o rt ho do x-christ ianit y.co m http://www.o rtho do x-christianity.

co m/2011/08/patriarch-pho tius-encyclical-to -the-eastern-patriarchs-866/

Patriarch Photius Encyclical to the Eastern Patriarchs (866)

by RAS August 13, 2011

Patriarch Photius of Constantinople: Encyclical to the Eastern Patriarchs (866) Countless have been the evils devised by the cunning devil against the race of men, from the beginning up to the coming of the Lord. But even af terwards, he has not ceased through errors and heresies to beguile and deceive those who listen to him. Bef ore our times, the Church, witnessed variously the godless errors of Arius, Macedonius, Nestorius, Eutyches, Discorus, and a f oul host of others, against which the holy Ecumenical Synods were convened, and against which our holy and Godbearing Fathers battled with the sword of the Holy Spirit. Yet, even af ter these heresies had been overcome and peace reigned, and f rom the Imperial Capital the streams of Orthodoxy f lowed throughout the world; af ter some people who had been af f licted by the Monophysite heresy returned to the True Faith because of your holy prayers; and af ter other barbarian peoples, such as the Bulgarians, had turned f rom idolatry to the knowledge of God and the Christian Faith: then was the cunning devil stirred up because of his envy. For the Bulgarians had not been baptized even two years when dishonorable men emerged out of the darkness (that is, the West), and poured down like hail or, better, charged like wild boars upon the newlyplanted vineyard of the Lord, destroying it with hoof and tusk, which is to say, by their shamef ul lives and corrupted dogmas. For the papal missionaries and clergy wanted these Orthodox Christians to depart from the correct and pure dogmas of our irreproachable Faith. T he f irst error of the Westerners was to compel the faithful to fast on Saturdays. (I mention this seemingly small point because the least departure f rom Tradition can lead to a scorning of every dogma of our Faith.) Next, they convinced the faithful to despise the marriage of priests, thereby sowing in their souls the seeds of the Manichean heresy. Likewise, they persuaded them that all who had been chrismated by priests had to be anointed again by bishops. In this way, they hoped to show that Chrismation by priests had no value, thereby ridiculing this divine and supernatural Christian Mystery. From whence comes this law f orbidding priests to anoint with Holy Chrism? From what lawgiver, Apostle, Father, or Synod? For, if a priest cannot chrismate the newly-baptized, then surely neither can he baptize. Or, how can a priest consecrate the Body and Blood of Christ our Lord in the Divine Liturgy if , at the same time, he cannot chrismate with Holy Chrism? If this grace then, is taken f rom the priests, the episcopal rank is diminished, f or the bishop stands at the head of the choir of priests. But the impious Westerners did not stop their lawlessness even here. T hey attempted by their false opinions and distorted words to ruin the holy and sacred Nicene Symbol of Faith which by both synodal and universal decisions possesses invincible power by adding to it that the Holy Spirit proceeds not only f rom the Father, as the Symbol declares, but f rom the Son also. Until now, no one has ever heard even a heretic pronounce such a teaching. What Christian can accept the introduction of two sources into the Holy Trinity; that is, that the Father is one source of the Son and the Holy Spirit, and that the Son is another source of the Holy Spirit, thereby transf orming the monarchy of the Holy Trinity into a dual divinity? And why should the Holy Spirit proceed f rom the Son as well as f rom the Father? For if His procession f rom the Father is perf ect and complete and it is perf ect because He is perf ect God f rom perf ect God

