Acts of the Seventh Ecumenical Council, Nicaea II (787)
The Second Session
Opening of the Second Session
In the Name of our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, our True God. In the reign of our most pious and Christ-loving Sovereigns, Constantine, and Irene, his mother, in the eighth year of their Consulship, the sixth of the calends of October (26th September), of the eleventh indiction, the Holy Ecumenical Council assembled, by the grace of God and decree of the same divinely-protected Sovereigns, in the splendid city of Nice, metropolis of the Eparchy of Bithynia — that is, Peter the Archpresbyter, and Peter the Abbot, Legates of Adrian, Pope of Old Rome; Tarasius, Patriarch of Constantinople — that is, New Rome; John and Thomas, Legates of the Apostolic Sees of the Diocese; together with the Bishops, with the Archimandrites, Abbots, and a complement of the Monastic Orders; and with the holy and immaculate Gospels of God placed in the midst:
Nicephorus, Deacon and Keeper of the Records, said: “A messenger from the King is now before the door of this venerable temple, having with him the Bishop of Neocaesarea.”
Tarasius said: “Let them come in.” And after they had come in, the Royal messenger said: “I have been sent by our most gracious Lords, that I might present to your most sacred and religious Council the most holy Bishop of Neocaesarea, and I now present him before you.”
The Holy Council said: “God bless our religious Sovereigns.”
Tarasius, addressing himself to the Bishop of Neocaesarea, said: “Was it from ignorance that, even to the present time, truth has escaped your notice; or did you know her, and yet make her of little account? If, then, it were from ignorance, be not ashamed now to learn what reason teaches, as in times past you did not blush at the instruction of error.”
Gregory, Bishop of Neocaesarea: “Believe me, my Lord, that it was from ignorance; but now I desire to be instructed even as my Lord and this holy Council may enjoin.”
Tarasius: “Say what is it that you would learn of us.”
Gregory: “Since all this Assembly has but one heart and voice, I feel fully convinced that it is the truth which here is enquired into and proclaimed: wherefore I beg pardon for all my past offences, and I desire, together with you all, to be enlightened and instructed. My sins and offences are, indeed, unbounded, but as God shall bring to compunction this holy Council and my most holy Lord.”
Tarasius: “Is it not that desirous of concealing, under a veil of deceit, your real intentions, you now make pretensions to the truth, while you have evil designs in your heart?”
Gregory, of Neocaesarea: “God forbid! I confess the truth, nor shall I ever be found false, or to forfeit my word.”
Tarasius: “Long ere this should you have opened your ears to hear the divine Apostle Paul saying, ‘Hold fast the traditions which ye have received, whether by word or by our epistle’ (2 Thess. ii. 15). And again, when writing to Timothy and Titus, he says, ‘Profane innovation (καινοφωνιας) avoid’ ( 1 Tim. vi. 20). And what more profane — what greater innovation — than to say that Christians have committed idolatry?”
Gregory, of Neocaesarea: “It was evil, and we confess that was evil, but so it was, and we have our part in it: wherefore, we entreat your pardon for our offences. My Lord, I confess before your most venerable Holiness, and all the brethren of this holy Synod, that I have sinned and done wickedly, and for this I again supplicate your pardon.”
Tarasius: “We propose that, in the following Session, he be present with his libel of recantation, and that we may know all that concerns him.”
The Holy Synod said: “As your Holiness commands, let the Bishop now before us be present with his libel in the following Session, and let that be done which may seem best.”
Leontius, the Royal Secretary, said: “Your most holy and reverend Council remembers that, in the last Session, the divine epistle of our illustrious and heaven-protected Sovereigns was laid before you; in which mention was made of certain Synodical Epistles which had been sent from the most holy and blessed Pope of Old Rome, and also from the most pious Chief Priests of the East, in two octavos: these we have now brought, that from them we may gather what is suitable under present circumstances.”
The Holy Council: “Let the letters of the most holy and blessed Adrian, Pope of Old Rome, be now read.”
Nicephorus, the Royal Secretary, then read before the Council the interpretation of the Latin letter of Adrian, Pope of Rome:
Letter of Pope Adrian to Emperor Constantine and Empress Irene
“To our most pious and gracious Lords, triumphant Conquerors, our beloved Children in our Lord-and God Jesus Christ, Constantine and Irene Augusti, Adrian, servant of the servants of God:
“God, who hath commanded the light to shine out of darkness (2 Cor. iv. 6) — who hath redeemed us from the power of darkness by the incarnation of His Son ‘the true light’ (1 John i. 9) — in whom it pleased Him that all the fulness of the Godhead should dwell (Coloss. i. 19, 20) — and by Him to renew all things, and by Him to reconcile all things by the blood of His cross, whether they be things in heaven or in earth: in the abundance of the riches of His goodness, having looked down on the face of His Church, hath thought fit to call the piety and pre-ordained grace of your Royal clemency to such a perfection of faith that, by means of you, He might put a veil over the wickedness of falsehood, and bring forth the truth to light. When we had perused the letter, which your Serenity and Piety was pleased to send to us, our soul did exceedingly rejoice, and we were filled with such emotions of triumph and gladness as no human tongue could easily express; for the delight which we felt on the reception of your invitation was not less as was that grief which your past schisms and heresies caused us to suffer. Now, in respect to that which is alleged in your pious letter of invitation concerning the things which were formerly done against venerable images in your Royal city, and that your predecessors in your Empire did overthrow them, and treated them with contumely and insult, I would reply, oh, may not this sin be laid to their charge. For well had it been for them had they not laid their hands on the Church, since thereby all the people who dwell in the East have been led into error; and each one, according to his own will, has done as he pleased with them, even to the time that God raised you to the throne, who seek His glory in truth, and maintain the traditions handed down to us by the holy Apostles and by all holy Doctors, and who give due honour to holy and venerable images which had been set at nought by the madness of heretics. But, now, from your pious letter of invitation, having learned what is your will in these respects, praying most earnestly to God Almighty, we offered thanks and praise for your accession to the throne. Let, then, your God-exalted imperial power continue in full confidence and unwavering determination, knowing that this work which ye undertake is a great work; but that if by your intervention it be completed, and the ancient Orthodoxy be established in your country, and venerable images be reinstated in their former dignity, then shall ye be fellow partakers with Lord Constantine and Lady Helena, your predecessors of holy memory, who first made conspicuous and firmly established the Orthodox faith, and more especially exalted your holy Mother, the Roman Catholic Spiritual Church; and, again, with all those who, in a pious and Orthodox manner, ruled and held the reins of power before you. And so shall your most religious name, bestowed by God, the New Constantine and the New Helena, be magnified with praise throughout the world, as the name of those by whom