Letters, Book I

^A leading the hearts of the inhabitants to compassion for our misery, and most especially the heart of the archbishop. There remains, then, one concern for us and one ceaseless occupation, along with earnest and unworthy prayer: that you yourself should be strengthened, oh our most beloved Father, and remain fixated and immovable in the established confession of the truth of God, not being terrified by anything, or double-minded at the attempts of those who seek to overturn, through subversion, the struggles you have undertaken for piety by the grace of God. For the report has been bruited everywhere, and has shamed almost every soul, and has raised up a horn of salvation among the Christians, and has taken away the reproach from the order of monks. And I know that every person of right mind will say that Christ lives in us, and reigns, and is obeyed more than the men whom He created, not that He should be disobeyed, but that He should be glorified by them.

You therefore know all things, you know what is necessary, and you do not need our reminder; yet you commanded us to write in this way. Do not, therefore, fear a man, Father, or the vexations of men. You know that the saints, considering these things a dream and a shadow, were made wonderful in heaven and on earth. Let us labor, I pray, for a little while; let us endure for a little while longer; and our good course will be finished. And the crown is being woven, and the eternal reward is being prepared, and you will be called a friend of the heavenly King, and a companion of the saints, and a confessor before men. Yes, yes, I beg and beseech by your paternal heart: be for us a fortress, patience, and constancy. ^B For if you, Father, stand firm, we, your useless children, become courageous, and we will bear all things that happen bravely, by the power of God and your prayers. For it is by the permission of God, and because He fully approves of our affairs as such, that He grants the strength.

Do not fear, oh Father, the clever arguments of those who try to turn you away from the truth. The word is simple. For the holy Epiphanius somewhere says in his homily on the Pascha: "Whatever a man may be, if he counsels things other than what is written in the divine Scriptures, he speaks from his own heart and tells the commandments of men." And bringing forward the words of the Apostle regarding such people, he says that even "if an angel from heaven" were to do so, "let him be anathema" (Galat. I, 8). ^C But where shall we place that saying: "My priests have despised my law, and have profaned my holy things" (Ezech. XXII, 26)? Which prophetic word the Theologian [Gregory of Nazianzus], having taken up in his great *Apologeticus*, adds, saying thus: "They did not distinguish between the profane and the holy, but all things were common to them." How many other things there are, if one wishes to hear! Let those, therefore, who distort the truth of God with false words desist, and let them attend to themselves. For we, since the commandment is clear and threatens eternal fire to those who transgress, will by no means yield to human fears or pains; no, by the struggles undertaken for virtue! But even if it is necessary to shed our blood, we shall do so with joy, God strengthening us through your holy prayers.

^A Manfully act also, you yourself, brother lord Euthymius; you have fought the good fight: let us not be left behind by one another, my light and my heart; let us not, for the sake of a small and fleeting life of ease, lose the blessed life. Do not be delighted by present pleasures, and collapse before the tribulations, O brother. Do not turn your back. Christ therefore rejoiced, seeing you beaten for His sake; do not sadden Him, my beloved, nor the angels who rejoice together, nor the Lord the Father, nor the venerable Mother who brought us forth in the Holy Spirit, nor all your brothers; especially me, whom you say you love as a gift. We are three brothers in the flesh, let us be so also in the spirit; let us not dishonor the precious and God-ruling number; let us give ourselves to suffer for the command of God, that we may live for eternity. But there is great sorrow for us, Father, also for the rest of our sweet brothers, asking how the Lord has arranged them. For this, as sinners, we pray, that He Himself may become their caretaker, administrator, and guide, just as He knows, and commands, and wills, managing their affairs. For in truth, we pour out abundant tears for them; and their faces are always before our eyes, while we implore their prayers for the help of our sloth. Nevertheless, pray, O Father, for all, that we may acquire patience, happiness, protection from God, and help against the temptations of the devil; and may that which pleases God, regarding the seeing of you or our brothers in the flesh, come to pass, come to pass. We ask and dare from our side to greet our sweet brother, if he is with you, or any other brother of ours, whoever it may be to whom you will announce it. The lord deacon and our Father, my excellent brother, and your son the steward, along with the rest of the honorable and much-desired brothers, greet your holy soul with me. Pray for us, Father, fervently and unceasingly, as you command. For we have nothing else to say.

II. — To the same.

I am writing to you again, my lord and Father. I do not know if you have received my letters. And in those, indeed, whatever the time demanded, as far as was in our power, although unworthily, we spoke. But now, whatever is fitting, and whatever God provides for the profit of my humble soul, or even—I speak more boldly—for the consolation of your magnanimity, O Father, I shall add. For this, as often before, I now say and profess: if there is any power of speech in me, and any faculty of writing, however small, it was not given for the sake of me, your wretched servant, but

^A for the sake of Him who has the abundant grace welling up in His heart. And for this reason, you take pleasure and joy in the task of instructing and making wise, not only us—whom some, having deemed us grandchildren, have failed to understand ^B—but all those whom you have brought forth as your sons and children through the Spirit. And that I speak the truth, the events have shown, concerning you, the true shepherd who has laid down your soul for your own sheep, so that we might not turn aside anywhere from the truth, having perhaps readily chosen to pour out our own blood as well.

This, then, is the guardianship of a true shepherd, confounding the falsely named, and truly showing itself worthy to God and Father and Arch-shepherd. Therefore, I offer to you in a small measure those things which were granted to me on your account; and you are reaping, like a good husbandman, the slender—I know not how to call them—fruits of the seeds which you planted in me with such great care and abundance. What then, henceforth, shall I say that is fitting and acceptable to your holy soul, my sweetest Father? Who has separated me from your ever-desired countenance? From your sweetly-speaking company? From your salvation-working guidance? You are my light, the ever-shining lamp of the dark thoughts in my soul; the staff supporting the weakness of my heart, the change for despondency, the anointing for zeal, the good news, the joy, the feast, the glory. Without you, even the sun is dismal to me. I did not wish to see the air, but to behold your likeness. Nothing on earth was sweet to me if your company were absent. For what is more desirable than a true Father, and this understood as concerning God? A son who loves his father, and is truly genuine, knows this.

What need is there for many words? I will say what happened to me. For many times, even when I had not intended to come to your holy cell, I would go before you, led by some attraction, as though someone were dragging me; and when you often asked, "Why have you come?" I would be at a loss to answer, so much did my salvation hang upon you. And who is there who does not run toward the light? But I thank God, through whom I was snatched away from your side by the hands of those who trampled upon His law, and who have made a start from similar deeds. ^C May the Lord my God not reckon this sin to them; but may He lead them to a recognition of their audacity, and may they be found blameless regarding this. They shut you up, as we have learned, in a small cell; but they have shown you to be a citizen of heaven. They kept watch, but they did not understand; for you are a treasure of the confession of God. And from this they might know, if they could understand, that they have made you known as precious among men, and salutary to the world, and desirable to many. You received reproaches and insults with Christ; you were persecuted as one blessed; they scattered your sheep, because they struck you, ^D the shepherd, just as they struck Christ. Even if it is bold to say so, yet it is also His own voice: "If"

NOTE.

^A His voice is: "If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you"; and the rest, which declares the resemblance of those following him. "If however we suffer with him," as the great Paul says, "that we may also be glorified together" 6. And thus, indeed, as regards these things. But for me, the prodigal and unworthy one, through your holy prayers, righteous Father, the merciful Lord has granted consolation, and that I should be with you in spirit; for I am always as if I were seeing you and speaking to you, and as if I were receiving your prayer, and as if I were protected, and as if I were offering and receiving words for the strengthening of the confession which you have confessed. And I think I hear these things in the voice I have perceived of yours: "Little Theodore, it is truly little for which we are afflicted, because God offers a glorious hope." These things are for me a consolation, these are a refreshment. Do not fear, Father, ^B on my account, who am your slave, utterly cast away. For I am a pollution of heaven and earth, and more cold than any man. But yet I dare to say, as one unworthy yet having good hope, looking upward and strengthened by your intercession, not growing insolent over what I have suffered, but rather condemning myself, because I have not suffered bravely and according to reason, and because what I have suffered is little and of no account, when looking toward the life-giving passions of the saints. For I happened upon the meeting of many martyrdoms, described in twelve volumes, so that my heart was struck with awe, and I did not even dare to say that I suffered anything for Christ. But what is sweeter, Father, I suggest as a slave, than to suffer for Him? Look upward, ^C Father; see the Lord, behold the angelic discourses, consider the choirs of the saints: see on a high and exalted throne the Judge of the world, who will declare you a faithful slave, and a keeper of his commandments, and, what is greater, a confessor. Then where will he send you? Not into the eternal fire, which receives those who do not obey his law; but to a life-giving dwelling, and an immortal rest, and infinite, joy-filled gladness. "Enter, therefore," he says, "into the joy of your Lord" 7. The eyes of all of us look toward you. We are all of great heart, because you are standing firm. May the help of God be with you again and again, fortifying you, strengthening you, making you stable, making you braver. He who fears God, let him not fear what man has done to him 8, or what he may perhaps do. You trust in the Lord; you are Mount Zion, you will not be shaken for eternity 9; for you have as your inhabitant the founder and architect of the Jerusalem above. ^D Flee from the venomous and deceptively contrived voices of those who hiss against you after the manner of serpents, and who wish to tear you away from the life-giving tree of truth; and stop your ears, having once been made strong in the truth, and having been bound together by many testimonies of the Holy Scripture, and at times also by those of pious men, even to complete immobility, so that you may obtain the praise of that voice: "He who does these things, will not be moved for eternity" 10. All the brothers are in health: my lord deacon, my Father, my sweet brother, and now more deservedly desirable, and the rest of my beloved and honorable sons of yours; for whom, with me, all pray, Father. All of them…

have but one wish: your health in the Lord; and any hardship they may suffer, they find bearable. In every way, we are grieved, and we are distraught, and we are troubled, and we are sluggish, and we are harassed by the onset of evil thoughts; for indeed, it is not possible to pass through this life without tribulations; but we hold fast through your hope and prayer. And pray for me, Father, because I am committing to memory the holy Isaiah. And make known to me if you wish me to read it only, or to write as well.

III. To the same.

^B Therefore, Father, you have strengthened our minds; you have invigorated our hearts. Your courage is beyond hope; your boldness is beyond expectation. You appeared to us as someone other than he whom we knew—entirely transformed in God. Glory to Him who strengthened you. The terror of the empire did not cast you down; deceitful flattery did not soften you. You did not choose to enjoy ephemeral pleasure, wishing to stand in danger for the truth of God. You are the good shepherd who laid down his life for the sheep; who even now are a prisoner in the guardhouse, as an Apostle of Christ. Oh, that room in which you dwell and are kept as a precious and useful vessel for the Lord God! Would that I might embrace that very floor upon which the feet of my lord and Father walk! Would that I might kiss the keys and the bolts against you, as things keeping a treasure of piety! ^C But rather, I would have preferred to kiss that honorable mouth which confessed the word of truth; and the holy hands which are raised up for holy and acceptable prayers. Whither, at last, has your sweet face flown away? And whither has your saving voice fallen silent? Behold, I am an orphan, the wretched and utterly destitute one, not having my Father, not having my luminary, not having the physician and nurse

of my humble soul; ^A unprotected and undefended against those who war against me invisibly. I have become like a raven in the desert, like a sparrow upon the housetop, gazing every day, looking here and there, peering about, and nowhere finding the longed-for face. And not yet can I, as is fitting, bewail my affliction. Nevertheless, I give thanks and superabundant thanks, that for the sake of the law of God I have been deemed worthy of these things, because I have been accounted a child of such a Father. Perhaps I may even be said to reign through you today, holy Father, if only your prayers might keep me safe. For I fear for my sins and my lack of moderation; but learn that you are aware that by your holy prayers I am strengthened and confirmed, even if I am very easily overcome. Nor am I alone, but all of us are one, thinking the same things as you, like-minded, choosing to suffer with you even unto death. And do not, for our sake, be in any way fearful. Well done, O Father, well done. Well done, O excellent governor, emulator of piety, imitator of the saints. ^B Magnificently, in truth, you have fought; manfully you have struggled. I know well that your spirit has its place among the martyrs. Thus it is in this way, even if it is still below my desire and your dignity. But since you command me to relate to you point by point, from the day upon which we endured that sorrowful separation, our entire journey, and the things that befell us therein, I am indeed unequal to the task; yet I shall set out to do what you command with all diligence. On that very day when you set out, Father, toward death by your own resolve, we too were sent into exile, transported by such beasts of burden as chance afforded. And as we were at first untried in such occurrences, we were somewhat disheartened. For we approached certain villages, becoming a spectacle to every age and sex of men; our ears were filled with the tumult and the screams of those who were guiding us, both when they stopped and when they made camp, ^C as they sought to procure necessary provisions. But as we went forward and became accustomed to it, we bore our hardships more easily and mildly. Moreover, that which troubled us most of all was the infirmity of the Father and lord deacon. And thus, burdened and overwhelmed, we finished the journey. These were the stopping places: from Cathara to Liviana; then to Leucae; then, thus, to Phyraion, where a mournful event worthy of record befell us. For having suddenly appeared, nine of the primary brothers, like sheep scattered, surrounded us, weeping and breaking our hearts. And he who was guiding us would not even allow us to speak to them; but looking upon one another in a most miserable fashion, and saying farewell, we were at last torn apart and separated with tears. Then, brought to Paula, we found your venerable sister with lord Sabbas, ^D and we came into their presence secretly and spent the whole night together, speaking what was fitting,

^A And then one could see breasts convulsed and fainting, as nature was fittingly overcome. Departing from this place, we stopped at Lupadium, where we were received with great affection by our host, and made use of a bath on account of the welts; for some of them had become almost incurable from the agitation of the journey. And we were brought down to Tilis. There, therefore, Abbot Zacharias and Pionios found us, weeping out of a fervent intention and choosing to travel with us, though they were not permitted to do so. From there we went to Alceriza; from there to Anagegrammenoi, then to Perperina; and from there to Parium, communicating with the bishops, save for also modestly reminding them concerning the oath. Then to Orcus, then to Lampsacus, where finding those from Heraclea, we rested for three days, being unable to sail. Then setting out, we sailed to Abydos, where we were mercifully treated by the magistrate there; and having remained there until the Sabbath, a period of eight days, we sailed to Eleous. ^B Having remained there for a week, because of the inability to sail, when a favorable wind blew, we were sent at a run to Lemnos in a nine-hour voyage. Here the piety of the bishop, who received me more kindly than anyone else, comforted and provided for me with travel supplies. ^C Departing from here in fear, therefore, for the sake of the neighboring nation, we crossed over the sea, with a north wind blowing and rushing, for one hundred and fifty miles in twelve hours, anchoring at Canastrum in the borders of Thessalonica; then to Pallene, to the approaches of the gulf; then to the mole. From there, having mounted animals again on the Sabbath, the day of the feast of the Annunciation, we were brought into the city at the third hour. And what an entry it was! For it is not necessary to pass this over. Therefore, having been sent ahead by the prefect, one of the chief men with a troop of soldiers was waiting at the Eastern Gate, and when we approached, they met us in a straight line, in silence. And after we had entered and they had closed the gates, they led us through the forum, escorting us in full view of those who had run together for the spectacle; and having led us away, they brought us before the governor. And well done to the man; for showing a placid countenance, after I had prostrated myself and greeted him, he addressed us with gentle speech. He sent us on to the archbishop, after we had first prayed in Hagia Sophia. And having made a prayer in the oratory provided by him, the most holy one received and embraced us, having spoken to us the fitting words, and having immediately held us there, and having refreshed and restored us through a bath and food. ^D On the second day in the morning, they took us away, and under the pretext that we were to be led to pray to Saint Demetrios, they separated everyone from one another, after we had made a prayer and greeted one another. But as they brought those of us, two brothers, to the place where I am now, they separated us as we wept and embraced one another, so that even some of the onlookers were moved with pity. Such is our situation.

^A And now I, the humble one, drag out a painful and most tearful life here. We have received the blessings from your holy hand, as having the power of the Holy Trinity; and we hold them as an amulet, and place them to our eyes, as if kissing your right hand. Tears again, again my inward parts are churned. For I wish to close this discourse. O Father, why did you abandon me? But you did not abandon me. How have you moved away from me? But you are in me. Where shall I see you again? How shall I behold you? Where shall I hear your sweetest and saving voice? When shall I become your table-companion? Where shall I enjoy your company? Or shall I ever read in your hearing? Or sing in your presence? Or be chastened? Or reproved? Or admonished? Emulating assiduously that which pleased you: the way of life, the food, the drink, the conversation, the standing, the sitting, the reclining. What is it that has happened to me? I call men to witness, I call also the heavenly powers as my advocates, that the law of God has separated you from me; one eternal commandment. Let the whole world under heaven hear. Therefore I rejoice, and I give forth a voice of praise to God. I receive all things more abundantly. I exult, I shall no longer be bereft, I shall not be saddened, nor shall I utter anything unbecoming. Accept also these higher thoughts, Father, as sincere and pious: for they are symbols of your love. And so I shall still weep, but with a grateful and acceptable lamentation. But you, thrice-blessed Father, rejoice and be glad. The rewards have been woven for you: the place of rest is prepared. ^B Your zeal reflects the zeal of your fathers; your vigilance proclaims the truth. The righteous one is bound, as if he were unmanageable. They who cultivate piety give thanks: those who are held by an equal zeal are more fervent, contemplating a most beautiful beginning. Those who persecute weave words on the outside and revile, especially some of the monks. But within, they are beaten by their thoughts, and have their own conscience as a bitter accuser. Indeed, they even admire. For they know how to admire—as the great Gregory says—the virtue of a brave man, even among enemies; when, with anger ceasing, the matter is estimated at its own true worth. Angels praise you, men proclaim you blessed; Christ has received you; He has opened to you the gates of the kingdom of heaven forever. Amen.

IV. To Nicephorus the superior

Having received the response through the lord deacon, my sincere and much-desired cousin, I wished to write to you immediately. But because it was wintertime, and the change of plan restrained me, I thought it better not to pour out words quickly. But when, after the...

interrogation, they even requested by letter the very same thing: what further need is there to deliberate, and not rather to profess what is the truth? First, I will say this—and bear with me, most honorable one—that, as you yourself know, I have set forth my own life as an example of great wickedness to many. And there is almost no error I could mention in which I have not myself participated, or which I have not passed on to others. But because I learn of the philanthropy of God, and that He raises up even him who has been carried down to the bottom of wickedness, and stretches out a hand toward repentance, I fled from despair, and felt that I was strengthening myself a little toward what is right. ^B Therefore, as God, the knower of hidden things, knows, I withdrew myself both from the company of my relatives, and from the habit of my friends according to the flesh, and from anyone else at all, with only the power of God helping my weakness in all things. Consequently, what you have sought to learn from me, the unlearned, is just as the lord deacon has told you. Nor have we affirmed or spoken this rashly, but having been confirmed and strengthened in the searching and examining of the divinely inspired Scripture, and indeed also by the questioning of those who ought to be asked. And in truth, it is so, since the divine law manifestly forbids it, not only through the blessed Paul, but also through other theologian Fathers, who discuss and clarify this very point, and concur with the apostolic injunction. And how then shall I senselessly be indifferent, and not rather separate myself and withdraw from those who oppress my miserable soul? ^C And what a great danger is present, when the greatest of the Fathers cries out and says, "If anything is contrary to the commandment, or hinders the commandment, it must by no means be tolerated;" even if it holds a promise of life, or a threat of death? I omit mentioning how many other testimonies there are, which do not allow us to depart even in the slightest from the commandment; and besides, we again have the injunction of the great Basil, that all things delivered by the Lord through the Gospel and the apostles must be kept without omission. I have been emboldened to make these things known to you as to a father and friend; since we too—as God, the judge of hearts, is witness—do not preach/boast (for we are not preeminent), nor do we harbor hatred; but we hold both the autocrat and most pious emperor in our heart with love, as well as all my relatives, being one who is affectionately disposed, as you all know, and we make mention of him even in the divine liturgy, and we pray for him both privately and publicly. And we are in communion with the Church. And may it never happen that we be separated from her. Forgive me, the only sinner. I have chosen this corner for myself, that I may weep for my sins, and not be mingled with the world. What crime is this? Grant me this, most beloved cousin, ^D

for I know that you are able to do so: that I may remain here, and keep apart from any chance person. And with your cultivated keenness of mind, make straight the crooked paths and level the rough ones. And become the arbiter of our peace and the protector of our quiet, so that if there is anything useful to us in this, it may be managed justly and according to reason.

