Letter 10: Victorius of Aquitaine, servant of the church, to the most holy Hilary, archdeacon of Rome, greetings.

In the year 457. From Victorius to Hilarus, archdeacon of the city of Rome. In which he satisfies the request of Hilarus concerning the computation of the paschal day. To his lord, truly holy and venerable in Christ, his brother Hilarus the archdeacon, Victorius. 1. Would that I were as able, venerable archdeacon Hilarus, to obey your instructions in effect as I am in wish! For this work is both difficult and the capacity of my understanding is slight. But I, so far as it concerns me, even if I should be overcome by the magnitude of the matter entrusted to me, would think it enough that the obedience of my ability was not lacking to your command, even though my service should by no means fulfill what was enjoined, yet at least it would discharge the obedience owed. And I beg you that, if anything should turn out otherwise than you wished, weighing rightly both my weakness and the task imposed, you may judge the labor of the unfinished business rather by my willingness than by its merit. For the greatest proof of my reverence toward you is this, that I have wished to expend myself upon your commands more than I was able. But if I shall have accomplished anything worthy of your reading, that will surely be the gift of the divine bounty, and also of your goodwill, whose favor stirs up even the sluggish to advancement. Nor will it be doubted that this is to be accomplished by the faith of him by whose encouragement it was undertaken, since I too have confidence that what you command can be carried through, you who enjoin it so confidently. For who would not understand that what you believe is to be fulfilled even through me has already been anticipated by your prayers? For you would not have entrusted it rashly, where you saw demanded not so much the diligence of my learning as your own judgment. 2. Therefore, undertaking to explore the course of the paschal feast, relying rather on your prayers than on my own talent, as far as the matter permits, and following the form of the letter sent to me, I shall first set forth in a few words what is the cause of discord among writers of this kind, and then shall, as far as I am able and with the Lord's gift, diligently resolve what seems more to accord with the truth. 3. That the disputants of this chief festival disagree among themselves, that necessity first of all compels, because the paschal cycles, whether those extended after 84, or those after 95 years, or even those after spans of 112 years, are believed to return to their beginning and origin in the same order in which they had passed, are indeed in some respects in agreement by the equality of days but disagree in the variation of the moon; and again, when in the lunar reckoning they are found stable, they clash by the mobility of the days. Nor only is one unlike another by its own definition, but even each single one of them, in itself, by the aforesaid alternation—namely the lunar and that of the days—now stands by variation, now fails in its assertion. To this is added that the lunar reckoning itself has been so varied by the opinions of all, that whereas these, for example, declare the same moon to have been the first on the Kalends of January, others say the thirtieth, and some maintain the second came forth. Then further, those who published the cycle of 84 years prescribe that, when 12 years are completed, one moon—which they assert grows by certain minute amounts in annual revolution through the same period, by the law of calculation—is to be added to the regular course. There are likewise those who define that this same moon is rather to be counted in only when the 15th year is beginning. Moreover those who affirm that after 112 years they return to that cycle from which it had arisen, establish that those same lunar increments which I mentioned above ought to be appended after 16 years. But those who embrace the observance of the cycle of 95 years subjoin this lunar augmentation after 19 years, in the manner of the Egyptians, with continuous order—which is truer. 