Cyprian & Lactantius · a new plain-English translation from the original language
Letter XXXI. To Pope Cyprian, from Moses and Maximus, presbyters, and Nicostratus and Rufinus and the rest of the confessors who are with them, greeting. Amid the many and varied griefs that beset us on account of the present ruin of so many people across almost the whole world, this chief comfort has come upon us: that on receiving your letter we were lifted up, and took in it a balm for the sorrows of our grieving spirit. We can now grasp, perhaps, why divine providence's grace chose to keep us bound so long behind prison walls: only so that your letter could teach and steel our spirits, letting us approach the crown set aside for us with a still keener longing. For your letter shone upon us like calm after a storm, like the longed-for stillness in a raging sea, like rest amid labors, like health amid dangers and pains, like a bright and gleaming light in the thickest darkness. We drank it in with a thirsting spirit and received it with a hungering desire, so that we rejoice to go into combat with the enemy well fed and nourished by it. May the Lord repay you for this charity of yours, and render the fruit owed for so good a work. The one who urges others on earns a crown's reward every bit as much as the one who actually endures the suffering; praise belongs to the teacher just as fully as to the one taught. And the one who gave the warning deserves honor equal to the one who heeded that warning and obeyed — though at times the greater share of glory settles instead on the instructor rather than on the pupil who merely proved teachable. For this latter, perhaps, would not have had what he practiced, had the former not taught it. We have received, then — we say it again, brother Cyprian — great joys, great comforts, great encouragements, above all because you have followed the glorious martyrs — I will not say deaths, but immortalities — with praises as glorious and as fitting as they deserve. For such passings deserved to be proclaimed in such words, that what was reported should be told exactly as it happened. Your letter let us picture the martyrs' magnificent victories, and it was almost as if our own eyes tracked them on their way toward heaven, and we beheld them as though set among the angels and the powers and the heavenly dominions. And we felt, as it were, with our own ears, the Lord bearing witness of them before his Father, as had been promised them. This it is, then, that lifts up our spirit day by day and sets it aflame to attain the steps of so great a dignity. For what could happen to any man, by divine favor, more glorious or more blessed than to confess the Lord God undaunted in the very midst of the executioners; than, surrounded by a cruel earthly power's assorted and elaborate tortures, with the body itself twisted, broken, and torn open, still to proclaim Christ as God's Son, the spirit slipping away yet unbound; than, having left the world, to have sought heaven; than, having abandoned mankind, to stand among the angels; than, once every worldly barrier has given way, to stand at last unbound before God's own gaze; than to take possession of heaven's kingdom with no waiting required; than to have become a partner in Christ's own passion in the name of Christ; than to have become, by the divine favor of one's own judge, a judge oneself; than to walk away with a conscience untainted, earned by confessing that name; than to have refused compliance with the faith's profane, man-made statutes; than to have borne public witness to the truth with one's own voice; than, through one's own death, to have mastered the very thing every man dreads; than to have won immortality through that very death; than, torn and wrenched by every instrument of savagery, to have overcome the torments by the very torments; than, amid all the pains of a lacerated body, to have held firm by strength of spirit; than not to have shuddered at one's own flowing blood; than to have come to love one's own sufferings once the faith was won; than to have counted the loss of one's life as truly having lived? To this very combat the Lord rouses us, as it were with a trumpet-call from his own gospel, saying: whoever cherishes father or mother above me does not deserve me, and whoever cherishes his own soul above me does not deserve me, and whoever fails to take up his cross and come after me does not deserve me. And again: how fortunate are those who suffer persecution on account of justice, since the kingdom of heaven belongs to them! How fortunate you are, when men persecute and hate you — be joyful and rejoice, for it was in just this way they persecuted the prophets who came before you. And: for you shall stand before kings and governors, and brother will deliver up brother to death, and father his child, and whoever holds out to the very end will be kept safe. And: to the one who overcomes I will grant a seat upon my throne, just as I too overcame and took my seat upon my Father's throne. The apostle, too, asks: what could ever cut us off from Christ's love? Hardship, anguish, persecution, hunger, want of clothing, danger, the blade? Just as it stands written: for your sake we face death the whole day through, reckoned no better than sheep bound for slaughter — yet through all of it we come out victorious, on account of the one who loved us. When we read through these and like sayings gathered from the gospel, and feel them set