(NOTE: The electronic text obtained from The Electronic Bible Society was
not completely corrected. EWTN has corrected all discovered errors.)
ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM
CORRESPONDENCE WITH THE BISHOP OF ROME.
[Translated by Rev. W. R. W. Stephens, M.A.
Prebendary of Chichester Cathedral, and Rector of Woolbeding, Sussex.]
LETTER FROM ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM TO INNOCENT, BISHOP OF ROME.
TO MY LORD, THE MOST REVEREND AND DIVINELY BELOVED BISHOP INNOCENT, JOHN
SENDS GREETING IN THE LORD.
1. I SUPPOSE that even before receiving our letter your Piety has heard
of the iniquity which has been perpetrated here. For the magnitude of our
distress has left scarcely a single portion of the world uninformed of this
grievous tragedy: for report carrying the tidings of what has happened to
the very extremities of the earth, has everywhere caused great mourning and
lamentation. But inasmuch as we ought not to mourn, but to restore order,
and to see by what means this most grievous storm of the Church may be
stayed, we have deemed it necessary to persuade my lords, the most honoured
and pious bishops Demetrius, Pansophius, Pappus and Eugenius to leave their
own churches, and venture on this great sea voyage, and set out on a long
journey from home, and hasten to your Charity, and, after informing you
clearly of everything, to take measures for redressing the evils as
speedily as possible. And with them we have sent the most honoured and
beloved of our Deacons, Paulus and Cyriacus, but we also ourselves, in the
form of a letter, will briefly instruct your Charity concerning the things
which have come to pass. For Theophilus, who has been entrusted with the
presidency of the Church in Alexandria, having been commanded to repair
alone to Constantinople, certain men having brought an accusation against
him to the most devout Emperor, arrived bringing with him no small
multitude of Egyptian Bishops, as if wishing to show from the outset, that
he came for war and antagonism; moreover when he set foot in the great and
divinely beloved Constantinople he did not enter the Church according to
the custom and the law which has prevailed from ancient time, he held no
intercourse with us, and admitted us to no share in his conversation, his
prayers, or his society: but as soon as he disembarked, having hurried past
the vestibule of the Church, he departed and lodged somewhere outside the
city, and although we earnestly entreated him, and those who had come with
him, to be our guests (for everything had been made ready, and lodgings
provided, and whatever was suitable) neither they, nor he consented. We
seeing this, were in great perplexity, not being able to discover the cause
of this unjust hostility; nevertheless we discharged our part, doing what
became us, and continually beseeching him to meet us and to say for what
cause he hazarded so great a contest at the outset, and threw the city into
such confusion. But as he did not choose to state the reason, and those who
accused him were urgent, our most devout Emperor summoned us and commanded
us to go outside the walls to the place where Theophilus was sojourning,
and hear the argument against him. For they accused him of assault, and
slaughter and countless other crimes; but knowing as we did the laws of the
fathers, and paying respect and deference to the man, and having also his
own letters which prove that lawsuits ought not to be taken beyond the
border, but that the affairs of the several provinces should be treated
within the limits of the province, we would not accept the office of judge,
but deprecated it with great earnestness. But he, as if striving to
aggravate the former insults, having summoned my archdeacon, by a stretch
of arbitrary power, as if the Church were already widowed, and had no
bishop, by means of this man seduced all the clergy to his own side; and
the Churches became destitute, as the clergy in each were gradually
withdrawn, and instructed to hand in petitions against us, and trained to
prepare accusations. And having done this he sent and summoned us to trial,
although he had not yet cleared himself of the charges brought against him,
a proceeding directly contrary to the canons and to all the laws.