V. — To Stephen the Asecretis

^A Sacrosanct prelates, even when they sin, may rightly be admonished by others, even those of inferior rank. (Baron. ann. 795, n. 61)

Yesterday, when we were enjoying your glorious presence, after some other conversations for the sake of which you had come here, we arrived finally at questions of Scripture, and remaining in an ambiguous dispute, we parted ways without having reached a conclusion. And we indeed, my lord, being unlearned and ignorant, are by no means equal to your wisdom. Yet, lest we bring judgment upon ourselves by the silence regarding those things which ought to be spoken—for it says, "In reproving you shall reprove your neighbor, and you shall not incur sin for his sake" (Lev. xix, 17; Prov. ix, 8)—especially since we are more loved when we reprove a wise man, we deemed it necessary to put before you the fitting arguments. ^B My lord, to speak briefly, cutting short many questions and answers, you said that a prelate who presides over a flock ought not, outside the cause of faith, to be admonished by anyone if he does something forbidden, whether imprudently or of his own accord, contrary to other commandments of the Lord; whereas we, on the contrary, affirm that he absolutely ought to be, but by those who excel others in knowledge and prudence. And how shall we not show you the absurdity of this statement? First, indeed, from the Old Testament. For what do you think of the case of Daniel? Was he not praised, even though he was not yet of the legal age that grants the liberty of free speech, ^C for not only admonishing but even condemning the elders when they were committing iniquity in the condemnation of the divine Susanna—or was he not? Furthermore, do you not note Joab in the numbering of the people, when the affair was turning into a temptation of God, pleading, protesting, and trying to persuade the divine David not to do this? For you know the history. And I am moved by Jethro admonishing the great Moses, and exhorting him not to rule the people in that way, and instructing the man as if in elementary matters, and bringing him over to his own counsel. And who was he? A foreigner, even if he was his father-in-law. And to whom was he speaking? To one who performed all things by divine ^D revelation. And these things indeed in few words, so that we may not be long-winded. We must move on to the New. Let us reverence, if you please, most glorious one, the decree of the most famous herald of the world: "If it be revealed to the third, let the first be silent" (1 Cor. xiv, 30). This is not, as your kindness objects, about faith alone. And, what almost escaped me, the great herald of truth, John, reproves Herod (Matth. xiv, 4). I ask you, answer me. But I shall be cast out, as I see, and derided because I compare myself to a prophet. Far be it: it is not so, my excellent friend. These things, he says, were written for our correction. And again,

^A Paul says: "Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ" (1 Cor. XI, 1). How is it possible for one who acts perversely to be sound in the faith, when the divine James affirms that faith is shown by works, and that those who err regarding one lack the other as well? Seeing then that there are such and so many witnesses, I do not believe that your nobility has anything to contradict. But if you do, let there be sent in response to our disagreement, on the one hand, analyses of the points proposed, and on the other, clearer refutations of the matters that shall be set up against you. Would that they were already present: we, for our part, will be silent and will ask pardon for our opposition, even though it was born of zeal. For merely to censure is most easy, and open to any who wishes it, as you have read; but to bring forward one’s own opinion through ^B testimonies of the divinely-inspired Scripture is the mark of a man truly sound and in his right mind. Lest, therefore, the letter grow to an immoderate length, we have ended our discourse here, having added also the sentiments of the great Basil for a more complete demonstration. May you remain in health with all your household, most beloved lord, faring well in every respect. For we desire to retain the blessing of your charity, both writing and not writing.

From the twentieth discourse of the Ascetic works of Saint Basil.

From the thirty-fourth [discourse].

From the seventy-second discourse of the Morals of the same.

That the one appointed to teach ought, with great circumspection and much proof, with the aim of pleasing ^D God, both to do and to say each thing; as one who is obliged also to be tested by those who have been entrusted to him.

VI. — To Theoctiste, his own mother.

If it were possible to carry tears in letters, having filled this my letter, my honorable and sweet and God-beloved mother, I would have sent it to you in these days. For in truth, I cannot bear with equanimity hearing about your situation—I do not say funeral matters, but even lethal maladies. And why, my mother, did you choose to leave us thus, having fallen in love with the life to come? To depart from us, and to dwell [. . . ]

^A in the Lord? But you had surely loved the things there; transferred in your disposition by deeper longing, you desired to reach my beautiful and saintly sister, and my sweet lord Euthymius, or rather the choir of the saints. And how, Mother, shall I proceed to thread together this letter without tears? Is it reserved for my wretched life to hear even of your death? To chant to you in a mournful strain? To see your tomb and write elegies upon it? To have you laid under the earth in body—for I know that in spirit you will dwell in the heavens—while I remain above the earth, still dragging out my painful and most sinful life? And how are these things bearable? May it not happen to me; but yet, everything must be yielded to the counsel and will of our most good God. For He knows what is beneficial to each of us; He knows what is required; He fits what is suitable; He is a loving Father; He disposes all things well, aptly, wisely, most intelligently, most beautifully, unceasingly. And, O the depth of the wisdom of His judgments! For His ways are unsearchable and past finding out. First, therefore, He took up your sister; later, He took up your brother; now He seeks the third. Who might this be? If it is you yourself, the praise is great; for you are approaching the reward of a Trinitarian portion, having lived your life aright, having left all things, having given all things to God—your head, your limbs, yourself; having worn away your venerable body in asceticism; having finished a life of many ^B afflictions; or rather, having walked the narrow and compressed way of the Lord; and now, in a good old age, you are seeking your dissolution. This, however, I pray against for now. But, what is dear to God is best, and who will plan what concerns us more intimately than He? But greetings to you, Mother, both living and sleeping. For you will not die, since you are living; you have mortified yourself to the world by your resolve; because you have fought the good fight; because you have been stripped of earthly things so that you might inherit the heavenly; because you have shared in the struggles of martyrdom without blood; having cut off your limbs for love of the Lord; you are departing carefree, unencumbered. For you have nothing to dispose of, beyond your haircloth garment, and if there is any other instrument of a destitute life. Henceforth you stand naked before God, carrying your soul pure from the mire of earthly things. You have, however, that which you leave to us: the powerful prayer which you used to bestow upon us when we were still practically infants, marking and signing us in the night hours, offering prayers for us ^C to the Lord at all times. You also leave behind your tireless diligence in the divine liturgies, your zeal for chastity and virtue, and your apostolic glorying in labor. For in truth, very much labor has proceeded from your holy hands, and it has covered and warmed not only us, but all the brethren as well, who, recognizing and honoring you as a spiritual mother, mourn and call upon you just as we ourselves do. These things, though they have not yet come to pass, we have framed in writing, procuring consolation for ourselves, and revealing to you the sentiments of our heart, which you yourself know even through yourself. I, therefore, holy Mother, as much as I would have wished—which does not escape you—could not come, on account of [...].

^A the responsibility which, unworthily, lies upon me, and I know not by what logic. For, "Is Saul also among the prophets?" it is said, and likewise, "Is Theodore also among the superiors?" This is what held me back, this is what bound me. For had I been bound with iron chains, I would have broken them and stood before your face. But now, in my place, I have sent the presbyter to you for a small consolation, since he is also dear and precious to you, so that in all things he may stand by you in your infirmity, overseeing and attending to what is necessary; whether you remain there, he shall remain, or if you go out, he shall go out along with the steward. Finally, as God shall grant success and as your infirmity allows, so continue, my honored mother, and do not strive beyond your strength in your desire to go out. But send us word quickly as to how you are faring in your illness, so that we may take heart a little. The brethren have immediately performed the canon for you, and they maintain continual prayer for your health. Grant us your holy blessing; bless us with maternal gifts; greet us by letter. Give us the peace which you have through the grace of Christ, and you shall have it unto the ages of ages.

VII. To Irene Augusta

"A voice was heard in Rama," says the most vision-seeing Jeremiah, "lamentation and much wailing; Rachel then weeping for her children." But what are the present things, and of what nature? From where, O our most good mistress, did the messengers of your holy palace suddenly appear yesterday, and make us hear all the recent praises of your works? Both our ears truly resonated. What then? Because you have lifted the standard ^C from the furthest ends of such great piety: and behold, from all sides there come to you, like clouds flying, very many prayers, praising God for your auspicious actions. Tell us, mistress, who is he who has lifted your most pure mind to the heights of the thoughts of truth, so that, as from some high and elevated watchtower, you might discern such things, pleasing and holy to God? Teach us whence such a love of piety has set upon you, that you insatiably seek what is pleasing to God, and have reached the highest summit of most salutary providence toward the souls and bodies of Christians? Or, since you understand and embrace divine things, did you not consider it enough, after the manner of a mother, to have delivered your people with heavenly aid as if from an Egyptian kind of slavery—by which I mean an impious faith—unless, in addition to your past benefits which have beamed forth for you in many ways like stars, you should add this grace as a sort of completion of your virtues? "Holy, holy, holy." Let the heaven rejoice from above, ^D as we say with the sacred voice of Isaiah, even if this is rather bold, because God has had mercy on the people through you.

^A Your entire kingdom has indeed been filled with joy and exultation, because the lawless yoke placed upon it has been removed, as has the rod that was upon the neck of such dominance. Who has heard of such things? Come, speak, you men! And who has seen such and so great an accomplishment in another kingdom? Praise her, all you peoples; magnify her with us, rulers and ruled, priests and monks, and the entire Christian race. For it is not only that the remission of so many talents of gold has occurred—though that is an incomparable thing—but that, in such a situation, the manifold path of injustice was cut off at the same time, which is a most holy act. The snare of violent and soul-destroying exactions, which had eluded all your predecessors—even though some governed piously and holy—has been removed from the midst. For this was reserved for you. ^B Swearing, frequent oaths, or rather perjury, on the part of both the claimants and those being claimed, has ceased; for both were being destroyed from this as it happened, the one attempting to hide what was owed, the other, by over-seizing, laying siege to them. The affliction of the needy has ceased, along with the anxiety of the poor, who were no longer searching for how to find a medicinal cure for their poverty (which would have been less bitter), but rather were paying out to the collectors what was being unjustly exacted—what had broken in from above, as it were, like the spawn of sin. Highways are no longer taxed, whether by land or by sea. These things are consonant with what was said by the great and holy Chrysostom. No longer are dwellers of the interior unjustly despoiled of their money by those who lie in wait at narrow passages of the roads, in the manner of some wild demon or untamed beast, always taking a taste from the burden of the poor traveler. ^C Nor do the needy any longer keep themselves at home for fear of such shameful exactions, neither visiting the city nor the coastal places; for everywhere the reefs of injustice stood before them. No longer are sailors setting out from the East, the West, or the North, and arriving by sea, strangled as if forced to pay the tax from their very throats at narrow straits. Those who practice the hunt have been freed, pursuing it freely now, O holy Irene. The fisherman who has caught perhaps three fish, and this after the truly great labor of an entire day, is not forced to hand over one. The archer ^D or fowler, if he has hunted a few poor birds, from which comes his necessary food, lives happily, remaining without tax. Soldiers' wives, having their private griefs for the loss of their husbands, will not bitterly lament in addition to this the miserable and inhuman exaction for the dead. I pass over the swineherds, the sheep-dealers, the wine-merchants. I omit mentioning the butchers, the weavers, the blacksmiths, the cobblers, the fullers, the spice-sellers, and the architects; and to sum up, every craft that is observed in gold, or in wood, or in any other material—so as not to lengthen my discourse—in such a distribution, O best of mistresses, all have clapped with their hands, and have rejoiced with exceeding great joy, saying: "I will bless you, O Lord, because You have had mercy on me, and have become my salvation."

Therefore, I shall be confident in your God-given empire. All these things are full of praise and hymnody, Irene, dear to Christ, sweet both in deed and in name. These things will be spread abroad not only within the dominion of your empire, but even to the very ends of the inhabited world; and foreign nations shall hear of us, and will marvel, and will be struck with awe at the success of your wise practices. For, says the most illustrious of theologians, even enemies stand in awe of the virtue of men. ^A Thus is your kingdom preserved unshaken; thus does your subject people yield and obey you gladly. By this you serve the Divine; by this you gladden the chosen angels of God, and indeed also those who live holily and justly, Irene, namesake of peace. In these things your piety shines forth. In these things every mouth and every tongue is opened to your praise. This is truly the glory of the Church; this is the seal of the paternal and divinely inspired orthodoxy of the Christians which has been secured for you, O avenger of God and champion of the truth. So great are your advancements in virtue that your rewards are great and worthy of praise; how great and overflowing is your recompense from the God of all! For it is indeed a great thing even to save one person. ^B And why not? Since, as the divine Scripture says: "He who brings forth the worthy from the unworthy shall be as my mouth." How then, to have saved so many souls and the whole of the people, is this not a great and venerable thing, and truly worthy of the recompense from above? You, therefore, are a truly great and effective name, who have entered into the palace with every good; and may you let the remnants of justice flourish for all time. ^C

VIII. — To Symeon the Hegumen

Taking up our affairs as being beyond us, your paternal holiness spoke to us of things strange and astonishing through your two handwritten letters. But regarding the letter-carriers, God has been pleased, the hegumen having been swayed, that they should be received back into their own monastery; your piety has done well in this, so as to restore them through your instructive word to their ancestral and spiritual affections. ^D But as for our brother who has deserted his post, and has been cast out as if from the paradise of the coenobitic life, I know not what to say. We too have seen the man before, truly as a vine planted by God, all true, all fruitful. And how is it that now "the boar from the wood has wasted it, and a solitary wild beast has devoured it"? It has turned, so to speak, into [bitter fruit].

and the lust for domination, is it possible to see him now, in the contemplation of his mind, consumed by these things and torn apart as if by the mouths of lions? For even as you know, the divine Basil judges the fall of such a one to be equal to ^A that of him who departs from his father without consultation and is severed from him, for he also casts aside his divine profession. For this reason, they are also under the same sentence of excommunication and of the other penalties. But as for this man, we pray as sinners that he may once again gaze upon the primordial light, being delivered from his dull and darkened intellect, and that he may return home again to his sweet Father and his most beloved congregation. As for the brothers themselves, we exhort them to stand firmly in their cenobitic struggle and not to be shaken by the fall of the impious one; but rather, let them all the more take this as an opportunity for a more genuine faith and an indissoluble communion, even unto the shedding of blood, just as the God-bearing Fathers declare, so that through the absolute perfection of their religious life they may receive the crown of martyrdom on the day of judgment, dancing with Dositheus and Acacius and Domitian, men truly most holy, who completed their lives with the utmost obedience. ^B For today, as your holiness says in the rest of the text of the letter, there is confusion and disobedience everywhere; since almost everyone relies on human customs and the institutions of those nearby, which are clearly opposed to the commandments of God, and they choose to observe the life of this or that superior rather than that of our divine Fathers. Whence it comes about that the shepherds, and I first among them, have acted foolishly, and we do not seek the Lord, nor do we trace the blameless and constant way of life, but as if the law of God were antiquated, and the Gospel abolished, and the spiritual sanctions grown dull, and, that I may say something even more blasphemous, as if the immutable God had changed. For this also pertains to those who always blame the times and the days and the generations, that these are one way and those are another. But I respond that this distinction was not introduced by time. For the heaven has not taken on another form, ^C nor has it another motion, nor does the lamp-bearer of the day shine with another light, nor is the universe carried and circumscribed otherwise than its former order. For He established them, according to the Scriptures, *unto eternity and beyond; He set a decree, and it will not pass away* (Ps. CXLVIII, 6). But this has come about, O most holy one, from the change of the free will, which has been deprived of divine love and has abandoned its own longing to perishable things, and is neither willing nor choosing to lay hold of glorious examples, nor to transcribe from the archetypal and ancestral godlike image, but rather from those that are misshapen and strange and monstrous. For this reason, we carry about psychic phantasms, ^D having in part human nature, and in part that of a dog, or perhaps of a leopard, or of a fish, or of some other reptile, as your holiness understands these things anagogically. Therefore, those who are deceived and spew forth such things, either openly and with a bare face break the Gospel, and the martyrdoms

and the ordinances of the Lord, and every divinely transmitted book, or, if they do not do this, let them put away their childish and foolish mind, and truly reach the stature ^A of the fullness of Christ, according to the divinely transmitted words; and let them walk in them and teach others; or, if they do neither of these things, then let them at least confess their own negligence and profligacy. For perhaps there will be for them a time of coming to their senses. But woe is me! Most honorable Father, that, being guilty of all that I have said, and an accomplice to every perversion and irresponsibility, I have begun to intervene and legislate for others. Let even the senseless stones weep and lament for me, who am in danger at every hour, and who scatter the flock of Christ unworthily entrusted to me. So much have I been compelled to respond, most God-honored one, to your order. But you, leaning on the power of the Spirit, and on the preservation of the lawful and ancestral commandments, remain immovable, unshaken, and undaunted by the rumors that have in various ways crept in upon you from some, like winds or storms ^B or petty squalls, walking on the royal road of pure conduct, and disregarding the vain talk of men in either direction, and praying ceaselessly and most fervently for our humility.

IX. — To Gelasios the disciple.

O my son, abba Gelasios, how at some time did the author of evil, Satan, drive you out of the coenobitic paradise, as once he did Adam out of Eden, by persuading you to follow the counsel of that serpent-minded Ammon? And now you dwell in places which the Lord does not look upon, producing thorns and exercising the passions of dishonor in the sweat of your face. For what good have you done, or are you doing, since you departed? And what is there that is not rather evil and detestable? The intellectual light of guidance has failed you; the spark of spiritual friendship has been extinguished. Your friends and your neighbors—I do not just mean your beloved brothers, ^C but also the angels of God—have stood against you from afar, and the demons have drawn near, seeking to abolish your previously enacted ascetic labors. Where is your pure prayer of old? Where is your unshaken confession? Your light-making exomologesis? The angelic choir-stateliness; the God-imitating obedience; the Christ-bearing humility; that good and pleasant thing which the song-writer David proclaimed: the living of brothers together in one? Since you have been stripped of all these, my son, you have received in their place the opposites: darkening of the mind, numbness of soul, hardness of heart, disbelief, despair, negligence, fear of death, trembling at judgment. And what need is there to recount each one, since you live your life in every way moaning and trembling like Cain? And I do not even mention the carnal reflections [of your mind]... ^D

^A that kindle your inner parts and inflame sin. Therefore, my child, having recognized the truth through my humble letter, and having looked up to the light, and having been pricked in your heart divinely, and wounded in a friendly manner, and having fulfilled and recognized from whence you have fallen, and in what great evils you are, and where you dwell, so to speak, "in the tabernacles of Kedar," awaken, and spring up, and rise again, and be renewed, and be warmed; and do not [wait] an hour, nor a day, nor a week, but rather, saying farewell to everything, come at once confidently and without hesitation to me, your wretched Father, and to your excellent brethren, and to my great Father, and your Father. And for this reason I had intended, when I learned that you had been driven out to that place, to send a brother also with the letters, so that he might bring you back. But since the letter-bearer and presbyter confirmed to me completely that you would come based on the letters alone, for this reason I was content with the letter. And indeed, entirely, my child, as it has been said, not only do I the unhappy one, and my Father, but also our lords, the Forerunner and the Theologian, command you to return as quickly as possible, before an unexpected death seizes the end. But if ^B you are stubborn—which I do not suspect—and should harden your heart and be self-willed, know that you are excommunicated, both from all the saints and from us sinners, until you see our face. But if you return, as we have commanded, you are already loosed when you come, both for the divine gifts and for other foods.

