit vestrae incomparabili prudentiae, mi domine, gloriosissime imperator et princeps populi Christiani, a me servorum Dei infimo percuntari de sacrosancti baptismatis mysterio, quomodo illud intelligentes, eos doceamus qui nobis commissi esse videntur. Unde si quid secundum sensus mei capacitatem sentire . . . . Qui vero vestrae serenitati respondere non recusabo, ne crimen inobedientiae videat incurrere, magis optans a vestra imperiali auctoritate reprehendendo corrigi, quam ab adulatore laudando decipi. Legimus quippe, velut nobis orthodoxi 938Bfidei catholicae cultores scriptum reliquerunt, quod infans priusquam salutaris ablutione lavacri peccatorum suorum purgationem adipiscatur, catechuminus fit, id est audiens, sive instructus. Audire etenim illi convenit dum instruitur, ut unum Deum agnoscens colat. Animae quoque suae immortalitatem et aeternam sanctis gloriam; malis vero aeterna tormenta pro meritorum qualitate audiens credat, retribuenda fore. Et Dominus Jesus primo catechuminum fecit, cum luto oculos caeci linivit, ut post abluendus mitteretur ad Siloe, hoc est baptismi sacramentum. Scrutinium est exploratio, qua saepius examinatur utrum post abrenuntiationem Satanae operumque ac pomparum ejus, sacra verba datae fidei menti radicitus teneat infixa. Exsufflatur etiam a catechumino malignus spiritus: ut eo fugato, Christo Deo vero paretur ingressus. Exorcizatur, id est, conjurando increpatur idem malignus spiritus per nomen Dei aeterni, ut exeat et recedat, dans 938Clocum Spiritui sancto. Salem vero idcirco illi damus, ut ejus gustu condimentum sapientiae percipiat, quo ejus putrida et fluxa peccata divino munere mundentur. Deinde ei salutaris et apostolici symboli traditur fides: ut pote domus a prisco habitatore relicta ejusdem fidei dogmate perornetur ad inhabitandum Deum. Graece etenim symbolum Latine collatio dicitur. Hanc igitur fidei catholicae normam primitivae Ecclesiae ab apostolis traditam, et mentes quam ipsi post ascensionem Domini, dum omnes gentes docere baptizantes juberentur, in unum compositi conferendo subtilissimis composuere sermonibus, cathecuminis tradimus, instruentes eos secundum vividam symboli regulam, ut credant in Deum Patrem omnipotentem. Intelligentes quod sine ullo initio Deus: ita semper et Pater est, et omnipotens est: qui solo Verbi imperio cuncta creavit. Et in Jesum Christum Filium ejus, id est quo modo in Patrem, ita et in Filium credendum sciant, qui Jesus, id est Salvator, Christus vero a chrismate, id est unctus Spiritus 938Dsancti infusione. Conceptus est de Spiritu sancto: natus est ex Maria virgine, id est dono et gratia Dei tanta illius humilitas nobis concessa est, ut totum hominem suscipere dignaretur in utero Virginis, quem post passionem glorificatum super coelos in dextra Dei Patris collocaret. Hunc quoque Filium tempore illo quo Pilatus in Judaea judex erat, passum in veritate 939Acarnis, crucifixum, mortuum et sepultum credant, crucem ipsam in fronte gestantes. Eumque tertia die de sepulcro surrexisse et coelos ascendisse et in dextra Dei Patris, id est in majestate paternae gloriae secundum judiciariam potestatem