Epistle XXX.219    Oxford ed.: Ep. xxx. a.d. 250.

The Roman Clergy to Cyprian.

Argument.—The Roman Clergy Enter into the Matters Which They Had Spoken of in the Foregoing Letter, More Fully and Substantially in the Present One; Replying, Moreover, to Another Letter of Cyprian, Which is Thought Not to Be Extant, and from Which They Quote a Few Words.  They Thank Cyprian for His Letters Sent to the Roman Confessors and Martyrs.220    This letter was written, as were also the others of the Roman clergy, during the vacancy of the See, after the death of Fabian.

1. To Father221    “Pope Cyprian.” Cyprian, the presbyters and deacons abiding at Rome, greeting. Although a mind conscious to itself of uprightness, and relying on the vigour of evangelical discipline, and made a true witness to itself in the heavenly decrees, is accustomed to be satisfied with God for its only judge, and neither to seek the praises nor to dread the charges of any other, yet those are worthy of double praise, who, knowing that they owe their conscience to God alone as the judge, yet desire that their doings should be approved also by their brethren themselves. It is no wonder, brother Cyprian, that you should do this, who, with your usual modesty and inborn industry, have wished that we should be found not so much judges of, as sharers in, your counsels, so that we might find praise with you in your doings while we approve them; and might be able to be fellow-heirs with you in your good counsels, because we entirely accord with them. In the same way we are all thought to have laboured in that in which we are all regarded as allied in the same agreement of censure and discipline.

2. For what is there either in peace so suitable, or in a war of persecution so necessary, as to maintain the due severity of the divine rigour? Which he who resists, will of necessity wander in the unsteady course of affairs, and will be tossed hither and thither by the various and uncertain storms of things; and the helm of counsel being, as it were, wrenched from his hands he will drive the ship of the Church’s safety among the rocks; so that it would appear that the Church’s safety can be no otherwise secured, than by repelling any who set themselves against it as adverse waves, and by maintaining the ever-guarded rule of discipline itself as if it were the rudder of safety in the tempest. Nor is it now but lately that this counsel has been considered by us, nor have these sudden appliances against the wicked but recently occurred to us; but this is read of among us as the ancient severity, the ancient faith, the ancient discipline,222    [Note τὰ ἀρχαῖα ἔθη, as in St. Paul, 1 Cor. xi. 16.] since the apostle would not have published such praise concerning us, when he said “that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world”223    Rom. i. 8. unless already from thence that vigour had borrowed the roots of faith from those times; from which praise and glory it is a very great crime to have become degenerate.224    [God grant this spirit to the modern Christians in Rome.] For it is less disgrace never to have attained to the heraldry of praise, than to have fallen from the height of praise; it is a smaller crime not to have been honoured with a good testimony, than to have lost the honour of good testimonies; it is less discredit to have lain without the announcement of virtues, ignoble without praise, than, disinherited of the faith,225    No conception of Roman infallibility here.] to have lost our proper praises. For those things which are proclaimed to the glory of any one, unless they are maintained by anxious and careful pains, swell up into the odium of the greatest crime.226    [A concession which illustrates the present awful degeneracy of this See.]

3. That we are not saying this dishonestly, our former letters have proved, wherein we have declared our opinion to you with a very plain statement, both against those who had betrayed themselves as unfaithful by the unlawful presentation of wicked certificates, as if they thought that they would escape those ensnaring nets of the devil; whereas, not less than if they had approached to the wicked altars,227    [1 Cor. x. 21, where tables and altars are used as synonymes.] they were held fast by the very fact that they had testified to him; and against those who had used those certificates when made, although they had not been present when they were made, since they had certainly asserted their presence by ordering that they should be so written. For he is not guiltless of wickedness who has bidden it to be done; nor is he unconcerned in the crime with whose consent it is publicly spoken of, although it was not committed by him. And since the whole mystery228    Sacramentum. of faith is understood to be contained in the confession of the name of Christ, he who seeks for deceitful tricks to excuse himself, has denied Christ; and he who wants to appear to have satisfied either edicts or laws put forth against the Gospel, has obeyed those edicts by the very fact by which he wished to appear to have obeyed them. Moreover, also, we have declared our faith and consent against those, too, who had polluted their hands and their mouths with unlawful sacrifices, whose own minds were before polluted; whence also their very hands and mouths were polluted also.229    [See p. 304, note 8, supra.] Far be it from the Roman Church to slacken her vigour with so profane a facility, and to loosen the nerves of her severity by overthrowing the majesty of faith; so that, when the wrecks of your ruined brethren are still not only lying, but are falling around, remedies of a too hasty kind, and certainly not likely to avail, should be afforded for communion; and by a false mercy, new wounds should be impressed on the old wounds of their transgression; so that even repentance should be snatched from these wretched beings, to their greater overthrow. For where can the medicine of indulgence profit, if even the physician himself, by intercepting repentance, makes easy way for new dangers, if he only hides the wound, and does not suffer the necessary remedy of time to close the scar? This is not to cure, but, if we wish to speak the truth, to slay.230    [The whole system of Roman casuistry, as it now exists in the authorized penitential forms of Liguori, is here condemned.]

