Leo, pope, to Julian, Bishop of Cos.
Julian’s Diligence Has Not Failed; the Eutychian Stirrings After Marcian’s Death Are Crushed; Rumors From Alexandria Require Vigilance
Thanks be to God — that in all things pertaining to the state of the Church and the mystery of the faith, your brotherhood’s industry has not failed me in anything: which I understand to watch vigilantly lest the snares of the heretics prevail in anything against the evangelical and apostolic doctrine. Since, as you deign to report, the things which the Eutychianists strove to stir up after the death of the prince of venerable memory Marcian have been destroyed — through your efforts and those whom the Spirit of God moved with you, the cause itself being furthered by the truth — because truly both to your brotherhood and to all the faithful of Christ, and above all to the glorious and Catholic Augustus, as we are confident, nothing is more fruitful for eternal beatitude than that the things founded by the Author of our hope himself be violated by no wickedness of perverse men, but remain in the secure peace of the Church’s perpetual tranquility. What therefore has been piously and profitably accomplished with the Lord’s aid — let it be strengthened by persevering effort.
For certain rumors are reaching Us of the outrages of the Alexandrian people — which We cannot report more fully, since We have not yet learned in their entirety the deeds that are said to have occurred. But this must be labored for on behalf of the universal Church: that if the things said to have been done are true, they cannot be allowed to prejudice the holy Chalcedonian synod — so that what was defined for the salvation of the whole world by the instruction of the Holy Spirit may remain inviolate.
Dated the Kalends of June, in the consulship of Constantinus and Rufus.
Footnotes
- ↩ The title Leo papa in the address — as distinct from the more common Leo episcopus — is noted by the PL apparatus as the form found in the Regensburg manuscript from which this letter was first published. The letter dates from June 1, 457, placing it after the death of Emperor Marcian in January 457 and after the accession of Leo I (the Thracian) as emperor. The death of Marcian — the great imperial pillar of the Chalcedonian settlement — had immediately emboldened the Eutychian party, and the Alexandria situation Leo mentions is the beginning of the crisis that would culminate in the murder of Proterius.
- ↩ Leo’s praise of Julian is itself a statement of the vicariate structure. Julian’s industry has “not failed Leo” — framed as an accountability to Leo’s own pastoral responsibility. The verb fefellit — “has failed, has deceived” — implies that Julian could in principle have failed Leo; the fact that he has not is the ground of praise. This is not collegial commendation between equals; it is a superior acknowledging that his delegated agent has faithfully discharged the commission entrusted to him.
- ↩ This passage is one of the earliest references in the Leo corpus to what would become the murder of Proterius of Alexandria and the installation of the Eutychian Timothy Aelurus. Leo does not yet know the full details — the letter is dated June 1, 457, and Proterius was murdered on March 28, 457 — but rumors have already reached him of disturbances among the Alexandrian people. His response is characteristic: whatever has happened, it must not be allowed to prejudice the Chalcedonian synod. The inviolability of what the Holy Spirit defined at Chalcedon is the standing principle, applied here to the emerging Alexandrian crisis.
- ↩ June 1, 457. The consulship of Constantinus and Rufus dates this letter to 457 — the year that saw Marcian’s death (January), Leo I the Thracian’s accession as emperor, and the Alexandrian crisis precipitated by the Eutychian mob’s murder of Proterius (March 28) and the installation of Timothy Aelurus. Leo writes on June 1 with only rumors of what has occurred; the full crisis correspondence will follow in Letters CXLVII onward.
Historical Commentary