with a "Libellus," which was to be signed by every bishop as a condition of re-union. At first the Emperor (Anastasius I) stood in the way; but when he died in 518 his successor, Justin I (518–527), wrote, as well as the Patriarch (John II, 518–520), asking the Pope to receive them back. Hormisdas sent Legates with the same Libellus. The Patriarch, the Emperor, and all the chief bishops signed it, the names of Zeno and Acacius were struck out of the diptychs, that of the Pope restored. On Easter Day, 519, the union was restored in the Cathedral of Constantinople. This Libellus is the Formula of Hormisdas. It was signed in 516 by all the Illyrian bishops,[1] in 517 the Spanish Church forbade any Greek priest to be admitted to communion until he had signed it,[2] in 519 all the Eastern prelates signed;[3] Epiphanius (520–536) and Mennas (536–552) of Constantinople and the great Justinian signed.[4] The Legates who present it allow no discussion, Roma locuta est. Certain bishops in Thessaly want to change some of its words. The Legates tell them: "It is not in your power to do this; if you will sign, thank God; if you will not, we have come and greeted you, we will now walk away."[5] At the Council of 869 (our eighth general council) Greeks and Latins sign this formula; it was confirmed by the two re-union councils, the second of Lyons (1274) and the Council of Florence (1439), and it played a great part at the Vatican Council (1870).
The formula, then, is as follows: "The first salvation[6] is to keep the rule of the true faith and in no way to forsake the laws of the Fathers. And the words of our Lord Jesus Christ: Thou art Peter and upon this Rock I will build my Church, cannot be passed over; they are proved by the facts,[7] because in the Apostolic See the Catholic Religion is always kept immaculate. We then, wishing by no means to be parted from that hope and faith, following also in everything the laws of the Fathers, anathematize all
- ↑ Thiel, l.c. Ep. 19, p. 780.
- ↑ Ep. 26, p. 793.
- ↑ Ep. 46, p. 835; Ep. 59, 60, p. 850, seq.; Ep. 61, 65, 75, pp. 852, 859, 868.
- ↑ Mansi, viii. 436, 502, 518, 1029, 1065. See also the whole story in Liberatus: Breviarium, l.c. c. 19.
- ↑ "Si non vultis facere, venimus, salutavimus vos, perambulamus," Ep. 49, Thiel, l.c.
- ↑ = Condition of salvation.
- ↑ "Rerum probantur effectibus."