the Church is renewed. And, more especially, if ye follow the traditions of the Orthodox faith of those chief Apostles SS. Peter and Paul, and kindly welcome their Vicar, even as your predecessors honoured each one the Vicar of his own days. And let your divinely-received power give all honour to the most holy Roman Church of these chief Apostles, to whom power has been granted by God, the Word Himself, to loose and to bind sins in heaven and on earth; for they will become the guardians of your kingdom, and will subdue all the barbarous nations under your feet, and wherever ye go they will make you victorious. Now these same holy and chief Apostles, who laid the foundation of the Catholic and Orthodox faith. have left a written law, that all who ever should succeed to their thrones should maintain the same faith, and should continue in it even unto the end, and thus it is that our Church maintains and honours holy images. And even, from the beginning to this day, our Churches have been adorned and beautified with venerable images, as the most holy and blessed Pope Sylvester bears witness, when in the beginning of our Christian Orthodoxy, Constantine of pious memory who then ruled was converted to the faith. The record is as follows: ‘The day had now passed away, and, night having succeeded, he gave orders that silence should be observed; and while he was sleeping, behold the holy Apostles, Peter and Paul, stood by him, who thus spake, “Since, O King, thou revoltest from the experiment of a bath of children’s blood for the cure of thy disease, behold we have been sent from Christ to bring thee deliverance. Hear therefore our instructions, and do all whatsoever we command thee. Send and call for Sylvester, Bishop of Rome, who hath fled from thee on account of the persecution which thou hast excited, and is at this time concealed with his clergy in the rocky caves of Mount Soracte. He shall prepare for thee the bath of righteousness in which he shall baptize thee, and forthwith thou shalt be cured of thy leprosy and all thy other diseases; and, when thou hast received this benefit, immediately give orders that in every part of the Roman Empire the churches be rebuilt: and do thou purify thyself by putting away all idolatry, and for the future worship the one true God only, and walk according to His will.” And the Emperor awaking from his sleep convened all the attendants at the palace, and related to them his dream; and sent forthwith to Mount Soracte, where Sylvester and his clergy were concealed spending their leisure in sacred studies.” And Sylvester, seeing the armed company standing all around, said to his clergy — “Behold now is the accepted time — now is the day of salvation.” As he was going forth he was informed by the soldiers of the purpose for which he had been sent for. Wherefore he went with three Priests and two Deacons to meet the King, and when he saw him he said — “Peace and victory be to thee O King from heaven above.” And the Emperor with cheerful countenance and tranquil mind having received this address, related to the holy Sylvester all that had been revealed to him; and when he had finished his narration the Emperor asked him, saying — “Those whom I saw in my dream, Peter and Paul, what gods are they?” Then the most holy Sylvester said in reply — “They are no gods, but servants and disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, whom He hath chosen to bring all nations to believe in Himself.” And when the Emperor heard this he asked again — “Have you any pictures of them?” On which Sylvester sent a Deacon to bring the pictures of the holy Apostles. And when the Emperor saw them he cried out aloud, “These are the very men whom I saw in my dream — I no longer disbelieve. Make ready for me the bath of salvation.” And when the bath was made ready he was baptized, and immediately healed And then mindful of the benefit which he had received, he began to raise up churches everywhere, depicting in them venerable images for the honour and memorial of Jesus Christ our Lord, who became incarnate for us, and for that of all the Saints. Now this he did to lead Christians to light, truth, and desire of the Divine image, and to set all men free from heathen idolatry and delusions of demons. For thus, as S. Gregory, the successor of the Apostles, hath taught it is that illiterate men, not able to read, may have the histories of the Gospel set forth before their eyes, and so may they attain to the glory and remembrance of the incarnate dispensation of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. And all Orthodox and most Christian Kings, with all Priests and great men who serve God, and all Christian people in general, have ever according to the ancient tradition of the holy Fathers, received and maintained, and do now have amongst them, these same venerable images for the sake of remembrance and compunction of heart, and to this present day they venerate them; so that even in your country they were most rightly worshipped up to the time of your Great-grandfather. However, he, your Great-grandfather, by the suggestions of some impious persons, abolished holy images throughout all those regions; and thus awful error spread throughout the regions of the East and great scandal throughout the whole world; but ‘Wo to them by whom scandals arise in the world’ (Matt. xviii. 7), as He who is the truth testifies. At this Gregory and Gregory, most blessed Pontiffs of our Apostolic Throne, were greatly grieved, and did oftentimes most earnestly beseech this ancestor of your religious Serenity that venerable images might be restored to their wonted station; but never would he give any ear to their salutary request. And after this, Zachary, Stephen, Paul, and another Stephen, our predecessors in the Pontifical Chair, did no less earnestly beseech the Grandfather and Father of your pious Royalty on the same subject of this restoration of holy images. And, now, our Lowliness (εὐτέλεια), with great humility, earnestly entreats your Lordship that, as we have received from our most holy predecessors and most approved high Priests, so we may be allowed to paint the histories in our Churches for the sake of memorial, and to set up in the temple of God the sacred image of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ according to His incarnate human form, and the images of His holy Mother, and of the holy and blessed Apostles, Prophets, and Confessors; and that, out of the regard we bear towards them, we may be at liberty to worship them. Wherefore, let your most clement Majesty exert its utmost power and influence throughout your Greek dominions to bring them back to a uniform standard of Orthodoxy, that as it is written, ‘there may be one Fold and one Shepherd’ (John x. 16). For throughout the whole world, where Christianity is established, there, these same venerable images are worshipped by all the faithful: that by the visible image of the Saviour, according to that flesh which the Son of God was pleased to assume for our salvation, our minds may be elevated in spiritual raptures to the invisible greatness of His Godhead, and thus we may worship the Redeemer who is in heaven, and may praise and glorify Him in our spirits. For as it is written, ‘God is a Spirit’ (John iv. 24); so we, magnifying Him spiritually, do worship His divinity. But God forbid that we should exalt these images into deities, as some idly prate, since all the affection and ardour which we exhibit towards them is from regard to God and His Saints; and as our Scripture teaches, so we have images for a memorial of our veneration, while we preserve the purity of our faith. [The Latin is, “And as we have the books of holy Scripture, so we have these same images for a memorial of veneration preserving the purity of our faith.”]
