Athanasius I of Constantinople, Patriarch

ANNO DOMINI MCCLXXXIX. ATHANASIUS CPOLITANUS PATRIARCHA. NOTITIA. Ex Anselmi Bandurii Imperio Orientali, tom. II, in not.

^A Abdicated the patriarchate, Gregory Cyprius, circa the month of June in the year of Christ 1289; in his place was substituted Athanasius, a monk from Mount Ganos. His promotion was celebrated by Andronicus at the Great Palace in the Justinian Triclinium with magnificence appropriate to such a function, though with the ill omen of an earthquake, as Pachymeres writes (lib. 11, cap. 15). And on the fourteenth day of the month of October of the same year Athanasius was ordained, as the same writer relates in the cited passage. However, as this man busied himself too vehemently with temporal affairs, he was ejected by the people, as Nicephorus Callisti writes; which fact is indeed confirmed by Pachymeres, who describes in more detail the things done by him in the patriarchate and his character. He was forced to abdicate the patriarchate after having sat for a quadriennium, namely on the sixteenth day of the month of October, as the same writer relates in chapter 24: "This also one might observe: that holding the Church for four years, he saw the very day of his expulsion, which he also knew to be that of his accession, which was also the sixteenth." However, one might add to these things—and not without reason—the observation that Athanasius completed his quadriennium in the patriarchate so exactly that he counted the sixteenth day of October both as the beginning and the end of his rule of the Church. Thus Pachymeres; from whom it is evident that Athanasius abdicated the patriarchate on the sixteenth day of the month of October in the year of Christ 1293, having sat for four years and two days, since his consecration occurred on the fourteenth day of the month of October in the year 1289. George Phrantza is therefore mistaken, who assigns eight full years to Athanasius.

How ignorant Athanasius was of governing men, and how savage and inhuman he was, anyone can easily recognize not only from Pachymeres, who writes more about him—for Gregoras, a praiser of schismatics, was very biased in favor of Athanasius—but also from the epistles of Athanasius himself, which he had written to Emperor Andronicus and to many others. A paper codex of these epistles is held in the Royal Library, which the Most Illustrious Lord Charles Maurice Le Tellier, Archbishop and Duke of Reims, donated to it, as the most learned Boivinius writes in his notes on Gregoras, where he speaks of this codex and of the epistles and other works of Patriarch Athanasius. It is our pleasure—since six years ago we transcribed all of Athanasius's epistles and works from the aforementioned Royal codex and translated them into Latin—to exhibit here an entire index of the aforementioned works, which we have adorned both from the papers of Boivinius and from our own labor. It stands, therefore, as follows:

1. Letter to the emperor concerning the bishops who are found here. *Epistola ad imperatorem, de episcopis, qui hic reperiuntur.*

2. Letter to the emperor, recounting his making forays more frequently and more about the walls and gates of the city, and that no one should enter inside the city with weapons. *Epistola ad imperatorem, narrans frequentes incursus maxime circa urbis muros et portas fieri; neque permittendum esse quempiam cum armis in urbem introire.*

3. Letter to the emperor that those who do wicked things should be cast out, and this should not be deferred to the future, especially in the circuit of Saint Sophia. *Epistola ad imperatorem; quod abjiciendi sint qui nefaria agunt, nec differendum in futurum, maximeque in circuitu Sanctæ Sophiæ.*

4. Letter to the emperor concerning right doctrine of faith. *Epistola ad imperatorem, de recta fidei doctrina.*

5. Letter to the one who had sent a book as a gift, and to whom it was later sent back. *Epistola ad eum, qui librum dono miserat; cui postea remissus fuit.*

6. Letter to the Emperor, regarding legitimate marriage. ^A *Epistola ad imperatorem, de legitimo connubio.*

7. Letter regarding the gathering of the archpriests in the Chora, so that they might go together to the Emperor for the sake of common benefit. *Epistola, de congregandis in Chorae monasterium pontificibus, ut ad imperatorem communis utilitatis causa simul conveniant.*

8. Letter to the Emperor regarding almsgiving, asking for counsel concerning prisoners. *Epistola ad imperatorem de eleemosyna: consilium rogat circa captivos.*

9. Letter to the Emperor requesting that certain matters not be sent through messengers, but face to face. *Epistola ad imperatorem, de non mittendis per nuntios certis negotiis, sed os ad os significandis.*

10. Letter to the Emperor regarding the archpriests, that each may be restored to the see allotted to him. *Epistola ad imperatorem, ut singuli episcopi suis sedibus restituantur.*

11. Letter to the Great Droungarios, that he should restore what was taken by injustice. ^B *Epistola ad magnum diacetam, ut per injuriam ablata restituat.*

12. Letter to the Emperor concerning the chrysobull, where it treats of the administration of the temporal affairs of the monasteries. *Epistola ad imperatorem propter chrysobulla; ubi de rebus temporalibus monasteriorum administrandis.*

13. Letter to the Emperor, that each of the archpriests depart to his allotted church. *Epistola ad imperatorem, ut singuli episcopi in suam Ecclesiam concedant.*

14. Letter to the Emperor, that justice, temperance, and mercy be kept unshaken. *Epistola ad imperatorem, ut justitia, temperantia et misericordia immutabiles serventur.*

15. Letter regarding the archpriests, that each depart to his allotted see, that he may teach his people. *Epistola ad imperatorem, ut singuli episcoporum ad suam Ecclesiam redeant, ut doceant populum suum.*

16. Letter that no pastor should abandon his flock. *Epistola, ne quis pastor ovile deserat.*

17. Letter to the Emperor, urging the archpriests to depart to their allotted sees. ^C *Epistola ad imperatorem, ut episcopi, vel sponte vel inviti, redeant ad Ecclesiam suam.*

18. In holy baptism, a letter to the Emperor Lord Michael, that among a myriad of cares we should have a concern for what we promised. *Epistola ad imperatorem dominum Michaelem, ut inter sexcentas curas de iis quae in sancto baptismate promisimus, solliciti simus.*

19. Letter to the Lady Mary the Empress. *Epistola ad dominam Mariam imperatricem.*

20. Letter that he should instruct his sons in things pleasing to God, and all that pertains to the liberty of the subjects according to the good pleasure of God. *Epistola ad imperatorem, ut instituat liberos et subditos omnes secundum Dei beneplacita.*

21. Letter to the Emperor concerning conversion to God, and that each may recognize his own private and public affairs, and regarding the noise that was made. *Epistola ad imperatorem de conversione ad Deum, et ut cognoscat unusquisque privata ac publica, et de strepitu facto.*

22. Letter to the Emperor, that justice, and mercy, and truth should be administered. *Epistola ad imperatorem, ut administretur justitia, miseratio et veritas.*

23. Letter to the Emperor, that he should not delay in doing good. ^D *Epistola ad imperatorem, ne bona facere differat.*

24. Letter to the Emperor regarding the God-killing Jews, that they should depart from the city. *Epistola ad imperatorem, de Deicidis Judaeis, ut ex urbe discedant.*

25. To the Emperor, regarding what care the emperors ought to show toward their subjects at the beginning of the holy fasts, Indiction 4. *Ad imperatorem, quantum subditorum curam imperatores gerere debeant in principio sanctorum jejuniorum. Indict. iv.*

26. To the Emperor, on the same matter again, Indiction 5. *Ad imperatorem, de eadem re iterum, Indictione v.*

27. Letter to the Emperor regarding the feast of the Nativity of Christ, requesting that a venerable decree be issued, that from the evening of Saturday and of the royal feast, no one be allowed into a bath or a tavern for drinking. *Ad imperatorem de festo Nativitatis Christi, rogans venerandum emitti decretum, ne quis a vespera Sabbati et regiae festivitatis in balneum aut tabernam ad libandum intromittatur.*

28. To the Emperor, inviting him to the all-venerable Dormition of the all-immaculate Lady and Mother of God. *Ad imperatorem, invitans ipsum ad Dormitionem intemeratae et Deiparae Dominae.*

29. To the Emperor, rousing him to mercy. *Ad imperatorem, excitans eum ad misericordiam.*

30. To the Emperor, that those who gather with the emperor in the catechumena look not to prayers, but to pleasures. *Quod ii qui cum imperatore in catechumeniis conveniunt, non ad preces, sed ad voluptatem respiciant.*

31. To the Emperor, why he does not order each of the pastors to go to his allotted flock. *Ad imperatorem, cur non jubeat pastores singulos ad gregem suum pergere.*

32. Letter to the Emperor, that through delay there may not remain unhealed those small matters which we bring forward, and that not only the letters be cast through the window. *Epistola ad imperatorem, ne per dilationem remaneant unhealed...*

^A 33. To the Emperor, concerning the houses joined to divine and venerable churches, as this is a very grave offense.

34. To the Emperor, asking for clemency for those who released Poxen from prison.

35. Concerning the fact that all should assemble for the inhumation of the Savior.

36. To the entire people, exhorting them to assemble for the Savior's inhumation.

37. To the Emperor concerning the same matter.

38. To the Emperor, inviting him to the Savior's inhumation.

39. To the Emperor, inviting him to the feast of the Dormition of the most holy Mother of God.

40. To the Emperor, concerning the restoration of the Church of Christ to liberty.

41. To the Emperor, concerning that which we report, not for any human cause, but solely for the sake of love.

42. To the Emperor, concerning those who, thirsting, seek to devour the people of God like bread, and that he should sympathize with them in the afflictions that occur, more than friends and kinsmen.

43. To the Emperor, that since he has received a gift, he might not be unwilling to return worthy fruits to God who bestowed such things upon him.

44. To the Emperor, concerning compelling the bishops to remain with their flock and to shepherd the people of God well.

45. ^B To the Emperor, concerning the bishops residing each in their own assigned place, and not staying away for more than six months, as seems best to the laws and canons, and not dwelling within the royal city.

46. To the Emperor, whom he exhorts to grant a favor to the Oenæotae.

47. To the Emperor, concerning what reward should be given to him who recited the synodicon in the holy Church of God.

48. To the Emperor, against those who are greedy for base gain, and concerning the privileges of the Church.

49. To the Emperor, concerning honoring and adorning the divine temples, ^C and that no one should remain in the catechumena, and that it is not fitting for the houses of any to be conjoined to the divine temples.

50. To the Emperor, that he should not give ear to everyone who speaks, nor hinder those who cultivate the land.

51. To the Emperor, concerning the impudent, the bloodthirsty, and those enriched in malice.

52. To the Emperor, ^D concerning those who have been entrusted to bear the sword by God, and that they should not wield it against the will of the one who entrusted it, as much as it provokes the wrath of God and results in the loss of souls. And concerning the bishops of Tyre and Alexandria, that they should depart from the city.

53. Novella. A report of the patriarch, Lord Athanasius, and the holy synod around him, to the most pious Emperor, Lord Andronicus Palaeologus, concerning certain legal chapters, having the form of a Novella, which was then confirmed by the same most pious Emperor; concerning certain matters of law.

54. A letter calling on the emperors, the princes, the priests, and the monks, to go out with bare feet, supplicating with the divine icons. ^A

55. To the Emperor, urging him to come to the burial of the Savior.

56. To the Emperor, concerning the famine from which the people suffered.

57. To the same, concerning the same matter, and that no one is to sell grain without the knowledge of the patriarch.

58. To the Emperor, concerning the same matter, and that it is not permitted to raise prices.

59. To the Emperor, concerning the death of the Empress that happened unexpectedly. False inscription. It should be inscribed: A letter to the Empress concerning the necessity of her living in harmony with her spouse. ^B It concerns the dissensions which existed between the Emperor Andronicus and his wife Irene, about whom Gregoras writes, etc.

60. To the Emperor, concerning those who, wishing to suggest what is God-pleasing, use force, considering that this must be their own profit.

61. To the Emperor, concerning the fact that it has been rightly decreed for the Orthodox to build divine temples, and then to entrust them to whoever is allotted the care of the places, as the divine canons declare.

62. To the Emperor, that the patriarch should arrange for the provision of the poor, and should seek wood to feed the fire.

