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A Letter of Meletius of Antioch

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 August 2011

W. A. Jurgens
W. A. Jurgens
Affiliation:
Saint Mary's Seminary, 1227 Ansel Road, Cleveland, Ohio
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Extract

I received a letter from the God-beloved Bishop Eusebius enjoining me to write again to the bishops of the West concerning certain ecclesiastical affairs. He wanted me to write the letter, which is to be signed by all who are in (our) communion; but, since I do not see how I could write about the matters which he mentioned, I have sent the memorandum to Your Reverence, so that you yourself, after reading it and hearing the reports of the most beloved brother Sanctissimus, our fellow-priest, may deign to write about these matters as will seem best to yourself. I am ready to subscribe my signature to this letter and to have it carried quickly to those who are in (our) communion, so that the one who is to go to the bishops of the West may have all the signatures when he sets out. Give orders that I be informed immediately of what Your Holiness has in mind, so that I may not be ignorant of your decisions.

Type
Research Article
Information
Harvard Theological Review , Volume 53 , Issue 4 , October 1960 , pp. 251 - 260
Copyright
Copyright © President and Fellows of Harvard College 1960

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References

1 Basil, Ep. 120, PL 32, col 537 C-540 A.

2 Basil, Ep. 92, 3, PL 32, col 481 C: “… τοὺς τὰ αὐτὰ ϕρονοῦντας συνάγοντες εἰς ὁμόνοιαν. Τοῦτο γὰρ δήπου τὸ πάντων ἐλεεινότατον, ὅτι καὶ τὸ ὃοκοῦν ὑλιαίνειν ἐϕ᾽ ἑαυτὸ ἐμερίσθη καὶ περιέστηκεν ἡμᾶς, ὡς ἔοικε, παραπλήσια πάθη τοῖς ποτὲ κατὰ τὴν Οὐεσπασιανοῦ πολιορκίαν τὰ ῾Ιεροσόλυμα περισκοῦσιν. ἐκεῖνοί τε γὰρ ὁμοῦ μὲν τῷ ἔξωθɛν συνείχοντο πολέμῳ, ὁμοῦ δὲ καὶ τῇ ἔνδοθεν στάσει τῶν ὁμοϕύλων κατανηλίσκοντο.”

3 No matter the author of the letter, it cannot have been written later than the earlier part of the year 373. Since the letter carries the signatures of both Basil the Great and Eustathius of Sebaste, it bears witness that those two were still in communion at the time the letter was written. It was, however, in the Spring or Summer of 373 that Eustathius excommunicated St. Basil. (See Jurgens, , Eustathius of Sebaste, Rome, 1959, p. 66).Google Scholar

4 Way, Sr. Agnes Clare, “On the Authenticity of the Letters Attributed to Saint Basil in the So-Called Basil-Apollinaris Correspondence;” in the American Journal of Philology, Vol. 52, no. 1 (Jan.–Mar., 1931), pp. 57–65.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

5 PG 32, col. 478 D; col. 538 D.

6 Loofs, Fr., Eustathius von Sebaste und die Chronologie der Basilius-Briefe, Halle, 1898, pp. 42–46; pp. 28 ff.Google Scholar

7 Vol. 1, p. 133; p. 244.

8 Bessières, J., “La Tradition Manuscrite de la Correspondance de Saint Basile.” In The Journal of Theological Studies, Oxford, Chapter I, in Vol. 21, no. 81 (Oct., 1919), pp. 1–50.CrossRefGoogle Scholar