Presbyters Uniwersytet Warszawski
ID
ER 1735
Pope Leo the Great sends a letter to the Emperor Marcian in which he expresses his joy that Bishop Anatolius rebuked Eutyches and agreed to bring the body of Bishop Flavian back to Constantinople. He sends the legates, Bishop Lucentius and the Presbyter Basilius to reconciliate the bishops lapsed during the schism. Letter 83 of Pope Leo the Great "Multam mihi fiduciam", written in Rome, AD 451.
Letter 83
 
Leo the Great expresses his joy that the faith of Bishop Anatolius of Constantinople is proven, that he revoked the exile of the bishops faithful to Flavian, and that he brought back to Constantinople the body of the late Bishop Flavian who died in 449 after being attacked at the Second Council in Ephesus.
 
1. [...] Ut ergo precedentibus litteris indicavi, fratres meos Lucentium episcopum et Basilium presbyterum, qui sollicitudinis meae partes possint implere, direxi: favori eos pietatis vestrae in omnibus quae sunt agenda commendas. Nam cum et fratris mei Anatolii scriptis, et nostrorum sermone cognoverim multos de his qui apud Ephesum Dioscori factione compulsi detestabilibus statutis poenitendum praebuere consensum, inconstantiae suae veniam postulare, et communionem catholicam per satisfactionem correctionis expetere, non fuit talium negligenda conversio, qui non proprio sensu, sed improbi praesumptoris impulsu in haec incidisse noscuntur, in quibus liberum non habuerant judicium.
 
Further on, Leo agrees that a council should gather but that now it is not an opportune moment. The letter is dated to the 5th day before the Ides of June in the consulship of Adelfius [= 9 June 451].
 
(Patrologia Latina 54, 909 = Ballerini 1753: 1034-1035)
Letter 83
 
Leo the Great expresses his joy that the faith of Bishop Anatolius of Constantinople is proven, that he revoked the exile of the bishops faithful to Flavian, and that he brought back to Constantinople the body of the late Bishop Flavian who died in 449 after being attacked at the Second Council in Ephesus.
 
1. [...] As we have mentioned in the preceding letters, we have sent my brothers Bishop Lucentius and the Presbyter Basilius who can act on my behalf. I recommend them to you favour in everything they shall do. Because we have learnt from the letter of our brother Anatolius and from the relation of our people that a lot of those who were coereced by the faction of Dioscorus in Ephesus to sign the detestable decisions, now want to atone, ask for forgiveness for their inconstancy, and through the satisfaction of their improvement request the Catholic communion, the conversion of such people who are known to lapsed involuntarily but forced by the wicked usurpers, and they did not have free will.
 
Further on, Leo agrees that a council should gather but that now it is not an opportune moment. The letter is dated to the 5th day before the Ides of June in the consulship of Adelfius [= 9 June 451].
  
(trans. and summary M. Szada)

Discussion:

Lucentius (or Lucensius) was the bishop of Ascoli (PCBE, Italie, v. 2, Lucensius).

Place of event:

Region
  • Rome
  • East
City
  • Rome
  • Constantinople

About the source:

Author: Leo the Great
Title: Letters, Epistulae
Origin: Rome (Rome)
Denomination: Catholic/Nicene/Chalcedonian
Leo the Great was the bishop of Rome from AD 440 to his death in AD 461. We have the collection of 173 letters of Leo.
 
Anatolius succeeded in the see of Constantinople Flavianus, deposed by the Second Council of Ephesus in AD 449. Leo the Great considered the decisions of the council void, but after the death of Flavianus in AD 449, he informed the Emperor that he could accept Anatolius as the Bishop of Constantinople if he confesses the faith as defined by the councils of Nicea and Ephesus I, the letter of Cyril of Alexandria and the Tome to Flavianus. Anatolius complied to that, and in AD 451 he presided over the Council of Chalcedon. He died in AD 458. See Wessel 2008: 42-43.
 
Edition:
P. and G. Ballerini eds., Sancti Leoni Magni Romani pontificis opera, vol. 1, Venice 1753
Patrologia Latina, vol. 54
 
Translation:
Bibliography:
S. Wessel, Leo the Great and the spiritual rebuilding of a universal Rome, Leiden ; Boston 2008.

Categories:

Travel and change of residence
Described by a title - Presbyter/πρεσβύτερος
Ritual activity - Reconciliation/Administering penance
Ecclesiastical administration - Ecclesiastical envoy
Relation with - Bishop/Monastic superior
Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: M. Szada, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER1735, http://www.presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=1735