X. — To Nicholas the Disciple. [Rules for monastic life]

^C Since by the will of God you have been promoted, spiritual child Nicholas, to the rank of superior, it is necessary for you to oversee all the things enjoined upon you in this present letter. You shall not, therefore, alter in any way the model and rule which you received from your spiritual monastery, without necessity. You shall not possess anything of this world, nor shall you lay up for yourself privately even one piece of silver. You shall not divide your soul and your heart in affection and care, relative to those who have been entrusted to you by God and who have become for you in spirit sons and brethren; neither [shall you divide them] for those who were once your kinsmen according to the flesh, or relatives, or friends, or associates. You shall not spend the resources of your monastery, neither in life nor after death, under the title of alms or legacy, upon those aforenamed kinsmen and friends; for you are not of the world, that you should concern yourself with the things of the world—except if perhaps some should move from the common life to our order; and in that way, you shall take care of them according to the example of the holy Fathers. You shall not possess a slave, ^D neither for your own use, nor for the monastery over which you preside, nor finally for your fields, [that is] a man who has been made in the image of God; for this is permitted only to those who are in the world. But for you, it is necessary to show yourself to your like-minded brethren as a slave in intention, even if in outward appearance you are held to be lord and master. Of the female sex...

for the sake of utility, you who have renounced the female sex entirely, neither in the monastery nor in the fields; for none of our holy and saintly Fathers have used one, nor does nature itself permit it. You shall not ride horses or mules without necessity; but, following the example of Christ, you shall travel on foot: if not, a donkey's foal shall be your mount. You will ensure by all means that everything within the brotherhood is held in common and is undivided, and that nothing is the property of any individual by right of possession, not even a needle. As for your body and soul, to say nothing of other things, let them be divided with an equal scale of charity among all your spiritual children and brethren. You shall not exercise authority in relation to your two brethren and my children, nor perform anything regarding governance or ordination without the command of your Father. ^B You shall not form brotherhoods or spiritual pledges with laymen, since you have renounced the world and marriage. For no precedent for this exists among the Fathers; and if one does exist, it is very rare and holds no legislative force. You shall not dine with women, except for your mother according to the flesh, and your sister, unless some force or necessity compels it, as the saintly Fathers admonish. Do not be frequent in departures and wanderings, deserting your own fold without necessity, since it is difficult, even if you are diligently in attendance, to guard the fickle and wandering rational sheep. See to it by all means that you perform the catechesis three times a week, in the evening; for this is handed down by the Fathers and is salutary. Do not give what they call the "small habit," and then after a period of time another as the "great" one. For there is one habit, just as there is one baptism, as the saintly Fathers maintained. Do not transgress the laws and canons of the Fathers, above all those of our holy Father Basil; but whatever you do or say, let it be done as having testimony from the Holy Scriptures or from your paternal custom, without the violation of any divine precept. You shall not abandon your flock to move to another, or to ascend to a greater dignity, without the judgment of your Father. ^C You shall not be intimate with a canoness, nor shall you visit a women’s monastery, nor shall you speak alone with a nun or a laywoman, unless necessity constrains you; and even then, let two persons from each side be present. For as the saying goes, having only one person present is susceptible to calumny. You shall not open the door of the fold for the entry of any woman without great necessity; but if she can be admitted without mutual sight, this is not to be neglected. Do not make for yourself, or for your spiritual children, a secular lodging where there are women, such that you frequent it; but you shall choose to conduct your necessary and transient business among pious men. You shall not keep an adolescent disciple as a pupil in your cell due to a special affection; but you shall make use of your service from a person who is beyond suspicion, and from various brethren. ^D You shall not possess clothing that is elaborate and precious, except for priestly vestments; but, following the example of the Fathers, you shall both put on your garments and shoes humbly. You shall not be delicate and luxurious in your manner of life, whether in your private expenses or in the reception of guests;

^A for this pertains to the voluptuousness of this present life. You shall not hoard gold in your monastery; but whatever shall be superfluous in every kind, distribute it to the poor by opening your courtyard, after the manner of the holy Fathers. You shall not keep a place locked up, nor have a care for physical management; but let all your care be that which pertains to souls. As for gold and necessities for use, you shall entrust them to the steward, to the cellarer, and as is fitting for each ministry; with the power over all obviously being yours, while you transfer each ministry to any person as you wish, and demand an accounting of each administration as you instruct. You shall do or perform nothing according to your own opinion in any matter, whether in going abroad, or in buying and selling, or in receiving or responding to a brother, or in changing a duty, or in any other physical matter; indeed, not even in spiritual errors, without the counsel of those who excel in discernment and piety, of one or two, or three, or more, according to the matter at hand, just as it has been commanded in the manner of the Fathers. All these things, and whatever others you have received for the reception of strangers—for you have received this as part of your portion—you shall keep and guard, that it may be well with you, and that you may be prosperous in the Lord all the days of your life. For may it be far from you even to speak or think the contrary.

XI. — To Anastasius, Bishop of Cnossus.

and so much so that you have been deemed worthy to rule over more [people], and those perhaps not willing, nor of one mind, nor of the same nature and rank, but also men and women, monks and worldly people, rulers and subjects, married and unmarried, slaves and free, orphans and widows, the rich and the poor, the powerful and the needy, debtors and creditors, those living in luxury and those starving, the wealthy and the homeless, the soft-clothed and the tattered. For these things, and more than these, do not appear in my life, but yours is filled with them. Nor is all your flock governed by a single care, nor do you know the faces and names of all, nor do you distinguish the ways and manners of life of each one; rather, different people are in different conditions by a great margin. For some, perhaps, till the earth, others sail, others tend flocks, others are idle, others are busy; and long would it be to recount the occupations one sees in each.

In all these, what and how great is the labor? It cannot, I think, be measured. How great is the sweat, the struggle, the running, the conflict, the care, the anxiety, the wasting away of the flesh, the pain of the soul, the exhaustion of the mind! Just as one who steers a ship in a great surge and storm of the sea is entirely vigilant and undistracted, having an unsleeping eye—[for it is no small danger ^B if even a little bit of inexperience or negligence creeps in]—so much more does the pilot of souls need to hold the work of his charge more zealously and accurately, lest he be plunged into the abyss of destruction. For these reasons, I think, most holy one, the great Apostle cried out: "Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to stumble, and I do not burn?" 35 And again: "To the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law; to those who are without law, as without law (not being without law, but under law toward Christ). I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some." 36 See, thus also are the canons and rules of the episcopacy according to him; just as our own divine Fathers also bear witness.

Moreover, since you read and understand the proclamations of the saints, and have in your hands the divinely delivered oracles, why do you demand such a thing from me, a wretched man? I think the bishop is an overseer, and responsible for the conduct of all those who are governed by him; ^C an unceasing angel, perpetually proclaiming the ordinances of God; an unsleeping eye, observing one by one the paths of each of those led by him; an image of Christ, to whom those who follow, being attentive, fashion their own life in accordance with the Gospel; a lamp shining forever, identified by those who struggle in the night of ignorance and sin; one pouring out the word of teaching to those who thirst for the things that lead to salvation; a great steward, who is to give an account of every person's life at the time of retribution.

Therefore, there is no greater intimacy and love with God, nor again is there any ^D reward more certain, than so great an authority—just as Christ Himself said to the prince of the apostles: "If you love me, Peter, more than these, feed my sheep." 37 Nor is there anything more dangerous or more destructive than to conduct oneself in it unworthily.

^A But you, I well know, best of fathers, are as the good shepherd who has always laid down your soul for your sheep, risking yourself for every single one; not shrinking from human threats, not drawing back from those who hold opposing views; satisfying the will of the only King. You reprove with frankness, you impose punishment with lenity; you pacify and reconcile those at variance; you prudently separate the profane from the holy, and the healthy from the diseased, lest it infect its neighbor with its own contagion; you bring back what has wandered, you strengthen what is weak, you bind up what is fractured. ^B How manifold, in truth, is your work! The visitation of those in charge, the evaluation of the cell-dwellers, the ordination of presbyters and deacons, and the scrutiny of the life of all these; the defense of widows, the assistance of orphans, the vindication of those afflicted, the protection of the wronged; and indeed, the preservation of your own high station as well. For when there is nothing that harms or hinders piety, it is fitting for us too to be subject to every authority and power, and to be friendly at all times, if possible, toward everyone, through a gracious and kind reception and advancement. For it is far from your blessed self to say what the opposing party of wicked shepherds declares—those, for instance, who feed the flock for the sake of filthy lucre; who consider such a dignity as an occasion for a livelihood, and for the refreshment of the flesh, and for the enjoyment of desires, and for the accumulation of flowing wealth, and for the acquisition of so many acres of land, and of herds of slaves and a multitude of cattle. And for this reason, they leap to the height of leadership in a human and not a divine manner, so as to lift up their eyebrows against those of lower status, and to sit arrogantly in front of those who are more honorable. ^C I omit speaking of those who, like courtroom advocates, contend for perishable things, and do not resist on behalf of the dogmas of piety; or—what is much worse than this—of those who pull away and bruise the possessions of their underlings, and from this gather power and abundance. For those to whom it was right to extend a hand as to the needy, these men do not hesitate to wear down little by little; to whom shall they be likened? To Peter and John and their followers, to whom, it is said, silver and gold did not belong, but the grace of the divine Spirit? Or to Simon Magus and Judas the traitor, and Gehazi the lover of money, and the other rich men of this age? I speak of those who only look to how it will go well for them in the present, ^D and who serve the flesh, and fix their heart upon gold, and perhaps even collect interest on it, or distribute it to the needy for the sake of profit, and hold sway for their own desires, and passionately cling to those things which are not

^A appropriate, or are used by those who serve. They possess all their care perhaps in sowing much and reaping, and in planting so much and gathering the fruit, and in adding to and multiplying herds or flocks; just like some farmers, watching the seasons and dealing with necessities in order to sell and buy this and that, behaving in a business-like and mercantile manner, but not in an episcopal and priestly manner—having as their only goal to provide wings to the soul, to snatch it from the world and give it to God, and to save the whole flock from the death of sin, and thus, in a secondary sense, to provide the necessities of this present life through stewards and agents. But woe is me, that I have recounted these things to myself, describing in others things that are not there, out of my own passions. But you, most reverend Father, ^B being pure from such things, may you by your holy prayers drive away the intellectual wolves from your fold, which is sealed with the seal of Christ. I know well that you even lead and guide these into the pastures of the virtues, feeding and fattening them on the grass of your melodious teaching, and with the water of your pure faith; and that you offer at every opportunity sacrifices acceptable to your rational and holy worship to God. But, anticipating them with your supplications, do you shepherd me too, the most long-suffering and sinful of men, I pray and entreat, and forgive me if I caused you to laugh at my ignorance. Yet it is not willingly, but compelled by your holy and spiritual love, or rather by your command, that I have brought myself to this. Not because I have spoken anything for your benefit, but for a demonstration, as it is said, of my sincere obedience toward you. Farewell in the Lord, praying for us who are but sinners, you who are most holy in all things, Father.

XII. To Thomas, the Dishypatos

What address, or what word of consolation could be found by us, the humble, for your lordship, regarding the painful things you are currently enduring, Lord? You have been exiled from the city that gave birth to and reared you; you have been deprived of your great home; you have been stripped of your brilliant dignity, and, I shall add, of your livelihood; you have been separated from friends, from acquaintances, from your dearest children; you have been banished here and there. And all the circumstances of your exile that relate to the ^D tribulations of a body not accustomed to them—the scarcity of food, of drink, of baths; the solitude of companions; the press of those rushing in and insulting you. For those who were once well-disposed are now perhaps hostile; and those who were friends and acquaintances have turned away their faces, whether positioned near or far, so as not to recognize, love, and care for you. Added to this is the concern for those of your servants and slaves who still remain, and above all, the most excellent of them.

^A And the means are not at hand. And furthermore, you are settled by the city, as if “by the rivers of Babylon” in days of old, when “Israel was led away into Assyria;” by which, he says, “we sat down and wept when we remembered Zion” (Ps. CXXXVI, 1). Your situation, then, is one of sighing, dejection, and tears. But since the gift of knowledge and the endowment of prudence are present in you, we do not think that you are utterly cast down by these things, knowing as you do that “the life of man is a warfare” (Job VII, 1), according to the renowned Job, whose much-suffering is not unknown to your great experience; nor are you unaware of the other unstable fluctuations of this transitory life, which is altered one way or another almost every day and hour. For it is like the ebb and flow, and flowers, and dreams, and whatever else of this kind, according to the divine voices of the holy Fathers. Let your venerable mind, then, consider and calculate how many things have happened in the time since your banishment: some having fallen, others being exalted; some dying, others prospering, others failing. And there is no stability at all in this changeable course of our life.

That too is again true: that we are all in exile, inasmuch as we were cast out through the first-formed man from Paradise, as the account says, and have been lodged in this death-bearing region until such time as we may sing, “Bring my soul out of prison, that I may confess to thy name” (Ps. CXLI, 7), passing from sojourning into freedom. So men could not even lead their fellows into exile, ^B if we are to speak accurately, since they themselves are exiles. For we are all described as strangers and sojourners.

If we seek a remedy in the form of solace and an incitement to consolation, we beg and beseech you to bear these events with a magnanimous spirit, and to endure sorrows with thanksgiving, which we are convinced you have done. For otherwise, how could we endure the misery that comes upon us? Furthermore, we shall reap a great reward from this: through unhappiness, a greater happiness; through poverty, riches that do not perish; through infamy, glory that is immortal. Perhaps even the rulers themselves, our pious emperors, will be led at last to recall you home and restore to you what is due. For we know their humanity and how easily, especially in such matters, they take better counsel. Meanwhile, however, as you persist, may the Lord God console you with the consolation of patience and thanksgiving. May He also persuade the rulers themselves to do for you what has just been mentioned, and restore you, much-longed-for by those who love you, to them.

XIII. — Concerning the care of the unburied.

Since man was created in the image and likeness of God, it is necessary for human nature, as far as possible, to bear within itself, as an image, the lineaments of the archetype. Since, therefore, the Divine spreads the providence of Its own goodness over all things, it would be right for us human beings to imitate, according to our strength, the providential administration of that ineffable wisdom. Whence we, humble and least,

^A regarding with reverence the Divine, and having taken up an affectionate disposition toward those of our own kin, have attached ourselves to this pious system, as is set down below, taking thought for those neglected tabernacles, that is to say, of the dead, who through poverty or being in a foreign land have no one by whom they may be carried out and buried in this imperial city. ^B Relying, therefore, upon this divine rule, and each year out of the gifts received from God—each man according to his ability—making a contribution toward both the purchase of funeral wrappings and the expenses for the burial of others, we decree these things in the Lord. Whenever it is reported or observed during the period that someone among those gathered in the brotherhood has passed away, he is to be carried out with the proper funeral rites and laid to rest in the holy receptacles appointed for you. And furthermore, throughout the year, at the beginning of the indiction and during the days of Pentecost, we are to celebrate collectively the memorial of all who have been buried; we ourselves providing at the same time, from the contributions, an *agape* and bodily refreshment; not, however, beyond the limits of legitimate frugality, so that we might not turn the memorials we are performing into a mockery through drunkenness or gluttony; but rather, with reverence, offering praise to God who has deemed us worthy to perform this holy rite, we are to approach the need of the table in this manner, with the book already being read, so that even at our very meal we may pursue what is pleasing to the Lord; what remains is to be distributed to the poor. Idle words are not to be cultivated during the meal, nor jests, not to mention games—since reason does not permit such things for any Christian. If, however, there should be a need to speak, let it be of those things that are fitting for Christians: that we guard against swearing oaths; that we have love among ourselves; that we speak truth with our mouths; that we flee from deceit and envy; that we hold fast to doing good according to our ability; that we visit those in prisons and those who are ill; that we pay attention to the readings and to those who preside in the churches; that we outdo one another in honor, and especially that we pursue hospitality toward the priests of God and the monks; that we abstain entirely from fornication and drunkenness; that we hold fast to the orthodox faith; and that we avoid the communion of heretics. For the mention and meditation of such things will pave a way for us to many good things. ^C Consenting to these divine compacts and following them, we have dedicated ourselves to this system as if to the Lord Himself. For He says: "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me" (Matt. xxiii, 40). We reject nothing that has been set down, nor do we neglect it. If at any time any of the brothers is seen either disregarding a dead man lying there and failing to report it to the one who holds the first place in the brotherhood, or speaking at these meals things that are not permitted, or doing things that are not holy, so that God is thereby offended, let him be subjected to a penalty by the superior—to an abstinence from wine for three days, and the payment of one silver piece—and then let him seek amendment for the future. In addition to this, it is to be observed by you that when to any of your brothers

^A a common death occurs, all are to gather together in the same place and perform his funeral and burial, so that from this, too, your excellent order may be praised for the glory and praise of our magnificent God. ^B With faith, therefore, and fear, having joined ourselves to this document, we have also inscribed our own names along with the amount of our minimum offering, expecting in the future age the reward for this our humble intention from the Recompenser, the just Judge of all, Jesus Christ our Lord and God.

XIV. To Ignatius, the superior. He asks back for a fugitive monk.

Before all else, I pay the debt of greeting to your paternal holiness; for so I ought to have done, and then I shall set forth the reason for my letter. ^C Our rational sheep, a certain brother, having been enticed by the manifold craftiness of the soul-destroying wolf, was cast out from our humble fold and was received, as we have learned, into the monastery of your holiness. Now, if immediately upon receiving him you had persuaded him to return, pointing out the deceit and the destruction by which he was affected, and then, having made him better, had sent him back to our mediocrity, nothing would have been done out of place, but rather what was fitting for you, just as we have been commanded by the holy ones. But since so much time has passed and there is no mention of his return, I wish to ask how it is that your God-beloved self retains my disciple as if unaware. Yet you ought, as soon as you recognized him—whom you did not tonsure—to have dismissed him, as you understand well enough how much damage this entails. For you know what the divine and great Basil decrees, that no brotherhood should receive one who has leaped away from the bond of his own brothers. For how could the cenobitic life persist if this, ^D the principal rule of all, were not observed? For if among the schoolmasters of this world it is not permitted to receive into one's classes a child who has been handed over to another school, and if all of them together subject to heavy penalties and fines anyone who does this, how much more so among us, O most holy Father, who are in the Church of God and provide guidance for souls in imitation of our first Teacher and shepherd Jesus Christ? Truly, I am not unaware that you abound in wisdom and knowledge. But I beseech you to consider the absurdity of this action, you most of all, who hold a position of rank and honor among the holy brothers. Do you not know, most holy one, that it is harmful even to your own flock to couple a sheep belonging to another? Since, therefore, such an evil is manifest, we pray that when you receive our simple letter, you will hand him over to our brothers sent for this very purpose, so that they may lead him back to his own fold, along with the Church's property which he stole. But if the brother refuses to comply, you should wish that he be cast out of your holy fold immediately into a bad state. But if—which we do not at all think—after this notification you proceed to retain him, know that he is bound by us, not rashly, but with a truly great judgment, or rather by the holy Trinity and all priestly decrees, so that he may lack communion in divine gifts, and also in the fellowship of external food, until he is restored, having returned to his own fold. Just as

it is not right that someone whom your holiness has bound, your own disciple, should be loosed by any other (for this is an act of lawlessness, and by the common vote of the whole Church is a condemnation of sympathetic suffering), so too in every way must your holiness not intrude upon our authority, which the Lord, though we are unworthy, has given to us—not for destruction, but for the building up of souls. For the judgment is terrible. Therefore, being entreated, you will by all means restore our spiritual child to the brethren, praying for us sinners without ceasing. ^B

XV.—To Theodulus the Cionite.

