We anathematize him also, whosoever does not both faithfully follow and equally venerate the most holy synods, that of Nicaea, of Constantinople, the First of Ephesus, and of Chalcedon—synods harmonious with the Apostles in the one and immaculate faith and strengthened by the prelates of the Apostolic See—or whosoever wills either to correct as though wrongly spoken, or to supplement as though imperfect, those things which were done in those same holy councils of which we have spoken above. Behold, venerable Emperor, it is shown clearer than light that we have ever held this intention in the reverence of the four holy synods: that whatsoever was defined or established or judged by the holy Fathers sitting in the same synods should remain undefiled.
Therefore, with all things remaining as they are contained concerning the letter of Ibas and his person in the interlocutions of the holy Fathers and of the vicars of the Apostolic See, let this suffice for us and for all Catholics with equal will, which there the holy Synod itself proclaimed could suffice for it, saying:
'Let him now anathematize Nestorius and his dogmas'—by which anathema of the most impious Nestorius and Eutyches, so often repeated by Ibas the bishop, the will of the whole synod was satisfied. These things, therefore, having been arranged by us with all caution and diligence on every side, for the sake of preserving the inviolable reverence of the aforesaid synods and their venerable enactments, mindful that it is written that we ought not to transgress the bounds of our fathers, we resolve and decree that it is lawful for no one belonging to the ecclesiastical orders and dignities to think, or to write down, or to bring forth, or to compose, or to teach anything contrary to those things which we have asserted or established in the present constitution concerning the oft-mentioned Three Chapters, or to raise any question further after the present definition.
But if anything concerning those same Three Chapters, contrary to these things which we have here asserted or established, has been done, said, and written down, or shall have been, in the name of anyone belonging to the ecclesiastical orders and dignities, and be found by anyone anywhere, this by all means, out of the authority of the Apostolic See over which by the grace of God we preside, we render void. HERE ENDS. AND THE SUBSCRIPTION: With God's help and through His grace, I, Vigilius, bishop of the holy Catholic Church of the city of Rome, have subscribed to this our constitution. AND THE SUBSCRIPTIONS OF THE BISHOPS: I, John, bishop of the church of the Marsi, consenting to this constitution, have subscribed. I, Zacchaeus, bishop of the church of Scylacium, consenting to this constitution, have subscribed.
I, Pastor, by the mercy of God bishop of the church of the metropolis of Iconium, consenting to this constitution, have subscribed. I, Vincentius, bishop of the metropolis of Claudiopolis, consenting to this constitution, have subscribed. I, Zacchaeus, being asked by my brother Valentinus, bishop of the church of Silva Candida, in his own presence and with his consent and at his dictation to me, have subscribed to this constitution on his behalf. I, Julianus, humble bishop of the church of Cingulum, consenting to this constitution, have subscribed. I, Paulus, by the grace of God bishop of the church of Ulpiana, consenting in all the things written above to this constitution, which the most blessed Pope Vigilius brought forth in the cause of the Three Chapters, have subscribed.
I, Proiectus, bishop of the city of Naissus, consenting to this constitution, have subscribed. I, Sabinianus, by the grace of God bishop of the city of Zappara, consenting in all the things written above to this constitution, which the most blessed Pope Vigilius brought forth in the cause of the Three Chapters, have subscribed. I, Primasius, by the grace of God bishop of the city of Hadrumetum, which is also called Justinianopolis, of the council of Byzacena, consenting to this constitution, which the most blessed Pope Vigilius brought forth in the cause of the Three Chapters, have subscribed. I, Stephanus, bishop of the church of Ariminum, consenting to this constitution, have subscribed. I, Paschasius, bishop of the church of Altinum, consenting to this constitution, have subscribed.
I, Alexander, bishop of the church of Meletis, consenting to this constitution, have subscribed. I, Lucianus, bishop of the church of Meletis, consenting to this constitution, have subscribed. I, Redemptus, bishop of the church of Nomentum, consenting to this constitution, have subscribed. I, Venantius, bishop of the church of Lippae, consenting to this constitution, have subscribed. I, Quodvultdeus, bishop of the church of Numana, consenting to this constitution, have subscribed. I, Theophanius, archdeacon of the holy Roman Church, consenting to this constitution, have subscribed. I, Pelagius, by the mercy of God deacon of the holy Roman Church, consenting to this constitution, have subscribed. I, Peter, by the mercy of God deacon of the holy Roman Church, consenting to this constitution, have subscribed. Given on the day before
the day before the Ides of May, in the reign of our lord Justinian, perpetual Augustus, in the twenty-seventh year, in the twelfth year after the consulship of Basilius the most illustrious man, in the city of Constantinople. (84.) TO THE MOST GLORIOUS AND MOST CLEMENT SON JUSTINIAN AUGUSTUS, JOHN THE BISHOP. Among the illustrious praises of your Wisdom and Gentleness, most Christian of princes, this shines forth with purer light like some star: that out of love of the faith, out of zeal for charity, being instructed in ecclesiastical disciplines, you preserve reverence for the Roman See, and subject all things to it, and lead them to its unity—to whose author, that is, to the first of the Apostles, it was commanded by the Lord's own word: 'Feed my sheep.'
