Hormisda to John, Bishop of Nicopolis, with the Synod

We would have wished, dearest brothers, that you could live your lives free from all the storms of trouble, under the calmness of tranquility, offering to our God your undisturbed minds, removed from the tempests of the world. However, circumstances have not allowed this, as we must grieve over the things that we do not wish to happen but must acknowledge. The world is filled with difficulties and temptations; this present age, in which we sojourn, is like a great structure exposed to the winds’ tempests. Thus, the minds of the faithful are assailed by the devil’s snares, as it is said, “Those who wish to live piously in Christ will suffer persecution” (2 Tim. 3).

But hope comforts us, as promised by the just rewarder, for blessed is he who is not scandalized in the Lord (Matt. 11). Let not the fragile and transient onslaughts of our enemies discourage the soldiers of God. He who assists the brave does not delight in cowards. These passing things are easily despised if those things which are eternal are considered. The opportunity for testing must be embraced, for although the burdens of labor may be harsh, the rewards for virtue are greater. How could the reward be equal for someone who shows himself unequal in examination? Let us not be slack in striving for the promises.

Who would wait for a human voice on this matter, when the sentence of truth resounds in our ears daily: “Blessed are those who suffer persecution for the sake of justice” (Matt. 5)? However, my beloved brothers, do not think I offer only spiritual comfort for your encouragement, for I have sought remedies for your tribulation, as much as a man can. Through legates sent to the ruler of the East, I have admonished the bishop of Thessalonica to cease from harassing you, and I have attached additional letters to appeal to the emperor.

These are the provisions made for the present; however, those things that concern future hope must be primarily considered in our minds. I must confess I was surprised that amidst the concerns of your religious prudence, this request was made, seeking my permission under the guise of consolation to direct letters of support to the bishop of Thessalonica. Would I become the author of such an act, which, if I found had been done without my knowledge, I would condemn? Far be such perversity!

Listen to the apostolic voice appropriately applied to me: “If I rebuild what I destroyed, I prove myself a transgressor” (Gal. 2). Do not, I beseech you, return to the dangers you have barely avoided; do not let your feet, once lifted from the mire where they were trapped, be plunged back into it again. Let the past be left behind. “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God” (Luke 9). The journey is hindered by those who look back on what they have left behind. The discipline of the Church does not favor those who still hold memories of that infidelity; it requires a complete separation from the erring, for those who turn back to what they have renounced are so detestable that the Blessed Apostle Peter declared, “It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than, after knowing it, to turn back from the holy commandment that was delivered to them” (2 Peter 2).

It is clear with what steadfastness the faith entrusted to us must be preserved, if it is more tolerable to persist in error than to become entangled again in the defilements that one has once fled.

Given on the day before the Ides of April, in the consulship of the illustrious Agapitus.