sedere, et inde venturum in novissimo die ad judicandos vivos et mortuos firmiter teneant. Credant et in Spiritum sanctum. Re vera sicut in Patrem et in Filium, ita et in Spiritum sanctum nulli catholico credendum dubitare licet. Sanctam Ecclesiam catholicam scientes, videlicet quod Ecclesiam, non tamen in ecclesiam, quia non Deus, sed domus Dei est credere debeant. Catholicam, id est universalem. Sanctorum communionem, id est credant se teneri posse societate fidei et spei communione cum his qui hac defuncti sunt fide. Remissionem peccatorum, id est ut pleno affectu credulitatis teneant remissionem in baptismo Christi fieri. Carnis resurrectionem, carnem videlicet quam in hac vita mortalem portamus 939Bresurrecturam, esse immortalem intelligentes, credant. Vitam aeternam consecuturos sperent, si haec symboli sacramenta tenentes fideliter custodiant. Catechumino ad renuntiandum, id est funditus abnegandum in primis diabolo, qui est humani generis inimicus, cui fortiter et tota virtute resistere debemus, ejusque contradicere operibus et pompis. Opera diaboli manifesta sunt quae Apostolus opera carnis nominavit. Pompae sunt hujus saeculi vanae et mortiferae delectationes cupiditatesque noxiae simul et idolorum servitus. Quibus omnibus abdicatis, tota spes in solum Deum ponenda est. Tanguntur catechumino nares et aures sputo, quia legimus sputum quod de capite Domini processit, gratiam Spiritus sancti designari, ut quandiu halitum naribus trahat, per gratiam Spiritus sancti inde auribus spiritalibus percepta perdurare studeat. Pectus quoque ungitur oleo, ut signo sanctae crucis diabolo claudatur ingressus. Signantur et scapulae, ut undique muniatur, et velut deposito diabolicae servitutis jugo, transeat 939Cad gloriosam filiorum Dei libertatem. Item in pectoris et scapulae unctione intimatur fidei firmitas, et bonorum operum perseverantia. Et sic in nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus sancti, homo qui ad imaginem sanctae Trinitatis conditus est, trina submersione tinctus, ad ejusdem renovatur imaginem Trinitatis; et ut qui tertio gradu peccat, id est consensu cecidit in mortem, tertio elevatus de fonte per gratiam resurgat ad vitam. Tunc albis induitur vestimentis propter gaudium scilicet et solemnitatem regenerationis, ac castitatem vitae angelicae et splendoris decorem. Tum sacro chrismate caput perungitur, et mystico tegitur velamine, ut intelligat se diadema regni dignitatemque sacerdotii in mysterio suscepisse baptismi, secundum quod Apostolus, Vos, inquit, estis genus regium et sacerdotale, offerentes vosmet Domino hostiam sanctam, et Deo placentem. Corpore autem et sanguine Dominico confirmatur, ut illius capitis membrum fieri possit, qui 939Dpro eo passus est et resurrexit. Novissime per impositionem manus a summo sacerdote septiformis gratiae Spiritum accipit, ut roboretur per Spiritum sanctum ad praedicandum aliis, qui fuit in baptismo per gratiam vitae donatus aeternae.
III. LETTER TO THE EMPEROR CHARLEMAGNE. On the rites of baptism. (Ex Martene, Thesaurus anecd.) This is the letter which we have directed to the ears of the lord emperor.