then why is there also a procession f rom the Son? T he Son, moreover, cannot serve as an intermediary between the Father and the Spirit because the Spirit is not a property of the Son. If two principles, two sources, exist in the divinity, then the unity of the divinity would be destroyed. If the Spirit proceeds f rom both the Father and the Son, His procession f rom the Father alone would of necessity be either perf ect or imperf ect. If it is imperf ect, then procession f or two hypostases would be much more contrived and less perf ect than procession f rom one hypostasis alone. If it is not imperf ect, then why would it be necessary f or the Spirit to also proceed f rom the Son? If the Son participates in the quality or property of the Fathers own hypostasis, then the Son and the Spirit lose their own personal distinctions. Here one f alls into semi-Sabellianism. T he proposition that in the divinity there exist two principles, one which is independent and the other which receives its origin f rom the f irst, destroys the very root of the Christian conception of God. It would be much more consistent to expound these two principles into three, f or this would be more in keeping with the human understanding of the Holy Trinity. But since the Father is the principle and source, not because of the nature of the divinity, but because of the property of the hypostasis (and the hypostasis of the Father does not include the hypostasis of the Son), the Son cannot be a principle or source. T he Filioque actually divides the hypostasis of the Father into two parts, or else the hypostasis of the Son becomes a part of the hypostasis of the Father. By the Filioque teaching, the Holy Spirit is two degrees or steps removed f rom the Father, and thus has a much lower rank than the Son. If the Holy Spirit proceeds f rom the Son also, then of the three Divine Hypostases, the Holy Spirit alone has more than one origin or principle. By the teaching of the procession f rom the Son also, the Father and the Son are made closer to each other than the Father and the Spirit, since the Son possesses not only the Fathers nature but also the property of His Person. T he procession of the Spirit f rom the Son is either the same as that f rom the Father, or else it is dif f erent, in which case there exists an opposition in the Holy Trinity. A dual procession cannot be reconciled with the principle that what is not common to the three hypostases belongs exclusively to only one of the three hypostases. If the Spirit proceeds also f rom the Son, why then would something not proceed f rom the Spirit, so that the balance between the Divine Hypostases would theref ore be maintained? By the teaching that the Spirit also proceeds f rom the Son, the Father appears partial towards the Son. T he Father is either a greater source of the Spirit than the Son, or a lesser source. If greater, the dignity of the Son is of f ended; if lesser, the dignity of the Father is of f ended. T he Latins make the Son greater than the Spirit, f or they consider Him a principle, irreverently placing Him closer to the Father. By introducing a dual principle into the Holy Trinity as they do, the Latins of f end the Son, f or by making Him a source of that which already has a source, they thus render Him unnecessary as a source. T hey also divide the Holy Spirit into two parts: one part f rom the Father and one part f rom the Son. In the Holy Trinity, which is united in an indivisible unity, all three hypostases are inviolable. But if the Son contributes to the procession of the Spirit, Sonship is then injured, and the hypostatic property damaged. If , by the begetting of the Son, the power was thereby given to the Son that the Holy Spirit would proceed f rom Him, then how would His Sonship itself not be destroyed when He, Who Himself has a source, became a source of Another Who is equal to Him and is of the same nature as He? According to the Filioque teaching, it is impossible to see why the Holy Spirit could not be called a granson! If the Father is the source of the Son, who is the second source of the Spirit, then the Father is both immediate and the mediated source of the Holy Spirit! A dual source in the divinity inescapably concludes in a dual result; theref ore, the hypostasis of the Spirit must be dual. T heref ore, the teaching of the Filioque introduces into the divinity two principles, a dyarchy, which destroys the unity of the divinity, the monarchy of the Father. Having here explained the Latin understanding only brief ly, I will leave its detailed presentation and ref utation until we are assembled together in council. T hese so-called bishops thus introduced this f oul teaching, together with other impermissible innovations, among the simple and newly-baptized Bulgarian people. T his news cut us to the heart. How can we not grieve when we see bef ore our eyes the f ruit of our

