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Life of St Wilfrid
Eddius Stephanus, tr. Colgrave, 1927
32. Of the Synod’s Answer
The whole synod which met together with the most holy and thrice-blessed Apostolic Father Agatho made the following declaration amongst others, according to rule:
“We decide and decree that Bishop Wilfrid, beloved of God, shall receive back the bishopric which he had of late, within the limits previously defined; and those whom he shall choose as fellow-bishops with the consent of the council there to be assembled, men with whom he may live peaceably, according to the rule previously laid down, shall be preferred and consecrated as bishops by the most holy archbishop; and those must most decidedly be driven out, who in his absence have been unlawfully placed in the episcopal see. If anyone therefore attempts with rash daring to withstand the decrees of these synodal statutes or does not obediently accept them, or if any, whoever they be or shall be, after whatsoever lapse of time, shall attempt to break them, either wholly or in part, we declare by the authority of the blessed Peter the chief of the Apostles that he shall be punished by this decree; so that if he be a bishop who attempts to flout this pious ordinance, let him be deprived of episcopal rank and be the object of an eternal curse; likewise if he be a priest, a deacon, or of lower rank in the church, indeed whether he be a cleric, a monk, or a layman of whatever degree, even a king, let him be cut off from the body of our Saviour and the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ; nor let him be accounted worthy to gaze upon His dread appearing. He however who receives these decisions, laid down or defined by us, with true devotion and complete satisfaction—keeps them, carries them out, or helps to carry them out—may he see the ‘goodness of the Lord in the land of the living,’ may he have his part with those on the right hand, may he possess eternal bliss and deserve to hear that beatific voice, together with all the saints who have won favour in the sight of God and have inherited eternal glory, hearing as a reward for that obedience, which God loves beyond all sacrifices, the words of the Judge of all, our Lord Jesus Christ, ‘Come ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.’”