“For the Former and Creator of the world, our Lord God, having made man of the dust of the earth ‘according to his own image and likeness’ (Gen. i. 26) gave him an intelligent soul, and endued him with free-will. And this first of men, being thus endued with free-will, gave names to all ‘living things, both birds of the air and the beasts of the field, according to divine suggestion (Gen. ii. 20). Abel, also, of his own free-will, brought gifts ‘of the firstlings of his flock’ to the Lord his God, concerning which we read ‘that the Lord had respect to Abel and to his gifts’ (Gen. iv. 4). Noah also, of his own will, after the deluge, ‘built an altar to the Lord, on which he offered of every beast and of every bird a pure offering to the Lord’ (Gen. viii. 20). Abraham, in like manner, of his own will, ‘built an altar’ (Gen. xii. 8), as it is written, to the praise and glory of the Lord who had appeared to him. And Jacob who, when fleeing from the face of his brother, had seen in a dream ‘the angels of God ascending and descending by a ladder’ (Gen. xxviii. 12, 13), and the Lord standing above it’ and conversing with him, having risen up ‘of his own will, took the stone on which he had laid his head’ (Gen. xxviii. 18), and set it up for a pillar and poured oil upon it, and called the place Bethel,’ saying, ‘This is none other than the house of God’ (Gen. xxxviii. 17) — this is the gate of heaven.’ Now, God was not at all angry with him because of his own will he had done this; for shortly after, in the same history, we find God saying, ‘I am the God of Bethel, where thou anointest the stone and vowdest a vow unto me’ (Gen. xxxviii. 13). Wherefore, my most beloved Children, ye illustrious Rulers, ye Orthodox Sovereigns, it follows that all things which, according to man’s imagination, are conducive to the glory of God, are undoubtedly pleasing to God. Again: the same Jacob worshipped the top of his staff, which he did by the faith of love, concerning which St Paul speaks in his Epistle to the Hebrews — Now, it was not the staff but its possessor which he worshipped, thereby giving proof of his affection (Heb. ii. 21). Thus we also, from that ardour and affection which we feel towards Christ and His Saints, make likenesses of them in their pictures, not that we honour the canvass or the colour, but only the persons whose names the pictures bear.
“Again we read that the Lord commanded Moses, saying: ‘Thou shalt make a mercy-seat of pure gold two cubits in length, and a cubit and half in breadth, and two cherubim of beaten gold on the two ends of the mercy-seat’ (Exod. xxv. 17, 18; 21 22). And, shortly after: ‘Thou shalt put the mercy-seat above upon the ark, and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony which I command thee; and there will I meet with thee, from above the mercy-seat, from between the cherubim, which are upon the ark of the testimony.’ And, moreover, in the curtains and covering of the tabernacle, he commanded the work of cherubim woven in divers colours to be made. Now, it is for you to reflect, my most gracious Lords and Children, illustrious Rulers, that our Lord God Almighty did not disdain to converse with the people from the midst of the cherubim, though they were made with hands: whence it cannot be doubted that whatever things are set up in the churches of God for the praise and glory of His house, ought to be accounted sacred and holy. And we would furthermore, my most gracious Lords, add for the assurance of those who doubt and the instruction of those who are in error, that which God commanded His servant Moses, on account of a plague which had befallen the people, as we find it on record in the book of Numbers; when he said to him, ‘Make a serpent and set it up for a sign, and whosoever shall have been stricken and shall look thereon he shall live; and Moses made a brazen serpent, and set it before them for a sign, and all who had been stricken and looked upon it were healed’ (Numb. xxi. 8, 9) O, the madness of those who prate against the faith and worship of Christians because they have been accustomed to worship venerable pictures, wherein were found the histories of our Lord, His Mother, and all Saints, whose power upholds and saves the human race — for do we believe that the nation of Israel was saved by looking upon the brazen serpent — [Latin adds: ‘and can we doubt whether they who look upon and venerate the images of Christ our Lord and of his Saints shall be saved thereby’] Far be it from us to indulge any such doubts, or to revolt from the tradition of our holy Fathers, or to turn aside from their doctrine.
“Moreover, King Solomon, in the temple which he built for God. made cherubim for the glory of God, and he adorned it with every variety of colours: wherefore we, and all the Orthodox in confession of the faith, do set forth the beauty of the house of God in similar variety of colours and pictorial ornaments. Thus the Prophet Isaiah saith: “In that day there shall be an altar to the Lord in the midst of Egypt, and a pillar within its boundaries, and it shall be for a sign and a testimony to the Lord God in the land of Egypt, and they shall cry unto the Lord against those that oppress them, and He shall send them a Saviour and Warrior who shall deliver them’”(Isaiah xix . 19, 20).
