Letter 10

From: Pope Symmachus, Bishop of Rome To: [Eastern bishops] Date: ~507 AD Context: Symmachus writes to the eastern bishops defending his position on Chalcedon against pressure from Constantinople. Symmachus, bishop, to our beloved brothers the bishops of the eastern churches. I write to you as to brothers in the same faith — a faith we all hold, even when political circumstances have created what appear to be divisions. The division between Rome and Constantinople over the question of the Three Chapters and the Acacian legacy is a wound that I desire to heal. I want to say this clearly: the restoration of full communion between the eastern and western churches is something I seek with genuine sincerity, not as a political maneuver but as a pastoral necessity. What restoration requires is equally clear: a return to the Chalcedonian definition without qualification, a clearing of the diptychs of those who were justly condemned, and a genuine commitment from Constantinople to the principle that conciliar decisions cannot be revised by subsequent imperial action. I call on the bishops of the East — many of whom, I know, hold the Chalcedonian faith in their hearts even when political pressure has made it difficult to hold it publicly — to support the restoration of unity on these terms. The communion of the church is more precious than any political calculation. I believe you know this. Act accordingly. Symmachus, bishop of Rome

(a. 507 Symmachi papae (yel.saltem ipsius nomine scripta) ad ~"^^*^^ episeopos Afros. In confessionis eanlio constituios consolatur eisque petentibus reHquias befUorum p.5 Nazarii et liomani transmittit. Dilectissimis fratribus episcopis Afris Symmachus. 1. Lucrum forsitan putaret inimicus, si inter pericula^ quae Christianis induxit, credentium animos subegisset, et per diversa Domini grege disperso, non superesset vel inter paucos^ a quibus possit fide perseverante calcari. Regnat adhuc ille in numero vestro, qui sibi non tam in multitudine quam in devotione eomplacuit. oo^Qi Scriptum est enim datam Satanae potestatem, ut servos Christi cribraret: ut quod de tritico inveniri posset, horreis jungeretur, quod de paleis, ad ignium aUmenta transiret. Ad vos specialiter dictum 12^2 ®^^' iVo/iVt' thnere^ pusilius grex, complacuit Patri vestro dare vobis regnum. Venit inter vos gladius perfidorum, qui marcida Ecclesiae membra resecaret, et ad coelestem gloriam sana perduceret. Quos ') habeat Christus milites, certamen ostendit: qui triumphum merea- tur, per bella cognoscitur. Nolite metuere, quod pontificalis a Tobis apicis infulas abstulerunt. Vobiscum est sacerdos ille vel hostda, qui non tam honoribus consuevit gaudere quam mentibus. Majora sunt confessionis praemia, quam nominatae munera dignitatis: ad illa plerumque etiam minoris meriti personas favor humauus adducit, ista nisi gratia superna non tribuit. Ipse enim in vobis et pugnavit et vicit, quem fides meretur et inter hominum tormenta sociari. 2. Prohxis non est opus ad fervorem in vobis coelestem ani- mare colloquiis. Habet incrementa sua divinae virtutis incendium. Non est opus eos in tropaeo jam positos attoUi bmdibus^ qui sine monitore vicerunt: gravant^) conscientiam Christiani, quidquid aflFe runt blandimenta praeconii. Res quidem virtutis est quam fecistis, sed summi praemii restitutione superanda. Quod tamen directis ad ') Sirm. gravat. EPISTOLAE 10—12. 709 filium nostrum H. ^) diaconum litteris sperastis, beatorum Nazarii et (a. 507 Romani benedictionem posceutes, fidelibus non negamus. Accipite ~~^^^) veneranda patrocinia invictorum militum, et^) quia vestram jam piam fidem in praeliis imperator agnovit, feliciter confessionis mu- uera consummate **). Dabit Deus, quum ipsi placuerit, reducem ec- clesiis quietem, et ut moerorem, quem induxit adversitas, pacis dulcedine consoletur.