MONITUM
I have not wished to omit here the letters exchanged between David Hoeschel and Maximus Margunios, Bishop of Cythera, nor the other letter of the same Margunios to those who study divine philosophy, taken from the Augsburg edition of the *Mystagogy* of Maximus, in case any light might be added to our Maximus and our work from them. I have rendered the Latin from the Greek and present them in both languages, with the titles by which they adorned themselves.
A To the most religious man, endowed with the highest erudition, Lord Maximus Margunios, Bishop of Cythera, David Hoeschel, greetings and wishes for a happy life.
In all the holy scriptures, most religious Lord, we find instructions as to how our life should be established with serious modesty and according to the dictates of virtue; where the divine Apostle especially commands that we live honestly toward those who are outside. B And again, that all things should be done honestly and according to order. For if even those who have not been imbued with any teaching brought by the breath of the divine Spirit have rightly judged that it is a human work proper to offer fitting worship to God, to walk composedly in the ways, and to show kindness to one another in mutual duties, then it is all the more entirely fitting for those who have been taught by God to be grateful and respectful toward God. We ought to live our lives holily, to show philanthropy to all, and always to maintain a good manner of life among the nations; so that, in that thing wherein they speak against them (as the holy Peter says somewhere) as evildoers, they may, by observing their good works, glorify God in the day of visitation. The ancients always observed this very thing everywhere, and especially in the gatherings of the saints; acting so in every individual thing with all reverence, that whether they seemed great or small, they showed forth something divine and greater than human majesty. C Such a one might conjecture from the book left behind by Maximus, whom they call Confessor, and which rightly delineates the sacred rites of that time. To you, most reverend Father, I have now dedicated the edition of this book; your own name, Maximus, is inscribed on the front like some guardian Jupiter, and is set against the malice of the ignorant like a seasoning and an outstanding grace. Let this short study, which was first sent by you and subsequently supplied from the parchments which exist here, be dedicated to you. I believe that Maximus himself, if he were restored to this life and were living among men, he who himself once filled the sacerdotal list, would rejoice exceedingly that the outstanding prelate of Greece...
A has been set forth by us, through labor and diligence, using three different copies of the work. May you be kept safe for the Church of God, by His grace, most renowned and God-guarded master.
From Augsburg, the seventh day before the end of Munichion, in the year of the Incarnation of the Word 1599.
Maximus Margunius, humble bishop of Cythera, to David Hoeschel, a most wise man, greetings.
Regarding the dedication of holy Maximus, it would be extremely pleasant to me and would overwhelm my soul with joy, if, just as I share a name with him, I might also share in the grace that was so abundantly granted to him from above. Then indeed the communion of persons would not be discordant. But since, due to the sloth which is inherent in us—or, to speak more truly, which is inborn—our affairs are diametrically opposed to his, as far as wisdom and other virtues are concerned; and as I am a useless vessel, such as my own soul is, which has not learned to contain the fragrance of such elect ointment, what is there in me, for the sake of the Beloved, that befits that most wise and most holy man? B Do not, therefore, act against what is proper and what my own dignity demands, by mixing things that cannot be mixed, and by admitting to his inner sanctuaries and mysteries those who are still sitting at the foot of the mountain and are only at the beginning of their instruction in divine things. This is my opinion; but if it should seem otherwise to you, and better than my own judgment, it will rest with you to carry out what you have willed. And if you do so, I know well that you will do nothing contrary to what is proper, nor contrary to my own dignity, not being ignorant that I am a humble bishop—even if not diligent in my ways, yet a lover of virtue; a disciple of the fishermen, C even if not on par with them, yet at least one who, so far as my strength allows, clings to their footsteps; and one who, before all else, pursues and embraces the God-directed philosophy joined with piety and right faith. You will do me the greatest favor by informing me whether at present the Bibliotheca of Photius is being printed in Greek anywhere, or if it is intended to be printed. May you be kept safe for me in Christ, in soul and in body, most wise and most friendly of men.
From Venice, the fifth day before the end of Scirrophorion, in the year of salvation 1599.
The same Maximus Margunius, to those who apply themselves to sacred philosophy, an increase of divine grace. D
Of what sort the holy Maximus was, and how great [was his struggle] on behalf of the establishment of the doctrines of the holy Church, against those who...