4. Nevertheless, you have letters agreeing with our letters from the confessors, whom the dignity of their confession has still shut up here in prison, and whom, for the Gospel contest, their faith has once already crowned in a glorious confession; letters wherein they have maintained the severity of the Gospel discipline, and have revoked the unlawful petitions, so that they might not be a disgrace to the Church. Unless they had done this, the ruins of Gospel discipline231    [See Alphonsus de’ Liguori and the Papal Authorization, vol. i. p. xxii., ed. Paris, 1852.] would not easily be restored, especially since it was to none so fitting to maintain the tenor of evangelical vigour unimpaired, and its dignity, as to those who had given themselves up to be tortured and cut to pieces by raging men on behalf of the Gospel, that they might not deservedly forfeit the honour of martyrdom, if, on the occasion of martyrdom, they had wished to be betrayers of the Gospel. For he who does not guard what he has, in that condition whereon he possesses it, by violating the condition whereon he possesses it, loses what he possessed.

5. In which matter we ought to give you also, and we do give you, abundant thanks, that you have brightened the darkness of their prison by your letters; that you came to them in whatever way you could enter; that you refreshed their minds, robust in their own faith and confession, by your addresses and letters; that, following up their felicities with worthy praises, you have inflamed them to a much more ardent desire of heavenly glory; that you urged them forward; that you animated, by the power of your discourse, those who, as we believe and hope, will be victors by and by; so that although all may seem to come from the faith of those who confess, and from the divine mercy, yet they seem in their martyrdom to have become in some sort debtors to you. But once more, to return to the point whence our discourse appears to have digressed, you shall find subjoined the sort of letters that we also sent to Sicily; although upon us is incumbent a greater necessity of delaying this affair; having, since the departure of Fabian of most noble memory, had no bishop appointed as yet, on account of the difficulties of affairs and times, who can arrange all things of this kind, and who can take account of those who are lapsed, with authority and wisdom.  However, what you also have yourself declared in so important a matter, is satisfactory to us, that the peace of the Church must first be maintained; then, that an assembly for counsel being gathered together, with bishops, presbyters, deacons, and confessors, as well as with the laity who stand fast,232    [All-important is this testimony of the Roman clergy to the Cyprianic idea of the Church synods. See this vol. supra, p. 283.] we should deal with the case of the lapsed. For it seems extremely invidious and burdensome to examine into what seems to have been committed by many, except by the advice of many; or that one should give a sentence when so great a crime is known to have gone forth, and to be diffused among so many; since that cannot be a firm decree which shall not appear to have had the consent of very many.233    [Note this principle, as a test of synodical decrees.] Look upon almost the whole world devastated, and observe that the remains and the ruins of the fallen are lying about on every side, and consider that therefore an extent of counsel is asked for, large in proportion as the crime appears to be widely propagated. Let not the medicine be less than the wound, let not the remedies be fewer than the deaths, that in the same manner as those who fell, fell for this reason that they were too incautious with a blind rashness, so those who strive to set in order this mischief should use every moderation in counsels, lest anything done as it ought not to be, should, as it were, be judged by all of no effect.

