CLXXVI. Letter to the same Alexander after he had learnt that John, Bishop of Antioch, had Anathematized the Doctrine of Nestorius.
Be it known to your holiness
that when I read the letter addressed to the emperor I was much
distressed, because I know perfectly well that the writer of the
letter, being of the same opinions, has unwisely and impiously condemned one
who has never held or taught anything contrary to sound doctrine. But
the form of anathema, though it be more likely than his assent to the
condemnation, to grieve a reader, nevertheless has given me some ground
of comfort, in that it is laid down not in wide general terms, but with
some qualification. For he has not said “We anathematize his
doctrine” but “whatever he has either said or held other
than is warranted by the doctrine of the apostles.”