Professio Contra Priscillianum: PROFESSIO CONTRA SECTAM PRISCILLIANI

Post habitum iam concilium Kalendis Septembribus tertio nonas Septembres, post diversas cognitiones tunc habitas, sub die octavo iduum Septembrium, domni Symphosii et domni Dictinii sanctae memoriae episcoporum et domni sanctae memoriae Comasii tunc praesbyteri excerptae sunt de plenariis gestis professiones, quas inter reliquas habuerunt in concilio Toletano de damnatione Priscilliani vel sectae eius:

After the council had already been held on the Kalends of September, on the third before the Nones of September, after various cognitions then held, on the eighth day before the Ides of September the professions were excerpted from the plenary acts of Lord Symphosius and Lord Dictinius, bishops of blessed memory, and of Lord Comasius, then presbyter of blessed memory, which, among others, they had in the council of Toledo concerning the condemnation of Priscillian or his sect:

Post aliquanta et inter aliquanta eodem tempore acta, Dictinius episcopus dixit: Audite me, optimi sacerdotes, corrigite omnia, quia vobis correctio data est. Scriptum est enim: Vobis datae sunt claves regni coelorum. Sed peto a vobis ut claves nobis regni, non portae aperiantur inferni.

After some things and among other things done at the same time, Dictinius the bishop said: Hear me, most excellent priests, correct all things, for correction has been given to you. For it is written: To you have been given the keys of the kingdom of heaven. But I ask of you that the keys of the kingdom, not the gates of hell, be opened to us.

Haec, si dignamini, omnia ante oculos pono. Hoc enim in me reprehendo, quod dixerim unam dei et hominis esse naturam.

These things, if you deign, I lay all before your eyes. For this I reproach in myself, that I should have said that the nature of God and of man is one.

Item dixit: Ego non solum correctionem vestram rogo, sed et omnem praesumptionem meam de scriptis meis arguo atque condemno.

He likewise said: I ask not only your correction, but I also arraign and condemn all my presumption concerning my writings.

Item dixit: Sic sensi, testis est deus. Si erravi, corrigite.

He also said: Thus I have perceived, God is witness. If I have erred, correct me.

Item dixit: Et paulo ante dixi et nunc iterum repeto, in priori comprehensione mea et in principiis conversionis meae quaecumque conscripsi, omnia me toto corde respuere.

Also he said: As I said a little before, and now again I repeat, that in my earlier comprehension and in the principles/beginnings of my conversion whatever I have written down, I reject all with my whole heart.

Item dixit: Excepto nomine dei, omnia anathemo.

He further said: Except the name of God, all things are anathema.

Item dixit: Omnia quae inveniuntur contra fidem, cum ipso auctore condemno.

He likewise said: All things which are found contrary to the faith, together with the author himself, I condemn.

Symphosius episcopus dixit: Iuxta quod paulo ante lectum est in membrana nescio qua, in qua dicebatur filius innascibilis, hanc ego doctrinam, quae aut duo principia dicit aut filium innascibilem, cum ipso auctore damno qui scripsit.

Symphosius bishop said: According to what a little before was read in a certain membrane, I know not which, in which it was said that the son is innascible, this doctrine, which either names two principles or an innascible son, I condemn together with the very author who wrote it.

Item dixit: Ego sectam quae recitata est, damno cum auctore.

He likewise said: I condemn the sect which was recited, together with its author.

Item dixit: Ego sectam malam quae recitata est, damno cum auctore.

Also he said: I condemn the evil sect which was recited, together with the author.

Item dixit: Date mihi chartulam; ipsis verbis condemno. Et cum accepisset chartulam, de scripto recitavit: Omnes libros haereticos et maxime Priscilliani doctrinam, iuxta quod hodie lectum est, ubi innascibilem filium scripsisse dicitur, cum ipso auctore damno.

He likewise said: Give me the little paper; with those very words I condemn. And when he had received the paper, he read from the writing: I condemn all heretical books and most especially the doctrine of Priscillian, according to what was read today, where he is said to have written an unbegotten son; with the author himself I condemn.

Comasius praesbyter dixit: Nemo dubitet me cum domno meo episcopo sentire et omnia damnare quae damnat, et nihil eius praeferre sapientiae nisi solum deum. Atque ideo nolo ne dubitetis aliud me esse facturum, aliud sensurum quam quod professus est ac perinde quomodo dixit quem sequor episcopus meus. Quidquid ille damnavit, et ego damno.

