Second Petition to Theodosius from Chalcedon

Your piety has been told several times, both by us in person and by our messengers, that the doctrine of the true faith appears to be in danger of being corrupted, and that the body of the church seems to be being torn apart by men who are turning everything upside down. They trample on all church order and all imperial law and throw everything into confusion, in order to confirm the heresy put forward by Cyril of Alexandria. For when your piety first summoned us to Ephesus, to inquire into the question that had arisen and to confirm the faith of the Gospels and the apostles laid down by the holy Fathers, those who held their own private council confirmed the heretical Chapters in writing before all the bishops who had been summoned had arrived. These Chapters agree with the impiety of Arius, Eunomius, and Apollinarius. Some they deceived; some they terrified. Others, already charged with heresy, they received into communion. Others, who had not been in communion with them, were bribed into joining them. Others again were fired with the hope of high positions for which they were unfit. In this way these men gathered a great crowd of followers around them, as though they had no idea that true religion is shown not by numbers but by truth. [a] The most honorable Count Candidianus read the letter of your piety a second time, ordering that the questions recently raised be examined in a quiet and brotherly way. But when all the pious bishops were assembling, the reading had no effect. Then the noble Palladius, an imperial courier, came with another letter from your majesty. It said that everything enacted privately and apart must be canceled, that the council must be assembled anew, and that the true doctrine must be ratified. But, as usual, these unscrupulous men treated this pious order of yours with contempt. [b] Then again came the right honorable Master John, at that time count of the sacred largesses, bringing another pious letter. It said that the depositions of the three had been decreed, that the stumbling blocks that had sprung up were to be removed, and that the faith laid down at Nicaea by the holy and blessed Fathers was to be ratified by all. As usual, these men who mock at everything broke this law too. [c] For after hearing the letter they did not change their conduct. They held communion with the deposed and spoke of them as bishops. They refused to allow the Chapters, which had been put forward to the loss and corruption of the pious faith, to be rejected, even though we had often called them to discussion. For we had ready to hand a plain refutation of the heretical Chapters. As witness to these statements we have the right honorable Master. When both sides had been summoned a third and a fourth time, he did not venture to make an excuse of this conduct, because of their disobedience, and he thought it right to summon us here. [d]

We came at once. On our arrival we gave ourselves no rest, but made our petition both before your piety and before the illustrious assembly, that they should either take up the defense of the Chapters and enter into discussion about them, or else reject them as contrary to the right faith and abide by the faith laid down by the blessed Fathers in council at Nicaea. They refused to do anything of the kind. They persisted in their heretical course, and yet they were allowed to attend the churches and to carry out their priestly duties. We, on the other hand, both at Ephesus and here, have long been deprived of communion. Both there and here we have faced countless dangers. While we were being stoned and all but killed by slaves dressed up as monks, we took it all for the best, enduring such treatment willingly for the cause of the truth. Afterward your majesty decided that we and the opposite party should meet once again, so that the stubborn might be compelled to examine the doctrines. While we were waiting for this to happen, your piety set out for the city. You ordered the very men who were accused of heresy, some of whom we had therefore deposed and others excommunicated, and who were afterward to be subjected to the discipline of the church, to come to the city, carry out priestly duties, and ordain. But we, who for the sake of true religion have taken up so tremendous a struggle, we who have shrunk from no danger in our battle for right doctrine, have neither been told to enter the city to serve the cause of the endangered faith and to strive for orthodoxy, nor been allowed to return home. Instead, here we are in Chalcedon, distressed and groaning for the church, which is oppressed by schism. [e]

So, since we have received no reply, we have thought it necessary to inform your piety by this present letter, before God and Christ and the Holy Spirit, that if anyone is ordained by these men of heretical opinions before right doctrine is settled, he must necessarily be cut off from the whole church, both from the clergy and from the laity who stand apart from them. For none of the pious will put up with communion being granted to heretics and their own salvation being made worthless. And when this has come to pass, your piety will be compelled to act against your will. For the schism will grow beyond all expectation, and so the champions of true religion will be grieved, unable to bear the loss of their own souls and the establishment of those impious doctrines of Cyril which the quarrelsome are eager to defend. Many indeed of those who stand for true religion will never allow Cyril’s doctrines to be accepted. We will never allow it, we who all belong to the diocese of the East in your province, and to the dioceses of Pontus, Asia, Thrace, Illyricum, and Italy, and who also sent your piety the treatise of the most blessed Ambrose, written against this new superstition now springing up. [g] To prevent all this, and any further trouble to your piety, we beg, beseech, and implore you to issue an edict that no ordination take place before the orthodox faith is settled, for which your Christ-loving highness summoned us together.