63. To the Emperor, that each of the bishops should remain in the see that fell to his lot, and concerning those of the clergy who are rebellious on account of offices and exactions. ^C

64. To the Emperor, that one should report matters not for the sake of friends, or relatives, or gifts, or glory.

65. A letter concerning a certain patriarch, by the name of John, called Drimys, who had gathered together an accursed gang against the flock of Christ, against the Church, and against the God-crowned Emperor.

66. To the Emperor, rousing all subjects to the establishment of the Church and a life according to the laws.

67. A letter to the pastors, that they should not attribute to themselves as private property the monasteries under their authority, nor sell them, nor hand them over to others, unless it has been canonically decreed.

68. To the Emperor, concerning his most desirable son, the Despot John.

69. To the Emperor, how the Empress felt grievously upset against her son the most fortunate Despot. ^D

70. To the Emperor, concerning the Despot and his son John, that the administrative accounts should be in proportion to his expenditures and his rank, so that the things necessary for his expenses and dignity might be supplied to him.

71. To the Emperor, concerning the minister appointed to handle public affairs, who moved a certain person to strike with a stone-cutter’s mallet to the destruction of the image of the Savior; and concerning the man who dared to seize the grain. A faulty title.

72. A letter to the Emperor concerning those who did not wish the feast of the holy Apostles to be celebrated. But he himself, not allowing it to be omitted, sent for the holy liturgy the precious and elaborate long robe.

73. A letter to the Emperor concerning Niphon, who is of Cyzicus, on account of the accusations heard against him.

rem de domino Niphone, Cyziceno episcopo, et de accusationibus ipsi oblatis.

74. A letter of thanksgiving to the emperor, who, while burdened with this care of the world, did not defer the primacy to another, concerning the sheep which he had heard was lost.

75. A letter concerning monks who have voluntarily trampled upon the divine canons and fled from their own monastery.

76. A letter to the emperor, that after God, he should depend upon the nod of his spiritual father, both in prosperity and in adversity.

77. A letter to the emperor, that he might provide that the sale of fruits and bread be just.

78. A letter stirring up emperors and princes and all subjects to conversion and repentance.

79. Abdication of his first patriarchate.

80. Abdication of his second patriarchate.

81. To the most holy prelates of God, and to the most glorious senatorial council, and to the most honorable priests and monks of the clergy, and also to those who serve in the military, and to the wealthy and poor citizens, men and women alike, I pray that God's mercy may be granted to them continuously.

82. A letter sent to the master of petitions concerning the election by which the bishop of Cyzicus had been made patriarch.

83. A letter or fragment, in which the accused pontiff appeals to a synod, so that if the crimes objected be shown to be true, he may be deposed and cast out in ignominy; if not, the accusers may be punished.

84. A letter concerning how and why the abdications of the first, I say, and of the second patriarchate occurred.

Ex illis autem duodecim epistolis ad imperatorem, quas paulo superius recensuimus, de residendi necessitate omnibus episcopis imponenda, tres editæ fuere a Turrianno, Latine tantum, Florentiæ post librum de residentia pastorum; nam quinque aliæ Athanasii epistolæ ejusdem argumenti, quas ibidem edidit Turrianus Latine tantum, non reperiuntur inter epistolas Athanasii in laudato codice Regio. Turriani autem Latinum trium illarum epistolarum, verius dixeris paraphrasim quam versionem. Abdicationem prioris patriarchatus Athanasii, necnon παραιτήσιν τῆς δευτέρας πατριαρχίας αὐτοῦ habes editas a Boivinio in Notis ad Gregoram Græce tantum, ubi etiam reperitur editum fragmentum illius Epistolæ Athanasii, περὶ τοῦ πῶς καὶ διατὶ τὰ τῶν παραιτήσεων, τῆς πρώτης, φημὶ, καὶ δευτέρας, ἐγένοντο. Nos autem tres epistolas ejusdem Athanasii de Judæis urbe pellendis supra lib. II, Græce tantum edidimus. Libet autem nobis hic exscribere abdicationem prioris patriarchatus Athanasii, cum nostra Latina versione; nam ex ea apparet, Athanasium abdicasse patriarchatum indictione septima, hoc est, anno Christi 1293, ut supra ex Pachymere diximus; qui præterea scriptor subjungit id factum die decima sexta mensis Octobris. Refert et Pachymeres παραιτήσιν prioris patriarchatus Athanasii, sed in multis diversa est ab hac, quæ sic habetur in codice Regio olim Telleriano:

Abdication of the former patriarchate

^C Cum Ecclesiæ Christi curam, eo quo novit ipse judicio, suscepimus; cum iis Ecclesiam ejus scindere volebant contumeliosis hominibus ulciscendis, tum depellendis iis qui in impuritate, adulterio et fornicatione deprehensi fuerant, non frustra operam posuimus. Ignoravimus autem improbos quosdam mala pro nobis rependere iis qui principatum obtinent, quia se ad vitam secundum legem agendam compellent: illi enim immanes homines arrepta occasione ipsos in jus vocant, de administratione sua. Cum tamen ii qui hodie publicas res administrant, non tales in administratione sua ac-

Παραίτησις τῆς πρώτης πατριαρχίας αὐτοῦ

Τῆς Χριστοῦ Ἐκκλησίας οἷς αὐτὸς οἶδε κρίμασι τὴν φροντίδα δεξάμενοι, οὐκ ἐξησφαλίσθημεν, τοῦ μήτε τοὺς σχιζομένους τῆς Ἐκκλησίας Χριστοῦ καὶ ὑβριστὰς αὐτοῦ τιμωρεῖν, μήτε τοὺς ἀκαθαρσίαις, μοιχείαις τε καὶ πορνείαις ἑαλωκότας ἀναχαιτίζειν. Ἠγνοήσαμεν δὲ ὅτι καὶ τὰ πονηρὰ ἀντὶ ἀγαθῶν ἀντιστρόφως οἱ φαῦλοι ἀνταποδιδόναι τοῖς ἄρχουσιν, ὡς ἐννόμως ζῆν ἀναγκάζοντας. Καιροῦ δραξάμενος, ἀπηνεῖς εἰσπράττονται δίκας αὐτοὺς ἐν οἷς ποτε διῳκήκασι· καὶ ταῦτα μηδὲ τοῖς ἐνεργοῦσι σήμερον τὰ δημόσια, τοιαύτας ἐν οἷς ἐνήργησαν ὑπεχόντων εὐθύνας, ὅσα ἡ κακοτρόπῳ γνώμη, ἣ

ἣ ^A ἀγνοίᾳ κατὰ τοῦ δικαίου πεπαρῳνήκασιν. Ἀλλ', ὦ τῶν ἐμῶν κακῶν, ὡς μηδὲ κἂν ἴσα τούτοις ἐξισωθῆναι καὶ τὰ ἡμέτερα! Καὶ εἰ καὶ πόθεν ταῦτα ἐπῆλθεν ἡμῖν ἄδηλα τοῖς πολλοῖς, ἀλλ᾽ οὐχὶ καὶ τῷ Θεῷ. Ὁ γὰρ εἰπὼν παρρησιασάμενος πρὸς Θεόν, «Ὁ ζῆλος τοῦ οἴκου σου κατέφαγέ με», εἶπε καὶ τὸ, «Οἱ ὀνειδισμοὶ τῶν ὀνειδιζόντων σε ἐπέπεσον ἐπ' ἐμέ.» Οὐδὲ γὰρ ἡμετέρων μόνον ταῦτα σφαλμάτων ἀντέκτισις. Καὶ χάρις Θεῷ· καὶ ἡμεῖς μὲν ἀδικούμενοι οὕτως, οὐκ ἀδικούμεθα· ὅτι τὸν μὴ ἑαυτὸν ἀδικοῦντα οὐδεὶς δύναται παραβλάψαι· ἡ Ἐκκλησία δὲ πάλιν ὑβρίσθη καὶ ἐζημιώθη. Τίς δὲ ἡ ζημία; Τῶν μοναχῶν καὶ μοναζουσῶν, καὶ τοῦ λοιποῦ Χριστωνύμου λαοῦ, τῶν μὲν λόγῳ, τῶν δὲ καὶ βίᾳ βλεψάντων πρὸς τὸ σεμνότερον, ὡς καταιγὶς ἀγρία ἀθρόον ἐπεισπετοῦσα, ἡ καθ᾿ ἡμῶν ὕβρις πρὸς τὰ σεμνότερα ἔτρεψεν. Ἡ δὲ ὕβρις καὶ τὸ αὐτῆς λυπηρόν, τὸ μὴ κατὰ τῆς αὐτῶν ὑπολήψεως μόνον, καὶ τὸ λίθους κρατῆσαι βαλεῖν ἡμᾶς, καὶ ἀναθεματίσαι, καὶ ὅσα σωματικῆς ἐστιν ὕβρεως ἐπειπεῖν, ἀλλ', οἴμοι! κατ' αὐτοῦ τοῦ σεβάσματος. Διὸ καὶ φημί· Εἰ ἐφρόνησα πώποτε, ἢ φρονῶ, ἢ φρονήσω τῆς ἁγίας Χριστοῦ τοῦ Θεοῦ Ἐκκλησίας ἀλλότριον φρόνημα, ἀνάθεμά μοι ἀπὸ Χριστοῦ τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ παντανάθεμα, καὶ κατανάθεμα. Εἰ δὲ ὡς οἱ τοῦ Κυρίου μου Ἰησοῦ ἐδογμάτισαν καὶ παραδεδώκασιν ἅγιοι μαθηταὶ καὶ ἀπόστολοι, καὶ οἱ τούτων διάδοχοι θεοφόροι Πατέρες, καὶ ὡς ἡ ἁγία Ἐκκλησία Χριστοῦ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡμῶν ἐδέξατο, πιστεύω καὶ προσκυνῶ καὶ δέχομαι καὶ ἀσπάζομαι καὶ κηρύττω. Εἴ τι δὲ ταύτης ἐχθρὸν καὶ ἀλλότριον, παραπέμπω τῷ ἀναθέματι· οἱ κατ᾿ ἐμοῦ ἀκονήσαντες γλώσσας, καὶ τοιαύτας ἀθέους φωνὰς ἐξερευξάμενοι διαβολῆς καὶ συκοφαντίας, ἐκκήρυκτοι οἱ τοιοῦτοι Ἐκκλησίας Χριστοῦ, καὶ ἀλύτῳ ἀφορισμῷ ἐκ τῆς ζωαρχικῆς Τριάδος, καὶ ἡμεῖς αὐτοὺς ὑποβάλλομεν καὶ ἀρᾷ ἀναθέματος. Ἐπεὶ δὲ νόμος τῇ Ἐκκλησίᾳ Χριστοῦ ἑκόντας ἄρχειν ἑκόντων, ἡμεῖς δὲ δυναστικῶς ἐδέξαμεν ἄρχειν, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἀπώσαντο, ἀπωσάμενοι τοῦ ποιμαίνεσθαι ὑφ᾽ ἡμῶν, καὶ ἡμεῖς ποιμαίνειν αὐτοὺς παραιτούμεθα, κατὰ τὸν εἰπόντα· «Κλήρῳ ἀνυποτάκτῳ καὶ λαῷ ἀπειθεῖ ἀποτάσσομαι,» δεόμενος ἐκ ψυχῆς ἡμῖν τε καὶ αὐτοῖς ἵλεων ἔσεσθαι τὸν Θεόν. Τὰ δὲ ἡμέτερα ἄγοιτο ὅπου καὶ βούλοιτο ὁ ἐν Τριάδι ὑμνούμενος Κύριος πρεσβείαις τῆς Θεομήτορος, τῶν νοερῶν Θεοῦ λειτουργῶν καὶ πάντων τῶν ἀπ' αἰῶνος ἁγίων ἡμῶν. Καὶ οἱ ἀρχιερεῖς, εἰ μὲν κανονικῶς εἶπαν καὶ ἔπραξαν, καὶ δικαίως μου ἀπεκόπησαν, ἵλεως οὕτως ὁ Θεὸς εἴη καὶ αὐτοῖς· εἰ δὲ μή, τοῖς ῥηθεῖσιν ἐπιτιμίοις ὑπεύθυναι ἔστωσαν, καὶ αὐτοὶ, καὶ οὓς ψευδῶς ὑποσύρουσι, καὶ ὑφ' ὧν παρεσύρησαν. Εἶχε δὲ καὶ Ἀθανάσιος ἐλέῳ Θεοῦ ἀρχιεπίσκοπος Κωνσταντινουπόλεως νέας Ῥώμης καὶ οἰκουμενικὸς πατριάρχης Ἰνδικτ. ζ', εἶχε καὶ μολιβδίνην βούλλαν πατριαρχικὴν, καὶ κάτωθεν ταῦτα· ^C Τούτοις στοιχῶ ἐνώπιον Θεοῦ καὶ ἀνθρώπων· τούτοις ἐμμένω. Εἴ τι δὲ ἄλλο εἴπω ^D

εἴπω ἢ πράξω ἐκτὸς τῶν ὧδε γεγραμμένων, ἄστοργον ἔχω καὶ βίας καὶ τυραννίδος ἔργον, μὴ συνειδὼς ἐμαυτῷ χάριτι Χριστοῦ ἀργίας τι ἔγκλημα. Ἰνδικτ. ζ'.

