and alien to all reason. For here, most of all, order must be observed. Since eternal things are more worthy than those that are fleeting, momentary, and perishable. Hence our legislator, and Lord Jesus Christ, surpassing all human wisdom, of which He Himself is the giver, left the best method of governance to His Church, and [granted] the primacy of it to Peter, and through him to his successors. You are, He says, Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church. And again: To you I will give the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And again: Feed my sheep, feed my lambs. And elsewhere: And you, once converted, confirm your brothers. And do not think, brothers, that I am introducing a new law, or teaching a new dogma. Reiterate in your memory, you who have read the ancient historians and the acts of the councils, how great the authority of the Roman pontiff B has always been over the entire Church. Pope Celestine alone disapproved and annulled the first Council of Ephesus, although the entire Oriental Church and the patriarchs themselves had gathered there in unanimity. The six hundred and thirty bishops, the Fathers of Chalcedon, received the letter of Leo the Great as if it were the sacred Gospel, and they named it a pillar of the orthodox faith; and indeed, they terminated the question that was being debated according to his judgment. The Fathers placed the Alexandrian faith before the Constantinopolitan by imitation of the second council, yet they did not deem that they had done anything unless Leo himself confirmed it: which, in order to obtain, they strove with many embassies and prayers, to which, however, the saintly man refused to accede; and had it not afterwards been granted by another Roman C Pontiff, it would certainly have had no importance. Before this time, Innocent, the Roman pontiff, struck Arcadius and Eudoxia the sovereigns with an anathema and deprived them of the communion of Christians because they had unjustly driven the golden-mouthed John from the Church. This he certainly would not have done had he not held authority over the entire Church. Indeed, had he not been the universal pastor, and pontiff, and the common Father and teacher of all Christians. If the city of Constantinople and those emperors had not been of his flock, such a pontiff would not have separated them from the unity and communion of the faithful. For he would have brought no detriment had they not been subjects to the Roman prelate. Then, did not Nicholas, the Roman pontiff, deprive Photius, who occupied the Constantinopolitan see and who, after the saintly man Ignatius had been ejected, had subjugated the Church to himself by force, of the communion of the faithful, and upon the restoration of Ignatius, drive him from the Church? By what reason did Nicholas do this, if not because he held power over all the Churches? But after the saintly man Ignatius departed to the Lord, did not the Constantinopolitan emperors petition the Roman pontiff with many and frequent prayers in favor of Photius? Did not John, who after Nicholas and Adrian had assumed the reins of the universal Church, restore him to the patriarchal see, and send him the pallium, in which the dignity of the pontiff shines? What at last did all these things signify, brothers, if not that the Roman pontiff has supreme authority and supreme power over the entire Church? Therefore, thinking on all these things, and considering them with an attentive mind, cast away every empty opinion, put down every unmerited hatred, and change into something better that judgment of yours which is not right regarding the Latins; embrace the truth; and, considering the integrity of the faith together with the Catholic and holy Roman Church to be the greatest, agree with us. Dismiss those who, talking vainly for the sake of contention rather than truth, seduce you from the true faith. Consider the pastor of the Roman Church the universal D Father and teacher. Honor him, follow him with praise and veneration. For our part, although we are unworthy, yet by the grace of God through the apostolic see and the supreme pontiff, our Lord, we have been legitimately given to you as patriarch, and you should receive us as is fitting. Hear our admonitions as paternal exhortations. Cultivate the same faith and sentiment with me, so that while we live in this life, believing in the same spirit and mind and holding the same views regarding the faith, we may love one another and console one another. But after the laying down of this mortal burden, may we obtain the same glory in Christ, and having attained the desired end, may we enjoy eternal life. Amen.
CONFESSION OF THE GREEKS
ON THE WORDS OF CONSECRATION AND TRANSUBSTANTIATION,
SET FORTH BY BESSARION AT THE COUNCIL OF FLORENCE (1).