beneath us by the Lord's own voice like so many torches to kindle our faith, our fear of truth's enemies has given way to something bolder — we now challenge them outright; and by this very fact, that we have not yielded, we have already conquered the enemies of God and overthrown the wicked laws set against the truth. And if we have not yet shed our blood, yet we are ready to shed it; let no one judge this delay of ours a mercy, as though it works against us, gets in the way of our glory, puts off heaven, and keeps us from beholding God in all his splendor. For in a combat of this kind, in a battle in which faith itself contends, it is true mercy for the martyrs not to have put off the delay. Ask, then, dearest Cyprian, that the Lord by his grace may, day by day, more and more richly and readily both arm and enlighten us, and strengthen and fortify us with the powers of his might, so that, as the best of commanders does with his soldiers, having trained and tested us thus far in the camp of the prison, he may now lead us out to the field of the appointed contest. Let him hand us the weapons that are divine — unconquerable darts, a breastplate of righteousness immune to breaking, a shield of faith no blow can pierce, a helmet of salvation that no force can shatter, a sword of the spirit that can never be wounded. For to whom ought we rather to entrust this petition on our behalf than to so glorious a bishop, that we, destined for the sacrifice, might ask for aid from a priest? Here is another joy of ours: that in the office of your episcopate, although for the present you have been drawn apart from the brethren by the condition of the times, you have not been wanting; that you have repeatedly strengthened the confessors by letter; that you have supplied the necessary expenses out of your own honest labors; that in every way you have shown yourself, as it were, always present; that in no part of your office have you limped like some deserter. But we cannot keep silence about what has moved us to still greater and firmer joy, but must follow it with the full witness of our voice. For we have noticed that you rebuked, with fitting censure and as they deserved, those who, forgetful of their own offenses, had wrested peace from the presbyters through hasty and headlong desire during your absence, and those who, without regard for the gospel, had given what is holy of the Lord and pearls away with reckless ease — since so great an offense, one that has raged with unbelievable devastation across almost the whole world, ought not, as you yourself write, to be handled except cautiously and with moderation, with every bishop, presbyter, deacon, confessor — and even the steadfast laity — brought into the consultation, as you yourself testify in your letter, lest, while we wish to relieve ruins out of place, we should seem to be preparing other and greater ruins. For where will fear of God be left, if pardon is granted so readily to those who sin? Their spirits are indeed to be cherished and nurtured toward the proper time of ripeness, and instructed from the scriptures that they have committed a sin greater than all others. Nor should they take heart because they are many; rather, they should be restrained the more because they are not few. A shameless number has never had power to lessen an offense — but shame has, and modesty, and repentance, and discipline, and humility and submission, and the expectation of another's judgment upon oneself, and the endurance of another's sentence upon one's own act. This is what proves repentance. This is what brings a scar over a fresh wound. This is what raises up and lifts the fallen ruin of a cast-down mind, what quenches and puts an end to the burning fever of raging sins. For a physician does not give to the sick what belongs to the healthy, lest untimely food, instead of checking the raging storm of illness, only feed it — lest what could have been cured more quickly by a lessening fast be prolonged instead, through impatience, by a surfeit fed too freely. Hands defiled by impious sacrifice must therefore be washed clean by good works, and mouths wretchedly polluted by unlawful food must be purified by the words of true repentance, and the faithful spirit must be renewed and replanted in the secret places of the heart. Let the frequent groans of the penitent be heard, and let the tears of the faithful again pour from their eyes, that those very eyes which wrongly gazed upon the idols may, by tears that make satisfaction to God, wipe away what they had unlawfully done. Patience is necessary in sickness of every kind. Those who are ill struggle with their pain, and only then hope for health if by endurance they overcome the pain. For a scar that a hasty physician brings on too quickly is unreliable, and the cure breaks open again at any mishap, if the remedies are not applied faithfully, however slow that may be. A flame is quickly called back into a blaze, unless the whole fuel of the fire is put out down to the very last spark — so that men of this sort may rightly know that it is precisely this delay that serves them best, and that the more faithful remedies come from necessary postponements. Besides, what good is it for Christ's confessors to endure the prison's filth, if those denying him face no danger to their own faith? What good is it that chains encircle them for God's name, if refusing to confess God carries no loss of communion? What good is it that captives surrender their glorious souls, if deserters from the faith sense nothing of how grave their dangers and their sins truly are? But if they display excessive impatience and demand an intolerable haste for restoration to communion, in vain do they hurl these complaining and envious words, which have no power against the truth, with insolent and unbridled mouths — since it would have been in their own right to keep what they are now compelled, by a necessity sought of their own will, to beg for. For the faith that was able to confess Christ was also able to be kept by Christ in communion. We wish you well, brother, and ask that you remember us.
