Letter 13

To Peter the Elder. May God direct my every deed and word. I have just sent you the courier with the Paschal letters, announcing that the holy festival falls on the nineteenth of Pharmuthi [April 14], so that the night before may also be consecrated to the mystery of the Resurrection. Show the messenger every consideration, both on his arrival and at his departure. Give him a change of horses each time. This is only fair — he risks falling into the hands of armed enemies by crossing such hostile country to preserve an old tradition of the Church from disappearing. This letter also asks the city to pray for me. The people should understand the mistake they made in choosing a man for the priesthood who lacks the confidence to approach God and pray on behalf of the whole community — one who needs the people's prayers for his own salvation. A convergence of circumstances has brought this gathering here at the very moment I was trying to write to you. A Synod is in session, attended by many bishops. If I cannot say the kind of things you are accustomed to hear, forgive me and blame yourselves: instead of choosing a man steeped in Scripture, you selected one who is ignorant of it.

Letter 13: Circular Letter announcing the Paschal Date [1] To Peter the Elder May God direct my every deed and word. I have just sent you the carrier with the Paschal letters, announcing the date of the holy festival as the nineteenth of Pharmuthi, note [14 April.] so that the night which precedes the day in question may also be consecrated to the mystery of the Resurrection. [2] Show the messenger every consideration both on his arrival and at his departure. Let him have a change of horses each time. This is only fair to him, for he runs the risk of falling into the hands of armed enemies in undertaking to traverse so hostile a country in order to save an old ancestral custom of the Church from disappearing. [3] This letter also begs the city to offer up prayers for me. The city ought thus to understand the imprudence it committed towards me in appointing one to the priesthood who had not sufficient confidence in his mission to enable him to go to God and pray on behalf of the whole people, but one who has need of the prayers of the people for his own salvation. [4] A conjunction of circumstances has brought this gathering here at the very moment when I was trying to write to you. A Synod is now in session here, attended by many prelates. If I can say none of the things which you are accustomed to hear, there must be forgiveness for me and blame to yourselves, for instead of choosing one deep in the knowledge of the scriptures, you have selected one who is ignorant of them.