Comasius the priest said: Let no one doubt that I agree with my lord the bishop and condemn all things which he condemns, and prefer nothing of his to wisdom except God alone. And therefore I do not want you to doubt that I would do one thing and think another than what he has professed, but rather that I think and act exactly as he has said, whom I follow, my bishop. Whatever he condemned, I also condemn.

AERA qua supra, sub die septimo iduum Septembrium, professiones sanctae memoriae episcoporum domni Symphosii et domni Dictinii et sanctae memoriae domni Comasii tunc praesbyteri:

AERA as above, on the seventh day of the Ides of September, the professions of the bishops of holy memory domnus Symphosius and domnus Dictinius and of the holy memory domnus Comasius then presbyter:

Comasius praesbyter dixit: Non timeo frequenter dicere quod semel dixisse me gaudeo. Sequor auctoritatem episcopi mei Symphosii; sequor sapientiam senis. Teneo quod dixi; si iubetis, ex chartula relegam.

Comasius the presbyter said: I do not fear to say frequently what I rejoice to have said once. I follow the authority of my bishop Symphosius; I follow the wisdom of the old man. I hold what I have said; if you command, I will read it from the little paper.

Omnes id sequantur qui voluerint vestro haerere consortio. Et Comasius praesbyter ex chartula legit: Cum catholicam et Nicaenam fidem sequamur omnes, et scriptura recitata sit quam Donatus praesbyter, ut legitur, ingessit, ubi Priscillianus innascibilem esse filium dixit, constat hoc contra Nicaenam fidem esse dictum; atque ideo Priscillianum dicti huius auctorem cum ipsius dicti perversitate et quos male condidit libros cum ipso auctore condemno.

Let all who wish to cleave to your consort follow this. And Comasius the presbyter read from the paper: Since we follow the catholic and Nicene faith, and the writing recited which Donatus the presbyter, as is read, introduced, in which Priscillianus said that the Son is unbegotten, it is established that this was said against the Nicene faith; and therefore I condemn Priscillianus, the author of this saying, together with the perversity of that very saying and the books which he ill composed, together with the author himself.

Symphosius episcopus dixit: Si quos male condidit libros, cum ipso auctore condemno.

Symphosius, bishop, said: If he has badly composed any books, I condemn them along with the author himself.

Dictinius episcopus dixit: Sequor sententiam domni mei et patris mei et genitoris et doctoris ÖÖ Quaecumque locutus est, loquor. Nam scriptum legimus: Si quis vobis aliter evangelizaverit praeterquam quod evangelizatum est vobis, anathema sit. Et idcirco omnia quae Priscillianus aut male docuit aut male scripsit cum ipso auctore condemno.

Dictinius the bishop said: I follow the judgment of my lord and my father and parent and teacher ÖÖ Whatever he has spoken, I speak. For we read in Scripture: If anyone shall preach to you any other gospel than that which has been preached to you, let him be anathema. And therefore I condemn all things which Priscillian either taught wrongly or wrote ill, together with the author himself.

DIE qua supra:

DAY as above:

Exemplar definitivae sententiae episcoporum translatae de gestis. Episcopi dixerunt: Legatur scriptura sententiae. Et legit: Etsi diu deliberantibus utrum post Caesaraugustanum concilium in quo sententia in certos quosque dicta fuerat, sola tamen una die praesente Symphosio, qui postmodum declinando sententiam praesens audire contempserat, arduum nobis esset audire iam dictos, tamen litteris sanctae memoriae Ambrosii, quas post illud concilium ad nos miserat, ut si condemnassent quae perperam egerant et implessent conditiones quas praescriptas literae continebant, reverterentur ad pacem (adde quae sanctae memoriae Siricius papa suasisset), magnam nos constat praestitisse patientiam: et si prius indictum in Toletana urbe concilium declinarant ad quod illos evocaramus, ut audiremus cur non implerent conditiones, quas sibi ipsi, sancto Ambrosio praesente et audiente, posuissent, patuit respondisse Symphosium se a recitatione eorum quos dicebant martyres recessisse, ac dehinc deceptum tentumque per plurimos secus aliqua gessisse reperimus, nullis libris apocryphis aut novis scientiis quas Priscillianus composuerat involutum; Dictinium epistolis aliquantis pene lapsum, quas omnes sua professione condemnans, correctionem petens, veniam postularat: quem constat, ut Symphosius fecit, quaecumque contra fidem catholicam Priscillianus scripserat, cum ipso auctore damnasse.

