The Emperors’ Letter to the Council

Read at the first session. From Labbe and Cossart’s collection of the councils, volume 7, column 49.

Constantine and Irene, sovereigns of the Romans in the faith, to the most holy bishops who, by the grace of God and by the command of our pious Sovereignty, have met together in the Council of Nicaea. [a]

The Wisdom that truly shares the nature of God and the Father, our Lord Jesus Christ, our true God, has by his most divine and wonderful plan of salvation in the flesh delivered us from all the error of idolatry. By taking our nature on himself he renewed it, with the working of the Spirit, who is of the same nature as himself. And having himself become the first High Priest, he has counted you holy men worthy of the same dignity. [b] He is the good Shepherd who carried on his own shoulders the sheep that had wandered, fallen man, and brought him back to his own folds, that is, to the company of the angelic and ministering powers. He has reconciled us in himself; taking away the dividing wall, he has broken down the enmity through his flesh and given us a rule of life that leads to peace. That is why, preaching to all, he says in the Gospel, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the children of God.” This blessing confirms the high honor of our adoption as sons, and our pious Sovereignty desires above all things to share in it. So we have always applied the utmost diligence to direct our whole Roman commonwealth into the ways of unity and harmony. Above all we have been concerned for the right ordering of the church of God, and most anxious in every way to promote the unity of the priesthood. [c]

For this reason the heads of the priestly order of the East and the North, of the West and the South, are present in the persons of their representative bishops, each of whom has with him the replies written in answer to the synodical letter sent by the most holy patriarch. Such has been the synodical rule of the catholic church from the beginning, the church that has received the gospel from one end of the earth to the other. On this account, by the good will and permission of God, we have caused you, his most holy priests, to meet together, you who are accustomed to administer his testimony in the unbloody sacrifice, so that your decision may agree with the definitions of the former councils that decreed rightly, and the splendor of the Spirit may enlighten you in all things. For as our Lord teaches, “No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, but on a lampstand, so that it gives light to all who are in the house.” In the same way you should make such use of the various rules piously handed down to us of old by our fathers that all the holy churches of God may remain in peaceful order.

As for us, such was our zeal for the truth, such our earnest desire for the interests of religion, our care for church order, and our anxiety that the ancient rules and orders should hold their ground, that although we were fully engaged in councils of war and all our attention was taken up with the cares of state, we treated all these affairs as of lesser importance and would allow nothing whatever to stand in the way of calling your most holy council. Everyone is given the fullest freedom to express his views without the least hesitation, so that the question under inquiry may be discussed as fully as possible and the truth spoken all the more boldly. In this way all dissension may be banished from the church, and we may all be united in the bonds of peace.

For when the most holy Patriarch Paul, by the divine will, was about to be set free from the bonds of mortality and to exchange his earthly pilgrimage for a heavenly home with his Master Christ, he gave up the patriarchate and took up the monastic life. When we asked him, “Why have you done this?” he answered: “Because I fear that if death should overtake me while I am still bishop of this royal and heaven-defended city, I would have to carry with me the anathema of the whole catholic church, which consigns me to that outer darkness prepared for the devil and his angels. For they say that a certain synod was held here to overthrow the pictures and images that the catholic church holds, embraces and receives in memory of the persons they represent. This is what troubles my soul. This is what makes me anxiously ask how I may escape the judgment of God, since I was brought up among such men and am counted among them.” No sooner had he said this, in the presence of some of our most distinguished nobles, than he died. [e]

Our pious Sovereignty reflected on this solemn declaration (and indeed, even before it, we had heard similar questions raised by many around us), and we took counsel with ourselves about what ought to be done. After mature deliberation we decided that once a new patriarch had been elected, we would try to bring this matter to a decisive conclusion. So we summoned those we knew to be most experienced in church affairs, called on Christ our God, and consulted with them about who was worthy to be raised to the chair of the priesthood of this royal and God-preserved city. With one heart and soul they all voted for Tarasius, who now holds the presidency of the chief priesthood. We sent for him and laid our deliberations and our vote before him, but he would by no means consent or yield at all to what had been decided. When we asked him why he refused, at first he answered evasively that the yoke of the chief priesthood was too much for him. But we knew this to be only a pretext covering his unwillingness to obey us, so we did not let up, but kept pressing him to accept the dignity of the chief priesthood. When he saw how urgent we were with him, he told us the reason for his refusal: “It is because I see that the church, which was founded on the rock, Christ our God, is rent and torn apart by schisms. We are unsteady in our confession; Christians in the East, of the same faith as ourselves, refuse communion with us and unite themselves with those of the West; and so we are estranged from everyone and are anathematized by everyone every day. Moreover, I would demand that an ecumenical council be held, at which legates from the pope of Rome and from the chief priests of the East would be present.” Fully understanding all this, we brought him before the assembled company of the priests, of our most distinguished princes, and of all our Christian people, and in their presence he repeated everything he had said to us before. When they heard it, they received him with joy and earnestly begged our peacemaking and pious Sovereignty to assemble an ecumenical council. We gave our hearty consent to their request; for, to tell the truth, it is by the good will and under the direction of our God that we have gathered you together. [f]

Therefore, since God, wishing to establish his own counsel, has brought you together for this purpose from every part of the world, see the Gospels now lying before you, plainly crying aloud, “Judge justly.” Stand firm as champions of religion, and be ready with an unsparing hand to cut away every innovation and newfangled invention. Peter, the chief of the company of the apostles, struck the mad slave and cut off his Jewish ear with the sword. In the same way you must wield the axe of the Spirit. Every tree that bears the fruit of contention, of strife, or of newly imported innovation, either renew by transplanting it through the words of sound doctrine, or cut it down with the censure of the canons and send it to the fires of the Gehenna to come. So may the peace of the Spirit forever guard the whole body of the church, knit together and united in one and confirmed by the traditions of the fathers; and so may our whole Roman state enjoy peace as well as the church.

We have received letters from Hadrian, the most holy pope of Old Rome, by his legates, Peter, the God-beloved archpresbyter, and Peter, the God-beloved presbyter and abbot, who will be present in council with you. We command that, according to the custom of synods, these be read in the hearing of you all. When you have heard them in fitting silence, and also the letters contained in two booklets, sent by the chief priest and the other priests of the Eastern dioceses by John, the most pious monk and chancellor of the patriarchal throne of Antioch, and by Thomas, priest and abbot, who are also present with you, you may understand from these what the mind of the catholic church is on this point. [h]