That this See is truly the head of all the churches, both the rule of the Fathers and the statutes of princes declare, and the most reverend addresses of your Piety attest. It is plain, therefore, that in you is fulfilled what the Scriptures speak: 'By me kings reign, and the mighty decree justice.' For there is nothing that shines with a clearer light than right faith in a prince; there is nothing so incapable of falling into decline as true religion. For since both regard the author of life and of light, rightly do they reject the darkness and know not how to be subject to failure.
Wherefore, most glorious of princes, the divine power shall be entreated with all our prayers, that it may preserve your Piety in this ardor of faith, in this devotion of mind, in this zeal for whole religion, without any failing, for the longer times; for we believe that this also is profitable to the holy churches. For it is written: 'The king rules with his lips'; and again: 'The heart of the king is in the hand of God, and where he wills, he will incline it.' For this it is that confirms your empire, this that preserves your realms. For the peace of the Church and the unity of religion keep the author of the deed, raised on high, in a tranquillity pleasing to itself.
For no small recompense is granted him by the divine power, through whom the Church, parted by no wrinkles, is not sundered, nor is it disfigured by any spots inserted. For it is written: 'When a just king shall sit upon the throne, nothing malignant shall oppose him.' Accordingly, we have received the tokens of your Serenity, with our accustomed reverence, through Hypatius and Demetrius, most holy men, my brothers and fellow-bishops; from whose report we have also learned that you had set forth to the faithful peoples an edict out of love of the faith, for the putting away of the heretics' design, according to the apostolic doctrine, with the consent of our brothers and fellow-bishops intervening. And because it accords with apostolic doctrine, we confirm it by our authority.
Now the text of the letter is as follows: THE VICTOR JUSTINIAN, PIOUS, FORTUNATE, RENOWNED, TRIUMPHANT, EVER AUGUSTUS, TO JOHN THE MOST HOLY ARCHBISHOP OF THE OTHER ROME AND PATRIARCH.
Rendering honor to the Apostolic See and to your Holiness, which was and is always our desire, and honoring your Beatitude as it befits a father, we hasten to bring to the notice of your Holiness all things which pertain to the state of the churches; for it has always been our great endeavor that the unity of your Apostolic See and the state of the holy churches of God be kept—which state hitherto holds firm and remains unshaken with no adversity intervening; and therefore we have hastened both to subject and to unite to the See of your Holiness all the priests of the whole Eastern region.
And so also in the present matters which have here been stirred up—although they be manifest and undoubted, and firmly kept and preached by all priests according to the doctrine of your Apostolic See—we have judged it necessary that they should come to the notice of your Holiness. For we do not suffer that anything which pertains to the state of the churches, however manifest and undoubted the thing that is brought forward may be, should not also be made known to your Holiness, because it is the head of all the holy churches. For in all things, as has been said, we hasten that the honor and authority of your See should increase.
We therefore make manifest to your Holiness that a certain few, unfaithful and estranged from the holy Catholic and Apostolic Church of God, have dared in Jewish fashion to contradict those things which are rightly held and glorified and preached by all priests according to your doctrine—denying our Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God and our God, incarnate of the Holy Spirit and of the holy and glorious Virgin and Mother of God, Mary, made man and crucified, to be one of the holy and consubstantial Trinity, to be adored together with and glorified together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, consubstantial with the Father according to divinity and consubstantial with us, the same one, according to humanity, passible in the flesh, the same one impassible in deity.
For those refusing to confess our Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God and our God, to be one of the holy and consubstantial Trinity, are seen to follow the evil doctrine of Nestorius, calling him Son of God according to grace, and saying that God the Word is one and Christ another.
