Letter 24: How much protection the Lord has vouchsafed His Church through your clemency and faith, is shown again by this letter which you have sent me: so that we rejoice at there being not only a kingly, but also a priestly mind within you. Seeing that, besides your imperial and public cares, you have a most devout anxiety for the Christian religion, les...

Leo the bishop, to Theodosius Augustus [Emperor Theodosius II]. I. He praises the Emperor's piety and mentions Eutyches' appeal. Your letter shows once again how much protection the Lord has granted His Church through your clemency and faith, giving us cause to rejoice that within you there is not only an imperial mind but also a priestly one. For beyond your public and imperial duties, you have the most devout concern for the Christian religion — determined that no schisms, heresies, or other offenses should take root among God's people. Your realm is in its best condition when people serve the eternal and unchangeable Trinity by confessing one God. As for the disturbance that occurred in the Church of Constantinople, and what could have so moved my brother and fellow bishop Flavian that he deprived Eutyches the presbyter of communion — I have not yet been able to understand the situation clearly. Although the said presbyter sent a written complaint about his troubles to the Apostolic See, he only touched briefly on a few points, insisting that he upheld the decrees of the Council of Nicaea and had been wrongly accused of holding unorthodox beliefs. II. He finds fault with Flavian's silence. But the statement of Bishop Eusebius [of Dorylaeum], his accuser — copies of which the said presbyter has sent us — contained nothing clear about his objections. Though he charged a presbyter with heresy, he did not state specifically what teaching he disapproved of, even as the bishop himself also professed adherence to the decrees of the Nicene council. For this reason, we had no way to learn anything more. Since the proper conduct of our Faith and the commendable concern shown by your piety require the facts of the case to be known, there must now be no room for deception. We must be informed of the specific points on which he considers him unsound, so that a right judgment may be made after full investigation. I have sent a letter to the aforementioned bishop, from which he will see that I am displeased at his continued silence on what has happened in so serious a matter — when he should have disclosed everything to us from the beginning. We believe that even after this reminder he will share the full details with us, so that when what now seems unclear has been brought into the open, judgment may be passed in accordance with the teaching of the Gospels and the Apostles. Dated February 18, in the consulship of the illustrious Asturius and Protogenes (449).

Leo the bishop, to Theodosius Augustus. I. He praises the Emperor's piety and mentions Eutyches' appeal. How much protection the Lord has vouchsafed His Church through your clemency and faith, is shown again by this letter which you have sent me: so that we rejoice at there being not only a kingly, but also a priestly mind within you. Seeing that, besides your imperial and public cares, you have a most devout anxiety for the Christian religion, lest schisms or heresies or other offenses should grow up among God's people. For your realm is then in its best state when men serve the eternal and unchangeable Trinity by the confession of one Godhead. What the disturbance was which occurred in the Church of Constantinople, and which could have so moved my brother and fellow bishop Flavian, that he deprived Eutyches, the presbyter, of communion, I have not yet been able to understand clearly. For although the aforesaid presbyter sent in writing a complaint concerning his trouble to the Apostolic See, yet he only briefly touched on some points, asserting that he kept the constitutions of the Nicene synod and had been vainly blamed for difference of faith. II. He finds fault with Flavian's silence. But the statement of bishop Eusebius, his accuser, copies of which the said presbyter has sent us, contained nothing clear about his objections, and though he charged a presbyter with heresy, he did not say expressly what opinion he disapproved of in him: although the bishop himself also professed that he adhered to the decrees of the Nicene synod: for which reason we had no means of learning anything more fully. And because the method of our Faith and the laudable anxiety shown by your piety requires the merits of the case to be known, there must now be no place allowed for deception, but we must be informed of the points on which he considers him unsound, that the right judgment may be passed after full information. I have sent a letter to the aforesaid bishop, from which he may gather that I am displeased at his still keeping silence upon what has been done in so grave a matter, when he ought to have been forward in disclosing all to us at the outset: and we believe that even after the reminder he will acquaint us with the whole, in order that, when what now seems obscure, has been brought into the light, judgment may be passed agreeably to the teaching of the Gospels and the Apostles. Dated the 18th of February , in the consulship of the illustrious Asturius and Protogenes (449). About this page 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/3604024.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.