Letter to the Council of Carthage
Ad Carthaginiense concilium
Letter to the Council of Carthage§1
1To the council at Carthage.
And they signed. May our Lord keep you for us for very many years, most blessed brother. Likewise signed Alypius, Augustine, Possidius, Marinus, and the rest of the bishops.
Here begin the replies of Cyril, bishop of the Alexandrians, to the synod in Africa, in which he sent through Innocent the presbyter the authentic acts of the council at Nicaea translated from the Greek — which letters, together with the council of Nicaea, were sent through the aforementioned presbyter Innocent and Marcellus the subdeacon of the church at Carthage to the most holy Boniface, bishop of the Roman church, on the sixth day before the kalends
Greek · §1
Ad Carthaginiense concilium Καὶ ὑπέγραψαν. Ὁ κύριος ἡμῶν φυλάξοι σε ἡμῖν ἐπὶ πλείστους χρόνους, μακαριώτατε ἀδελφέ. Ὑπέγραψαν ὁμοίως· Ἀλύπιος, Αὐγουστῖνος, Ποσείδιος , Μαρῖνος καὶ οἱ λοιποὶ ἐπίσκοποι. Ἄρχεται τὰ πρὸς τὴν ἐν Ἀφρικῇ σύνοδον ἀντίγραφα Κυρίλλου τοῦ τῆς Ἀλεξανδρέων ἐπισκόπου, ἐν οἷς τὰ αὐθεντικὰ τῆς ἐν Νικαίᾳ συνόδου ἀπὸ γραϊκοῦ μεταβληθέντα διὰ Ἰννοκεντίου πρεσβυτέρου ἀπέστειλεν· αἵτινες ἐπιστολαὶ μετὰ τῆς ἐν Νικαίᾳ συνόδου διὰ τοῦ μνημονευθέντος Ἰννοκεντίου πρεσβυτέρου καὶ Μαρκέλλου ὑποδιακόνου τῆς ἐν Καρχηδόνι ἐκκλησίας τῷ ἁγιωτάτῳ Βονιφατίῳ, ἐπισκόπῳ τῆς ῥωμαϊκῆς ἐκκλησίας τῇ πρὸ ἓξ καλανδῶν
Greeting and Receipt of the African Letter§2
2of December they were sent. To my most honored and most holy lords, brothers and fellow bishops Aurelius and Valentinus, and to the whole most holy synod gathered at Carthage — Cyril, greeting your charity in the Lord.
What your honor wrote, full of deep devotion, I received with all joy through our son Innocent the presbyter.
And since you set this hope upon us — that from the archive of our church we would send to your charity the truest copies of the authentic synod held in Nicaea, the metropolis of Bithynia,
Greek · §2
δεκεμβρίων ἀπεστάλησαν. Κυρίοις τιμιωτάτοις καὶ ἁγιωτάτοις ἀδελφοῖς καὶ συνεπισκόποις Αὐρηλίῳ, Βαλεντίνῳ καὶ πάσῃ τῇ ἐν Καρχηδόνι συναθροισθείσῃ ἁγιωτά 423 τῃ συνόδῳ, Κύριλλος ἀσπαζόμενος ἐν κυρίῳ τὴν ὑμετέραν ἀγάπην. Τὰ γραφέντα παρὰ τῆς ὑμετέρας τιμιότητος πολλὴν ἔχοντα θρησκείαν μετὰ πάσης χαρᾶς διὰ τοῦ τέκνου ἡμῶν Ἰννοκεντίου τοῦ πρεσβυτέρου ἐδεξάμην. Τούτων δὲ παρ' ἡμῶν ἐλπισθέντων, ὥστε ἐκ τοῦ τῆς ἡμετέρας ἐκκλησίας
The Authentic Nicene Copies from Alexandria§3
3the measures defined and confirmed by the holy fathers, set down beneath the confession of our faith — I judged it necessary, most honored lord brothers, with a greeting leading the way, to send through the same our son Innocent the presbyter the most faithful copies of the authentic
Greek · §3
σκρινίου τὰ ἀληθέστατα ἴσα τῆς ἐν τῇ Νικαέων μητροπόλει τῆς Βιθυνίας αὐθεντικῆς συνόδου, τὰ παρὰ τῶν ἁγίων πατέρων ὁρισθέντα καὶ βεβαιωθέντα ὑποκάτω τῆς ὁμολογίας τῆς ἡμετέρας πίστεως τῇ ὑμετέρᾳ ἀγάπῃ ἡμᾶς ἀποστεῖλαι, ἀναγκαῖον ἡγησάμην, κύριοι τιμιώτατοι ἀδελφοί, ἀσπασμοῦ προηγουμένου, διὰ τοῦ αὐτοῦ τέκνου ἡμῶν Ἰννοκεντίου τοῦ πρεσβυτέρου τὰ πιστότατα ἴσα τὰ τῆς αὐθεντικῆς
Easter Date and Farewell§4
4synod in the city of Nicaea in Bithynia, bound together with this my loving letter — which you will also find by searching in the church history.
But concerning Easter, as you wrote, we announce to you that we shall celebrate it on the seventeenth day before the kalends of May in the coming indiction.
The subscription. May God and our Lord guard your holy synod, as we pray, most honored brothers.
Greek · §4
συνόδου τῆς ἐν τῇ Νικαέων πόλει τῆς Βιθυνίας ἐχόμενα τῇ ἡμετέρᾳ ἀποστεῖλαι ἀγάπῃ, ὅπερ 424 καὶ ἐν τῇ ἐκκλησιαστικῇ ἱστορίᾳ ζητοῦντες εὑρήσετε. Περὶ δὲ τοῦ πάσχα, ὡς ἐγράψατε, ἀγγέλλομεν ὑμῖν τῇ πρὸ δεκαεπτὰ καλανδῶν μαΐων ἡμᾶς ἐπιτελέσοντας τῇ ἐπεισερχομένῃ ἰνδικτιῶνι. Ἡ ὑπογραφή. Ὁ θεὸς καὶ ὁ κύριος ἡμῶν τὴν ἁγίαν ὑμῶν σύνοδον φυλάξοι, ὅπερ εὐχόμεθα, τιμιώτατοι ἀδελφοί.