He reproves the painting of crucified angels.

Having for a long time past had the desire, my most holy Father, to come and receive your holy prayers, no way has been opened to me, entirely because of my sins; and so it is even now. Therefore, I was compelled to send our brother the *Calogerus* [monk], to supply the absence of our humility; since we ourselves will also come to venerate your precious footsteps, God willing. But forgive me, Father, for what I am about to say, for I shall speak in simplicity and from sincere charity, and from the desire I have that your life may be free from all reproach. ^C Some hinted—knowing that I am your true and like-minded friend and son, and they themselves being excellent friends—that your holiness was acting against what is right and proper. And although I was indignant at this and resisted, and recounted the greatest virtuous deeds of your lofty life, they agreed with me on this point. But they accused you regarding certain words and deeds, and to mention one thing, they said that you had depicted angels, and these in the likeness of Christ, crucified in the windows; and Christ himself and the angels as elderly. And although I inquired much about this matter, I could not contradict them. For they said that something foreign and alien to the tradition ^D of the Church had been done, and that the matter was entirely not of God, but of the adversary; since in so many years, and among so many God-bearing and holy Fathers, this idiosyncrasy has never been exemplified. For that which is now being innovated, even if it were from an angel, the Apostle confirms we must not accept, saying somewhere: "But even if we ourselves, or an angel, should preach a gospel [I will add, and hand down, beside] that which we have preached, let him be anathema" (Gal. 1, 8). What, then, my holy Father, I am to say to these things, I do not know. And being held fast by this perplexity, I was forced to write to you, so that we may absolve ourselves of all blame before those who complain in the matter, as if from the whole Church. And for the sake of God, receive me as your counseling son, laboring for you and considering your glory as my own glory, and not wishing to hear any disparagement of you in any matter, you who in reality lead a life without reproach. Teach, rule, listen, attend, heed, and upon all...

^A who witness your lofty life, release any division.

XVI. — To Emperor Nicephorus.

It was altogether to be expected that our good God, in His care for His own Church, would appoint your piety to reign over the Christians in this present generation, so that not only might secular authority, which had been ill-disposed, be rightly ordered, ^B but that the leadership of the Church, if anything were lacking therein, might be restored, and that a new leaven, in a manner of speaking, might be created in both. This, by His grace, your Christ-loving empire has already accomplished in the one sphere, and will yet accomplish further, being strengthened by impulses from above. It remains, therefore, that the other sphere should also enjoy the same foresight and remedy. This would be granted by you, after God and with God, through the lawful election that meets with His approval of the one who is to preside as archbishop.

As for your having inquired of us—sinners and unworthy though we are—what our opinion is, standing as we do before the Lord who is to judge us regarding what we are about to say on the day of judgment, it is this: We do not know, nor are we aware of, anyone; not because men illustrious in life and word have failed (for there are such, visible to God and men, although not in the same degree, and most especially to your own illumined soul), but because reason, and the desire of your empire, demand such a man: one who is capable, with a perfect heart, of seeking out the justifications of God, one who has ascended by degree and order, ^C little by little, to a higher level, one who has been tested in all things, so that from the things he has suffered, he might be able to offer aid to those who are tempted.

And what need is there for many words to you who know all things, and who, from your own state and standing, represent such a man to yourself? He must shine forth above the others as the sun among the stars. Since, therefore, we do not see such a one, we do not dare to cast a vote. We submit this, however, as a reminder, with hesitation and reverence; a matter which is, in any case, unerringly known to your highly experienced and divine wisdom: that having made a selection from bishops, from abbots, from stylites, from recluses, and then from the clergy, you should take from those very perfect ones those who are superior to the rest in prudence, in sense, and in life ^D (for let the stylites come down, and the recluses come forth; since the matter sought is a common benefit), and, having examined them and conferred with them, you may demonstrate the most worthy. And you shall be blessed, or rather, thrice-blessed, if you all accomplish this, you imitators of Christ, our masters. And by this, your empire shall be established even more firmly, your name shall be magnified unto generations, and the years of your reign shall surely be increased. For God grants these two gifts to Christians, holy...

priesthood and empire, by which earthly things are tended and adorned after the pattern of the heavenly. Therefore, if either one is in an unworthy state, it is necessary that the whole should be in jeopardy. Wherefore, if you desire to establish the greatest things for your empire, and through your empire for all Christians, may the Church receive as its president one who is worthy of your own imperial virtue, as far as is possible, that the heavenly things may rejoice and the earthly things may be glad. May the hand of God, in which your heart also is, be unto you for guidance and for the revelation of that which is better. And you shall receive from Him, in return for the labors, cares, and anxieties expended on this work, the kingdom which cannot be transferred. ^B

XVII. To Joannes Spatharius. On the image of Saint Demetrius, used as a godfather at baptism.

Having heard of a certain divine deed performed by your lordship, we have marveled at your truly great faith, O man of God. For he who reported it says that you used the sacred icon of the great martyr Demetrius in place of a human godfather, and thus performed the baptism of your God-protected child. Oh, what confidence! "I have not found so great faith in Israel," I consider to have been spoken by Christ not only then to the centurion, but now also to you, who contend with him in faith. Therefore, he found what he sought, and you too have obtained what you trusted in. There, the divine command was in place of bodily presence; here, the bodily image is in place of the prototype. There, the great Word was present with the command, invisibly performing through His divinity the marvelous work of healing; and here, likewise, the great martyr was present in spirit with his own image, receiving the infant. Indeed, to profane ears and incredulous minds, these things seem utterly unacceptable, as being unbelievable, especially to the Iconoclasts; but to your piety, manifest proofs and examples have been made clear. For what is impossible for God to grant to those who believe? And how is he who is represented not seen and believed to be present in the image on account of the same name? "For the honor of the image," says the great Basil, "passes to the prototype." Wherefore it is manifest that the martyr was present through his own icon, receiving the infant to the extent that you so believed. But what excellence of your magnificence [is this], that you have acquired such a great "synteknos" (fellow-parent), as they call it? Not this person or that, an official perhaps or a powerful man; one might even say, not even him who is crowned with the diadem. For he whom you have found is greater and superior. For he is the mightiest of martyrs, the most renowned of wonder-workers, the genuine friend of Christ, the fellow-citizen of the angels; one who has always been able, and is still able, to do so many and such great things in the lands under heaven, so that from the uttermost...

parts of the earth to the other uttermost parts, his miracles are proclaimed by the trumpet. You are truly blessed, most pious man, in that you have obtained such a sponsor; and thrice blessed is your child, in having been accepted by one endowed with such glory and power. But may we be permitted to see this son of yours, namesake of holy Demetrius, if you allow it, so that, embracing him as the saint’s own son, we may both greet him with fitting words, as sinners, and transmit the account of this event to others as well. For it is not proper that beautiful things be passed over in silence, but that they be proposed to others as clear testimonies of pious faith.

XVIII. To Stauracius the Spatharios

^B On the death of his son.

We have already stated the reason for our humble absence, and there is no need to offer further excuse. But whence shall we begin? Or what capacity could be found to meet the acute sorrow of your venerable soul? For just as a physician, approaching an incurable malady, finds himself in a state of helplessness as to how he should apply treatment, so we are in turmoil, uncertain by what means to bring consolation for your most grievous affliction. O what a calamity! O what an event! There has departed from you a son fine and beautiful; the very one who had first unlocked the maternal womb; through whom the name of parents was conferred upon you; the beginning of the continuation of your lineage; the root of the procreation of children; the shoot of rational budding; the as it were first-blooming rose of paternal fruitfulness. And what could I say to represent the beauty of the child? Or that the boy was growing and advancing in age and intellect, and the grace of God was upon him, as much as we ourselves have experienced from a small matter? How then could such and so great a one, cut down by the lethal blade, as it were from your very loins, not bring inconsolable sorrow to your heart? Or who would not lament and deeply grieve as if one of his own members had been severed from him by a sword, as is the case with you? Fathers might well groan, seeing the loss of such a most beautiful boy. Mothers might mourn, seeing the excision of such a lovely sprout. For your member has truly been cut off. Your flesh has been excised—a great pain, for which a healing remedy is hard to find. There is gloom in the house, pain among the servants, sorrow among the kinsfolk; but above all, ^C in the grandfather, the lord patrician, and in the grandmother, the lady protospatharia. Everywhere there are grievous and sad things. But come now, excellent man, you who abound in intelligence and excel in prudence, and have acquired most great knowledge from the practice of many years, heal yourself; be your own physician. Cast, I implore you, the eyes of your mind into the contemplation of the universe; look back to ancient ages, from our first forefather Adam himself, and see and recognize who has ever entered into the light in this world and remained, and not, like grass at its rising, very quickly...

^A blossomed and withered through death; or as in the flow of a river, where one part has passed out and another has entered in, since the human race does not stand firm by succession, but runs past day by day. Thus did those who begat our own begetters, and those before them; and reason, looking back, will arrive at the beginning, and again, looking forward, will arrive at the consummation of this whole universe. And there is no one who shall live, as it is written, and shall not see death [PSAL. LXXXVIII, 49]. The present state, however, is a certain fixed service, and a business of one day; and then immediately a return to one’s own, a migration, I say, from these things here to those things there. The patriarchs have passed on; the prophets have gone away; fathers and mothers have ceased to be; brothers and friends and kinsmen have slipped by. And what of kings? What of satraps? What of rulers? What of every age and every race of man? Have not all ^B gone under the earth, and will they not go shortly, having sprung from the earth? But this is the question: that having traveled through this life well, and having lived according to the will of God our Creator, we may find ourselves uncondemned at the standing before that most fearful tribunal there—which your child has surely and firmly found and attained. For blessed, he says, is he among those born of women who is short-lived, and whom the Lord chose and took up in the first age, not having been tempted by the bitter sins of this life.

The lord Soterichus has departed and gone away, befitting his name, in salvation; deemed worthy of the sound of those celebrating a feast, of ineffable exultation, of being numbered with the holy infants resting in the bosom of Abraham; no longer serving corruption and flesh, but dwelling in eternity ^C. From this we wish you to take the grounds of consolation, from this the comforts. Become a creator of gladness, and a healer not only of yourself, but also of the lady spatharia, who is in the greatest need of healing and comfort, because of her slight lack of endurance; and then of the rest of those joined to you, that you may show yourself trained in divine things and mastered by the law of God, and knowing whither he who has migrated has gone—especially your sweetest child—that it is not to death, nor to nothingness, but to eternal life, and to God who created all things. And so that you may be shown to the fathers and to all the acquaintances and those gathered at the funeral as a good example, so that they may bear the loss of children with thanksgiving and prudence, and not resist the commands of God.

XIX. To the community of the people of Antisarchus.

^D We have received letters from your Reverence concerning our disciple who once fled, and in those parts, I know not how, through ignorance and wickedness was received, and into a certain cave—not a monastery, but a forge of vices—

passions—that we might deem him worthy of absolution. And the answer is brief. Marcianus, our disciple, until he returns to his own monastery, in which he pledged his vows of renunciation with God as witness, shall remain bound, condemned, and unworthy of communion, according to the canons written ^A by men moved by the Spirit of God. For the threat suspended over him does not come from us, but from the God-inspired Fathers. If, therefore, you desire his salvation, urge him to return to his own place. Him, if he repents and returns, we are ready to receive with paternal compassion and to grant him forgiveness for all his transgressions. For just as a sheep, once torn from its own fold and having wandered, cannot but become prey to wild beasts, ^B so too it is inevitable that one who has departed from his monastery illegally, according to his own will and setting himself down in a place where the Lord does not look, should be captured by demons. His cell, therefore, is a lair of demons, a trap for souls, a school for women, a workshop of all iniquity; and you must not attempt, by whatever words or means, whether he himself or you, to manipulate or explain away what has been said. If, therefore, he complies and you comply, it shall be well for both, as you will have escaped the divine wrath and threats; but if not, you shall see before your own eyes the fruits of your disobedience. As for the most holy bishop, he is blessed by the Lord, keeping the laws and keeping the unholy man somewhere at a distance. For he is not worthy of ordination at all, even if he should return here. For I know his affairs better than he himself does, having been his father. ^C

XX. To Pinuphius and Marus, my sons.

That they should return to the monastery from which they had fled.

It was my intention not to write to you, because your second letter did not agree with the first. The former contained a promise of the swiftest repentance and a return to us; the latter, however, showed a refusal and a turning back. And you make this and that an excuse, instead of rather confessing your error in a spirit of truth, weeping and mourning for the things you have wrongly committed. If, therefore, you repent, and there dwells within you a spark of the fear of God, rekindling your hearts toward the promises and covenants which you gave to God and to us, before his fearful judgment seat, under the witness of the angels and the whole brotherhood, it shall be well; and you should not look here or there, but ^D immediately breaking the bond of your own self-will and independence—which the demon has cast upon you, deceiving you by casting you out of the monastery and leading you into places where the Lord does not look (for how could He look upon the defiance of His holy commandments?)—come to us, come with a contrite heart and humble speech, so that you may take up a different life from the former one. For the former was evil, caused by the gradual slackening of your boldness and contentiousness, which had dragged you into the falls of apostasy. And we, even if we are sinners, will nonetheless receive you with paternal affection, exposing our own humble soul even unto death, so that your own infirmities of soul and body

might be borne. For we have not been without care and solicitude for you, since you lapsed, nor indeed were we concerning others. Nay, our heart has wasted away within us, and we lift up our miserable and unworthy voice to God, that He may call you back to your fold, inspiring a resolve of repentance. And if you should do this, you would appease God again, and us sinners; for He seeketh not the death of a sinner, as much as that he should turn and live. ^A Turn back therefore, return, before destruction suddenly comes upon you, as it did to Petronius, that you may not find yourselves repenting in vain and to no profit, when there shall be no reward for repentance. Where now are your promises, Pinuphi, and yours, Mares? You were eager to enter upon the contests of martyrdom for the sake of our humility—or rather, for the salvation which is required through obedience—and that frequently; yet a small gust of wind coming has tossed you, as one might [toss] dry chaff. Awake, look unto God, fear His judgments, and the actions of yours of which you are conscious; for in those alone, your whole life is not sufficient for repentance. What then is this, that you add layers of sins upon grievous sins? ^B And as for our writing to those whom you have mentioned, that they might kindly receive you and invite you to hospitality, this we do not do; for you did not leave us by the nod of obedience, so that we might judge [them] worthy of receiving you. On the contrary, calculating otherwise, we decide for you thus: from the day you receive this letter, make haste to return here. But if you persist in disobedience—which may God not grant, and which I pray against—be excommunicated, and judged and condemned by the truth that judges, dead in soul and deprived of the Spirit, as the great and divine Basil has declared; but neither are those who receive you free from condemnation, as those who do not observe the divine canons.

XXI. To Simeon the monk

^C We have recognized, O Father, even through what has gone before, what manner of person you have been, and how great, toward our humility, in all the grievous things that have befallen us, softening and arranging all things for our profit. And we know that even now you are greatly distressed on account of our brother’s profession in the present matter. But what are we to do, seeing that the commandment of God is set before us, and the canons of the Fathers which restrain us from such communion? ^D May your swift inclination be present here, and your sincere affection toward God and us sinners; that as it were a tenth wave, you may remove this temptation, and calm the agitation of our pious masters. For not against [our masters]—

^A is our discourse concerning non-communion, nor is there any cause for dispute; rather, we offer the honor, veneration, friendship, and approach that is owed. But [it is directed] against him who unlawfully crowned the adulterer, contrary to the word of the Lord; against him who dared to become the agent and sustainer of such a great evil before the whole world; whom Christ himself has deposed, as guilty of two canons, not to mention others. By the first, [he is deposed] because it does not permit a presbyter even to feast at the wedding of a digamist—for the canon did not even dare to write "adulterer," much less "to crown"—and by the second, because a person who has fallen into any fault and has been excommunicated for it is not allowed to have his voice heard unless he strives for his own restoration within a year. But this man, having exceeded nine years, has leapt into the Church. If he is innocent, then much more so is the adulterer. But if that man is guilty of sin, who can doubt concerning him who joined them together and blasphemed against the holy Spirit, that he is even more defiled and profane?

These things, holy Father, are what frighten us and cause our heart to shrink. ^B And for this reason, because I would not communicate with him nor with the previous patriarch, who gave communion to the adulterer, we were imprisoned—I, indeed, in the place where you reside, and the hegumen and the rest were relegated to Thessalonica. But God, through your prayers, has gathered us together again. And not even then did we rashly join ourselves to the patriarch, unless he confessed that we had acted rightly. If, therefore, when adultery reigned and the transgression of the canons [was prevalent], we did not hold back, supported by the power of God, how then now, when the empire is pious, shall we hold back for the sake of one presbyter and betray the truth, endangering our souls? By no means. Rather, everything is endurable to us, even unto death, than that we should share in his communion or with those who sacrifice with him—until he is deprived of the priesthood, as was done under the former patriarch. Let him be an administrator; why does he perform sacred rites unworthily? The presbyterate has failed. But if this does not please those who sacrifice with him, they shall see how they act. Let them spare our insignificance, as we have kept quiet and said nothing down to the present day, ^C but have contained ourselves for the two whole years since they entered, so that we might live in this way more peacefully. Our masters are the best mediators and judges of justice, and supporters of those who defend the truth freely, as their own honorable mouth often declares. Let the priests carry themselves as befits sacred men; either they will persuade or they will be persuaded. But if there is nothing of the sort, and they do not deem it tolerable for us even to mutter—God looks upon it, than whom no one is greater; whose fear alone is formidable, and that judgment seat there, before which we shall all stand to be judged regarding everything. But we entreat your goodness, ^D and as we prostrate ourselves at your precious feet, we beseech and implore you to show mercy toward us

^A and the common benefit, both for our pious emperors, for the most holy patriarch, and for the whole Church—not merely that which is among us, but that which is throughout the entire inhabited world—so that the one may retire for the glory of God, and His Church may not be troubled. If not, then at least let this second thing be, that we remain in the same state as we have for these ten years past. For as for the rest, even if they be myriads—hierarchs, priests, and superiors who communicate with him—it is nothing to be wondered at, since they themselves have consented with the adulterer, and no one has said anything. These things God [speaks] through us—and, if it be bold to say, He both exhorts and announces, just as you command.

XXII. — To the Same

^B And again, we have judged it good to exhort your paternal holiness to apply yourself to what is for the common good and most highly beneficial. For our discourse on the refusal of communion is not directed against our pious masters, nor is that the cause of the dispute, as we have written before; but rather it concerns honor and veneration, submission and approaching as the matter requires. [It is directed] against him who, contrary to all law and right, crowned the adulterer, manifest as such by the sentence of the Lord; against him who dared to become an assistant and sponsor of so great a crime before the whole world. And that what is said may be more manifest, not for the sake of teaching, but for the sake of memory itself, if you command, we shall set forth the sacred prayer used in the ceremony of coronation. ^C And let us perceive from this how he spoke in opposition, and fought against Christ Himself—if it be bold to say—through his own unholy mouth, he who declares himself blameless. For whereas Christ calls an adulterer him who puts away his lawfully joined wife—and adultery, as you know, is a grievous sin, equal to that of a murderer, or one who lies with males or with animals, a sorcerer, or an idolater, according to the rule of the divine Basil—this man, having presented him at the altar, in the hearing of all the people, dared to utter those profane words. And let us consider, Father, I beseech you, the terrifying and monstrous nature of it; for it holds thus: “Thou, O Master, stretch forth Thy hand from Thy holy habitation, and join Thy handmaid to Thy servant. Couple them in concord. Unite them into one flesh, whom it hath pleased Thee to be joined together. Declare the marriage honorable, ^D keep their bed undefiled, and grant that their living together may remain unstained.” Is it not therefore terrible, both to hear and to consider? How great must we judge the indignation of the Holy Spirit to be at such blasphemy? Or how greatly must all the holy angels be angered at such impiety? And how did the earth not immediately open and swallow up, like Dathan and Abiron, the herald of falsehood, who calls darkness light, and who attempts to make Christ speak things that are contradictory?