But all the priests of the holy Catholic and Apostolic Church, and the most reverend archimandrites of the sacred monasteries, following your Holiness and keeping the state and unity of the holy churches of God which they have toward the Apostolic See of your Holiness, changing nothing at all of the ecclesiastical state which hitherto has held and holds, with one accord confess and glorify, proclaiming our Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son and Word of God and our God, born of the Father before the ages and outside of time, in the last days to have come down from heaven and been incarnate of the Holy Spirit and born of the holy and glorious Virgin, Mother of God, Mary, and made man and crucified, to be one of the holy and consubstantial Trinity, to be adored together with and glorified together with the Father and the Holy Spirit.
For we do not acknowledge God the Word as one and Christ as another, but one and the same, the very same consubstantial with the Father according to divinity and consubstantial with us according to humanity, passible in the flesh, the same one impassible in deity. For as He is perfect in divinity, so the same one is also perfect in humanity: for in one subsistence we receive and confess the union—that which the Greeks call: 'We confess the union according to hypostasis.'
And since the only-begotten Son and Word of God, born of the Father before the ages and outside of time, the same one also in the last days coming down from heaven, incarnate of the Holy Spirit and of the holy and glorious Virgin and Mother of God, Mary, and made man, our Lord Jesus Christ, is properly and truly God, therefore also we call the holy and glorious Virgin Mary properly and truly the Mother of God—not because God the Word took the beginning of His being from her, but because in the last days He came down from heaven and, incarnate of her and made man, was born.
Whom we confess and believe, as has been said, to be consubstantial with the Father according to deity and consubstantial with us, the same one, according to humanity, acknowledging His miracles and the sufferings which He willingly bore in the flesh. Moreover, we receive the four holy councils, that is, of the three hundred and eighteen holy Fathers who were gathered at Nicaea, and of the one hundred and fifty holy Fathers who assembled in this royal city, and of the holy Fathers who were gathered at the First of Ephesus, and of the holy Fathers who assembled at Chalcedon, even as your Apostolic See teaches and preaches.
All the priests, therefore, following the doctrine of your Apostolic See, thus believe and confess and preach. Wherefore we have hastened to bring these things to the notice of your Holiness through Hypatius and Demetrius, the most blessed bishops, so that it may not be hidden from your Holiness what things have been wickedly and in Jewish fashion denied by certain few monks, according to the perfidy of Nestorius.
We therefore beseech your fatherly affection that, by letters addressed to us and to the most holy bishop and patriarch of this fostering city, your brother—since he too has written through these same envoys to your Holiness, hastening in all things to follow the Apostolic See of your Beatitude—you would make manifest to us that your Holiness receives all who rightly confess the aforesaid things, and that you condemn the perfidy of those who in Jewish fashion have dared to deny the right faith.
For thus, moreover, both the love of all toward you and the authority of your See increases, and the unity of the holy churches which is toward you will be preserved undisturbed, when through you all the most blessed bishops shall have learned the sincere doctrine of your Holiness concerning these things which have been reported to you. And we beseech your Beatitude to pray for us and to obtain for us the providence of God. AND IN ANOTHER HAND: May the Divinity preserve you for many years, holy and most religious father. Given on the eighth day before the Ides of June, at Constantinople, in the third consulship of our lord Justinian, perpetual Augustus.
It is plain therefore, most glorious Emperor, as the tenor of the reading and the report of your envoys have made clear, that you devote yourself to apostolic teachings, since you have such understanding of the faith of the Catholic religion. Such things you write, such things you have published to the faithful peoples, which, as we have said, both the Apostolic See teaches and the venerable authority of the Fathers decreed and we have confirmed in all respects. It is fitting, therefore, to cry aloud with the prophetic voice: 'Let the heaven rejoice from above, let the mountains pour forth joy, and the hills shall be glad with gladness.' These things, therefore, it behooves the faithful to write on the tablets of the heart, these to guard as the apples of the eyes.
For there is no one in whom the charity of Christ glows warm who would prove a gainsayer of your so right, so true confession of the faith, seeing that, plainly condemning the impiety of Nestorius and Eutyches and of all heretics, you keep—with a mind devoted to God and pious—unshaken and inviolate the one true Catholic faith: instituted by the teaching of our Lord and God the Savior Jesus Christ, and everywhere spread abroad by the prophetic and apostolic preachings, and strengthened by the confessions of the saints throughout the whole world, united by the judgments of the Fathers and doctors, and consonant with our doctrine. For they alone oppose your professions, of whom the divine Scripture speaks, saying:
'They have made a lie their hope, and have hoped to be covered by a lie'; and again, those who according to the prophet say to the Lord: 'Depart from us, we will not know your ways'; on account of which Solomon says: 'They have wandered from the paths of their own tillage, and gather fruitless things with their hands.' This, therefore, is your true faith, this your sure religion, this—as we have said—all the Fathers of blessed memory and prelates of the Roman Church, whom we follow in all things, this the Apostolic See has hitherto preached and has kept unshaken: to this confession, to this faith, whosoever shall prove a gainsayer has judged himself to be estranged from holy communion, estranged from the Catholic Church.