Ἔγγραφον τοῦ πατριάρχου, ἐν ᾧ στηλιτεύεται Ἰωάννης τις, Δριμὺς τὸ ἐπίθετον, ὃς κοινωνίαν συνῆψεν μετὰ συμμορίας ἐπαράτου κατὰ τῆς ποίμνης τοῦ Χριστοῦ, κατὰ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας καὶ τοῦ θεοστεφοῦς αὐτοκράτορος.

^A Χάριν καὶ ἐπὶ τούτῳ τῇ λοιπῇ ἀγαθοπρεπεῖ θεουργίᾳ τῇ φύσει τῇ μακαρίᾳ ἀποδίδομεν, ὅτι τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν ἱερωσύνῃ καὶ βασιλείᾳ ἁρμοζόντως κατέστεψεν, ὡς ἂν ὑπ' ἀμφοῖν ἐκ ζήλου κρατουμένη, κυπρίζοντας βότρυς περκάζῃ ἀξίους καὶ πλήρεις τῶν θείων ληνῶν, ἀφ' ἑαυτῆς ἐμφακίζον ἅπαν ἀποῤῥαπίζουσα, ὡς τοῦτο κἀντεῦθεν εἰσόμεθα. Τῆς γὰρ Χριστοῦ Ἐκκλησίας σὺν ταῖς λοιπαῖς θεϊκαῖς δωρεαῖς ἐπιδαψιλευομένης ἀνθρώποις, ἐκ δεξιᾶς ἀρχιερατικῆς, καὶ τὸ μέγα τουτὶ καὶ πανάγαστον τῆς ἱερωσύνης ἀξίωμα, οἷς τισιν ὀφειλὴ τὸ πρώτως ὀρθοδοξεῖν εἰς Θεὸν, καὶ αἵματος μέχρις διεκδικεῖν, ὅσα φίλον αὐτῷ, καὶ δὴ καὶ τηρεῖσθαι πιστοὺς τοῖς θεόφροσιν αὐτοκράτορσι, καὶ εὐλαβῶς καὶ πεφυλαγμένως δικαιοσύνῃ καὶ σωφροσύνῃ καὶ ἀληθείᾳ βιοτεύειν ἐπείγεσθαι, ὡς ἔργῳ καὶ λόγῳ παντὶ εἰς παίδευμα κεῖσθαι χρηστόν. Καὶ ἅλας καὶ φῶς τυγχάνειν τῷ λοιπῷ λαῷ, καὶ μάλα πρὸ τῶν λοιπῶν τὸ εὔνουν ὑποτιθέναι τῇ βασιλείᾳ, ὡς ἔφην, τηρεῖν τοῖς λαοῖς, ὡς ἐπιβλέπειν λελαληκότος τοῦ τῆς εἰρήνης Θεοῦ, πραέσι καὶ πειθηνίαν ἂν καὶ πιστοῖς· δεήσεις αὖ καὶ ἐντεύξεις εὐχαριστίας καὶ προσευχὰς πυκνὰς αὐτοὺς ποιουμένους ὀφειλομένας, ὑπέρ γε τῆς βασιλείας καὶ τῶν ἐν τέλει καὶ ἑαυτῶν, καὶ τοῦ κόσμου παντός, ὡς ἂν ἐν ἡρέμῳ ἐκεῖθεν ζωῇ δίκην ἐσόπτρου πιστοὺς ὑπεμφαίνοιεν ὁποίας δέοι ἀναστροφῆς τοῖς αὐχοῦσι λατρεύειν τῷ ἀληθεῖ καὶ ζῶντι καὶ μόνῳ Θεῷ, καὶ ἐπιεικείᾳ σεμνοπρεπεῖ τὸ Χριστώνυμον σύνταγμα εἰς πᾶν ἀγαθὸν ἐξ ὧν ἐνεργοῦσιν αὐτοὶ συνελαύνοιεν. Ἀλλά γε κἂν τούτοις ὡς ἐν ἀμπέλῳ φύεσθαι βάτον ἠκούσαμεν, καὶ ἕνα προδότην τῶν τοῦ μεγάλου Σωτῆρος Χριστοῦ μαθητῶν βεβήλῳ γεγενημένον ἴσμεν παρατροπῇ, γνώμῃ τινὶ σκαιοτρόπῳ. Καί τις Ἰωάννης ταῦτα Δριμὺς τὸ ἐπίθετον, τοῦ βήματος ἑαυτὸν προσμαρτυρῶν κακίας ἐκβλύσαι ἐξήχθη, πολὺ τὸ δριμὺ καὶ ἐπίζον τῇ πολιτείᾳ πιστῶν καὶ ὀλέθριον· καὶ ταῦτα κλήσει τῇ ἱερᾷ ὑποκρυπτόμενος πανουργότερον· ὡς ἄν τις κωδίῳ λύκον περικαλύψειεν, οὐκ οἶδα ἐκ ποίων βαράθρων τε καὶ τριόδων ἀνασωθεὶς πρὸ καιροῦ ἐπ' ἀπωλείᾳ τῇ ἑαυτοῦ. Καὶ ὅσους υἱοὺς ἀπωλείας καὶ τούτῳ καταπειθεῖς ἐπίδειξεν ὁ καιρὸς τὴν βασιλίδα καταλαμβάνει, οἷά τις ἐρυσίβη, καὶ βασιλεῖ τῷ ἁγίῳ ἐμφανισθείς

ἐμφανισθείς ^A, ὡς δῆθεν εἶναι τῶν εὐλαβῶν, καὶ φιλοτιμηθεὶς ὑπὲρ τὴν ἀξίαν. Διὸ ἐπεφήμιζεν ἑαυτῷ ἱερωσύνης, οἶμαι, ἀξίωμα, ἕλκειν σκεπτόμενος διὰ τούτου πολλὴν πρὸς αὐτὸν τὴν ἀναδοχήν· εἰωθότος τιμᾷν τὰ θεῖα, καὶ τοὺς τοῦ Θεοῦ, μεγάλαις ἀναδοχαῖς καὶ βασιλικαῖς, τοῦ ἁγίου μου αὐτοκράτορος ἀπό γε φιλοθεΐας καὶ εὐσεβείας καὶ εὐλαβοῦς καὶ ἡμέρου ψυχῆς, ὡς οὗ ποτε τῶν ἀνέκαθεν βασιλέων ἄλλῳ τινὶ ἐν τοῖς θείοις· κἀν τούτῳ τὸ εὐλαβὲς μεμαρτύρηται. Ὡς τοῦτο τούτου τῷ κράτει πεφιλοφρόνηται ὑπερβολῇ καλοκαγαθίας καὶ ἡμερότητος, ὡς ἵνα κἂν τούτῳ συνᾴδων εἴη τῷ μεγάλῳ Δαυΐδ· « Λίαν ἐμοὶ, ὁ Θεός, οἱ φίλοι σου ἐτιμήθησαν. »

Ἀλλ' ὦ ψυχῆς ἀναισχύντου καὶ πάντη σκιᾶς! Ἀντὶ γὰρ ὀφειλούσης εὐγνωμοσύνης τῇ εὐποιίᾳ, ἐξ ἧς καὶ θῆρας ἴσμεν μεταβεβλῆσθαι, τὸν θεῖον φόβον καὶ ὅρκους ἀποῤῥαπίσας ἀφ' ἑαυτοῦ ὁ λίαν δριμὺς καὶ δυσθάνατος, καὶ ὁμοίους αὐτῷ προσεταιρισάμενος κατά τε τῆς ποίμνης Χριστοῦ, κατά τε τῆς Ἐκκλησίας καὶ τοῦ θεοστεφοῦς αὐτοκράτορος, ^B ψώδημα δόλου καὶ τυραννίδος συνθέμενος. Φεῦ τῆς ἐρεσχελίας! Ὁ ἄθλιος ἀπόγονος εἶναι τῶν πώποτε βεβασιλευκότων τινός ὃν οὐδὲ γεννηθῆναι, οὐδὲ παρά τινος θεαθῆναι ἢ ἀκουσθῆναι ταῖς ἀληθείαις καὶ μέχρι σήμερον ἄνθρωπος ἐνωτίσθη ποσώς. Τραγέλαφος, οἶμαι, τις ἀνυπόστατος, ἢ καθά που τὰ λόγια, « Ὅτε ἡ θάλασσα ἐμαιοῦτο, σὺ ἐτήρησας τραγελάφων τοκετοὺς ἀκηκοώς. » Ἔνθεν πρεσβύτερα μὴ ὀκνεῖν διακηρυκεύειν ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ καὶ μείζονα, γέλωτος κωμῳδίαν ἀξίαν ἢ μᾶλλον δακρύων πολλῶν ἑαυτῷ καταχαριζόμενος, καὶ τοῖς προχείρως ἐκ μοχθηρίας τοιαῦτα πιστεύουσι καὶ κρατύνουσιν.

Ὅθεν καὶ μᾶλλον μυρμηκολέων εὑρέθη κακὸς κακῶς ὀλεσκόμενος ἀποτυχὼν τῆς βορᾶς, ὃς μετ' ἐκείνου τοῦ θεῖναι τοῖς ἄστροις τὸν θρόνον βατταρίσαι τετολμηκότος τὰ τοιαῦτα προσονειρώξαι οὐκ ἔφριξε, μεθ' οὗ καὶ συνεριθμῆσθαι καὶ συντετάχθαι διὰ τὴν μίμησιν, ὡς ἐξ ὧν εἰργάσατο ἀποδείκνυται. Κἀκεῖθεν ὁμόφροσι τούτῳ τισὶ τὰ τῆς πλάνης αὐτοῦ καὶ ἀποστασίας καταπιστεύσας, καὶ ἀκοαῖς πονηραῖς λόγους διακομίσαντα πονηρούς, τὰ αὐτοῦ βδελυρὰ σκαιωρήματα ἐν τῇ πόλει καὶ ταῦτα τοῦ κράτους ἐνσπείρας, ὁ δείλαιος συμμορίαν ποιεῖται ἐπάρατον· οἳ καὶ μήπως διακορεῖς τῇ τοσαύτῃ μανίᾳ γενόμενοι, ἔτι ὠδίνοντες τὰ κακά, τοῦ μόνοι ἐνταῦθα λυττᾶν μεθ' ὧν ᾠκειώσαντο μικρὸν λογιζόμενοι, μειζόνως ἐν κακουργίᾳ δραμεῖν συνέλαβον τόνον τοῦ ἀνομίαν ἀποτελεῖν, ὡς ἂν μειζόνως ἐκπολεμῶσαι αὐτοὺς καὶ Θεὸν ἐπισπεύδοντες τοὺς κύκλῳ ἡμῶν ἀθέους καὶ ἀσεβεῖς, εἰς ἄσπονδον μáχην τὴν κατὰ τοῦ Κυρίου καὶ τοῦ Χριστοῦ αὐτοῦ, καὶ ὅλου συντάγματος Χριστωνύμου, συγκαλέσαι ἐπ' ἀπωλείᾳ κοινῇ εἰς ἀντίληψιν τὴν ἑαυτῶν ἐψηφίσαντο. Καὶ τοῦτο ἐξήνυσαν ἄν, εἰ μὴ συνέχει τούτων τὰς μηχανὰς ὁ θανάτου ἐκτρέπων σκιὰν εἰς ζωὴν τοῖς ἐλπίδας βεβαίας ἀναθεμένοις αὐτῷ· ὃς καὶ τὸν πόνον αὐτὸν ταῖς αὐτῶν κεφαλαῖς ἐνδίκως ἐπέβαλε.