It has pleased your incomparable prudence, my lord, most glorious emperor and prince of the Christian people, to inquire of me, the lowest of the servants of God, concerning the mystery of most holy baptism, how, understanding it, we may teach those who seem to be committed to us. Whence, if I feel anything according to the capacity of my understanding . . . . I who indeed will not refuse to answer your serenity, lest I seem to incur the crime of disobedience, choosing rather to be corrected by your imperial authority through rebuke than to be deceived by a flatterer through praise. For we have read — as the orthodox cultivators of the catholic faith 938Bhave left in writing for us — that an infant, before it obtains through the saving washing of the laver the purgation of its sins, becomes a catechumen, that is, one hearing, or one instructed. For it befits him to hear while he is instructed, that, acknowledging one God, he may worship him. And that, hearing, he may believe the immortality of his soul, and eternal glory for the holy, but eternal torments for the wicked, to be rendered according to the quality of their merits. And the Lord Jesus first made a catechumen, when he smeared the eyes of the blind man with clay, that afterward, to be washed, he was sent to Siloam — that is, the sacrament of baptism. Scrutiny is an examination, by which it is more often tested whether, after the renunciation of Satan and of his works and pomps, he holds the sacred words of the given faith fixed by the roots in his mind. The malignant spirit is also blown out of the catechumen, that, it being put to flight, an entrance may be prepared for Christ the true God. He is exorcized, that is, the same malignant spirit is rebuked by adjuration through the name of the eternal God, that it may go out and withdraw, giving 938Cplace to the Holy Spirit. And we give him salt for this reason, that by its taste he may receive the seasoning of wisdom, by which his putrid and fluid sins may be cleansed by the divine gift. Then the faith of the saving and apostolic creed is delivered to him: so that, like a house left by an ancient inhabitant, it may be adorned by the doctrine of that same faith for God to dwell in. For symbolum in Greek is called collatio (a gathering) in Latin. This norm of the catholic faith, therefore, delivered to the primitive Church by the apostles — and which they themselves, after the Lord's ascension, when they were bidden to teach and baptize all nations, being composed into one, composed by conferring together in the subtlest words — we deliver to the catechumens, instructing them according to the living rule of the creed, that they may believe in God the Father almighty. Understanding that God is without any beginning: so he is always both Father, and almighty: who created all things by the sole command of the Word. And in Jesus Christ his Son, that is, let them know that in the same manner as in the Father, so also in the Son it must be believed — this Jesus, that is, Savior, and Christ from the chrism, that is, anointed by the infusion of the Holy 938DSpirit. He was conceived of the Holy Spirit: he was born of the Virgin Mary, that is, by the gift and grace of God so great a humility of his was granted to us, that he deigned to take up the whole man in the womb of the Virgin, whom, glorified after the passion, he should place above the heavens at the right hand of God the Father. Let them believe also that this Son, at that time when Pilate was judge in Judaea, suffered in the truth 939Aof the flesh, was crucified, dead and buried, bearing that same cross upon their brow. And let them firmly hold that on the third day he rose from the sepulchre and ascended the heavens and sits at the right hand of God the Father, that is, in the majesty of the paternal glory according to his power of judgment, and thence will come on the last day to judge the living and the dead. Let them believe also in the Holy Spirit. Truly, as in the Father and in the Son, so also in the Holy Spirit it is not permitted to any catholic to doubt that belief must be given. Knowing the holy catholic Church, namely that they ought to believe the Church, yet not in the Church, because it is not God, but the house of God. Catholic, that is, universal. The communion of saints, that is, let them believe that they can be held in the fellowship of faith and the communion of hope with those who have died in this faith. The remission of sins, that is, that with the full affection of belief they may hold that remission comes about in the baptism of Christ. The resurrection of the flesh, understanding namely that the flesh which in this life we bear as mortal 939Bwill rise again to be immortal, let them believe. Let them hope that they will attain life eternal, if, holding these sacraments of the creed, they faithfully keep them. To the catechumen, for renouncing, that is, for utterly denying in the first place the devil, who is the enemy of the human race, whom we ought strongly and with all our strength to resist, and to contradict his works and pomps. The works of the devil are manifest, which the Apostle named the works of the flesh. The pomps are the vain and death-bringing delights of this world and the noxious desires together with the servitude of idols. All which being renounced, all hope is to be placed in God alone. The catechumen's nostrils and ears are touched with spittle, because we read that the spittle which came forth from the head of the Lord signifies the grace of the Holy Spirit, so that as long as he draws breath into his nostrils, he may strive that the things thereby received into his spiritual ears through the grace of the Holy Spirit may endure. The breast also is anointed with oil, that by the sign of the holy cross the entrance may be closed to the devil. The shoulders too are signed, that he may be fortified on every side, and, as if the yoke of diabolical servitude were laid down, may pass over 939Cto the glorious liberty of the sons of God. Likewise in the anointing of the breast and shoulder is intimated the firmness of faith, and the perseverance of good works. And thus in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, the man who was created in the image of the holy Trinity, dipped by a threefold submersion, is renewed unto the image of the same Trinity; and that he who sins in the third degree, that is, has fallen by consent into death, may, lifted a third time from the font, rise again through grace unto life. Then he is clad in white garments, namely on account of the joy and solemnity of regeneration, and the chastity of the angelic life and the beauty of splendor. Then his head is anointed with the sacred chrism, and covered with a mystic veil, that he may understand that he has received the diadem of the kingdom and the dignity of the priesthood in the mystery of baptism, according to which the Apostle says, You, he says, are a royal and priestly race, offering yourselves to the Lord as a holy victim, and pleasing to God. And he is confirmed by the body and blood of the Lord, that he may be able to become a member of that head, who 939Dsuffered and rose again for him. Lastly, through the imposition of the hand by the high priest he receives the Spirit of sevenfold grace, that he may be strengthened through the Holy Spirit to preach to others, who in baptism was granted through grace the gift of eternal life.
