Letter 3: Barbaricis hactenus dolebámus incursibus especially uicinas urbi prouincias and bellorum saeua tempestate uastari,...

Gelasius the bishop to all the bishops throughout Picenum, greeting in the Lord. Until now we grieved that the provinces nearest the City, above all, were being laid waste by barbarian incursions and by the savage storm of wars; but as far as we have discovered amid the very seething perils of these recent calamities, the hostile ferocity has inflicted a more ruinous ruin upon the minds of Christians than upon their bodies. This evil chiefly concerns the priests of those regions, who, with such sloth and such neglect of the ministry they have undertaken, disregard the governance of the souls committed to them, so that they even allow those souls to be torn to pieces under their own eyes by any paltry little beasts with impunity; nay rather, by fostering the wickednesses that creep in and by acquiescing in corrupters of the faithful, not only do they by no means draw them back, but they themselves the more supply nourishment for perdition by their own example. But what would such pontiffs be likely to do if (which God forbid) either some new and hitherto unknown pestilence were to break out, or if, by sharper wits and crafty minds, or by some skill in secular learning, cunning men were to deserve sacrilegious utterances of blasphemies—these men who do not even recall nor refute the worn-out fabrications of so old an error, refuted both by the greater teachers of the churches and even in our own age, and who do not reject such things when they are uttered by the unlearned and foolish? We give thanks to almighty God, since through persons of this sort He tests the hearts of His own people—persons who do not even know the very poison that they speak. For what would the leaders of the peoples do under more cunning enemies, men who willingly submit themselves to the untaught, when indeed, even if there was in the rulers of the Lord's flock such utter sluggishness that they could not even understand or restrain so cheap and dull a person, they ought, by pastoral care, to have inquired of us about the things to be learned, rather than to submit a too-easy will to persuasions absurd beyond all consideration? For there has been brought before us a wretched old man, Seneca by name, who is not only a stranger to all erudition but utterly foreign even to common understanding itself, imprudently immersed in the mire of the Pelagian abyss—as we read concerning certain ones in the Apocalypse, like one of the frogs—and horribly wallowing in that filth, in no way finding how he might emerge from it; because, abandoning the purity of catholic truth, the more he strives to lift himself up over the slippery ground of falsehood, the more he is overwhelmed, hemmed in by its muddy pits, being one of those of whom the apostle Peter says: "But these, as irrational beasts naturally made for capture and destruction, blaspheming in the things they do not know, shall perish in their own corruption, receiving the reward of unrighteousness." For in truth his mind is so stupid and dull that of these poisons, which he has wickedly drunk in and vomited out, he is altogether able neither to receive nor to render any account at all, but, hardened by diabolical blinding and already handed over to himself, stands condemned by the deadly obstinacy of his own heart; and nothing remains for him except that our God, who said that the things which seem impossible to men are easy with Him, may pierce such a mind with a mighty compunction, so that, according to the blessed apostle Paul, he may recover himself from the snares of the devil, by whom he is held captive by the sentence of the divine judgment. Many things which he had set forth from the Pelagian doctrines, never at all wakeful, we have rather brought to light by laying them open, and we have shown that they were long ago refuted; these very things also, which he seemed to bring forward, we have shown were once brought into the open by the Pelagian heretics and were fittingly demolished by catholic preachers, and we have proven that Pelagius, Caelestius, Julian, and very many other men of oratorical eloquence were convicted in this assertion and were struck down both by ecclesiastical decrees and by imperial precepts; accordingly we have affirmed that this man is not to be tolerated in the matters in which those great and ancient ones were laid low—a man who can neither grasp by understanding the very things that were disputed by them, nor establish them with comparable eloquence. But, as has been said, a mind possessed by diabolical inspiration, coming now into the depth of evils, consents to no remedies. Wherefore, of the countless kinds of blasphemies which the authors of the Pelagian heresy put out, three, which this lamentable old man has especially adopted for himself, we have judged ought not to be passed over in silence, so that, being unlocked, they may be more clearly disclosed, and, with God overthrowing them, may more easily be avoided once overturned. Infants, they say, are created in the wombs of mothers by a divine work: therefore they do not think it seems just that a creature of God, without any actions of its own, should be born bound to any sin, and they make God unjust if they are made guilty before they are born. This they advance as the sharpest argument of their dogma, not perceiving that those first parents of the human race—begotten indeed from no progenitors, but procreated from the innocent matter of clay, and purely and sincerely fashioned and made rational by the powerful divine art—by their own will followed the seducer the devil and were infected unto transgression through excess by depraved desires. In these indeed human nature sinned, and human nature was made vicious, becoming, without doubt, a receiver of the evil which it had not known before, because, falling away from the good and the right, it sank down into an affection for evil and the depraved by the very course of