2. But we being aware that we were not cited to a trial (for otherwise
we would have presented ourselves any number of times) but to the presence
of an enemy and an adversary, as was clearly proved by all which occurred
both before and after, despatched certain bishops to him, Demetrius of
Pesinus, Eulysius of Apamea, Lupicinus of Appiaria,(1) and the presbyters
Germanus and Severus, who replied with the moderation which became us, and
said, that we did not decline to be judged, but to appear before an open
enemy, and manifest adversary. For how could one who had not yet received
any bills of indictment against me, and had acted from the outset in the
manner described, and severed himself from the Church, from communion, and
from prayer, and was training accusers, and seducing the clergy, and
desolating the Church, how, I say, could he with justice mount the throne
of the judge which was not in any sense befitting him? For it is not
suitable that one who belongs to Egypt should act as judge of those who are
in Thrace, and this a man who is himself under an accusation, and an enemy
and adversary. Nevertheless he, in no way abashed, but hurrying on to the
completion of his design, although we had declared our readiness to clear
ourselves of the charges in the presence of a hundred yea or a thousand
bishops, and to prove ourselves innocent as indeed we are, would not
consent: but in our absence, when we were appealing to a synod, and
demanding a trial, and not shrinking from a hearing of our cause, but only
from open enmity, he both received our accusers and absolved those who had
been excommunicated by me, and from them, who had not yet cleared
themselves of the offences laid to their charge, he received complaints(2)
against me, and had minutes made of the proceedings, all which things are
contrary to law, and the order of the canons. But what need is there of a
long story? He did not cease doing and contriving everything until, with
all possible display of arbitrary power and authority, he ejected us from
the city and the church, when the evening was far advanced and all the
people were streaming after us. Being drawn by the public informer(3)
through the midst of the city, and dragged along by force I was taken down
to the sea, and thrust on board ship, and made a night voyage, because I
appealed to a synod for a just hearing of my cause. Who could hear these
things without tears, even if he had a heart of stone?
But seeing, as I said before, that we ought not merely to lament the
evils which have been done, but also to amend them, I beseech your Charity
to rouse yourself and have compassion, and do everything so as to put a
stop to the mischief at this point. For even after what I have mentioned he
did not desist from his deeds of iniquity, but sought to renew the former
attack. For when the most devout Emperor had turned out those who
shamelessly rushed into the Church, and many of the Bishops present seeing
their iniquity had retreated into their own dioceses, flying from the
incursion of these men as from a fire devouring all things, we were again
invited to the city, and to the Church, from which we had been unjustly
expelled, more than thirty bishops introducing us, and our most pious
Emperor sending a notary for this purpose, while Theophilus immediately
took to flight. For what purpose, and from what cause? When we entered the
city we besought our most pious Emperor to convene a synod for prosecuting
the offenders in the late transactions. Being conscious therefore of what
he had done, and dreading conviction, the imperial letters having been sent
in every direction, convoking all men froth all quarters, Theophilus
secretly at midnight flung himself into a boat, and so made his escape,
taking all his company with him.
3. But even then we did not desist, supported as we were by a clear
conscience, from making the same supplication again to the most devout
Emperor: and he, acting as became his piety, sent to Theophilus again,
summoning him from Egypt, and his associates, in order to give an account
of the late proceedings, and informing him that he was not to suppose that
the one-sided deeds which he had so unjustly perpetrated in our absence,
and in violation of so many canons, would suffice for his defence. He did
not however submit to the royal mandate, but remained at home, alleging an
insurrection of the people in excuse, and the unseasonable zeal of certain
persons who were attached to him, as he pretended: and yet before the
arrival of the imperial letters this same people had deluged him with
abuse. But we do not make much of these matters now, but have said what we
have said as wishing to prove the fact that he was arrested in his
mischievous course. Yet even after these things we did not rest, but were
urgent in our demand that a tribunal should be formed for the purpose of
enquiry and defence: for we said that we were ready to prove that we
ourselves were guiltless, but that they had flagrantly transgressed. For
there were some Syrians amongst those present with him at that time, who
were left behind here; and we accosted them expressing our readiness to
plead our cause, and frequently importuned them on this behalf, demanding
that the minutes (of the late transactions) should be given up to us, or
that the formal bills of indictment, or the nature of the charges, or the
accusers themselves, should be made known; and yet we did not obtain any of
these things, but were again expelled from the Church. How am I to relate
the events which followed, transcending as they do every kind of tragedy?
