Reference:CPG 5313/8642
Incipit:Ἔγνω που πάντως καὶ διὰ πολλῶν
Date:Fall, 430
Greek Text:ACO 1.1.1:92-93
Latin Text:ACO 1.3.40-41
English Translation:FCC (below) CE #19,  FC 76:71-72

The Greek and Latin texts provided below are taken from the ACO. The English translation was done for FCC by Josiah Winkel. To learn more about the broader historical context, click here.

Κυρίῳ μου ἀγαπητῷ ἀδελφῷ καὶ συλλειτουργῷ Ἰωάννῃ Κύριλλος ἐν κυρίῳ χαίρειν.To my lord, beloved brother and fellow minister John, Cyril sends greetings in the Lord.Domino meo dilectissimo fratri et comministro Iohanni Cyrillus in domino salutem.
Ἔγνω που πάντως καὶ διὰ πολλῶν ἡ σὴ θεοσέβεια τῆς ἁγίας Κωνσταντινουπολιτῶν ἐκκλησίας τὴν νῦν οὖσαν κατάστασιν ὅτι τεθορύβηται λίαν καὶ ἀποσύνακτοι μεμενήκασι πολλοὶ καὶ τῶν ἄγαν σπουδαίων καὶ ἐπιεικῶν, οὐ τὸν τυχόντα θόρυβον εἰς αὐτὴν ὑπομένοντες τὴν πίστιν ἐκ τῶν λεγομένων ἐπ’ ἐκκλησίας αὐτῆς παρὰ τοῦ εὐλαβεστάτου ἐπισκόπου Νεστορίου,Your piety knew completely and from many people the current state of the holy church of Constantinople, that it is greatly disturbed, and that many even of the most earnest and reasonable have remained outside the assembly. They endure uncommon turmoil over the faith itself, because of what was said before the church itself by the most reverent bishop Nestorius.  Cognouit omnino et per multos tua religiositas sanctae Constantinopolitanae ecclesiae statum nunc existentem quia ualde turbatus est et absque collecta manserunt plurimi etiam nimis religiosi atque maturi, non fortuitum tumultum in ipsa sustinentes fide ex his quae dicuntur coram ipsa ecclesia a reuerentissimo episcopo Nestorio.
ᾧ καὶ συνεβούλευσα διὰ γραμμάτων ἀποσχέσθαι τῶν τοιούτων σκαιῶν καὶ ἐξεστραμμένων ζητημάτων καὶ τῇ τῶν πατέρων ἀκολουθῆσαι πίστει. ἀλλ’ ἐμὲ μὲν ᾠήθη ταῦτα γράφοντα δυσμενῆ καὶ τοσοῦτον ἀπέσχε τοῦ προσέχειν ὡς ἐξ ἀγάπης ἐκεῖνα γεγραφότι πρὸς τὴν αὐτοῦ εὐλάβειαν, ὥστε καὶ ᾠήθη τὰ τοιαῦτα φρονῶν καὶ λέγων καὶ τὰς Ῥωμαίων ἀκοὰς συναρπάσαι δύνασθαι·γέγραφε γὰρ ἔκτοπά τινα συνθεὶς ἐν ἐπιστολῇ μακρᾶι τῷ κυρίῳ μου τῷ θεοσεβεστάτῳ ἐπισκόπῳ τῆς Ῥωμαίων ἐκκλησίας Κελεστίνῳ καὶ δὴ καὶ τοῖς ἰδίοις ἐνέθηκε γράμμασι κατὰ τῶν ἐναντία δοξαζόντων αὐτῷ ὅτι τὴν ἁγίαν παρθένον θεοτόκον λέγοντες οὐ φρίττουσιν, εἶτα καὶ τετράδας ἰδίων ἐξηγήσεων ἀπέστειλεν, ἃς καὶ ἀναγνόντες οἱ κατὰ τὴν μεγάλην Ῥώμην εὑρεθέντες θεοσεβέστατοι ἐπίσκοποι καὶ συνεδρίων πολλῶν γενομένων κατεβόησαν αὐτοῦ φάσκοντες ἐναργῶς αἵρεσιν αὐτὸν καινοτομῆσαι παγχάλεπον τὴν οὐδενὶ τῶν πάλαι γεγονότων ἐξευρημένην.I advised him in letters to keep away from such mischievous and senseless questions and to follow the faith of the fathers. But he thought I wrote those things with hostility and so he paid no attention to me, though I wrote those things to his reverence out of love. As a result, he even thought that he could snatch away the ears of the Romans by thinking and saying such things. He has written certain foreign things, put together in the long letter to my lord, the most pious bishop of the Roman church Celestine. He even put this, against those who disagree with him, into the letter: “They are not afraid to say that the holy virgin is the God-Bearer.” Then he also sent out booklets of his own sermons, and when the most pious bishops who were in great Rome read them, and after many councils, they cried out against him, saying that he clearly started a most dangerous heresy which was not created by any of those who lived long ago.cui etiam suasi per litteras ut abstineret se ab huiusmodi prauis ac peruersis cogitationibus et patrum sequeretur fidem. sed me quidem arbitratus est haec scribentem inimicum et in tanto despexit considerare quia ex caritate illa conscripsi ad eius reuerentiam, ut etiam aestimaret talia sapiens atque dicens et Romanorum [quoque] posse se auditus abripere. scripsit enim illicita quaedam componens in epistula longa domino meo dei cultori optimo episcopo Romanorum ecclesiae Caelestino et in suis haec interposuit litteris aduersus eos qui ei contraria sapiunt, quia sanctam uirginem dei genetricem dicentes non contramescunt; proinde etiam quaterniones suarum expositionum direxit, quos etiam legentes in maximan Romam comperti dei optimi cultores episcopi et conciliis plurimis celebratis clamauerunt aduersus eum dicentes aperte haeresem eum nouam inuenisse ualde pessimam, quae a nullo antiquorum noscitur adinuenta.