^A For whatever the priest declares, God declares that He confirms and ratifies, according to the great Dionysius. But He endured it with long-suffering, opening a door of repentance to the one guilty of such a great sin; then, instead of that man having to weep and mourn until death, and to be considered abominable and detestable as an example of divine vengeance to future generations, he returns into the Church, and is once again openly a priest. Therefore, he has entered as if he had performed some noble deed; and Christ is defeated, as one who, through this man’s mouth, has declared absurdities. And it remained for the matter to be broadcast throughout our whole Church by his public exercise of the priesthood, and for all to consent to such a deed.

For what else will happen, if not this? But may it not be! Rather, it is perhaps necessary that from now on such things should happen out of perverse emulation; and let adulterers be crowned, and those who crown them, as if they had accomplished some great feat, and were able to benefit the many and lead them into a similar way of life. Let them be received honorably by everyone. But may it not be; for neither is that man a priest, nor are those who imitate him. ^B For let no one be deceived by him just because the one who committed adultery was an emperor. For the laws of God rule over all, according to what is written. Nevertheless, having committed this most grievous deed, he still contends to turn iniquity into righteousness; and, as the saying goes, to show himself to be holier than the Forerunner and Baptist. For while the latter rebuked the adultery of Herod and died for the truth, this man has both crowned the second Herod, proven indeed by a similar adultery, and embraced him until death: not, to be sure, in words, but through his very deeds he cries out that John the Forerunner was mistaken, that he rebuked inopportunely and unjustly, and that he died in vain. But may it not be! For the one was the defender of the law and the exposer of the filth; the other is the trampler of the divine mysteries, and the joiner and sealer of an unlawful union. And the one, even though he is dead, cries out: "It is not lawful for you to have your brother Philip’s wife," ^C and in the person of Herod he cries out to the whole world, that no one henceforth should dare such a thing. But the other, even to this day, cries out in opposition to them by his very deeds to the second Herod: "It is lawful for you to have the adulteress Theodota as your wife"; and in his person he explicitly commands all men to commit adultery forever, and that those who crown such people are priests.

O audacious heart! O contempt for the judgments of God! Why does not everyone rather denounce this affair, and set himself apart from such a man, to the extent of [refusing] food or association, unless he confesses his sin after being completely stripped of the priesthood? Therefore, we beseech your piety, and your zeal for discipline in accordance with your sacred habit, ^D to carry these words to the ears of our pious lords. For we trust that if they restrain this man, with the approval of our most holy patriarch, it will be that the angels

^A will applaud, and all the saints will praise; and the whole Church will rejoice; and there shall be for their sovereign power a great addition of divine aid from above, both in the winning over of enemies and foes, and in their peaceful and long-lived life.

But where shall we place, holy Father, the sacred canons restraining him from the priesthood? The first, which does not allow a priest to feast even at the wedding of one who has married a second time, although such a marriage is permitted by God? But since he feasted for thirty whole days at an excommunicated and adulterous wedding; and not only this, but also placed the crowns of victory for virginity upon adulterers and the impure; of what is he worthy? Is deposition perhaps too little? If this remains unpunished, then divine things are mere games, and the canons are stale and void. And again, according to the second canon, he who has fallen into some fault and has been excommunicated for it, if he does not strive to return to his own standing within a year, it is not lawful for his voice to be admitted thereafter. But this man, having exceeded nine years, has leaped into the Church.

If he says that he received the instruction from the predecessor, and that the matter is beyond reproach: why, then, did the one who gave the instruction not perform the crowning himself? For it is always the custom for patriarchs to crown emperors, and not some priest. For this has never happened. But it is clear that, danger of deposition from the very archiepiscopate hanging over him, he found this man so ready (for he was dwelling in the imperial palace) and transferred the danger onto his head; if indeed it is true that he did instruct him—for we do not believe it, although you and many others have assured us of it. ^B If, on the other hand, he says that he was not excommunicated by the former [patriarch], why did he not celebrate [the liturgy] during the nine years? Why, as he says, is he now absolved by a synod? It is clear that it is the bound man who is released, not one who was not bound. Wherefore he contradicts himself, and clearly shows that he was held in bonds in that he did not, within the space of a year, according to the canon, prove himself innocent and publicly receive his absolution. If he was released, he was bound, even if he brings forward ten thousand false witnesses.

These things, holy Father, are what terrify and shrink our heart. And because of these things, we were excluded—I from the place in which you reside, and the hegumen and the others with the archbishop were banished to Thessalonica—in order not to communicate with him, nor with the preceding patriarch, when he imparted communion to the adulterer. But God has again gathered us together through your prayers; and thus, just as we happened to be reunited with the patriarch, it was not unless he confessed that we had done well. If, therefore, not even when there was adultery and transgression of the canons did we shrink back, relying on the power of God; how, then, now that the empire is pious, shall we shrink back because of one deposed priest, and betray the truth, while endangering our souls? ^C

^A Indeed not. But all things are bearable to us, even unto death, rather than to share in his communion, or with those who concelebrate with him, until he ceases from the priesthood, just as in the case of the former; even though the condition of the latter is more grievous. For the former never once concelebrated with him. And there it was wrong to associate; yet it was not so great an evil. Here, however, our priesthood is rendered void if we concelebrate. Let him be ^B steward; but why does he also unworthily concelebrate? He has ceased to be a presbyter. But if this seems like nothing to those who concelebrate with him, they shall see to what they are doing. Let them spare our humility, since we do not provoke, and to this day have said nothing, but have kept ourselves quiet for these two whole years since they entered, so that we might live more peacefully. Our good masters are mediators and judges of justice, and supporters of those who speak freely in the truth, as their own honorable mouth ^C often declares. Let the priests act as is holy, and either persuade or be persuaded; but if nothing of the sort happens, and they think it unbearable for us even to mutter, God looks on—than whom no one is greater, whose fear alone is fearful, and that tribunal to which we shall all stand to be judged for everything. Moreover, we pray to your goodness, and, as if prostrating ourselves at your precious footsteps, we entreat and beseech you to show mercy toward us, and to procure common benefit both for our pious emperors, for the most holy patriarch, and for the whole Church; not only that which is among us, ^D but that which is throughout the entire world; that one may withdraw for the glory of God, and His Church may not be disturbed; but if not, at least this second thing: that we remain in the same state we have been in for these ten years. For as for the rest, even if there be ten thousand hierarchs and priests and abbots communicating with him, it is not to be wondered at; since they themselves also associated with the adulterer, and no one has said a word. These things God, through us—if it be brave to say so—both admonishes and proclaims, and as it were orders.

XXIII. To the same.

Written in the name of Joseph, Archbishop of Thessalonica. He shows that he is falsely accused of having invaded the episcopate. (Baron. an. 808, n. 18.)

Of the things, holy Father, which you have signified to us, nothing was more grievous than that our pious masters ^D do not wish us to approach them according to custom, and to be deemed worthy of their honorable adoration, and to offer, as all men do, our valedictory and votive words at their departure. But their placable and non-remembering-of-injuries and Christ-imitating heart will by no means do this entire thing for our humiliation; since it knows how to be reconciled even with enemies, much less would it reject us who with a sincere heart honor and love them.

^A Your Holiness has most excellently submitted the responses of our humility to their sacred ears; and that they have consented is to be attributed to their magnanimous and divine prudence; for they judge best in divine matters, as they are full of wisdom and replete with the knowledge of God. But you command that we be asked for what reason we gave ourselves up to the hierarchy, when the error was known. And to this we reply with reverence, that as far as we were concerned, we did not wish it, partly because of the uncertain danger of the dignity, and partly because of what was already being said about the steward. But since the Thessalonians had arrived, beseeching as if in the name of the whole city, and our good masters also consented to the decree, we became afraid of not obeying and of resisting God and our pious masters, considering that it is possible, when the ordination is performed by one's own bishops, to avoid the aforementioned danger. For as regards what follows: in one way, because he is sent far from here; in another, because it is possible, even while residing there, to preserve oneself in many ways. Furthermore, that deaths may also occur and the scandal be removed from the midst, just as it also happened to us humble ones sitting here, that we were preserved until the present by using dispensation. For it is necessary, as far as possible, to escape temptations, especially for those who do not hold the dignity of the episcopacy. For these reasons, with God as our witness, we gave ourselves up, thinking—to say this much as well—that this was not at all unknown to our pious masters, who with the greatest sagacity look upon things that are far and distant; nor indeed to the most holy patriarch himself, ^B since we wrote to him at that time about the matter, explaining that we had undergone exile in different ways for this reason: in order not to communicate with him who had crowned the adulterer, nor with the preceding patriarch, when he alone communicated with him; except for the fact that their own venerable mouth often discussed it and found that these things were so. This is our answer, and this, as you command, bring to their attentive authority.

XXIV. — To Theoctistus Magister

^D That your excellency is concerned about our affairs out of an overflowing love of God is clearly shown by the steps taken through the most reverend abbot. And now it has been revealed also by the things brought through our brother regarding the reports and responses sent. And for this great inclination of yours toward the common good, He who...

^A weighs all things in weight and measure divides them God. What is the dispensation that is fitting for us, insofar as it rests with us, to make, greater than that which we have used? We who have withdrawn ourselves thus far, keeping silence, I and the archbishop; since it is a time to speak, and a time to be silent; [Eccl. III, 7] using every effort that the matter might not come into the open. But He who judges has judged, and he who said it did not lie, that there is nothing hidden that will not be revealed [Matth. X, 26]; so that, even if we were unwilling, since things were in such a state, it appeared that they were not other than they were. But now, also using dispensation, we say these two things: Either let him abstain from the office of priest, and immediately we communicate with that holy patriarch, which indeed is expedient in common; or, if this is not to be borne, we remain in the same withdrawal as before, leaving the retribution for this matter to the Lord. Anything beyond this is no longer, forgive me, a mode of dispensation, but a crime of lawlessness and transgression of the divine canons. For the limit of dispensation, as you know, is neither to abolish any of the things established, nor, when it is permitted to remit something small for the sake of time and reason, so that by that means you may attain what is sought by the very thing itself, to advance to harsher matters and cause the loss of the more important ones. And we have learned this very thing, among the apostles, from Paul, who purified himself and circumcised Timothy [Acts XVI, 3]; and among the Fathers, from the great Basil, who accepted the gift of Valens and kept silent for a time regarding the deity of the Spirit. But neither did Paul remain purifying himself, nor did Basil continue accepting the gift of Valens and not preaching God the Spirit; on the contrary, indeed, both appear to have chosen death for both causes. ^B In this way, whoever has ever used dispensation has not strayed from the good; for he soon attained what he had briefly set aside. Just as happens with a helmsman who lets go of the rudder a little because of an opposing storm. But whoever has proceeded otherwise has missed the mark, accomplishing a transgression instead of a dispensation. And the examples are very numerous, which it is superfluous to write of on account of their prolixity. As to what was said by your Excellency regarding the canon of the apostles [Can. 28] concerning those who ordain and are ordained for money, that Chrysostom appeared to use a kind of remission toward the six bishops whom he deposed; there is no discrepancy, even if it seems so, since, while depriving them of all priesthood, he allowed them only participation at the altar. ^C But let us grant that there is a discrepancy and that there is remission. Let those who wish imitate it, and no one will prevent them; for this man is the mouth of God and a companion of the apostles, of whom many things are recalled to this day, and no one has dissented concerning these matters. But the case here is far different. For he who crowned the adulterer, as if he had done nothing absurd, performs sacred rites again, and not even entering into some ^D hidden place,

^A but in the very Catholic Church, for a good example set before the priests. And what is this pagan bigamy of Valentinian to us? And who is he who, having crowned him for this, is proclaimed a saint and not a transgressor, if indeed he was crowned? And which of the inspired Fathers living at that time delivered in writing that Valentinian acted holily in taking two wives, and that it is necessary that this be done hereafter? Many others, therefore, since their own will is a law to them—not divine, but human and blameworthy—have done this and perhaps will continue to do so as long as things remain as they are. But the Church of God has remained unharmed, even though attacked by many arrows; and the gates of hell have not been able to prevail against her; nor does she endure to do or say anything contrary to the established boundaries and laws, ^B even if many pastors have acted foolishly in many ways; for they even convened great and crowded synods and called themselves the Church of God, and seemed to care for the canons, while truly acting against the canons. What is it to be wondered at, then, if now also fifteen bishops perhaps, gathering together, declared innocent a man deposited by the canons for two causes, and absolved him to perform priestly functions? Therefore, a synod, Master, is not simply the gathering of hierarchs and priests, even if they are many. For, it says, "One that doeth the will of the Lord is better than a thousand transgressors"; but it is [a gathering] in the name of the Lord, in the peace and keeping of the canons, and [with the power] to bind and loose not as it happens, but as it seems good to the truth, to the canon, and to the rule of exactness. Let those who have met and done this demonstrate it, and we will be with them; or if they do not demonstrate it, let them cast out the unworthy, so that it may not be held as an accusation against them and be handed down to future generations. For the word of God does not have a nature ^C that can be bound; and no authority is given to hierarchs in any case to transgress a canon, but only to follow what has been decreed and to adhere to those things which have gone before.

I do not know if there is anything for which no canon has been issued and which has been neglected. There exists a canon of St. Basil ^D regarding a priest who had sworn in truth to be content only with his own Church, and to offer the gift nowhere else. And again, [a canon] of the Council of Carthage, concerning those who ordain those who desert from monasteries: that such persons ought not to sacrifice in another Church other than that in which each individual has jurisdiction; and that those who have been ordained to be deposed. If, therefore, in these trifling matters, which to many do not even seem to be sins, the judgments and the ordinances of God do not go unpunished, how much more so in the present case? It is not, therefore, it is not, Master, permitted for our Church, nor for any other, to commit anything contrary to the established laws and [the] great Synods.

^A For if this were granted, the Gospel would be void, and the canons would be in vain; and every man, at the time of his own episcopate, since it is permitted him to act as he thinks best with those around him, would be a new evangelist, another apostle, a different legislator. But by no means. For we have an injunction from the Apostle himself, that if anyone, beyond what we have received, beyond what the canons of the universal and local synods of the time have decreed, should teach or order us to do something, we should find him unacceptable, and not even count him among the lot of the saints; and I pass over the blasphemous thing which he said. To us, therefore, who are outside the world, nothing else is owed than to seek and perform such things as those by which we also may be edified and provoked to emulation. And if life is lived in these things, it will be well; if not, it is better to be homeless and without a hearth, and to wander under the heavens with every affliction and distress. May your soul, dear to God and an emulator of divine things, help us insofar as it can. ^B

XXV. — To the Patriarch Nicephorus.

Using our poor letter as a sort of veil, out of reverence for your beatitude’s angelic spirit, we, the humble, present ourselves to your most holy presence, constraint forcing us to do so. For it has already been reported to us by John, our fellow servant and disciple, that upon being admitted to your venerable presence, he heard from you certain strange and abhorrent things. You say that we are "schismatics" from the Church. How then, O most blessed one, could our soul fail to be grieved at this? How could we not respond defensibly to your holiness, and not confirm the accusation by silence? But before our defense, I represent with reverence that one ought not to give ear rashly to anyone who wishes to speak against another, nor indeed is it right without judgment to pass sentence upon the person accused. For "does our law," you say, "judge a man, ^C if it has not first heard from him, and known what he does?" So, too, could your beatitude [have responded] when you heard this sad and bitter thing about our insignificance. For what greater evil could there be than to be separated from the Church, and for the arch-pastor to lose a sheep, or even a fellow-pastor? For even to us sinners, although unworthily, there is—by the anointing of God and the name of pastor—the right, I dare say, to bear with, to discuss, to argue, both privately and publicly, according to the discipline taught by the Lord "between you and him alone, or with two others"; and then, if he should persist, as He Himself says, "let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax-collector." We, however, until this day, have neither through an intermediary, nor face to face, heard such a thing from your holy soul, nor have we been admonished; and yet, the sentence has been passed. Let your perfection consider whether this has not rightfully become a source of grief to your children. ^D

^A But we proceed to this apologia, addressing our words to God who sees all things, and to your archiepiscopate. We are not schismatics, O holy head, from the Church of God; may it never happen that we should suffer this. But even if we are otherwise held liable to many sins, we are nonetheless orthodox and foster-children of the Catholic Church, rejecting every heresy and accepting every approved universal and local synod, and furthermore the canonical statutes issued by them. For he is not a perfect orthodox, but a half-measure, who thinks he has the right faith but is not guided by the divine canons. And when your beatitude was promoted, we welcomed it, just as we publicly testified to you. ^B And from that time until today, we mention you in the mystagogy as is fitting; and God is witness, if on that very day you had sought to commune with us, we would have communed with you, distinguishing nothing; for it was desirable to us from the beginning.

But concerning the oikonomos, for whose sake these things are bandied about, whom the truth itself deposed, being liable to many canons—since even before the manifest adultery, when the preceding emperor was committing adultery with various persons, he not only was officiating, and providing communion, and feasting with him, but was also placing his portion with him, ^C from which he became eager for open licentiousness, despising God and divine judgments. And so that what is said may be clearer—not for the sake of instruction, far from it, but only for remembrance—if it pleases you, you might take up the holy mystagogy itself which is used while the bride and bridegroom are being crowned, and you will discern how much the indignation of the holy Spirit may be conjectured from these contradictions. For surely everything that the priest declares, God promises to fulfill, according to the great Dionysius. Therefore, we entreat your perfection to demand that he who has been deposed by the canons, and forbidden by your holiness's predecessor for nine whole years, and who has entered irrationally, cease from the priesthood.

^D For we have just opened our humble mouth, when we were summoned. For when that small assembly occurred—I know not by what name to call it—I had come out of prison at that very time. And since I saw those gathered who had previously accepted the adultery and embraced the one who yoked the adulterer, I remembered that saying of the prophet: *The wise shall keep silent in that time, for it is an evil time.* But since the same one says: *I held my tongue; shall I keep silent forever?* therefore, at a fitting time, being slandered, I finally brought forth these things; because, as far as it was in me, I guarded myself in every way during these two years, so that the matter would not come into the open, saying this within myself: since I do not possess the dignity of a bishop to have the power of rebuking, it suffices that I guard myself, and that I do not partake of his communion, nor of those who knowingly perform the sacraments with him, until the scandal is removed from the midst.

^A This, therefore, we beseech and entreat: that your holy soul be moved to see that this man is restrained, so that your blameless sanctity may not be defamed, nor the divine altar be defiled by the ministry of the deposed man, nor, finally, may just occasions for schisms arise. For let your beatitude know truly and sincerely that, unless this is done by the nod of your God-loving soul and of our most pious and triumphant emperors—for they are indeed full of zeal—God knows what will befall us who are contending for the commandment; but a great schism, with God and his elect angels as witnesses, will take place in our Church. But have mercy, O good shepherd; but help, O skilled physician, your flock, your sheep, your Churches, by the methods of your wisdom, by the words of your prudence, by the remedies of your art; exclude the one sheep from the sacrifice alone, and win over the whole flock. And do not, by the mange of one, infect the Church which our Lord and God acquired with his own blood.

