Hormisda to the Illustrious Justinian

We received your letters, filled with love for the holy faith, with great appreciation. You announced that a divine opportunity has come for us to strengthen the apostolic preaching among you. For this, we give ceaseless thanks to our Lord, who has given you both the time and the will to bring about such remarkable remedies. We understand from above that these matters are divinely ordained, especially since divine majesty has granted the empire to one who shows himself to be appointed for establishing peace among the Churches.

Therefore, it remains for all the bishops of the Eastern region to prove they have achieved the desired correction, according to the series of the libellus. The path of venerable harmony is clear; the remedies of desired health are well-known. Let the priests who desire Catholic peace not refuse a Catholic profession; for the goal is not to correct parts of the error but to uproot it entirely. Persist, therefore, as you have begun, so that the reward for your good work, which has its beginning in a noble endeavor, may reach its fulfillment in perfection.

Your recent messages have shown your character to be such that you need little encouragement to complete your noble purpose. However, the rationale that has given us hope has further fueled our desire; we eagerly wish to see the completion of these joys that we now believe are divinely imminent. Thus, we daily and humbly beseech the blessed Apostle Peter to grant you both swift success and prolonged health, for through you, the Church now hopes to reunite its holy members.

We have sent men, in obedience to your spirit, to secure harmony according to the order of apostolic disposition. Your role, as we have not failed in our good intentions, is to help them return to us with the desired outcome. Your venerable gifts have been received with honor; however, what will be even more pleasing to the blessed Apostle Peter is if, through your efforts, the Church receives the unity it desires.