“David , the Psalmist, also saith in his Psalms — ‘Confession and beauty are before Him’ (Psalm xcvi . 6): and again he saith, ‘Lord, I have loved the beauty of thine house, and the place of the habitations of thy glory’ (Psalm xxvi. 8). And again, when he predicts the Advent and the Incarnation of our Saviour, the Son of God, he is most earnest in exhorting all to worship His face according to His incarnate dispensation, saying, ‘My face sought thee; thy face, O Lord, will I seek’ (Psalm xxvi.; 8); and again, ‘The rich among the people shall seek thy face’ (Psalm xlv. 12); and again, ‘The light of thy countenance hath been stamped upon us, O Lord’ (Psalm iv. 8): whence St. Augustin, that great doctor, saith in his comments: ‘What is the image of God but the face of God, with which the people of God have been stamped?’
“Moreover, Gregory, Bishop of Nyssa, thus speaks in his discourse concerning Abraham: ‘I have often seen the representation of his trial, but never could pass by the work of art which brought this history before my eyes without tears.’ And again, in his commentary on the Song of Songs, he speaks quite in accordance with the received doctrine: ‘The material which forms the likeness of the living is in various colours; and yet he who looks on the image which, by the painter’s art, fills the canvass, does not regard the variety of the colours, but rather, by them, is led to the contemplation of the Prototype.’ Moreover, in the Epistle of St. Basil to Julian the Apostate, it is said: ‘According to the immaculate faith of us, Christians, which we have received by inheritance from God, I confess, and follow, and believe, in one God Almighty — God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost; and these Three I worship and glorify as One God. I confess also the incarnate dispensation of the Son; and, furthermore, I confess Holy Mary, who begat Him, according to the flesh, to be (θεοτόκον) Mother of God. I acknowledge, moreover, the holy Apostles, Prophets, and Martyrs, who make intercession with God; and these I invoke, that by their mediation God, the Lover of mankind, may be gracious to me and may grant to me remission of my sins. Wherefore, I honour and openly worship their figures as presented by their images; for these have been handed down to us by the Apostles, and must not be forbidden. Moreover, we set up their pictures in all our churches.’ And, again, the same testifies in his discourse on the forty holy Martyrs — ‘Since often both historians and painters set forth the victories and triumphs of war — the one displaying them by the beauties of eloquence, the other depicting them on the canvass, and both have excited many to deeds of bravery; for that which the word of history presents to us in writing the silent picture teaches by imitation.’
“Again: in the sermon of Saint John Chrysostom, Bishop of Constantinople, on the parable of the sower, it is said, ‘If you insult the Royal garment, do you not insult him who wears it? Know you not that, if any one insults the image which is made up of wood and paint, he is judged as having presumed, not against a lifeless thing, but against the King himself, for he does the King a two-fold injury?’ And, again, from the discourse of the same Father, on the fifth holy day of the Passover: All things are made for the glory of God and our use -the clouds, for the supply of rain; the earth, to abound in fruits; the sea is freely granted to the sailor — all are for the service of man, or rather the image of God in him; for, even as when the imperial pictures or effigies are paraded into the various cities, and the rulers and people go forth in great triumph to meet them, they do not pay homage to the canvass or the wax-formed pictures, but to the imperial figure — so the various creatures honour not the earthly form, but reverence the heavenly image contained therein.’ In like manner, we bring forward the commentary of the blessed Cyril on the holy Gospel, according to Matthew, which declares — Faith pourtrays the word, who, being in the form of God, took upon Him our likeness, and became Man, that the price of our redemption might be offered up to God.’ And again, shortly after, he says, ‘Parables fulfil the office of images, which bring the force of the thing signified, as it were, within the ken of the eye or the touch of the hand; and this in respect of things which, if they were presented in the abstract, would make but feeble impression on the mind.’
“Again: in the discourse of Saint Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria , concerning the incarnation of the Lord, which begins — ‘Touching on a few things out of many, we have written sufficiently about them,’ — it is subjoined — ‘And, in respect of those things which are engraven on wood, if the impression be obliterated by dirt from without, it becomes necessary that the same be renewed and fashioned according to that of which it is the form, so that the image may be remodelled in the same material and elements; and in this restoration of form the original material is not destroyed, but, on the contrary, is renewed together with it.’
“Also, in the ninth chapter of the third book of the blessed Ambrose to the Emperor Gratian — What! when we worship His Deity and His flesh, do we divide Christ? — or when we adore in Him both the image of God and His cross, do we divide Him? God forbid!’ Again we find Epiphanius saying — If any King makes an image of himself, are there, therefore, two Kings? By no means, since the King is one and the same with his image.’
“Again: we learn the same from St. Stephen, Bishop of Bostra: ‘As concerning the images of the Saints (he observes), we confess that every work wrought in God’s name is good and holy. Now, an image is one thing, a statue is another — that is, an idol. When God formed man — that is, when He created him — He said, ‘Let us make man after our image and likeness’ (Gen. i. 26): and He made man in the image of God. What, then, because man is the image of God, is he a statue, which it were idolatrous and impious to form? God forbid! If Adam had been the image of the Devil, then he would have been an object of loathing and execration; but, since he is the image of God, he was worthy both of honour and regard; for every image made in the name of the Lord, or of the Angels, or the Prophets, or the Apostles, Martyrs, and other righteous men, is holy. It is not the wood which is worshipped by us, but our honour is paid to that which is seen and recorded upon the wood. Now we all reverence and salute our rulers, even though they be sinners: why, then, are we not equally bound to worship the holy servants of God — and for a memorial of them to set up and erect their images, lest they should be forgotten? But thou sayest that God Himself has forbidden us to worship things made with hands. Tell me, O thou Jew, what is there on earth which is not made with hands, since all things have been made by God? — and, furthermore, was not the ark of God formed and framed of Shittim wood, made with hands? And the altar, the mercy-seat, the pot of manna, the table, the candlestick, the inner and outer tabernacle-were not these the work of men’s hands when Solomon himself made them? How came it to pass that they should be styled the ‘Holy of Holies,’ since they are made with hands? Again: the cherubim and the six-winged living creatures around the altar — what are these but images of angels and things made with the hand? Wherefore were they not cast out, but because these images of angels, being made by the command of God, were holy, as were also the images of the living creatures? But the idols of the heathen, inasmuch as they were images of devils, God hath cast them out and condemned them. We therefore, for a remembrance of the Saints, make images of them -that is, of Abraham, Moses, Elijah, Isaiah, Zecharias, and all the Prophets; of the Apostles and Martyrs, who bore affliction for their Lord; that so every one who sees them in their images may recall them to mind, and give glory to God who gave such honour to them. Honour, worship, and praise, proportioned to their righteousness, is their due, that all who behold may themselves be in earnest to follow such good examples. Now this honorary worship, what is it but the same which we sinners pay to each other when we reverence or salute each other from respect or affection? Thus it is that we worship the image of the Lord and glorify it with trembling, for it is the image of His likeness, and He is depicted therein. Let not the impious and the evil doer, who cares not to remember the Saints, be any hindrance to those who would do that which is right — any stumbling-block to those who do honour the Saints, the servants of God, and who delight in the remembrance of them — for they shall receive a reward worthy of their goodness: while the impious shall meet with disgrace and destruction answerable to their sinful devices for that they have neglected that which was right and have turned aside from God.
