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| To Proterius, Bishop of Alexandria.
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Letter CXXIX.
To Proterius, Bishop of
Alexandria.
Leo to Proterius, bishop of Alexandria.
I. He commends his persistent loyalty to
the Faith.
Your letter, beloved, which our brother and
fellow-bishop Nestorius duly brought us, has caused me great joy.
For it was seemly that such an epistle should be sent by the head of
the church of Alexandria to the Apostolic See, as showed that the
Egyptians had from the first learnt from the teaching of the most
blessed Apostle Peter through his blessed disciple Mark556
| 556 S. Mark was the reputed
founder of the church of Alexandria. Cf. Letter IX. chap. 1. | , that which it is agreed the Romans have
believed, that beside the Lord Jesus Christ
“there is no other name given to men under heaven, in which they
must be saved557
.” But
because “all men have not faith558
” and
the crafty Tempter never delights so much in wounding the hearts of men
as when he can poison their unwary minds with errors that are opposed
to Gospel Truth, we must strive by the mighty teaching of the Holy
Ghost to prevent Christian knowledge
from being perverted by the
devil’s falsehoods. And against this danger it behoves the
rulers of the churches especially to guard and to avert from the minds
of simple folk lies which are coloured by a certain show of
truth559
| 559 See chap. ii. and more
particularly Lett. CXXX. chap. 3 from which it is evident that the
Eutychians had sought to foist upon certain passages in the Tome a
Nestorian interpretation. | . “For narrow and steep is the
way which leads to life560
.” And
they seek to entrap men not so much by watching their actions as by
nice distinctions of meaning, corrupting the force of sentences by some
very slight addition or alteration, whereby sometimes a statement,
which made for salvation, by a subtle change is turned to
destruction. But since the Apostle says, “there must be
heresies, that they which are approved may be made manifest among
you561
,” it tends to the progress of the
whole Church, that, whenever wickedness reveals itself in setting forth
wrong opinions, the things which are harmful be not concealed, and that
what will inevitably end in ruin may not injure the innocence of
others. Wherefore they must put down their blind wanderings and
downfalls to themselves, who with rash obstinacy prefer to glory in
their shame than to accept the offered remedy. You do right,
brother, to be displeased at their stubbornness, and we commend you for
holding fast that teaching which has come down to us from the blessed
Apostles and the holy Fathers.
II. Let him fortify the faithful by the
public reading aloud of quotations from the Fathers bearing on the
question and of the Tome.
For there is no new preaching in the letter which
I wrote in reply to Flavian of holy memory, when he consulted me about
the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ; for
in nothing did I depart from that rule of Faith which was outspokenly
maintained by your ancestors and ours. And if Dioscorus had been
willing to follow and imitate them, he would have abided in the Body of
Christ, having in the works of Athanasius562
| 562 Who as he himself says
in the next letter, eidem ecclesiæ præfuerunt (CXXX.
ii.). | of
blessed memory the materials for instruction, and in the discourses of
Theophilus563
| 563 Who as he himself
says in the next letter, eidem ecclesiæ præfuerunt
(CXXX. ii.). | and Cyril564
| 564 Who as he himself says
in the next letter, eidem ecclesiæ præfuerunt (CXXX.
ii.). | of holy remembrance the means rather of
praise-worthily opposing the already condemned dogma than of choosing
to consort with Eutyches in his blasphemy. This therefore,
beloved brother, I advise in my anxiety for our common Faith that,
because the enemies of Christ’s cross lie in watch for all our
words and syllables, we give them not the slightest occasion for
falsely asserting that we agree with the Nestorian doctrine. And
you must so diligently exhort the laity and clergy and all the
brotherhood to advance in the Faith as to show that you teach nothing
new but instil into all men’s breasts those things, which the
Fathers of revered memory have with harmony of statement taught, and
with which in all things our epistle agrees. And this must be
shown not only by your words but also by the actually reading aloud of
previous statements, that God’s people
may know that what the Fathers received from their predecessors and
handed on to their descendants, is still instilled into them in the
present day. And to this end, when the statements of the
aforesaid priests have first been read, then lastly let my writings
also be recited, that the ears of the faithful may attest that we
preach nothing else than what we received from our forefathers.
And because their understandings are but little practised in discerning
these things, let them at least learn from the letters of the Fathers,
how ancient this evil is, which is now condemned by us in Nestorius as
well as in Eutyches, who have both been ashamed to preach the gospel of
Christ according to the Lord’s own
teaching.
III. The ancient precedents are to be
maintained throughout.
Accordingly, both in the rule of Faith and in the
observance of discipline, let the standard of antiquity be maintained
throughout, and do thou, beloved, display the firmness of a prudent
ruler, that the church of Alexandria may get the benefit of my earnest
resistance to the unprincipled ambition of certain people in
maintaining its ancient privileges, and of my determination that all
metropolitans should retain their dignity undiminished, as you will
ascertain from the tenor of my letters, which I have addressed, whether
to the holy Synod or to the most Christian Emperor, or to the Bishop of
Constantinople; for you will perceive that I have made it my special
care to allow no deviation from the rule of Faith in the Lord’s
churches, nor any diminution of their privileges through any
individual’s unscrupulousness. And as this is so, hold
fast, brother, to the custom of your predecessors, and keep due
authority over your comprovincial bishops, who by ancient constitution
are subject to the See of Alexandria; so that they resist not
ecclesiastical usage, and refuse not to meet together under your
presidency, either at fixed times or when any reasonable cause demands
it: and that if anything has to be discussed in a general meeting
which will be to the benefit of the Church, when the brethren have thus
met together, they may unanimously come to
some resolution thereupon. For there is
nothing which ought to recall them from this obedience, seeing that
both for faith and conduct we have such good knowledge of you, brother,
that we will not allow you to lose any of your predecessor’s
authority, nor to be slighted with impunity. Dated March 10th, in
the consulship of the illustrious Aetius and Studius (454). E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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