The Presbyters Project

I,1. Cum tuas litteras, carissime fili Victor, fidei et caritatis odorem suauissimum continentes, tota delectatione atque alacritate animi recenserem, subiectum reperi, quem mihi refellendum destinasti, Fastidiosi sermonem. Quo recensito, tanto dolui perditum, quanto magis sum compulsus exhorrere blasphemum; quem nouimus post christianam fidem, post monachi professionem, post presbyterii honorem, quem in conspectu hominum accepit, et coram domino non habuit, a uia ueritatis auersum, et suae prorsus redemptionis oblitum, factum fuisse fornicationis ac luxuriae seruum, et ex hoc respuisse maiestatis diuinae seruitium. Inde est quod ex catholico factus haereticus, ac de malo thesauro cordis sui proferens mala, contra catholicam ueritatem non immerito illum sermonem ueneno impietatis crapulatus euomat, quando panem uitae respuit, et salubrem uerae fidei cibum sui nominis indicio fastidiosus abiecit. [...]

(ed. Fraipont 1968: 283-284)

I,1. My dearest son Victor, I examined your letter, full of the most agreeable scent of faith and charity, with all pleasure and enthusiasm of the soul. I found the subject that you wanted me to refute, the sermon of Fastidiosus. I examined it, as broken by pain, as even more compelled to be terrified by the blasphemy. We knew him to be of the Christian faith, to have made the monastic profession, to have accepted the dignity of the presbyterate (but only in the eyes of men, since he did not have it in front of the Lord), and then to divert from the way of the truth, to forget totally his redemption, to become the servant of fornication and luxury, and to reject because of it the majesty of the divine service. And so he became a heretic from the Catholic [Church], and he started to bring evil things from the evil treasure of his heart. Thus, he vomited out this sermon against the Catholic truth, drunken with the poison of impiety. He spat out the bread of life, and as his name indicates(*), he threw away the salutary food of the true faith. [...]

(*) "Fastidiosus" means "squeamish, disdainful, nauseating".

(trans. S. Adamiak)

Discussion:

The events described in the passage took place during the Vandal rule in Africa, when conversions to Arianism were encouraged and sometimes imposed by the authorities. It is not clear whether Fastidiosus remained presbyter after his conversion to Arianism. In his work he attacked the "homousians", i.e. the followers of the Nicene Creed, both the Catholics and Donatists.

Place of event:

Region

Latin North Africa

About the source:

Author: Fulgentius of Ruspe
Title: Against the Sermon of Fastidiosus, Liber ad Victorem contra sermonem Fastidiosi Ariani
Origin: Ruspe (Latin North Africa)
Denomination: Catholic/Nicene/Chalcedonian

At some point between the return of Fulgentius from exile in AD 523 and his death in AD 527, Fulgentius, the bishop of Ruspe, was asked by a certain Victor to respond to the sermon written by an ex-Catholic presbyter, Fastidiosus.

Edition:

J. Fraipont ed., Sancti Fulgentii Episcopi Ruspensis opera, Corpus Christianorum. Series Latina 91-91A, Turnhout 1968, 283-308.

Categories:

Sexual life - Extramarital

PR627.

Religious grouping (other than Catholic/Nicene/Chalcedonian) - Arian

PR627.

Change of denomination

PR627.

Described by a title - Presbyter/πρεσβύτερος

PR627.

Impediments or requisits for the office - Improper/Immoral behaviour

PR627.

Writing activity

PR627.

Theoretical considerations - On priesthood

PR627.

Education - Theological interest

PR627.

Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: S. Adamiak, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER1382, http://www.presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=1382