“For the remembrance of the Saints are their images made; and they are worshipped and reverenced, inasmuch as they are servants of God and offer up prayers and supplications for us. And surely it is no more than right that we should thus remember those who have gone before us, and give thanks to God in their behalf.
“And in the discourse of the blessed Jerome, the Presbyter of Jerusalem, it is said. ‘As God hath granted to every nation to worship things made with hands, and was pleased to give to Israel those two tables of stone which Moses cut out of the rock and the golden cherubim, so to us, Christians, hath He granted to paint and worship the cross, and the pictures of the deeds of the Saints, and so to display our works.’
“We have now, my most pious and serene Lords and dear Children, set before you in brief the above-cited passages of the holy Fathers, from which, as well as from that which the history of the divine Scriptures of the Old and New Testament testifies concerning the observation of divine worship, it is evident that whatever has been set up in churches for a memorial of deeds of piety, to the glory of God, has been set up there by express permission of God Himself. And further that they are in accordance with the tradition of the holy Fathers concerning the erection of holy images, and with the sacred Scriptures which treat on this subject, even as is found in that Apostolic summary, which with all humility and sincerity of heart we have drawn up in order to lay before the serenity of your Royal Highness. Whence it follows that we ought to abide by those testimonies thus carefully selected from various most approved Fathers confirming the use of images, which we found in their books, and have made all haste to present to your most gracious Sovereignty. Wherefore, with great affection of heart, I beseech your Clemency, and as though I were present on my knees and prostrate before your feet I beseech you, and as before God I exhort and adjure you, to decree that these sacred images shall be established and restored to their former honour, both in your Royal and Heaven-protected city and in all other provinces of your Grecian dominions; that so preserving the tradition of our most sacred and most holy Church, and rejecting with abhorrence the audacity of impious heretics, ye may be again received into the arms of our Holy, Catholic, Apostolic, and Immaculate Roman Church.
After the letter of the Pope to the Emperor was finished Tarasius said to the Legates: “Did ye yourselves receive these letters from the most Holy Pope which ye laid before our pious Sovereigns?”
Peter and Peter, the Legates, answered: “We ourselves having received from our Apostolic Father these letters, have brought them to your pious Lords.”
John, the most honourable Secretary, said: “Our most worthy friends from Sicily can testify to this — I mean Theodore, most religious Bishop of Catana, and the most pious Deacon Epiphanius, who is here as Vicar of the Archbishop of Sardinia; for they both, at the command of our pious Sovereigns, went to Rome with the most pious Secretary of our most holy Patriarch.”
Theodore, Bishop of Catana, said to the Patriarch: “Our religious Sovereigns having commanded, in their most honourable mandate, that Leo, a most religious Presbyter, should be sent with me, the servant of your Holiness, with the valued letter of our most sacred master the Governor of our province in Sicily, who ever holds your Holiness in highest estimation, forwarded us to Rome with the sacred letters of our Orthodox Sovereigns; and when we arrived we declared the faith and Orthodoxy of our religious rulers; and the most blessed Pope, having heard us, said in reply: ‘If, in the days of their sovereignty, this should be accomplished, God will magnify the reign of their piety above the reigns of any of their predecessors.’ He then sent, by the hands of his Legates who now preside in this assembly, the letter which is directed to your Holiness, with that other letter which has been read, addressed to our most pious Sovereigns.”
Cosmas, the Deacon, Notary, and Chamberlain, said: “Another epistle was also sent from the most holy Pope, addressed to Tarasius, our most holy and Ecumenical Patriarch, and we wait to know your pleasure concerning this also.”
The Holy Council answered: “Let it be read.”
Cosmas, the aforesaid Deacon, read as follows:
Letter of Pope Adrian to Patriarch Tarasius
“The Epistle of Adrian, most holy Pope of Old Rome, to our beloved brother Tarasius, the Patriarch: Adrian, servant of the servants of God:
“In consequence of those pastoral cares by which it becomes us to feed the people of God — being occupied in enquiries most profound as to the manner in which the voice of sound doctrine should be proclaimed by the preacher at all times, and how the shepherd should sympathise with his flock, and how he should conduct himself, that by his sympathy he may be dear to all and by his behaviour he may become a pattern to all — and how, by a religious compassion he may transfer to himself their sorrows and infirmities, whilst, by his exalted contemplations, he may raise their minds to heavenly things — we determined with ourselves to communicate with your beloved Holiness; and in sacerdotal unanimity fully to lay before you our mind.
