Unknown→Stephanus, of Lyon|c. 509 AD|avitus vienne
From: Avitus, bishop of Vienne
To: Stephanus, bishop of Lyon
Date: ~509 AD
Context: Avitus warns about the spread of Arianism and discusses a new heretical variant that has appeared — possibly Eutychianism or a local theological deviation.
Bishop Avitus to Stephanus, bishop of Lyon.
However attentive the servants of the Lord's vineyard may be in their constant work of planting, there are always things that need to be cut back. And so the unceasing vigilance of your pastoral care earns the most productive return in this work of winning souls. But amid the weeds of the Arian crop — which, what is worse, has spread through widespread contamination — I cannot determine where this face of the enemy's seed has shown itself. Not a new face, but a rare one. What foreign contagion has been smuggled into a world that was clean? The matter requires your attention and your authority.
Avitus episcopus Stephano episcopo Lugdunensi.
Quamlibet attentis culturae dominicae famulis inter adsidua plantandi studia sem-
per etiam, quae succidi expediat, oriuntur. Ergo pervigilibus sollicitudinis vestrae
studiis opportunissimum his operibus adquirendae salutis faenus adcrescit. Sed inter
lolium Arriani germinis numerosa, quod peius est, corruptione diffusum conicere ne-
queo, unde sese facies seminis inimici non quidem nova, sed rara monstraverit, quis
transmarina contagia orbi nitido ventus attulerit. Sed navem gubernantibus vobis
nullo fulta solamine parum luis ista metuenda est. Non habet de multitudine tempe-
stas profectum, nec tenuis perficit aura naufragium. Quoeirca Donatistarum
nomen ne diu in loco vivere possit alieno, benedictione protinus sepelite vitali. In
ipso fomenti sui ortu peregrinantis igniculi frigescant incendia. De quo ne vel famae
fumus narem Galliae innocentis adspergat, manus impositionem personae, de qua seribi-
tis, adhibete, interdicta nominis ipsius in posterum, si ex corde convertitur, mentione.
Quam constat revera in supradicti scismatis professione cum ministerio baptismatis
etiam chrismate consignatam. Hoc certe eos in regione illa observare manifestum est:
in qua primum deus tribuat, ut quicumque huius erroris fuerint, corrigantur; deinde
a nobis quam secta distante tam patria, ut ad partem nostram, qui salvandi noluerint,
agnoscendi transire non possint.
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From:Avitus, bishop of Vienne
To:Stephanus, bishop of Lyon
Date:~509 AD
Context:Avitus warns about the spread of Arianism and discusses a new heretical variant that has appeared — possibly Eutychianism or a local theological deviation.
Bishop Avitus to Stephanus, bishop of Lyon.
However attentive the servants of the Lord's vineyard may be in their constant work of planting, there are always things that need to be cut back. And so the unceasing vigilance of your pastoral care earns the most productive return in this work of winning souls. But amid the weeds of the Arian crop — which, what is worse, has spread through widespread contamination — I cannot determine where this face of the enemy's seed has shown itself. Not a new face, but a rare one. What foreign contagion has been smuggled into a world that was clean? The matter requires your attention and your authority.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.