XXVI. — To Simeon the Propositus.

^B Your venerable fatherhood has written to us an epistle worthy of your holy and God-bearing soul, at once declaring your benevolent affection toward us sinners, and at the same time manifesting a like and unanimous harmony concerning the divine commandments, and even teaching better things, and striving equally to stand intrepidly against the struggles set before us, and in no way to be shaken by the empty babbling of heterodox and mindless speakers. And indeed, your venerable letter has become for us a true reinforcement of courage and a bulwark of strength, so that we have rendered glory to our good Lord, who has not completely abandoned our humble age, but has granted vital sparks to those who desire to be rekindled toward the good works of piety. ^C These things are thus. And we pray, as sinners, that your life of sanctity may endure as an example of salvation, both for us and for any others who so desire. For those who pervert the canons and deprave the rules do not at all see the rectitude in those who rightly explain the doctrine of the truth; but they even stir up laughter and heap insults upon us. But what else is this, than that we are hereby the more confirmed, not being ignorant of the futility and instability of such men? That your exalted mind is not ensnared by them is worthy of praise and greatly to be desired by us. ^D He also wishes to know what is new in the present matter. But we can say nothing, because the emperors are currently in the camps. For what need is there to speak of the patriarch? He neither gives answers nor wishes to hear others, serving Caesar in all things. But the lord Simeon is double-tongued; at one time he is thus, at another he changes otherwise, except that we have once again held discourse, and we have not in the least dissembled the truth. And although he is indeed softened a little, nevertheless he remains the same, seeking and feeling what is pleasing to the princes. When

our pious master was departing, we wrote again, upon his ^A seeking for this; and yet he did not wish us to come into his presence. But we sinners remain, if indeed our prayer is vigilant, in the same state, not wishing to betray the truth, nor to participate in their communion, even if exile lies before us, even if the sword is polished, even if the fire is kindled. But we would not be able to do this, being unworthy even to be called monks, unless the Lord, heeding your holy prayers, strengthens our weakness and frailty. Wherefore watch, holy Fathers, unto this very thing, deeming it your own—as it indeed is—the common concern. By the command of God, our most reverend brother and steward of your holy monastery will go forth ^B and will bring to your holiness, in love, copies of the letters sent to both persons, so that, learning more clearly from them what concerns us, you may assist us, on the one hand by letters, and on the other by supplications. We have also entrusted another matter to our brother; he will surely announce and deliver it as well, when he arrives to see your venerable face. The archbishop, Calogerus, and the abbot Leontius, and the rest of our brotherhood greet you with us. Deign to greet your holy congregation from us.

XXVII. To Nicetas the Patrician.

^C Why he cut his hair: that it was done according to the canons.

Perhaps human grace is wont to raise others to the height of dignities. But as for you, our most pious and most longed-for master, it is in truth virtue, and not any grace, that has raised you to the greatness of the office, not for any fleeting time, nor in one power, but always and in many things, taking you into its hands like some gold, and setting you forth for our pious empire for every kind of adornment. The facts themselves are clear, even if we do not speak. So that now, too, our Christ-mimicking emperors have notably placed you in these days in this royal city as a representative of their own goodness. This is the response returned to the greeting ^D sent just now by your piety through the bearer of letters. May our Lord God keep you unharmed hereafter in soul and body, in administering rule and power, so that the works themselves may be a testimony that power was given by God. And since, out of pity for our humility—for so we believe, and not otherwise—your piety spoke with our brother regarding the matter of the hair and our having done this and that, and that it is necessary to consider the time, and to act according to the canons, and to remain within the proper limits, since the patriarch presides there, we answer the truth: first giving thanks to your piety that you expend zeal and care upon our affairs. And it is fitting. For this is the property and proof of that supreme goodness of yours which we proclaim. And perhaps on account of

^A kinship, one’s disposition ought to be more particular than towards others.

Divine laws, therefore, O Lord, and canons are what lead every man who pursues piety, to which it is not lawful to add anything, nor to take anything away. These, even if we should err a thousand times, inhibit us both in other matters and in this matter of the long-haired. And just as your power strives to observe the statutes of our pious Lords, now reporting occurrences, now executing commands, including and eliminating, and whatever else happens—not regarding the rank of any person, whether small or great; for once it has heard and been ordered, it hastens to fulfill it, for the danger is not light if one delays even a little—so, therefore, and much more so for us who have been allotted the priesthood, the danger is greater and more destructive, not to carry out completely all that has been enjoined by the King of all, God, through the sacred canons and divine Fathers. That it is a divine command, in the first place the Apostle declares 75; then the Constitutions 76; then Chrysostom 77, asserting that it is a confessed sin for a man to wear long hair; finally ^B the canon of the sixth holy Synod, which orders even excommunication for those who do not obey 78—a copy of which I have sent, so that, having heard it yourself, you might know that we sinners do nothing outside the canons. Nor have we just now become aware of this canon, but long ago; and it was known also to the previous patriarch. For he also spoke to us reasonable things, not blaming, but approving; for how could he have blamed, with the canon in place? And he said that I had made mention to him concerning this, even if we were not heard. But with him we did not discuss the dispensation with sufficient precision; ^C we, however, until now have proceeded in this manner, not speaking in public, because we are not bishops; but as we keep watch in our own Church, because we exercise the priesthood, it is not lawful to impart the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ to those who are manifestly held fast by sin; and whoever that may be, I know not, unless he promises amendment. For indeed to many we have granted and do grant indulgence up to one, or two, or even a third admonition; but what is beyond that is indifference and contempt for the canons, or rather for God, by whom they were given. This is our defense, O Lord, before your illustrious excellence; which we pray, ^D wherever the report may spread, you might submit the fitting things, as being examined and rewarded by God. For as to the fact that we have done something here with our own hand to someone, it is ridiculous to be believed by any person of sound mind. By no means. But whatever we have done, it has been done with every entreaty and with the full consent of those who received it; and then, the shearing of hair of those who wore it down almost to their belt—as if given over to indolence—so that we might not appear to recede even a little from the canon, and so that from this there might perhaps be some restoration to better things

Pray, therefore, O master, that we may live lawfully and peacefully, contributing also, as far as you are able, what you can to our affairs, so that if there is anything good, your reverend soul may share in the excellence.

XXVIII. — To Basil the monk.

^A We have received the letters of your brotherly love and we marvel at their sudden change. In your former words (to say nothing of the rest, as being less necessary to the matter), you were accusing Joseph the oeconomus as one who had entered into the Church wrongfully. In your latter ones, on the contrary, you show him to be altogether innocent. Your God-fearing self ought to know what one of the saints says about one who praises and then blames the same person regarding the same matter. But let this be counted for nothing, even though it is a charge of contradiction. But why were you carried away so inconsiderately that, before you examined and exactly understood, you pronounced against our humility a separation from our Church, and consequently an anathema? ^B *Attend to thyself* (1 Tim. iv, 16), the Word says; and: *Before thou inquire, blame not* (Eccli. xi, 7); and: *Understand first, and then rebuke.* But you, observing none of these things, nor even considering that we too are entirely capable of speaking and acting according to reason, rebuked us as if we were uneducated and irrational and novices in the monastic life, and you treated us as though we were still in training; and not only this, but you also berated us. And would that you had done only this! But you even went so far as anathema. O the affairs of men! How is it that you did not long preserve the bonds of friendship immovable? For if this had remained pure in your reverence, you would not have mocked our lowliness so unexpectedly. ^C But we are worthy of such things, and it is no wonder if we are insulted even by your friendship. But as to who we are, we are known to God; yet it is right for your prudence, since it is offended and scandalized, to reveal it. We are not schismatics, most excellent sir, from the Church of God; far be it that this should ever happen to us, even though we are otherwise caught in many sins. Nevertheless, we are of one body with her and are her fosterlings, nurtured by the divine doctrines; and we long to keep her canons and ordinances. To disturb and to separate from her, who has no spot or wrinkle in truth—both in the order of faith and in the decree of the canons, from the beginning of the age until our own remembrance—is for those whose faith is led astray and whose life is lawless and without rule; ^D among whose number is that Joseph who crowned the adulterer, and those who dare to concelebrate with him as if he were blameless, and who even defend him as one sacrificing innocently. For how, since your God-fearing self writes to us canon-wise, are you ignorant of the divine canons, and that by them the man has been deposed? For if they forbid a priest to feast at the nuptials of a digamist, what of him who...

who crowned the digamist? What, to feast in adulterous nuptials for thirty whole days? What, and what is even more pernicious, to crown one who, by the Lord's sentence, is an adulterer? For the joiner of adulteries to recite the sacred prayers in a marriage, and to invoke the divine grace impiously for the impious? Such a one, indeed, according to the great Dionysius, is to be abhorred and is profane before God. ^A It would be superfluous to adduce other canons against him here. But as to the fact that he was excommunicated by the preceding patriarch for a space of nine years, and the canon—if it be not absolved within a year, does not permit absolution thereafter—where shall we place this? Yet the answer is, of course, that he had been absolved. And if he had been absolved, why does he not perform the sacred rites? And if he had been absolved, why did he just now seek absolution from the synod? Clearly, he who is bound seeks to be unbound, not he who is free; so that even here, he who wishes to move against the truth falls into a trap of his own making. The profanation of the holy things, therefore, O brother, is for this man to perform the sacred rites; and it is a total confusion of the canons to disregard such things. ^B For what does Chrysostom also say? That it is not without danger to leave the priest unexamined. He does not say this concerning faith, as you think, but concerning the integrity of life. To inquire and examine into everyone to see how he fares is not, indeed, necessary; for grace descends even upon the unworthy for the sake of those who approach. But in those who are manifestly guilty, of whom Joseph is one—having bound together a very great iniquity, openly before the inhabited world, which the Lord has exposed, and he who joined this man having become more manifest than the adulterer himself—since these things do not differ, according to the Theologian, to dissemble is a manifest betrayal of the truth, and a destruction of the canons.

Does your kindness not know that God Himself became the avenger when he who then governed the Church did not rise up; ^C as once happened to Samuel against the mad Saul: and [that He] overturned the kingdom of this new Herod, who [sinned] after the manner of adultery? For that Herod suffered these things, being driven out and killed by his own people, because he dismissed the daughter of King Aretas, who was his lawful wife, and unlawfully joined to himself Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip. But if it is not proper to avenge these things, then John the Forerunner—though it is bold to say so—erred in your charity's judgment, for he rebuked Herod and died for his rebuke. Similarly, Chrysostom also erred, when he undertook a valiant struggle for the widow's field. "For," he says, "for a good man one would even dare to die." ^D I pass over other similar struggles of the saints for similar causes. Or is your reverence again ignorant that, since Christianity consists of two things, I mean faith and works, if one is missing, the other does not profit the one who possesses it? Let him emulate, therefore, we beseech you, the divine things, and first, as a child of the common father, let him be stirred up to what is right; and second, as one instructed by the blessed Sabas, let him embrace an accurate account not only of the faith but also of the canons: and finally, as a true brother with

those of our kinship, I mean one of the same brotherhood, let him, we remind him, keep to his proper office; lest we falter ^A thereby in the things most excellent.

Forgive those who admonish you in brotherly fashion, just as we also forgive you; and it is not right for us to be indignant at being admonished. Therefore, let your Reverence not grow bitter, but rather be kindled towards charity, and write such things as often as you wish. For we shall suffer no other harm from this, than to live more securely. As for the Pope, what is it to us whether he acts in this way or that? He is, if you will pardon me, caught in his own wings, as the saying goes. For when he said that he should care nothing for the manifest sins of a priest, he mocked and spurned not just any priest, but the head of the Church, in such a way that we are ashamed even to hear it. And if this is truly the case, alas for the hierarchy! However, I ask that we move our tongue regarding the heads with prudence, and let us not pronounce so harshly. If, however, men are going to open their mouths, as you have written, to say that since we have fallen away from the patriarchate here, we have shifted to another argument, let not your Reverence be concerned. God knows the first movement and the second; but He Himself will also test the third, He Himself will reprove it, He Himself will present it at the fearful judgment seat: rendering to each according to how we have acted and behaved. For the saying, *If I were still pleasing men, I would not be a servant of Christ* (Gal. 1, 10), is not for us sinners to utter. We, then, make mention of the most holy Patriarch, as is fitting, in the Mystagogy, just as we do of our pious emperors; and we do not refuse to communicate with any blameless priest. We have written to the Patriarch himself—a fact of which our pious emperors are aware—that we differ in nothing ^B except regarding Joseph; and as soon as he is removed from his priestly duties, we will immediately communicate with him. And the man is desired by us, not only because he has become the head of our Church, but because he has long been venerable to us. And whatever good things are in his life, we never cease to hold in high regard.

But if it should happen that he too should receive this zeal (for I omit to speak of the holy bishops, and the abbots and monastics, and the multitude of laymen), what then would your Charity say? Therefore, know that this is no schism of the Church, but a defense of the truth and a vindication of the divine laws; whereas that other thing, as your Reverence has already said, is a breaking of the truth and a subversion of the canons: and that word may rightly be said to you: *Her priests have transgressed my law, and have profaned my holy things: they did not distinguish between the profane and the holy, but all things were common to them* (Ezech. xxII, 26). For to *have no spot or wrinkle*, let us say again, is to be understood in this way: that it does not accept impious dogmas and uncanonical undertakings. Nay, even the conduct in those who perpetrate forbidden things—as the divine Basil says somewhere; against whom the great Paul does not even permit eating with such people (I Cor. v, 11). For from the

^A Apostles and thereafter, many heresies have broken out against her, and illicit and uncanonical defilements have spread, just as they do now; but clearly she has remained, in the aforementioned manner, without schism and unblemished, and will remain until the end of the age, while those who think or act wickedly are removed and cast away from her, just as waves are repelled by an immovable seaside rock.

Let us, therefore, return to ourselves, brother, and look toward the light of truth and the holy canons, that we may appear to hold fast to the dogmas—especially we who are monks, especially we who are thought to be something. For if the light that is in us is darkness, how great is the darkness? And, if the salt loses its flavor, wherewith shall the laity be salted? (Matt. v, 13). We think of you, and pray that you may be a savior and luminary for those there, and a lamp of exactness and piety; not by being all things to all men, but by the excellence of virtue, by a life lived according to the law of the canons, and by a godly manner of life. And accept the admonition of your brother, which is born of charity, and is a lover of truth, and judged by God. My spirit desired to say more, but the length of the letter constrains us to stop here. We have accepted, therefore, your very rich blessing, and that you have concerned yourself with the humility of your monastery; an indication that you spare [it] and labor on its behalf, and your effort is sufficient. But the Lord will reward you with what you need: the increase of virtues and the enjoyment of His eternal goods.

XXIX. — To Leo the Orphanotrophos. Upon the death of his son.

man or by angel, but by God alone, who has so ordained the boundaries of our life. For it is He, my lord, who has taken your most longed-for child, just as He had taken those who went before. ^A What concerns you is sorrowful, and excessively so, but not entirely so for those who have been taken; since, being free from stain and unblemished by sins because of their recent birth, having passed from here to the blessed and passionless life, they dance in the bosom of Abraham, dwell together with the holy infants, and sing hymns with children who bear Christ. Thus your most excellent children have not perished, but are saved for you and remain. And you shall behold them a little later, when this temporal life reaches its end, rejoicing and exulting, not in a brief age, but in the perfection of the fullness of Christ, as it is written. Therefore we exhort and beseech you, to soothe yourselves with these reflections in accordance with the truth, and from this to lift away the immeasurable grief of the soul. For the Lord has given us measures, so that we may both demonstrate our natural affections and not overstep the boundaries of self-control. For the one moves God to mercy; the other makes us rebels against the decrees of Providence. And the one gladdens those who have departed; the other is wont to grieve those who have attained rest. For everyone wishes to rejoice in his own joy, and not to have those who profess to love them grieve. We, for our part, believe that the Lady Chartularissa will again conceive in her womb, and will bring forth a son who will not be so short-lived, but will have a long life for the propagation of the race; provided only that we moderate our passion, and render to the Master Christ thanksgivings, by deed and word, for the child. ^{B C}

XXX. — To Nicephorus, patriarch.

It was not necessary to signify by letter to the angel of your beatitude what was already declared by word of mouth, even if it were not through both of us, the humble ones. But lest the gathering of bishops held yesterday by your command, by teaching something different from what was said by us therein, should trouble your sacred ears, we have deemed it fitting to set forth in summary the whole structure of our apology. We, therefore, O most blessed one, are Orthodox in all things; rejecting every heresy, and accepting every ecumenical and local synod approved; and furthermore, we securely hold the sacred and canonical decrees pronounced by them. For he does not truly hold the word of truth who thinks he has the right faith, but is not guided by the divine canons. And furthermore, we accept the legitimate dispensations used at times by the saints; since even we, the humble ones, now embrace your holiness on account of the expulsion of the steward—not out of a spirit of precision, but as a matter of dispensation and [common] accord: and the predecessor of your holiness—

^A the most holy patriarch, we received in this very matter when we returned from exile, once the adulterous union had been broken and the steward had been cast out from the priestly ministry. We said: "Let us have no part with you, neither in this age nor in the age to come, because you have allowed the adulterer to participate indiscriminately in your holiness." But he replied, saying: "I used dispensation, so that I might also bring him back in time," and then he added these words: "Would that my hands had been cut off, so that I might not have crowned the adulterers! Did I ever truly crown them?" On these grounds, therefore, we held communion with him until his passing, and we again accepted ^B your holiness into the dignity of the episcopate, just as we make mention of you daily in the sacrifice. And we differ in nothing, except for the steward, who has been deposed by the sacred canons in many ways, and especially in that, after an excommunication of nine years, he is officiating in the sacred rites again, and not in some secret place; for that would have been bearable, had we not been in communion with the situation. But [our cause of grief is] that he enters in and concelebrates at the very fountain of our priesthood, as they say, together with your sincere conduct, for ever.

Therefore, it ^C would have been just and holy and blameless for the people of God, and especially for our own order, for him who entered unworthily to be cast out from the sacred ministry, while we continued to make mention of your holiness, and while all bishops and priests, who are not manifestly reprobate, continued to communicate [with you], according to the Theologian. But if this is not done, on account of our sins—and may it not be that anything [evil] happens—the argument is not from fear, but from pity for the common good. In our humility, we find [the current situation] before your holiness to be without canon and contrary to ordinance; for we shall endure [it] by the power of God, whatever may come to pass by His permission. But we bear witness to your holiness before Christ, in the hearing of the holy angels, that you are creating ^D a great schism in our Church. And if, as men, we are subjected to authority, yet we are also ruled by the authority of the sacred and divine canons, and, whether we wish it or not, we shall be ruled and we shall obey. But we beseech your holiness: incline your ear and hearken to our voice. As a skilled physician, as a good shepherd, keep this one sheep away from the sacred ministry, and gain the whole flock without scandal; and do not let the whole of our Church, which the Lord and our God acquired with His own blood, be defiled by the mange of one man. As for trifles, let the triflers trifle, and let the slanderers slander. We are prepared for every defense, for every refutation of an accusatory objection. We are your friends and admirers, and truly [those] of our most pious and triumphant lords. And since we are such, why the turmoil? Why will the things that are to happen occur, if they are contrary to the commandments of God? Grant us your holy prayers.

XXXI. To the brothers who are in Saccudion.

and eaten and drunk together at it, and dipped their pens for our exile. But the Lord, who then arose to avenge His law, having shattered the kingdom of the adulterer by blindness, and having put to shame his accomplices, as the priests of Baal, and having gathered our humility back into our own monastery beyond all expectation, is Himself present even now. Himself, even if He for a brief space permitted the illicit union again; yet He deigned again to disapprove of the rejoicing of the adulterous-matchmakers and adulter-loving Nazarenes, through the righteous judgment of our pious emperors. They, after his death, restored the adulterer to his lawful wife, calling her who had been adulterated an adultress, and leaving her adulterous offspring disinherited as illicit and most unlawful—as their honorable mouth spoke in my hearing, according to Roman law.