“Now in the synodical confession of your faith, transmitted by Leo your most religious Presbyter, to our Apostolic throne, in the very beginning of the first page we found that your Holiness had been raised to that sacerdotal dignity from the ranks of the Laity and the imperatorial service; and very greatly was our soul amazed at this. And, indeed, were it not that your faith, as expressed in aforementioned synodals, had been found sincere and Orthodox, according to the rule of the sacred Symbol and of the six holy Ecumenical Councils, and furthermore sound as it respected holy images, we should never have ventured to have given such synodals a listening But, in proportion as our heart was grieved at your former perverse division from us, so was our soul filled with joy when we found how consonant was your confession with the Orthodox faith. For we found in the above-mentioned synodical epistle of your Holiness, after the fulness of your faith in, and confession of, the sacred Symbol and the six holy Ecumenical Councils, a paragraph concerning holy and venerable images worthy of the highest praise and reception. For you there say, ‘I receive also all that was determined by the six holy Ecumenical Councils, with all the Canons, legitimately and by divine inspiration enacted therein,’ among which is the following – In certain sacred pictures, the Lamb, as pointed out by the finger of the forerunner (John the Baptist) is represented which was a type of grace, and under the law prefigured the True Lamb, Christ our God. But while we duly value the ancient types and shadows, as types and prefigurations of the truth, we value more highly the grace and truth itself, receiving the same as the completion of the law. In order therefore, that the perfect image may be presented to the contemplation of all, we decree that in all pictures from hence forth, the figure of our Lord Jesus Christ, the true Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world (John i. 29), should be pourtrayed in His human form, instead of the Lamb as heretofore; that we being stirred up by the sight thereof, may be led to meditate upon the depth of the humiliation of God the Word, and to the remembrance of His conversation in the flesh; and of His passion, and of His saving death, and of the redemption thereby accomplished in behalf of the world.’
“By this proof of the Orthodoxy of your faith, your fraternal Holiness hath separated itself from, and utterly rejected, the officious meddling of wicked men and the garrulity of the heretics, even as their pernicious zeal never met with any countenance from us nor from divine grace, but was ever accounted by both as vain and frivolous. For our Catholic and Apostolic Roman Church, ‘girt up as to the loins of the mind’ (1 Peter i. 13), makes her confession, in heart and voice ever deciding in exact contrariety to the folly of heretics, against whose hostility and fury she hath often been forced to contend. Wherefore, as your beloved Holiness has engaged to worship and adore holy images — namely, that of Christ our God according to His human form who, like to ourselves, for us and on our account became incarnate, and that of the holy, immaculate, and very Mother of God; and, furthermore, those of His saints: this, your Orthodox determination (if only as it has begun so it continue) meets our entire approbation; and, regarding you as it were with pastoral solitude, we advise you that both in preaching and in teaching you preserve unchanged that Orthodox faith of which you have now made confession; ‘for other foundation can no man lay than is laid which is Jesus Christ’ (1 Cor. iii. 11). Every one, therefore, who retains his hold of the love of Christ, and of our neighbour who is in Christ, hath laid for himself Jesus Christ the Son of God and Man as his foundation; for it is an acknowledged truth that, wherever Christ is the foundation, the superstructure of good works must follow. Thus it is that the truth itself teaches us, “He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But be that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep’ (John 1. 1, 2). And the same Saviour adds, ‘I am the door of the sheep’ (John x. 7). He entereth the sheepfold who cometh in by the door, and he cometh in by the door who cometh in by Christ; and he cometh in by Christ, who, being enlightened as to the truth by the Creator and Redeemer of the human race, guards and preserves from harm the rank of the pastoral dignity, and who undertakes to bear its weight not with a view to transitory glory and honour, but as having unceasingly to watch over the charge which he has received, lest the sheep of God should perish through the seductions of perverted men who speak wickedly, or through the persuasions of evil spirits. The blessed Jacob who, for his wives served Laban his father-in-law during many years, is represented as thus addressing him, ‘These twenty years have I been with thee; thy sheep and thy goats have not cast their young, and the rams of thy flock have I not eaten; that which was torn of beasts I brought not unto thee; I bear the loss of it, whether stolen by day or stolen by night. Thus I was, in the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night; and my sleep departed from mine eyes’ (Genesis xxxi. 38–40). If he who kept the flock of Laban was thus laborious, thus watchful, for what labours, for what watchfulness, ought not he to be ready who undertakes to feed the flock of Christ? But may He who for our sakes became Man, condescending to become that which He Himself had made, confirm and teach you in all these things: may He shed abundantly the love and desire of His holy Spirit upon you: may He keep you from all disquieting cares and open the eyes of your mind; so that, by the labour and conflict of your love, and by the conformity of your course to our Orthodox tradition of the ancient Apostolic faith, holy and venerable images may be replaced according to the ancient order throughout all the realms of our pious Sovereigns, and thus may your sacerdotal dignity remain firm and stable. After the confession of your faith, it was furthermore signified to us that your venerable Holiness had requested of our most pious, most Orthodox, zealous, and faithful Sovereigns born for the glory of God and to be most valiant champions of the truth, that there should be held an Ecumenical Council, and that they piously favouring the proposal, had declared their agreement thereto in the presence of all their most Christian people, and had determined that the Council should be held in their own Royal city. We, therefore, with most hearty affection, have sent, according to the request contained in their sacred mandate, beloved, approved, and prudent Priests, for the purpose of the restoration of holy images, that throughout all those regions they may be reinstated in their wonted honour and respect. But let your Holiness, with all earnestness, urge upon our most pious and triumphant Sovereigns that, in the first place, the false conventicle assembled without authority from the Apostolic see, most irregularly and irrationally and in direct opposition to the tradition of our most venerable Fathers against sacred images, be anathematised in the presence of our Legates; and that all tares be rooted out of the Church, that the word of our Lord Jesus Christ may be fulfilled that ‘the gates of hell shall not prevail against her,’ etc.; and again, ‘Thou art Peter, and on this rock will I build my Church, and I give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven’ (Matt. xvi. 18, 19). Whose throne, holding the pre-eminence, shines resplendent throughout the whole world and exists as the head of all the Churches of God; because that the blessed Peter, feeding the Church of God by that command of his Master, left nothing neglected, but ever hath retained and ever will retain the Primacy. To whom, as well as to our Apostolic throne, which is the head of all the Churches of God, if your Holiness would be united, and if ye be really anxious from the bottom of your heart and with all sincerity of conscience to preserve her sacred and Orthodox standard incorrupt and unpolluted, as being yourself truly Orthodox and pious, this must be your first offering to the Lord Almighty, prostrating yourself as in our person before the feet of our most pious and illustrious God crowned Sovereigns, you must beseech them, and as if in the presence of God and His fearful judgment-seat, you must conjure them, that they give instant orders that, both in the Royal city and throughout all their dominions, holy images be restored to their ancient dignity; that by your conflict and labour in the faith they may hold fast the tradition of this our sacred and most holy Roman Church, and may expel with utter loathing the errors of wicked men and heretics. If on the contrary they fail to restore holy and venerable images in their country, we shall not dare to admit your ordination in any way, and still less shall we be willing to do this if you give the least heed to those who are disobedient to the truth.