4. Besides, there arises also another kind of error, while in the rules of the first month, in which they establish that the Lord's Easter is to be celebrated, a great dissension arises on both sides. For the Latins have judged that observance must be kept most especially from the 3rd Nones of March up to the 4th Nones of April, that is, for 29 days, so that on whatever of those days the moon is born, it makes the beginning of the first month. If the fourteenth moon of this month should fall on the sixth weekday [Friday], the following Lord's Day, that is, the 16th moon, should without ambiguity be assigned to the paschal festival. But if it should happen that the full moon is on the Sabbath day, and that the 15th moon is found on the following Lord's Day, that week being passed over, they have said that Easter ought to be transferred to the next Lord's Day, that is, to the 22nd moon. And they have appointed for performing the mystery of the same Lord's resurrection no fewer than the 16th, and they admit no more than the 22nd moon at any time: choosing rather that the day of the paschal feast be extended to the 22nd moon, than that the Lord's passion be in any way begun before the 14th moon. The fourteenth moons, moreover, of the same month they assert are to be kept from the 15th Kalends of April up to the 17th Kalends of May. On the contrary, Theophilus of holy memory, once bishop of Alexandria, in letters sent to the emperor Theodosius, dispatched a paschal table composed from the first consulship of him [Theodosius] and the fifth of Gratian [in the year 380]. In which, counting from the 8th Ides of March up to the day of the Nones of April, he holds that a moon born at any middle point of that same span of time makes the beginning of the first month; but from the 12th Kalends of April up to the 14th Kalends of May he carefully seeks the 14th moon; and even if it should fall on the day of the Sabbath, he prescribes without doubt that Easter is to be celebrated afterward on the following Lord's Day with the 15th moon, observing this regularly and cautiously, lest he allow the full moon, that is, the 14th moon, to be applied before the 12th Kalends of April for the determining of this sacrament; nor does he reckon this to be computed in the first month but in the twelfth. 5. Generally indeed the opinion of both parties does concur and agree upon one and the same day of a solemnity of this kind, but it varies in the reckoning of the moon; and whereas the Egyptians, for example, count the 15th moon onto the day of Easter, our people calculate the same as the 16th or 17th. And thus, whereas among the Egyptians the choice of Easter is brought to the 21st moon, by the Latins it is given as the 22nd or even the 23rd. It comes to pass therefore that the day of Easter which the one party chooses, the other rejects. Which, as we have already said above, it is most certain comes about because, both in the rules of the times and in the dispensation of the moon, the one party does not agree. Nor is it a wonder if the cycles of differing opinions, set against and compared with one another, do not coincide, since each, in its own institution—which is believed at the appointed time to return into itself and to run its course by faithful reckoning—is by no means shown in this same revolution to hold in all things the constancy of the proposed definition. Which also Theophilus of blessed memory in a manner silently indicated, when, despising all the limits and circles of cycles—even those that were thought lawful—he promulgated the form of his table destined for this work, stripped of all necessity of a predetermined recurrence, absolutely, into the span of a hundred years. Which he either judged could suffice for our times, or, declining the labor of more curious diligence, left the business to be scrutinized by posterity. 6. Amid these conflicts of those holding differing views—namely of those who, though by various opinions yet with great zeal, have tried to compose and to set forth in writing the regular path and series of the times and the reckonings of the moon by which the paschal sacrament must be carried out—it seems indeed bold that anyone should profess the truth of this matter, about which such and so great men have wavered. But because with God there is no respect of persons, aided by the prayers of your holiness I seem to myself to see that the secret of a discipline of this kind can be more clearly disclosed, if from the very first beginnings of the world the institution of the days and of the moon, or of the times, and thereafter the beginning of this solemnity be sought, and the truth of the abstruse question be explored through the arranged order of the ages. 7. Therefore, having reviewed the faithful histories of the ancients—namely of blessed Eusebius of Caesarea in Palestine, bishop of the city, a man before all most learned and most