The First Session

After an account of how the council assembled, the Acts begin with the speech of the papal legates, as follows: [a] “Most gracious lord, in keeping with the imperial letter that your God-taught majesty sent to our most holy pope, he has sent us to the most holy feet of your God-confirmed serenity. We bring with us his report, and also the report of his synod, which the venerable bishops subject to it addressed in the same way to your divinely preserved piety. We have also presented these to your God-crowned fortitude. “For the past forty-six years, more or less, certain new expressions contrary to the orthodox faith have been brought in by men who at various times were bishops of this, your royal and God-preserved city, namely Sergius, Paul, Pyrrhus, and Peter. They were brought in also by Cyrus, who was once archbishop of the city of Alexandria, by Theodore, who was bishop of a city called Pharan, and by certain others who followed them. These things have brought no small confusion into the church throughout the whole world. For they taught as dogma that in the plan of salvation carried out in the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ, one of the Holy Trinity, there was only one will and one operation. “Your servant, our Apostolic See, has fought against this many times, and then prayed against it, and even up to now it has by no means been able to draw the advocates of so depraved an opinion away from it. So we beg your God-crowned fortitude to have those of the most holy church of Constantinople who share these views tell us where this newfangled language comes from.” [b]

At the emperor’s bidding, the Monothelites made this answer: [f] “We have brought out no new way of speaking. We have taught whatever we received from the holy ecumenical synods and from the holy and approved fathers, and also from the archbishops of this imperial city, namely Sergius, Paul, Pyrrhus, and Peter, as well as from Honorius, who was pope of Old Rome, and from Cyrus, who was pope of Alexandria. That is, we have taught it with regard to will and operation. So we have believed, so we believe, and so we preach. And we are ready to stand by this faith and defend it.” [g]