“Wherefore it becomes your most venerable Holiness, with diligence the most severe, with all ardour of faith, and with the greatest earnestness in all things, incessantly to labour that the holy and venerable images of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and of His holy Mother Mary ever a Virgin, and of all the holy Apostles, Prophets, Martyrs, and Confessors, be set up in their ancient order in all those regions, that we may worthily unite in singing the prophetic hymn (Psalm xx. 9), ‘Lord, save our most religious Sovereigns, and hear us in the day in which we call upon thee; for they have loved the beauty of thy house and the place of the habitation of thy glory’ (Psalm xxvi. 8).
“With respect to Peter, our beloved Arch-presbyter of our holy Roman Church , and Peter Monk Priest and Abbot, who have been sent by us to the footstool of your most pious and serene Rulers, we entreat that, from regard to St. Peter the head of the Apostles, and for our sake, they may be considered worthy of, and receive at your hands, all that kindness and courtesy which is due from man to man; and thus we shall lie under the greater obligation to you. May the Lord Almighty prosper your work of love so long as it continues stable: may He ever be present with you: may He ever preserve you, and may He cause the fruit entrusted to thy care to abound and to superabound, and may He order it to transfer thee to eternal bliss. God preserve thee in health, my beloved brother!”
Peter and Peter, the most reverend Presbyters and Legates of the Pope of Rome, said: “Let Tarasius, the most holy Patriarch of the Royal City, declare whether he agrees with the letters of the most holy Pope of Old Rome or not.”
Tarasius: “He around whom the light of Christ did shine, and who hath begotten us again by the Gospel, Paul, the divine Apostle, when writing to the Romans approving the earnestness of the sincere faith which they had in Christ our true God, spake in this wise: ‘Your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world’ (Rom i. 8). This testimony we must needs follow, and it would be indeed the part of rashness to contradict the same; since Adrian, the President of Old Rome, may be justly numbered among those to whom such testimony is due as having written so plainly and truly to our religious Sovereigns and to our unworthy selves, and so fully confirming the ancient tradition of the Catholic Church to be both right and good. We, therefore, having made our enquiry, with the Scriptures, with research, with argument, with proof, and being instructed in the doctrines of the Fathers, have thus confessed, do confess, and will confess: and we do walk in accordance with, and do persist in, and are fully confirmed in the great doctrine of these letters which have now been read, receiving holy images according to the tradition of our holy Fathers, and these we worship with relative affection, as being made in the name of Christ our God, of our holy and undefiled Lady the Mother of God, and of all the holy angels and of the Saints, manifestly confining our faith and absolute worship (λατρειαν) to the one only true God.”
The Holy Council said: “All this our holy Assembly thus believes, thus thinks, thus teaches.”
Peter and Peter, the aforesaid Legates said: “Let this holy Council declare to us if they consent to the letters of the most holy Pope of Old Rome or not.”
The Holy Council replied: “We follow, we receive, we hail them with joy.”
John, Legate of the Eastern Dioceses: “Now is it seasonable to sing with the Psalmist, ‘Mercy and truth are met together: righteousness and peace have kissed each other (Psalm lxxxv. 10). By mercy and truth we know our Lord Jesus Christ to be signified, and from connection with Him the most holy Patriarchs and Pastors of the world are in like manner signified and called. Further, we see how mercy and truth are met together, in that Adrian most holy Pope of Old Rome, and Tarasius most blessed Patriarch of Imperial Constantinople, agree to think and confess the same thing. But ‘righteousness and peace have kissed each other;’ for She who bears the name of Peace (i.e., Ειρήνη), and who, by God’s decree, now reigns and holds the sway, being divinely excited and earnestly wishing and panting for the glory of the Church, hath by her letter, as it were, kissed that which bears the name of ‘Righteousness,’ the most holy Roman Church, and hath excited it to appear before us, to rejoice all this holy Assembly and to declare the Orthodox faith. For now great joy hath followed the reading of the sacred letters of the most holy Pope Adrian, both of that which was addressed to our Heaven-defended and most serene Imperial Highnesses, and that which was sent to our most holy and thrice-blessed Patriarch, Tarasius; and we confess that for this our most hearty thanks are due to God, that He hath accounted us worthy of such joy and gladness. Blessed be God who hath raised up for us such a Sovereignty as this, exercising all care and vigilance to bring all the people to one harmonious agreement in heart and voice, and to the confirmation of the divine canons and traditions of our most holy Church. But may Christ our God, for the sake of her who begat Him, the all holy Mother of God, and of all Saints, and of you His Priests, who are agreed in the same profession, and who, devoid of all inward deceit, are earnestly desirous to fulfil all that has been written and to prove the truth of your promises, grant to our gracious Lords a long life: may He glorify them and lift up their horn: may He subdue their enemies and account them worthy in the world to come to be numbered among other holy Sovereigns; and may He grant all protection to this our holy unanimous Council!”
Agapius, Bishop of Caesarea, Cappadocia: “It is written in our divine Scriptures that ‘God divided the light from the darkness’ (Gen. i. 2). See, now, as the darkness of the heresy of evil-minded men departs, how the light of Orthodoxy casts its bright beams on all; following which I receive and worship holy and venerable images, and all who think not thus I consign to an anathema.”
