Letter 139: Part of the papal correspondence surrounding the Acacian Schism (484-519), the major breach between Rome and...

God is indeed the special consolation of the faithful, nor do those ever fail amid any hardships whatsoever who have turned to him with the whole zeal of their mind. Nevertheless, I confess that I owe this prayer to your resolve: that just as I exult in the sincerity of your faith, so I may deserve to rejoice in the firmness of your constancy. Therefore, gazing upon you with an interior vision, I rise eagerly to the desire of conversing with you, so that I may both reward your love for God with a written discourse and confirm your hope with an exhortation by letter, and thus render a joyful testimony of charity to those with whom I share the fellowship of holy communion. For it does not suffice my spirit to feel secure about you, unless I also show the very affection with which I embrace you. For he declares that he does not hate those divided from the love of God out of judgment, who can fail to love those who are joined to it. I bless God, therefore, as I consider the fervor of your faith amid various storms and the adversities of tempests. I urge you too to glorify his piety for these things with more abundant exultation — he who examines the minds of his chosen ones to make them more acceptable to himself, and though they are known to him, proves them by certain difficulties, so that he may show that justice too is present in the gift he bestows. And therefore it is fitting that you press upon your good purpose tenaciously and not fail on the way that leads to the kingdoms of heaven. Whoever contemplates the immeasurable gifts of the Lord's promise can have regard for no danger. [The letter continues urging the orthodox bishops of the East to bear adversities bravely in hope of eternal rewards, to provide examples of constancy in faith for others, and announcing that Hormisdas has now sent Ennodius and Peregrinus as his legates to the East for a second time, showing that he has not ceased in his solicitude or labor for church unity.]

Hormisdae papae ad episcopos Orientis orthodoxos. ^\^^lA 3 Apnl.) Ui praemia aeierna iniuenies adversa foriiier perferani ei consianier fidei exeni' pla aliis praebere ne omiiiani, horiainr (n. 1 — 3). Seipsum nec soUiciiudine nec Inbore cessasse, ei nunc repeiiia vice Ennodium ei Peregrinum in Orieniem mi- sisse nuniiai (n. 4). Hormisda episcopis orthodoxis. 1. Est quidem fidelium speciale solatium Deus, nec unquam inter quaelibet dura deficiunt, qui se ad eum toto mentis studio con- tulerunt. Verumtamen hoc votum proposito vestro debere me fateor, ut sicut exsulto de sinceritate fidei vestrae, ita de firmitate merear gaudere constantiae. Unde et adspectu interiore vos iutuens, ad de- siderium coUoquendi vobiscum promptus assurgo, ut et dilectionem circa Deum vestram litterario sermone remunerer, et spem paginali adhortatione confirmem, atque ita his, cura quibus mihi est con- sortium sanctae communionis, jucundum reddam testimonium cari- tatis. Non enim sufficit animo meo de vobis esse securum, nisi ostendero illum quoque, quo vos complector, afiectum. Siquidem declarat se non ex judicio odisse a Dei dilectione divisos, qui potest non amare conjunctos. 2. Benedico igitur Deum, dum fervorem fidei vestrae inter pro- cellas varias et tempestatum adversa considero. Vos quoque, ut super his pietatem ejus glorificetis, uberiore exsultatione suadeo; qui ele- ctorum suorum mentes quo acceptiores sibi reddat, examinat, et licet cognitos sibi, quibusdam tamen difficultatibus probat, ut justitiam quoque inesse dono quod largitiu: ostendat. Atque ideo pertinaciter bono vos convenit imminere proposito, nec in via quae ducit ad coeli regna deficere, Qui intuetur dominici^) munera non aesti- manda promissi, nuUius potest respectum habere periculi. Non enim frangit consideratio praesentium malorum, nisi futurorum bonorum 30 *) Ed. dominica, G' dnlce^ uude restituendum duximufl dominici, Deinde b CC aesiimanda promissa, 51* (a. 517.) vincat oblivio: quando oiiiuem amaritudiiiem laboris exckdit, qui dulcedinem spei, quafe exspectatur, admiserit^). Quae enim difficul- tas beatitudini par est^ aut quae condignae praemiis passioues ad g J^ futuram scilicet gloriam, quae in nobis apostolo aununtiante revela- bitur? Absit, ne quidquam a Christi caritate nos separet! Quanta ost tribulatio, si gloriam parit? Materia prosperorum est quae puta- tur adversitas. Dum indinamur, erigimur. Nemo haberet futuram remunerationem, nisi necessitates praesentium sustineret. Videte, quanto opere hominum terrena messis assurgat. Quanto est igitur labore procurandum, ut coelestia dona non pereant! Quieta est Luc.10,7. negligentium vita, sed non opulenta^) substantia: Dignus est opera- rius, ut fructum 7ncrcedis accipiat, Indiscreta passim pietas cum im- ])ietate languesceret, si examinatio bonos a malis divisura cessaret. rrratum admodum spectaculum Domino est in agone justorum, nec ({uidquam ita supornam gratiam conciliat homini, sicut adversorum impetus patienter excepti. Quis miles^) sub pacis securitat^ mere- tur? Non est arduum in sicco secura fixisse vestigia, nec artem gubematoris ostendit marina tranquillitas. Satis est intrepidum inter bella j^rocedere, inter lubrica non labare, fluctus in tempestate contemnere. Saeviat et motus suos exerceat mundana tentatio, dum raanifesti appareant qui probantur! 3. Haec seientes, carissimi fratres, fidei vestrae tenete con- stantiam, et ipsa etiam, si inciderint, militantia meritis vestris amate pericula. Annuntiate quae colitis, et participate ^) etiam per univer- sum orbem mandata evangelica quae tenetis. Supra stipendia vestra correctio quoque vobis adscribatur aliena. Inter peccatorum*) enu- merationem, quibus sibi divinam gratiam plenus spiritu Dei pro- pheta conciliat, inter ea, quibus misericordiam , qua conservetur, Psalm. exorat : docere se iniquos vias Domini , et conversionem per se fieri * praedicat impiorum. Beati, quibus vita innocenter acta dat prae- inium: beati, j^er quos ah*is quoque praestatur exemplum! 4. Et nos quidem, quantum in nobis est, nec sollicitudine neo Eadem verbi ejusdem vis ac potest:is est in his epistolae 143 n. 2: Quidquid cm Orientalihns actuni fuerit, repetilv: vobiscum participamus indiciis. Hoc eteniin rilB vult: participes vos facimus eorum omnium, quae cum Orientalibus acta arait Antea id quod dicitur Amate pericula, nou cst distrahendum a temperam^ntiit quae Hormisda sententiae huic adjungit; adeo ut non quaerantur pericola, »ei si inciderint, aequo animo ferantur, ut ubi meritis uostris militant, amentwr, EPISTOLAE 30. 31. 805 £ibore cessamus, ut humilitatem^ quam uos Domiuus noster docuit^ (a. 617.) Qiitati^ quae saluti eorum conveuiunt postulemus: ut dispensationis aihi creditae, dum agnoscitur cura, probentur officia. Nam repetita ice Ennodium atque Peregrinum fratres et coepiscopos nostros man- lata legatione direximus, rationem, adhortationes , preces, lacrymas ugerentes, ut ab impiorum contagione separati, ad veram fidem isdem, quibus vos, modis et apostolica scita') se conferant, aut certe lon nos defuisse praedicationi , sed illos propriae saluti mundus kgnoscat^).