Simplicius, bishop, to Acacius, bishop of Constantinople.
Simplicius Commends Acacius’s Constancy and Rejoices That the Alexandrian Church Has Been Restored
How great and how abundant are the fruits that the constancy of faith and the strength of minds devoted to the Catholic religion always bear — the labor of Your Charity and of those who together with you have long been troubled by the devil shows. For when the enemy of Christ and of the Christian kingdom — soon to fall — invaded its court and shook the faithful and the Lord’s people with impious persecution, by prayer and vigils overcame the sacrilegious attempts; and the victory of heavenly grace extended so far that, with the return of the most religious prince, a Catholic bishop was also restored to the Church of Alexandria — over which, together with the exultation of divine grace, We brought together Our joys and caused ourselves to congratulate each other with mutual letters.
Timothy Has Retracted His Diptychs Lapse and Sought Forgiveness From Rome
And although the fullness of his own joy was never wanting, nevertheless Our brother and fellow bishop Timothy — made more proven by persecution, not unmindful of his former conduct — sent solemn letters through Our brother and fellow bishop Isaiah, and Our sons Nilus the presbyter and Martyrius the deacon of the Church of Alexandria. In these he reported that he had undone what he had previously done under fear regarding the name of Dioscorus, and sought the remission of that error; and he has made Us rejoice in the peace of the Church — having experienced toward himself, as Your Charity sees together with Us, that what We then reproved in him was not left unavenged; and now, reconciled to himself, he [experiences] the affection of divine mercy, dearest brother.
Simplicius Urges Acacius to Press Zeno to Exile Peter Mongus and to Strengthen the Churches
With the aforementioned [envoys] established in the city where they had recently arrived, and seizing the occasion of Our son Peter, the distinguished count, departing as if by design, We have wished to bring this same news to your attention — both by Our own intention and by the petition of Our brother and fellow bishop Timothy and his legates — so that you too may share in the common joys, and may gather with Us the fruit of your labor in the tranquility of the aforementioned Church, as We have said. And presenting Our letters to the most Christian and most clement prince — so that he too may rejoice in the gifts of his own devotion and faith under God’s protection — with Your Charity’s persistent zeal, may he deem it worthy to strengthen the Churches of the Catholic religion by sending salutary writings with more vigorous effort: lest — as We have experienced — that ancient serpent, its head so often crushed, pour out its venom in any region, and — God forbid — find again an occasion to infect some.
Let him arrange by the provident ordering of his piety’s commands, and let him establish by laws — as he has more evidently commended himself to God — that the religious be protected: that [the heretics] neither lurk in darkness, nor strike unawares those walking in the light, nor — as the prophet testifies — lie in wait to seize those whom they find poor in faith (cf. Ps. 10:9). Above all, let Peter — who is sheltered in the hiding places of certain houses and of others like himself, and whom the zeal of faith caused to be removed from the episcopate — be cast out to distant lands. As We have written to his piety, let the emperor decree by special command, for the sake of ecclesiastical peace, that Peter — who is said to be ceaselessly plotting against the disposition of the faith — be removed.
Simplicius Accepts the Petition of Satisfaction From the Lapsed and Asks Acacius to Report Back
Since We have had to indicate and specially admonish these things through the occasion of a most faithful messenger, We urge that when the messenger begins his return, or if any other occasion should arise, you make Us informed as soon as possible and hasten to relieve Our concern. Moreover, so that We might rejoice with perfect joy, Our brother and fellow bishop Timothy sent to Us a copy of the petition of satisfaction from those whom the condemned Timothy and Peter had led astray through fear of condemnation, seeking forgiveness. Desiring with priestly piety to come to the aid of the fallen, We do not consider this to be refused — in view of divine mercy, which wills that none should perish.
Footnotes
- ↩ This is the direct sequel to Letter IX, where Simplicius had recalled Timothy’s earlier lapse — “that long ago he did not have the constancy of a faithful bishop, when it was extorted from him that the name of the condemned Dioscorus be recited among the altars.” Timothy has now formally retracted the compromise and petitioned Rome for forgiveness. The Latin is precise: se destruxisse memoravit (“he reported that he had destroyed [what he had done]”) and remissionem ipsius erroris expetiit (“he sought the remission of that same error”). The act is a formal retraction directed to the Apostolic See, and Simplicius’s acceptance of it is an exercise of jurisdiction: the bishop of Alexandria corrects a canonical and liturgical error and seeks absolution from the bishop of Rome.
- ↩ The Latin non inultum — “not unavenged” or “not left unpunished” — means that the reproof Simplicius issued in Letter IX was justified and was heeded. Timothy corrected the lapse. The word does not imply that a formal penalty was imposed, but that the reproof had its effect: the wrong was not left standing.
- ↩ Simplicius is asking Acacius to serve as the channel through which imperial action reaches the Churches — the same delegation of oversight visible in Letter IX (commonente dilectione tua). The structure is: Simplicius writes to Acacius; Acacius presents the letters to the emperor; the emperor issues “salutary writings” (salutaria scripta) to strengthen the Churches. The Roman bishop’s solicitude reaches the Eastern churches through the patriarch of Constantinople and through the emperor’s decrees, with Constantinople functioning as the necessary intermediary for both.
- ↩ The PL text reads religione, but the apparatus notes forte regione — “perhaps: region.” The corrected reading regione makes better sense: Simplicius is warning against the serpent finding an opportunity to infect any region, not any “religion.”
- ↩ The allusion is to Psalm 9:29 / 10:9 (Vulgate numbering): insidiatur ut rapiat pauperem — “he lies in wait to seize the poor one.” The image of the lurking predator is applied to Peter Mongus and his party, who are hiding in Alexandria and seeking to draw over those weak in faith.
- ↩ The libellus satisfactionis (“petition of satisfaction”) was a formal document by which those who had lapsed into heresy — in this case, Alexandrian Christians who had been drawn into communion with Timothy Aelurus and Peter Mongus under pressure — petitioned for readmission to Catholic communion. Timothy Salofaciolus has forwarded a copy of this petition to Rome, and Simplicius accepts it. The acceptance is a jurisdictional act: lapsed Alexandrians petitioning their local bishop, who forwards their petition to Rome, and Rome pronouncing that it is not to be refused. The closing scriptural allusion — quae neminem vult perire, “which wills that none should perish” (cf. 2 Peter 3:9) — grounds the acceptance in divine mercy. The reader should note the structural parallel to the closing of Letter IX: there Simplicius raised the diptychs concern; here Timothy has corrected the lapse, sought forgiveness, and forwarded the lapsed faithful’s own petition — and Simplicius accepts both.
Historical Commentary