consequent things, as is manifest. Thus made the chiefs of our substance, they rendered their very selves passible and corruptible, violating the gifts of the divine condition to such a degree that they were punished by the avenging of death. For that they were dead on that day on which they were made mortal is held to be without ambiguity. Accordingly, whatever these progenitors brought forth from their own seed is indeed the work of God according to the institution of nature, but not without the contagion of that evil which they drew upon themselves by their transgression; and indeed this, that is, the contagion of the evil itself, is certainly not a divine work. And so the fault is not from the creation of God—the fault which nature gathered by a voluntary motion; but God carries out His institution, that is, of His own creation, even out of the nature vitiated through its own self, yet the creation produces the fault, which it did not receive from the institution of the Creator, but which it itself assumed through the lapse of its own transgression. For if those first men, born of no parents, as has been said, and formed without any contagion, were able through the reach of unlawful presumption to deprave their own selves and to attach to the work of God the work of diabolical fraud, what wonder if these same depraved ones brought forth a depraved nature? Does not even servitude, coming in from without, naturally render the human substance—though indeed God founded it free by His own creation—bound and liable even before human laws? They are born liable by origin, and from a servile condition they are begotten condemned, and by being born they become obligated before they are begotten. If this happens in matters placed outside nature, how much more is it no wonder that it comes to pass in those things in which the human substance itself is known to be depraved? And through this, just as the human substance, of pure institution, made itself guilty of reprobate actions, polluted by its own will, so it brought forth offspring and progeny of its own nature, defiled by the guilty will of its own actions, because it begot offspring of such a kind as it had rendered its own self by the excess of transgression. And therefore it brings forth from itself not only what God instituted well, but also what it itself inconsequently added in evil. But how the inner quality of desiring may have power to change nature is confirmed by the authority of divine reading. For thus that flock of sheep committed to Jacob the shepherd, when there was set beneath the troughs a variety of rods, while it drank, allured by an affectional delight, conceived what it did not have in its nature, and transfused into its offspring, ingrained in its senses, what it had not taken in its creation. And this, which was then indeed done figuratively, signified that this very thing would come to pass in the ecclesiastical flocks; and God, foreseeing the slanders of the Pelagians to be stirred up against His faithful, prepared the understanding of a more certain proof. The divine testimonies teach, and the ecclesiastical sacraments themselves teach, and the tradition of catholic teachers handed down from the Lord Savior Himself teaches, the discolored beginnings of human generation. Hence it is that the prophet cries out: "Who shall boast that he has a chaste heart, or that he is clean from sins? Not even the infant whose life upon the earth is of one day." Hence it is that scripture likewise says: "Who can make clean what is conceived of unclean seed? Is it not Thou, who alone art?" And elsewhere, because it says the seed was accursed. And moreover the prophet David also testifies: "In iniquities was I conceived, and in offenses did my mother bring me forth"; and if he says this, who may assert that he himself was procreated otherwise? The blessed apostle Paul also asserts: "And we were sometime by nature children of wrath, even as the rest." Concerning which wrath He says in the gospel: "He who shall believe and be baptized has eternal life; but he who shall not believe is already judged, and the wrath of God remains upon him"—that wrath, indeed, of which it was said: "By death thou shalt die." The Lord Jesus Christ Himself pronounces with heavenly voice: "He who shall not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood shall not have life in himself." Where indeed we see no one excepted, nor has anyone dared to say that a little child can be brought through to eternal life without this saving sacrament; and that without that life he will be in perpetual death is not in doubt. Why therefore is the infant shut up in this lot, if he has no sin at all, and rather it will seem—which God forbid—that God is unjust, if a penalty is inflicted there where there is no fault? Whence, since he is held bound by no guilt from his own acts, nothing remains except that he is polluted by his vicious nativity alone; and if he is not cleansed by participation in the Christian mystery, he cannot come to perpetual life. Hence it is that infants are exsufflated and catechized, so that, because to the work of God—whereby in their Author they are well instituted—the work of diabolical malignity has been added, they may, plucked out from the power of darkness, as the apostle teaches, be transferred to the lot of the sons of God and to lawful purgation. But unless the first generation, which God instituted good, had come into fault by transgression and been made reprobate, the second generation would not have had to be substituted. On account of which the blessed apostle Paul says: "As by one man sin entered into the world, and by sin death, and so it passed over into all men, in whom all sinned"; and a little after: "Therefore as by the offense of one upon all men unto condemnation, so also by the righteousness of one upon all men unto justification of life." Now just as He says all unto condemnation, indeed those who are begotten of Adam their parent, so He establishes none unto the justification of