IV. ANONYMI SCRIPTORIS RESPONSIO AD CAPITULA ARCHIEPISCOPIS REGNI FRANCORUM MISSA A CAROLO MAGNO, ANNO CHRISTI DCCCXI.(Ex Baluzio.) Haec sunt causae quas domnus imperator Augustus nobis ad utilitatem semper sanctae Ecclesiae per sacram suam mandavit epistolam.
IV. THE REPLY OF AN ANONYMOUS WRITER TO THE CHAPTERS SENT BY CHARLEMAGNE TO THE ARCHBISHOPS OF THE KINGDOM OF THE FRANKS, IN THE YEAR OF CHRIST 811.(Ex Baluzio.) These are the matters which the lord emperor Augustus enjoined upon us for the benefit of the ever-holy Church by his sacred letter.
CAP. I. Quomodo vel qualiter unusquisque Dei sacerdos plebem sibi a Deo commissam insinuat, praedicat atque gubernat.
RESP. Nos igitur populum nobis commissum juxta nostram exigui intellectus scientiam praedicamus et ammonemus sicut sancti jam nobis Patres per illorum reliquerunt exempla, Augustinus, Cyprianus, Hieronymus, Ambrosius, Gregorius, Ephraim, Cassianus, Cassiodorus, caeterique usque modo verbi Dei praedicatores. Primum ineffabilem sanctam sacramque Trinitatem credant, fidem dogmaque ejus fideliter intelligant. Et quod debile est in Christi grege cum omni mystico fovemus medicamine, et quod sanum est, favente Christi gratia, cum omni lactea doctrina apostolica cupimus custodire. Et pro hoc hic plus non loquimur, ne sanctam prolixus 940Boffendat synodum sermo.
CHAP. I. In what way, or how, each priest of God imparts, preaches, and governs the people committed to him by God.
REPLY. We therefore preach and admonish the people committed to us according to the knowledge of our slender understanding, as the holy Fathers have already left for us by their examples — Augustine, Cyprian, Jerome, Ambrose, Gregory, Ephrem, Cassian, Cassiodorus, and the rest of the preachers of the word of God down to the present time. First, let them believe the ineffable holy and sacred Trinity, let them faithfully understand its faith and doctrine. And what is weak in the flock of Christ we cherish with every mystic medicine, and what is sound, by the favoring grace of Christ, we desire to guard with all the milky apostolic teaching. And for this reason we say no more here, lest a prolix discourse offend the holy 940Bsynod.
CAP. II. De omni sancti mysterio baptismatis quo [si] ordine debemus celebramus.