ἐμφανισθείς ^A et nisi He who turns the shadow of death into life had restrained it for the sake of those who placed their firm hope in Him, He would have pressed it down. He even brought their own labor upon their heads, so that they themselves rolled the stone to their own destruction. May there befall them, I pray (O Christ, King and God, who hast mercifully remembered Thy flock, which Thou didst acquire with Thy blood), the things which happened to Oreb, Zebee, and Salmana, and to their princes who had roared in their pride; in the same way that these men behave themselves against the sanctuaries of God. He, however, having no right, no occasion either of lineage or of character, aspiring to the kingdom—being the most bitter of men, and truly a hater of God—forgot himself and reached for things he could not attain even in a dream. Like a gale and a dread whirlwind, he attempted to stir up ^B and submerge everything into the abyss of infidelity, as much of the people as he found to be of a troubled mind towards the kingdom. But having come to this, not from any reasonable cause, nor even from the intent of the heart—as that fool mentioned in Scripture who, together with his followers, was deceived and deluded, that execrable man who thought and said, "There is no God"—he was destroyed, and became an abomination, and was mocked like a wretched and base sparrow. He who had imagined, as he supposed, that he would show himself to be more terrible than God, as if a mouse were to compare itself to a pine tree, and who had basely associated himself with those whom he had surrounded, was thenceforth mocked by the prophetic cry: "They reigned," He says, "for themselves, and not by Me; they ruled, and did not acknowledge Me." Nor did those men, struck with stupor, ^C nor that most ignorant leader of theirs, reflect within themselves—he who, having claimed only yesterday to be of the priestly order, desires today to show himself equipped with a sword, and appears riding in a chariot and holding scepters! O Justice! He who is adorned with an impudence and impiety conspicuous among his own kind, trusting only in the stupid and vain fallacies of calumny, neither considered that our king is not without God, nor that it is hard to kick against the pricks, nor did he consider that doctrine handed down to us: "By me kings reign." These things, indeed, the wretched men did not understand, nor did they consider that the hairs of their head were numbered—a fact which their own standard-bearer did not notice. Against men of this kind, perhaps the divine David thus prayed with these words: "Let them fall ^D from their own counsels; according to the multitude of their impieties expel them." And if they do not hasten to repent, may they certainly fall away from the assembly of the faithful, "and let them be caught in their pride; and from cursing and lying they shall be announced even unto the end," knowing (if they wish, they who have perished in their hearts) how God rules, and preserves, and cares for, and protects our pious, religious, cross-bearing, gentle, and Christ-loving emperor, and how He divinely inspires his mind, saying: "If you should wish to walk in my ways, I will put those who are hostile to you to nothing, and I will lay a punishing hand upon those who fight against you." For indeed, not only did those who rode upon the horses slumber, those who were joined in frenzy with the bitter one to that irrationality—they who are more irrational than the irrational beasts—

ἐμφανισθείς ^A into nothingness, and I will set my avenging hand against those who assail you. For not only have those who mounted horses, who were carried away with that crafty one in a Bacchic frenzy or madness, fallen asleep, they who are truly more irrational than the brutes themselves; but they have now also slept their sleep, and found nothing—altogether through the rebuke of divine wrath—since their iniquity has been openly exposed, inasmuch as they have opened their mouths in vain to the sin and destruction into which they have plunged. Thus, they are held worthy of perpetual ridicule, to whom a punishment commensurate with their deserts cannot truly be decreed by man, but only by God, on account of that cruel work—destitute of pardon, most impious, and ruinous—which they have undertaken.

If any of us prudently considers the audacious crime of this impious man, then we, together and in accordance with the law, along with the most holy archbishops who have gathered here in this holy and divine synod—the Hypertimos of Sardis, the Hypertimos of Chalcedon, the Hypertimos of Pergamum, the Hypertimos of Mitylene, the Hypertimos of Anchialus ^B, the Archbishop of Christoupolis, and the Archbishop of Dyrrachium, with the God-beloved bishops of Raidestos and Charioupolis also present—abhorring such an impious and shameless audacity, strip him, that western beast and bitter sower of such terrible tares, of all priesthood, even if he were ever held worthy of it, but not in vain did he tyrannize over it in mere words, solely to deceive the simple-minded, procuring honor for himself thereby, as his character has boldly exposed him in claiming things beyond his station. Along with him, we also reject his follower, whom Myra of Lycia produced, who hastened to be brought to the sheep of Christ like a merciless wolf.

Furthermore, we bind with an irrevocable excommunication both this man and the primary author of the running [to and fro], along with all who knew precisely of that murderous plot and did not hasten to reveal it. And as for those who may henceforth be detected in an enterprise of such madness, impiety, and faithlessness, we bind them ^C with this same fearful excommunication, for there is nothing sharper or more bitter than that bitter John, that goat-stag, and his follower, that Sardanapalus, and their like-minded associates in the matter of the hospitality they offered for the sake of the deeds they committed.

It seemed good to the holy synod to inflict upon them a punishment worthy of their deeds, inasmuch as they have dared to lift their heel against the Church, against the emperor, and against all their fellow countrymen. The wretches did not consider that they have God as the overseer of their salvation and the examiner of their life; rather, they truly relied on fig-tree support, hanging in vain and empty hopes, and being miserably beguiled, they abandoned themselves to that ancient apostate, Satan. Filled with his counsels and deceived by them, they hoped in vain—those execrable men—that their empty fabrications would permeate the entire Roman Empire, and that they would capture it—oh, misguided mind!—as if it were an abandoned nest; just as their master, Satan, once imagined that he would subdue the whole world, oblivious of the darkness ^D

ἐμφανισθείς ^A in place of light, and he who is abominable, as he deserved, exchanged his heavenly station for the infernal depths. What followed for those aforementioned? For, cast down from divine hope, these impious men placed their hope in impious dogs; for by the impious trafficking of the great inheritance of Christ, by the contempt of Orthodox doctrine, and by the shameful betrayal of their own kin, they sent envoys to the godless Amalekites, to the Italians, and to those who dwell around the Danube. I do not know if, while they summoned these, they embraced anything of the things of Christ. Wherefore, together with the holy synod, we ask one thing of the best, serene, and most powerful and holy Emperor of mine, who was born for bestowing benefits, not for inflicting punishments: that he may confidently use the laws to restrain wickedness; and that those workers of evil, and those who have in any way been caught in shameful deeds, or who may be caught hereafter, may acknowledge that they are subject to the indignation of the laws, as the divine herald of God, Paul, declares, that he ^B is a revenger to execute wrath upon him who does evil, and that he who carries the sword not in vain is counted among the ministers of God. For where there is fear, there is the observance of divine and human precepts; so that while we maintain the right ordinances which tend to the glory of Christ, the just judge, He may, by His divine hand, confirm the empire and the whole Christian people safe from snares, through the holy prayers of the Mother of God: to whom be glory, power, honor, and majesty forever. Amen.

Gregoras, book VII, ch. 9, narrates at length the reason why Athanasius abdicated the patriarchate for the second time, where the most learned Boivinius notes in the margin that this happened in the year of Christ 1310, whence it appears that Athanasius sat as patriarch for the second time for six years and some months. However, although the abdication of Athanasius from his second patriarchate was published in Greek only in the Notes to Gregoras, p. 762, as we noted above, it pleases us nevertheless to publish it here again with our Latin version. It stands, therefore, as follows:

Abdication of the second patriarchate

^C Since we have undertaken to perform the care of the Church of Christ (by such judgment as He Himself knows) for a second time, may God reward the bishops—you, for you are the ones who provided better things for us—who urged us to this task, and especially my Emperor, who is crowned by God; for from the beginning he has shown his study, conjoined with knowledge, his solicitude, and his patronage toward the Church, and he shows it daily, endowed with the best intent, in that he has not ceased to care for us, and has celebrated us with praises and eulogies, and has enriched the Church with priestly vestments, with sacred images properly adorned, and with incomparable benefits; so that no one of our predecessors in the patriarchate obtained such things from the pious and Orthodox emperors who were of old, unless perhaps one might compare him ^D with that great one, who is his father according to the spirit and is equal to the apostles, Constantine, on account of the honors which he bestowed upon the most holy Silvester; although there is as great a distance between him and us as there is between the solar ray and those gazing upon it. Wherefore may a most abundant reward be bestowed upon him by the King of all; just as also to that great one among kings [the gifts were bestowed...].

ἐμφανισθείς ^A awards, and that he who was once smeared with the mire of the streets might be the first among the orthodox; and may He grant to him that he may feast with Him in the kingdom of Christ, and rejoice in God. But as I had begun to say, having been raised to the pinnacle of the episcopacy, we have not labored for that great matter as was fitting, as it has seemed to very many; nay, we are found to be quite useless. And besides the fact that they have reproached us for living in hypocrisy, they did not even leave our holy and blameless faith free from calumny. To them, O God of all—You who came to redeem mortals from error and impiety—repay in Your justice; and may their sword enter into their own hearts, if I, even more than Jacob himself, was not cast upon You from the womb. For those accursed men and haters of God, bearing enmity as it were against the God of all—who deigned to call us by Christ—not being able to attack Him, did not shudder to rave against His holy, theandric, and ^B adorable image, as if it were the abomination of desolation (O my calamity!), and in like manner against our most pure Lady, the Theotokos, and against the figure of the divine and life-giving cross. For which reason, by the authority of God, I proclaim with a loud voice that all those heretics, and every accuser of Christians who has not repented worthily, are anathema from God Almighty. Because of this, I entreat your holiness not to allow any obstacle to be placed in the way for the sake of Christ Himself. For it is impossible for us to think any differently now, whatever may happen, since, afflicted by old age and infirmity, we do not even have the use of our eyes. But I beseech you, approach my holy emperor and ask him, who beyond all others bears and cherishes the care ^C of the Church, that he may concur with you and assist you in all things, and especially in the search for a spiritual investigation, so that by your prayers Christ may send down to His flock a bishop endowed with gifts to oversee the priests, the monks, and the whole Christ-named people. Furthermore, since it is likely that he who is in the midst of this does not wish to cause pain or to be pained by some, I ask that forgiveness be granted to those who have offended in any way, as well as to those who have been offended by us, by Him who came in His love for mankind to save His creation; and may He confirm the affairs of the orthodox, and keep them free from all malice, along with their shepherds and flocks, as long as the sun looks upon the earth, through the incessant prayers of her who gave a body to the Sun of righteousness, God.

To the most holy bishops of God, ^D to the most glorious members of the senate, to the most honorable priests of the clergy and monks, to those who serve in the army, and to the citizens, both rich and poor, and to all men and women, I pray that the mercy of God may be perpetually granted. Furthermore, I beseech you all not to give yourselves up entirely to affliction, nor to be broken in spirit because of the extreme calamity in which we find ourselves, since wisdom is set upon a mountain,

ἐμφανισθείς of the wisdom of God, set upon a mountain, and shining out to those who hasten to it for the sake of illumination. But may reward also be measured out to us by the God of love—as much as you have labored for the sake of love—and may the recompense be poured out in abundance upon us both. For we, too, being bound by an indissoluble longing for you, have not separated ourselves from you for any light reason, but as that great herald somewhere suggests: ^A "What God the holy One has planned, who shall annul it?" For since He judged us unworthy of the sight and conversation of our dearest ones, it is fitting that you also, being in duty bound, should simply pray for us, asking for you yourselves, that we may not be severed even in this from you, my beloved and dearest friends; with whom, O Son of God, Giver of Life, grant us to dance in those heavenly hosts, through the intercession of the Mother who gave you birth, as well as of your apostles, martyrs, and all your saints.

Letter, concerning how and why the abdications of the patriarchate, the first, I say, and the second, took place.