A fought against it as heretics, his trials make manifest; his disputation with the impious Pyrrhus regarding the necessity of confessing two natures [in Christ] after the union, and many other of his writings, most full of divine wisdom, clearly demonstrate this. In exactly what way he also showed himself a most skillful peacemaker, and an arbiter and mediator with piety, when a disagreement had at some time arisen between the Churches, [they also show]. But he also maintained in parts the entirely irreproachable [doctrine] of the saints in his own writings; both the letter to Marianus, a presbyter of Cyprus, and the healing that he performed for the discourses of the holy Nyssen, insofar as they concern their restoration to their integral state, and other such things, proclaim this most brilliantly.
Moreover, where he plays the role of an interpreter of Holy Scripture, he thus cleanses the treasure hidden in the sacred oracles from its earthly and coarse covering and bark, and elegantly adorns the sense of the doctrine that belongs to them; he polishes the mind prone toward earthly things unto spiritual beauty, and, lifting the intellect toward the high citadel of contemplation, makes it a mystic and initiate of divine things, and transforms it into a kind of divine image of the beauty according to the likeness of Him who is "fairer than the sons of men," B and guides it by the ascents of the intellect toward better things on to divine perfection. But he far surpassed others, as far as I am able to follow, in his more mystical and anagogical manner of interpretation. For frequently, leaving behind what is as it were the first, humble covering of the Word, he delights in the height of the meanings alone, and lingers much in the lavish banquet he prepares for the guests of such things. Those who have applied themselves not superficially to the questions addressed to the presbyter Thalassius concerning various difficult points of Holy Scripture, to the four hundred chapters on charity addressed to Elpidius, to the two hundred on theology and the economy of the Incarnation, and to the five hundred on virtue and vice, as well as to his various epistles and other works of this kind, know that this is so. By these, whosoever sufficiently applies his mind in reading becomes superior to all earthly necessity, and, as if having taken up wings, is advanced toward the understanding and love of the Divine, so far as is permitted to a mortal. C Let those of greater judgment and skill judge the holy man’s extraordinary mastery of secular literature, the power of action in contemplation and of contemplation in action—a truly splendid conversion, a pair long desired by every religious soul; by all of which he is shown to be not only an accurate defender of dogmas and a theologian, but also a philosopher.
Of such a kind is the present work now in hand, the treatise concerning, "Of whom are the symbols in the holy Church during the divine Synaxis performed," which is truly most profitable D to all Christians, and especially to those who are occupied with the sacred rites and to whom it has been entrusted to teach the people of God.
and altogether most necessary. In it, the office has risen so much above itself, in as much as such a contemplation remains higher than other things, imparting to us, insofar as we are capable, knowledge of the mysteries which are performed in the Church of Christ, and preparing us to imitate the heavenly hierarchy. Receiving these things, therefore, with all your soul, o you who are fervent lovers of piety, and enjoying in the meantime these goods, pray to God on behalf of those who have bestowed this grace, that you may, as soon as possible, also have access to the other all-wise writings of this man. Fare you well in the Lord our Savior.
Venice, the 24th of Anthesterion (i.e. September, or April), in the year of salvation 1599. B
THE MYSTAGOGIA OF SAINT MAXIMUS, CONCERNING WHAT THE SYMBOLS ARE OF THOSE THINGS WHICH ARE PERFORMED IN THE HOLY CHURCH DURING THE DIVINE SYNAXIS.
SAINT MAXIMUS: MYSTAGOGIA, WHEREIN IS EXPLAINED OF WHAT THINGS THE SIGNS ARE WHICH ARE PERFORMED IN THE HOLY CHURCH IN THE DIVINE SYNAXIS, OR COLLECT.
PROOEMIUM.
C "How the wise man, having taken an occasion, becomes wiser, and the just man, having learned, shall add to receiving," according to the divine Proverb. You yourself, most honored to me of all, have clearly shown this by experience itself, teaching by deed what the divine word suggests wisely. For having once heard me, as I was briefly and in summary fashion recounting, as best I could, to another great elder, himself truly wise in divine matters, the things well and mystically contemplated concerning the holy Church and the holy synaxis performed within it, and—inasmuch as it was possible in a didactic manner—you demanded of me with urgent… [Prov. ix, 9]