The Presbyters Project

Letter 168 [inc. "Magna indignatione"]

2. Illam etiam contra apostolicam regulam praesumtionem, quam nuper agnovi a quibusdam illicita usurpatione committi, modis omnibus constituo submoveri. De poenitentia scilicet, quae a fidelibus postulatur, ne de singulorum peccatorum genere, libello scripta professio publice recitetur; cum reatus conscientiarum sufficiat solis sacerdotibus indicari cofessione secreta. Quamvis enim plenitudo fidei videatur esse laudabilis, quae propter Dei timorem apud homines erubescere non veretur; tamen quia non omnium hujusmodi sunt peccata, ut ea, qui poenitentiam poscunt, non timeant publicare; removeatur tam improbabilis consuetudo: ne multi a poenitentiae remediis arceantur, dum aut erubescunt, aut metuunt inimicis suis sua facta referari, quibus possint legum constitutione percelli. Sufficit enim illa confessio, quae primum Deo offeretur, tum etiam sacerdoti, qui pro delictis poenitentium precator accedit. Tunc enim demum plures ad poenitentiam poterunt provocari, si populi auribus non publicetur conscientia confitentis. Datum pridie Nonas Martii, Recimere consule.

(Patrologia Latina 54, 1210-1211 = Ballerini 1753: 1430-1431)

Letter 168 [inc. "Magna indignatione"]

2. As to the abuse against the apostolic rules which, as I have learned, is perpetrated by some by illicit usurpation, I decree that it should be abolished by all means possible. Regarding penance which is postulated by the faithful, [I decree] that a profession written in a booklet naming the particular sins should not be publicly read. It is sufficient that the sins which trouble one's conscience are revealed only to the priests in a secret confession. It may seem that the fullness of faith which because of the fear of God is not afraid of shame in people's eyes is praiseworthy. But not all people seek penance for such sins which they are not afraid to make public. This unjustifiable custom [i.e. the public recitations of sins] should be abolished so that many people are not pushed away from the remedy of penance when they are either ashamed or afraid to make their deeds known to their enemies who could then press legal charges against them. This confession which is first offered to God, then also to the priest who acts as an intercessor for the penitent's wrongdoings, is sufficient. That way, if what the one who confesses has in his conscience does not reach the ears of other people, many people can be motivated to do penance. Given on the day before the Nones of March in the consulship of Ricimer [= 8 March 459]

(trans. M. Szada)

Discussion:

Leo protests against the custom of making sins of the penitents public but penance was still a public process which required penitents to display publicly their repentance by their looks, bahaviour, and restricited participation in worship and sacramental life.

Place of event:

Region

Rome
Italy north of Rome with Corsica and Sardinia

City

Rome

About the source:

Author: Leo the Great
Title: Letter, 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:

Categories:

Described by a title - Sacerdos/ἱερεύς

Ritual activity - Reconciliation/Administering penance

Public law - Ecclesiastical

Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: M. Szada, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER1818, http://www.presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=1818