But nevertheless, those who committed this lawlessness do not hide themselves; nor does he who blasphemed against the Holy Spirit in the sacred prayer used at the crowning of spouses withdraw. But, having leaped like a cat into the Church of God, he exults again, and begins again to pollute the holy things through his sacred ministry; and he contends to pass off lawlessness as justice, and, as the saying goes, to show himself more holy than the Forerunner and Baptist. For while the latter rebuked the adultery of Herod and died for the truth, the former both crowned the second Herod, clearly exposed in adultery, and embraced him until death—not, indeed, in words, but by his very deeds proclaiming that John the Forerunner erred, and that he had rebuked [Herod] unjustly and inappropriately, and so had died.

And why do I speak of John, the greatest of all saints? He has even contradicted and fought against Christ Himself with his unholy mouth, which is a fearful thing to say. For since Christ calls him an adulterer who puts away his lawful wife—and adultery is a grave sin, equal to that of a murderer, an offender against nature, a bestializer, a poisoner, and an idolater, as the canon of Saint Basil teaches—he nevertheless, leading such a man to the altar in the presence of the whole congregation, dared to utter those unholy words against the Holy Spirit, saying thus—and note how fearful and monstrous it is: "Do Thou, O Master, ^C ‘send forth Thy hand from Thy holy dwelling-place, and join Thy servant to Thy handmaid; join them together in oneness of mind; unite them into one flesh, whom Thou hast been pleased to join to one another. Render marriage honorable; keep their bed undefiled; grant that their common life ^D may remain unstained in a pure heart.’"

Did you not shudder when you heard this? How great do you suppose the indignation of the Holy Spirit to be at such blasphemy? And how grievously the holy angels must have been angered in unison? Or how is it that the earth did not immediately swallow him up, as it did Dathan and Abiron, opening wide to devour the leader of falsehood and the one who showed—

^A darkness to be light, and who attempts to make Christ fall into contradiction with Himself? For whatever the priest reveals, this God also declares He will confirm, according to the great Dionysius. Yet, having performed such an evil deed, and having given an example of wickedness to those under his authority to follow—which has indeed happened; nay, it has even been accomplished after this model among leaders and rulers far away, in Lombardy and Gothia and their provinces—for among the Gentiles no such thing has been dared; and the wretch is not ashamed; but, as has been said, the impious one performs the liturgy, and hastens to banish those who rightly turn away from him. But the Lord is the helper of those who struggle in defense of His commandment, who will incline the hearts of our pious emperors to enact the vengeance of His Church, as in the case of the adulterer, ^B so that He may also be pleased to have this man cast out of the priestly service, for the profit of the most holy patriarch and of the whole catholic Church.

Therefore take courage, children and brothers; and do not fear, nor be cast down. It is a time for confession, a time for resistance, a time for struggle, and perhaps for other sufferings; but it is also a time for crowns and heavenly glory. For He says: *But I will glorify those who glorify Me, and he who despises Me shall be dishonored.* And: *Blessed are those who do not turn aside from His commandments.* Therefore, *rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven*; hold fast to your works. Pray for our emperors, and for the chief priest, that Joseph may be cast out from the altar, for the peace of the Church; walking in the blameless way, desiring ^C His commandments exceedingly; in every honorable state and canonical way of life, until you hear something further, or we signify it. Christ be with you; the Theotokos protecting you; the Forerunner and the Theologian watching over you; all the saints by the prayer of my Father and your Father. I greet you all by name; may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all, beloved children. Amen.

XXXII. To Nicholas the Chartulary. In regard to how he desires the peace of the Church: and how well-affected he is to the patriarch.

We suspected, my most desired lord, that because of some intervening matter, your great piety had an alienated mind toward our humility. But in truth, at this present time, you have shown your venerable soul to be empty of all hatred, and full of all piety, when you made yourself ready and prepared—out of zeal for the peace of the Church of God—to apply yourself, as soon as we first exhorted you, to the union of our most holy ^D patriarch. This is a sign of sincere friendship; this is a mark of a man who fears God; this is a manifest demonstration of clear zeal for the truth. And so the Lord will repay you; even if nothing (further) happens, (He will repay you with) the complete reward of righteousness. For not from the end of things, but from the...

^A intention concerning them, whether laudable or otherwise, is God accustomed to assign rewards to those who act. You have therefore gained, in a single moment of time, not gold and silver, but the unfailing treasures of heavenly recompense. Furthermore, we entreat and implore you to hasten in such an affair, so that you may gain a rich treasure, and we, humble as we are, may enjoy being of one mind with the archbishop; or rather, that the Church of God, having been granted peace through your mediation, may weave many crowns of praise for you. And there is no need to say anything more. But since you have bidden us to signify what our humility feels, we now signify it without disguise to your Excellency before the Lord, who knows what is hidden. We have no doubt concerning communion with the patriarch, except for the sake of the steward, because he has been deposed by the divine canons. And when he is restrained from the sacred ministry, as was the case before by the good pleasure of God, and of the most holy patriarch, and of our pious lords—when it is clear that, being an oikonomos, he holds that honor—then immediately, at once, we shall concelebrate, and communicate, and extend our hand, inquiring nothing concerning his concelebration during these three years, for the sake of reconciliation, not out of fear, but for the sake of what is common-beneficial and saving. ^B For let the lying tongues, stirred up against the peace of God, be silent; those who say that, once the steward has been restrained from the sacred ministry, we shall set about accusing our archbishop for having already concelebrated with the deposed one, and then the preceding most holy patriarch—deceitful lips that speak such things; it is the work of calumniators and envious men who do not wish the wound inflicted upon the Church to come to healing. By no means! Heaven forbid! Both the patriarch who preceded him we received and do receive, and therefore until death we shall communicate with him; and the present most holy archbishop we also received and do receive; for this reason we even offer (the oblation) for him every day. Let the steward who crowned the adulterer be restrained from the sacred ministry, and, as we have declared beforehand, we shall concelebrate with him, if he commands it, in the Catholic Church, each of us according to our own rank. And if this comes to pass, there will be joy in heaven; peace in the Church of God among us; the schism will withdraw; ^C concord will shine forth clearly; our archbishop will be crowned with praises, and so much so that his eulogy will be spread abroad for generations to come. Our most powerful emperors, along with their precious diadems, will be crowned with angelic praise; the priests will be clothed with righteousness; and even more so, the holy ones—I speak of the monastic order—will exult with exultation. ^D What sort and how great a reward our Lord will receive, what is there to say? And what more will not come to pass? What delight will not be introduced? Let us say this also: that he himself [original-script column: see facsimile note 1015 footnote 1 omitted]

^A the steward will be praised and glorified, and will inherit for this reason great mercy, both in the present age and in the one to come. And we sinners shall be prostrate, and worshipping, and giving superabundant thanks, contributing by deed and word what is due, as to an archbishop above every man, according to what is owed. And for the confirmation of what has been said, we offer the argument in writing at length: that after the cessation of the sacred liturgy, according to what was previously done, if we do not immediately enter and communicate, as has been written before, let the decision rest with you, whatever you wish; and may it not be granted to us to speak further about the matter. And behold, not an angel, not a man, but the Lord himself is drawing you, and urging you, and exhorting you through us.

XXXIII. — To Leo, Pope of Rome.

To ^B the most holy and most exalted Father of Fathers, Leo, my lord, the apostolic Pope, Theodore, the least of presbyters and abbot of the Studium.

Since Christ God gave to the great Peter, after the keys of the kingdom of heaven, the dignity of the pastoral primacy, it is necessary that anything being innovated in the Catholic Church by those who stray from the truth be referred to Peter, or to his successor. Having been taught this, we too, humble and least, from our holy Fathers of old—since a certain innovation has arisen even now in our Church, and previously through the mediation of our most devout archimandrite, that is, our brother and fellow-servant Epiphanius; and now through our own humble missive—deemed it our duty to report this to the angel of your supreme beatitude. ^C There has arisen, then, O most divine head of all heads, according to the prophet Jeremiah, a gathering truly of those who deny, and a council of adulterers. For what was said there regarding the fornication of idols, this here has been shown through the confirmation of the adulterous union. For both have denied the same Lord, those by the transgression of the Law, these by that of the Gospel. And indeed they did not stop at this, having become a parasynagogue through a prior assembly, in the reception and con-celebration of the adulterer, according to the divine Basil; but so that they might secure for themselves the name of a complete heresy, through another public synod, they have subjected to anathema those who have not consented to their lawless evil opinion, or rather, the whole Catholic Church: those of whom they have already laid hands upon, some they have banished quite far away; others they hold in prisons. They have thus renewed a ^D persecution against the custom of these parts. And their justification is the strengthening of an evil word. For they declare the union of adulterous marriage to be "economy"; they decree that divine laws cannot prevail over kings; they forbid [the faithful] to imitate those who have stood for truth and justice even unto blood, such as the Forerunner and Chrysostom; each bishop

^A acts as though he has authority over the divine canons, beyond what is canonically decreed therein. And for this reason, whenever it happens that one of the clergy is caught, either secretly or openly, by deposition canons, he remains un-deposed by the mere will of whoever wishes it. And a witness to this fact is he who, being bound by various canons along with others, is an adulterous co-conjugator, yet publicly ministers with them. Those who perform iniquities as if they were dispensations—in this very act—call others, and themselves as well, holy; and they anathematize those who do not accept these things, as if they were estranged from God; and the persecution that exists here is also a witness to this account. What then is there to say to these things, O blessed one? Other than that apostolic saying, that "now many antichrists have appeared" (I John II, 19), if we are not all subject to the divine laws and canons.

These things having been set forth already without guile by our insignificance, we now address to your Christ-imitating beatitude that voice which the Chief of the Apostles, together with the rest, brought to Christ when the surge of the sea was rising (Matth. VIII, 25): "Save us, ^B Archpastor of the Church under heaven, we perish." Imitate your Teacher, Christ, and stretch out a hand to our Church, just as He did to Peter: except that He stretched it to one beginning to sink in the sea, while you [would be stretching it to one] who is already submerged in the depth of heresy. Emulate, we pray, the Pope who shares your name, and just as he, at the time when the Eutychian heresy broke out, was awakened in his spirit after the manner of a lion, as everyone knows, through his dogmatic epistles; so too—I dare to say—you, in accordance with the name you bear, roar ^C divinely, or rather, thunder the appropriate things against this present heresy, as is fitting. For if they, having arrogated authority to themselves, did not fear to convene a heretical synod—though they could not even convene an orthodox one without your knowledge, as the ancient custom holds—how much more reasonable and necessary would it be (we suggest with fear) for a lawful synod to be convened by your divine primacy, so that the orthodox dogma of the Church may repel the heretical one; and so that your supremacy, along with all the orthodox, may not be anathematized by these new triflers; nor, again, ^D finding in the adulterous synod a rallying point of iniquity, may those who desire it slide easily into sin.

These things, as it befitted our insignificance, as the smallest members of the Church, and being obedient to your divine pastorate, we have reported. For the rest, we entreat your holy soul to consider us as your own sheep, and to enlighten and strengthen us from afar with your holy prayers. And if [you should also do so] with teachings, it would be of your divine condescension, since Christ also wrote to Abgar, and many were found worthy to receive letters from the apostles and saints. Yet this letter is sent by me alone, a sinner and one detained in prison, because the Pa-

- ^A ter and my fellow-servant, the recluse, as well as the Archbishop of Thessalonica, our brother, are likewise being kept on other islands. Nevertheless, they too, through me and with me, say the same things and prostrate themselves before the holy footsteps of your blessedness.

XXXIV. To the same Pope Leo.

To the angel-like, most blessed and apostolic Father Leo, Pope of Rome, Plato the recluse, and Theodore, presbyter and abbot of the Studium.

It was a great thing indeed for us, the humble, and a work of the highest vow, that we were deemed worthy to receive from your apostolic blessedness a salutation of greeting, and also the significance of your spirit-moved sacred words, through Epiphanius, our fellow-servant and beloved son—and this while we are kept enclosed by the heretics, in such a way that we beheld the messenger himself with our eyes. Upon this we leapt with joy; we rejoiced, we gave thanks to the Lord, who by your divine ^B prayers has bestowed upon us, the unworthy, things that surpassed our hope, in a marvelous way; so that we seemed, in a manner of speaking, even to behold your sacred form through the words that came between. But your letter itself, in imitation of Christ, addressed us who are low, revived our spirit, strengthened our weakness, and steadied our inertness, as if anointing us with consolatory and monitory words beyond our desert; exhorting us to stand unshaken in the orthodox faith until the end. And may it come to pass for us by your propitious intercessions. We, for our part, who are naught, have thought it proper—just as before, through this same most faithful messenger of ours, and later through Eustathius, our other son—so now as well to report to you the fitting things. A synod has been held among us, most blessed one, a public one, with the ^C magistrates of the realm also sitting together; and the synod was for the condemnation of the Gospel of Christ, for which you received the keys from Him through the intermediary of the Prince of the Apostles and his successors, up to him who preceded your most sacred head. And how could your God-imitating equity endure to hear these things? Let us begin from the law and the prophets. For it says: "Thou shalt not commit adultery; thou shalt not bear false witness; thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain." And Jeremiah says: "Foolish and impious is he who keeps back an adulteress." And Malachi says: "The lips of a priest shall keep knowledge, and they shall seek the law from his mouth; for he is the angel of the Lord Almighty." Let us pass on to the Gospel: "Whosoever," it says, "shall put away his wife, and marry another, committeth adultery." And again: "What God hath joined ^D together, let no man put asunder." And what the difference is between the law and grace, we shall know from the words of the Lord Himself, who says: "And behold, here is something greater than the tem-

-^Aple here." Then, also, from the words of the Apostle who says: "Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses; how much worse punishment do you think will be deserved by the one who has spurned the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant, and has outraged the Spirit of grace?"

Since these things are so, those who with a wicked tongue resist the Lord—by the dissolution of the law and the Gospel, that is to say, by the adultery of this recent emperor, who, having cast out his lawful wife, brought in an adulteress, and by this very thing a greater and more grievous iniquity, namely the union of adulterers—these men, because of the false testimony which they have uttered against God, usurping His name in an illicit act during the holy mysteries, and placing the crowns of victory over Christ upon the adulterers in the very act of participation in the divine gifts, which indeed the unifier of the adulterer treated with outrage as if they were common and polluted, thereby declaring himself in reality to be an angel not of the almighty God, but of Satan, the prince of this world; and all those together who, by cooperating in this transgression and approving of it, set their portion with the adulterer and the unifier of the adulterer—have entitled this a "salvation-bringing dispensation" for the Church of God; a dispensation so firm and ratified before God that they have synodically anathematized those who did not yield and consent to them, adding prisons and other punishments because they would not confess such a dispensation to be a holy work. ^B Hear, O heaven, says Isaiah, and give ear, O earth, for the Lord has spoken. But we, the humble, now say to you: Hear, O great head of God, and give ear to what Satan has contrived. For if this gathering and the pronouncement of anathema are by the will and nod of God, then the law is clearly not of God, nor the prophets, with whom is the Forerunner who rebukes the adulterer, nor the Gospel, against which they have made that "dispensation" of theirs which they so greatly cherish. For if they claim that it is of the same, one of two things is necessary: either they will declare Christ to be a liar—who formerly spoke in the prophets and gave the law, and now has spoken through Himself in the Gospel—or, if He is truthful, just as He is the truth itself, it must be shown that they themselves are liars and consequently accusers of God; and that therefore they are liable to the anathema which they pronounced against Christ and His saints, having confirmed adultery, the union of adulterers, and cooperation in adultery, as a dispensation of God and the saints. ^C And it is not otherwise. For "there is no partiality with God," as the Mochiani indicate, who deny that His laws are set equally for all, but imagine that in the case of kings they cease and are innovated. And where is the "Gospel of the kings"? But they have acted in a totally impious manner, not understanding that "God shows no partiality," as the holy Apostle witnessed; nor that the same God, through one of the

^A prophets, while reproving them, says: "You have not kept my ways, but took pleasure in persons in the Law. Did not one God create you? Is there not one Father of you all?" Solomon also writes these things: "Hear therefore, O kings, and understand." And after other things: "Because being ministers of the kingdom of the Most High, you did not judge rightly, nor keep the Law, nor walk according to the will of God. Horribly and speedily will it appear to you, because a most severe judgment will be for those who stand over others. For the Lord of all will not respect any man's person."

Again, that they have violated the whole Gospel through the lawlessness that has already occurred, O holy and divine head! For even one transgression is enough to overthrow the whole Law. For "all the commandments are linked together," says the great Basil, "so that by the loosening of one, the rest are necessarily loosened as well." He speaks this not of himself, but from Christ ^B speaking within him, who says: "Whoever shall loosen one of these least commandments, he shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven"—that is to say, being lost. And the inspired James: "Whoever," he says, "shall keep the whole Law, but stumble in one point, has become guilty of all."

Therefore, they have loosened the Old and New Testament, O blessed one, through this loosening—not of the least, but even of the greatest commandments of the Lord—the wretches having set up a law against the evangelical law, preferring the will of kings to that of God whenever they choose. And they choose different things at different times, and in different ways. And because of this, there is an overthrow of everything, leading up to the Antichrist; and from this, the so-called "dispensation" of Satan among them will deservedly be called the precursor of the Antichrist.

For what need is there to speak regarding the transgression of the canons? Since they have turned away from the Gospel, it is useless to be concerned about them. God indeed says through the ^C prophet: "I will give the key of the house of David upon his shoulder, and he will open, and no one will be shutting; and he will shut, and no one will be opening." But the enemies of God have shut what He opened, deposing the innocent—as it seems to them, but not to God; and what He shut, they opened, reinstating in honors those who had deserved the penalty of deposition by divine judgment; and, to speak once, they have always abused the sacred canons as servants and slaves for whatever pleases or satisfies them.

These are the impious and unjust attempts and results of the Moechian heresy. And these things, as the least children of the Catholic Church, we have felt it necessary to announce to you, our foremost apostolic head. From here on, it belongs to you to cogitate and act upon what is pleasing to God, being moved by the Holy Spirit, as in other matters so also in this. ^D Not only this, but we also supplicate that you deign to send us your own autograph and divinely-inscribed letters, in imitation of those saints who shared your zeal, just as we have now received your rich gifts and blessings, which are greater than our merits.

^A The same brother of ours, Epiphanius, the most divine summit, has reported to us that he received a complaint from your holiness regarding Barsanuphius, Isaiah, and Dorotheus, the heretics, to the effect that we receive them as Catholics. We were greatly astonished that we, humble as we are, who suffer for the sake of the right faith, should cling to heretics. May every mouth that speaks against us and submits calumnies be stopped. We are orthodox, even if we are otherwise sinners, O most blessed one; nor do we deviate in this matter one whit from the apostolic faith. We embrace every synod, ecumenical and local, approved and consistent with the truth, along with the holy canons set forth by them, detesting and anathematizing every heresy and heretic. Anathema to Barsanuphius, Isaiah, Dorotheus, and Dositheus, who were anathematized under the blessed Sophronius. ^B But also if any other man be of the same name as these, yet a heretic, following their heresy or any other, whether he be a bishop, or an ascetic, or whoever he may be, let him be anathema. And if anyone does not anathematize every heretic in due season as is necessary, let him be of their portion. For we are clean from every heretical opinion, by your most sacred prayers, most holy one. Furthermore, we also report this, that although it was not declared in the letter which we sent by way of our brother Eustathius, we did indeed write to your holy summit through Epiphanius. Epiphanius has not lied, and this is the way it happened: we had indeed given him the letter, but later, for fear of those in power, we erased [the contents]; nevertheless, he, having knowledge of its gist, brought it to your holy steps, acting benevolently after we had been driven into exile. ^C For he is the mouth of our humility, and a word gushing forth from our heart. And may your holy soul not suspect any scandal in our fellow-servant, who is most faithful in all things. Our brother, the Archbishop of Thessalonica, has received the greeting of your beatitude with the submissive hands of his heart, and through us, he veneratingly salutes your most sacred summit.

