may poure vnto God the acceptable sacrifice of prayer, together with the most holy Bishops & sacred clergy, with the gouernours of Monasteries & Monkes them selues for the preseruatiō of our prosperous raygne. For in case that almighty God and our Sauiour Iesus Christ, who tooke flesh of the virgine Mary the mother of God & was borne into the worlde would allowe of the general praises & worship we geue vnto him & receaue the same with willīg minde & redines, then no doubt not onely all sorts of enemies woulde vtterly be foyled, but also all other nations vnder heauen would be brought subiect vnto our Empire, & willingly serue vs next & immedi¦atly after God: then also peace & the profit annexed therunto, seasonable tēperature of the aer, plenty of all sorts of fruite, with all other things required for the vse of mā would abūdantly be ministred. Nowe therfore seing it appeareth vnto all men howe both we our selues & the Em∣pire of Rome is preserued vnder the wing of the true faith; the holy gouernours of the monaste∣ries & heremits with other religious mē exhibited vnto vs supplicatiōs, exhortīg vs very earnestly that the most holy churches may enioy peace, that the mēbers may be coupled together whiche the deuel enemy to honesty hath labored of a lōg time to part asunder, for he is fully perswaded that if the body of the church being ioyntly knit together in the bond of vnity encountred with him, he would quickly be ouerthrowē. by reason the mēbers were seuered, it came to passe that infinit multituds of mē, now many hundred yeres ago departed this world, some without bap∣tisme, some other without the cōmunion being void of charity (the dynt of death is ineuitable) it caused moreouer infinit slaughters & bloodshed, not only the earth but the aer also was infe∣cted with streames of blood is huinge out of the tender bowells of men. And who is he (I pray you) that wisheth not for reformatō & redresse of these things? wherfore we haue done our in∣deuor for to certifie you, that not onely we our selues but all the churches euery where haue not had in times past, neither present, will not haue herafter, neither knowe any other that haue any other faith or doctrine, then the creede (spoken of before) deliuered by three hūdred & eighteen Byshops & confirmed afterwardes by a hundred & fifty fathers. But if any man haue any other creede we take him not to be of the church. For we beleue that through this faith only it cometh to passe that our Empire doth florish: that the people by embracīg of the same are inspired with the holy Ghost & washed in the sacred fountaine of baptisme: it was this faith that the holy fa∣thers in the councell of Ephesus subscribed vnto, which deposed wicked Nestorius of the Eccle∣siasticall ministery & as many as fauored his hereticall opinion whome we also doe accurse to∣gether with Eutyches (for both of them impugned the aforesayde faith) and approue the twelue pointes of the faith layde downe by Cyrill of worthy memorye, late Archbishop of the Catho∣licke church of Alexandria. For we confesse that the onely begotten sonne of God our Lord Ie∣sus Christ is truely incarnate, of one substance with the father accordinge vnto his diuinity, & of one substance with vs accordinge vnto his humanity: that he came downe from heauen: that by the holy Ghoste he tooke fleshe of the virgine Mary the mother of God: that he is one and not two. For we say that the miracles he wrought & the vexations he endured in the flesh belonged vnto one person. we doe condemne for euer such as deuide, or confound his natures, or say that he had a phantasticall body. For he was truely incarnate of the mother of God without spott or blemish of sinne. The Trinity remayneth neuerthelesse though one person of the Trinity, to wit, God the worde be incarnate. VVherfore seing we learne of surety that all the holy and Catho∣licke Churches euery where, that all the godly Presidentes and gouernours thereof, and that our Empire neither hath allowed neither will retayne any other creede or forme of faith, then that we spake of euen nowe, let vs ioyntly without any more a doe be reconciled and embrace vnity and concorde. These things haue we wrytten vnto you, not to innouate ought as toutching the faith, but fully to satisfie you therein. VVe doe accurse whosoeuer hath beleued or doth beleue the contrary, either nowe or at other times, either in the councell of Chalcedon, or in any other councell whatsoeuer▪ but specially of all others we doe accurse Nestorius, Eutyches and their cō∣plices. VVherefore hold with your Ghostly mother the Churche, and celebrate therein together with vs the one holy cōmunion according vnto that one fayth of the three hundred & eighteen holy fathers. For your most holy mother the Church groneth after you and desireth to embrace you which are her naturall children, moreouer she longeth to heare your sweete voyces. Get ye thither in all the hast. If ye doe this ye shal not onely purchase vnto your selues the fauour of our Lord & Sauiour Christ Iesus, but also the cōmendation of our highnes. This epistle being read, all the people of Alexandria returned vnto the Catholick and Apostolicke Church.