Letter 7: John, Bishop of Constantinople, to Pope Innocent I.
John, Bishop of Constantinople, to Pope Innocent I.
John Chrysostom writes to Innocent describing in moving detail how unjustly he has been driven from his see and his city by the faction of Theophilus of Alexandria, and the great evils that were suffered both at that time and afterward. He appeals to Innocent for support and intercession, recounting the canonical irregularities of his deposition and the violence done to his followers. (This letter is also found among the works of St. John Chrysostom.)
AI-assisted translation — This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek below for scholarly use.
Latin / Greek Original
JOANNIS CONSTANTINOPOLITAN.E URBIS EPISCOPI AD
INNOCENTIUM PAPAM.
Quaiii injusle urbe et ecclesia sua Theophili faclione
pulsus sil, cl quanla ntalu sive tum, sive poslca pa-
Irata fuerint.
(Hajc epislnla proprius habetiir inter cieleras S. Ctiryso-
slomi, ubi videsis lom. III operum S. Docloris. )
catoris exeinplaribus, ut el in Novioniensi , Lau
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Not only the first of the letters but probably the earliest extant composition of Jerome (c. 370 A.D.). Innocent, to whom it is addressed, was one of the little band of enthusiasts whom Jerome gathered round him in Aquileia.
I was delighted to receive the letter your affection sent me; but I am equally grieved at your having laid on me the load of a responsibility which is more than I can carry. How can I, so far removed as I am, undertake so great a charge? As long as the Church possesses you, it rests as it were on its proper buttress.
EriSCOPORUM QUINQUE to INNOCENTIUM PAPAM.
The lucid eloquence of your Eminence, seasoned with the honey of the heart, has so infused its savour into our inmost soul, and ravished us with love of it, that both what you write sounds sweet, and what you do has a pleasant savour; nor this without good cause, since one who is accomplished in good studies is great in the eye of judgment, and ...
Odysseus tried to persuade Polyphemus to let him out of the cave.