life except those who are reborn in the mystery of Christ. By countless such proofs the deadly doctrine of the Pelagian heresy both has been refuted by our forebears and can now be refuted by their abundant erudition; nor ought these things to disturb simple souls, for whom it will suffice to have believed, according to the ecclesiastical form, the things which they do not understand, or, if anyone desires to know, it will be fitting to inquire. Now as to what he asserts concerning little children, that they cannot be damned for original sin alone without holy baptism—it is a proposition impious enough, profane enough. For although no Christian is ignorant that the newly-born from the wombs of mothers are baptized unto the remission of sins—which the catholic Church indeed celebrates not falsely but truly, lest in the heavenly sacraments, which God forbid, she should seem to have lied—accordingly, because they have no sins of their own, it is established that to them only the original sin is altogether remitted; and so, to those for whom, even by these alone being remitted, they attain eternal life through baptism, it is consequent that, by these alone not being remitted, they also cannot attain to eternal life. Whence the Lord too, as we said above, says—a thing which certainly does not apply except to the baptized: "He who shall not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood shall not have life in himself." But to be without perpetual life, what is it but to be established in everlasting death? Although the "kingdom of heaven" be the same as "eternal life," nevertheless, that the providence of God might cut away all the wickednesses of the Pelagians, it was not only said: "He who shall not be reborn of water and the Holy Spirit shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven," but it was likewise also said: "He who shall not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood shall not have life in himself." Now that this was said concerning eternal life no one doubts, since many who do not eat this sacrament are seen to have present life. There is therefore nothing in what they say, that the unregenerate infants are merely unable to go into the kingdom of heaven, but are not punished with perpetual damnation, since without baptism they can neither eat the body and blood of Christ nor drink it, and without this they cannot have life in their own selves, and without life they are destined to be nothing but dead. Let them say, therefore, whether those established in perpetual death are not to be reckoned as damned; let them therefore remove from the midst some I-know-not-what third place, which they make for the deceiving of little children; and, because we read of no part but the right hand and the left, let them not make these remain in the left region without baptism, but let them allow the baptized to be transferred by the sacred regeneration to the saving right hand. In the third chapter he carries about those ravings of the Pelagians, already known and refuted by the whole world, by which they say that man, through free will—which he corrupted, befouled, and lost—is made blessed by the suffrage of his own nature being good; whereas he could by no means have been expelled from the blessedness of paradise, where the substance had been established good, except by the loss of his own good, made mortal therefore because by transgression he had indeed passed over from the good to evil and had betaken himself from divine participation to diabolical crimes: therefore fittingly handed over to his deceiver, to whom he had willingly assented; therefore shut out from the love of his felicity and condemned by the heavenly voice to thorns and thistles and manifold miseries—which penalty indeed of just judgment, so heavy and harsh, would by no means have been inflicted on one persevering in good, and would be shown to have been not fittingly imposed except upon one in evil. Behold, without the divine suffrage, which, placed in that blessedness, he is nowhere read to have sought, not only could the natural good not profit the man, not only did it not make him blessed, but, when he confides in this alone and does not return to its Giver, he both lost blessedness and took the beginning of all evils. But as to their saying that men attain blessedness by free will—the free will which, badly using, he sank into perpetual servitude, as it is written: "He who commits sin is the slave of sin; by whom anyone is overcome, to him also he is assigned as a slave"—is not this that natural presumption which descends to the bonds of a detestable captivity, which holy scripture thus records: "A heavy yoke is upon the sons of Adam from the day of their going forth out of their mother's womb until the day of their burial into the mother of all"? From which captivity only our Lord Jesus Christ alone redeemed the human race by the exchange of His passion, and, with our nativity changed, delivered us; He alone indeed came to seek and to save that which had perished, that the liberty which had been cast down by rash pride might be restored, repaired through grace, and that by a mutual exchange the will's choice of the human will—as by following the devil it had merited everlasting captivity, so by following after the Author of the lost liberty now reformed—might return to the reward. Hence it is that the Lord Himself says: "When the Son shall have set you free, then shall you be free indeed," and the blessed apostle Paul carries it through: "When you were the slaves of sin, you were free from righteousness" (that is, "strangers to righteousness"), "but now being freed from sin, you are made the slaves of righteousness"; and again the same one speaks of the liberty "with which Christ has set you free." Does not the vessel of election himself affirm and say: "It is God who works in you both to will and to accomplish according to good will"—lest God be thought to work both to will and to accomplish even in an evil will? But that is the peculiar and long