6. Thus, with one and the same counsel, with the same prayers and tears, let us, who up to the present time seem to have escaped the destruction of these times of ours, as well as those who appear to have fallen into those calamities of the time, entreat the divine majesty, and ask peace for the Church’s name.  With mutual prayers, let us by turns cherish, guard, arm one another; let us pray for the lapsed,234    [Probably a quotation from a “bidding prayer” in use at Rome in those times. Elucidation VI.] that they may be raised up; let us pray for those who stand, that they may not be tempted to such a degree as to be destroyed; let us pray that those who are said to have fallen may acknowledge the greatness of their sin, and may perceive that it needs no momentary nor over-hasty cure; let us pray that penitence may follow also the effects of the pardon of the lapsed; that so, when they have understood their own crime, they may be willing to have patience with us for a while, and no longer disturb the fluctuating condition of the Church, lest they may seem themselves to have inflamed an internal persecution for us, and the fact of their unquietness be added to the heap of their sins. For modesty is very greatly fitting for them in whose sins it is an immodest mind that is condemned. Let them indeed knock at the doors, but assuredly let them not break them down; let them present themselves at the threshold of the church, but certainly let them not leap over it; let them watch at the gates of the heavenly camp, but let them be armed with modesty, by which they perceive that they have been deserters; let them resume the trumpet of their prayers, but let them not therewith sound a point of war; let them arm themselves indeed with the weapons of modesty, and let them resume the shield of faith, which they had put off by their denial through the fear of death, but let those that are even now armed believe that they are armed against their foe, the devil, not against the Church, which grieves over their fall. A modest petition will much avail them; a bashful entreaty, a necessary humility, a patience which is not careless. Let them send tears as their ambassadors for their sufferings; let groanings, brought forth from their deepest heart, discharge the office of advocate, and prove their grief and shame for the crime they have committed.

7. Nay, if they shudder at the magnitude of the guilt incurred; if with a truly medicinal hand they deal with the deadly wound of their heart and conscience and the deep recesses of the subtle mischief, let them blush even to ask; except, again, that it is a matter of greater risk and shame not to have besought the aid of peace. But let all this be in the sacrament;235    In “sacramento,” scil. “fidei;” perhaps in a way in harmony with their religious engagement and with ecclesiastical discipline. in the law of their very entreaty let consideration be had for the time; let it be with downcast entreaty, with subdued petition, since he also who is besought ought to be bent, not provoked; and as the divine clemency ought to be looked to, so also ought the divine censure; and as it is written, “I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me,”236    Matt. xviii. 32. so it is written, “Whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father and before His angels.”237    Matt. x. 33; Luke xii. 9. For God, as He is merciful, so He exacts obedience to His precepts, and indeed carefully exacts it; and as He invites to the banquet, so the man that hath not a wedding garment He binds hands and feet, and casts him out beyond the assembly of the saints. He has prepared heaven, but He has also prepared hell.238    [Note this faithful statement of scriptural doctrine, and no hint of purgatory.] He has prepared places of refreshment, but He has also prepared eternal punishment. He has prepared the light that none can approach unto, but He has also prepared the vast and eternal gloom of perpetual night.

8. Desiring to maintain the moderation of this middle course in these matters, we for a long time, and indeed many of us, and, moreover, with some of the bishops who are near to us and within reach, and some whom, placed afar off, the heat of the persecution had driven out from other provinces,239    [All this illustrates the Treatise on Unity (infra), and proves the utter absence of anything peculiar in the See of Rome.] have thought that nothing new was to be done before the appointment of a bishop; but we believe that the care of the lapsed must be moderately dealt with, so that, in the meantime, whilst the grant of a bishop is withheld from us240    [How different the language of the cardinal vicar, now, when he writes, sede vacante.] by God, the cause of such as are able to bear the delays of postponement should be kept in suspense; but of such as impending death does not suffer to bear the delay, having repented and professed a detestation of their deeds with frequency; if with tears, if with groans, if with weeping they have betrayed the signs of a grieving and truly penitent spirit, when there remains, as far as man can tell, no hope of living; to them, finally, such cautious and careful help should be ministered, God Himself knowing what He will do with such, and in what way He will examine the balance of His judgment; while we, however, take anxious care that neither ungodly men should praise our smooth facility, nor truly penitent men accuse our severity as cruel. We bid you, most blessed and glorious father, ever heartily farewell in the Lord; and have us in memory.241    [This eloquent and evangelical letter proves that much dross had been burned away by the fires of persecution since the episcopate of Callistus. It is referred to, p. 309, note 4.]