erudite, in his chronicles and prologue, and likewise the things which were added to those same chronicles by Jerome the presbyter of holy memory, through whom they are approved to have been translated also into the Latin tongue, and those things too which by the holy and venerable man Prosper are agreed to have been supplied up to the eighth consulship of Valentinian Augustus and that of Anthemius [the year 455]—I found from the beginning of the world up to the flood two thousand two hundred forty-two years; likewise from the flood up to the nativity of Abraham, the same monuments testify, nine hundred forty-two years; and that Abraham was born in the 42nd year while Ninus was now reigning. From whose time also there began to be public writers of deeds done among the barbarians. Wherefore the aforesaid venerable man Eusebius began his history from this point, wishing the trustworthiness of his industry to be weighed by the contemporaneous account of worldly annals as well, and the witnesses of the professed truth to be inquired of even from gentile letters—content that the past ages be set forth by the sacred volumes, disclosing the ages only summarily backward from the text of the prologue by the generations, and likewise comprehending them in the fullness of the work under a recapitulation of the years. Whose tenor the venerable man Prosper followed, composing these same excellent matters with brevity in those same chronicles, so that their beginning was begun from the start of the world. Moreover from Abraham up to the sixth consulship of Valens and the second of Valentinian [the year 378] two thousand two hundred ninety-five years; and then from Ausonius and Olybrius the consuls, who follow, up to the eighth consulship of Valentinian Augustus and that of Anthemius [the year 455] seventy-seven years; and together all from the origin of the world up to Constantinus and Rufus the present consuls [the year 457] five thousand six hundred fifty-eight years are reckoned. To which, for the sake of investigating the truth more surely, I have also joined the bissextiles [leap days], that it might appear more manifestly whether the reckoning of the bissextiles, or of the days both of the Kalends of January and of the 8th Kalends of April—on which the world is handed down to have been established—agreed with itself in continuous discussion. 8. All these things being everywhere turned over, it remained more fittingly to inquire whether the lunar reckoning—which on the fourth day of the existing world, that is, the 5th Kalends of April, full, that is, the 14th, by the command of the Creator arose at the inception of the night—harmonized by equal law with times past and present. Which, computed for so many ages, was found, according to the Egyptian discipline, to have come forth by an enduring reckoning, with the Kalends of January on the third weekday [Tuesday], the 28th moon, and the Kalends of April on the second weekday [Monday], the 14th moon, in the consulship of Constantinus and Rufus [the year 457]: whereby it was most evidently discovered that, extended through the courses of 19 years, ever revolving in itself by the same tracks, it measures as the same and the first the year which it begins as the twentieth. When therefore nothing of doubt remained, the lunar days and the bissextiles being from the constitution of the world down to our own generation in concord by a marvelous running, it was necessary—the very reason for which my intention chiefly toiled at this inquiry, according to the command of your venerableness—that I should scrutinize the paschal institutions either of that time when, by the divine command through Moses, the lamb was sacrificed by the sons of Israel in Egypt, or especially of that when, for our redemption and salvation, that true lamb, whose figure had preceded, Christ our Passover was sacrificed. 