worn-out poison of the Pelagians, by which they think that the grace of God can be conferred according to the merits of men—which be far from Christian minds, since the aforesaid apostle testifies: "It is grace, which is given freely; otherwise, if from works, grace is now not grace," because a wage is rendered, not bestowed freely (whence "grace" took its name). But who, being a Christian, would dare to say that he has anything good without grace, when the teacher of the nations cries, briefly enclosing all gifts in himself: "By the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace in me was not void," to show that the gift of grace did not itself precede him but followed after? And that he might show himself a fellow-worker of grace by following it, he says, "But I labored more than all of them," and again, fearing lest he should seem to presume of himself, he added: "Not I, but the grace of God with me." He did not say "I and the grace of God with me," but he set the preceding grace first and joined himself after it. But what can be had without grace, since faith itself is through grace, the same apostle teaching us: "I obtained mercy, that I might be faithful"? Nor is the divine mercy anything other than grace. Let us hear also how he forms the Church: "By grace," he says, "you are saved through faith"—that he might declare grace to have begun as the beginning of salvation and of faith, as he adds following: "and this not of yourselves, but it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone be lifted up." The same one elsewhere generally and absolutely pronounces, saying: "For what hast thou that thou didst not receive? But if thou didst receive, why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not received?" Who would be sufficient to recount one by one the things by which it evidently appears that the choice of natural liberty does not earn grace, but rather receives, through grace, that it be mercifully absolved from the servitude which it had merited by sinning? By the redemption of this mystery, prepared by eternal providence before the beginning of the world—whether before the law was yet brought forth, or under legal observance—the ancient origin of all holy men and holy women was cleansed by figurative signs and sacrifices, and to all the just, through the spirit of grace, the remedies of eternal salvation came from afar by this mystery to be adored; whose fullness, manifested in Christ to the nations, purges and renews the world and truly makes men partakers of perpetual blessedness. Wherefore we exceedingly blame our brothers and fellow bishops, especially those governing the church of the Lord throughout the provinces of Picenum, who not only did not deter the depraved discourse of a most foolish old man and an abject person, but even nourished it by their own consent. Who could hear, who could bear that pontiffs have permitted that some unworthy carcass should dare to deprive of communion a presbyter who would not acquiesce in him? How was such a man either received by anyone or patiently listened to, who moreover gave laws, willingly accepted, that the servants of God should be mingled with the holy maidens in a most disgraceful assembly? For when spiritual minds, even when these associations are absent, are assailed by imaginary enticements, how, by the sight of the other sex which allures, are they not, even unwilling, more vehemently incited? A still greater crime grows up, that in the sight and presence of the priests a dying fly—as it is written—corrupting the oil of sweetness, should strive to tear at Jerome and Augustine, the lights of the ecclesiastical teachers, of blessed memory. But why should we wonder that the prelates of the churches neglect these things, who, as we have heard from many, manifestly do all things against the canons and everywhere mingle all things against apostolic discipline: to ordain without the rules being observed, and lawlessly to allow not only monks but even ministers of the church, migrating with women to foreign parts, to return again, and to be promoted by other bishops into the clerical militia? Since these things singly are not to be tolerated, who could endure that so many and such crimes be perpetrated, by which—not undeservedly affording a spectacle to gentiles and Jews and heretics—they seem, which God forbid, to tend to the very destruction of religion? And to those who do such things will fittingly be applied that sentence of the apostle who says: "For the name of God is blasphemed among the gentiles through you." Let it suffice, therefore, that these things have been committed thus far; and, that God may be appeased, let divine matters be more solicitously cared for amid human affairs. Let the aforesaid asserter of the pestilence find no place at all, nor let him find any access to the church or anywhere any participation in catholic communion—he who prefers to follow the company of heretics by a nefarious profession; and these, with whom he will be proven to have previously mingled a noxious fellowship, unless they recover themselves and depart from his society, removed from ecclesiastical service, let them be smitten with due vengeance, that an example of caution may be furnished to the rest. Let no one approach him, nor ever let him be permitted to speak the blasphemies long ago condemned. With the dwellings of men and women kept separate, as a holy purpose befits, let a circumspect devotion be exercised. Against the constitutions of the canons let no one be permitted to ecclesiastical office, the rectors of each single province not being unaware that they will not find pardon for past errors either, if hereafter they neglect to avoid the things laid open. Nor will any occasion of excuse be left for the future, if, after these present precepts which we have determined to send through the deacon Romulus—whose diligence for the catholic faith and whose vigilance for religion we most gratefully approve—anyone in respect of all these things be caught as a despiser or a negligent bishop. For just as it pertains to the governance of the apostolic see to minister fittingly to all the churches the solicitude that is due, so it is necessary that it not dissimulate, toward the contumacious and slothful, the power divinely handed over to it. Given on the Kalends of November, in the consulship of Albinus, vir clarissimus [most illustrious man].