Letter XXXII. Greeting from Cyprian; his letter goes out to the presbyters and deacons, the brethren. So that you may know, dearest brethren, what sort of letter I sent to the clergy acting at Rome, and what they wrote back to me, and likewise the reply that Moses and Maximus the presbyters, Nicostratus and Rufinus the deacons, and the other confessors detained alongside them sent back to my letter, I have sent you copies to read. See to it, as far as you are able and with all diligence, that both our letter and their reply become known to our brethren. And if any bishops of my colleagues from abroad, or presbyters or deacons, are present or should arrive, let them hear all this from you. And if they wish to copy the letters and carry them to their own people, let them be given leave to make copies — although I have also instructed our brother Satyrus, the reader, to give to each who wants it the opportunity of transcribing, so that, while the state of the churches is in some way being set in order for the time being, a single, faithful agreement may be kept by all. As for the other matters that must be dealt with, as I have written also to most of my fellow bishops, we shall treat them more fully by common counsel, when, the Lord permitting, we begin to come together as one. I wish you, dearest and most longed-for brethren, always to be well. Greet the brotherhood. Farewell.
Letter XXXIII. Our Lord — and his commands are ones we must revere and hold to — sets out, in establishing the bishop's dignity and the framework of his church, these words to Peter in the gospel: you are Peter, I tell you, and it is on this very rock that I shall raise my church, a church that hell's gates will never overpower; to you I will hand the keys of heaven's kingdom, and every binding you make on earth will hold bound in heaven too, and every loosing you make on earth will likewise be loosed in heaven. Out of this, across the successive turns of history, comes the appointment of bishops and the church's whole framework, such that bishops form the church's foundation and every action of the church runs through those same leaders. Since this has been so founded by divine law, I find it astonishing that some people would presume, with such reckless nerve, to send me a letter composed in the church's own name — when it is the bishop, the clergy, and all who have remained steadfast that make up the church. Never — may the Lord's mercy and his unbeaten might never permit — could the church be called the ranks of the lapsed, given what stands written: the God we serve is a God of the living, not of the dead. We indeed wish that all be brought back to life, and by our prayers and groans we ask that they be restored to their former state. Yet suppose some of the lapsed insist on naming themselves the church, and claim the church resides among and within them — what follows, then, except that they ought to be the ones petitioning us for admission into it? It behooves those who, mindful of their own offense, ought to make satisfaction to God, to be modest, quiet, and submissive, refraining from composing any letter as though speaking for the church — knowing instead that it is to the church they are writing. As it happens, some among the lapsed — humble, mild-mannered, awestruck and God-fearing, people who had always labored splendidly and abundantly within the churches without ever crediting the Lord's account with their own efforts — have written to me, aware of his saying: once you have carried out everything commanded, declare yourselves servants of no particular worth, since you have merely done your required duty. Thinking on this, and though they had received a certificate from the martyrs, still, that the satisfaction itself might be admitted before the Lord, they wrote to me, praying, that they acknowledge their offense and are performing true repentance, and are not rushing rashly or importunately toward peace, but are waiting for our presence, saying that peace itself, if they receive it when we are present, will be the sweeter to them. The Lord is my witness how greatly I rejoiced over them, he who has deigned to show what servants of this kind, and such as these, deserve from his goodness. Having received this letter of theirs and then finding that you had sent something different, I request that you sort out clearly what each of you wants; whichever of you sent this present letter, attach your individual names to a petition and forward that petition to me bearing every name. For it is necessary to know first to whom I am to reply. Then I will write back on each point you have raised, according to the limited measure of my position and function. I wish you, brethren, to be well, and to conduct yourselves quietly and peaceably according to the Lord's discipline. Farewell.