9. And again, all the years, times, days, and especially the moon—which makes months according to the Hebrews—being duly run through, from the beginning of the world according to the trustworthiness of the aforesaid history up to the day on which the sons of Israel inaugurated the paschal mystery by heavenly command and were saved from the Egyptian disaster by the slaying of the lamb, the necessity of the bissextiles being likewise run through, as far as faithful supputation has traced, the years are taught to have been completed as three thousand six hundred eighty-nine, on the fifth weekday [Thursday], the 9th Kalends of April, the 13th moon, evening now beginning. On whose following day—namely in the three thousand six hundred ninetieth year proceeding, in the first month, on the sixth weekday [Friday], the 8th Kalends of April, the 14th moon, at the beginning of the night—it is clear that the Hebrews performed the sacrifice of the lamb. For Easter, as is known by every manner of tradition, is celebrated at the beginning of the year, not at the end. And that our Lord Jesus Christ suffered when five thousand two hundred twenty-eight years had been completed from the rising of the world is shown by the same account of the chronicles. That this was done at the beginning of the twenty-ninth year cannot be doubted; since the 8th Kalends of April, in the first month, with the 14th moon coming forth in the evening, just as from the beginning of creation it was made on the fourth day, is taught to have begun, and, the bissextiles being added to the sum of five thousand two hundred twenty-eight years, in the following twenty-ninth year, on the fifth weekday [Thursday], it teaches that it was preceded by tradition. But on the first day of unleavened bread the Lord Jesus Christ, supping with his disciples, after he had revealed the sacraments of his own body and blood, went forth to the Mount of Olives, as the holy Gospels testify, and there was seized by the Jews, a disciple betraying him. Thereupon, on the following sixth weekday [Friday], that is, the 7th Kalends of April, he was crucified and buried; on the third day, that is, the 5th Kalends of April, on the Lord's Day, he rose from the dead. 10. Wherefore, all things being in tune with a fixed limit, it was necessary, for the sake of the reckoning of the paschal observance, that the days and moons be described from the very beginning of the world, whereby the course of things might be evidently recognized. But because the immense work is of greater leisure, lest I should defer your instructions longer, I have meanwhile unfolded a summary of it, which nonetheless descends from the observation of its very fullness: from the time of the Lord's passion, the days of the Kalends of January and the names of the consuls being collected with diligent annotation from the two Gemini, namely Rufus and Rubellius [the year 29], up to the consulship of Constantinus and Rufus [the year 457], through 430 years with their moons and times, and then thereafter without consuls through 102 future years, so that the whole sum may consist in 532 years, I have hastened to make plain. Which sum so embraces in its revolution the series of all the rules by which it is taken up, that by the same path it is both recalled into that from which it arose, and, again wheeled around anew, arrives at its former end. But the mercy of the Lord will be present, so that you may esteem the consummated truth of the greater business, which I have already promised above—the reckoning of all the ages being set forth, by which the sacred festival is disclosed as to be celebrated without scruple—not so much intimated to your senses as presented to your sight. 11. This besides I have not delayed to insinuate, on account of the framers of the various paschal tables: where in this same cycle the day of Easter is found set down by a doubled designation, that is, where the 15th moon and the Lord's Day, and after 7 days the 22nd, is written—that this was not in my judgment defective, but for the peace of the churches was reserved to the choice of the apostolic pontiff: so that neither should I pass over what pertained to my office, and it might be established in the discretion of him who presides over the universal Church, what day above all in such a condition should be assigned to the chief solemnity. For as to the others, which have likewise been added alongside, no authority is confirmed but a varying opinion is signified. 12. When therefore it shall happen that the 27th moon comes forth on the Sabbath, or above all on the day of the Kalends of January, without a bissextile, let your holiness know that Easter cannot be found except either on the 13th Kalends of April according to the Latins (which I have utterly found was never celebrated, even if the moon should agree), or on the 8th Kalends of May according to the Egyptians, which has sometimes been observed.

