To our dearest brother Remigius, Hormisdas.

Accepting with full fraternal joy the communications which brought us the happy news of your genuine well-being, supported by both bodily and spiritual duties; we deemed it appropriate to express openly this same joy which we feel in our heart. For you exhibit the marks of a supreme pontiff in both what you preach and in not delaying to make these things known. We therefore took it upon ourselves to make a decision about you, for you have done what we firmly instruct others to do; so that in provinces so far apart, you strive to enforce both the strength of the Apostolic See and the observance of the Fathers’ rules. Therefore, throughout the whole kingdom of our beloved and spiritual son Louis (who had died in the year 511), whom you recently converted to the faith along with his entire people, accompanying your life-giving preaching with many signs and miracles comparable to those in the times of the apostles, and whom you consecrated with the sacred gift of baptism, whilst preserving the privileges granted by antiquity to metropolitans, we entrust to you our authority: by this act, we enhance the dignity of your ministry and lighten the burden of our own stewardship. And though you may not need instruction in each specific matter, as we have already found you to be universally astute, it is often more satisfying to be shown the path to follow and to have the form of the task at hand laid out for those who toil.

We therefore command that the paternal rules and decrees, as defined in the most holy councils, be observed by all. In these, we demonstrate your vigilance; in these, your care and the advice of fraternal exhortation. By observing these with due reverence, no room is left for fault; here what is right and what is wrong are defined: here lies what is forbidden and what none should aspire to: here lies what is allowed and what a mind pleasing to God may undertake. Whenever a universal council is required for the sake of religion, let all your brothers gather at your summons: and if any of them are pressed by the urgency of special matters, quell any quarrels that have arisen among them, settling disputes in accordance with sacred law. Whatever is then established in the name of faith and truth, or ordained by prudent provision, or confirmed with the authority of our person, let it all be brought to our knowledge by a detailed report. This is so that both our mind may rejoice in the love of the duty entrusted to us and that you may feel secure in the responsibility you have accepted.

May God keep you safe, most beloved brother (in the year of the Lord 514).