EPISTOLA XXXI. (Erasm., II, 7. Pamel., Rigalt., Baluz., XXXI. Paris., XXX, Oxon., Lips., XXX; Novatian. opp. edit. Jackson. p. 277. Galland., Biblioth. Vett. PP. III, p. 291.)CLERI ROMANI AD CYPRIANUM.

ARGUMENTUM.---Quod paucis epistola praecedenti, nunc 0307Blatius et solide tractat Clerus Romanus, respondens alteri quoque epistolae Cypriani, e qua verba aliquot citat, quae exstare non putatur, obiter etiam gratias agit Cypriano pro missis litteris ad martyres et confessores Romanos. Scripta est autem, uti et praecedentes Cleri Romani, vacante Sede post mortem Fabiani.

I. Cypriano papae presbyteri et diaconi Romae consistentes salutem. Quamquam bene sibi conscius animus, et evangelicae disciplinae vigore 0308A subnixus, et verus sibi in decretis coelestibus testis effectus, soleat solo Deo judice esse contentus, nec alterius aut laudes petere aut accusationes pertimescere, tamen geminata sunt laude condigni qui, cum conscientiam sciant Deo soli debere se judici, actus tamen suos desiderant etiam ab ipsis suis fratribus comprobari. Quod te, frater Cypriane, facere non mirum est, qui, pro tua verecundia et ingenita industria consiliorum tuorum, nos non tam judices voluisti quam participes inveniri, ut in tuis rebus gestis laudem tecum, dum illas probamus, inveniremus, et tuorum consiliorum bonorum cohaeredes , quia et affirmatores, esse possimus. Idem omnes credimur operati , in quo deprehendimur eadem omnes censurae et disciplinae consensione sociati.

0308B II. Quid enim magis aut in pace tam aptum aut in bello persecutionis tam necessarium quam debitam severitatem divini vigoris tenere? quam qui remiserit, instabili rerum cursu erret semper necesse est, et huc atque illuc variis et incertis negotiorum tempestatibus dissipetur, et, quasi extorto de manibus consiliorum gubernaculo, navim ecclesiasticae salutis illidat in scopulos; ut appareat non 0309A aliter saluti ecclesiasticae consuli posse nisi si qui et contra ipsam faciunt, quasi quidam adversi fluctus repellantur, et disciplinae ipsius semper custodita ratio quasi salutare aliquod gubernaculum in tempestate servetur. Nec hoc nobis nunc nuper consilium cogitatum est, nec haec apud nos adversus improbos modo supervenerunt repentina subsidia; sed antiqua haec apud nos severitas, antiqua fides, disciplina legitur antiqua: quoniam nec tantas de nobis laudes Apostolus protulisset dicendo, Quia fides vestra praedicatur in toto mundo (Rom. I, 8), nisi jam exinde vigor iste radices fidei de temporibus illis mutuatus fuisset; quarum laudum et gloriae degenerem fuisse maximum crimen est. Minus est enim dedecoris numquam ad praeconium laudis 0309B accessisse, quam de fastigio laudis ruisse: minus est criminis honoratum bono testimonio non fuisse, quam honorem bonorum testimoniorum perdidisse: Minus est sine praedicatione virtutum ignobilem sine laude jacuisse , quam exhaeredem fidei factum laudes proprias perdidisse. Ea enim quae in alicujus gloriam proferuntur, nisi anxio et sollicito labore serventur, in invidiam maximi criminis intumescunt.