A copy of the definitive sentence of the bishops transferred from the acts. The bishops said: Let the writing of the sentence be read. And it was read: Although it would be difficult for us, after long deliberation, whether after the council at Caesaraugusta in which the sentence had been pronounced against certain men, yet with Symphosius alone present on that one day — who afterwards, by withdrawing, had scorned to hear the sentence while present — to hear those aforesaid men now, nevertheless by the letters of blessed memory Ambrose, which he had sent to us after that council, that if they had condemned what they had done wrongly and fulfilled the conditions which the prescribed letters contained, they should return to peace (add what Pope Siricius of blessed memory had suggested), it is clear that we showed great forbearance: and if previously, when a council had been summoned in the city of Toledo to which we had summoned them so that we might hear why they did not fulfil the conditions which they themselves, with Saint Ambrose present and hearing, had imposed, Symphosius answered that he had withdrawn from the recital of those whom they called martyrs, and thereafter we found that he had been deceived and led astray by many and had behaved otherwise in some matters, not wrapped up in any apocryphal books or new doctrines which Priscillian had composed; that Dictinius, by letters almost having fallen, whom all condemning by his own profession and seeking correction had begged pardon: whom it is evident, as Symphosius did, that whatever Priscillian had written against the Catholic faith he condemned with the same author.

Ceterum extortum sibi de multitudine plebis probaret esse Symphosius ut ordinaret Dictinium episcopum, quem sanctus Ambrosius decrevisset bono pacis locum tenere praesbyterii, non accipere honoris augmentum. Confiterentur etiam illud quod alios per diversas ecclesias ordinassent, quibus deerant sacerdotes, habentes hanc fiduciam quod cum illis propemodum totius Galliciae sentiret plebium multitudo; ex quibus ordinatus Paternus Bracarensis ecclesiae episcopus in hanc vocem confessionis primus erupit ut sectam Priscilliani se scisse, sed factum episcopum liberatum se ab ea, librorum lectione sancti Ambrosii, esse iuraret.

Moreover Symphosius maintained that it had been extorted from him by the multitude of the people that he should ordain Dictinius bishop, whom Saint Ambrose had decreed should hold the good place of peace of the presbyterate, not to receive an augmentation of honor. They also confessed that they had ordained others through diverse churches which were lacking priests, having this confidence that with them the lay multitude felt as it were the whole of Gaul; of these, Paternus, ordained bishop of the Bracarense church, first broke forth into this voice of confession that he had known the sect of Priscillian, but swore that, being made bishop, he was freed from it by the reading of the books of Saint Ambrose.

Item Isonius nuper baptizatum se a Symphosio et episcopum factum, hoc se tenere quod in praesenti concilio Symphosius professus est, esse respondit.

Furthermore, Isonius, recently baptized by Symphosius and made a bishop, answered that he holds himself to that which Symphosius professed in the present council.

Vegetinus vero olim ante Caesaraugustanum concilium episcopus factus, similiter libros Priscilliani cum auctore damnaverat; ut de caeteris acta testantur, de quibus qui consuluntur episcopi iudicabunt.

Vegetinus, however, formerly made bishop before the council of Caesaraugusta, likewise condemned the books of Priscillian along with their author; as the acts testify concerning the others, concerning which the consulted bishops will judge.

Herenias clericos suos sequi maluerit, qui sponte nec interrogati Priscillianum catholicum sanctumque martyrem clamassent, atque ipse usque ad finem catholicum hunc esse dixisset persecutionem ab episcopis passum. Quo dicto omnes sanctos iam plurimos quiescentes, aliquos in hac luce durantes, suo iudicio deduxerit in reatum. Hunc cum his omnibus, tam suis clericis quam diversis episcopis, hoc est, Donato, Acurio, Emilio, qui ab eorum professionibus recedentes, maluissent sequi consortium perditorum, decernimus ab sacerdotio submovendum: quem constaret etiam de reliquis verbis suis convictum per tres episcopos, multos quoque praesbyteros sive diacones, cum periurio esse mentitum.