When I governed the Church of Christ for the first four years, O man of God—the time regarding which you asked me—my holy emperor was not residing ^B in the Queen of Cities, but was living in the East, as war was pressing, which God had sent as a chastisement upon the orthodox for their contempt of evangelical precepts and divine laws; namely, that immense irruption and onslaught of the Barbarians; whence there was no one present then to support me in directing Christ's heritage according to evangelical and legal utterances and pastures. Nevertheless, the grace of my Savior assisting me, I was not slothful, according to my judgment and ability, in compelling my subjects to what was pleasing to God; namely, the laity, priests, bishops, and monks; and though many were everywhere opposing me, and were conspiring against me secretly and openly, placing stumbling blocks in my path with Satanic malice, and fabricating many unrighteous reports against me, I was upheld by one hope alone and the protection of God; ^C expecting that perhaps my enemies might be turned by penitence, the fear of God, and the truth, and might put an end to the lies and slanders which the father of lies was sowing in their souls; and especially that, if my most powerful emperor should come more quickly to the imperial city, from thence an examination for the sake of truth and justice according to God might be held; so that, moved by imperial prudence, he would not destroy the impious, but would only bridle all deceitful lips, and even that those things which were being broadcast in vain by diabolical suggestion might be consumed, as if they were winged insects by fire; and that he might not only take vengeance for what had passed, but also afford a perfect, assiduous, ^D and immovable protection for future events: and I was completely confident that I would act according to God's pleasure.

^A

[Epistle]

in order to construct and strengthen the reproaches against us [arising] from slanders, so as to demonstrate that the unjust expulsion was customary and lawful, according to that [word] concerning whom the Truth Itself [said], "That everyone who kills you will think that he offers service to God." From that time, no one dared to approach, only those wood-worshippers ^A of the church, who kept watch for vain and false things, running together inside every day, and using gibes and insults and anathemas against us in a loud voice. But at a late hour, and with difficulty, one of the senators came up to us, and reported harshly—perhaps eager to terrify and frighten us, as if he surely knew us to be guilty of the crimes alleged against our reputation, and as if pitying our calamity and fearing lest we suffer condemnation, he demanded an abdication from me as a more tolerable [outcome]: just as if someone, desiring to kill a person, out of a pretense of pity would declare that his head ought to be cut off. But we said, "Most excellent sir, since we are being dealt with unjustly, and are not conscious of these crimes, we seek the judgment of [those] judges who have God before their eyes. And how shall we grant an abdication? But if, compelled by authority, we should be forced to grant it, in the common tribunal the truth shall not be refuted, when God, the avenger, will act freely: truly, one of the crimes offered against us, as you say, leads not only to one and alone [of us], but even to the driving of the whole assembly of bishops from ^B the Church; if indeed the hearers prefer a lie to the truth." "But there is a danger," he said, "that if you are condemned, those who have been ordained by you will be cast down among the laity." We, however, retorted, "This is a true pretense, for those who shrank not from harming us, how shall they spare others?" But as that leading man, having accomplished nothing, departed—even though he came twice and often, no one among the fellow-ministers or the clergy or the hegumens daring to come to us in all these days, except only the bishop of Gangra, with whom I communicated the matter; and the hieromonks were assiduously exhorting [us], inasmuch as they saw such a fire kindled against us by everyone, that I should yield from the position [I had] taken and abdicate. For they said: "If any of the bishops were found with you who were championing the truth of God, and if you had received a mandate canonically, you ought to stand firm and demand a judgment for those who seek the abdication; but ^C when this is performed by a senatorial man, consider, I pray you, which of those who before you were ejected from the Church—men who were great both in word and in life, and superior to you—was cast out canonically, and not by secular authority? Wherefore, committing your affairs to God, who is to come to judge our matters, abdicate and withdraw, lest certain of the conspirators, having proceeded to graver slanders, should bring harm to the souls of many and to their own as well." This, with God as witness, was the cause of both the prior and the posterior abdication, this conspiracy ^D

and its underlying motive; even if the accusations were various and unequal. But ^A since the bishops command us to be restrained—not only in public, but even in private—from questioning, from blessing, and from teaching those who happen by, things which they did not in any way rebuke in the impious George, nor in those wood-gatherers who maintain vain and false things, fearing neither God’s judgment nor revering men, while not fearing to act against the canons and laws themselves, but rather emboldening themselves to crush us for what is "uncanonical"—they themselves, even having bowed their heads to those who are accursed by divine decree and alien to the Church of Christ, and having accepted law from them, and as much as their madness and that of the schismatics allowed, turned over the patriarch of the Church of Christ and confessor, Lord Joseph—of blessed memory—to be shamed, and this even after his death, a thing which the sun had never before seen! Having waited for so long a time to find anyone who has God before their eyes, how and whence did they rage so much against us, and having found no one who sympathizes or consoles us, so that we might seek a just judgment? I will pour out my prayer in the sight of Him who was crucified for me, and I will report my affliction to Him; ^B especially since this malice is increasing and shamelessly cutting off even our very breath, so to speak, in such a way that it permits us neither to celebrate, nor to bless, nor to teach anyone those things that pertain to salvation. May our affairs, therefore, O Master and God of all, who are known and hymned in the Trinity, go wherever it is pleasing to You, through the intercessions of Her who ineffably and immaculately provided a body to the One of the most holy Trinity, and of all those who from the ages have worshiped God and suffered such things. Amen.

Proof against Niphon who poorly exercised the patriarchate in all things, brought by the bishops of Nicomedia and Mitylene before the holy synod.

^C Why was it also that the Patriarch Athanasius, since Theophanes, who served him genuinely, was caught taking gifts for such requests, we stood apart, and by all votes cast out this patriarch, and would never receive him back either into the archbishopric or the priesthood? Since he himself knew, and was not ignorant of what was done by Theophanes, the matter itself both demonstrates and convicts, and is stronger than any proof or accuser.

From these two writings of Athanasius, it is clear that the cause of the abdication of the second patriarchate of Athanasius was not that which Gregoras reports, Book vii, cap. 9, nor that which Nicephorus Chumnus adduces in an unpublished oration, where he says that Athanasius was expelled from his see and condemned because his minister Theophanes had accepted gifts from those to whom sacred orders were conferred; which could not have happened without the patriarch’s knowledge. Thus Nicephorus Chumnus writes there; a fragment of which oration I here transcribe from the Notes of Boivin to Gregoras: "No," I say, "Theophanes' avarice was not the cause that Athanasius was driven from the see for the second time, as Chumnus says; for that Theophanes was accustomed to accept gifts without the knowledge or approval of Athanasius (as Boivin well notes in his Notes to Gregoras) appears from an epistle of Athanasius himself written to the emperor, in which he demands an investigation into those who accepted money under the name of gifts for a shameful cause, and he specifically notes Theophanes himself." This epistle also, since it is unpublished, I am pleased to present here with our version.

Epistle to the Emperor against the greedy for shameful gain, and concerning the privileges of the Church.

^ASince many today desire more, and because we correct none of those who devour the Lord’s people like bread—and who, for the sake of shameful gain, seize even the things belonging to the empire with both hands—I pray that the present matter be handled for the Lord’s sake. Let not truth, law, and justice be set aside by those blinded by gifts. Nor let the Church be so despised that her privileges are subjected to the slanders of any person wishing to make illicit profit; but rather let every accursed man be duly punished, whether it be Theophanes or whoever else employs shameful gain and slander, and marches against the truth, lying about it. Together with them, let those ^B also be punished who have now dared so much as to cover up such a pitiful and murderous act with gifts; for divine justice will not sleep forever against those who dare such things, whoever they may be. For these reasons, I ask again that an inquiry and retribution be effected by your God-ordained majesty, promptly and zealously, and not by men who are corrupt and who have bent their knee to the love of money—for the sake of which Judas elevated himself into his own ruin, so that his crime is sung of everywhere and constantly. But if we do not seek justice, but abandon ourselves to neglect and silence, these things will not remain unpunished before God, the just Judge.

Epistle to the Emperor concerning Lord Niphon of Cyzicus, regarding the accusations brought against him.

^CWhen it happens that one of the chief persons involved in legal disputes is sent to us—as they ask that their case be heard synodically—we do not proceed to delays or postponements for the sake of those who sent them, but handle the case quickly, as is proper. But if among men in the passing of sentences there is strife and detraction—such as, without doubt, also occur in divine matters—both for the great and the small, so that one might mock or handle with sacrilegious hands the things that pertain to Him, ^D while God could take vengeance and exact retribution, He preserves the stillness of a calm sea. Being well aware of our zeal for all that is good and equitable, and in order that we might mutually heal each other’s faults, He has entrusted the administration of just retribution to humans, having commanded that nothing be preferred before truth. Therefore, we should not leave unacted upon the things that have reached our ears, as if they were matters to be despised, nor protract them by delay, lest we forget, or lest, distracted by other cares, we let such things pass unavenged, knowing that we will have to give an account for them. For if someone endures one who injures or harms him, he is among those who are praised; but if he uses this same [patience] toward his fellow servants, he is neither free from blame nor irresponsible; and if he also disregards the decrees of the one judging, it is dangerous, because not even the All-Good One approves of anyone being wronged; and although He is exceedingly philanthropic, He nonetheless mingles the dregs of His wrath for them, out of [a regard for] the Lord's...

^A diligence, to redeem their faults and thoughts. I have endured what I heard with the mind of one who is deeply grieved, and I now desire that you provide a remedy through one of two courses: either by your divine imperial authority you choose to hear these two things—both the accused and the accusation concerning him—or you entrust this to us to inquire into these two matters in the presence of a few persons; otherwise, you will be caught up in uncertainties that are harmful both to him and to us.

Epistle to the Master of Petitions concerning the election by which the bishop of Cyzicus was made patriarch.

A man who is perpetually sent by us to perform the duty of veneration, O man of God Almighty and of my holy ^B Emperor, having come as is the custom in due time and performed his reverence, upon leaving heard from certain people that you had taken care to approach my holy Emperor to ask—like a brother—to learn how the matters concerning the votes appeared to us, or if they had become known, and what we said regarding this. Now, as to whether the votes proceeded or did not proceed, we, with God as our witness, have to this moment heard nothing, nor have we even cared to say anything. Since, however, we do not know the purpose of your mind, we do not know for whose sake you desire to hear what we think in our hearts concerning the votes, and what we might have to say. Yet, as we think only ^C what is honorable, both divine and human, regarding you, and [believing] that it is one of the beneficial things to discover, we have judged that what you desire to have brought to your knowledge—and furthermore, being stirred up by the injunction of the Father [St. Peter] to be ready to give an account to everyone who asks us concerning the hope that is in us, of which every word and every mystery consists, and considering this one matter to be among the more precious, I mean the matter of the votes—concerning the spiritual gift, the benevolence, the hope, and the grace offered to them, as we desire, think, and pray regarding ^D this, we declare clearly that we have recognized your instruction; and we have written down privately, as much as was possible, what we have devised. If we have complied with the orders and have sent what we deem worthy of your knowledge and prudence—if, indeed, they are accommodated to the magnitude of the votes—you will reveal your assent and openly manifest your counsel and intent; but if it is outside what is fitting—for the knowledge of all things is not ours—you will make this known to us in charity, and from thence, you will remain with us, saved by the charity of God, sound and long-lived, having received this and read it, and having sent a knight in haste, [so that he] may receive what has appeared to us to be fittingly held regarding the votes.

It was fitting for those performing the election, as disciples of Him whom they had as an exemplar, Christ, whom they deem the sole and first high priest and victim, not to rely in any way at all upon human counsels and judgments, as those not being ignorant of the vengeance from above: "They reigned for themselves and not through Me, they ruled and did not acknowledge Me."