ἐπειδὴ δὲ ἀνάγκη με γραψάσης αὐτοῦ τῆς εὐλαβείας ἐκεῖσε ταῦτα τὰ γεγονότα εἰπεῖν ἅπαντα, πέμψαι δὲ καὶ τὰ ἴσα τῶν παρ’ ἐμοῦ γραφέντων πρὸς αὐτὸν γραμμάτων, ἐκδεδήμηκεν ἀναγκαίως κληρικὸς τῆς Ἀλεξανδρέων, ὁ ἀγαπητὸς διάκονος Ποσειδώνιος. ἀναγνωσθέντων τοίνυν ἐν συνεδρίῳ τῶν τε ἐξηγήσεων αὐτοῦ καὶ τῶν ἐπιστολῶν, μάλιστα ἐν οἷς οὐκ ἔστι συκοφαντίας τόπος (ἔχουσι γὰρ αὐτοῦ τὴν ὑπογραφήν), φανερὰ τετύπωκεν ἡ ἁγία Ῥωμαίων σύνοδος καὶ δὴ καὶ γεγράφηκε πρὸς τὴν σὴν θεοσέβειαν, οἷς καὶ ἀνάγκη πείθεσθαι τοὺς ἀντεχομένους τῆς πρὸς ἅπασαν τὴν Δύσιν κοινωνίας.When his reverence wrote to Rome, it became necessary for me to say everything that happened, and also to send copies of the letters which I had written to him. So, it was necessary for the beloved deacon Posidonius, the cleric of Alexandia, to set out. When they read both his sermons and the letters in the council, especially those in which there is no possibility1 of false accusation (for they have his signature), the holy Roman assembly made a clear determination and then wrote to your piety the decrees which those who are devoted to the communion of the whole West must obey.quia uero necessarium fuit mihi scribente illius reuerentia illic haec quae facta sunt, dicere omnia et destinare etiam exemplaria litterarum a me ad eum scriptarum, profectus est necessario clericus Alexandrinorum, dilectissimus diaconus Posidonius. lectis igitur in concilio tam expositionibus eius quam epistulis maxime in quibus est calumniate locus, (habent enim eius suscriptionem), quaedam definiuit sancta Romanorum synodus, quin et scripsit ad tuam reuerentiam, quibus est necessarium oboedire retinentes totius Occidentis communionem.
γεγράφασι γὰρ τὰ ἴσα καὶ  πρὸς τὸν θεοσεβέστατον ἐπίσκοπον τῆς Θεσσαλονίκης Ῥοῦφον καὶ πρὸς ἑτέρους τινὰς τῶν κατὰ τὴν Μακεδονίαν θεοσεβεστάτους ἐπισκόπους, οἳ καὶ ἀεὶ συντρέχουσι ταῖς παρ’ αὐτοῦ ψήφοις. Γεγράφασι δὲ οὐδὲν ἧττον καὶ πρὸς τὸν τῆς Αἰλιέων θεοσεβέστατον ἐπίσκοπον Ἰουβενάλιον.They also wrote the same to Rufus, the most pious bishop of Thessalonica, and to some other pious bishops from Macedonia, who also always agree with his decrees. They wrote nothing less also to the most pious Aelian bishop Juvenal.scripserunt enim a pari et ad dei cultorem episcopum Thessalonicae Rufum et ad alios quosdam per Macedoniam dei optimos cultores episcopos, qui etiam semper concurrunt decretis eius. scripserunt nihilo minus et ad Aeliorum dei cultorem episcopum Iuuenalem.
τῆς σῆς τοίνυν θεοσεβείας ἐστὶ σκοπῆσαι τὸ συμφέρον· ἡμεῖς γὰρ τοῖς παρ’ αὐτοῦ ἀκολουθήσομεν κρίμασι δεδιότες τὸ ἀπολισθεῖν τῆς τοσούτων κοινωνίας οὐκ ἐφ’ ἑτέροις τισὶν ἠγανακτηκότων πράγμασιν οὐδὲ ἐπὶ σμικροῖς πεποιημένων τὴν κίνησιν, ἀλλ’ ὑπὲρ αὐτῆς τῆς πίστεως καὶ τῶν ἁπανταχοῦ κειμένων ἐκκλησιῶν καὶ τῆς οἰκοδομῆς τῶν λαῶν.Therefore it is fitting for your piety to consider what is beneficial. For we will follow his judgments, fearing to slip away from the communion of so many, who were not offended by any other matters nor took action over small things, but who acted for the sake of the faith itself, the churches established everywhere, and the edification of the people.tuae igitur est religiositatis considerare quod utile est; nos enim sequimur quae ab eo sunt iudicata, formidantes ne tantorum communion labefactemur, nec pro aliis quibuslibet rebus indignantibus neque pro paruis facientibus motum, sed pro ipsa fide et ubique positis ecclesiis et aedificatione populorum.
Πρόσειπε τὴν παρὰ σοὶ ἀδελφότητα·σὲ ἡ σὺν ἡμῖν ἐν κυρίῳ προσαγορεύει.Greet the brotherhood with you. The brotherhood with us greets you in the Lord!Saluta quae apud te est fraternitatem. te quae nobiscum est, in domino salutat.

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Last updated 12/12/24 by JSW

  1. The Latin text omits the negative

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