Caput XXIII
Theodosius Submits to an Unjust Excommunication
Emperor Theodosius, excommunicated by an unstable monk over an unaddressed complaint, refuses to eat even when bishops grant permission, insisting on the monk's own absolution.
Theodosius, that famous emperor, was excommunicated on one occasion by a certain monk — who, I believe, was not in full possession of his senses — on account of some complaint the monk had, which the emperor had not promptly addressed, just as the Tripertita Historia relates. And the monk, having depicted the excommunication in a painting — one that could be found and thrown out by the emperor — departed. But the emperor, considering in the matter not that wandering monk but rather the heavenly King — by whose authority excommunication is customarily pronounced — did not presume to dine at all, since the hour was indeed pressing upon him. And though many bishops stood by in his presence, and that bishop to whose diocese the aforementioned monk belonged had granted permission, the emperor could not be compelled to taste anything — until the monk, sought for a long time and much effort, was at last found and asked to grant the emperor permission.
The Moral Contrast: Theodosius and the Degenerate
Odo draws a sharp contrast between Theodosius's humble submission to an irrational excommunication and the contempt shown by degenerate men toward legitimate ecclesiastical censure, citing the Apostle's warning about evil days.
I would wish that from these persons they would indirectly compose comparisons, so that they might more truly discern the cause from its opposite. Look: not just any emperor, but Theodosius — admirable to every age after him — observed an excommunication pronounced not reasonably but foolishly, imposed not by anyone who possessed even the slightest authority to excommunicate, but by a foolish monk, thrown in by chance. But these degenerate little men — who have not even the slightest mark of decency in the eyes of ordinary people — despise excommunication: not one imposed by chance, but one decreed by ecclesiastical censure through the bishops. Surely because these are evil days, in which, as the Apostle says, there arise men who love themselves and, turning their hearing away from the truth, do not accept sound doctrine.✦
Despising God Through His Ministers
Odo warns that those who scorn God's ministers in fact scorn God Himself, just as Cain despised the warning given through his brother.
This is why they treat the weight of divine authority so lightly — not only do they look down on God's ministers, but in the very persons of those ministers they despise God himself, who speaks through them to warn and admonish, just as Cain despised the warning given through his brother.✦1
Transition to a Second Exemplum
Having recounted Theodosius's remarkable humility, Odo signals a transition to another king's story about respect for excommunication.
Now, because we've heard about one king who, with remarkable humility, respected an excommunication even though it was unjustly imposed, let us now hear what happened in the case of another.2
Read the original Latin
Theodosius imperator ille famosus, sicut Tripertita historia refert, quadam vice a quodam monacho, qui, ut credo, non bene compos mentis suae erat, pro quadam ejus querela, quam non statim expedierat, excommunicatus est. Et monachus quidem excommunicatione in pictatio descripta, et quo ab imperatore inveniri posset projecta discessit. At imperator non illum gyrovagum, sed coelestem potius regem, cujus auctoritate solet excommunicatio fieri, in causa considerans, prandere nullatenus, cum quidem incumberet hora, praesumpsit. Multisque episcopis coram astantibus, et cum illo episcopo, ad cujus dioecesim praedictus monachus pertinebat, licentiam dantibus, cogi non potuit ut aliquid gustaret, donec monachus diu multumque quaesitus, et aliquando repertus est, et rogatus ut imperatori licentiam daret. Velim ut istis personis ex obliquo personas componant, quatenus causam a contrario verius discernant. Ecce imperator non qualiscunque, sed Theodosius omni saeculo post se mirandus, observavit excommunicationem non rationabiliter, sed inepte prolatam, neque a quolibet, qui vel tenuem excommunicandi potestatem habuerit, sed a stulto monacho fortuitu injectam. Isti vero degeneres homunciones, nullumque saltem apud vulgares signum honestatis habentes, contemnunt excommunicationem non fortuitam, sed ecclesiastica censura per pontifices decretam. Certe quia dies mali sunt, in quibus, ut ait Apostolus, existunt homines seipsos amantes, qui auditum a veritate avertentes sanam doctrinam non recipiunt.
Inde est quod pondus divinae auctoritatis parvipendunt, et non solum Dei ministros, sed ipsum etiam per eos admonentem more Cain spernunt. Quia vero de uno rege, qui mira humilitate excommunicationem, licet ineptam, observavit, audivimus, nunc de alio quid contigit audiamus.
Scripture echoes
- ↩2Tim.4.3-2Tim.4.4 — For the time will come when they will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers according to their own desires, 2Tim.4.4 — and they will turn away their ears from the truth, and will be turned aside to myths.
- ↩Gen.4.8 — And Cain said to Abel his brother, 'Let us go out to the field.' And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him.
Notes
- 1 ↩'more Cain' (in the manner of Cain) — the allusion is to Cain's contempt for God's warning delivered through Abel (Gen 4:8); the ablative of manner treats Cain as a type of those who reject divine correction even when it comes through human messengers.
- 2 ↩'Quia vero' rendered as 'Now, because' — 'vero' taken as confirmatory/emphatic rather than adversative, fitting the transitional function of the sentence as it moves from the Theodosius example to the next story.
Collationes (Conferences / Collations) companion
Day 11 and onward, delivered every morning
All 140 conferences — and the rest of the Sub Rosa library — in daily portions in the free Chosen Portion iOS app
Odo urged a daily return to sacred reading as the cure for the soul's slow decline; Chosen Portion makes that daily return a scheduled habit on your phone.
- Continue through all three books of the Conferences at 5 minutes a day
- Daily examination-style readings drawn from 78+ historic works
- One morning notification to keep the practice going past day 10