^A And with one heart and oneness of mind and untiring prayer, they ^B shall judge the one who has been judged by God’s decree from there without doubt to be accepted by those of God. And then we are to think that our acceptance and support before God is great and incomparable, placing our hopes in Him alone, and in Him alone trusting without wavering for the double salvation. And such things are truly beyond faith and understanding and humility; as has been done even by the servants of the Word, as we know, since we are rich in the then-undeniable choice given by God, removed from human thoughts and cravings, wisely escaping them, and those who have obtained the divine to build up, by not being caught in conscience and by not appointing or approving false ministers of God; for they did not know whether God would approve or answer according to the office. For who has known the mind of the Lord at any time, or who has been His counselor? Showing in work that we believe that in all the earth are the judgments of God, and that, "Not as man shall see, shall God see." But thus also, as I said, since this great and marvelous man, pleasing to God for the glory of God, was being importuned, though not in the least stirred by the uncertain counsels of certain people, but rather entirely by this course of action. Whether then hereafter from all the faithful who have received grace from God, just as truth has sprung from the earth, no one shall contradict that justice will look down from heaven, and also that, with Christ providing every benefit, every gift of unfailing blessing shall spring forth for the faithful, increasingly by the prayers and supplications commanded by God; or if thereafter anywhere any ^C wicked and ill-omened things should chance to be uttered against the shepherd (for to be immune from injuries is the property of God alone, who does not give to everyone who wishes to speak them), those who enjoy power over these things should spurn them, as tares of unbelief and destruction, or of ignominy and eternal damnation, or even of corrupted limbs, to which incurable rot is communicated to the body of the Church, on behalf of those who desire to hear such foul and shameful corruption. But indeed, as for the judgment, which pertains to no other than to Him who is about to judge all the earth in righteousness, plainly and justly and far from power: since the whole assembly of the Church has been gathered by the overseer as though Christ is seeing and hearing, a clear and manifest judgment must be carried out, and if in the meantime the acts of condemnation seem to have proceeded before the face of God outside of laws and statutes, they must be rigorously and inflexibly repelled, the Church not accepting excuses in any way at all, it is expedient that for posterity the utility of salvific protection be established. As for the man cast out, unless he has also gone mad, account must be taken of his amendment; but if, by the mercy of God, the opposite happens, and Satan—who once pursued the just and true and honest man pleasing to God—thenceforth having entered utterly into the hearts of slanderers, vomited forth the foul corruption against the shepherd, as well as the insulting and blasphemous and senseless voices, ^D not softly regarding such things, but more justly laboring against them, as being an insult to God, and depriving [him of] all pity.

^A And insofar as the debt of love and zeal toward God is indispensable to the faithful, seeing that he [the Jew] has not merely reviled some chance high priest, but has mocked and insulted the very God of the Church who is beyond all insult, from this source the voice is beyond doubt, that "He who rejects you, rejects me," and conversely from these things and such things, I say, done by us in truth and righteousness and faith and fear of God. Let us be preserved and guarded and raised up in proportion, as those belonging to Christ in all things, and learning to show faith by our works, and zeal, freed from twofold error, and especially in matters of God, and freed of human desires, and from this point judging our own affairs and those of our neighbor with righteous and God-pleasing wrath.

Epistle to the Emperor concerning the God-killing Jews, that they may depart from the city.

Rabsaces, the commander of the Assyrian king Sennacherib, ^B having dared to spew words of reproach against the God over all, the most God-loving king Hezekiah not only tore his garments, being zealous for the great God, but also laying aside the ornaments of royal power, was covered in sackcloth. Wherefore the God of Hosts was moved to compassion, and slew the one hundred and eighty-five thousand of the Assyrians. But, O holy emperor, how will the God of Sabaoth suffer it, seeing that we not only permit the God-killing synagogue to sit in the midst of the orthodox, mocking our affairs—I mean the adoration and worship and faith toward our Lord and God Jesus Christ, and our pious iconographic venerations, and all the mysteries with which the holy and blameless faith of the Christians is enriched—but also that because of many gifts the Bokalas bestowed great power upon them, so that if any Christian dares to raise his voice out of zeal, who is there to redeem him from prison? And as for the Armenians, the torments with which they afflict the neighboring orthodox, I am ashamed to relate, God knows; except that they are not prevented from having a synagogue for prayer. ^C But if any of the orthodox should dare to speak out there, where they are forbidden, the Armenians, by means of certain royal decrees, can do much. That, moreover, because of my sins, the Ishmaelites have taken possession of Christian cities, and do not even permit Christians the sound of a bell, no one is ignorant. We, however, even these things, by the grace of Christ God, being enriched by the empire in Christ, we despise, not only doing whatever the envoys of the Ishmaelites did, and these being sent by such people, but even openly ascending on high, as they are accustomed to do in their own land, they perform their polluted mysteries. These and such things being dared, ^D those who see them keep them in the shade, and do not openly report them to your majesty, so that you might show your God-given zeal on account of these things, O holy emperor. How will God hear our prayers, if we pray at all? How, when you are calling, will He say, "Behold, I am here"? How will He speak

peace upon His people? Therefore, that I may gain some advantage from these words of yours, I ask, I pray, I beseech your majesty: arise. Let those who are treated unjustly obtain judgment, let the evildoers be restrained, and do you yourself receive the acceptance and praise of justice and truth. ^A Gird your sword upon your thigh with God in all that is equitable, and strike, and make your path prosperous, and reign for the sake of truth and justice and divine zeal and wisdom, so that the right hand of God may wondrously guide you, so that He may glorify you. "For them that glorify me, I will glorify," says the Lord. And I know that you glorify Him in your heart, but still, it is the law of God that those who glorify Him in secret He compensates in secret, and those who glorify Him before men He compensates before men, according to the saying: "Everyone who confesses me before men, I also will confess." ^B If you take up the side of God in these things, this divine power of yours will be perfected, and there will be nothing else from the others to fear; therefore, store up for yourself before God a glorious and holy name, and be truly kindled, not in word, but in deed; for it is not words, but deeds, that need to be shown in a time of crisis. Be a Phinehas. Propitiate God for the evil things that have occurred, so that the ruin may cease, so that God may broaden the boundaries of the Christians, so that He may provide an abundance of the necessities for your subjects, so that He may fight for you, so that He may crush every adversary and enemy under your feet like dust, so that He may grant you a happy life, and transmit the empire to your children and descendants for your virtues through generations of generations, so that besides the earthly kingdom He may grant you the heavenly one.

Epistle to the Emperor, that he may instruct his children and all his subjects according to the will of God

Because you do not teach your children the things that are acceptable before the Lord; because you do not care for what is honest, just as a good head of a household ought to do; because the Church is polluted and contaminated, such that not only are the more worthy kept away, but even the unworthy are heard speaking in public assemblies; because not only is the common people left in ignorance, but also everything vain, from Jews and Armenians, has been mixed into the ignorance of the truth; because those who labor have not been judged, but have fallen into corruption and injustice; because truth and justice and equity are hidden; ^C because the people of God have been delivered up by Ishmael to promiscuous adultery, and to the madness of beasts and men, and to unspeakable blasphemy and sorcery and injustice; because never has such permissiveness for death been granted to hermits and monks; because, while they could have conducted both communal and private matters for the Lord and with the Lord, they scorned this, pursuing instead what is useless; because, when armies are sent out, there is no one to admonish them and strike fear into them so they might conduct themselves with Christ, but they are caught up in adulteries and rapine and thefts, and from where will they gain victory? Because, although you know the disobedience and lawlessness of the Jews, for which they were destroyed, we ourselves are disobedient and

^A peace to the people? We, then, transgress the law even more than they, ^B in that they despise their fellow servants, whereas we despise our Lord and King and great God. If, therefore, you strive to seek God after this, as far as it is possible, as a reward for your labor you shall not only wash away your errors, but you shall also gain a position of honor, and after this, the heavenly kingdom.

Letter concerning the gathering of the presbyters in the monastery of Chora, so that they may unite for the sake of the common good before the emperor.

Now it is expedient to send each of the more excellent presbyters according to his lot; for there are certain matters regarding which public petitions must be made before the emperor, such as those concerning the Latins—so that those who have ears to listen may be allowed to teach without fear, and may refute the many who are weak in faith. For it would not be right for us to depart having left these matters unattended; but rather, we should also address the matters of the Jews and the Armenians, so that they might be removed, and all other such works acceptable to God for which public petition is needed; and because, moreover, of the urgent time of the harvest. For these reasons, command that, after we have partaken of the Eucharist on the Lord's Day, we be gathered and go together to the emperor. For I do not think he will disregard the utility of this request. Let no one, therefore, for the Lord's sake, be left behind through sloth. If, then, you judge it proper, let us gather in the district, and from thence let us seek an audience together with the emperors. ^C

ATHANASIUS, PATRIARCH OF CONSTANTINOPLE: EIGHT EPISTLES ON THE NECESSARY RESIDENCE OF BISHOPS.

EPISTLE I

Athanasius, Patriarch of Constantinople, to the Bishop of Crete, who wished to depart to his own bishopric.

Dearest brother and fellow-minister, grace to you and peace from God. This plan and intention of yours, which has reached my ears, has seemed to be that of a brave and manly spirit, looking only upward, and of a true shepherd, struggling truly and legitimately, and responding to his own name and calling: not of a hireling and one who flees not only if he sees a wolf, but even a fox; whence he would cause harm to the flock of Christ, the Prince of shepherds, and prepare infinite torments for his own soul. ^D For why did he not prefer to live a private life, if he was thinking of succumbing, and not feeding the sheep for whom Christ shed His own blood? How did it not come into the mind of this man, of Him who visited him with a curse, who does the work of the Lord negligently¹: although he may simulate in name to do it, in whom otherwise sits that which was written concerning the fool, who said in his heart, "There is no God": for they do not place God before them, who dare to do these things in His sight. May God grant that we not be of the number and rank of such men, and may He inscribe us among the faithful stewards, and may He kindly grant that we be present before the Prince of shepherds,

¹ Jer. XLVIII, 10. ² Ps. X, 13.

^A to the accomplishment of what is necessary? Let us lay down our lives for the sake of His sheep, for he has shown this and confirmed by edict what is most fitting for all pastors to do today (if indeed it is ever fitting), when not only grave wolves—I mean the impious and heretics—rush upon the flock of the Lord, but from among ourselves, as the Apostle says, men and women are not afraid to draw away and tear Christians from Christ. Wherefore, it is not safe for true pastors not to watch, and not to survey everything on all sides, and to seek out only the straying sheep, and not to be even more anxious for those who do not stray, being terrified by the darkness of these times which has been brought upon us by the just permission and judgment of God; because, clearly, we do not live as befits Him who called us. But, O the destruction of our souls! O the great punishments to be inflicted upon us for our lusts and disordered wills, which have brought forth this evil! This evil, I say, that a holy nation wanders dispersed and scattered throughout all fields and mountains for the fault of absent pastors. Wherefore, the sooner you pay that debt which has been inspired in you, and accomplish your holy purpose, the greater will be the reward with which you accomplish it. All good pastors, whoever are worthy of this name, ought to do this; and whoever fails to do so shall not go unpunished. For if any pastor delays even for two days in the diocese that has fallen to him, one may find that great sins and damage will befall the people. For it seems that it is the same for a flock to be without a shepherd as it is for a blind man to be without a guide. Indeed, the sheep increase and are safe when true pastors preside over them; but not those who merely drink the milk and seek to be clothed in the wool, feeding themselves with every care and skill, and not the sheep. May God avert this evil from our fold, and rather multiply in it whatever is divine and pleasing to God. For if what has only been heard from many concerning your return to your diocese (which, moreover, ought to be done by every bishop) has immediately seemed praiseworthy to everyone—namely, to recover the stolen sheep courageously, not merely to preserve the unstolen with manly vigor; sometimes even to add those of others to our own, and then, as far as possible, to seek and track down the straying and lost, and once found, to place them upon one's shoulders with great effort and lead them back to the churches into the number of those who are estranged by error—these things, I say, how pleasing they must be to God and to those devoted to God! Therefore, because what you willed was most honorable, all the wise and prudent, and in the first place the emperor himself, praised it; for he not only approved, but spoke magnificent words, having seized this opportunity useful to the Church, imitating that most eloquent man with whom (as often as he must speak for the Church for the benefit of many) no one can compete in sweetness, copiousness, and elegance of speech, and to such an extent, as I have said, that your proposed plan seemed so apt and agreeable to the emperor ^B that by synodical letters and ^C an edict he decreed that from the bishopric, subject to the metropolis of Monembasia, two hundred gold pieces should be rendered to you annually. By this benefit he also obligated us, so that we might not only praise the emperor for the sake of religion, and all of us ecclesiastics offer prayers for him, but also for his varied and manifold beneficence and providence. It happened by this example that the bishop of Sardis, because of the zeal and eagerness to go quickly to seek his sheep, did not excuse himself on account of dangers, impediments of travel, old age, and the inclemency of the season; all which difficulties his prompt spirit overcame. The emperor, judging him worthy of praise and wishing to rouse him to his due and salutary duty, provided so that the necessary things might be conveniently supplied to him: namely, he brought it about by his counsel and authority that, by the decree of the synod and the edict of the king, the metropolis of Metymna was added to him, just as it had hitherto been added to you. And this was for a double name and cause: that the metropolitan might be shielded by a safeguard for ruling, and that the people of Metymna themselves might be governed more conveniently and easily, and that on account of the proximity, the scabby sheep might be cured more opportunely, and those that are healthy might be preserved and excited to honest works. For holy Scripture affects both of you with a curse if, when you are pastors, you do not persist unto blood in accomplishing those things which we have said; until, as we trust, God, being propitious to us, restores to the flock of each pastor peace, tranquility, and safety. That He may do this, He must be appeased and moved by us, and implored by our rightful deeds, obedience, and Christian life. For thus it will happen that, by keeping the divine law, we who have justly lost what we had by living basely, may be restored through the prayers of the blessed Mary. Farewell in Christ. ^D

EPISTLE II. Athanasius, Patriarch of Constantinople, to the Bishop of Sardis.