(Mabillon, *Musæum Italicum*, I, II, 243.)On Sunday, the fifth of July, M CCCC XXXVIIII, in a general congregation, with our most holy lord, lord Eugenius IV, presiding, in the presence of the most reverend and reverend Fathers and lords, the cardinals, patriarchs, and archbishops of the holy Roman Church, and others—
A bishops, bishops, abbots, doctors and masters, both Latin and Greek, the reverend Father, the lord Archbishop of Nicaea, in his own name and in the name of other Fathers representing the Eastern Church, explained publicly, in a high and intelligible voice, in these words, or words similar in effect: "Most blessed Father, and you, most reverend Fathers and lords here present. Since, in our previous congregations, among other differences of ours, a doubt has arisen concerning the consecration of the most holy sacrament of the Eucharist; and some have suspected that you and our Church do not believe that this most precious sacrament is perfected by the words of the Savior our Lord Jesus Christ; for this reason we stand before your beatitude and all others standing here who are on the side of the holy Roman Church, to certify your beatitude and the other Fathers and lords here present regarding this doubt; and we say briefly: we have used the Scriptures and the opinions of the holy Fathers, and recognizing and noting the fragility of human reason, we wish to adhere to the opinions of the holy Fathers and to their reasoning, having cast aside human inventions; on which account, most blessed Father, since we have used in all other matters the authorities of the holy Fathers, we use them also in this present doubt. And since from all the holy doctors of the Church, especially from that most blessed John Chrysostom, who is most known to us, we hear that the Lord’s words are those which change and transubstantiate the bread and wine into the true body and blood of Christ; and that those words of the divine Savior possess the whole virtue of transubstantiation; we ourselves—" B We have spoken of this question briefly and sufficiently, and we render your beatitude certain of our intention. ARNOLD, notary.
I, Nicolaus Sagudineus of Negroponte, interpreter of all the words written above and translator from Greek into Latin, confess that all things were spoken in Greek by the aforementioned lord of Nicaea, in the manner as above, and were faithfully translated by me into Latin. In testimony and surety of which matter, having been requested, I have written this with my own hand and reduced it into this form. Florence, the 27th day of the month of August, in the year of the Lord’s Nativity 1438. ARNOLD, notary.
Which I, Bartholomaeus Joannes of Lydda, cleric of the diocese of Liège, public notary by apostolic and imperial authority and [notary] of the sacred Florentine ecumenical council, because I was present at the utterance, exposition, and confession of the aforementioned words, and at all and singular other things premised, together with the aforementioned most reverend and reverend Fathers and the notary written below, and saw and heard them so done; therefore I have subscribed this present public instrument, faithfully translated from Greek into Latin by the aforementioned interpreter, and have signed it with my usual and customary sign and name, being asked and requested in testimony of the things premised. C And I, Arnoldus Liudolphi of Beverwijk, cleric of the diocese of Utrecht, public notary by apostolic and imperial authority, because the utterance and confession of the aforementioned words, and all other things premised, while, as is premised, they were acted out, proposed, and done by the most reverend Father, the said Archbishop of Nicaea, were set forth in the frequent council, when he was not yet a cardinal. Furthermore, mention of this confession is made in the Acts of the council themselves, chap. ix (Conc. Lab. t. XIII, col. 491), shortly before the death of Joseph the patriarch: where both things, namely the words of consecration and transubstantiation, are proved in express words. Then, after his death was recounted, that same thing is repeated again. Moreover, as pertains to the Greek Fathers, especially Chrysostom, whose opinion the Greeks confess in the aforementioned formula that they follow; the same Bessarion reports their testimonies in his aforementioned oration on the Eucharist. The passages from Chrysostom are cited from homily XXXII on Matthew, from [homily] XXVII on the first [epistle] to the Corinthians, from the homily on the betrayal of the traitor, and [from the sermon on] the tradition of the sacraments.
I do not know whether that Nicolaus Sagudineus of Negroponte, who translated the above Confession into Latin, is the same as Nicolaus of Euboea, of whom Matthaeus Palmerius writes thus in his *Book of Times* to the year 1439: "Nicolaus of Euboea is held to be a most praiseworthy prince of the Latin and Greek language and elegance: who, assisting in the middle of the frequent council, with many and learned men listening, and myself also witness as I saw and heard, translated the words and opinions of the disputants, uttered both in Greek and in Latin, with wonderful speed, back and forth, into either language, most beautifully and with the highest embellishment." Thus he, who in the same place adds that Ambrosius, abbot general of the Camaldolese order, was also famous in the council. D