Letter 123: I do not doubt that your piety is aware how great is my devotion to the Catholic Faith, and with what care I am bound, God helping me, to guard against the Gospel of truth being withstood at any time by ignorant or disloyal men. And, therefore, after expressing to you my dutiful greetings which your clemency is ever bound to receive at my hands,...
Pope Leo the Great→Eudocia Augusta|c. 455 AD|leo great
Theological controversy; Church council; Travel & mobility
To Eudocia Augusta [wife of Emperor Theodosius II, living in Jerusalem after 443], about the monks of Palestine.
I. A request that she use her influence with the monks of Palestine to restore order.
Leo, the bishop, to Eudocia Augusta.
I have no doubt that your piety is aware of my great devotion to the Catholic Faith, and of the care with which I am bound, with God's help, to guard against the Gospel of truth being opposed at any time by ignorant or disloyal people. Therefore, after expressing my dutiful greetings — which your clemency is always entitled to receive from me — I pray the Lord to gladden me with news of your safety, and to bring ever greater aid through your efforts to the preservation of that article of the Faith over which the minds of certain monks in the province of Palestine have been deeply disturbed. May your pious zeal help to destroy all confidence in such heretical perversity. For what but sheer destruction could be expected for men who were moved neither by the principles of God's mysteries, nor by the authority of the Scriptures, nor by the evidence of the sacred places themselves [the holy sites in Jerusalem and Palestine where Christ lived and died]? May it benefit the churches, then — as by God's favor it does benefit them — and may it benefit the entire human race which the Word of God took upon Himself at the Incarnation, that you have chosen to make your home in the land where the evidence of His wondrous deeds and the marks of His sufferings testify to our Lord Jesus Christ as not only true God but also true Man.
II. They are to be told that the Catholic Faith rejects both the Eutychian and the Nestorian extremes. He wishes to be informed how far she succeeds.
If, then, those who have erred revere and love the name of Catholic, and wish to be counted among the members of the Lord's body, let them reject the twisted errors they have rashly committed. Let them show repentance for their wicked blasphemies and acts of bloodshed. For the salvation of their souls, let them submit to the synodal decrees confirmed at the city of Chalcedon [the Council of Chalcedon, 451]. And because nothing but true faith and quiet humility leads to understanding the mystery of human salvation, let them believe what they read in the Gospel and confess in the Creed, and not entangle themselves with unsound doctrines. For just as the Catholic Faith condemns Nestorius [who taught that Christ was two separate persons], who dared to claim there were two persons in our one Lord Jesus Christ, so it also condemns Eutyches and Dioscorus [who taught that Christ had only one nature, absorbing His humanity into His divinity], who deny that true human flesh was assumed in the Virgin Mother's womb by the only-begotten Word of God.
If your efforts have any success in convincing these people — which will win you eternal glory — I ask your clemency to inform me by letter, so that I may have the joy of knowing you have reaped the fruit of your good work, and that they, through the Lord's mercy, have not perished. Dated June 15, in the consulship of the illustrious Opilio (453).
To Eudocia Augusta , about the Monks of Palestine.
I. A request that she should use her influence with the monks of Palestine in reducing them to order.
Leo, the bishop, to Eudocia Augusta.
I do not doubt that your piety is aware how great is my devotion to the Catholic Faith, and with what care I am bound, God helping me, to guard against the Gospel of truth being withstood at any time by ignorant or disloyal men. And, therefore, after expressing to you my dutiful greetings which your clemency is ever bound to receive at my hands, I entreat the Lord to gladden me with the news of your safety, and to bring aid evermore and more by your means to the maintenance of that article of the Faith over which the minds of certain monks within the province of Palestine have been much disturbed; so that to the best of your pious zeal all confidence in such heretical perversity may be destroyed. For what but sheer destruction was to be feared by men who were not moved either by the principles of God's mysteries , or by the authority of the Scriptures, or by the evidence of the sacred places themselves. May it advantage then the Churches, as by God's favour it does advantage them, and may it advantage the human race itself which the Word of God adopted at the Incarnation, that you have conceived the wish to take up your abode in that country where the proofs of His wondrous acts and the signs of His sufferings speak to you of our Lord Jesus Christ as not only true God but also true Man.
