To the Emperor Theodosius, on the Confession Required of Anatolius

Leo the bishop to Theodosius, ever Augustus. [a]

Amid the anxieties we suffer for the faith, all your devoutly worded letters have given us hope of safety, because you support the Council of Nicaea so loyally that you do not allow the priests of the Lord to move an inch from it, as you have often written to us already. But so that I may not seem to have done anything that would harm the catholic defense, I thought that nothing rash in either direction ought to be written back for the present about the ordination of the man who has begun to preside over the church of Constantinople. This is not from any lack of loving interest, but because I am waiting for the catholic truth to be made clear. And I beg your clemency to bear this patiently, so that when he has proved himself toward the catholic faith such as we desire, we may rejoice all the more fully and safely over his sincerity. But so that no evil suspicion may trouble him about our attitude toward him, I remove every occasion of difficulty. I demand nothing that may seem either hard or open to dispute, but make an invitation that no catholic would decline. For those who before our time shone in preaching the catholic truth, whether in the Greek or the Latin tongue, are well known and renowned throughout the world. Some even of our own day have recourse to their learning and teaching, and from their writings a statement of doctrine is drawn that is both uniform and manifold. Just as it pulled down the heresy of Nestorius, so it has cut off this error too, which is now sprouting up again. So let him read again what the holy fathers guarded as the belief about the Lord’s Incarnation, which has always been preached in the same way. Let him see that the letter of Cyril of holy memory, bishop of Alexandria, agrees with the view of those who went before him. In that letter Cyril wanted to correct and cure Nestorius, refuting his wrong statements and setting out more clearly the faith as defined at Nicaea; it was sent by him and placed in the library of the Apostolic See. When he has seen this, let him further reconsider the proceedings of the Synod of Ephesus, in which the testimonies of catholic priests on the Lord’s Incarnation are included and upheld by Cyril of holy memory. Let him not scorn also to read over my letter, which he will find agrees throughout with the devout belief of the fathers. And when he has understood that what is asked and desired of him will serve the same good end, let him give his hearty assent to the judgment of the catholics. Then, in the presence of all the clergy and the whole people, he may declare without any reservation his sincere acceptance of the common faith, to be communicated to the Apostolic See and to all the Lord’s priests and churches. And so, with the world at peace through the one faith, we may all be able to say what the angels sang at the Savior’s birth from the Virgin Mary: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men of good will.” [b]

We and our blessed fathers, whose teaching we revere and follow, are in harmony on the one faith, as the bishops of all the provinces bear witness. So let the most devout faith of your clemency see to it that a fitting document reaches us as soon as possible from the bishop of Constantinople, as from a tested and catholic priest. In it he should openly and plainly declare that he will cut off from his communion anyone who believes or maintains any view about the Incarnation of the Word of God other than the one my statement, and that of all catholics, lays down. Then we may rightly be able to give him brotherly love in Christ. And so that, with God’s help, our sound desires may be carried out more quickly and more fully through your clemency’s faith, I have sent to your piety my brothers and fellow bishops Abundius and Asterius, together with the presbyters Basil and Senator, whose devotion I have well proved. When they have set out the instructions we have sent, you will be able to understand properly what the standard of our faith is. Then, if the bishop of Constantinople gives his hearty assent to the same confession, we may rejoice securely, as is right, over the peace of the church, and no ambiguity may seem to lurk behind to trouble us with suspicions that may have no ground. But if any dissent from the purity of our faith and from the authority of the fathers, the synod that has met at Rome for that purpose joins me in asking your clemency to permit a universal council within the borders of Italy. Then, if all who have fallen, whether through ignorance or through fear, come together in one place, measures may be taken to correct and cure them, and no one may any longer be allowed to appeal to the Council of Nicaea in a way that shows him opposed to its faith. For it will benefit both the whole church and your rule if one God, one faith and one mystery of man’s salvation are held by the one confession of the whole world.

Dated the 17th of July, in the consulship of the illustrious Valentinian, for the seventh time, and Avienus (in the year 450).