The Presbyters Project

Epistula 45

IV,1. Quantum uero hic ad presbyterium quorundam et Felicissimi causam pertinet, quid hic actum sit ut scire posses, litteras ad te collegae nostri manu sua subscriptas miserunt, qui auditis eis quid senserint et quid pronuntiauerint ex eorum litteris disces.

2. Melius autem, frater, facies, si etiam exempla litterarum quae ad te legenda pro dilectione communi per Caldonium et Fortunatum collegas nostros proxime miseram, quae de eodem Felicissimo et de presbyterio eiusdem ad clerum istic nostrum et ad plebem scripseram, legi illic fratribus iubeas, quae et ordinationem et rationem rei gestae loquantur, ut tam istic quam illic circa omnia per nos fraternitas instruatur.

(ed. Diercks 1994: 221-222)

Letter 45

IV,1. But, so far as pertains to the cause of certain presbyters here, and of Felicissimus, that you may know what has been done here, our colleagues have sent you letters subscribed by their own hand, that you may learn, when you have heard the parties, from their letters what they have thought and what they have pronounced.

2. But you will do better, brother, if you will also bid copies of the letters which I had sent lately by our colleagues Caldonius and Fortunatus to you, to be read for the common satisfaction, which I had written concerning the same Felicissimus and his presbytery to the clergy there, and also to the people, to be read to the brethren there; declaring your ordination, and the course of the whole transaction, that so as well there as here the brotherhood may be informed of all things by us.

(trans. R.E. Wallis, https://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf05.iv.iv.xli.html)

Discussion:

Felicissimus was a leader of the schism against Cyprian. The schismatics wanted the easy readmittance of the lapsi to the Church.

Place of event:

Region

Latin North Africa
Rome

City

Carthage
Rome

About the source:

Author: Cyprian
Title: Letters, Epistulae, Epistolae
Origin: Carthage (Latin North Africa)
Denomination: Catholic/Nicene/Chalcedonian

Cyprian was born probably about AD 200. He converted to Christianity in about 245 and in 248 was elected Bishop of Carthage. Soon after, the Decian persecution began (in 249/250) and Cyprian went into hiding. In 251 he returned to the city. Under Valerian, he was exiled in 257 and executed in 258. The epistolary of Cyprian consists of 81 letters (16 of them by his correspondents, and 6 synodal or collective), the majority of them are from the period of 250-251, when they were the means of Cyprian`s communication with his clergy. They offer us a wide view on the organization of the Church in Carthage in the middle of the third century, her relation with the Church of Rome, on the development of the persecutions, and on the conflicts that they caused inside the Church.

Different numerations of Cyprian's letters exist, I follow the edition of Diercks in Corpus Christianorum.

Edition:

G.F. Diercks ed., Sancti Cypriani Episcopi Epistularium. Epistulae 1-57, Corpus Christianorum. Series Latina 3B, Turnhout 1994.

Bibliography:

J. Patout Burns Jr, Cyprian the Bishop, London & New York 2002.

Categories:

Described by a title - Presbyter/πρεσβύτερος

Relation with - Bishop/Monastic superior

Religious grouping (other than Catholic/Nicene/Chalcedonian) - Unspecified 'heretic'

Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: S. Adamiak, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER1270, http://www.presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=1270