Letter of the German Bishops Against Hildebrand ['Gregory VII']

 

Letter of the Bishops to Gregory VII., Jan. 24, 1076.

We, Siegfried archbishop of Mainz, Udo of Treves, William of Utrecht, Herrman of Metz, Henry of Laudun, Ricbert of Verdun, Bibo of Touts, Hozemann of Spires, Burkhard of Halberstadt, Werner of Strasburg, Burkhard of Basel, Otto of Constance, Adalbero of Wurzburg, Rodbert of Bamberg, Otto of Ratisbon, Ellinard of Frising, Odalric Of Eichstadt, Frederick of Munster, Eilbert of Minden, Hezil of Hildesheim, Benno of Osnabruck, Eppo of Naples. Imadus of Paderborn, Tiedo of Brandenburg, Burkhard of Ijausanne, Bruno of Verona: to brother Hildebrand.

Bishop Ulrich of Imola's "Apology (Defense) of the Married Clergy)

 

Apology of the married clergy

a real letter from XI century

by Ulrich, Bishop of Imola

________________________________

ABOUT THE AUTHOR AND THE LETTER

We know very few things concerning the author of this letter-apology. Ulrich was bishop of Imola (near Ravenna, Italy) from 1053 to 1074, year of his death. In AD 1059 the bishop wrote this letter to Pope Nicholas II, in order to defend his married clergy from the new pro-celibate reforms in the breast of the Roman Church. The epistle's style is redundant and rethoric, typical of some Patristics. In the letter many public people are called to remembrance but without their name, perhaps to not scandalize the Pope, or maybe for they were already well known to the corrispondent.

ULRICH - BY GOD'S GRACE BISHOP OF IMOLA

TO HIS HOLYNESS NICHOLAS THE SECOND, POPE OF OLD ROME

Me, Ulrich, bishop by name, son in love but servant in fear, to the guardian of the Roman See.

As I Had found no sense of the measure, oh father and lord, in your decrees on the continence of clerics, which had recently come to me, fear and sadness troubled me a single feeling. Fear, since it is written: "the opinion of those who command, both right and wrong, must be respected" (St. Gregory the Great, Homily in Evang., II 26,6). In fact, I was worried for those who find it difficult to stick to the Scriptures, because they, who barely obey a just prescription, once they have transgressed the unjust - an oppressive, indeed intolerable disposition of their pastor - would no longer feel bound from the commandments. I was sad and in pain as I thought how much the members needed their head, invalidated by such a large body. What is more serious, what is more worthy of the compassion of the whole Church than you, bishop of the highest See, which is called to herd everyone, you have lost the sense of moderation (1)? And not just from this you have deviated, when you wanted to force the clerics to abandon the marriage with a certain violence, while you should have only exhorted them. Is it not, in the judgment of all the masters of the faith, violence that compels us to obey arbitrary decisions, taken against the gospel rule and the teaching of the Holy Spirit? Since there are plenty of examples of the Old and New Testaments in favor of moderation, you know, after all, and I beg your paternity of not bothering to have anyone mentioned in these pages.

Inventor Rutili and Mild Punishments

 

From St. Prudentius of Tarragona's (+413) hymn "Inventor Rutili"

"And the guilty spirits too, in their crowds often have holiday from punishment in hell, on the night on which the Holy God returned to the world of men from the waters of Acheron, not like the morning star when it rises from ocean and first tinges the darkness with its shining torch, but a greater than the sun, restoring new day to a world saddened by the Cross of its Lord. Hell's force abates, it punishments are mild, and the people of the dead, set free from the fires, rejoices in the relaxation of its imprisonment, nor do the sulphurous rivers boil as hot as they are wont."
https://archive.org/details/prudentiuswithen01pruduoft/page/46/mode/2up

In other medieval texts, such as the "Voyage of St. Brendan" (+900AD), the idea is expressed that on the night of Holy Saturday evening (which would be the beginning of Pascha), the souls in punishment in lower Hades are given some relief, if only temporarily.

We sing this Hymn, "Inventor Rutili" on Holy Saturday night, but, in all, or most, versions of the rite I have seen, these sections were omitted from the chant in the medieval period, and only certain ones sung. The entirety of the Hymn is rather long, especially with the refrain stanzas of "Inventor Rutili".

Baptismal Prayers in Ancient Sacramentaries

 

After someone is Baptized by Triple Immersion in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, the Priest proceeds to anoint the newly baptized on the top [crown] of the head with Holy Chrism, saying:

“God Almighty, the Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Who hath regenerate thee by water and the Holy Ghost, and Who hath granted thee remission of all thy sins, it is He that anointeth thee with the Chrism of salvation in the Same His Son Our Lord Jesus Christ, unto life everlasting. Amen.”

