The Presbyters Project

Letter 95 [inc. "Religiosam clementiae"]

Leo episcopus Pulcheriae Augustae.

1. Religiosam clementiae vestrae sollicitudinem, quam catholicae fidei indesinenter impenditis, per omnia recognosco; et Deo gratias ago, quod tantam universalis Ecclesiae curam habere vos video, ut quod et iustitiae et benevolentiae congruere arbitror, confidenter insinuem, quo celerius, quae, propitio Christo, pietatis vestrae studio irreprehensibiliter hactenus gesta sunt, ad gratulandum perducantur effectum, gloriosissima Augusta. Quod ergo synodum Nicaeae haberi clementia vestra praecepit, cum a me ut in Italia haberetur mansuetudo vestra retineat postulatum, ut omnes nostrarum partium convocati antistites, si securitas temporis suppeteret, convenirent, adeo tamen non aspernanter accepi, ut binos de coepiscopis meis et compresbyteris ordinarem, qui vicem meam implere sufficerent, etiam datis ad venerabilem synodum congruentibus scriptis, quibus fraternitas advocata cognosceret quam formam servare in hac diiudicatione deberet: ne ulla temeritas aut fidei regulis, aut canonum statutis, aut benignitatis remediis obviaret.

The letter is dated to the 13th day before the Kalends of August in the consulship of Adelfius, i.e. 20th of July, AD 451.

(Patrologia Latina 54, 942-943 = Ballerini 1753: 1075-1077)

Letter 95 [inc. "Sanctum clementiae"]

Leo, the bishop to Pulcheria Augusta.

1. Your clemency’s religious care which you unceasingly bestow on the catholic Faith, I recognize in everything, and give God thanks at seeing you take such interest in the universal Church, that I can confidently suggest what I think agreeable to justice and kindness, and so what thus far your pious zeal through the mercy of Christ has irreproachably accomplished, may the more speedily be brought to an issue which we shall be thankful for, O most noble Augusta. Your clemency's command, therefore, that a Synod should be held at Nicæa, and your gently expressed refusal of my request that it should be held in Italy, so that all the bishops in our parts might be summoned and assemble, if the state of affairs had permitted them, I have received in a spirit so far removed from scorn as to nominate two of my fellow-bishops and fellow-presbyters respectively to represent me, sending also to the venerable synod an appropriate missive from which the brotherhood therein assembled might learn the standard necessary to be maintained in their decision, lest any rashness should do detriment either to the rules of the Faith, or to the provisions of the canons, or to the remedies required by the spirit of loving kindness.

The letter is dated to the 13th day before the Kalends of August in the consulship of Adelfius, i.e. 20th of July, AD 451.

(trans. Ch. Lett Feltoe 1895: 71).

Discussion:

Leo the Great refers here to Bishops Paschasinus of Lilybaeum, Julian of Cos, and the Presbyters Basil of Naples and Boniface of Rome. All of them are mentioned in [1781].

For the detailed discussion about the convocation of the Council of Chalcedon see Price 2011.

Place of event:

Region

Rome
East

City

Rome
Constantinople
Cos

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.

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:

R. Price, "The Council of Chalcedon (451): A Narrative”, [in :] Chalcedon in Context: Church Councils 400–700, ed. R. Price, M. Whitby, Liverpool 2011, 70–91.

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

Ecclesiastical administration - Participation in councils and ecclesiastical courts

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, ER1786, http://www.presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=1786