John, Bishop of Ephesus: “As it is ordained in the valued letters of the most holy Pope of Rome, so I believe, so I confess, by the grace of Christ our true God.”
Constantine, Bishop of Constantia in Cyprus: “In all respects I agree with the communication now read, which was sent to our gracious Lords by Adrian, most holy Pope of Rome; and I consent to the letter which was sent to the most holy Patriarch Tarasius. It is thus I confess, and in this faith will I go before the judgment-seat of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.”
Basil, Bishop of Ancyra: “According to the letters of the most holy Pope of Old Rome and the sentiments of our most holy Father and Ecumenical Patriarch Tarasius, so I hold, so will I teach, and with views like these will I go into the world to come.”
Nicholas, Bishop of Cyzicum: “According to the letters of Adrian, most holy Pope of Old Rome, and the publication of the confession of our most holy Patriarch Tarasius, so I hold, so I ever shall hold, and with this confession I will be carried into another world.”
Euthymius, Bishop of Sardis: “I sincerely and without any hesitation, agreeing to the sentiments of the letters now read from the Pope of Old Rome and to the declaration of our most holy Patriarch Tarasius, do avow and confess that so I think, both concerning the Orthodox faith and also concerning holy images: not as if I now admitted some new dogma or recent invention, but as having accurately ascertained the tradition about them, to be both of the holy Apostles and divine Teachers who left them to the Church of God. Wherefore, with my whole heart (ὁλοψύχως), I receive those same venerable images with honour befitting and the worship of salutation (ἀσπαστικῆς προσκυνησέως). And those who differ or oppose, or teach anything contrary to holy images, esteeming them as aliens from the Catholic Church, I reject them and denounce them as heretics.”
Peter, Bishop of Nicomedia: “According to the letters now read from Adrian, most holy Pope of Old Rome, so I confess, so I hold, concerning holy images, nor have I ever wavered; and I worship and adore them, as being ready in the day of judgment to give account to our God and our Judge.”
Elias, Bishop of Crete: “According to the precious letters of the most holy Pope of Old Rome, so I confess and hold concerning holy and venerable images, never having wavered about them; for it is not now that for the first time I worship them. And those who confess not thus I anathematise.”
Stauracius, Bishop of Chalcedon: “According to the Epistle sent from Adrian, most holy Pope of Old Rome, to our most holy Patriarch Tarasius, so I receive, embrace, and salute holy and venerable images as being the pledge of my salvation (ὡς ἄρραβῶνα τῆς σωτηρίας μοῦ ὀύσας). And all those who think not thus I anathematise.”
Nicephorus, Bishop of Dyrrachium: “According to the communications sent from Adrian , most holy Pope of Old Rome, to our pious Sovereigns and to the most holy and Ecumenical Patriarch Tarasius, and according to the doctrine, faith, and confession of this same most holy Archbishop Tarasius, so I think, and hold, and teach; and with this, my confession, shall I finish the short period of my life, and with this will I stand before the fearful judgment-seat of Christ.”
Epiphanius, Deacon of the Church of Catana and Vicar of the Archbishop of Sardinia: “A most lucid definition of Orthodoxy and of Apostolic tradition has now been set before us in the letter sent from Adrian, most blessed Pope of Old Rome, to our pious and Christian Sovereigns, and also in the epistle sent to Tarasius, our most holy and Ecumenical Patriarch. With these in every respect agreeing and following in all sincerity, I honour, worship, and receive, holy and venerable images long since delivered to the Church; and whoso agrees not with these, I reject as partakers with heretics, and I give him over to the anathema.”
Leo, Presbyter of the most holy Church of Constantinople and Vicar of the Metropolis of Sida: “Agreeing with the synodical letters of the most blessed Pope of Old Rome and the doctrine of our most holy Patriarch Tarasius, I receive holy images, according to the ancient tradition: and all who think differently I anathematise.”
[The rest of the assembled Bishops made the same declaration with but few verbal differences. The number of those who were present at this Session was two hundred and sixty-one.
When the Bishops had all declared themselves,] the Holy Council said: “It is proper that the most reverend Monks make their declaration.”
The Monks replied: “If order so require that we also declare ourselves, be it as you command.”
Tarasius: “The order is that every one who is present in the Council make his own confession.”
Sabbas, Monk and Abbot of the Monastery at Studium, said: “According to the ancient immaculate faith delivered to us of old by the holy Apostles and Doctors in the Catholic and Apostolic Church, so we hold; and the summary sent from Adrian, the thrice-blessed and Apostolic Pope, to our religious and Christ-loving Sovereigns, and to Tarasius our Ecumenical Patriarch, which has enlightened and dazzled our minds, we have heard with faith. It is thus I confess and believe, and all who think not thus I anathematise.”
Gregory, Monk and Abbot of the Monastery of St. Sergius: “According to the ancient rule long since delivered to us in the holy great Church of God by the holy and illustrious Apostles, and preserved by holy and sacred Fathers and Doctors, I mean by the six holy Ecumenical Councils, we hold; and with most hearty affection receiving the Orthodox letters sent from Adrian, the most Holy and Apostolical Pope of Old Rome, both to our religious and Christ-loving Sovereigns, and to Tarasius our most holy Ecumenical Patriarch, which have enlightened and flashed conviction upon our minds, so I confess, so I preach, and so I believe, that by this, my true confession together with my good deeds, I shall obtain the pardon of that which I have done amiss.”
John, Abbot of Pagurium, Eustathius Abbot of the Monks of St. Maximin, Simeon, Abbot of Chora, George Abbot of Pega, Simeon Abbot of the Abrahamitae, Joseph Abbot of Heraclea, Plato Abbot of Sacudeon, Gregory Abbot of the Monks of St. Hyacinthus, and all the monks present, made similar declarations.
Source: Mendham, John, trans. 1850. The Seventh General Council, the Second of Nicaea, Held A.D. 787, in Which the Worship of Images Was Established. London: William Edward Painter. Pages 45-84.