You know how Wisdom teaches her disciples: Do not (she says) rebuke the wicked, lest they hate you, as if it were fitting only to rebuke the wise, so that whoever loves the brethren may, in turn, be loved. I shall seem to have made a fitting beginning here, writing to you, a wise man and one learned in the things that have been decreed by the holy apostles concerning the constitution of ecclesiastical affairs, of which one is that every pastor should stand firm within his own boundaries for the sake of peace and charity, of which Jesus is the strongest bond, which cannot be broken. You know, moreover, that the great High Priest, Christ, defined the task of a pastor: namely, mutual charity toward Him, so that it might appear what kind of persons we are not. By these marks, which designate the true pastor, the great High Priest Christ has defined the office of a pastor. Furthermore, you are not ignorant of the adornment of a good pastor, who must clearly be such as to know the souls of his flock, of which it is written: The good pastor lays down his life for his sheep. 4 And

^A to us, if we do not listen to His commands? Or if we do listen, how do we not augment the wrath of God against us, since we have learned that God endured the sin of the world, but by no means the sin of the desert? Similarly, it is most true that pastors who neglect the flock do not go unpunished; and that many will depart, even if it does not perhaps appear so to those who voluntarily draw a veil before their eyes, lest they gaze upon the refined truth of the Gospel, just as when Moses is read to the people of Israel; those whom, indeed, I used to think, with the veil now removed, saw with an uncovered face. But, O the calamity and misery, how easily evils creep in with time itself! What kind of monster is this which has now arisen, that there are found bishops who provide counsel and state their own opinion, but do not confirm and sanction the decrees and judgment of their elders, both privately and publicly? Thus it is that, in matters of the poor, they may indeed think as we do, who judge likewise, but not so in the cases of the wealthy and the noble; for which reason it does not befit me to judge with these fellow-judges. If peace is obtained by the grace of God, and frequent council happens to be convened, all these things will be corrected; but if it happens otherwise (since we do not know what the next day may bring), that Judge who cannot be deceived will take care of His Church. This I wished you to know, lest it be troublesome to come. Farewell.

EPISTLE III

I think you are not unaware of what Basil the Great wrote to ^C Gregory, concerning his excluding the woman whom he kept at home; and how he ordered that, if he did not exclude her immediately, he should cease from the priestly office, having to render an account to God for that cessation, and being under anathema to all the people if he did not cease, but rather continued to offer to God without reverence. By these words he demonstrated how great damage and loss ^D he would cause who, having attained dignity, did not perform his ministry rightly and assiduously. Therefore, the deeds of the holy Fathers are examples for us, so that we may compare what we must do with those things which, by the grace of the saints, have breathed through them, and toward which we must look, just as those who desire light are accustomed to look toward the sun. For this reason, we impress this example upon you, so that, since you wished the Church to be entrusted to you, you may with all zeal drive and lead the flock of Christ to green and wholesome pastures, and defend it from beasts—not just any, but from the Arabs, both the corporal ones that are seen and the spiritual ones that are not seen. And (as a true bishop ought) you should reside in holiness at the holy altar, from which you must partake, just as the Lord pronounced that the laborer is worthy of his hire. Therefore, it is not to be thought that it is permitted for you to be absent for long for any reason, because it is necessary rather for you

^A to you if you are unable to proceed quickly to that Church which has been added and commended to you, so that you might preside over it? You will do this if you first cause to be restored whatever has been found to be stolen, whether with your knowledge or without it, so that God may benevolently grant to each of us what is his own, which will be most pleasant in its own time. For those things which have been taken away by those who wish to cast this stain upon bishops—so that while they themselves lie in wait for others and inflict injustices, the blame is transferred to those who are evil pastors—how otherwise will it be permitted to go into the sight of those whose losses and injustices you have inhumanely disregarded? Yet from them, all injury was hoped to be removed, or how shall we compel them to bear the magistracy, unless we do the same thing which Zacchaeus did? For if he defrauded anyone of anything, he restored it fourfold. And the Lord commands all pious men to abstain from avarice: and he who has not done this, and taught it, how shall he not be anathema to the people? For it is worse not to do this than what that Gregory, of whom I spoke, did. How much more easily and lightly can you correct that evil? Otherwise, both, or rather, whoever is not amended, will be punished by Christ, the Prince of shepherds. Therefore, after you have done this, come to us, so that having received letters from us, you may be absolved, and confirmed in a good conscience to administer the pastoral office. For as long as you do not fear to do these things which you do, we, while you are absent from your diocese, will not be guilty of your vacancy and of those evils which must necessarily arise from that absence and vacancy; nor will we be interceptors of those good things which, if you were present, you could have done and ought to have done in word and deed. May God grant to you and to all the faithful what is beneficial.

LETTER IV.

I write to you for the third time, my brother and fellow-minister, since my two previous letters, which I sent to you, have not stood as "the word in the mouth of two witnesses," as the Holy Scripture says. We urge you, therefore, because justice demands this, that what has been stolen be restored to those from whom it is known to have been stolen, so that when they have been restored, you yourself may be able to approach the Church commended to you, and honor Him by whom all things have been disposed ^B and distributed in such just and wondrous ways, so that even cranes sing in their own time, and neither jackdaws nor rooks are present at all times and in all places. But I, to whom the flock of Christ has been committed, if he knows the dignity of the office, consider it inequitable not to study and apply himself to it assiduously, even unto blood. Unless, perhaps, you are ignorant that it is God who said: "Peter, do you love me? Feed my sheep." But, alas for me! Now it is not pastors who feed the sheep, but they are fed by the sheep as if by bread. Now those horrible evils of wicked pastors, which the prophet Ezekiel described, have crept in with the greatest license. But if such things seem so grave to you, come, most excellent man, be content with your own diocese; remain in it; see that you are with your sheep even unto blood, being afflicted for them; which indeed divine providence now guards in the myrtle groves, among the fig trees and the roses, and on the mountains. For it is not, which is most certain, through your pastoral rod and staff that they are in the green pastures of the peace and goods of the celestial Jerusalem. For you know that those who have been absent from their diocese for more than six months, unless a grave illness holds them, it has been established by canons and laws that they forfeit their priesthood and flock. But, a new and wicked plan has been devised here by the men of our age: namely, you send someone who knows how to milk the flock; but you yourselves wait in the city of Constantinople for the sake of civil prefectures, subscriptions, untimely ordinations, add also bulls and decrees: and as if it will be unpunished for you, you depart so far from the diocese committed to you, and commit other things of this kind to whomever you please. It behooves rather, with all bishops gathered together from everywhere, for each one’s diocese to be circumscribed by the thread of distribution, and thus for his part to be assigned to the patriarch by you, or for you to be deprived by the patriarch. And what is the use, that you have labored in choosing and establishing a patriarch, and afterwards to insult and be puffed up against him, and mock him in life and in deeds? Giving no regard, not even for a short time, to the account of canons and laws: whom, if you perchance see resisting your desires, you immediately invent crimes, and strive to eject him with infamy and disgrace. But for what purpose is it necessary for each one to go to his own diocese (I say his own, or that commended to him) unless that you might ward off the wolves from there? But if perhaps zeal and a desire to consult for the salvation of many incites and leads you hither, and that is your purpose; and if you have such great knowledge that you can govern even those things which are placed outside the borders of your dioceses: to extinguish this thirst and the ardor of this desire, let that man come to mind to whom the knowledge of many holy scriptures gave the name of Theologian, and that little diocese of the Sozimi; so that ^D either because of the reverence of that excellent man, or because of the equality of honor with which you ought to be content, each one of you may keep himself within his own borders. Wherefore consider, brother, that this is owed by you even unto blood, that you should be and live with your sheep. Let this same study be for other bishops, that it is salutary for them and their [flocks] indeed. Nor is it, especially at this time, that the pastor will escape punishments who does not labor with his flock; against whom there certainly fits what the Lord says: "He sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep, and flees, and the wolf snatches them," who, he who does not listen, despises the author of this sentence. For unless this is done, to what end is this [man]

^A to us, if we do not listen to Him when He says: "Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not do what I say?" And what profit does your gathering bring? Or if you are doing some good here, tell me. For I, unless my speech were to cast a stain upon the priesthood, would demonstrate many things that are unseemly and foreign to the constitution of the Church, which arise from this gathering of yours in this city.

EPISTLE V

Athanasius, Patriarch of Constantinople, to the bishops departing to their dioceses

