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| (Probably for 340 A.D.) To the Beloved Brother, and our fellow Minister Serapion.
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*XII.—(Probably for 340 a.d.) To the Beloved Brother, and our fellow Minister
Serapion4353
| 4353 This
Letter being introduced (as it is in the ms.)
after the eleventh, with the remark at the end of it, that there is no
twelfth; together with the exhortations concerning fasting contained in
it, was probably written in lieu of a twelfth. Serapion was doubtless
the Bishop of Thmuis (see Letter 54). | .
Thanks be to Divine
Providence for those things which, at all times, it vouchsafes to us;
for it has vouchsafed to us now to come to the season of the festival.
Having, therefore, according to custom, written the Letter respecting
the festival, I have sent it to you, my beloved; that through you all
the brethren may be able to know the day of rejoicing. But because some
Meletians, being come from Syria, have boasted that they had received
what does not belong to them, I mean, that they also were reckoned in
the Catholic Church; on this account, I have sent to you a copy of one
letter of our fellow-ministers who are of Palestine, that when it
reaches you, you may know the fraud of the pretenders in this matter.
For because they boasted, as I have said before, it was necessary for
me to write to the Bishops who are in Syria, and immediately those of
Palestine sent us a reply, having agreed in4354
| 4354 Or,
‘fulfilled the judgment.’ Cureton. |
the judgment against them, as you may learn from this example. That you
may not have to consider the letters of all the Bishops one after the
other, I have sent you one, which is of like character with the rest,
in order that from it you may know the purport of all of them. I know
also that when they are convicted in this matter, they will incur
perfect odium at the hands of all men. And thus far concerning the
pretenders. But I have further deemed it highly necessary and very
urgent, to make known to your modesty—for I have written this to
each one—that you should proclaim the fast of forty days to the
brethren, and persuade them to fast, lest, while all the world is
fasting, we who are in Egypt should be derided, as the only people who
do not fast, but take our pleasure in these days. For if, on account of
the Letter [not] being yet read, we do not fast, we should take away
this pretext, and it should be read before the fast of forty days, so
that they may not make this an excuse for neglect or fasting. Also,
when it is read, they may be able to learn about the fast. But O, my
beloved, whether in this way or any other, persuade and teach them to
fast the forty days. For it is a disgrace that when all the world does
this, those alone who are in Egypt, instead of fasting, should find
their pleasure. For even I being grieved because men deride us for
this, have been constrained to write to you. When therefore you receive
the letters, and have read them and given the exhortation, write to me
in return, my beloved, that I also may rejoice upon learning it.
2. But I have also thought it necessary to
inform4355
| 4355 There
is a similar notification of the appointment of fresh Bishops appended
to the nineteenth Letter. | you of the fact, that Bishops have
succeeded those who have fallen
asleep. In Tanis in the stead of Elias4356
| 4356 Larsow writes ‘Ilius.’ Tanis is situate in
Augustamnica Prima. Vid. Quatremère Mémoires geogr. et
histor. sur l’Egypte, tom. i. p. 284, &c. (L.) The
word Τάνις is the
LXX. rendering of ‘Zoan.’ In the Apol. c. Ar. 50, we
have a list of ninety-four Egyptian Bishops, among others, who
subscribed to the letter of the Council of Sardica. A reference to this
list explains some names which otherwise would have been obscure. For a
list of the Egyptian Bishoprics, the reader is referred to
Neale’s Hist. of the Holy Eastern Church. Gen. Introd.
vol. i. pp. 115, 116. To the list there given must be added the names
of Bucolia, Stathma, the Eastern Garyathis, the Southern Garyathis.
There were two Egyptian Bishops named Elias who subscribed their names
to the letter of the Council of Sardica. | ,
is Theodorus. In Arsenoitis, Silvanus4357
| 4357 Silvanus was succeeded by Andreas, as we learn from the postscript
to the nineteenth Letter. |
instead of Calosiris. In Paralus, Nemesion is instead of Nonnus4358
| 4358 An
Egyptian Bishop named Nonnus was present at the Synod of Tyre. Apol.
c. Ar. §79. | . In Bucolia4359
| 4359 For a
dissertation on the situation of Bucolia, see the treatise by
Quatremère, already referred, to (tom. i. pp. 224–233). In
p. 233, he writes; La contrée de l’Elearchie ou des Bucolies
est, si je ne me trompe, parfaitement identique avec la province de
Baschmour. | is
Heraclius. In Tentyra, Andronicus is instead of Saprion4360
| 4360 An
Egyptian Bishop of the name of Saprion was at the Synod of Tyre.
Apol. c. Ar. §79. He is ‘Serapion’ in Vit.
Pach. 20. | , his father. In Thebes, Philon instead of
Philon. In Maximianopolis, Herminus instead of Atras. In the lower
Apollon is Sarapion instead of Plution. In Aphroditon, Serenus is in
the place of Theodorus. In Rhinocoruron, Salomon. In Stathma, Arabion,
and in Marmarica. In the eastern Garyathis, Andragathius4361
in the place of Hierax. In the southern
Garyathis, Quintus4362
instead of Nicon4363
. So that to these you may write, and from
these receive the canonical Letters.
Salute one another with a holy kiss. All the
brethren who are with me salute you.
He wrote this from Rome. There is no twelfth
Letter. E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
|