Herenias preferred that his clerics follow him, who of their own accord and without being asked had cried out that Priscillian was catholic and a holy martyr, and he himself had even to the end said that this catholic had suffered persecution from the bishops. By this statement he brought many already holy ones, some resting in that light, into guilt by his judgment. With all these, both his own clerics and divers bishops, that is, Donato, Acurio, Emilio, who, having withdrawn from their professions, had preferred to follow the fellowship of the lost, we decree to be removed from the priesthood: whom it was also established, from his remaining words, to be convicted by three bishops, and many presbyters or deacons likewise to have lied with perjury.

Vegetinum autem, in quem nulla specialiter dicta fuerat ante sententia, data professione quam synodus accepit, statuimus communioni nostrae esse reddendum. Paternum, scilicet pro catholica fidei veritate et publicato haeresis errore, libenter amplexi, ecclesiam in qua episcopus fuerat constitutus tenere permisimus, recepturi etiam in nostram communionem cum sedes apostolica rescripserit. Reliqui qui ex provincia Gallaecia ad concilium non venerunt, et in Symphosii semper communione durarunt, acceptam formam a concilio missam si subscripserint, etiam ipsi in caelestis interim pacis contemplatione consistant, expectantes pari exemplo quid papa qui nunc est, quid sanctus Simplicianus episcopus Mediolanensis reliquique ecclesiarum rescribant sacerdotes.

As for Vegetinum, concerning whom nothing had been said specially before the sentence, once the profession which the synod received was given, we determine that he is to be restored to our communion. Having gladly embraced Paternus, namely for the truth of the catholic faith and the publicly declared error of the heresy, we permitted him to retain the church in which he had been constituted bishop, and to be received into our communion when the apostolic see shall have rescripted. The rest who did not come from the province of Gallaecia to the council, and who remained always in the communion of Symphosius, if they shall have subscribed the form sent by the council, let them likewise meanwhile stand in the contemplation of heavenly peace, awaiting by the same example what the pope who now is, what Saint Simplicianus, bishop of Milan, and the other churches will rescribe concerning the priests.

Si autem subscriptionem formae quam misimus non dederint, ecclesias quas detinent non retineant; neque iis communicent qui reversi de synodo datis professionibus ad suas ecclesias reverterunt.

But if they have not given their subscription to the form which we sent, let them not retain the churches which they hold; nor let them communicate with those who, having returned from the synod after giving the professions delivered, have gone back to their churches.

Sane Vegetinum solum cum Paterno communicare decrevimus. Symphosius autem senex religiosus, qui quae egerit supra scripsimus, in ecclesia sua consistat, circumspectior circa eos quos ei reddemus futurus: inde expectabit communionem unde prius spem futurae pacis acceperat.

We indeed decreed that Vegetinum alone should be in communion with Paternus. Symphosius, however, an old and religious man — of whom we have written above what he did — shall remain in his own church, being more circumspect concerning those whom we shall restore to him: from there he will await the communion from which he formerly had taken hope of future peace.

Quod observandum etiam Dictinio et Anterio esse decrevimus. Constituimus autem ut priusquam illis per papam vel per sanctum Simplicianum communio redditur, non episcopos ab illis, non praesbyteros, non diacones ordinandos; ut sciamus si vel nunc sciunt, sub hac conditione remissi, tandem synodicae sententiae praestare reverentiam.

Which we also decreed must be observed toward Dictinio and Anterio. We have ordained, moreover, that before communion is restored to them by the pope or by Saint Simplician, no bishops from them, no presbyters, no deacons are to be ordained; so that we may know whether they, even now knowing, having been remitted under this condition, will at last render reverence to the synodal sentence.

Meminerint autem fratres et coepiscopi nostri enixe excubandum ne quis communione depulsus collectiones faciat per mulierum domos, et apocrypha quae damnata sunt legant, ne communicantes his pari societate teneantur. Quoniam quicumque hos susceperint, certum est eos etiam graviori sententia retinendos esse.

Let the brothers and our fellow bishops remember to keep a vigilant watch, that no one expelled from communion make collections through women's houses, or read the apocrypha which have been condemned, so that those communicating with them are not held in equal fellowship. For whoever has received these, it is certain that they too must be held under a graver sentence.

Fratri autem nostro Ortygio ecclesias de quibus pulsus fuerat pronunciavimus esse reddendas.

We have pronounced that the churches, from which he had been expelled, are to be returned to our brother Ortygius.