Library › St Optatus of Milevis › Against the Donatists

Against the Donatists

St Optatus of Milevis, tr. Vassall-Phillips, 1917

Appendix 4: Letter of the Council of Arles to Pope Sylvester

Letter of the Council of Arles to Pope Silvester

To the most beloved Pope Silvester: Marinus, Acratius, Natalis, Theodore, Proterius, Vocius, Verus, Probatius, Caecilian, Faustinus, Surgentius, Gregory, Reticius, Ambitausus, Termatius, Merocles, Pardus, Adelfius, Hibernius, Fortunatus, Aristasius, Lampadius, Vitalis, Maternus, Liberius, Gregory, Crescens, Avitianus, Dafnus, Orantalis, Quintasius, Victor, Epictetus, eternal health in the Lord!

Being united by the common tie of charity, and by that unity which is the bond of our mother, the Catholic Church, we have been brought to the City of Arles by the wish of the most pious Emperor, and we salute thee with the reverence which is thy due,¹ most glorious Pope. Here we have suffered from, troublesome men, dangerous to our law and tradition----men of undisciplined mind,² whom both the authority of our God, which is with us,³ and our tradition and the rule of truth reject, because⁴ they neither have reasonableness in their argument, nor any moderation in their accusations, nor was their manner of proof to the point.⁵ Therefore by the Judgement of God and of Mother Church, who knows and approves her own, they have been either condemned or rejected.⁶ And would, most beloved Brother, that you had deemed it well to be present at this great spectacle. We believe surely that in that case a more severe sentence would have been passed against them; and our assembly would have exulted with a greater joy, had you passed Judgement together with us. But since you were by no means able to leave that region, where the Apostles daily sit, and their blood without ceasing bears witness to the glory of God, it did not seem to us that by reason of your absence,⁷ most well-beloved Brother, we ought to deal exclusively with those matters, on account of which we had been summoned, but we judged that we also should take counsel on our own affairs; because, as the countries from which we come are different, so events of various kinds will happen which we think that we ought to watch and regulate.⁸ Accordingly we thought well in the presence of the Holy Spirit and His Angels that from among the various matters which occurred to each of us,⁹ we should make some decrees to provide for the present state of tranquillity. We also agreed to write first to you,¹⁰ who hold [the government of] the greater dioceses,¹¹ that by you especially they should be brought to the knowledge of all.¹² What it is that we have determined on, we have appended to this writing of our insignificance. But in the first place, we were bound to discuss a matter that concerned the usefulness of our life. Now since¹³ one died and rose again for many, the same season should be observed with a religious mind by all at the same time, lest divisions or dissensions might arise in so great a service of devotion. We judge, therefore, that the Pasch of the Lord should be observed throughout the world upon the same day.

Also, concerning those who have been ordained clerics in any places whatsoever, we have decreed that they remain fixed in the same places. Concerning those too¹⁴ who throw down their arms in time of peace,¹⁵ we have decreed that they should be kept from communion. Concerning the wandering agitators who belong to the Faithful, we have decreed that, as long as they continue their agitation, they be debarred from communion.

Concerning the strolling players we have decreed that, as long as they act, they be debarred from communion. Concerning those [heretics]¹⁶ who are weighed down by illness and wish to believe,¹⁷ we have decreed that hands be laid upon them. Concerning magistrates who belong to the Faithful and are appointed to office, we have determined that, when they are promoted, they should receive ecclesiastical letters of communion, but in such a way that in whatever place they may be living, the Bishop of that place shall have a heed to them, and if they begin to act against discipline, they be then excluded from communion. We have decreed similarly with regard to those who wish to hold state offices. Moreover, with regard to the Africans,¹⁸ inasmuch as they use their own law of rebaptising, we have decreed that if any heretic comes to the Church, he should be questioned concerning the Creed, and if it be found that he has been baptised in the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost, hands shall be laid upon him and no more.¹⁹ But if, on being questioned as to the Creed, he does not give the Trinity in answer, then let him rightly be baptised, and the rest, etc.²⁰

Then giving over,²¹ he commanded all to return to their homes. Amen.

Notes

merita reverentia salutamus.
The Editors read graves ac perniciosos legi nostrae atque traditioni effrenatae mentis homines pertulimus. Ziwsa for graves ac perniciosos reads gravem ac perniciosam, for legi, traditioni, he reads legis, traditionis, and supplies iniuriam et between traditionis and effrenatae.
Dei nostri praesens auctoritas.
ita respuit, ut.
ut nulla in iis ant dicendi ratio subsisteret aut accusandi modus ullus aut probatio conveniret.
aut damnati sunt aut repulsi.
tamen.
observare.
The MS. has ex his qui singulos quos monebat. Du Pin observes that there must be a lacuna between quos and monebat. Ziwsa changes quos to quosque and monebat to movebant. This I have translated in the text.
The MS. reads antequam ante a te. This is manifestly corrupt. Ziwsa reads antea ad te scribi.
qui maiores dioeceseos tenes (so the MS. Hefele, History of the Councils, i. 204, note 2, suggests that the word gubernacula had fallen out. In this case maiores should be maioris). The editors read maiores dioeceses. Dioecesis is a province of the Empire (cf. ‘mirifica expectatio est Asiae nostrarum dioecesium ‘ Cic.). Antioch, for example, was the capital of the dioecesis Oriens, and the Bishop or Patriarch of Antioch had jurisdiction over that vast province. …
per te potissimum omnibus insinuari.
Reading, with Ziwsa, quia for the qui of the MS.
Reading with the editors de his etiam for de his agitur of the MS.
qui arma proiiciunt in pace.
de his. The MS. has de his agitur.
credere. So Ziwsa. The MS. has recedere.
The MS. has de Africa. The editors read de Afris.
manus tantum ei imponatur.
etcetera. The text of the letter is here broken off, and the interruption is marked by an etcetera.
tunc taedians iussit omnes ad sedes suas redire----amen. Taedians, literally, ‘being sick of the affair.’ This is clearly no longer in the epistolary but narrative style. It evidently means to say that Constantine was now weary of the whole thing, and sent all those who had assisted at the Council back to their homes. Duchesne argues (op. cit. p. 10) that this ‘débris de phrase’ proves clearly that there was, besides the documents in the dossier, a running commentary, which held them together (‘un récit qui les reliat’). He says that no doubt there was originally to be found in this place a statement (after the letter had been finished) as to the protests raised by the Donatists against the decision of the Council, of the Emperor’s useless efforts for peace, and that he then grew tired of it all. If so, the last line of this document alone remains to tell the tale.