What language will set forth these events? what kind of ear will receive
them without shuddering? For when we were urging these things, as I said
before, a dense troop of soldiers, on the great Sabbath itself,(1) as the
day was hastening towards eventide, having broken into the Churches
violently drove out all the clergy who were with us, and surrounded the
sanctuary with arms. And women from the oratories(2) who had stripped
themselves for baptism just at that time, fled unclothed, from terror at
this grievous assault, not being permitted to put on the modest apparel
which befits women; indeed many received wounds before they were expelled,
and the baptismal pools were filled with blood, and the sacred water
reddened by it. Nor did the distress cease even at this point; but the
soldiers, some of whom as we understand were unbaptized, having entered the
place where the sacred vessels were stored, saw all the things which were
inside it, and the most holy blood of Christ, is might happen in the midst
of such confusion, was spill upon the garments of the soldiers aforesaid:
and every kind of outrage was committed as in a barbarian siege. And the
common people were driven to the wilderness, and all the people tarried
outside the city, and the Churches became empty in the midst of this great
Festival, and more than forty bishops who associated with us were vainly
and causelessly expelled together with the people and clergy. And there
were shrieks and lamentations, and torrents of tears were shed everywhere,
in the market places, in the houses, in the desert places, and every part
of the city was filled with these calamities; for owing to the immoderate
extent of the outrage not only the sufferers, but also they who did not
undergo anything of the kind sympathized with us, not only those who held
the same opinions as ours. but also heretics, and Jews, and Greeks, and all
places were in a state of tumult and confusion, and lamentation, as if the
city had been captured by force. And these things were perpetrated contrary
to the intention of our most pious Emperor, under cover of night, the
Bishops contriving them, and in many places conducting the attack, nor were
they ashamed to have sergeants(3) instead of deacons marching in front of
them. And when day dawned all the city was migrating outside the walls
under trees and groves, celebrating the festival, like scattered sheep.
4. All which happened afterwards I leave you to imagine; for as I said
before it is not possible to describe each separate incident. The worst of
it is that these evils, great and serious as they are, have not even now
been suppressed nor is there any hope of their suppression; on the contrary
the mischief is extending itself every day, and we have become a laughing
stock to the multitude, or rather I should say, no one laughs even if he is
infinitely lawless, but all men mourn, as I was saying, this new kind of
lawlessness, the finishing stroke of all our ills.
What is one to say to the disorders in the other Churches? For the evil
did not stop even here, but made its way to the east. For as when some evil
humor is discharged from the head, all the other parts are corrupted, so
now also these evils, having originated in this great city as from a
fountain, confusion has spread in every direction, and clergy have
everywhere made insurrection against bishops, there has been schism between
bishop and bishop, people and people, and will be yet more; every place is
suffering from the throes of calamity, and the subversion of the whole
civilized world. Having been informed then of all these things, my lords,
most honourable and devout, exhibit the courage and zeal which becomes you,
so as to put a stop to this great assault of lawlessness which has been
made upon the Churches. For if this custom were to prevail, and it became
lawful for any persons who desired it to enter strange dioceses, so widely
separated, and expel those whom one wished to remove, and do whatever they
pleased according to their own arbitrary power, be assured that all things
will go to ruin, and an implacable kind of war will overrun the whole
world, all men attacking others, and being in turn attacked. Therefore to
prevent such confusion overtaking the whole earth yield to our entreaties
that ye will signify by writing that these lawless transactions executed in
our absence, and after hearing one side only, although we did not decline a
trial, are invalid, as indeed they are by the very nature of the case, and
that those who are convicted of having committed such iniquities must be
subjected to the penalty of the ecclesiastical laws; and for ourselves, who
have not been detected or convicted, or proved liable to punishment may we
continue to have the benefit of your correspondence, and your love, and all
other things which we have enjoyed aforetime. But if even now those who
have committed such lawless acts are willing to disclose the charges on the
strength of which they have unjustly expelled us, neither memoranda, nor
formal bills of indictment being given, nor the accusers having appeared:
yet if an impartial tribunal is formed, we will submit to be tried, and
will make our defence, and prove ourselves guiltless of the things laid to
our charge, as indeed we are: for the things which they have done are
outside the bounds of every kind of order and every kind of ecclesiastical
law and canon And why do I say ecclesiastical canon? Not even in the
heathen courts would such audacious deeds ever have been committed, or
rather not even in a barbarian court, neither Scythians, nor Sarmatians
would ever have judged a cause in this fashion, deciding it after hearing
one side only, in the absence of the accused, who only deprecated enmity,
not a trial of his case, who was ready to call any number of judges,
asserting himself to be innocent and able to clear himself of the charges
in the face of the world, and prove himself guiltless in every respect.
Having considered therefore all these things, and having been clearly
informed of all particulars by my lords, our most devout brethren the
bishops, may you be induced to exert your zeal on our behalf; for in so
doing ye will confer a favour not upon ourselves alone but also upon the
Church at large, and ye will receive your reward from God who does all
things for the peace of the Churches. Fare thee well always, and pray for
me, most honoured and holy master.
TO INNOCENT, BISHOP OF ROME, GREETING IN THE LORD.
