To the Emperor Theodosius, on the Council He Has Called

Leo to Theodosius Augustus. [a]

On receiving your clemency’s letter, I saw that the universal church has much cause for joy, since you wish the Christian faith, by which the divine Trinity is honored and worshiped, to be in nothing different from itself or out of harmony with itself. For what more effective support can be given to human affairs, in calling on God’s mercy, than when one thanksgiving and the sacrifice of one confession are offered to his majesty by all? In this the devotion of the priests and of all the faithful will at last reach its completeness: if, in what God the Word, the only Son of God, did for our redemption, nothing else is believed than what he himself commanded to be preached and believed. Every consideration prevents me from attending on the day your piety has fixed for the council of bishops. There are no precedents for such a thing, and the needs of the times do not allow me to leave the city, especially since the point of faith at issue is so clear that it would have been more reasonable not to call a synod at all. Yet, as far as the Lord grants me help, I have given my zeal to obeying your clemency’s commands by appointing brothers of mine who are able to act as the case requires in removing the offenses, and who can represent me; for no question has arisen on which there can or ought to be any doubt. Dated the 21st of June, in the consulship of the illustrious Asturius and Protogenes, in the year 449. [b]