III. Hoc nos non falso dicere superiores nostrae litterae probaverunt, in quibus vobis sententiam nostram dilucida expositione protulimus et adversus 0310A eos qui se ipsos infideles illicita nefariorum libellorum professione prodiderant, quasi evasuri irretientes illos diaboli laqueos viderentur, quo non minus quam, si ad nefarias aras accessissent, hoc ipso quod ipsum contestati fuerant tenerentur, sed etiam adversus illos qui acta fecissent, licet praesentes cum fierent non affuissent, cum praesentiam suam utique ut sic scriberentur mandando fecissent. Non est enim immunis a scelere qui ut fieret imperavit, nec est alienus a crimine cujus consensu, licet non a se admissum crimen, tamen publice legitur; et cum totum fidei sacramentum in confessione Christi nominis intelligatur esse digestum, qui fallaces in excusatione praestigias quaerit negavit, et qui vult videri propositis 0310B adversus Evangelium vel edictis vel legibus satisfecisse, hoc ipso jam paruit quod videri paruisse se voluit; necnon etiam contra illos quoque qui illicitis sacrificiis manus suas atque ora polluerant, pollutis ante mentibus propriis, unde etiam sunt ipsae manus atque ora polluta, fidem nostram consensumque monstravimus. Absit enim ab Ecclesia Romana vigorem suum tam profana facilitate dimittere et nervos severitatis eversa fidei majestate dissolvere; ut, cum adhuc non tantum jaceant, sed et cadant eversorum fratrum ruinae, properata nimis remedia communicationem utique non profutura praestentur, 0311A et nova per misericordiam falsam vulnera veteribus transgressionis vulneribus imprimantur, ut miseris ad eversionem majorem eripiatur et poenitentia! Ubi enim poterit indulgentiae medicina proficere, si etiam ipse medicus intercepta poenitentia indulget periculis, si tantummodo operit vulnus, nec sinit necessaria temporis remedia obducere cicatricem? Hoc non est curare, sed, si dicere verum volumus, occidere.

IV. Quamquam confessorum quoque quos hic adhuc in carcerem dignitas suae confessionis inclusit, et ad certamen evangelicum sua fides in confessione jam gloriosa semel coronavit, litteras habeas conspirantes cum litteris nostris, quibus severitatem evangelicae disciplinae protulerunt et illicitas petitiones 0311B ab Ecclesiae pudore revocarunt. Nisi hoc fecissent, disciplinae evangelicae ruinae non facile sarcirentur , praesertim cum nulli magis tam congruens esset tenorem evangelici vigoris illibatum dignitatemque servare , quam qui se excruciandos et excarnificandos pro Evangelio furentibus tradidissent, ne martyrii honorem merito perderent, si in occasione , martyrii praevaricatores Evangelii esse voluissent. Nam qui id quod habet non custodit in eo ex quo illud possidet, dum id ex quo possidet violat, amittit illud quod possidebat.

V. In quo loco maximas tibi atque uberes gratias referre debemus et reddimus quod illorum carceris tenebras litteris tuis illuminasti , quod ad illos venisti, quomodo introire potuisti, quod illorum animos 0311C sua fide et confessione robustos tuis allocutionibus litterisque recreasti, quod, felicitates eorum 0312A condignis laudibus prosecutus , accendisti ad multo ardentiorem coelestis gloriae cupiditatem, quod pronos impulisti, quod, ut credimus et optamus, victores futuros viribus tui sermonis animasti ; ut, quamquam hoc totum de fide confitentium et de divina indulgentia venire videatur, tamen in martyrio suo tibi ex aliquo debitores facti esse videantur. Sed, ut ad id unde digressus sermo videbatur esse rursus revertatur, quales litteras in Siciliam quoque miserimus subjectas habebis: quamquam nobis differendae hujus rei necessitas major incumbat, quibus, post excessum nobilissimae memoriae viri Fabiani, nondum est episcopus propter rerum et temporum difficultates constitutus, qui omnia ista moderetur et eorum qui lapsi sunt possit cum auctoritate 0312B et consilio habere rationem: quamquam nobis in tam ingenti negotio placeat quod et tu ipse tractasti, prius Ecclesiae pacem sustinendam, deinde, sic collatione consiliorum cum episcopis, presbyteris, diaconis, confessoribus pariter ac stantibus laicis facta, lapsorum tractare rationem. Perquam enim nobis et invidiosum et onerosum videtur non per multos examinare quod per multos commissum videatur fuisse, et unum sententiam dicere, cum tam grande crimen per multos diffusum notetur exisse; quoniam nec firmum decretum potest esse quod non plurimorum videbitur habuisse consensum. Aspice totum orbem pene vestatum et ubique jacere dejectorum reliquias et ruinas, et idcirco tam grande expeti consilium quam late propagatum videtur esse delictum. 0312C Non sit minor medicina quam vulnus, non sint minora remedia quam funera, ut, quomodo 0313A qui ruerunt ob hoc ruerunt quod caeca temeritate nimis incauti fuerunt, ita qui hoc disponere nituntur, omni consiliorum moderamine utantur ne quid non ut oportet factum tamquam irritum ab omnibus judicetur.