II. They are to be told that the Catholic Faith rejects both the Eutychian and the Nestorian extremes. He wishes to be informed how far she succeeds.
If then the aforesaid revere and love the name of Catholic, and wish to be numbered among the members of the Lord's body, let them reject the crooked errors which in their rashness they have committed, and let them show penitence for their wicked blasphemies and deeds of bloodshed. For the salvation of their souls let them yield to the synodal decrees which have been confirmed in the city of Chalcedon. And because nothing but true faith and quiet humility attains to the understanding of the mystery of man's salvation, let them believe what they read in the Gospel, what they confess in the Creed, and not mix themselves up with unsound doctrines. For as the Catholic Faith condemns Nestorius, who dared to maintain two persons in our one Lord Jesus Christ, so does it also condemn Eutyches and Dioscorus who deny that the true human flesh was assumed in the Virgin Mother's womb by the only-begotten Word of God.
If your exhortations have any success in convincing these persons, which will win for you eternal glory, I beseech your clemency to inform me of it by letter; that I may have the joy of knowing that you have reaped the fruit of your good work, and that they through the Lord's mercy have not perished. Dated the 15th of June, in the consulship of the illustrious Opilio (453).
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Source. Translated by Charles Lett Feltoe. From Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, Vol. 12. Edited by Philip Schaff and Henry Wace. (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1895.) Revised and edited for New Advent by Kevin Knight. <https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/3604123.htm>.
Contact information. The editor of New Advent is Kevin Knight. My email address is feedback732 at newadvent.org. (To help fight spam, this address might change occasionally.) Regrettably, I can't reply to every letter, but I greatly appreciate your feedback — especially notifications about typographical errors and inappropriate ads.
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To Eudocia Augusta [wife of Emperor Theodosius II, living in Jerusalem after 443], about the monks of Palestine.
I. A request that she use her influence with the monks of Palestine to restore order.
Leo, the bishop, to Eudocia Augusta.
I have no doubt that your piety is aware of my great devotion to the Catholic Faith, and of the care with which I am bound, with God's help, to guard against the Gospel of truth being opposed at any time by ignorant or disloyal people. Therefore, after expressing my dutiful greetings — which your clemency is always entitled to receive from me — I pray the Lord to gladden me with news of your safety, and to bring ever greater aid through your efforts to the preservation of that article of the Faith over which the minds of certain monks in the province of Palestine have been deeply disturbed. May your pious zeal help to destroy all confidence in such heretical perversity. For what but sheer destruction could be expected for men who were moved neither by the principles of God's mysteries, nor by the authority of the Scriptures, nor by the evidence of the sacred places themselves [the holy sites in Jerusalem and Palestine where Christ lived and died]? May it benefit the churches, then — as by God's favor it does benefit them — and may it benefit the entire human race which the Word of God took upon Himself at the Incarnation, that you have chosen to make your home in the land where the evidence of His wondrous deeds and the marks of His sufferings testify to our Lord Jesus Christ as not only true God but also true Man.
II. They are to be told that the Catholic Faith rejects both the Eutychian and the Nestorian extremes. He wishes to be informed how far she succeeds.
If, then, those who have erred revere and love the name of Catholic, and wish to be counted among the members of the Lord's body, let them reject the twisted errors they have rashly committed. Let them show repentance for their wicked blasphemies and acts of bloodshed. For the salvation of their souls, let them submit to the synodal decrees confirmed at the city of Chalcedon [the Council of Chalcedon, 451]. And because nothing but true faith and quiet humility leads to understanding the mystery of human salvation, let them believe what they read in the Gospel and confess in the Creed, and not entangle themselves with unsound doctrines. For just as the Catholic Faith condemns Nestorius [who taught that Christ was two separate persons], who dared to claim there were two persons in our one Lord Jesus Christ, so it also condemns Eutyches and Dioscorus [who taught that Christ had only one nature, absorbing His humanity into His divinity], who deny that true human flesh was assumed in the Virgin Mother's womb by the only-begotten Word of God.
If your efforts have any success in convincing these people — which will win you eternal glory — I ask your clemency to inform me by letter, so that I may have the joy of knowing you have reaped the fruit of your good work, and that they, through the Lord's mercy, have not perished. Dated June 15, in the consulship of the illustrious Opilio (453).
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.