Cyprian & Lactantius · a new plain-English translation from the original language
Letter XV. Cyprian, to the martyrs and confessors, dearest brothers, greeting. The care of my office and the fear of God compel me, bravest and most blessed martyrs, to urge you by this letter that the same men who guard the faith of the Lord so devotedly and bravely should equally preserve the Lord's law and discipline. Since all soldiers of Christ are bound to keep the commands of their commander, it is all the more fitting that you obey his precepts, you who have become an example to the rest in courage and in the fear of God. My assumption, in fact, had been that the presbyters and deacons stationed there were fully warning and instructing you in the gospel's law, a practice consistently followed under those who governed before me, with deacons traveling to and from the prison to steer the martyrs' wishes through their own counsel and the precepts of scripture. But now, to my very great grief of mind, I learn that not only are the divine precepts not being brought before you there, but that they are actually being hindered, so that what you yourselves do cautiously toward God and honorably toward the priest of God is being undone by certain presbyters, men who, thinking neither of the fear of God nor of the honor due the bishop, dare — after you sent me letters asking that your wishes be examined and peace granted to some of the lapsed, once the persecution should end and we begin to gather again with the clergy — to offer on behalf of these lapsed and hand over to them the sacrament, thereby defiling the Lord's holy body, in defiance of the gospel's law and of your own honorable request, before penance has been performed, before confession of so grave and extreme a sin has been made, before the hand has been laid upon them in penance by the bishop and clergy. For Scripture says: he who eats that bread or drinks that cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will bear the guilt of the Lord's body and blood. To the lapsed, indeed, pardon can be granted in this matter. Who that is dead would not hasten to be brought to life? Who would not hurry toward his own salvation? But it belongs to those set over the church to hold to the rule and to instruct even those who are hasty or ignorant, lest men meant to shepherd the flock turn instead into its butchers. For to grant what turns to ruin is to deceive; the fallen is not thereby raised up, but is rather driven further toward ruin through offense against God. Let them learn from you, then, when they ought instead to have been teaching. Let them reserve their petitions and desires for the bishop, and await a mature and settled time for the peace they ask to be granted. First the mother must herself receive peace from the Lord; only then, according to your wishes, can the peace of her children be dealt with. And since I hear, bravest and dearest brothers, that you are being pressed by the shamelessness of certain men, and that your own modesty is suffering violence, I beg you, with all the entreaty I can, mindful of the gospel and considering how carefully and in what manner your predecessors the martyrs granted such things in the past, that you too weigh with care and caution the wishes of those who petition you, so that, as friends of the Lord who will one day judge along with him, you may examine the conduct, the deeds, and the merits of each, and consider also the kinds and degrees of their offenses, lest, if anything is promised rashly and unworthily by you, or done so by us, our church itself begin to blush even before the pagans. For we are visited and chastened often, and warned so that the Lord's commands may remain uncorrupted and inviolate. This, I know, does not cease even there among you, in that the divine censure instructs many of you as well toward the discipline of the church. All of this can come about if you temper what is asked of you with religious reflection, understanding and restraining those who, showing favor to persons, either curry favor through your kindnesses or seek out a market for illicit trafficking. Regarding this I have sent separate letters to both the clergy and the congregation, with instructions that each be read aloud to you. But you must also see to this and correct it with diligence: that you name specifically those to whom you wish peace to be granted. For I hear that some petitions are drawn up in such a way that it is said, 'let him and his household communicate' — a thing never done by the martyrs at all — so that a vague and blind petition may afterward heap up ill will against us. For it opens wide when it is said 'he and his household,' and twenty or thirty or more can be brought forward to us, claimed to be the relatives, connections, freedmen, and household of the one who received the petition. And so I ask that you name specifically, in the petition, those whom you yourselves see, whom you know, whose penance you observe to be nearly complete in satisfaction, and so send us letters befitting our faith and discipline. I wish that we, bravest and most beloved brothers, may always fare well in the Lord and that you remember us. Farewell.