VI. Uno igitur eodemque consilio, iisdem precibus et fletibus tam nos, qui usque adhuc videmur temporis istius ruinas subterfugisse, quam illi qui in has temporis videntur clades incidisse, divinam majestatem deprecantes pacem ecclesiastico nomini postulemus. Mutuis votis nos invicem foveamus, custodiamus, armemus. Oremus pro lapsis ut erigantur, oremus pro stantibus ut non ad ruinas usque tententur, oremus ut qui cecidisse referuntur, delicti sui magnitudinem agnoscentes, intelligant 0313B non momentaneam neque praeproperam desiderare medicinam. Oremus ut effectus indulgentiae lapsorum subsequatur et poenitentia, ut, intellecto suo crimine, velint nobis interim praestare patientiam, nec adhuc fluctuantem turbent Ecclesiae statum, ne interiorem nobis persecutionem ipsi incendisse videantur, et accedat ad criminum cumulum quod etiam inquieti fuerunt. Maxime enim illis congruit verecundia quorum in delictis damnatur mens in verecunda. Pulsent sane fores, sed non utique confringant; adeant ad limen Ecclesiae, sed non utique transiliant : castrorum coelestium excubent portis, sed armati modestia, qua intelligant se desertores fuisse. Resumant precum suarum tubam, sed qua non bellicum clangant: arment se quidem 0313C modestiae telis, et quem negando mortis metu fidei dimiserant clypeum resumant, sed ut contra hostem diabolum vel nunc armati, non contra Ecclesiam, quae illorum dolet casus, armatos esse se credant. 0314A Multum illis proficiet petitio modesta, postulatio verecunda, humilitas necessaria, patientia non otiosa. Mittant legatos pro suis doloribus lacrymas, advocatione fungantur ex intimo pectore prolati gemitus, dolorem probantes commissi criminis et pudorem.

VII. Immo, si dedecoris admissi magnitudinem perhorrescunt, si pectoris et conscientiae suae lethalem plagam et sinuosi vulneris altos recessus vere medica manu tractant, erubescant et petere; nisi quia majoris est rursum et periculi et pudoris auxilium pacis non petisse: sed hoc totum in sacramento, sed in ipsius postulationis lege, temporis facto temperamento, sed postulatione demissa, sed prece subdita, quoniam et qui petitur flecti debet, non incitari ; et sicut respici debet divina clementia, sic respici 0314B debet et divina censura; et sicut scriptum est, Donavi tibi omne debitum, quia me rogasti (Matth. XVIII, 32), sic scriptum est: Qui me negaverit coram hominibus, negabo et ego eum coram patre meo et coram angelis ejus (Matth. X, 33). Deus enim ut est indulgens, ita est praeceptorum suorum exactor, et quidem diligens; et sicut ad convivium vocat, sic habitum nuptiarum non habentem ligatis manibus et pedibus extra sanctorum coetum foras jactat. Paravit coelum, sed paravit et tartarum: paravit refrigeria, sed paravit etiam aeterna supplicia: paraviti naccessibilem lucem, sed paravit etiam perpetuae noctis vastam aeternamque caliginem.

VIII. Cujus temperamenti moderamen nos hic tenere 0314C quaerentes diu, et quidem multi, et quidem cum quibusdam episcopis vicinis nobis et appropinquantibus, et quos ex aliis provinciis longe positis persecutionis istius ardor ejecerat, ante constitutionem 0315A episcopi nihil innovandum putavimus, sed lapsorum curam mediocriter temperandam esse credimus; ut interim, dum episcopus dari a Deo nobis sustinetur, in suspenso eorum qui moras possunt dilationis sustinere causa teneatur, eorum autem quorum vitae suae finem urgens exitus dilationem non potest ferre, acta poenitentia et professa frequenter suorum detestatione factorum, si lacrymis, si gemitibus, si fletibus dolentis ac vere poenitentis animi signa prodiderint, cum spes vivendi secundum hominem nulla substiterit, ita demum caute et sollicite subveniri, Deo ipso sciente quid de talibus faciat et qualiter judicii sui examinet pondera, nobis tamen anxie curantibus ut nec pronam nostram improbi homines laudent facilitatem, nec vere poenitentes accusent 0315B nostram quasi duram crudelitatem. Optamus te, beatissime ac gloriosissime papa, in Domino semper bene valere et nostri meminisse.