From: Hormisdas, Pope of Rome
To: Emperor Anastasius I, Constantinople
Date: ~517 AD (April 12)
Context: A companion letter to the emperor, sent with the same embassy — Hormisdas appeals to Anastasius's professed desire for peace and unity, pressing him to follow through with concrete action.
Hormisdas to the Emperor Anastasius Augustus. Delivered by the bishops Ennodius and Peregrinus.
When I consider the depth of Your Wisdom, most merciful Emperor, I do not believe that a man looking out for his own salvation could find fault with the counsel I offer. Neither divine commandment nor human custom condemns the man who works in the service of a good hope. And Your Piety itself declares that you burn with desire for unity and peace.
These are the very things we seek. If we are agreed on the goal, what remains is to agree on the means. The terms are not obscure: they are written in the canons of the fathers and confirmed by the authority of the apostolic see. I have sent legates to discuss them plainly.
I ask only this: that Your Serenity receive them in the spirit in which they are sent — not as adversaries but as fellow workers for a peace that all of Christendom longs to see restored.
HOMnSDA ANASTASIO AUGU8T0. PER ENNODIUM ET PEREGRINUM 20
EPiscopos. Dum sapientiae uestrae, clementissime imperator, profunda considero, prouidentes saluti propriae uobis displicere non aestimo, neque enim aut diuina monita aut humana continent instituta, ut qui consulit bonae spei, qualibet debeat reprehensione culpari, cum maxime pietas quoque » uestra affectu se unitatis et pacis flagrare fateatur. quae
nra F 18 exibenda F
127. Dat (simul cum epp. 133—135) a. 517 die 12 Apr. Edd, Car. P 469; Bar,^d a. 517, 42; Collect. Concil; BTA I 405; Thiel 812. 20 INA8TA8I0 AG F Per Ennodium , . episcopos charactere minuHore V; quae nota quomodo hic explicanda $it Ennodio et Peregrino iam die 3 Apr. Boma profeciis uidesis 'Beitrdge^ p. 14 sq. 24 ut o*: aut F
Epi8t. cxxvi 15 — cxxvm 1.
545
res me quoque uel pro fidueia conscientiae uestrae uel pro creditae mihi dispensationis ofGcio emergente compulit non sopersedere negotio. lohannes frater et coepiscopus meus 2 Nicopolitanae ciuitatis antistes decessoris sui sanctae recorda- tionis Alcisonis secutus exemplum beati Fetri apostoli commu- nionem cum synodo sua damnatis his, quos ecclesia detestatur, expetiit. is nunc grauibus fatigatur insidiis. precor mansuetu- dinem uestram: iniqua molientibus obuiate et remouete molestias et correctum fouete, cui ut comgeret, debuisset insisti. scient enim, qui tardauerint, se reos futuros, cum a uobis foueri uiderint iam reuersos. fateor, clementissime 3 imperator: miror insidiantium pertinaciam neque dei neque uestro intuitu permoueri; nam qui oderunt in homine studium desiderii boni, quod de se aestimant iudicari, insequuntur. ad recta reduces iure culpandi, si non conuerterint deuiantes; datae fidei uestrae clara documenta, si affueritis ad unitatem reductis: <quod>effici omni adhortatione cogitetis.
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From:Hormisdas, Pope of Rome
To:Emperor Anastasius I, Constantinople
Date:~517 AD (April 12)
Context:A companion letter to the emperor, sent with the same embassy — Hormisdas appeals to Anastasius's professed desire for peace and unity, pressing him to follow through with concrete action.
Hormisdas to the Emperor Anastasius Augustus. Delivered by the bishops Ennodius and Peregrinus.
When I consider the depth of Your Wisdom, most merciful Emperor, I do not believe that a man looking out for his own salvation could find fault with the counsel I offer. Neither divine commandment nor human custom condemns the man who works in the service of a good hope. And Your Piety itself declares that you burn with desire for unity and peace.
These are the very things we seek. If we are agreed on the goal, what remains is to agree on the means. The terms are not obscure: they are written in the canons of the fathers and confirmed by the authority of the apostolic see. I have sent legates to discuss them plainly.
I ask only this: that Your Serenity receive them in the spirit in which they are sent — not as adversaries but as fellow workers for a peace that all of Christendom longs to see restored.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.