a.457. Yictorii ad Uilarnm nrbis Bomae archidlaconum. ffilari de computatione diei pascAalis postulatis satis/acU^ Domino vere sancto ac venerabili in Chi fratri Hilaro archidiacono Victorius. 1. Utinara praeceptis tuis, archidiacone v^nerabilis Hilare^ effectu valeam parere quam voto! Est enim et hoc opus ard et meae intelligentiae facultas exigua. Ego autem, quod ac attinet, etiamsi delegatae materiae superer quantitate, satis^hj jussioni tuae possibiUtatis meae obedientiam non defuisse, tametsi ministerium minime impleret injunctum, cefte debitom solveret obsequium. Teque deprecor, ut si quidpiam secus i voluisti provenerit , imbecillitatem meam atque opus impositum 8 jure perpendens, imperfecti laborem negotii officio malis aesti quam merito. Maximum enim indiciimi meae erga te revere est, imperiis tuis amplius me impendere voluisse, quam po EPISTOLAE 2. 3. 131 Quod si dignura aliquid tua lectione confecero, id erit profecto divini a. 457. muneris, tum etiam benevoleutiae tuae, cujus favor oblectans iner- t€s quoque excitat ad profectum. Nec dubitabitur hujus fide per- ficiendum, cuju^ est adhortatione susceptum, quum mihi quoque fiducia sit, peragi posse quod praecipis, cui id tam confidenter in- jimgis. Quis namque non intelligat, tuis orationibus jam prae- sumptum, quod etiam per me credis implendum? Neque enim temere delegasses, ubi non tam meae doctrinae industriam quam tuum judicium videres exposci. 2. Paschalis igitur festi cursum tuis potius orationibus quam meo fretus ingenio, quantum res permittit^), explorare conten- dens, datae ad me formam secutus epistolae, prius quae inter hujusmodi scriptores sit causa discordiae paucis expediam, ac deinde quid magis videatur congruere veritati, quantum valuero, Domino donante diligenter absolvam. « 3. Discrepare inter se disputatores praecipuae festivitatis pri- mum onmium necessitas illa compelUt, quia paschales cych, sive qui po8t TiXXXTV seu qui post XCV annos vel etiam qui post CXII annonim spatia prorogati eodem, quo praeterierant, ordine in prin- dpium sui atque originem redire creduntur, in aliquibus quidem dierum sunt parilitate concordes sed in lunae 'varietate dissentiunt, ac rQTsus quum in lunari supputatione reperiimtur stabiles, dierum mobilitate^) confligunt. Neque solum alius alio est propria defini- tione dissimilis, verum etiam singuli quique eorum in semetipsis altematione praedicta, lunari scilicet ac dierum, nunc varietate^) subsistunt nunc assertione deficiunt. Huc accedit, quod lunaris ipsa dinumeratio ita cunctorum est variata sententiis, ut quum isti Terbi gratia eamdem Kalendis Januariis primam fuisse pronuntient, *lii irigesimam, nonnulli secundam provenisse contendant. Tum deinde ii, qui cyclum annorum LXXXIV ediderunt, XH peractis annis lunam unam*), quam per idem tempus certis annua revolutione nrinutiis asserunt calculandi lege succrescere, adjiciendam legitimo cwsui esse praecipiunt. Item sunt, qui hanc eamdem XV demum mdpiente anno magis adnumerari definiunt^). Porro hi, qui post ') Al. HnU Buch. ^ Al. veritate, moxque dimengio (loco dinumeratio) Buch. ^ h. e. diem unam aetati lunae per saltum adjiciendam. Atque hoc quidem ^^ Hmana supputatio ab anno 298 usque ad aunum 381 decurrens eifecit, <lQie annoB LXXKIV per 8et>tem duodecennia distribuit. Conf. van der Hagen ^^ in Pro«p. chron. p. 270 ss. , Ideler Handbuch der Chronologie IT, 249, de ^ Inscript. Chrigt. Proleg. pag. LXXXU ss. ') Ita Prosper Aquitanus circa aunum 430 Romanam supputationem emendavit, ^ cycluin LXXXIV annorom in sex quatuordecim annorum laterculoB divisit; 9* a.457. CXIT aiiuos in id cycliun, unde ortus fuerat, reverti confirmant'), ea ipsa incrementa lunaria, quae superius memoravi, post aimoe XVI subnecti debere constituunt. Hi vero, qui anuorum XCV cydi observantiam compreliendunt'), post XIX annos Aegyptiorum more continuato ordine, quoil est verius, hoc augmentum lunarium aub- jiciunt. 4. Adcrescit praeterea etiam aliud erroris genus, dum in regu- lis primi mensis, quo Pascha donunicum celebrari statuunt, magna oritur utrisque disaonsio. Latini namque a III Nonaa Martii uaqoe in IV ^) Nonas Aprilis, iliebus scilicet XXIX, observandum maxime*) censuenint, ut quocimque eorum die huia fuerit nata, efficiat prinu mensis initiimi. t ■ujus hina decima quarta si feria sexta provene- rit; sequens dominic^i, i. e. huia XVI, festivitati paschali sine am- biguo deputetur. Sin autem die sabbati plenilunium *®) esse con- tigerit et consequenti dominieo lunam XV reperiri, eadem hebdo-. mada transmissa in altennn diem dominicum, i. e. lunam XXUy transferri dcbere Pascha dixenmt. Nec") minus ejusdem domimcae resurrectionis ])eragendo mysterio destinarunt quam XVI, nec am- plius quam XXII lunam aUquando recipiunt: ehgentes potius iu lunam XXII diem festi paschahs