To the Emperor Leo, Refusing to Reopen Chalcedon

Leo the bishop to Leo Augustus.

I have respectfully received your clemency’s letter, which was full of vigorous faith and of the light of truth. I wish I could obey it, even in the matter of my coming in person, which your majesty thinks necessary, for then I would gain the greater benefit of seeing your splendor. But I believe you will approve of my view once reason has shown it to be the better one. For you consistently maintain the church’s peace with holy and spiritual zeal, and nothing does more for the defense of the faith than to hold to what has been defined beyond dispute under the unceasing guidance of the Holy Spirit. So we would seem to be doing our best to upset the decrees, and, at the bidding of a heretic’s petition, to overthrow the authorities the universal church has adopted. We would be removing every limit from the conflicts of churches, and, by giving full rein to rebellion, spreading quarrels rather than calming them. After the disgraceful scenes at the Synod of Ephesus, where through the wickedness of Dioscorus the catholic faith was rejected and the heresy of Eutyches accepted, nothing more useful could be devised for preserving the Christian faith than that the holy Synod of Chalcedon should cancel his wicked acts, and that such care should be given there to heavenly teaching that nothing would linger in anyone’s mind that disagreed with the words of either the prophets or the apostles, with such moderation, of course, that only the persistent rebels would be cast out from the unity of the church, and no one who repented would be refused pardon. Since that is so, what could your majesty decree that would better answer people’s hopes, or better agree with religion, than that no one should be allowed from now on to attack what has been settled by decrees that are divine rather than human? Otherwise those who have dared to doubt his truth may be found truly worthy only to lose God’s gift. [a]

So, since the universal church has become a rock through the building up of that original Rock, and the first of the apostles, the most blessed Peter, heard the Lord’s voice saying, “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church,” who is there who would dare to attack such impregnable strength, unless he is either antichrist or the devil? The devil, remaining unconverted in his wickedness, is eager to sow lies through the vessels of wrath that suit his treachery, while under the false name of diligence he pretends to be searching for the truth. And his unrestrained madness and blind wickedness have justly brought contempt and disgrace on himself, so that, while he rages against the holy church of Alexandria with devilish purpose, people may learn what kind of men they are who want to reconsider the Synod of Chalcedon. For it cannot possibly be that anything was said there contrary to the holy Synod of Nicaea, as the heretics falsely claim, who pretend to hold the faith of the Council of Nicaea. In that council our holy and venerable fathers, gathered against Arius, declared that the Son’s Godhead, not the Lord’s flesh, was of one substance with the Father. In the Council of Chalcedon, on the other hand, against the blasphemy of Eutyches, it was defined that the Lord Jesus Christ took the reality of our body from the substance of the Virgin mother. [c]

So in addressing our most Christian emperor, who is worthy to be counted among the champions of Christ, I use the freedom of the catholic faith, and I urge you without fear to throw in your lot with the apostles and prophets. Firmly despise and reject those who have stripped themselves of the Christian name, and do not let blasphemous parricides, who are known to want to annul the faith, discuss that faith under treacherous pretexts. For since the Lord has enriched your clemency with such insight into his mystery, you ought to consider without hesitation that royal power has been given you not only for the government of the world, but most of all for the guardianship of the church. By putting down wicked attempts you may defend what has been rightly decreed, and restore true peace where there has been disturbance: that is to say, by deposing those who have usurped the rights of others, and by bringing back the ancient faith to the see of Alexandria. Then by your reforms God’s anger may be appeased, so that he does not take vengeance for their doings on a people religious until now, but forgives them. Set before the eyes of your heart, venerable emperor, the fact that all the Lord’s priests throughout the world are pleading with you for that faith in which lies the redemption of the whole world. Among them, those defenders of the apostolic faith who have presided over the church of Alexandria appeal to you most of all, begging your majesty not to let heretics who have rightly been condemned for their perversity remain in what they have seized. For whether you look at the wickedness of their error or at the deed their madness has committed, not only can they not be admitted to the dignity of the priesthood; they even deserve to be cut off from the Christian name. For, and I ask your majesty’s pardon for saying so, they dim your own splendor to some extent, most glorious emperor, when such treacherous parricides dare to ask for what even the guiltless could not lawfully obtain. [e]

Petitions have been presented to your majesty, and you attached copies of them to your letter. The one that comes from the catholics, pleading against these men, contains a list of signatures. Because their case was well grounded, the names of the individuals, and even their high rank, are openly given. But in the one that heretical intrusion has not been afraid to offer our orthodox emperor under the vague backing of a mixed crowd, every individual name is withheld, so that neither the smallness of their numbers nor their worth may come to light. They think it wise to hide their numbers, though their character shows through; and they are rightly afraid to declare their standing, since they deserve to be condemned. So the one document contains the petition of catholics; the other sets out the inventions of heretics. In the one, the overthrow of the Lord’s priests, of the whole Christian people and of the monasteries is lamented. In the other, the continuance of enormous wrongs is put on display, so that what ought never to have been heard of is allowed to spread far and wide. [f]

Is it not clear which side you ought to support and which to oppose, if the church of Alexandria, which has always been the “house of prayer,” is not now to be “a den of robbers”? For surely it is plain that through the cruelest and maddest savagery all the light of the heavenly mysteries has been put out. The offering of the sacrifice is cut off, the hallowing of the chrism has ceased, and all the mysteries have withdrawn from the murderous hands of wicked men. Nor can there be any doubt what decree ought to be passed on these men, who after unspeakable acts of sacrilege, after shedding the blood of a most highly respected priest and scattering the ashes of his burned body to be the sport of the winds of heaven, dare to demand for themselves the rights of a dignity they have usurped, and to put the inviolable faith of the apostles’ teaching on trial before councils. Great, then, is your opportunity to add to your diadem, from the Lord’s hand, the crown of faith as well, and to triumph over the church’s enemies. For if it is to your praise to defeat the armies of hostile nations, how great will be the glory of freeing the church of Alexandria from its mad tyrant, when its suffering is an injury to all Christians? [g]

But so that my letters may have the effect on your majesty of a conversation face to face, I have decided that whatever suggestions I would make about our common faith must be conveyed in later letters. And so that the pages of this letter may not run to too great a length, I have put into another letter what serves the maintenance of the catholic faith. So, though the published statements of the Apostolic See were sufficient, these further statements might also break down the snares of the heretics. For your majesty’s priestly and apostolic mind ought to be kindled still further to righteous vengeance by this pestilent evil, which spoils the purity of the church of Constantinople. In it are found certain clergy who agree with the heretics’ interpretations, and who help them with their support in the very heart of the church. If my brother Anatolius is found slack in removing them, through too good-natured a leniency, be pleased to show your faith by applying this remedy to the church too: let such men be driven not only from the ranks of the clergy but also from living in the city. I commend to you your majesty’s loyal subjects, Bishop Julian and the presbyter Aetius, and I ask that you will be pleased to listen quietly to what they put forward in defense of the catholic faith, because they are truly men who may be found helpful to your faith in everything. Dated the 1st of December, in the consulship of the illustrious Constantine and Rufus (in the year 457). [i]