RESP. Baptismum Graece, Latine tinctio dicitur. Et ob hoc tinctio nominatur quia ibi homo Adae de peccato fuscatur. Et haec sunt sanctae Ecclesiae sacramenta, baptismum, chrisma, corpus et sanguis Christi. Et ideo sacramenta dicuntur, quamvis corporaliter acta sint, [quia] aliquid divinitus significant. Et baptismi mysterium non aliter est nisi sub Trinitatis designatione Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus sancti. Sicut enim in tribus testibus omne verbum, ita hoc sacramentum ternarius firmat numerus. Et propterea infans ter mergitur in sacro fonte ut sepulturam triduanam Christi trina demersio mystice designaret. Et ab aquis elevatio Christi resurgentis instar est de sepulcro. Et propterea hoc sacratissimum non celebratur mysterium nisi in Pascha et 940CPentecosten, id est, in veneratione resurrectionis Salvatoris et descendentis super apostolos Spiritus sancti. Et inde post lavacrum unguento linitur regio, hoc est chrismate. Chrisma enim Graece, unctio Latine dicitur, ex cujus nomine Christus nominatur. Inde Christiani. Nam sicut ex baptismo remissio peccatorum largitur, ita per unctionem sanctificatio sancti Spiritus adhibet: quia hoc antiqua tribuit auctoritas ut de chrismate reges et sacerdotes ungerentur ex quo Aaron a Moyse unctus est.
CHAP. II. On the whole holy mystery of baptism, in what order we ought [si] to celebrate.
REPLY. Baptism in Greek is called tinctio (dipping) in Latin. And for this reason it is named a dipping, because there the man of Adam is darkened from sin. And these are the sacraments of the holy Church: baptism, chrism, the body and blood of Christ. And they are called sacraments, although they are done bodily, [because] they signify something divinely. And the mystery of baptism is not otherwise than under the designation of the Trinity of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. For just as every word stands in three witnesses, so this sacrament the number three confirms. And therefore the infant is thrice immersed in the sacred font, that the threefold immersion might mystically signify the three-day burial of Christ. And the lifting up from the waters is the likeness of Christ rising again from the sepulchre. And therefore this most sacred mystery is not celebrated except at Easter and 940CPentecost, that is, in veneration of the resurrection of the Savior and of the Holy Spirit descending upon the apostles. And thereafter, after the washing, the royal one is anointed with unguent, that is, with chrism. For chrisma in Greek is called unctio (anointing) in Latin, from whose name Christ is named. Thence Christians. For as from baptism the remission of sins is bestowed, so through the anointing the sanctification of the Holy Spirit is applied: because ancient authority granted this, that kings and priests should be anointed with chrism, from the time that Aaron was anointed by Moses.
CAP. III. Cur catechumenus fit, et cujus linguae, et quid interpretatur.
RESP. Catechumenus Graece, auditor Latine dicitur. Et ab hoc auditor nominatur dum de gentilitate per Dei ministrationem Verbi in corpus unitur Ecclesiae. Et gentilis dicitur quasi ita genitus, nec tunc illa est imbutus doctrina. Propterea in sanctae matris Ecclesiae gremio catechumenus aliter agit. Audiat ac 940Ddiscat antequam ad sacrum accedat fontem mystica Christianae religionis sacramenta. Et tunc discit fidem sanctae Trinitatis et symbolum et caetera quae Christiani admonet catholica lex.
CHAP. III. Why one becomes a catechumen, and of what tongue, and what it is interpreted.
REPLY. Catechumen in Greek is called auditor (hearer) in Latin. And from this he is named a hearer while, from heathendom, through God's ministration of the Word, he is united into the body of the Church. And a gentilis (heathen) is so called as though ita genitus (so born), nor is he then imbued with that doctrine. Therefore in the bosom of the holy mother Church the catechumen acts otherwise. Let him hear and 940Dlearn the mystic sacraments of the Christian religion before he approaches the sacred font. And then he learns the faith of the holy Trinity, and the creed, and the other things which the catholic law admonishes Christians.
IV. CAP. De scrutinio ecclesiastico, cur scrutinium fit, et quo tempore, et quid est scrutinium.
RESP. Scrutinium a scrutando dicitur, quia tunc scrutandi sunt catechumeni si rectam jam noviter fidem symboli eis traditam firmiter tenent.
Desunt hic plurima.
IV. CHAP. On ecclesiastical scrutiny: why scrutiny is made, and at what time, and what scrutiny is.
REPLY. Scrutiny is so called from scrutinizing, because then the catechumens are to be scrutinized, whether they now firmly hold the right faith of the creed newly delivered to them.
Many things are wanting here.