.—The Confession of Eustathius, Silvanus, and Theophilus, the Deputies of the Macedonians, to Liberius, Bishop of Rome.
“ Liberius, our Lord
and Brother, and Fellow-minister—Eustathius, Silvanus, and
Theophilus send greeting in the Lord.
“On account of the mad opinions of the heretics
who do not cease to keep on sowing scandals for the Catholic churches, we who nullify their every attack confess the Synod which was held at Lampsacus, the one at Smyrna and the councils held in other places, by the orthodox bishops. We have furnished letters and sent on an embassy to your Goodness, as likewise to all the other bishops of Italy and of the West, to confirm and preserve the Catholic faith, which was established at the holy council of Nicæa, by the blessed Constantine and three hundred and eighteen God-fearing fathers.
“This remains, by an unmixed and immovable
settlement, until now, and will remain perpetually; in which the term
‘consubstantial’ is fixed in all holiness and piety in
testimony against the perverseness of Arius. We confess, each with his
own hand, that we with the aforesaid have always held this same faith, that we still hold it, and that we shall adhere to it to the last. We condemn Arius, his impious dogmas, and his disciples. We also condemn the heresies of Patropasianus,
of Photinus, of Marcellus, of Paul of Samosata, and all who maintain
such doctrines themselves. We anathematize all heresies opposed to the
aforesaid faith established by the saintly fathers at Nicæa. We
anathematize Arius especially, and condemn all such decrees as were
enacted at Ariminum, in opposition to the aforesaid faith established
by the holy council of Nicæa. We were formerly deluded by the
guile and perjury of certain parties, and subscribed to these decrees
when they were transmitted to Constantinople from Nicæa, a city of
Thrace.”
After this confession they subjoined a copy of the
entire formulary of Nicæa to their own creed, and, having received
from Liberius a written account of all that they had transacted, they
sailed to Sicily.