Letter XVI. Cyprian, to the presbyters and deacons, brothers, greeting. For a long time I kept my patience, dearest brothers, as though our respectful silence might serve toward quiet. But since the unrestrained and headlong presumption of certain men, through their own rashness, attempts to disturb both the honor of the martyrs, the modesty of the confessors, and the peace of the whole people, it is no longer right to keep silent, lest excessive silence lead to danger both for the people and for us alike. For what danger of offending the Lord ought we not to fear, when some of the presbyters, mindful neither of the gospel nor of their own place, thinking neither of the future judgment of the Lord nor of the bishop now set over them — a thing never done at all under my predecessors — claim everything for themselves with insult and contempt toward the one set over them? And would that they were not claiming everything for themselves at the cost of overturning the salvation of our brothers! I could overlook and bear the insults to my episcopate, as I have always overlooked and borne them. But there is no room now for overlooking it, when our brotherhood is being deceived by certain of you: for while, without reason, they wish to seem agreeable in restoring men to salvation, they do more harm to the lapsed. For even those who committed the offense that the persecution forced upon them know that it is the gravest of sins, since the Lord and our judge has said: everyone who acknowledges me in front of others, I too will acknowledge in front of my Father in heaven; but the one who disowns me, I will likewise disown — and again he has said: all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and blasphemies; but whoever blasphemes the Holy Spirit has no forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin. Likewise the blessed apostle has said: it is impossible to drink from the Lord's cup while also drinking from the cup of demons, or to share in the Lord's table while sharing also in the table of demons. Whoever withholds this from our brothers deceives the wretched, so that those who could, by true penance, satisfy God who is a merciful Father, through their prayers and their works, are instead led astray, so that they perish the more, and those who could raise themselves up fall the further. For even when, in lesser sins, sinners do penance for the proper time, and come to confession in due order of discipline, and receive the right of communion through the laying on of hands by the bishop and clergy, now, in this raw time, while the persecution still continues, while the peace of the church itself has not yet been restored, they are admitted to communion, and the offering is made in their name, and although penance has not yet been performed, confession not yet made, the hand not yet laid upon them by the bishop and clergy, the eucharist is given to them — though Scripture warns: anyone who partakes of that bread or that cup of the Lord unworthily stands guilty of the Lord's own body and blood. But now those who did not know the law of scripture so well are not the guilty ones; guilty rather will be those set over them who do not bring these things before the brothers, so that, instructed by their leaders, they may do everything in the fear of God and according to the observance he has given and prescribed. They expose the blessed martyrs to ill will, and set the glorious servants of God against the priest of God, so that, while the martyrs, mindful of my office, sent me letters and asked that their wishes then be examined and peace granted only once our mother herself had first received peace through the Lord's mercy and divine protection had brought us back to our church, these men, setting aside the honor which the blessed martyrs together with the confessors reserve for us, despising the law of the Lord and the observance which those same martyrs and confessors bid be kept, before the fear of persecution is even extinguished, before our return, before the very passing of the martyrs themselves, communicate with the lapsed and make the offering and hand over the eucharist — when even if the martyrs, through the heat of their glory and paying less attention to scripture, should wish for something against the law of the Lord, they ought to be warned of it by the presbyters and deacons bringing it to their notice, as has always been done in the past. So the divine censure does not cease to chasten us, neither by night nor by day. Besides nightly visions, by day too the innocent age of children is filled among us with the Holy Spirit, who in ecstasy see with their eyes and hear and speak the things which the Lord deigns to use to warn and instruct us. And you will hear all of it when the Lord, who bade me withdraw, brings me back to you. In the meantime, let those among you who are rash, careless, and puffed up, men giving no heed to any human authority, stand in dread of God instead, aware that persisting further down this path will bring the very warning the Lord instructs me to employ, barring them for the time from making the offering, and they will have to answer for their conduct in front of us, in front of the confessors, and in front of the entire congregation once, God permitting, we are gathered back together into the church's embrace. Concerning this I have sent word in writing to the martyrs, to the confessors, and separately to the congregation, and both letters I have directed to be read out to you. I wish that you, dearest and most longed-for brothers, may always fare well in the Lord and that you remember us. Farewell.
Letter XVII. Cyprian, to the brothers established among the people, greeting. That I groan and grieve over the ruin of our brothers I know myself, dearest brothers, for I too, along with you, groan and grieve equally for each one, and I suffer and feel what the blessed apostle says: who is weak, he says, and I am not weak? who is made to stumble, and I do not burn? And again he set it down in his letter, saying: if one member suffers, the rest of the members suffer with it; and if one member rejoices, the rest of the members rejoice with it. I suffer with our brothers, I grieve with them, who, fallen and struck down by the assault of persecution, dragging with them a part of our very flesh, have brought upon us, through their own wounds, an equal grief — men to whom the divine mercy has the power to give healing. Yet I do not think we should hurry, nor should anything be done carelessly and hastily, lest, while peace is seized upon rashly, the offense of divine indignation be provoked all the more gravely. The blessed martyrs have written to us concerning certain of the lapsed, asking that their wishes be examined. Once peace has first been given to all of us by the Lord and we begin to return to the church, each case will be examined with you present and judging. Yet I hear that certain presbyters, giving no heed to the gospel and paying no mind to what the martyrs put in writing to us, and withholding from the bishop the honor owed his priestly office, are found to be admitting the lapsed to communion already, making the offering on their behalf and handing them the eucharist, even though such steps are only proper once the due order has been followed. For when, even in lesser offenses which are not committed against God, penance is performed for the proper time, and confession is made only after the life of the one performing penance has been examined, nor can anyone come to communion unless the hand has first been laid upon him by the bishop and clergy — how much more, in these gravest and most extreme offenses, ought everything to be observed cautiously and with restraint, according to the discipline of the Lord? Our own presbyters and deacons, in fact, should have pressed this point, urging the flock entrusted to them and teaching them, through divine instruction, the path of seeking salvation through prayer. I know both the quiet and the fear of our people: they would be watchful in making satisfaction to God and in prayer, had not certain of the presbyters, currying favor, deceived them. Do you, then, govern each one individually, and, guided by the precepts of God, steady the minds of the lapsed through counsel and restraint. No one should pick fruit still bitter before its season. No one should return a ship, battered and breached by the waves, to open water until it has been thoroughly mended. No one should rush to put on a torn garment before watching a skilled hand mend it and a fuller return it cleaned. Let them hear our counsel patiently, I ask, and await our return, so that when, through God's mercy, we come to you, we may, having summoned our fellow bishops, together with the presence of the confessors and your own judgment as well, examine the letters and wishes of the blessed martyrs according to the discipline of the Lord. Regarding this I have addressed separate letters to the clergy on one hand and to the martyrs and confessors on the other, and have directed that both be read aloud to you. I wish that you, dearest and most longed-for brothers, may always fare well in the Lord and that you remember us. Farewell.