extendi, quam dominicam passio- nem ante hmam XIV ullat^uus inchoari. Decimas quartas porro lunas mensis ejusdem a XV Kalendas Aprihs usque in XVII Ealen- das Maji asserunt esse servandas. Sanctae memoriae contra Theo- philus, quondam Alexandrinus antistes, ad Theodosium imperatorem a.C.380. datis epistohs ex primo ipsius et Gratiani quinto consulatu condituia paschale direxit. lu quo annumerans ab VIII Idus Martii usque in diem Nonas Aprihs, quohbet medio ejusdem temporia spatio natam perhibet Imiam facere primi mensis initium; a XII vero Kalenda^ Aprihs usque in XIV Kalendas Maji lunam XIV soUerter inquiici; etiamsi in diem incidat sabbatonim, post sequenti dominico luna XY conf. van der Hagen 1. c. p. 183 98., Idelcr 1. c. 11, 269 ss., Ballerinii Op. s. Leon. I, 602 et 1055, de Rossi 1. c. p. XC. •) h. e. pro lUtimis utrinque terminis. *") Hic observaudum monet Bucherius, idem Victorio esse pienilumMm ac lunam XIV. Idem usus auctori quaostiouum ex utroque test. qu. 106 (s. Augu- stiui Op. III p. 102). ") Beda ne minus .. deslinarent .. reciperent. BPISTOLA 3. 133 eelebrandam Pascha sine dubitatione coiiscribit^ hoc regulariter cau- a. 457. teque custodiens, ne ante XII Kalendas Aprilis pleniluniiun, i. e. XIV lunam^ huic defini^ndo sacraniento patiatur apponi ; neque hoc m primo mense sed in XTT aestimat computaudum. 5. Plerumque sane partis utriusque sententia in unum quidem sollemnitatis hujuscemodi diem concurrit et convenit, sed in lunae dinumeratione variatur, quumque eam Aegyptii XV lunam in diem Paschae verbi gratia nunjierant, nostri eamdem XVI vel XVII cal- culantur. Atque ita quum apud Aegyptios ad XXI lunam electio Paschae perducitur, a Latinis XXII vel etiam XXIII perhibetiu-. Fit itaque; ut Paschae diem, quam illa delegerit, ista pars respuat. Quod inde, sicut jam supra diximus, evenire certissimmn est, quia tam in regolis temporum quam in dispensatione lunari pars altera non congruit. Neque mirum, si diversarum opinionum cycli sibi in?icem oppositi atque collati non coeunt, quum in propria quisque instiiuiione, quam praefinito tempore in idipsum redire et fideli cre- ditur ratione decurrere, hac eadem revolutione nequaquam in omni- bos doceatur definitionis propositae tenere constantiam. Quod etiam beatae memoriae Theophilus tacitus quodammodo indicavit, quum uniyersia cyclorum limitibus circulisque despectis, qui etiam legitimi putabantur, laterculi sui formam huic operi destinatam ab onmi ne- cessitate praefinitae recursionis exutam absolute in centum annorum promulgavit aetatem. Quod aut nostris arbitratus est sufficere posse temporibus, aut curiosioris diligentiae laborem declinans scrutandum po^teris negotium reliquit. 6. Has inter conflictiones diversa opinantium, eorum scilicet, qui regularem tramitem seriemque temporum atque lunae ratiouum, <pibuB oportet peragi paschale sacramentum , variis licet sententiis ingenti tamen studio condere stiloque explicare conati sunt, audax quidem yidetm: esse, ^ hujusce rei quemquam profiteri veritatem, de qua tales tantique nutaverunt^^). Verum quia apud Deiun non est acceptio personarum, orationibus vestrae sanctitatis *^) adjutus videre nulu videor, istius modi disciplinae secretum luculentius posse rese- ^*^) si ab ipsius mundi primordiis dierum institutio ac lunae vel temporum ac deinceps hujus sollemnitatis initium requiratur, atquc ^ pcj* digestum ordinem saeculorum quaestionis abstrusae explore- tar int^tas. ^- Recensitis igitur fidelibus historiis veterum, beati scilicet '*) A]ii dabiiaoerunt, ") Victoriom archidiacono Romano sic loquentem Laud mirabitur, qui reco- »"ent Theodoretuni 2A arekidiacomm Romae ita scribentem: in sanctitate tua {trjv f j ^t^f^ffn te/iatMfffv) commodum habent portum et tranquillum . . . Decet enim sancti- t^em tuam {oov t j otftoti^te) ad cetera egregia facinora sua kunc etiam zelum ad- J'^ (Theod. epigi 118 ed. Schulze tom IV, 1199). a. 4ri7. Eusebii Caesarieiisis Ptilaestiuae civitatis episcopi, viri imprimis eru- (litissinii ac doctissimi, clironicis prologoque, ac perinde LiSy quae a sanctae nienioriae Hieronynio iisdeni clironicis sunt adjecta pre- sbytero, por quem in latinuni quoque probantur translata sermonem^ liisque etiain, quae a sancto et venerabili viro Prospero'*) usque ad .('. 