For we found in the city of Rome Cyrus with his followers, who was of the Acoemetae monastery; and by apostolic persuasions we strove to recall them to the right faith and, like sheep which had perished by straying, to the Lord's sheepfold, that they might, according to the prophet, acknowledge the stammering tongues to speak the things that are of peace. But to those not believing, the first of the Apostles, through us, speaks the words of Isaiah the prophet: 'Walk in the light of your fire and of the flame which you have kindled'; but their heart was hardened, as it is written, so that they understood not, and the sheep which were not mine were unwilling in the least to hear the shepherd's voice.
In their case, keeping those things which are established by their own pontiff, we by no means received them into our communion, and we ordered them to be estranged from the whole Catholic Church, unless, their error being condemned, they shall have marked out with a regular profession that they will follow our doctrine as soon as possible. For it is just that those who by no means yield obedience to our statutes should be held as banished from the churches. But because the Church never closes her bosom to those returning, I beseech your Clemency that, if—their own error being laid aside and their perverse teaching driven off—they should be willing to return to the unity of the Church, when they have been received into our communion you would remove the stings of your indignation, and, we interceding, grant them the favor of a kindly mind.
And we entreat God and our Savior Jesus Christ that He may deign to preserve you through long-lived and peaceful times in this true religion and unity and veneration of the Apostolic See, whose primacy you, as most Christian and pious, preserve in all things. Moreover, most serene of princes, we commend the persons of your envoys, Hypatius and Demetrius, our brothers and fellow-bishops, whom their very election has shown to be pleasing to your Clemency; for you could not have laid the weight of so great a cause upon any but men perfect in Christ, nor would you have deigned to send addresses so full of piety and reverence except through men who love. AND IN ANOTHER HAND:
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GratiadomininostriIesuChristietcaritasdeipatrisetcommunicatiospiritussanctisitsemperuobiscum, amen, piissimefili. Dat. VIII. Kal. April. (85.) DOMNOBEATISSIMOETHONORABILISANCTOFRATRIETCON-SACERDOTIIOHANNIREPARATUSFLORENTINIANUSDATIANUSETCETERIDUCENTIDECEMETSEPTEMEPISCOPIQVIINUNIUERSISCONCILIISAPUDIUSTINIANAMKARTAGINEMFUIMUS.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God the Father and the communion of the Holy Spirit be always with you, amen, most pious son. Given on the eighth day before the Kalends of April. (85.) TO THE MOST BLESSED AND HONORABLE LORD, THE HOLY BROTHER AND FELLOW-PRIEST JOHN: REPARATUS, FLORENTINIANUS, DATIANUS, AND THE REMAINING TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTEEN BISHOPS WHO WERE PRESENT IN ALL THE COUNCILS AT JUSTINIANA CARTHAGE.
Desiring again to keep the excellent custom of a former time, which a violent captivity had for a hundred years taken away, to the grief of all, we have assembled in faithful devotion for a universal synod of all Africa in that basilica of Justiniana Carthage, consecrating to the Lord the first-fruits of our assembly, from whence the tyrant Huneric had expelled our fathers. This basilica is among us called that of Faustus, distinguished by the bodies of many martyrs, whose prayers God heard, so as to give this confidence to the priests. There, therefore, how greatly each one was able to weep with tearful joys, we rather leave to be considered by your Beatitude; for in all there was one affection of spiritual gladness:
to give thanks to almighty God, whose grace is given to sinners without the merits of works, and to administer the antidote of saving faith to heretics newly reconciled. But when the definitions of the Council of Nicaea had been run through in public reading, among other matters concerning which a discussion had to arise, it had now begun to be inquired how the priests of the Arians ought to be received into the Catholic faith—whether in their own honors or in lay communion; and thus it suddenly pleased us all unanimously to inquire first the opinion of your Beatitude. For the Apostolic See is able, as we hope, to give us who ask such an answer as the truth, once explored, may cause us harmoniously to approve.
