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ER 1084

Cyprian, the bishop of Carthage (North Africa), exhorts the confessors and martyrs to follow the instructions of the presbyters and deacons, and states that the reconciliation of the penitents in obtained through the imposition of hands by the bishop and clergy, and not by the arbitrary decision of some presbyters. Cyprian, Letter 15, AD 250.

Epistula 15

I,2. Et credideram quidem presbyteros et diaconos qui illic praesentes sunt monere uos et instruere plenissime circa euangelii legem, sicut in praeteritum semper sub antecessoribus nostris factum est, ut diaconi ad carcerem commeantes martyrum desideria consiliis suis et scripturarum praeceptis gubernarent. Sed nunc cum maximo animi dolore cognosco non tantum illic non suggeri diuina praecepta, sed adhuc potius inpediri, ut ea quae a uobis ipsis et circa deum caute et circa sacerdotem dei honorifice fiunt a quibusdam presbyteris resoluantur, qui nec timorem dei nec episcopi honorem cogitantes, cum uos ad me litteras direxeritis, quibus examinari desideria uestra et quibusdam lapsis pacem dari postulastis, cum persecutione finita conuenire in unum cum clero et recolligi coeperimus, illi contra euangelii legem, contra uestram quoque honorificam petitionem, ante actam paenitentiam, ante exomologesim grauissimi atque extremi delicti factam, ante manum ab episcopo et clero in paenitentiam inpositam, offerre pro illis et eucharistiam dare, id est sanctum Domini corpus profanare audeant, cum scriptum sit: “qui ederit panem aut biberit calicem Domini indigne reus erit corporis et sanguinis Domini”.

(ed. Diercks 1994: 85-87)

Letter 15

I,2. And I had indeed believed that the presbyters and deacons who are there present with you would admonish and instruct you more fully concerning the law of the Gospel, as was the case always in time past under my predecessors; so that the deacons passing in and out of the prison controlled the wishes of the martyrs by their counsels, and by the Scripture precepts. But now, with great sorrow of mind, I gather that not only the divine precepts are not suggested to you by them, but that they are even rather restrained, so that those things which are done by you yourselves, both in respect of God with caution, and in respect of God's priest with honour, are relaxed by certain presbyters, who consider neither the fear of God nor the honour of the bishop. Although you sent letters to me in which you ask that your wishes should be examined, and that peace should be granted to certain of the lapsed as soon as with the end of the persecution we should have begun to meet with our clergy, and to be gathered together once more; those presbyters, contrary to the Gospel law, contrary also to your respectful petition, before penitence was fulfilled, before confession even of the gravest and most heinous sin was made, before hands were placed upon the repentant by the bishops and clergy, dare to offer on their behalf, and to give them the eucharist, that is, to profane the sacred body of the Lord, although it is written, "Whosoever shall eat the bread and drink the cup of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord" [1 Cor 11: 27].

(trans. R.E. Wallis, https://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf05.iv.iv.x.html)

Discussion:

This letter is addressed to the presbyters and deacons of Carthage. At the same time Cyprian sent letters dealing with the same issue, which resulted from the requests of those who lapsed during the Decian persecutions, to the martyrs and confessors (Letter 16 [1085]) and the laity (Letter 17 [1086]).

It is interesting to see that only deacons are described as visiting the imprisoned here.

A. Brent proposes that the presbyters attacked by Cyprian here are the confessors who became the presbyters by the fact of the confession, and not by the act of ordination by the bishop. The only analogy would be in Traditio Apostolica, chapter 9 (Brent 2001).

Place of event:

Region

Latin North Africa

City

Carthage

About the source:

Author: Cyprian
Title: Letters, Epistulae, Epistolae
Origin: Carthage (Latin North Africa)
Denomination: Catholic/Nicene/Chalcedonian

Cyprian was born probably about 200 AD. He converted to Christianity in about 245 and in 248 was elected Bishop of Carthage. Soon after, the Decian persecution began (in 249/250) and Cyprian went into hiding. In 251 he returned to the city. Under Valerian, he was exiled in 257 and executed in 258. The epistolary of Cyprian consists of 81 letters (16 of them by his correspondents, and 6 synodal or collective), the majority of them are from the period of 250-251, when they were the means of Cyprian`s communication with his clergy. They offer us a wide view on the organization of the Church in Carthage in the middle of the third century, her relation with the Church of Rome, on the development of the persecutions, and on the conflicts that they caused inside the Church.

Different numerations of Cyprian's letters exist, I follow the edition of Diercks in Corpus Christianorum.

Edition:

G.F. Diercks ed., Sancti Cypriani Episcopi Epistularium. Epistulae 1-57, Corpus Christianorum. Series Latina 3B, Turnhout 1994.

Bibliography:

A. Brent, "Cyprian and the question of ordinatio per confessionem”, in: Studia Patristca 36 , Leuven 2001, 332-337.

Saint Cyprien, Lettres 1-20, Introduction, texte, traduction et commentaire par S. Deléani, Paris 2007.

Categories:

Described by a title - Presbyter/πρεσβύτερος

Usurping episcopal power

Ritual activity - Reconciliation/Administering penance

Conflict

Relation with - Bishop/Monastic superior

Pastoral activity - Teaching

Pastoral activity - Ransoming and visiting prisoners and captives

Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: S. Adamiak, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER1084, http://presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=1084