155. consulatum V^ilentiniani Augusti VIII et Anthemii constat fuisse suppleta, reperi a nmndi principio usque ad diluvium duo millia et CCXLII annos, item a diluvio usque ad nativitAtem Abrahae annos DCt'CCXLII; natuni autem Abraliam XLII*"^) anno regnante jam Nino, eadem monunienta testantur. A cujus etiam tempore gesta- rum rerum publici scriptores apud barbaros esse coeperunt. Qua- pro])ter vir venerabilis praedictus Eusebius clironicoruni abliine ex- orsus est Iiistoriam, volens industriae suae iidem mundanorum quo- que annalium coaetaneo relatu perpendi ct ])rofessae veritatis etiam gentilium litterjis testes sciscitari, cont^ntus praeterita saecula sacris voluminibus exi^Iicari, actates tantum summatim retro generationum ex ])roIogi textu ])atefaciens ct o])eris plenitudine''*) sub aiinorum reca])ituIatione pariter coiui^rebendens. Cujus tenorem vir venera- bilis Prosj^er secutus, iisdeni clironicis haec eadem egregia brevit^te composuit, ut eorum initiuui a nunidi inchoaretur exordio. Porro a. C. ;J78. ab Abraham usque in sextum Valentis consulatum et yalentiiiiani secundum duo inillia (^CCXCV, ac deinde ab Ausonio Olybrioque consulibus, qui sequuntur, usque ad VIII Valentiniani Augnsti con- a. r. 455. sulatum et Anthemii LXXVIP"), et simul omnes a mundi origiue a.C.457. usque ad Constantinum et llufum praesentes consules quinque millia DCLVIII anni referuntur. Quibus ob veritateni certius indagandam bissextos etiam coj^ulavi, quo manifcstius a])pareret, utrmn sibi vel bissextorum ratio vel dierum tam Kalendarum Jainiarianim quam VIII Kalendarum Ai^rilium, quo mundus traditur institutus ^®), con- tinuata disputatione concineret. ") Labl)tMi8 in brcviario chronolopieo ad annum 455 i>robabile putat, Pro- Bpernm vel hoc ipso anuo vel soquonti vivtMuli iincin focisso. Qiiem tamen, quum Vietorius ista dcriheret, id ost anuo 457, otiam in superiB fuiBBO id indicio e»t, quod quuni llicronynium aut Thoo]>liilum noininan^ luldat eonstanter bonae memoriaey de ProBj^oro faota somol ot it<'rum montiono simi>licitor et sino h^juic* niodi addito loquatur. Norisiu» et Buohorius ipitur mortom ejus anno 463, Fri- HiUB aimo 465 pommt, auetores hist. litt. Frano. 11,377 magis anno 463 favcnt. ») Alii XLIIL Bueh. "i Alii in operis plenituffinem. Buch. "i Quo seilieet anno Prosper, qui Victorii quatii fuudamentum exstitit, chro- nieon suum finivit. '") Antiquu» auetor quaeationum ex utroque teBtameiito primo quidem quacBt. 65 pro eerto ponit, mundum in aequinoetio venio fuissc eondituni, ac dciudc addit, Homanos /7/7 Kalvndas Apnlis aoqumoetium haliere. At quacst. 106 doeet, /rVW tiequinociinm primi tempori.K, quando Dcus mundum creaviiy qui dies EPISTOLA 3. 135 8. Quibus undique versis corigruentius restabat inquiri, si lunae a. 457. ^intxuieratio, quae die quarta existentis mundi i. e. V Kalendas l^prilis plenff; h. e, XIV, jubente*®) creatore in inchoatione noctis eTorta est, pari lege transactis praesentibusque temporibus conso- naret. Quam tot saeculis computatam, et Kalendas^®) Januarias Ul feria luna XXVIII, Kalendas Aprihs feria II hma XTV Con-a.C.457. stantino et Rufo consulibus perseveranti ratione provenisse, comper- tum est jurta Aegyptiam discipUnam : qua evidentissime deprehen- sum est, quod XIX annorum porrecta curriculis, in semetipsa semper iisdem vestigiis se revolvens, annum, quem vigesimum inchoat^*), lunc eumdem metiatur et primum. Quimi itaque nihil resedisset ambigoi, diebus lunis atque bissextis inde a constitutione niundana in nostram usque progeniem mirabih decursione concordibus, neces- 8arimn fuit, propter^^) quam maxime huic inquisitioni secundum renerationis tuae mandatum mea desudabat intentio, ut iAstituta paschaUa perscrutarer vel illius temporis, quo praeceptione divina perMoyaen a filiis Israel agnus est immolatus in Aegypto, vel iUius i2,i88. praecipue, quo pro redemptione xiostra atque salute ille verus agnus, cujnB figura praecesserat, pascha nostrum immolatus est Christus, iCor.5,7. 9. Rursusque omnibus annis temporibus diebus ac luna nia- xime, quae juxta Hebraeos menses facit, rite decursis, a mundi prindpio secundum praedictae historiae fidem usque in diem, quo filii Israel paschale mysterium coelesti initiavere mandato et ab A^yptia clade agni occisione salvati sunt, bissextorum pariter ne- cesritate decursa^), quantum fida supputatio vestigavit, anni tria millia DCLXXXIX quinta feria, IX ^^ Kalendas Aprilis, luna XIIl, incipiente jam vespera, docentur impleti. Cujus sequenti die, tertio millesimo scilicet anno ac sexcentesimo nonagesimo procedent^, mense primo sexta feria VIII Kalendas ApriKs hma XIV noctis initio, He- braeos clamit agni sacrificium peregisse. Pascha quippe, sicut onmi modo traditione cognoscitur, anni principio non fine celebra- nielligeiidiu ett esse XI Kalendas Aptiiis . . ., ui ah XI Kalendas