In the 5th century treatise “De Sacramentis”, traditionally attributed to St. Ambrose [though, nowadays, attributed to the mysterious figure known as “Ambrosiaster”], the following is said likewise:

“Therefore thou didst dip, thou camest to the priest. What did he say to thee? ‘God the Father Almighty,’ he saith, ‘Who hath regenerated thee by water and the Holy Ghost, and hath forgiven thee they sins, Himself anoint thee unto eternal life.’ See whereunto thou art anointed; ‘unto eternal life,’ he said. Do not set this life before that life. For example, if any foe arise, if he wishes to take away thy faith, if he threatens death to make some one transgress, see what thou choosest. Do not choose that wherein thou wast not anointed, but choose that wherein thou was anointed, so as to prefer eternal life to temporal life, through Christ Our Lord. Amen.” [De Sacramentis, Chapter 7, sec. 24]

Reading through the “De Mysteriis” of St. Ambrose, and the “De Sacramentis” of Ambrosiaster, we can see that the texts and prayers of our ancient Baptismal rite are relatively unchanged.

Georgian Variant of Liturgy of St. Peter

 

A Latin version of the 10th / 11th century Georgian version of the Canon of the Mass [among other things]; such as it was adapted for Georgian usage:

There are some noticeable differences in wording in the Canon.  The Liturgy of St. Peter was an adaptation of the Western Roman Mass to an Eastern liturgical format; St. Euthymius of the Holy Mountain states that the Liturgies of St. James was once used in Greece, but, he also gives a mention of the Liturgy of St. Peter:

"The Liturgy of St. James is indeed the true one which was first used in Greece and also in our churches.  When St. Basil and blessed John Chrysostom composed liturgies, people chose them because they were short and thus forgot St. James.  Now all celebrate the Liturgy of St. Chrysostom and the Liturgy of St. Basil during the Great Lent, but all those who wish to celebrate the Liturgies of St. James and St. Peter are completely right to do so." 

You can find a translation of the Greek variant here. 

Filioque in St. Isidore of Seville's "Etymologiae"

 http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/isidore/7.shtml

One interesting argument used by von Zoernikav, is that, in many manuscripts of St. Isidore of Seville's "Etymologiae", in Book VII, Ch. 3, "De Spiritu Sancto", there is an incongruence at the very beginning.

The text in many printed editions states:

"Spiritus Sanctus ideo praedicatur Deus, quia ex Patre Filioque Procedit, et Substantiam Eius habet."

http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/isidore/7.shtml

However, in much later manuscripts and texts, scribes attempt to replace "eius" with "eorum". The reason is obvious, the text as above literally states:

"And so the Holy Ghost is proclaimed God, for from the Father 'and Son' He Proceeds, and He has His Substance,"

Von Zoernikav's argument is that the original text simply read: "Spiritus Sanctus ideo praedicatur Deus, quia ex Patre Procedit, et Substantiam Eius Habet."

Later text try to say "eorum" or "et substantiam eorum habet", that is, "and He has Their Substance."

"Eius" is genitive singular, while "eorum" is genitive plural. We have seen things like this before; an interpolation enters the manuscript, and this corruption does not fit with the rest of the text. We see something similar in "Inter Personarum" in St. Isidore's "Liber Differentiis", where it is clear from earlier and late mansucripts that the "Filioque" was interpolated into the texts.

Of course, one would have to have access to the absolute earliest manuscripts, which can be an issue with the Etymologies.

11th Century Mainz Manuscript Credo without Filioque

One of the important areas of study in Church History that many have taken an interest in [myself included] is that involving early Latin liturgical manuscript, particularly of the first 1000 or so years.  One area of study is the exact text of the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Symbol of Faith [or "Mass Creed" as the Old English would have called it].  For example, how and when did the infamous "Filioque" interpolation find itself into it?  

One can also find an un-interpolated Credo in the 8th Century Salaberga Psalter; however, thanks to the article "Confessing the Faith in Anglo-Saxon England," by Miranda Wilcox, published by the University of Illinois Press, contained in the Journal of English and Germanic Philology, Vol. 113, No. 3 (July 2014), pp. 308-341, I was able to access an easily available listing of Latin manuscripts of the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed of Anglo-Saxon provenance [i.e. they were either made in England, or by English scribes].