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The great and holy and universal Synod, which by the grace of God and the
sanction of our most pious and Christ-loving Emperors has been gathered together
in the metropolis of Chalcedon in the province of Bithynia, to the most holy and
blessed archbishop of Rome, Leo.
I. They congratulate Leo on taking the foremost part in maintaining the
Faith.
“Our mouth was filled with joy and our tongue with exultation.” This prophecy
grace has fitly appropriated to us for whom the security of religion is ensured.
For what is a greater incentive to cheerfulness than the Faith? what better
inducement to exultation than the Divine knowledge which the Saviour Himself
gave us from above for salvation, saying, “go ye and make disciples of all the
nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the
Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things that I have enjoined you.” And
this golden chain leading down from the Author of the command to us, you
yourself have stedfastly preserved, being set as the mouthpiece unto all of the
blessed Peter, and imparting the blessedness of his Faith unto all. Whence we
too, wisely taking you as our guide in all that is good, have shown to the sons
of the Church their inheritance of Truth, not giving our instruction each singly
and in secret, but making known our confession of the Faith in concert, with one
consent and agreement. And we were all delighted, revelling, as at an imperial
banquet, in the spiritual food, which Christ supplied to us through your letter:
and we seemed to see the Heavenly Bridegroom actually present with us. For if
“where two or three are gathered together in His name,” He has said that “there
He is in the midst of them,” must He not have been much more particularly
present with 520 priests, who preferred the spread of knowledge concerning Him
to their country and their ease? Of whom you were chief, as the head to the
members, showing your goodwill in the person of those who represented you;
whilst our religious Emperors presided to the furtherance of due order, inviting
us to restore the doctrinal fabric of the Church, even as Zerubbabel invited
Joshua to rebuild Jerusalem.
II. They detail Dioscorus’ wicked acts.
And the adversary would have been like a wild beast outside the fold, roaring to
himself and unable to seize any one, had not the late bishop of Alexandria
thrown himself for a prey to him, who, though he had done many terrible things
before, eclipsed the former by the latter deeds; for contrary to all the
injunctions of the canons, he deposed that blessed shepherd of the saints at
Constantinople, Flavian, who displayed such Apostolic faith, and the most pious
bishop Eusebius, and acquitted by his terror-won votes Eutyches, who had been
condemned for heresy, and restored to him the dignity which your holiness had
taken away from him as unworthy of it, and like the strangest of wild beasts,
falling upon the vine which he found in the finest condition, he uprooted it and
brought in that which had been cast away as unfruitful, and those who acted like
true shepherds he cut off, and set over the flocks those who had shown
themselves wolves: and besides all this he stretched forth his fury even against
him who had been charged with the custody of the vine by the Saviour, we mean of
course your holiness, and purposed excommunication against one who had at heart
the unifying of the Church. And instead of showing penitence for this, instead
of begging mercy with tears, he exulted as if over virtuous actions, rejecting
your holiness’ letter and resisting all the dogmas of the Truth.
III. We have deposed Eutyches, treating him as mercifully as we could.
And we ought to have left him in the position where he had placed himself: but,
since we profess the teaching of the Saviour “who wishes all men to be saved and
to come to a knowledge of the Truth,” as a fact we took pains to carry out this
merciful policy towards him, and called him in brotherly fashion to judgment,
not as if trying to cut him off but affording him room for defence and healing;
and we prayed that he might be victorious over the many charges they had brought
against him, in order that we might conclude our meeting in peace and happiness
and Satan might gain no advantage over us. But he, being absolutely convicted by
his own conscience, by shirking the trial gave countenance to the accusations
and rejected the three lawful summonses he received. In consequence of which, we
ratified with such moderation as we could the vote which he had passed against
himself by his blunders, stripping the wolf of his shepherd’s skin, which he had
long been convicted of wearing for a pretence. Thereupon our troubles ceased and
straightway a time of welcome happiness set in: and having pulled up one tare,
we filled the whole world to our delight with pure grain: and having received,
as it were, full power to root up and to plant, we limited the up-rooting to one
and carefully plant a crop of good fruit. For it was God who worked, and the
triumphant Euphemia who crowned the meeting as for a bridal, and who, taking our
definition of the Faith as her own confession, presented it to her Bridegroom by
our most religious Emperor and Christ-loving Empress, appeasing all the tumult
of opponents and establishing our confession of the Truth as acceptable to Him,
and with hand and tongue setting her seal to the votes of us all in proclamation
thereof. These are the things we have done, with you present in the spirit and
known to approve of us as brethren, and all but visible to us through the wisdom
of your representatives.
IV. They announce their decision that Constantinople should take precedence
next to Rome, and ask Leo’s consent to it.
And we further inform you that we have decided on other things also for the good
management and stability of church matters, being persuaded that your holiness
will accept and ratify them, when you are told. The long prevailing custom,
which the holy Church of God at Constantinople had of ordaining metropolitans
for the provinces of Asia, Pontus and Thrace, we have now ratified by the votes
of the Synod, not so much by way of conferring a privilege on the See of
Constantinople as to provide for the good government of those cities, because of
the frequent disorders that arise on the death of their bishops, both clergy and
laity being then without a leader and disturbing church order. And this has not
escaped your holiness, particularly in the case of Ephesus, which has often
caused you annoyance. We have ratified also the canon of the 150 holy Fathers
who met at Constantinople in the time of the great Theodosius of holy memory,
which ordains that after your most holy and Apostolic See, the See of
Constantinople shall take precedence, being placed second: for we are persuaded
that with your usual care for others you have often extended that Apostolic
prestige which belongs to you, to the church in Constantinople also, by virtue
of your great disinterestedness in sharing all your own good things with your
spiritual kinsfolk. Accordingly vouchsafe most holy and blessed father to accept
as your own wish, and as conducing to good government the things which we have
resolved on for the removal of all confusion and the confirmation of church
order. For your holiness’ delegates, the most pious bishops Paschasinus and
Lucentius, and with them the right Godly presbyter Boniface, attempted
vehemently to resist these decisions, from a strong desire that this good work
also should start from your foresight, in order that the establishment of good
order as well as of the Faith should be put to your account. For we duly
regarding our most devout and Christ loving Emperors, who delight therein, and
the illustrious senate and, so to say, the whole imperial city, considered it
opportune to use the meeting of this ecumenical Synod for the ratification of
your honour, and confidently corroborated this decision as if it were initiated
by you with your customary fostering zeal, knowing that every success of the
children rebounds to the parent’s glory. Accordingly, we entreat you, honour our
decision by your assent, and as we have yielded to the head our agreement on
things honourable, so may the head also fulfil for the children what is fitting.
For thus will our pious Emperors be treated with due regard, who have ratified
your holiness’ judgment as law, and the See of Constantinople will receive its
recompense for having always displayed such loyalty on matters of religion
towards you, and for having so zealously linked itself to you in full agreement.
But that you may know that we have done nothing for favour or in hatred, but as
being guided by the Divine Will, we have made known to you the whole scope of
our proceedings to strengthen our position and to ratify and establish what we
have done.
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