Aprilis initium essel FTw «ejiii» (s. Aug. Op. stud. monach. s. Bened. ed. III Venet. tom. XVI, 386 et 479). **) In piincipio etenim facta luna fiiit decima quarta, qiiia ojnnia plena sunt /•eto, inquit vetuB auctor quaestionum cx utroque testamento qu. 106 (1. c. *oin. XVI, 479). ) Quae hic videntur subobscura, plana fient hoc verborum ordine: secun ^* «««rfalioii veneraHanU tuae, propter quam maxime huic inquisitioni mea desuda- '^ A]ii discussa. Buch. **) Alu y/n Kalendas male. Buch. a. 457. tur. Passum autem domiiium iiostrum Jesum Christum peractis quin- que milUbus duceiitis vigiiiti octo aiiiiis ab ortu mundi eadem chro- uicorum relatioue moustratur. Quod gestum inchoante yigesimo uouo auuo uou potest dubitari; siquidem \TII Kalendas Aprilis primo mense luua XIV vespere procedeute, sicut ab initio creatarae quarta die facta est, coepisse doceatur, adjuuctisque bissextis ad summam quiuque millium duceutorum vigiuti octo auuorum, sequenti vigesimo uouo auuo quiuta feria docet se traditioue praeventam. Primo vero azymorum die domiuus Jesus Christus coenans cum di- scipulis suis, postquam sui corporis et sanguiuis sacramenta pate- fecit, ad moutem Oliveti, sicut evaugelia saucta testautur, progres- sus ibique deteutus est a Judaeis tradeute discipulo. Dehiuc sexta feria subsequeute, id est VII^^) Kaleudas Aprihs, crucifixus est et sepultus, tertia die hoc est V Kaleudas Aprilis domiuica surrexit a mortuis. 10. Quapropter omuibus fixo limite ct)usonis uecessarium erat, propter paschalis observautiae ratiouem dies et luiias a muudi ipsins describi priucipio, quo possiut renun cursus evideuter aguosci. Sed quia immensum opus majoris est otii, iie diutius praecepta differrem, breviarium ejus iuterim expHcavi, quod tameu ex ipsius pleuitudinis observatioue desceudat: ex tempore domiuicae passiouis, diebus Ka- a.C.29. leudarum Jauuarianim et uomiuibus cousulum a duobus Geminis, a.C.457. Rufo^^) scilicet et Rubellio, usque ad cousulatum Gonstantini et Rufi diligeuti annotatioue coUectis, per CCCCXXX auuos cum hinis atque temporibus, ac deiuceps siue cousulibus per auuos CII futu- ros, ut DXXXn aiiuis omuis summa cousistat, patefacere prope- ravi. Quae summa ita cuuctarum, quibus excepta est, seriem regu- larum sua revolutioue complectitur, ut eodem tramite et in id, uude est/Orta, revocetur et ad fiuem pristiuum de uovo circumaeta per- veuiat. Aderit autem misericordia Domiui, ut cousummatam po- tioris uegotii veritatem, quam superius jam promisi, praemissa sae- culorum omuium ratioue, qua sacra festivitas absque scrupulo cele- brauda paudatur, uou magis seusibus iutimatam quam praesentatam « vestris adspectibus aestimetis. <^) £umdem diem pro pasaione Domini etdam Lactantius inst. div. IV, 10 (iu quibusdam mss. autem anie diem X Kal, April.) refert. Communis fere alio- riun Occideutalium sententia huic VIII Kalendas Aprilcs assignabat. Conferantor Tortullianus adv. Judaeos c. 8, Augustinus de civ. deiXVIII, 54, de Trinit. rV,5, catalogus Liberianus pontificum init. (apud Migne Patr. lat. tom. CXXVII^ 119), vetus tabula paschalis a. 447 (ap de Rossi l. c. p. LIX), Epiphanius adv. haer. L. § 1 (secuudum acta Pilati)^ dialogus quaestionum LXV qu. 26 in s. Aug. Op. ed. cit. tom. XVII, 1556. Orientalis ecclesia magis X Kaiendas Apriles praetulit. *•) In paschali Victorii canone apud Bucherium Rufino; apud alios auctorea (Tert. 1. c, Sulp. Sev. hist. sacr. II, 27) idem Fnsius vel Fufius Gemnus dicitur, et est annus aerae Diouysianae XXIX p. C. EPISTOLAE 3. 4. 137 11. niud praeterea iusiuuare uou distuli propter diversorum a. 457. paschalium conditores, ubi in hoc eodem cyclo dies Paschae gemi- JQata designatione positus iuvenitur, id est, ubi luua XV et dies do- miiuca, et poet VII dies XXII couscribitur, uou meo judicio aliquid defeutom, sed pro ecclesiarum pace apostolici pontificis electioni •^Jvatum: quatenus nec ego quod ad meum pertinebat officium prae- terirem, et in ejus constitueretur arbitrio, qui uuiversali Ecclesiae Pi^ideret, quaenam potissimum dies in tali conditione sollemnitati praecipiiae deputetur. Nam ceteris, quae a latere similiter adjecta ^t, non firmatur auctoritas sed varia significatur opiuio. 12^ Quum ergo contigerit lunam XXVII sabbato vel maxime die Kalendarum Januariarum proveuire absque bissexto, uoverit san- ctitas ^estra, Pascha^') nisi aut XIII Kalendas Aprilis secmidum ^tinos (quod nunquam celebratum, etiamsi luna conveniat, penitus inveni-fcxjr), aut VIII Kaleudas Maji secuudum Aegyptios, quod ali- qnoties observatum est, reperiri non posse.