To Anastasius of Thessalonica, on His Charge over Illyricum

Leo to his beloved brother Anastasius.

The brotherly love of our colleagues makes us read the letters of all priests with a grateful mind, for in them we embrace one another in spirit as if face to face, and through the exchange of such letters we are joined in conversation with one another. But in this present letter the affection shown seems to us greater than usual. For it tells us the state of the churches in your province and, by reminding us of our office, urges us to vigilant care. So, placed as it were on a watchtower by the will of the Lord, we should both give our approval to things when they go as we would wish, and correct, by applying the remedies of compulsion, whatever we see has gone wrong through any encroachment. We hope that an abundant crop will come of our sowing, if we do not let those things grow which have begun to spring up to spoil the harvest. [a]

Now, dear brother, your request has been made known to us through our son Nicolaus the priest: that you too, like your predecessors, might receive from us in our turn authority over Illyricum for the keeping of the rules. We give our consent, and we earnestly urge that no concealment and no negligence be allowed in the management of the churches throughout Illyricum, which we commit to you in our place. In this we follow the precedent of Siricius of blessed memory. He then for the first time, acting on a fixed method, entrusted them to your last predecessor but one, Anysius of holy memory, who had at that time deserved well of the Apostolic See and was proved worthy by later events, so that he might give help to the churches of that province which he wished kept to their discipline. Noble precedents must be followed eagerly, so that we may show ourselves in all things like those whose privileges we wish to enjoy. We wish you to imitate your last predecessor but one, and also your immediate predecessor, who is known, as well as the former, to have both deserved and used this privilege; so that we may rejoice in the progress of the churches which we commit to you in our place. For as affairs go forward creditably when they are entrusted to one who acts well and skillfully carries out the duties of the priestly position, so they prove only a burden to the man who, when power is entrusted to him, does not use the moderation that is due. [b]

And so, dear brother, hold with vigilance the helm entrusted to you. Turn your mind’s gaze on everything you see placed in your charge, guarding what will lead to your reward, and resisting those who try to overturn the discipline of the canons. The sanction of God’s law must be respected, and the decrees of the canons must be kept above all. Throughout the provinces committed to you, let such priests be consecrated to the Lord as are commended only by their deserving life and their standing among the clergy. Allow no room for personal favor, or canvassing, or bought votes. Let the cases of those who are to be ordained be examined carefully, and let them be trained in the discipline of the church over a considerable part of their life. And if all the requirements of the holy fathers are found in them, and if they have kept all that we read the blessed apostle Paul enjoined on such men, namely that a man be the husband of one wife, and that she was a virgin when he married her, as the authority of God’s law requires, then ordain them. [d]

We are extremely anxious that this be kept, so as to take away all room for excuses, lest anyone should think he can reach the priesthood who took a wife before he received the grace of Christ and, after her death, joined himself to another after baptism. For the former wife cannot be ignored, nor the earlier marriage left out of the reckoning; and he is as much the father of the children he begot by that wife before baptism as he is of those he is known to have begotten by the second wife after baptism. For as sins, and things known to be unlawful, are washed away in the font of baptism, so things that are allowed or lawful are not done away.

Let no one be ordained a priest in these churches without due thought; for in this way ripe judgments will be formed about those to be chosen, if your scrutiny, brother, is feared. But let any bishop who, against our command, is ordained by his metropolitan without your knowledge know that he has no secure standing with us, and that those who have taken it on themselves to do this must give an account of their presumption. But just as each metropolitan has been given the power, so that he has the right of ordaining in his province, so we wish the metropolitans themselves to be ordained, but not without ripe and well-considered judgment. For though it is fitting that all who are consecrated priests should be approved and well pleasing to God, we want those to excel in a special way who we know will preside over the fellow priests assigned to them. And we urge you, beloved, to see to this all the more diligently and carefully, so that you may be shown to keep that precept of the apostles which says, “Lay hands hastily on no one.” [e]

Any of the brothers who has been summoned to a synod should attend, and not keep away from the holy assembly; for he should know that there above all what will serve the good discipline of the church must be settled. All faults will be better avoided if the priests of the Lord meet more often, and close association is the greatest help both to improvement and to brotherly love. There, if any questions arise, they can be decided under the Lord’s guidance, so that no ill feeling remains and only a firmer love exists among the brothers. But if any more important question arises that cannot be settled there under your presidency, brother, send your report and consult us, so that we may write back as the Lord reveals; for it is by his mercy that we can do anything, because he has breathed on us with favor. In this way, by our decision, we may uphold our right to hear the matter, in keeping with long-established tradition and the respect due to the Apostolic See. For as we wish you to exercise your authority in our place, so we keep for ourselves the points that cannot be decided on the spot, and the persons who have appealed to us. [h]

You are to see to it that this letter comes to the knowledge of all the brothers, so that no one may hereafter find occasion to excuse himself through ignorance in keeping what we command. We have also sent our letter of admonition to the metropolitans of the several provinces themselves, so that they may know that they must obey the apostolic injunctions, and that in beginning to obey you, brother, our delegate, as we have written, they are obeying us. We hear, indeed, and we cannot pass it over in silence, that certain brothers ordain bishops only on Sundays, while presbyters and deacons, whose consecration should be equally solemn, receive the dignity of the priestly office on any day without distinction. This is a blameworthy practice, against the canons and the tradition of the fathers, since those who have received the custom ought by all means to keep it for all the sacred orders. So, after a proper lapse of time, he who is to be ordained a priest or deacon may be advanced through all the ranks of the clerical office, and a man may have time to learn what he himself is one day to teach. Dated the 12th of January, in the consulship of Theodosius, for the eighteenth time, and Albinus (in the year 444). [i]