GELASIUS EPISCOPUS UNIUERSIS EPISCOPIS PER PICENUM IN DONINO SALUTEM. Barbaricis hactenus dolebámus incursibus maxime uicinas urbi prouincias et bellorum saeua tempestate uastari, sed quantum inter ipsa recentium: calamitatum fer- uentia perieula comperimus, pernieiosiorem, diabolus Cliristi- anorum mentibus labem quam corporibus. hostilis feritas irrogauit. quod malum principaliter illarum regionum respicit sacerdotes, qui tanta segnitia tantaque ministerii dissimulati- one suscepti commissarum sibi neglegunt regimen animarum, ut eas etiam ab exiguis quibusque bestiolis lacerari sub conspectibus suis impune patiantur, quin. immo subrepentes nequitias confouendo et deprauatoribus adquiescendo fidelium non solum minime retrahant sed ipsi magis praebeant proprio nutrimenta perditionis exemplo. quid autem tales essent acturi pontifices, si, quod absit, uel aliqua noua pestis et primitus - ignorata prorumperet uel ingeniis acrioribus sensibusque uer- sutis aut aliqua saecularium doctrinarum peritia callidis saeri- lega blasphemiarum dieta promerentur, qui tam ueteris erroris detrita commenta tamque maioribus ecclesiarum | magistris quam etiam nostra aetate conuicta non recolunt nec refutant atque ab imperitis stultisque prolata non respuunt? gratias omnipotenti deo, quoniam suorum corda per huiusmodi per- sonas examinat, qui hoc ipsum uirus nesciunt, quod locuntur. nam quid facerent populorüm praesules sub astutioribus ini- micis, qui se subiciunt libenter indoctis, quando utique, etiamsi tanta erat in rectoribus dominici gregis prorsus 49. | Dat. a. 493 die 1 Now. — Edd. Car. I? 346; Collect. Concil.; BT 95; Thiel 325; particulas tantum adfert Bar. ad a. 493 9 iciriT PAPE .. PELANAX heresim V — 3 epsc uniuerisis epr V — 4 delebamus V, corr. o? 6 seruentia V, corr. o 7 coperimus V 8 làbe V seritas V, corr. o 10 tantas egnitia V . 15 solum «eas» Car. 16 exeplo V aucturi V, corr. o?: 18 uel Car.: uel quid V — sensibus qui V, corr. o 20 blasphemarum V, corr. o? — 24 deo «agimus? Car. 2426 praesule V, corr. o? — austutioribus V — 27 qui o: que V Qndo V 3 359 Gelasius I. contra Pelagianam haeresim ad Picenos ignauia, ut nec tam uilem hebetemque.personam possint uel intellegere uel frenare, pastorali cura debuerint a nobis cognoscenda perquirere quam suasionibus inconsideranter absurdis facilem summittere uoluntatem? — oblatus est enim nobis miserabilis senex Seneca nomine, qui non modo totius s sit eruditionis alienus sed ipsius quoque intellegentiae com- munis prorsus extraneus, in Pelagianae uoraginis caeno, sicut de quibusdam in Apoealypsi legimus, uelut una ranarum imprudenter immersus inque illa faece horribiliter uolutatus, nullatenus, inde qualiter emergere posset, inueniens, quia 1: puritatem relinquens catholicae ueritatis, quanto se per lubri- cum falsitatis conatur adtollere, tanto magis eius lutosis foueis cireumelusus obruitur, de illis unus existens, de quibus Petrus dicit apostolus: hi uero uelut inrationabilia pecora naturaliter in captionem et in perniciem 15 in his, quae ignorant, blasphemantes in corrupti- . one sua peribuntrecipientes mercedem iniustitiae. 5 re uera enim sie eius stolidus et obtunsus est animus, ut. de e his uenenis, quae male hausit et uomuit, nullam rationem uel accipere ualeat omnino uel reddere sed induratus obcaecatione Ὁ diabolica sibique iam traditus cordis sui funesta sit obstinati- one damnatus nihilque supersit ei, nisi ut deus noster, qui dixit, quae hominibus impossibilia uidentur, apud 86 esse facilia, huiusmodi mentem potenti compunctione transfigat, ut secundum beatum apostolum Paulum resipiscat«a» diaboli ss laqueis, 4a quo» captiuus detinetur sententia diuini iudicii. multa illi, quae de Pelagianis sensibus nec ἡ Apoc. 16, 13. 14 Petr. IL 2, 12 sq. 23 Matth. 19, 26 25 Tim. II 2, 26 1 hebetemque ez hebetemqui ΡΟ 4 facile Bar. Ἢ pelagiana euora- ginis V 8. apocalipsi V — uelut V 9 orribiliter V 15 captione V, corr. Edit. reg. secundum Vulgatam 17 peribunt Edit. reg. cum Vulgata: et peribunt V . percipientes Ed. reg. cum Vwlgata 28 ἃ add. o? secundum Vwlgatam 26 ἃ quo inserui Secundum Vulgatam, quibus οὗ: om. V 20 25 Epist. XCIV 4—8 359 insomnis omnino contigerat, nos magis patefacta prodidimus eaque dudum conuicta fuisse monstrauimus; haec etiam ipsa, quae idem proferre uidebatur, olim et ab haereticis Pelagianis in medium producta docuimus et ἃ catholicis praedicatoribns competenter elisa, Pelagium Caelestium Iulianum ceterosque complures oratoriae faeundiae uiros in hae adsertione proba- uimus fuisse conuictos et tam ecclesiasticis constitutis quam imperialibus percussos fuisse praeceptis; proinde istum ferre non posse firmauimus, in quibus illi tales «t»antique prostrati sunt, qui nec ipsa, quae ab illis sunt disputata, uel intellectu eapere uel eloquio simili possit adstruere. sed, ut dictum est, diabolica mens ins$piratione possessa in profundum ueniens iam malorum ad remedia nulla consentit. quapropter de innumeris blasphemiarum generibus, quas auctores Pelagianae haeresis ediderunt, tria, quae sibi praecipue hie senex lugendus adsciuit, credidimus non tacenda, ut reserata manifestius panderentur et deo destruente facilius uitarentur euersa. In uteris, inquiunt, matrum opere diuino creantur infantes: propterea iustum uideri non pntant, quod factura dei sine ullis propriis aetionibus cuiquam peccato gignatur obstrieta, iniu- stumque deum faciunt, si rei efficiantur antequam mati. hoc uelut aeutissimum sui dogmatis exerunt argumentum non aduertentes, quia primi illi parentes generis humani, de nullis utique genitoribus sed de innoxia limi materia procreati οὖ pure atque sincere potenter arte diuina compacti faetique