Letter 11: Hilary, bishop of Rome, to Leontius, most beloved brother, greetings.

Of Pope Hilarus to Leontius, bishop of Arles. He makes known to him the beginning of his pontificate, which is to be carried, through him, to the notice of all the bishops of Gaul. To our most beloved brother Leontius, Pope Hilarus. 1. How much reverence is owed, in the Spirit of God who dwells within the priests subject to him, to the blessed apostle Peter and to his see, we judge to be known to all who keep an uncorrupted guardianship of the traditions of the fathers. Since we wish to congratulate these same men [the bishops of Gaul] upon the beginnings of your ordination, the work which the divine mercy of [its] esteem has shown toward us we have considered ought to be made known to your holiness: that you yourself may first rejoice, with that affection which we always render to one another in turn, the Lord granting it; and then that, by the arrangement of your fraternity, it may become known to all the brethren and fellow priests throughout the whole province that the right hand of the Lord has deigned to visit my lowliness, and has entrusted to me the governance of the apostolic see, not according to my merit but according to the most abundant bounty of his grace. 2. Therefore, dearest brother, that which we have disclosed to your holiness in this present discourse you will deign to carry to the notice of all the brethren, as we have said, so that, being about to make supplication to our Lord Jesus Christ, they may join to us the vows of their prayers, profitable to the universal Church, even as [they share] the joys of our exultation. May God keep you unharmed, dearest brother. Given on the eighth day before the Kalends of February [25 January], in the consulship of the lord Severus Augustus [462]. [Editorial note on the date heading: Beda, in his work On the Reckoning of Time, chapter 49, reads: that Easter is by no means ever to be celebrated on the thirteenth day before the Kalends of April [20 March] according to..., unless the moon agree, is found entirely [the case]; nor can it be found... the Kalends of May according to the Egyptians, which is sometimes to be observed; and so from this reading he seizes the occasion of vehemently disapproving the system of Victorius.] [Editorial note on Leontius: In what year this Leontius took up the governance of the church of Arles, and then whether he succeeded immediately after Ravennius or after Augustalis, is disputed. Some admit Augustalis, whose name is wanting in the ancient diptychs of that church, on the ground that his birthday is noted at Arles in the martyrology of Beda; but Pagius, on the year 462, number 1, overturns this reasoning. Leontius was not only a friend to Pope Hilarus, as the following letters will declare, nor only to Sidonius Apollinaris, as is gathered from the latter's letter VI, 3, but he also held Faustus of Riez most beloved, who at his exhortation and counsel wrote the books On Free Will, in which he strays far from the doctrine of the Church. Hence the editors of Gaul... testify, so that they believe that Leontius... with the errors of the Massilians [the Semi-Pelagians of Marseilles].]

Sfilari papae ad Leoutium episcopum Arelatensem. 25^j^^ 3. Pon(fy9^:atu9 sui primordia ei indicat, per ipsum in omnium episcoporum Galliae notitiam ferenda. Dilectissimo fratri Leoutio*) Hilarus papa. !• Quantum reverentiae in spiritu Dei, qui subditos sibi in- habit&^ sacerdotes, beato Petro apostolo et sedi ipsius deferatur, omml>xxs arbitror esse compertum, quibus patemarum traditionum incorrxx]^ custodia est. Quos quum volumus de uostrae ordina- ^ tionis ^primordiis gratulari, opera quae in^) nos diviuae pietatis di- ") fieda de rat. temp. c. 49 legit: quod Paacha XIII Kalendas Apriles secun- d^I^^fjiot ]iaud unquam celebrandum, elianisi luna conveniat, penitus invenitur, aut ^^*^ ^^^endas Majas secundum Aegyptios, quod aliquoties observandum est, reperiri non po^^^j tiiqae ex hac lectione occasionem arripit Victorii eystema vehemen- ter imx^^bandL ) ^jc LeontiuB quo anno Arelatensis eccleBiae regimen susceperit, deinde ninn AC^^ennio an Augustali inuaediate successerit, controvertitur. Augustaleni, ciyus i^omen in antiquis ejus ecclesiae diptychis desideratur, quidam admittunt ex eo, c^^Qod dies nataUs ejus Arelate notetur in martyrologio Bedae ; hanc autem ratioiiQ:^ Pagius ad ann. 462 n. 1 convellit. — Leontius non solum ^ilaro papac ^^'"^f^^^iitt fuit, sicnt seqnenteB epiatolae declarabunt, nec tantum Sidonio Apol- "^^ ^t ex istiuB epist. VI, 3 deprehenditur, verum etiam Faustum BegienseBi annciBsiiuujn habuit, qui ejus hortatu et consilio libros de libero arbitrio scripsit, m qmt>i^ ^^ Eccleaiae doctrina longe aberrat. Hinc editores Galliae christianae ae tacilQ addnd testantur, nt credant, Leontium erroribus Massiliehsium con- ) ^§ in nobis divinae jrietas dignationis. a. 462. gnatio osteudit; sauctitati tuae duxlmus indicanda: ut ipse primum pro eO; quem uobis invicem semper impendimus, praestante Domino laeteris affectu ; deinde ut dispositione tuae fratemitatis omnibus per universam provinciam fratribus et consacerdotibus innotescat, quotl humilitatem meam dextera Domini visitare dignata sit^ et mihi apo- stolicae sedis regimeu non pro merito sed pro suae gratiae abun- dantissima largitate commiserit. 2. Proinde, frater carissime, quod sanctitati tuae praesenti ser- mone patefecimus, in^) omnium fratrum, quemadmodum diximus^ notitiam perferre dignaberis, ut supplicaturi Domino nostn> Jesu Christo, sicut exsultationis gaudia ita profutura universali Ecclesiae oratiouum suarum nobis vota conjungant. Deus te incolumem custo- diat, fratter carissime, Data YIII *) Calendas Februarias domino Se- vero Augusto consule.