OUR body it is true is settled in one place, but the pinion of love
wings its way round every part of the world. Even so we also although we be
separated by a journey of such great extent are nigh to your Piety, and in
daily communion with you, beholding with the eyes of love the courage of
your soul, the sterling nature of your disposition, your firmness and
inflexibility, the great consolation, constant and abiding, which you
bestow upon us. For in proportion as the billows mount higher, and
concealed reefs increase, and the hurricanes are many does your vigilance
wax stronger: and neither the great length of the journey between us, nor
the large amount of time consumed, nor the difficulty in dealing with
events has disposed you to become supine: but ye continue to imitate the
best class of pilots who are on the alert at those times most especially
when they see the waves crested, the sea swelling, the water dashing
vehemently, and the deepest darkness in day-time. Therefore also we feel
great gratitude towards you, and we long to send you showers of letters,
thus affording ourselves the greatest gratification. But since we are
deprived of this, owing to the desolation of the place; (for not only of
those who arrive from your regions, but even of those who dwell in our part
of the world no one could easily have intercourse with us, both on account
of the distance, the spot in which we are confined being situated at the
very extremity of the country, and also the terror of robbers acting as a
bar to the whole journey:) we beseech you rather to pity us because of our
long silence, than to condemn us for indolence on that account. For as a
proof that our silence has not been due to negligence, we have now at last
after a long time secured our most honoured and beloved John the presbyter,
and Paul the deacon, and we send a letter through them, and continue to
express our gratitude to you, that you have surpassed even affectionate
parents in your good will and zeal concerning us. And indeed so far as your
Piety is concerned all. things would have been duly amended, and the
accumulation of evils and offences have been swept away, and the Churches
would have enjoyed peace and a glassy calm, and all things would have
floated along with a smooth stream, and the despised laws and violated
decrees of the fathers would have been vindicated. But since in reality
none of these things has taken place, they who perpetrated the former deeds
striving to aggravate their former iniquities, I omit any detailed
narrative of their subsequent proceedings: for the narrative would exceed
the limits not merely of a letter but even of a history; only this I
beseech your vigilant soul, even if they who have filled everything with
confusion be impenitently and incurably corrupt, let not those who have
undertaken to cure them become faint-hearted or despondent, when they
consider the magnitude of the thing to be accomplished. For the contest now
before you has to be fought on behalf of nearly the whole world, on behalf
of Churches humbled to the ground, of people dispersed, of clergy
assaulted, of bishops sent into exile, of ancestral laws violated.
Wherefore we beseech your Diligence, once, twice, yea many times, in
proportion as the storm increases, to manifest still greater zeal. For we
expect that something more will be done for the purpose of amending these
wrongs. But even if this should not take place, ye at least have your crown
made ready for you by the merciful God, and the resistance offered by your
love will be no small consolation to those who are wronged: for now that we
are passing the third year of our sojourn in exile exposed to famine,
pestilence, wars, continual sieges, indescribable solitude, daily death,
and Isaurian swords, we are not a little encouraged and comforted by the
constant and abiding nature of your disposition and confidence, and by
revelling in your abundant and genuine love, This is our wall of defence,
this is our security, this our calm haven, this our treasure of infinite
blessings, this our gladness, and ground of much joy. And even if we should
be carried off again to some spot more desolate than this, we shall carry
this love away with us as no small consolation of our sufferings.
TO THE BELOVED BROTHER JOHN, INNOCENT.
ALTHOUGH the innocent man ought to expect all good things, and to crave
mercy from God, nevertheless we also, counselling resignation, have sent an
appropriate letter by the hands of Cyriacus the deacon; so that insolence
may not have more power in oppressing, than a good conscience has in
retaining hope. For thou who art the teacher and pastor of so many people
needest not to be taught that the best men are ever frequently put to the
test whether they will persevere in the perfection of patience, and not
succumb to any toil of distress: and certainly conscience is a strong
defence against all things which unjustly befall us: and unless any one
conquer these by patient endurance he supplies an argument for evil
surmising. For he ought to endure all things who trusts first of all in
God, and then in his own conscience; seeing that the noble and good man can
be specially trained to endurance, inasmuch as the holy Scriptures guard
his mind; and the sacred lessons which we deliver to the people abound in
examples, testifying as they do that nearly all the saints have been
continually oppressed in divers ways, and are tested as by a kind of
scrutiny, and so attain to the crown of patience. Let conscience itself
console thy love, most honoured brother, which in affliction supplies the
consolation of virtue. For under the eye of the Master Christ, the
conscience, having been purged, will find rest in the haven of peace.
INNOCENT, BISHOP, TO PRESBYTERS AND DEACONS, AND TO ALL THE CLERGY AND
PEOPLE OF THE CHURCH OF CONSTANTINOPLE, THE BRETHREN BELOVED WHO ARE
SUBJECT TO THE BISHOP JOHN, GREETING.