rationales, propria uoluntate seductorem secuti diabolum prauis cupiditatibus per excessum praeuaricationi: infecti sunt. in quibus utique humana natura peecauit et humana est facta natura uitiosa, receptrix sine dubio mali, quod ante nescierat, quia a bono rectoque deficiens in affectum mali prauique 11 cf. Prou. 18, 3 lip somnis Car. contigerant Binius Ὸ 8. qua eidem V, corr. o? 8 percussus V, corr. o? — ferre V: ferri dubitanter Thiel 9 antique V, corr. Car. 10 intellecta V, correxi 20 sq. iniustum quem V, corr. o 23 aduerentes V, corr. o 29 «εἰν receptrix p. 80 quia a scripsi: qui a V, quia », quae a Car. 860 Gelasius I. contra Pelagianam haeresim ad Picenos recidere ipgo rerum consequentium tramite manifestum est. 9tales igitur effecti principes nostrae substantiae semet ipsos passibiles et corruptibiles reddiderunt, in tantum éonditionis diuinae dona uiolantes, ut mortis fuerint ultioné puniti. hac enim die fuisse mortuos, qua mortales effecti sunt, ambiguum non habetur. proinde quidquid isti genitores de suo germine protulerunt, opus quidem dei est secundum institutionem naturae sed non absque contagio illius mali, quod sua prae- uaricatione traxerunt, et utique hoc, id est ipsius mali conta- lOgium, certum est opus non esse diuinum. itaque non ex creatione dei est uitium, quod uoluntario motu natura collegit, Sed etiam de uitiata per semet ipsam natura deus institutionem suam quidem suae creationis exsequitur, sed creatio profert uitium, quod non ex institutione creatoris accepit sed quod ipsa per lapsum suae transgressionis adsumpsit. nam si ipsi primi homines ex nullis, ut dictum est, parentibus nati et sine ullo formati contagio per ambitum praesumptionis inlicitae semet ipsos deprauare potuerunt et in opere dei opus diabolieae fraudis annectere, quid mirum, si idem deprauati protulerunt 11 80 016) deprauatam? nonne etiam cum deus utique liberam » condiderit humanam sua creatione substantiam, etiam apud humanas tamen leges extrinsecus accedens seruitus naturaliter eam reddit obstriciam οὐ obnoxiam? origine generantur obnoxii et ex conditione seruili gignuntur addicti et nascendo fiunt prius obligati quam geniti. si hoc agitur de rebus extra 96 naturam positis, quanto magis de his prouenire non mirum est, quibus ipsa humana substantia deprauata cognoscitur? ac per hoc sicut se ipsa humana substantia de institutione sin- cera actuum reproborum rea fecit uoluntate pollutam, sic edidit subolem atque progeniem naturae suae ex actuum y suorum rea uoluntate maculosam, quia huiusmodi genuit prolem, cuiusmodi se ipsa reddidit praeuaricationis excessu, 9 id 8 V: idem « 10 sq. ex creatione οἷ: execratione V — 18 suam del. p? 15 labsum V 17 inlicite V 22 accidens V, corr. Car. 24 giguntur V 25 abligati V, corr. o? Epist. XCIV 9—14. 961 ideoque non solum de se profert, quod bene deus instituit, sed eliam quod male ipsa inconsequenter adiecit. | quemadmodum 12 autem qualitas interior appetendi Jgaleat inmutare naturam, diuinae lectionis auctoritate firmatur. sic denique paseenti $ Iacob commissus ille grex ouium subposita canalibus uarietate uirgarum. dum potat, illectus affectionali delectatione concepit, . quod non habuit in natura, et inolitum sensibus transfudit in prolem, quod in creatione non sumpsit. quod tunc utique figuraliter gestum et in eeclesiasticis significauit gregibus lioc 19 futurum et Pelagianorum deus praeuidens calumnias ex. citandas fidelibus suis documenti certioris intellegentiam prae. parauit. ^ docent diuina testimonia et ipsa ecclesiastica sacra- 13 menta οὐ ab ipso domino saluatore catholicorum traditio magistrorum humanae generationis decolorata primordia. hinc 15 est, quod clamat propheta: quis gloriabitur castum se haberecoraut mundum esse a peccatis? nec infans, cuius est unius diei uita super terram. hine est, quod item dicit sernptura: quis potest facere mundum de inmundo conceptum semine? nonne tu, qui solus 80 eS? et alibi, quia semen inquit erat maledictum. nec non etiam Dauid propheta testatur: in iniquitatibus conceptus sum et in delietis peperit me mater mea; et si hoc ille dicit, quis aliter se adserat procreatum? beatus apostolus quoque Paulus adserit: et nos aliquandol4 e; eramus natura filii irae sicut et ceteri. de qua ira in euangelio dicit: qui crediderit et baptizatus fuerit, habet uitam aeternam; qui autem non crediderit, iam iudicatus est et ira dei manet super eum, illa utique, qua dictum est: morte morieris. ipse dominus 4 cf. Gen. 80, 37 sqq. 15 Prou. 20, 9; cf. Iob 14, 4 (LXX) 16 Iob 14, 5 (LXX) 18 Iob 14, 4 20 Sap. 12,11 21 Psalin. 50, 7 94 Eph. 2, 8 26 cf. Marc. 16, 16; Ioh. 3, 18 et 36 29 Gen. 2, 17 9862 Gelasius I. contra Pelagianam haeresim ad Picenos | Iesus Christus caelesti uoce pronuntiat: qui non manduca- uerit carnem filii hominis et biberit sanguinem eius, non habebit uitam in semet ipso. ubi utique neminem uidemus exceptum nec ausus est aliqui dicere paruulum sine hoc sacramento salutari ad aeternam uitam posse perduci; sine illa autem uita in perpetua futurum 15 morte non dubium est. cur igitur infans hac sorte concluditur, si nullum habet omnino peccatum magisque uidebitur. quod absit, iniustus deus, si illic infligatur poena, ubi nulla sit culpa? unde cum de propriis actibus nullo reatu teneatur τὸ obstrietus, nihil restat, nisi ut sola sit uitiosa natiuitate pol- lutus, et si non fuerit mysterii Christiani participatione mundatus, ad uitam non potest peruenire perpetuam. binc est, quod exsufflantur et catechizantur infantes, ut quia in opere dei, quo in anctore suo bene sunt instituti, opus diabolicae i malignitatis accessit, eruti de potestate tenebrarum, sieut docet apostolus, ad filii dei sortem purgationemque legitimam l6 transferantur. nisi autem prima generatio, quam bonam deus instituit, praeuaricatione uenisset in culpam et reprobabilis esset effecta, secunda generatio subroganda non fuerat. prop- so ter quod dicit beatus Paulus apostolus: sicut per unum hominem peccatum intrauit in mundum et per pec- catum mors, et ita in omnes homines pertransiit, in quo omnes peccauerunt, et paulo post: igitur sicut per unius delictum in omnes homines in condemnati- s onenr, sic et per unius iustitiam in omnes homines in iustificationem uitae. sicut autem omnes in condem- nationem dicit utique, qui de Adam parente sunt geniti, sic omnes in iustificationem uitae non nisi illos adstruit, 1 Ioh. 6,54 16 Col 1, 13 .21 Rom. 5, 12. 