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| To Dioscorus, Bishop of Alexandria.
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Letter IX.
To Dioscorus, Bishop of
Alexandria.
Leo, the bishop, to Dioscorus, bishop of Alexandria,
greeting.
I. The churches of Rome and Alexandria
should be at one in everything.
How much of the divine love we feel for you,
beloved, you will be able to estimate from this, that we are anxious to
establish your beginnings on a surer basis, lest anything should seem
lacking to the perfection of your love, since your meritorious acts of
spiritual grace, as we have proved, are already in your favour.
Fatherly and brotherly conference, therefore, ought to be most grateful
to you, holy brother, and received by you in the same spirit as you
know it is offered by us. For you and we ought to be at one in
thought and act, so that as we read56
, in us also there
may be proved to be one heart and one mind. For since the most
blessed Peter received the headship of the Apostles from the
Lord, and the church of Rome still abides by
His institutions, it is wicked to believe that His holy disciple Mark,
who was the first to govern the church of Alexandria57
,
formed his decrees on a different line of tradition: seeing that
without doubt both disciple and master drew but one Spirit from the
same fount of grace, and the ordained could not hand on aught else than
what he had received from his ordainer. We do not therefore allow
it that we should differ in anything, since we confess ourselves to be
of one body and faith, nor that the institutions of the teacher should
seem different to those of the taught.
II. Fixed days should be observed for
ordaining priests and deacons.
That therefore which we know to have been very
carefully observed by our fathers, we wish kept by you also, viz. that
the ordination of priests or deacons should not be performed at random
on any day: but after Saturday, the commencement of that night
which precedes the dawn of the first day of the week should be chosen
on which the sacred benediction should be bestowed on those who are to
be consecrated, ordainer and ordained alike fasting. This
observance will not be violated, if actually on the morning of the
Lord’s day it be celebrated without
breaking the Saturday fast: for the beginning of the preceding
night forms part of that period, and undoubtedly belongs to the day of
resurrection as is clearly laid down with regard to the feast of
Easter58
| 58 That is to say, the
weekly resurrection festival (Sunday) begins with the vespers of the
preceding evening: this is notably the case in the yearly
festival of Easter, at least in Western use. | . For besides the weight of custom
which we know rests upon the Apostles’ teaching, Holy Writ also
makes this clear, because when the Apostles sent Paul and Barnabas at
the bidding of the Holy Ghost to preach the gospel to the nations, they
laid hands on them fasting and praying: that we may know with
what devoutness both giver and receiver must be on their guard lest so
blessed a sacrament should seem to be carelessly performed. And
therefore you will piously and laudably follow Apostolic precedents if
you yourself also maintain this form of ordaining priests throughout
the churches over which the Lord has called
you to preside: viz. that those who are to be consecrated should
never receive the blessing except on the day of the Lord’s resurrection, which is commonly held to begin
on the evening of Saturday, and which has been so often hallowed in the
mysterious dispensations of God that all the
more notable institutions of the Lord were
accomplished on that high day. On it the world took its
beginning. On it through the resurrection of Christ death
received its destruction, and life its commencement. On it the
apostles take from the Lord’s hands the
trumpet of the gospel
which is to be preached to all nations,
and receive the sacrament of regeneration59
| 59 Sacramentum
regenerationis: the reference in the first part of the
sentence seems to be S. Mark
xvi. 15, and here in the
latter part to S. Matt.
xxviii. 19, and both these
records seem to refer to the same manifestation. S. Matthew says
it was to “the eleven disciples” in Galilee, in “the
mountain where Jesus had appointed them,” that He gave the
command, if indeed vv. 16–20 of the xxviiith chapter form one
continuous narrative. The author of S. Mark xvi. 9–20 says it was to the eleven “as they
sat at meat.” Is it possible that Leo took ἀνακειμένοις
to mean as they were partaking of the Holy Eucharist? if not, what
countenance is there for his assertion of its being on the first day of
the week? | which
they are to bear to the whole world. On it, as blessed John the
Evangelist bears witness when all the disciples were gathered together
in one place, and when, the doors being shut, the Lord entered to them, He breathed on them and said:
“Receive the Holy Ghost: whose sins ye have remitted they
are remitted to them: and whose ye have retained, they shall be
retained60
.” On it lastly the Holy Spirit
that had been promised to the Apostles by the Lord came: and so we know it to have been suggested
and handed down by a kind of heavenly rule, that on that day we ought
to celebrate the mysteries of the blessing of priests on which all
these gracious gifts were conferred.
III. The repetition of the Holy Eucharist
on the great festivals is not undesirable.
Again, that our usage may coincide at all points,
we wish this thing also to be observed, viz. that when any of the
greater festivals has brought together a larger congregation than
usual, and too great a crowd of the faithful has assembled for one
church61
to hold them all at once, there should be no
hesitation about repeating the oblation of the sacrifice: lest,
if those only are admitted to this service who come first, those who
flock in afterwards, should seem to be rejected: for it is fully
in accordance with piety and reason, that as often as a fresh
congregation has filled the church where service is going on, the
sacrifice should be offered as a matter of course. Whereas a
certain portion of the people must be deprived of their worship, if the
custom of only one celebration62
be kept, and only
those who come early in the day can offer the sacrifice63
| 63 It can hardly escape
notice that the people here are distinctly said “to offer the
sacrifice” in the person of their representative and mouthpiece,
the priest. And this is the language and intention of all
Liturgies (ancient and modern) of the Church. | . We admonish you, therefore, beloved,
earnestly and affectionately that your carefulness also should not
neglect what has become a part of our own usage on the pattern of our
fathers’ tradition, so that in all things we may agree together
in our beliefs and in our performances. Consequently, we have
given this letter to our son Possidonius, a presbyter, on his return,
that he may bear it to you, brother; he has so often taken part in our
ceremonials and ordinations, and has been sent to us so many times that
he knows quite well what Apostolic authority we possess in all
things. Dated 21 June (? 445).E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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