The Presbyters Project

Letter 84 [inc. "Religiosam pietatis"]

Leo the Great expresses his joy on the about the actions of Bishop Anatolius of Constantinople, cf. [1735]. He informs about his embassy:

1. [...] Unde quod facturum me aliis litteris indicaveram, Lucentium episcopum et Basilium presbyterum fratres meos dirigere properavi, qui dispositiones meas, fratris mei Anatolii devotione sociata, secundum eas quas acceperunt regulas exsequantur, gloriosissima Augusta. Sicut enim praedicti episcopi scriptis et clericorum ejus suggestione patefactum est, multa sunt quae indulgentius sunt curanda, multa quae justius coercenda: ut in causa tantae perturbationis, nec districtio sit nimis aspera, nec remissio parum cauta; cum aliud satisfacientibus, aliud pertinacibus debeatur.

Further on, Leo recommends the matter of reconciliation and of the further fight with the Eutychianism to the Empress. The letter is dated to the 5th day before the Ides of June in the consulship of Adelfius [= 9 June 451].

(Patrologia Latina 54, 921-922 = Ballerini 1753: 1048-1050)

Letter 84

Leo the Great expresses his joy on the news about the actions of Bishop Anatolius of Constantinople, cf. [1735]. He informs about his embassy:

1. [...] Therefore as I have already informed you in the other letters, I made haste to send my brothers, Bishop Lucentius and the Presbyter Basilius who being joined in devotion with my brother Anatolius would execute my dispositions according to the instructions which they had received, o most glorious Empress. As it has been already made clear in the letter of the aforementioned bishop and in the petition of his clerics, there is a lot of things that can be cured indulgently and there is a lot that should be justly enforced lest in the case of such perturbation the punishment be too harsh or the remission too careless. We should act differently toward those who give satisfaction and differently toward the stubborn.

Further on, Leo recommends the matter of reconciliation and the further fight with the Eutychianism to the Empress. 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:

Leo the Great, Letters, trans. Ch. Lett Feltoe, [in:] The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, 2nd series, vol. 12, Edinburgh 1895, 1-114

Bibliography:

S. Wessel, Leo the Great and the spiritual rebuilding of a universal Rome, Leiden ; Boston 2008.

Categories:

Travel and change of residence

PR768.

Described by a title - Presbyter/πρεσβύτερος

PR768.

Ecclesiastical administration - Ecclesiastical envoy

PR768.

Relation with - Bishop/Monastic superior

PR768.

Relation with - Monarch and royal/imperial family

PR768.

Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: M. Szada, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER1744, http://www.presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=1744