Presbyters Uniwersytet Warszawski
ID
ER 1169
Cyprian, the bishop of Carthage (North Africa), who is in hiding because of the persecutions, complains to his presbyters and deacons that they do not respond to his letters. He allows the presbyters, and even the deacons, to grant reconciliation to those who have received the letters of recommendation from martyrs. Cyprian, Letter 18, AD 250.
Epistula 18
 
Cyprianus presbyteris et diaconibus fratribus s[alutem]
 
I,1. Miror uos, fratres carissimi, ad multas epistulas meas quas ad uos frequenter misi nihil rescripisse, cum fraternitas nostrae uel utilitas uel necessitas sic utique gubernetur, si a uobis instructi rerum gerendarum consilium limare possimus.
 
2. Quoniam tamen uideo facultatem ueniendi ad uos nondum esse et iam aestatem coepisse, quod tempus infirmitatibus adsiduis et grauibus infestat, occurrendum puto fratribus nostris, ut qui libellos a martyribus acceperunt et praerogatiua eorum apud deum adiuuari possunt, si incommodo aliquo et infirmitatis periculo occupati fuerint, non expectata praesentia nostra apud presbyterum quemcumque praesentem, uel si presbyter repertus non fuerit et urgere exitus coeperit, apud diaconum quoque exomologesin facere delicti sui possint, ut manu eis in paenitentiam inposita ueniant ad dominum cum pace quam dari martyres litteris ad nos factis desiderauerunt.
 
(ed. Diercks 1994: 100-101)
 
Letter 18
 
Cyprian to the presbyters and deacons, his brethren, greeting.
 
I,1. I marvel, beloved brethren, that you have answered nothing to me in reply to my many letters which I have frequently written to you, although as well the advantage as the need of our brotherhood would certainly be best provided for if, receiving information from you, I could accurately investigate and advise upon the management of affairs.
2. Since, however, I see that there is not yet any opportunity of coming to you, and that the summer has already begun — a season that is disturbed with continual and heavy sicknesses, — I think that our brethren must be dealt with; — that they who have received certificates [libelli] from the martyrs, and may be assisted by their privilege with God, if they should be seized with any misfortune and peril of sickness, should, without waiting for my presence, before any presbyter who might be present, or if a presbyter should not be found and death begins to be imminent, before even a deacon, be able to make confession of their sin, that, with the imposition of hands upon them for repentance, they should come to the Lord with the peace which the martyrs have desired, by their letters to us, to be granted to them.
 
 
 

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 AD 200. 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.

Categories:

Writing activity - Correspondence
    Described by a title - Presbyter/πρεσβύτερος
      Ritual activity - Reconciliation/Administering penance
        Relation with - Bishop/Monastic superior
          Ecclesiastical administration
            Equal prerogatives of presbyters and bishops
              Equal prerogatives of presbyters and deacons
                Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: S. Adamiak, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER1169, http://presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=1169