Letter 12013: The joy with which I received news of your return to the unity of the Church cannot be adequately expressed in words.

Him whom our Redeemer does not permit to perish from the number of his servants, He so enlightens in his heart by the inspiration of his mercy that, forsaking the darkness of error, he may return to the knowledge of the light and to the way of truth. Therefore, having received the letter of your most beloved Fraternity, we rejoice with great exultation in the Lord, because divine grace has called you back to the unity of the Church, from which you had been separated by the urging of stubborn and ignorant men. But because, the more the ancient enemy perceives himself overcome, the more sharply he does not cease to lay snares, it is altogether fitting that you be anxious and watchful, and that you prepare the shield of constancy against his darts, so that, when they strike, they may be shattered and may have no force to penetrate within. Let no desires of things, then, dearest brother, no terrors, no flatteries, no seductions, which wound souls with the venomous arrows of words, weaken you from the fervor of your return or compel you to go back again, lest you, who had bravely prevailed, be grievously overcome and, which God forbid, be held captive after the victory; but rather, so that mother Church, spread by God's favor throughout the whole world, may recognize that you have returned to her bosom not idle, you must most diligently keep watch and labor, so that together with you you may be able to call back others as well, to the end that the losses which you had brought about by the example of your turning away you may not only repair by the good of your return, but may also display a gain, so that, both for earning pardon for the past and for laying hold of the rewards of the future, you may be seen to have called back to your Lord more than you had taken away. It will therefore be entirely our care to consider, as is fitting, the peace of your Fraternity, because, since now, by God's protection, you are one with us, we attend to your interests no otherwise than to our own. But John the subdeacon has written to us certain things concerning your needs; yet we trust, by the power of our God, that holy Peter, to whom you have returned, will not abandon you. Now, moreover, from the blessing of the same holy Peter, we have sent to your Fraternity one set of vestments, which you must needs receive with that charity with which it has been sent by us. In the month of May, in the fifth indiction.

Quem redemptor noster de servorum suorum numero perire non patitur, ita miserieordiae suae inspiratione cor* eius inlustrat, ut deserto erroris obscuro ad cogni- tionem lucis et viam redeat veritatis. Unde suscepta carissimae fratemitatis tuae epistola magna in Domino exultatione gaudemus, quod divina te** gratia ad unitatem ecclesiae, a qua pertinacium et imperitorum hominum iniunctione® disiunctus fueras^, reyocavit. Sed quia quanto® antiquus' hostis superatum se conspicit, tanto insidiari acrius non quiescit, omnino sollicitum vigilantemque te esse conyenit atque scutum constantiae contra iacula ipsius praeparare^, ut inlisa frangantur^ et vim interius pene- trandi non habeant^ Nulla ergo te, frater carissime, rerum desideria, nulli terrores, nulla blandimenta, nullae seductiones, quae venenatis verborum sagittis^ animas feriunt^, a reversionis tuae fervore demollianf" aut retro redire compellant", ne, qui fortiter" superaveras, graviter supereris et captivus, quod absit, post victoriam tenearis; sed magis ut mater ecclesia^ per totum Deo propitio orbem difFusa^ ad suum tc redisse' gremium non inertem agnoscat, studiosissime tibi vigilandum" ac laborandum^ est, ut tocum possis^ et alios revocare, quatenus damna quae aversionis^ tuae exemplo com- miseras non solum reversionis bono resarcias, sed etiam lucrum exhibeas, ut et^ ad promerendam praeteritorum veniam ot futurorum praemia capessenda' plus domino tuo videaris revocasse quam tuleras. Nobis igitur omnino curae crit de^ fraternitatis tuae quiete, ut dignum est, cogitaro, quia, postquam nobiscum iam Deo protegente unus es", non aliter utilitates tuas quam nostras attendimus. Aliqua vero nobis do nocessitatibus vestris lohannes subdiaconus^ scripsit; sed credimus dc Dei nostri potentia, quia sanctus Potrus, ad quem reversi estis, vos deserere non habef^. Modo autem de** benedictione eiusdom sancti Petri transmisimus fratemitati vestrae paraturam unam, quam vos® necesse est cum ea caritato qua a nobis est^ transmissa® suscipere. XII, 13 in iitulo: Istriae R2. R* 1. ») cor om. Rl. *») divinatifi ql. ita cani. Mommsen, Ql.3. 0 antiquis Rl. g) prepare Rl. frangatur Rl. *) habeat R2. sagatis Rl. 1) ex feriant corr.Rl. ">) demoliant ^ 7. demoliantur (> 3. ") compellat^3. °) quid fortiter qui fortem cet. P) m ecclesiQ corr. Rl; ecclesiQ q1.3. urbeni diffusam Rl. 0 rediisse te q2. XII, 13. Firminus, qui in ep. XIII, 36 episcopus Tergestinae dvitatis dicitur, is epiaoopus esse videtur, cui noster formuJam promissionis XII, 7 transmiserat ; Severo, quem Smaragdus, cum primum exarchus erat, Bavennam duxerat, sed post relaxaverat (Paui. diac. III, 26), succcssU. Cf. Chron. patr. Grad. 2. 1) De lohanne cf. ep. XI, 16 n. XII, 7 n. MENSE MAIO INDICTIONE V.