24 Rom. 5, 18 9 ipsum V, corr. Thiel secundum Vulgatam (cf. p. 363, 21 et 29) 4 aliquis (corr. ex alicui) o? 14 exsuflantur V catetizantur V, corr. p? — ut scripsi: et Vo? 15 quo o? Thiel: quod V — auctores Y. corr. o. 17 filiorum p? — 18 transferuntur οὗ primo V, corr. o? 28 parentaes unigeniti V, corr. o? — 29 adstruitur V, corr. p Epist. XCIV 15—90. 963 qui in. Christi mysterio sunt renati. innumeris talibus 17 instrumentis haeresis Pelagianae doctrina mortifera et a nostris est conuicta maioribus et nune eorum copiosa pocte)st eruditi- one conuinci nec debent simplices animos ista turbare, quibus, quae non intellegunt, seeundum ecclesiasticam formam credi- disse sufficiet aut, si quis nosse desiderat, interrogare conueniet. De paruulis autem quod adserit sine sacro baptismate pro 18 solo originali peeeato «non» posse damnari, satis impia, satis profana propositio est. quamuis enim recentes ab utero matrum iu remissionem peccatorum baptizari nullus Christi- anus ignorat, quod utique non fallaciter sed ueraciter catholica. celebrat ecclesia, ne in sacramentis caelestibus, quod absit, mentita uideatur. proinde quia propria non habeant ulla pec- 15 Cata, constat eis sola prorsus originaria relaxari itaque, quibus eliam solis remissis uitam per baptismum consecuntur aeter- nam, consequens est, ut solis etiam non remissis ad aeternam uitam peruenire non possint. unde et dominus, sicut superius 19 diximus, ait, quod utique nisi baptizato non conuenit: qui s non manducauerit carnem filii hominis et biberit sanguinem eius, non habebit uitam in semet ipso. sine uita autem esse perpetua quid est, nisi in sempiterna morte constitui? quamuis idem sit (regnum caelorum" quod 'aeterna uita', tamen ut prouidentia dei ommes Pelagianorum 85 hequitias amputaret, non solum dietum est: qui non fuerit renatus ex aqua et spiritu sancto, non intrabit in regnum eaelorum, sed etiam pariter dietum est: qui non manducauerit carnem filii hominis et biberit sangui- nem eius, non habebit uitam in semet ipso. de uita 80 àutem aeterna hoe dietum nullus addubitat, quoniam multi non manducantes hoc sacramentum uitam uideantur habere praesentem, nihil est ergo, quod dicant, quod mon renati20 [3 1 e 19 Ioh. 6, 54 25 Ioh. 3, 5 27 Ioh, 6, 54 8 potest οἷ: post V 9 non add. »: om. V 15 originalia Car. 392 quod o:,qui V 864 Gelasius I. contra Pelagianam haeresim ad Picenos infantes tantummodo in regnum caelorum ire non ualeant, non autem perpetua damnatiocne» puniantur, dum sine baptis- mate corpus ei sanguinem Christi nec edere ualeant nec potare, sine hoec autem uitam in semet ipsis hàbere non possint, sine uita uero non. nisi mortui sint futuri. dicant s igitur, in morte perpetua constituti si non aestimentur esse damnati; tollant ergo de medio nescio quem ipsi tertium, quem decipiendis paruulis faciunt, locum et, quia non nisi dextram partem legimus et sinistram, non illos faciant in sinistra regione sine baptismate remanere sed baptizatos 10 sinant ad dexteram salutarem sacra regeneratione transferri. 21 Tertio capitulo iam toto mundo cognita atque conuicta ea Pelagianorum deliramenta circumfert, quibus dicunt, quod homo. per liberum arbitrium, quod corrupit foedauit ac per- didit, bono suffragante naturae beatus efficitur, cum de beati- 15 tudine paradisi, ubi bona fuerat constituta substantia, nisi suo amisso bono nullatenus potuisset expelli, ideo mortalis effecta, quia de bono utique praeuaricatione transisset ad malum et a participatione diuina ad diabolica semet facinora €ontulisset: ideo deceptori 8uo, cui uolens adsenserat, competenter addictus, τ ideo de felicitatis suae caritate seclusus atque ad spinas et tribulos miseriasque multiplices caelesti uoce damnatus est; quae utique poena iusti iudicii tam grauis et aspera in bono perseueranti nullatenus esset inflicta et nisi malo non conue- 22nienter inlata probaretur. ecce sine diuino suffragio, quod in ss illa beatitudine positus numquam legitur expetisse, non solum . homini naturale bonum prodesse non potuit, non solum non effecit beatum, sed cum hoe solo confidit atque ad eius non reuertitur largitorem, et beatitudinem potius amisit et malorum 23-omnium sumpsit exordium. | quod autem libero arbitrio beati- 98 Epist. XCIV 21—96. 365 tüdinem consequantur (quo male usus in perpetuam recidit seruitutem, sicut scriptum est: qui facit peccatum, Seruus est peccati; a quo quis superatur, huic et seruus addicitur), nonne haec est illa praesumptio naturalis, quae ad detestandae captiuitatis iura descendit, quam scriptura sancta sic memorat: graue iugum super filios Adam a die exitus de uentre matris eorum usque in diem sepulturae in matre omnium? de qua genus humanum 24 non nisi solus dominus noster lesus Christus commercio suae 10 redemit passionis et mutata natiuitate.nos eruit; solus utique uenit quaerere et saluare quod perierat, ut libertas, quae per temerariam fuerat deiecta superbiam, instauraretur reparata per gratiam mutuaque uice humanae uoluntatis arbi- trium, sicut sequendo diabolum captiuitatem meruerat sempi- 15 ternam, sie reformatae subsequendo libertatis auctorem amis- sum rediret ad praemium. hinc est, quod ipse dominus ait:25 cum uos filius liberauerit, tunc uere liberi eritis, et apostolus beatus Paulus exsequitur: eum serui essetis peccati, liberi fuistis iustitiae (id est alieni a iustitia"), 0 liberati autem a peccato serui facti estis iustitiae, et iterum idem ipse libertatem inquit qua uos Christus . Niberauit. nonne ipse uas electionis adfirmat et dicit: deus est, qui operatur in uobis et uelle et perficere pro bona uoluntate, ne etiam in mala uoluntate et uelle et. 25 perficere deus putaretur operari? . Illud autem Pelagianorum peculiare uirus est olimque detritum, 26 quo putànt gratiam dei secundum merita hominum posse conferri, quod absit a mentibus Christianis, cum praefatus testetur aposto- ον 2 Ioh. 8, 84 8 Petr. II 2, 19 0 Eccli. 