From the silent movements of all our colleagues we perceived that it pleased no one that the Arians should be received in their own honors; nevertheless we believed it to accord with charity that no one should bring into public knowledge what our judgment holds, unless first either the custom or the definition of the Roman Church were brought forth to us. This letter, therefore, of our salutation we have straightway sent through our brothers and fellow-priests Gaius and Peter, and through our son Liberatus the deacon, honoring both the authority and the grace of your Beatitude with due observances:
For you are such a one as the holy See of Peter deserved to have for its pontiff: worthy of veneration, full of love, speaking the truth without falsehood, doing nothing arrogantly. Wherefore also the free charity of the whole brotherhood judged that your counsel should be sought: let that mind, glowing with the Holy Spirit, answer, I beseech, kindly and truthfully. For not only concerning priests, but also concerning the very little ones baptized among them, whether they are wont or ought to be admitted to the clerical state if they should ask it, we consult you. For inasmuch as many frequently make these petitions, we neither grant nor deny it, until, a more diligent treatment having been had with you, our legation shall return.
We believe that this too ought to be made known to Your Beatitude: that not a few of the brethren from our college, having left their own congregations without cause, frequently sail across the sea to regions overseas. These the Church has tolerated for a long while, excusing them because of the violence of these evil times. We now request that whoever perhaps, whether a bishop or a presbyter or a deacon, or a cleric of any lower order, should come without a letter from us and cannot prove that he was sent for the benefit of the holy churches, be judged like a vagabond and be deemed unworthy of your communion; so that in all things and through all things the discipline of Your Beatitude may be praised. AND IN ANOTHER HAND: May Almighty God keep you vigorous and mindful of us, lord and brother.
(86.) BISHOP AGAPITUS TO REPARATUS, FLORENTINIANUS, DATIANUS, AND THE REST OF THE BISHOPS ESTABLISHED THROUGHOUT AFRICA. Long ago indeed, most beloved brethren, our mouth was filled with joy at your prosperity and our tongue with exultation; but now too, when we have received the letters of Your Charity addressed to our predecessor, we renew the joys formerly conceived, blessing the eternal Lord, who has freed us from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us. For we rightly say that we are together with you, with whom we have also been afflicted; for since the Church is everywhere one body, among us also her principal members were suffering together with her.
For your grief was ever our affliction, and at the groaning of you all, at the bidding of charity, we often felt sobs in our inmost being. Since this is so, upon the return of Gaius and Peter, our brothers and fellow bishops, and of Liberatus the deacon, our son, we set before them the most sincere charity of your council; for, as befitted men both wise and learned, you were not unmindful of the apostolic primacy, but, wishing to loose the bonds of the question raised, you sought access, as was fitting, from his See to whom the power over the keys has been granted.
Wherefore we gladly disclose what those men established in the inner councils of the Fathers laid down concerning such a matter, and we append it here translated into the present discourse, so that you may recognize without doubt that it is not permitted to overstep the boundaries long since set. Therefore, if we wish to avoid the stumbling-block which was announced by our elders, let us follow this. For they are without excuse whom it befalls to transgress after being forewarned, and they heap up the bitterness of their excesses whom ignorance does not protect. Hence it is that, since Almighty God has raised up for us so great a horn of salvation in the house of David His servant, that concerning all those to whose iniquity we lay subject
we might treat of reconciliation, so we ought to apply remedies so carefully that what is being cured may not become the ruin of our own soundness, nor that the medicine contract a stain from the wound to which it wishes to grant healing.
But of such a kind, as it has also most cautiously seemed to you, let us render this service in the watchful care of shepherds, lest, when we wish to gather the lost, we ourselves perish, and, when by too great a relaxation we absolve, we—which may the Lord avert—fall guilty into fault; especially since the judgment of our predecessors embraced with such great charity in the faith those returning to us from the Arians in whatever manner and at whatever age, though defiled by the corruption of that plague, and with such justice under love rebuked them, and with such reasoning shut them out from ambition for honor, that they blushed to seek anything more than to return.
But concerning that which with most pious compunction you inquired—namely, whether, even if they ought not to be received into their own office nor to be promoted at all, they might at least be assisted with the benefits of sustenance—we praise, we exhort, we embrace it, so that in very truth, seeing that the promotion or office in which they were is denied them, all may judge that you seek reverence for the canons rather than to indulge the ardor of covetousness. Therefore let kindness nourish those who come to the most sincere faith, and console them; let mercy be ready to all, in the recompense of which it is said: Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.
That also—that Catholics who preside over or serve the Church ought by no means to be received by us without the letters of their own priests—we judge to be both in agreement with the mandates and canons, and profitable to discipline and to the faith; because by remaining in the churches in which they serve, they will be able, by the assiduity of their ministry, to grow fervent in the love of God our Savior, and to avoid those things which in wandering about are blameworthy. Given the fifth day before the Ides of September. (87.) AGAPITUS TO BISHOP REPARATUS OF CARTHAGE.