FROM the letters of your love which ye have sent by the hands of
Germanus the presbyter, and Casianus the deacon, I have studied with
anxious care the scene of calamity which ye have placed before my eyes, and
by repeated perusal of your description I thoroughly perceived under what
great distress and toil your faith is labouring: and this is a matter which
can be cured only by the consolation of patience: for our God will speedily
grant an end to such great afflictions, and He will aid you in your
endurance of these things. Moreover whilst praising the statement of your
case which contains many testimonies encouraging to patience I notice this
necessary consolation placed at the beginning of the epistle of your love:
for the consolation which we ought to have written to you, ye have
anticipated by your letter. For this is the kind of patience which our
Master is wont to supply to those who are in distress, in order that the
servants of Christ when they are in affliction may console themselves by
reflecting that the things which they themselves are suffering have
happened to the saints also in former times. And we also from your letter
shall be able to derive consolation: for we are not estranged from sympathy
with you, inasmuch as we also are chastised in your persons. For who will
be able to endure the offences committed by those men who ought to be
specially zealous promoters of the tranquillity of the Church and of
concord itself. At the present time, by a perversion of custom, guiltless
priests are expelled from the presidency of their own Churches. And this is
what your chief brother, and fellow minister, John, your bishop has
unjustly suffered, not having obtained any hearing: no crime is charged
against him, none is heard. And what is the object of this iniquitous
device? that no pretext for a trial may occur, or be sought, other men are
introduced into the places of living priests, as if those who start from an
offence of this description could be judged by any one to have anything
good or to have done anything right. (1) For we understand that such deeds
have never been perpetrated by our fathers or rather that they were
prevented by the fact that no one had authority given him to ordain another
to take the place of one who was still living. For a spurious ordination
cannot deprive the priest of his rank: seeing that neither can he be a
bishop who is wrongfully substituted for another. And as regards the
observance of the canons we lay it down that we ought to follow those,
which were defined at Nicaea, to which alone the Catholic Church is bound
to pay obedience and recognition. And if others are brought forward by
certain men, which are at variance with the canons framed at Nicaea, and
are proved to have been composed by heretics, let them be rejected by the
Catholic bishops. For the inventions of heretics ought not to be appended
to the Catholic canons; for by their adverse and unlawful decrees they are
always intending to weaken the design of the canons of Nicaea. Not only
therefore do we say that these ought not to be followed, but rather that
they should be condemned amongst heretical and schismatic decrees, as was
formerly done in the Council of Sardica by the bishops who were before us.
(2) For it were more fitting, most honoured brethren, that good deeds
should be condemned than that things done in direct opposition to the
canons should have any validity. But what are we to do against such things
at the present time? A synodical decision of them is necessary, and we have
long declared that a synod ought to be convened, as it is the only means of
allaying the agitation of such tempests as these: and if we obtain this it
is expedient that the healing of these evils should be committed to the
will of the great God, and His Christ our Lord. All the disturbances then
which have been caused by the envy of the devil for the probation of the
faithful will be mitigated; through the firmness of our faith we ought not
to despair of anything from the Lord. For we ourselves also are considering
much by what means the oecumenical synod may be brought together in order
that by the will of God these disturbing movements may be brought to an
end. Let us therefore endure for a while, and fortified by the wall of
patience let us hope that all things may be restored to us by the
assistance of our God. Moreover all things which ye say ye have undergone
we have learned by accurate enquiry from our fellow bishops who have
already taken refuge in Rome, although for the most part at different
times, that is to say, Demetrius, Cyriacus, Eulysius and Palladius, who are
here with us.
Taken from "The Early Church Fathers and Other Works" originally published
by Wm. B. Eerdmans Pub. Co. in English in Edinburgh, Scotland, beginning in
1867. (LNPF I/IX, Schaff). The digital version is by The Electronic Bible
Society, P.O. Box 701356, Dallas, TX 75370, 214-407-WORD.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
The electronic form of this document is copyrighted.
Copyright (c) Eternal Word Television Network 1996.
Provided courtesy of:
EWTN On-Line Services
PO Box 3610
Manassas, VA 22110
Voice: 703-791-2576
Fax: 703-791-4250
Data: 703-791-4336
FTP: ftp.ewtn.com
Telnet: ewtn.com
WWW:
http://www.ewtn.com.
Email address:
[email protected]
-------------------------------------------------------------------