40, 1 11 Luc. :19, 10 17 Ioh. 8, 86 18 Rom, 6, 20 οἱ 22 21 Gal. 4, 31 22 Philipp. 2, 18 | 366 Gelasius I. contra Pelagianam haeresim ad Picenos lus: gratia est, quae gratis datur; alioquin si ex operi- bus, gratia iam non est gratia, quia merces redditur, non 27 gratis (unde 'gratia! nomen aecepit) impenditur. quis autem audeat se dicere Christianus aliquid habere boni sine gratia, quando magister gentium clamet cuncta breuiter in se dona conclu- s dens: gratia dei sum id, quod sum, et gratia eius in me uacua non fuit, ut ostenderet, quia donum gratiae non ipse praecesserit sed fuerit subsecutus? utque monstraret cooperatorem se gratiae subsequendo, sed plus omnibus inquit illis laboraui, ac rursus ueritus, ne de se praesumere uideretur, adiunxit: non ego, sed gratia dei mecum. non dixit *ego et gratia dei mecum', sed praeposuit gratiam prae- 28 cedentem seseque subiunxit. quid autem haberi possit sine gratia, cum sit fides ipsa per gratiam, eodem apostolo nos docente: miserieordiam consecutus sum, ut fidelis essem? nec aliud est misericordia diuina quam gratia. audiamus etiam, quemadmodum informat ecclesiam: gratia inquit salui facti estis. per fidem, ut principium salutis et fidei 8 gratia coepisse dissereret, sicut secutus anuectit: et hoc non ex uobis, sed dei donum est, non exse operibus, ne quis extollatur. idem ipse alibi generaliier et absolute pronuntiat dicens: quid enim habes, quod non accepisti? aut si accepisti, quid gloriaris quasi non 29acceperis? quis sufficiat singula recensere, quibus euidenter apparet non naturalis libertatis arbitrium gratiam promereri ss sed potius per gratiam recipere ut a seruitute, quam peccando meruerat, misericorditer absolutum? huius sacramenti redemp- . tione ante mundi principium sempiterna prouidentia praepatáti, siue nondum prolata lege seu sub obseruatione legali, figura- libus signis atque sacrificiis omnium sanctorum uirorum sw m 0 1 cf. Rom. 11, 6 6 sqq. Cor. I 15, 10 15 Cor. I 7, 25 1799 Eph. 2, 8 22 Cor. 1 4, 7 £n 1 e Epist. XCIV 927—332. 967 feminarumque- sanctarum uetus origo mundata est uniuersisque iustis per gratiae spiritum hoc de longe adorando mysterio salutis aeternae remedia contigerunt, cuius in Christo mani- festata gentibus plenitudo mundum purgat et renouat beati- tudinisque perpetuae uere facit esse participes. Quapropter nimis ineusamus fratres et coepiscopos nostros, 30 maxime per Piceni prouincias ecclesiam domini gubernantes, qui non solum ineptissimi senis abieetaeque personae prauum non deterruere colloquium uerum etiam suo nutriuere con- sensu. quis audiat, quis ferat passos esse pontifices, ut cadauer nescio quod indignum presbyterum sibi non adquiescentem auderet communione priuare? quomodo talis uel susceptus ab 31 aliquo uel patienter auditus est, qui insuper leges dedit libenter acceptas, ut serui dei cum puellis saeris congregatione dedecorissima miscerentur? nam cum spiritales animi, etiam cum desint ista consortia, imaginariis infestentur illecebris, quemadmodum alterni sexus intuitu, qui illieit, et nolentes, non uehementius incitentur? adhue maius scelus aderescit, ut sub conspectu et praesentia sacerdotum beatae memoriae Hieronymum atque Augustinum ecclesiasticorum lumina magi- strorum musca moritura, sicut scriptum est, exterminans oleum suauitatis lacerare contenderet. sed quid miremur 32 eeclesiarum praesules ista neglegere, quos, sicut a multis audiuimus, contra canones omnia gerere et contra apostolicam disciplinam passim cuncta miscere manifestum est: non seruatis regulis ordinare liciteque non solum monachos sed etiam ministros eeclesiae cum feminis ad peregrina migrantes remeare rursus et ab aliis episcopis in militiam prouehi clericalem? quae eum singula toleranda non sint, quis susti- neat tot et talia facinora perpetrari, quibus spectaculum 21 Eccl 10, 1 7 prouinciam ecclesias p* — 8 paruum V, corr. o 12 audire com- munione priuaret V, eorr. Thiel 14 acceptus V, corr. Thiel 17 al- lernis V, eorr. o illicit et. Thiel: illicitet V — 19 conspecta V corr. o 20 hieronimum V ' 368 Gelasius I. ad episcopos Dardaniae gentilibus et Iudaeis et haereticis non inmerito praebentes in ipsum, quod absit, tendere uideantur religionis excidium digneque ista facientibus aptabitur illa sententia dicentis apo- stoli: nomen enim dei per uos blasphematur in 33gentibus? sufficiat igitur hactenus haec fuisse commissa et, ut placetur deus, humanis rebus sollicitius diuina curentur. nusquam locum prorsus inueniat praefatae pestis adsertor nec aecessum prorsus ecclesiae uel usquam participationem catho- licae communionis inueniat, qui haereticorum mauult subsequi nefaria professione consortium ; et hi, cum quibus antea pro- babitur noxium miscuisse conlegium, nisi resipiscunt et ab eius societate discedunt, ab ecclesiastico remoti seruitio debita ultione plectantur, quo ceteris cauendi ministretur exemplum. 94 nullum adeat nec umquam loqui damnatas olim blasphemias lam sinatur. discreta suis habitationibus uirorum atque femi- 16 narum, sicut, sanctum propositum decet, exerceatur circum- specta deuotio. contra canonum constituta nullus ad ecclesia- sticum permittatur officium, non ignoraturis prouinciae unius- cuiusque rectoribus nec de praeteritis se ueniam reperturos. 3oerroribus, si deinceps dissimulauerint uitare patefactos. ^ nec s» excusationis de cetero relinquetur occasio, si post praecepta praesentia, quae per Romulum diaconum, cuius sollertiam pro fide catholica et pro religione uigilantiam gratissime compro- bamus, duximus destinanda, quisquam super his omnibus aut contemptor aut neglegens deprehendatur antistes. sicut enim ss ad sedis apostolicae moderamina pertinet cunctis sollicitudinem debitam ministrare congruenter ecclesiis, ita necesse est, ut in contumaces et desides traditam sibi diuinitus non dissimulet potestatem. ^ Dat. Kal. Nou. Albino u. c. cons. - ad 4 Rom. 2, 24 Epis. XCIV 88 — XCV 2. 369