womb, the child to whom we gave birth through the Gospel of Christ, being rent asunder by beasts? He who by his sweat and suf f ering raised them and perf ected them in the Faith, suf f ers the greatest pain and sorrow upon the destruction of his children. T heref ore, we mourn f or our spiritual children, and we will not cease f rom mourning. For we will not give sleep to our eyes until, to the extent that lies in our power, we return them to the House of the Lord. Now, concerning these forerunners of apostasy, common pests and servants of the enemy, we, by divine and synodal decree, condemn them as impostors and enemies of God. It is not as though we were just now pronouncing judgement upon them, but rather, we now declare openly the condemnation ordained by the ancient synods and Apostolic Canons. If they stubbornly persist in their error, we will exclude them from the communion of all Christians. T hey introduced f asting on Saturdays, although that is prohibited by the 64th Apostolic Canon which states: If some cleric is f ound f asting on Sundays or Saturdays except the one Great Saturday bef ore Pascha, let him be removed f rom the ranks of the clergy, and if he be a layman, let him be excommunicated. Similarly, by the 56th canon of the holy Fourth Ecumenical Synod which states: Since we have learnt that in the city of Old Rome some, during the Great Fast, in opposition to the ecclesiastical order handed down to us, keep the f ast even on Saturdays, the holy Ecumenical Synod orders that in the Church of Old Rome the Apostolic Canon which prohibits f asting on Saturdays and Sundays is to be f ollowed exactly. Similarly, there is a canon of the regional synod of Gangra which anathematizes those who do not recognize married priests. T his was conf irmed by the holy Sixth Ecumenical Synod, which condemned those who require that priests and deacons cease to cohabit with their lawf ul wives af ter their ordination. Such a custom was being introduced even then by the Church of Old Rome. T hat Synod reminded the Church of Old Rome of the evangelical teaching and of the canon and polity of the Apostles, and ordered it not to insult the holy institution of Christian marriage established by God Himself . But even if we did not cite all these and other innovations of the Latins, the mere citing of their addition of the Filioque phrase to the Nicene Symbol of Faith would be suf f icient to subject them to a thousand anathemas. For that innovation blasphemes the Holy Spirit, or more correctly, the entire Holy Trinity. Having presented this matter bef ore our brotherhood in the Lord, according to the ancient custom of the Church, we invite and ask you to come and join in council with us, f or the purpose of condemning these f oul and Godless teachings. Do not abandon the order established by the Holy Fathers which they, by their acts and deeds, handed down to us as a legacy to preserve. Rather, straightway send your representatives and deputies, adorned with piety and the priestly rank and by the goodness of their lif e and words, and by common synodal decree this new rot of evil belief will be excised f rom the Church. Once we have rooted out this godlessness, we can hope the newly-baptized Bulgarian people will return to the Faith they f irst accepted. And not only the Bulgarian people, but also all of the f ormerly terrible people, the socalled Rus, f or even now they are abandoning their heathen f aith and are converting to Christianity, receiving f rom us bishops and pastors as well as all Christian customs. Consequently, if you now move to help erase this newly begun evil, then the f lock of Christ will yet more increase and the Apostolic learning will reach the ends of the world. With this purpose, then, send your representatives and deputies equipped with the authority of the Apostolic thrones which you inherited by the Holy Spirit, so that these and all other matters may be brought to judgment by lawf ul authority. From the Italian region, we have received a synodal letter citing many grave matters against the bishop of Old Rome. Accordingly, the Orthodox there ask us to f ree them f rom his great tyranny, f or in that area sacred law is being scorned and Church order trampled. We were told this earlier by monks who came to us f rom there, and now we have received many letters stating f rightening news about that region and asking us to relay their message to all the bishops and to the Apostolic Patriarchs as well. For that reason, I communicate to you their request by way of this epistle. Once a holy and ecumenical Christian synod has been assembled, it will f all upon us together to resolve all these matters with the help of God and according to the rules of previous Synods, that in so doing, a deep peace may again prevail in the Church of Christ. Moreover, it is necessary to confirm the holy Seventh Ecumenical Synod, to the end that all the

faithful in the Church everywhere reckon and include that Synod as Ecumenical together with the other six. For we have heard that in some places it is not yet so counted, although its decisions are accepted and honored. T his was the Synod that overcame and destroyed the great heretical godlessness of iconoclasm. Representatives of the other f our patriarchates attended its sessions. Af ter they were all assembled, together with our uncle, the most Tarasius, Archbishop of New Rome, this great and ecumenical synod crushed the Antichrists blasphemous heresy. T heref ore, this Synod must be declared and numbered with the six preceding ones, so as to show the union of Christs Church and deny the godless iconoclasts of the claim that their heresy was condemned by only one throne. T hus do we seek and propose as brother to brethren, and we dutif ully beseech your Holinesses and also ask that you remember our humble self in your prayers.