Letter XVIII. Cyprian, to the presbyters and deacons, brothers, greeting. I am amazed, dearest brothers, that to the many letters I have frequently sent you, you have written back nothing, since the welfare and the very necessity of our brotherhood can only be rightly guided if, instructed by you, we can refine our plan of action. Since, however, I see that the opportunity of coming to you does not yet exist, and that summer has already begun — a season that brings with it constant and severe illnesses — I think we must meet the needs of our brothers, so that those who have received petitions from the martyrs, and who can be aided before God by their intercession, if they should be overtaken by some illness and the danger of death, need not wait for our presence, but may make confession of their sin before whatever presbyter is at hand, or, if no presbyter can be found and the end begins to press, before a deacon as well, so that, once hands have been laid upon them in penance, they may go to meet the Lord bearing the peace the martyrs asked, in their letters to us, to see granted. As for the rest of the people who have fallen, tend them with your presence, and revive them with your comfort, so that they do not fall away from faith and from the Lord's mercy. For those who remain meek and humble and truly performing penance, persevering in good conduct, will not be abandoned by the Lord's help and aid, but will be tended to all the more by his divine remedy. And to those who listen, if any should be overtaken by danger and placed at the point of death, let your watchfulness not be lacking; let the Lord's mercy not be denied to those who implore his divine grace. I wish that we, dearest brothers, may always fare well and remember one another. Give my greeting to the whole brotherhood on my behalf, and remind them to keep us in mind. Farewell.
Letter XIX. Cyprian, to the presbyters and deacons, brothers, greeting. I have read your letter, dearest brothers, in which you wrote that your sound counsel is not lacking to our brothers, urging them to set aside rash haste and offer God a devout patience, so that once his mercy has brought us together, we may take up each case in keeping with the church's own discipline, a point underscored by the scriptural word: call to mind the place from which you have fallen, and turn to penance. And he truly does penance who, mindful of the divine precept, meek and patient and obedient to the priests of God, wins the Lord's favor through his own obedience and just works. Yet since you have pointed out that some are unrestrained and press hastily for admission to communion, and you have asked that I give you a rule in this matter, I believe I have written fully enough on this in the letter I sent you most recently: that those to whom the martyrs have issued a certificate, and who can be aided by their help before the Lord in their offenses, if they should begin to be pressed by some illness and danger, should, after confession is made and your hands are laid upon them in penance, be sent on to the Lord carrying the peace the martyrs pledged to them. But the rest, who without any petition received from the martyrs stir up resentment — since this matter concerns not a few, nor one church, nor one province, but the whole world — let them wait first, under the Lord's guard, for the church's own general peace to be restored, a fitting course for the modesty, the discipline, and indeed the whole conduct of life we all share, so that those who lead the church, assembling alongside the clergy and also in the sight of the people who remained steadfast, to whom, too, for their faith and their fear of the Lord, honor is due, may be able to arrange everything through counsel shared by all, in due reverence. But how irreligious it is, and how ruinous even to those who are themselves in such haste, that, while still exiles, driven from their homeland and stripped of all their goods, not yet returned to the church, certain of the lapsed should hasten to get ahead of the confessors themselves and enter the church before them! If they are too eager, they hold in their own power what they ask for, since the very passage of time will grant them more than what they ask. The battle is still being fought, and the contest is celebrated daily. Should those who sinned repent both sincerely and steadfastly, with the fervor of their faith holding strong, then one not yet crowned has no cause to despair over the waiting. I wish that you, dearest brothers, may always fare well and remember us. Convey my greetings to the entire brotherhood, and encourage them to remember us. Farewell.