Letter XXXIIII. Cyprian sends this greeting to the brethren who serve as presbyters and deacons. You have acted rightly and with discipline, dearest brethren, in that, on the advice of those of my colleagues who were present, you decided that Gaius of Dida, presbyter, and his deacon, should not be admitted to communion — men who, having communicated with the lapsed and offered their oblations, were repeatedly caught in their perverse errors, and who, though warned once and again by my colleagues, as you have written to me, not to do this, persisted stubbornly in their presumption and boldness, deceiving certain brethren of our own people. For these we desire in every way what is useful, and we look to their salvation not with a flattery that corrupts, but with sincere faith, that they might appeal to God with genuine repentance, groaning and grief in full measure, seeing that it is written: call to mind the place from which you fell, and turn to penance; and, further, the sacred text declares: the Lord speaks thus — once you turn back and groan, then rescue comes, and you will recognize where you had been. But how can they groan and do penance, when certain of the presbyters intercede over their groans and tears such that they assume communion ought to be handed out to them without due caution, unaware of what stands written: those who declare you fortunate are leading you astray and disturbing the course of your steps. Rightly, then, our wholesome and true counsels achieve nothing, so long as saving truth is hindered by ruinous flattery and coaxing, and the wounded and sick mind of the lapsed suffers what the bodily sick and infirm also often suffer — that while they reject wholesome foods and useful drinks as though bitter and repugnant, and crave instead those things that seem pleasant and sweet for the present, they bring on their own ruin and death through disobedience and lack of self-control, and do not benefit from the true remedy of the physician's skill, while the sweet enticement of a flatterer deceives them. So, following my letter with faithful and sound judgment as you have, do not now abandon the wiser course you have taken. And read this same letter also to my colleagues, if any are present or should arrive, so that, united in purpose and agreement, we may keep to a sound approach for tending and mending what the lapsed have suffered, planning to address every matter in full once, through the Lord's mercy, we assemble together. In the meantime, should any of our presbyters, deacons, or visiting clergy be so bold and reckless as to grant communion to the lapsed ahead of our ruling, he is to be cut off from our fellowship, and must answer to all of us for such rash behavior once we gather together, the Lord willing. You have also wished that I write back what seems best to me concerning Philumenus and Fortunatus, subdeacons, and Favorinus, acolyte, who withdrew for a time and have now returned. I do not believe it is mine alone to render judgment here, given that a good number of the clergy remain absent still and have not seen fit even now, belatedly, to claim their place back, and this inquiry into each case must be handled and weighed more fully, not only with my colleagues but with the whole body of the people themselves. For the matter must be weighed with careful moderation and pronounced upon, since it will set a precedent for the future concerning the ministers of the church. Meanwhile, let them refrain only from the distribution of the offerings, not as though seen to be deprived of ecclesiastical ministry, but so that everything may be deferred, whole and entire, until our presence among you. I wish you, dearest brethren, always to be well. Greet the whole brotherhood. Farewell.