From: Avitus, bishop of Vienne
To: Pope Symmachus, Rome
Date: ~501 AD
Context: Avitus requests that Pope Symmachus write a letter of introduction to the bishop of Jerusalem, so that Avitus can obtain a relic of the True Cross.
[Bishop Avitus to Pope Symmachus of Rome.]
...And so, even though we believe the pledge of relics of the holy Cross is with you, we think this particular gift should be sought specifically from the holy bishop of Jerusalem [Aelia]. He truly possesses the genuine and inviolate purity of this sacred mystery through his custodianship of the site itself, and he has the power to bestow this longed-for gift upon us in a way that removes all hesitation and doubt. For this reason I earnestly ask, through this letter in service, that Your Apostolic Authority grant a letter to the bearer addressed to the bishop of that church — so that we may receive a double blessing of assurance: one confirmed by the preeminence of the churches and the other by the authority of the bishop of the holy places.
[Avitus episcopus Symmacho papae urbis].
unde, etiamsi pignus reliquiarum sacrae crucis putamus esse vobiscum, a sancto tamen
Aeliae urbis antistite hanc specialiter munificentiam credimus expetendam. Qui re
vera sacramenti istius veram et inviolabilem puritatem loci administratione conservans,
sic desiderabili potens est impertire nos dono, ut ab omni cunctationis absolvat am-
biguo. Qua de re plurimum pagina famulante deposco, ut ad praefatae ecclesiae
sacerdotem litteras apostolatus vester tribuat portitori: quatenus gemina nobis veniat
benedictione firmamentum, quod ecclesiarum praeminentium mundo vel consulta sedis
vestrae auctoritas respondebit vel humanitas illius obsecrata porrexerit.
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From:Avitus, bishop of Vienne
To:Pope Symmachus, Rome
Date:~501 AD
Context:Avitus requests that Pope Symmachus write a letter of introduction to the bishop of Jerusalem, so that Avitus can obtain a relic of the True Cross.
[Bishop Avitus to Pope Symmachus of Rome.]
...And so, even though we believe the pledge of relics of the holy Cross is with you, we think this particular gift should be sought specifically from the holy bishop of Jerusalem [Aelia]. He truly possesses the genuine and inviolate purity of this sacred mystery through his custodianship of the site itself, and he has the power to bestow this longed-for gift upon us in a way that removes all hesitation and doubt. For this reason I earnestly ask, through this letter in service, that Your Apostolic Authority grant a letter to the bearer addressed to the bishop of that church — so that we may receive a double blessing of assurance: one confirmed by the preeminence of the churches and the other by the authority of the bishop of the holy places.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.