If there is anything else necessary—and this for all, but especially for you, my brothers and fellow-shepherds, and above all for the teachers of the Church—it is to revere, fear, and examine with diligent scrutiny the Holy Scripture; and for all Christians, unless they are utterly insane, to be prompt and ready to perform the things commanded in it. For it is the Lord who exhorts us to search the Scriptures; and from them to learn and to teach both the things of the past and most of the things that will happen in the future. Hence it has always been the desire of those who long for their salvation to hear Moses and the prophets. For the Word judges us, as He who cannot lie has taught us. Therefore, all Scripture divinely inspired is salutary and useful for examining what is fitting and honorable, and for instructing and correcting. Useful, I say, not only for those who live basely, but even more so for those who live soberly and continently; but to those who are endowed and adorned with any pastoral dignity and rank, it is life itself, and a lamp unto their feet, and the safest way to perform the justice of God. For from it we learn by whom and from whom we were made, and to whom we tend: to whom, indeed, the duty of teaching has been enjoined; and not in any haphazard way, but to feed so that we may love Him in return who gave us to feed, knowing who it is who came and who will come again to judge the living and the dead; and knowing that the shepherds who have kept the ^B commandments of God in their hearts, whether for reverence and fear or for love, will be placed at the right hand and will shine with incredible splendor; but those who have not kept them will be at the left and condemned to every kind of torture: and, which is the most intolerable and bitter of all, cast far from the sight of God, and perpetually agitated by the sting of conscience. Conversely, those who have properly discharged their pastoral office will be praised before angels and men, as being upright, faithful, prudent, and grateful, and who have been salt and light to men, omitting nothing that was useful and advantageous: who not only in words but in deeds both handed down virtues and drove out vices, commanding all to turn away from evil and do good. To which goal, indeed, the good God has freely inscribed the unwritten law of nature; then, He did not cease to send servants to announce the will of God, not only to those invited to the supper and wedding, but even to those who were in the roads and hedges, with wedding attire: for the others, not being so adorned, are left to chains and darkness. I beseech you, whoever we who are called shepherds may be, let us strive that we may be found in the number of ^C those whom God, by His own secret judgment known to Him, has sent to call the invited; I beg and adjure you, let us not forget, nor reject and neglect the commands and mandates of Him who sent us, like those who have hearts burdened and weighed down by debauchery and the anxieties of the world. We, indeed, who have been commanded to watch and pray, as if we could not otherwise avoid future torments, nor otherwise stand innocent before God, to show whether we have traded with the talents given to us at the table, or rather hidden them in the ground and in a napkin, as some are accused of having done out of wickedness and ignorance. Horrible, indeed, are the threats proposed to us shepherds if we do not watch: to whom a mandate and commission have been given, to deliver to our fellow servants, both by word and by deed, true dogmas and the rule of a perfect life; then to demand an account of spiritual progress, to sound the trumpet vigilantly, lest the sword seize anyone's soul—which would otherwise be required back from our hands—and finally to explain incessantly what the will of God is. And since many have been sent to this work in times past, it is our duty to fear that, having entered into their labors, we might pay a penalty if we labor too little. Which, I pray, may not come to pass for us, to whom have been given not only those things which were designated by types and symbols, and which the prophets and the righteous sought, but [to whom] we have even been made dispensers of grace. Wherefore, unless we perpetually proclaim with an open head ^D the gifts of God, which can neither be attained by prayer nor comprehended by the mind, whoever of us is endowed with such pastoral dignity will doubtlessly fall into the hands of God: unless, I say, we have proclaimed how God made all things from nothing, how admirable the benefits of the universe are in every part for man, which are promised to us if we perform the commands of God; and what, conversely, are the threats of punishments proposed if we do not perform them; and unless we have proclaimed that those who have lived badly will depart from this life to an angry God, and will eventually give eternal punishments. Furthermore, we must repeat the voices of the prophets, by which they labored to call the human race back from vices: likewise, to commemorate the advent of the Lord, and the benefits flowing from it: then His shameful death, His burial and return to life, His ascent to the heavens, the mission of the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit given to men, the apostles sent into the whole world to baptize and to teach whatever He himself had commanded to be observed; to whom Christ promised He would always be present. Add to this that the day of that great wrath and calamity is imminent, because of the multitude of sins; when that dragon will present himself, unexpectedly, to corrupt all. Also, the return of Elijah and Enoch to attend to the salvation of men against the devil, whom the Lord will destroy by the presence of His advent. Furthermore, we shall speak of being rapt to meet Christ, when the heavens will pass away with a great rush, and the earth and the works that are therein will be burned up. Since these things are expected, what kind of people, I ask, and how holy ought we to be!

^A to us? We must also commemorate the final judgment, the benches set, the Ancient of Days presiding over the judgment, the books opened, the river of fire; then, those who are on the right, commended for good works, about to proceed to the resurrection of life; those, however, who are on the left, about to proceed to the resurrection of judgment. These are the things which must always be inculcated by us to the people, and commended by the honest example of our life, and advised, which indeed unite us with God. This is that of the Gospel, to give to fellow-servants in due time the measure of wheat: to strengthen, I say, the brethren, so that, despising earthly goods, they may adhere only to virtue and to God. In these things we must watch, and these we must meditate upon, brethren; if we wish to satisfy the great ministry over which we preside, and not rather imitate those proscribed and dissolute stewards who, while, as it seems to them, the Lord delays, eat and drink: whom, when He comes, the same [Lord] will divide, as He has threatened. All of which things we must not only proclaim, but also commend to faithful men, who can also teach others; so that nothing may be done, which is alien to sacred Scripture. We must, furthermore, subject those who have sinned to the penalties and places described for resolving them, according to the canons of the Fathers, distinguishing the holy from the profane: for some act impiously, who violate many of them, and do not remember what is written: "The impious have crossed the boundaries" 11; and that: "Cursed is he who transgresses the boundaries set by the Fathers"; and what is in the Gospel: "He who shall loosen one of the commandments, shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven, but he who does and teaches, shall be called great" 12. With all diligence, therefore, we must labor so that all the faithful may overcome the concupiscences of the flesh which war against the soul: and they must be admonished repeatedly, just as Paul, that vessel of election, cries out, that none of those who work iniquities will possess the kingdom of heaven. Although he urges us to imitate him, just as he himself imitated Christ; blessed are the pastors who have followed and imitated him. Even though his most excellent virtues are not imitable (on account of our sloth and inertia), that, I say, of living by the labor of one's own hands, and dispensing the Gospel without charge: yet it is enough for us if we show ourselves laborers worthy of food, and do not rather devour the goods of the poor with an eager mouth. We must further exhort them to be, as they say, with ears raised, and watching, that they may await that midnight cry, unlooked for and sudden, lest, thinking nothing and occupied in crime, or indulging in pleasure or sleep, they may not perceive that most illustrious arrival of the most beautiful Bridegroom. For, that we might be admonished to watch, the Lord calls the hour of the night that most enlightened time. Would that they had never been born to whom it is to be shut, and who stand and knock in vain, to whom it would be more tolerable ^A to have been consumed by fire, than to hear that: "I do not know you" 13. Therefore, Paul says: "Do not err" 14; enumerating, of course, those who are kept from and excluded from the kingdom of Christ; all of which, unless we have commemorated and announced them to you his disciples, woe to us! Let us beware, therefore, that we do not defraud the peoples of the debt which is common to all pastors; the debt, I say, of fulfilling the embassy for Christ, with God exhorting through us, so that let no one who has once been baptized commit [an offense] so that he is prevented from entering the marriage. But those who deceive others, as false apostles, impostors, having applied the holy Scriptures, let us refute and expose, having commemorated the example of the ten virgins, the net cast into the sea, the man clothed in sordid garments, and others of this kind. These things must be inculcated by individual pastors to their flocks day and night: which are as necessary as it is for a living creature to breathe. Necessary, I say, to announce all the judgments and testimonies of God, so that neither pride and elation may pull them back from this duty, nor the height of the day, that is, prosperity and opulence: but rather, if time demands, to shed blood for the laws and divine statutes, since a pastor who has circumscribed the Master within the limits of charity cannot otherwise love Christ, when the Apostle said: "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?" 15 Next, we must beware, that we do not quickly impose hands, not before the just age, not without a title, not outside the limits of the diocese. Let not just anyone say a testimony, but grave men, who know his upbringing and morals, whether he be irascible, or proud, or a drunkard, or miserly, or pugnacious, or talkative, or a striker, or petulant, or unlettered. After ordination, however, one must take care that he learns to handle and administer sacred things reverently and religiously, especially the mysteries of the Eucharist and baptism: lest what is most holy be taught to be administered indecorously and rashly by some witless person. In addition to these things, it must be provided that the ascent to the pulpit be not open to just anyone, nor is it permitted to teach in the church except to him who is endowed with chastity also and temperance and piety. Likewise, that none of those things which are suitable for eating be offered in the church, except oil, wax, and incense. Let no one receive the Eucharist without probation, or as a gift, unless by the permission and consent of the spiritual Father. Let it not be permitted with impunity to not be free [for divine service] on the feast of the Resurrection, nor to enter into the limits of another: in marriages, let childhood be avoided, [incestuous] proximity of blood, adoption and sponsorship in baptism. It must also be seen, that the marriage be not only lawful and permitted, but also decorous: lest, I say, a young girl marry an old man, or they live together before the blessing. Let the fasts of the Four Seasons not be broken, nor the fasts of the fourth and sixth days of the week. Let alms, temperance, justice, and truth be cultivated by all the faithful. To pay tithes and first-fruits to the Churches, to celebrate the memories of the saints-

^A

To remember relatives in prayers; to abstain from fornication, from things strangled and blood, from portents, incantations, superstitious observances, and from every kind of divination; not to associate with a heretic unless there is a sponsor who has not learned to keep the canons—it is allowed neither for such a one to be baptized nor to become a monk. A monk who has fled from his monastery, and he who has received or ordained him, shall be punished. Finally, those things which are to be done by the faithful must be frequently repeated and commemorated by the teachers of the Church, and those things which are like plagues must be held in abomination. Also, that fire which is to be expected at the consummation of the age must be commemorated. Then that execrable pestilence of the world, I mean the coming of the nefarious Antichrist, lest, if he should appear suddenly and without pre-meditation, that wicked and proud one who lifts himself up above everything that is called God ^B might lead many into error and they be cast into the flame of fire with him. Let this, I pray, be the work of the pastors; let this be their concern and study, that the things which seemed good to the Fathers, and which they observed accurately, we might apply to tempering and directing the faithful, and those who do not observe the things we have been ordered to preserve and not to dissolve, let us afflict those with the most serious curses of anathema. Above all, however, we must exhort all the baptized to observe most perfectly, even unto blood, whatsoever Christ has commanded, affirming that faith without works is dead, and that "not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven"; and that saying: "He who does not love me, does not keep my words." Unless we expound these and other such things from the holy Scriptures to those who are ignorant of them, how shall we be faithful stewards? Let us not, I pray, do so indolently and negligently, but rather with fear and trembling, without any hesitation, let us expound the holy Gospels, teaching that heaven and earth will pass away, but His words shall not. We might say, perhaps in vain, that it is said in Scripture: "Let no one stray": no one, I say, neither of those who were before, nor of those who shall be hereafter. It is incumbent first upon us, who are pastors, to labor at virtue and to teach entirely all that is in the holy Scriptures, that those who have reverently observed Christ and His words—those, I say—shall be confessed, proclaimed, and crowned by the same Christ, and are to be honored with everlasting glory; those who have honored Him in body and spirit, now, I say, already declared faithful and prudent, are to be admitted to the wedding and those immortal delights, so that they may always be with that most beautiful Bridegroom of the Church, our Lord Jesus Christ—to whom be honor and dominion for ever.

LETTER VI

By the same, to the emperor, that he may command the bishops to go to their dioceses.

If you know that the cities in the East are being laid waste and perishing utterly—which evil may God avert—why do you not command, you who have received from God the care of all, that their inhabitants should not desert the cities and come to us; or rather, ^C indeed, do not hinder them by the grace of the bishops. But if, by the grace of God, you attain this through your own prudence and judgment, and we are punished by God, not that we might perish, but that we might be converted: why do you not command the pastors of those cities that each of them should be with his own flock, so that, by applying themselves both to prayers to God and to admonitions and rebukes, they might keep their own from sins; and in this way please God, so that He might at some time remit His threats? But if you were to entrust sheep to a shepherd, and then were to see them abandoned, while he himself was indulging in and serving his own ease and desires, tell me, I pray, would you leave such a pastor unpunished? We do not suffer sheep and cattle to be neglected with impunity, and shall we suffer the pastors of souls to feed themselves, and not the sheep, with impunity? What, I ask, shall we answer before God? Would that that were not reproached to us: "All seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ." For the fact that they do not care for prayers and vigils out of sloth, and laugh at us because we are occupied with these things, clearly shows that they desire nothing more, and have no other purpose, than to displace patriarchs, to accept bribes in judgment, and to commit the other things which the state of the times has taught. Therefore, either command each one to depart to his own diocese, or let them allow me to go to one of my own flocks; and I will bind myself by oath never to depart from it, provided they themselves divide the city of Constantinople among themselves. For what can be more wretched than that in other cities it is permitted to every pastor to rule and govern his own as much as he can and as is right, while in this city alone whoever wishes acts as judge? But if you believe me, most religious emperor, see to it that you afflict these men with sorrow rather than God. For if ever at any other time, now especially bishops ought to die with their flocks. But if you are unwilling, out of your reverence for them, to force them to do what they ought to do, I, having taken up the cause, will expel them from the city, whether they will or no, and render the account of this audacity to God.

EPISTLE VII

By the same, to the same emperor, concerning the same matter.

If it is true, as is commonly said, that he who deprives a flock of its shepherd creates danger for both, it is surely a grievous matter, for which punishment awaits him who keeps the shepherd from his fold; and he who is a pastor ought to endure labors even unto blood for the flock of Christ, not leaving it, unless there be need to be absent for a short time at a synod held each year to deliberate on necessary matters. Which being concluded, he should return quickly, if he believes he will render an account to the chief shepherd, Christ, and if he is worthy of the name of pastor: unless perhaps he be called by the emperor or the patriarch to return immediately, even for a necessity pertaining to the benefit of souls. But if otherwise...