XXXV. To Basil, Abbot

To Basil, the most devout Abbot and Archimandrite of Rome, Plato, the humble recluse, and Theodore, the least of presbyters and Abbot of the Studios.

^D We, the humble, expected the letters of your paternal holiness no differently than thirsty earth awaits its rain. And when we were frustrated in our hope, we were, as was to be expected, vehemently grieved. Yet when we learned the cause from our most beloved and faithful son Epiphanius—that you had done so under compulsion, and not out of any contempt for us who, however lowly, nevertheless honor your piety—we wiped away the sorrow of our hearts and grasped at a joy that is sufficient. For he reported to us that you remain the same in your disposition and love toward us; nay, even adding more in manifold ways of goodness.

^A The magnitude and consistency of the spirit of piety you possess, as he recounted them, have filled both our ears. And blessed be the Lord of hosts, who has placed you in the foremost of cities, as a lamp shining from God, holding forth the word of life in the abundance of good works; who has given you a tongue speaking freely the divine doctrines of the orthodox faith with a high-sounding proclamation. In which we also beseech you to assist our Church, both by your own strength and by interceding with the most holy apostolic see. For your manly defense on behalf of the word of truth is the firmament of the Church under heaven; and the zeal that arises from you is naturally wont always to kindle the whole world into a fervent confession of our faith in the Holy Spirit. Wherefore, let your piety conjecture how great is the cause you have for defending the faith, and how great is the praise that awaits you from God, with due rewards, for preserving and confessing it—which may you ever preserve and not cease to proclaim, our most divine and admirable Fathers. ^B

For this reason, we have sent again our brother and a venerator of your footsteps, Epiphanius, that he himself may report how things stand with us: how, through your holy prayers, all is well; for we sinners rejoice and are glad in our persecution and in our prisons, so as to dare to say: "It has been granted to us not only to believe in Christ, but also to suffer for his sake" (Phil. 1:29). This is that he might stir you to more earnest prayer, both for the strength of us who are weak and for the common benefit—the matter of which we now speak, a petition addressed to you, the most holy ones, thrice repeated: not that we should be released from prison—for we do not even reckon it a disgrace, but a great glory, even above our unworthiness—but that it might bring about what is beneficial in the common interest, even if we are of the least. ^C For everywhere, says the Theologian, considerations for oneself must be overlooked for the benefit of the many. And it would be beneficial, as it is our aim and desire, that those who have gathered against the Gospel of Christ and have anathematized its defenders should be condemned synodically by the supreme apostolic see, just as has always been done from of old; and that they should not have accepted adultery, and adulterous marriage, and the abetting of adultery as a "dispensation of the saints," as the Mochians have dogmatized, calling the saints lawless in this respect. For no saint has ever cast his lot with an adulterer, much less crowned those committing adultery and administered to them the divine gifts; seeing that they have taught not even to share a roof or a fire with them, even if they were kings. ^D And that they have even insulted the Divinity itself by those crowning mysteries, by bringing the anathema upon It through the anathematizing of those who defend Its law. But if this is not to be, we pray for the remaining strength of your prayers, the confirmation of the bonds of love, and the authority of your rescripts; which you would altogether deign to provide, consoling the faint-hearted and strengthening

the feeble, our most holy, most desirable, and ever-to-be-venerated Fathers. ^B

XXXVI. — To Euprepianus and those with him.

He confirms them against the heretics, whose impious crime he describes. (Baron. an. 809, n. 28).

I am very confident, beloved sons, that you are living a tranquil life composed according to God. Wherefore I shall turn my discourse to the urgent matter. And what is this? When we have laid bare their wicked dogmas, and shown the causes for which they have fixed us, together with others, with an anathema, it will then be clearly evident that they are not merely simple heretics, but apostates from the Gospel of God, excommunicators of the saints, and overturners of the canons. ^C

First, because they oppose both the Old and the New Testaments. "Thou shalt not commit adultery," says the Law; "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain." Let there be one law for the Jew and for the proselyte. Then the Gospel, or rather Christ, says: "You have heard that it was said to the ancients, Thou shalt not commit adultery. But I say to you, not even to look at a woman to lust after her." And, "He who shall break one of these least commandments, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven"; that is, as the Fathers interpret, he shall be cast into the fire. ^D

But these men—O, a thing horrible to hear!—have called the adultery—which is forbidden by law and grace, even to the very desire of the eyes, and which is a transgression of a commandment, not the least, I should say, but the greatest, and that which must be observed before others—plus the taking of the name of God, not in vain, but in a matter so illicit and wicked, namely in the union of adulterers, the usurpation and alteration of the mysteries of Christ, and the coronation, hostile to God, made by the devil, the author of adultery, and his minister—they have called this a "dispensation of God," and a thing laudable and salutary for the Church.

Let us stop our ears, brothers, lest we waste away at this blasphemy. And they use this defense, stating that the logic of the evangelical laws ought not, as they say, to be applied when the matter concerns kings. Behold another persecution of the Antichrist, and where is that which is written: "There shall be one law"? And where is: "A most severe judgment shall be for those who preside"? And where is: "God does not accept the person of man"? And who is the legislator of the emperor? And since, as the prince is, so also is the subject, the evangelical laws will not apply to the subjects either. For if they apply to him, they apply to them also, so that, placed as it were under one law and one legislator, they may remain obedient and without tumult. But if he is not under the law whenever he wills—or perhaps he wishes to keep no law at all—while they, nevertheless, are under the law, one of two things must necessarily follow: either the emperor is God (since God alone is not under the law), or there exists rebellion and sedition. For where there is not the same law, how can there be peace? The emperor wills one thing, namely to commit adultery or to adhere to heresy, while a law binds the subjects not to communicate with an adulterer, nor to adhere to the heresy with him, nor to violate anything—

ut dicunt Moechiani: "Does not the King, even if he breaks the law, also act and command the people to yield?" ^A And see, the Antichrist has indeed entered into their reasoning. For being a king like him, he will seek only this: that what he wills and says come to pass; and there is no difference between him and those before him, except that they will not desire and will what he does, even as they desire even now. The same license has been proclaimed synodically by the Hierarchs. And how can anyone of sound mind, who is not contentious, fail to admit that it is so? ^B And what will be worse than this heresy until the manifestation of the Antichrist himself? I do not think it has arrived yet; but that it has begun now, in order to come to an end at that time; and as many as succumb to it now, would have succumbed then, had they lived at that time; and as many as stand resisting by the power of God, would be winners over the Antichrist in death with Christ in those days. But, oh, the human misery! How have they turned their backs since then! How we demonstrate what we shall be! For this reason, few shall be they who stand. For this reason, Elias and Enoch—and we know not whether the Theologian and the Evangelist also—shall be aids to human weakness, and leaders and victors in the confession of Christ. For this reason, the days of that tribulation, which the coming of Christ shall undo, will be shortened.

Stand, you who understand, and do not deny Christ from this moment forward; for the present things are precursors ^C of those to come. The second point does not require much explanation, being made manifest from the former. Therefore, those who have anathematized such as do not accept the adulterous union and the adultery of the Emperor, and the transgression of everyone who was found to be a participant in it, as a "holy dispensation"—what else have they done but anathematize the saints, and first of all the Forerunner; and, to tell the truth, though it be fearful, the Master of the saints Himself? For He who forbade these things does not accept them, nor does He approve of them, obviously; but He strongly threatened an inexorable judgment, and that not only upon him who participates with an adulterer, but upon anyone at all, whether emperor, potentate, small, or great. For one law will there be, He says, and one Gospel have we received; and whoever shall alter even the slightest thing in this Gospel, even if he be an angel from heaven, the assurance is sufficient for you. ^D Is an emperor greater than an angel? Is the prince of the world in the world greater than all the demons and men who rule in the world by worldly power, and not divine? And what does the Apostle say? "Let him be anathema." The angels do not dare to alter them, nor do they remain if they alter them, without being anathematized, like the devil and his apostate throng. And how would any man living in the flesh, altering and introducing novelties, and especially novelties of this kind, not be an alien to God? But whoever does not accept what He has forbidden (for we must return to where the discourse digressed), that person, according to the Moechians, or rather, the Antichrists, has already been anathematized.

^A For if they dared to call the Lord Himself “one who casts out demons by Beelzebub,” just as the Jews did, what are they to say of His servants and ministers? For either they have judged them—inasmuch as they did not obey the Master’s laws in their “dispensations”—to have made the union of the adulterer and the communion with the adulterer a matter of equal weight and equal glory, prescribing a “dispensation” for them, and for that reason have anathematized the saints as lawless and transgressors of the commandments (and from this standpoint they are themselves utterly to be anathematized), or else, by confessing that the saints kept the law, they have anathematized themselves, and not the saints, wretchedly usurping for themselves the name of the saints in their so-called “dispensation” of adulterous union; and for this reason they have again anathematized the saints as if they were not saints. Since, in their judgment, those are saints who have made and are making “dispensations” according to the power of the adulterous union and the adulterous faction-leadership, while those who do not accept their adulterous “dispensation” and do not walk in its footsteps are aliens from God, lawless, transgressors of the commandments, and excommunicated by them.

^B Therefore, wheresoever you please, and whichever voice of their impiety you might wish to examine, reflect, you who are of sharp wit, and marvel, as you contemplate and turn over in your mind a gulf of impiety deeper than any other. For heresies do not at once reveal their whole impiety; but some are entirely alien to the Gospel, while others, grasping certain words from the Gospel, insinuate themselves with them, by no means professing that they do not follow the evangelical oracles; rather, they contend in appearance most strongly for them, asserting that they ought to be interpreted in this way and not that way, establishing ambiguity in the divine utterances. And when they have departed from the right sense, they are named heresies. From this, however, a clear departure from the faith is manifest. They do not err regarding the sense, but regarding what they say; though Christ indeed says this, and though the law holds this, yet in the case of kings it happens thus: the Gospel is overcome. Consider how the end corresponds to the beginning. ^C From the incarnation of Christ, heresies began outside the Gospel; then, the devil, repulsed little by little through the progress of grace, entered stealthily from the Gospel itself. Covering the hook with the words and the very text of Scripture, he procreates heresies—up to the Iconoclasts—and after he perceived that he was being listened to by men, with the time of the consummation drawing near, he began then, as at the beginning, to plot the destruction of the Gospel itself, so that he might fittingly encounter the Antichrist, in whom he will dwell, and in whom his whole bitterness and apostasy will be revealed, whom the Lord will destroy by His appearing as quickly as possible. Regarding the third point, what shall we say? For those who have dared to transgress the Gospel with open face, and have anathematized those who would not transgress, what concern will they have for the canons, however much they may be sealed by the Holy Spirit, ^D and by their dissolution all things that pertain to our salvation are dissolved? For never in

^A in truth is priesthood, sacrifice, and the other remedies for our spiritual infirmities.

But why do I speak of canons, and make a distinction? It is the same to speak of them as of the Gospel of Christ. For He Himself gave the keys of the kingdom of heaven to the great Peter, saying: "Whatever you loose, and whatever you bind, shall be this and that" (Matt. xvi, 19). And again to all the apostles: "Receive the Holy Spirit; whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven; and whose you retain, they are retained" (John xx, 22). And consequently, He transmitted this power to those who would come after them, if they would act in the same way. And for this reason Basil, and the saints of equal stature with him, as they received the apostolic canons, inasmuch as they followed them, changing nothing, but even amplifying them as was fitting; these new pseudo-apostles, however, demonstrate by their deeds that they do not at all act according to the set terms of the saints, but by their own authority and judgment ^B against what has been established by them, while any bishop at times looses where he cannot loose, and binds where he has no right to bind. And you see these things happening every day. And holy things have been profaned, and the “mochosynodus” [adulterous synod] has become a stealthy and manifest provision for sin; and one who should not be deposed is deposed, and one who labors under infamy is ordained, and he who is liable to canons imposing deposition is permitted to perform sacred rites with impunity; and promotions are made by human instruction, not by the decree of God and the canons. ^C And, woe is me, what pain it is to bewail all this! And what person possessed of an acute heart does not grieve and groan? And what mind, observing and weighing these things, does not confess that this heresy is a deserter from Christ? And why should I speak forth everything that is in my mind, and exceed the measure of a letter? What I say is well-understood, not cleverly composed, not difficult; for as much as I am not endowed with the ability to speak loftily, but am very small, sparing of words, and of limited knowledge, I have obtained these very things by the prayers of our common Father and your own; and partly also because some of you are unable to grasp an explanation of the heresy in ^D a more dogmatic way, and at the same time because the word of truth is simple; and the heresy is manifest, lacking in doctrine, and easy for a child to grasp. For to whomever God speaks, his word is short. These do not walk uprightly; and they anathemetize those who do. May the Lord grant you grace in all things, beloved children.

XXXVII. — To Joseph, Archbishop of Thessalonica. Against the same heretics.

Worthy of your humility and wisdom, and of your love for me, a wretched man, and of your estimation of me beyond what I deserve, are those things which you have now written to me;

they are sincere and unadulterated, shining forth from your radiant soul, thrice-blessed father-brother, scattering the truth. Having embraced it, I gave thanks to Christ, the fulfiller of my desire, the giver of all good things—and how could I not? For you are enriched with knowledge and appropriate zeal, and furthermore, you are a genuine son of our common father, in harmony with us, who are most lowly, in both thought and disposition. But these things are well; I have as something more to be prayed for, and unheard of, the harmony of both of us, through which the ray of truth shines more brightly, and the crookedness of those opposed to it, or rather its nocturnal light, is weakened and plunged into darkness. ^A Having found in your letter the division of the "necessary," forgive me, I was stunned: for this is not a division of the "necessary," but of the "contingent," which is divided threefold: into what happens "more often," "equally," and "less often." Now, the former is divided into the present and the future; then, there is a further subdivision of the present into the subject and the predicate, since the former, because it happens more often, passes into the "existing," and the latter into the "necessary"; yet this does not pass back into the other, although it descends from it. For if something is now necessary, it is not strictly contingent; but if something contingent occurs "more often," by that which exists it sometimes passes into the necessary. And thus, "every man is a grammarian" and "some man is a grammarian": the former is contingent, for it is possible for it to come to be; but the latter is necessary, in so much as it is an act; when that act is extinguished, the necessity of the act has vanished. This is what it says: "as long as it exists"—that is, "while it exists." The other is that which never changes in what it is, such as eternal things, an angel and the soul. ^B Therefore, we now hold what was sought: that one who is guilty by the contingent canon may sometimes, on account of another man's wickedness, sustain the penalty of one who is under the necessary canon; but not conversely, the one under the necessary penalty is the one under the contingent. For that cannot be, since it is equivalent to the impossible; for everything that is impossible is, by conversion, necessary: just as it is necessary for the sun to shine, but also impossible for it not to shine. As to the fact that your holiness says it did not shine at some point, it is certainly regarding the Passion of Christ; for I do not know how it was during the night. These, moreover, are wonders, not customary nor regular; but they are either above nature or contrary to nature: the former is declared by the incarnation of Christ; the latter by the present iniquity, which was not done in secret nor in passing, but openly and, in the manner of a law, ^C confirmed in itself through a synodal act, and by the exile of those who stand for the truth, as if they were in some transgression of the divine canons, or, more truly to say, of a grave and hostile heresy. O the audacity of those who have done this! To the extent that the penalty for the contempt of divine laws, or rather of the Gospel and of almost all the canons, hangs over them, to that same extent does danger hang over us, the lowly, if we subtract anything from our duty. For what kind of "economy" could there be toward those who celebrate the sacrifice with the one who took an adulteress, and who presided over the adultery-approving synod, as the divine Basil said? ^D

For he says that often even those who have gone away with the insubordinate, provided they repent, are received back into the same rank—but not by us, if they ever do repent, but by their peers, as the divine Dionysius said. The rest I leave to your own prudence, which is duly empowered to oversee things that escape us. Glory to God for the liberation of the brothers, if it is true. Glory to God also for your divinely-granted constancy, my brother, in the face of the harsh and, in spirit, uncircumcised goads of those men there. Grant me your constant reminder, to wake me from my slumber; and further, even now, I am in need of the holy prayers of all, but especially those of our Father and your own. I have learned that by the grace of Christ you have produced a work; and if you allow it, I would read it for my own benefit. ^A

XXXVIII. — To his son Arsenius.

How great was the joy I felt—and even now feel—upon reading your letter, my most beloved son! Not so much because the door has been opened for you to meet more freely with the brothers—although that too is to be desired—but because of the grace of God in your tongue, by which you shut the unbridled mouths of the heretics. May the Lord therefore further increase in you the word of knowledge and wisdom, to thoroughly refute the defenders of impiety; so that it may be yours, very fittingly, to sing with the divine David: "I opened my mouth, and drew in my spirit; for I did not forget thy commandments." ^B Against them, the raging Mochiani, by their very deeds, in a manner of speaking, cry out that scripture: "Depart from me, I do not wish to know thy ways." For if they had known them, they would not have transgressed the Lord’s commandments; nor, having transgressed, would they have synodically decreed their transgressions to be a saving dispensation for the Church of Christ, with an anathema against those who did not approve of them in kind. Such an impious dogma is this, that it not only destroys the holy Gospel—inasmuch as the whole is wont to be destroyed by the part—but also removes from the midst the very incarnation of Christ; for things contrary to each other destroy one another. And that an adulterous union, which they have termed a "saving dispensation," is contrary to the divine dispensation instituted for the destruction of sin, is ^C manifest to everyone. But indeed, the adulterous synod is also full of other impieties; if it happens that you see brother Euprepianus again, he will point them out to you.

Farewell and be strong, my son, casting down on both sides those who strike invisibly, by the power of faith, of holy fear, and of love. For since they are repelled by orthodox opinion when they attack from without through the heresies they stir up, the deceitful ones approach from within, scheming to plunder the treasure of the soul. From whose trapping may we be delivered, lifting up our hands to God, and aided by the prayers of our common Father and of all the pious—I and you and all our brothers. The leader of the flute-players [plays] the flute, but not with clear sounds, nor tunefully by the Holy Spirit; and...

his claim to look toward Rome is a poor argument and a refuge for his present sophistry. And his statement regarding Sabas and Theoctistus, those most devout monks, is, like the other, false—as is what he claims regarding Rome. For they resisted for this reason: so that bishops returning from the Iconoclast heresy might not be restored to their original ranks—not all of them, indeed, but the prominent ones and the leaders of the heresy, in accordance with the word of Saint Athanasius. This was not without reason. But since the synod that was then assembled judged that all should be received, taking the fourth holy synod as an example, they agreed; for there was no transgression of anything necessary involved.

Regarding the Simoniacs, it was passed over at that time, as the matter was to be investigated after the synod. But when it was investigated, first an annual penance or even longer was imposed. O what audacity! Along with certain monks, whose names I refrain from mentioning, a decree was issued by him for the relaxation of the perpetual deposition, so that those whom God had deposed through Peter, the chief of the Apostles, might once again be ministers of Christ. And since Sabas and his companions did not agree with this, but even opposed him, what does he do? He corrects evil with good. He denies that he had imposed penance, or that he had received those who had ordained or been ordained for money. But when he says this, he is refuted by the Augusta of that time, by whom he had been induced to impose the unjust penance. The day of the Theophany of Christ arrived; those upon whom the penalty had been imposed came on that day, having completed the penance, and sought absolution. He refused, [but] the Augusta urged that they be received. Again, the patriarch destroys the good with evil: he openly celebrates the liturgy with them on that very feast, not unwillingly, indeed, but of his own accord; since he could have avoided celebrating with those who had been deposed, he did celebrate—and let no one say that he could not. Hence the dispute of Sabas and his companions with him; hence the absolution—more extensive than the divine canons allow—spread. Rome, however, did not approve these things; God forbid! Nor did it consider the synod itself ecumenical, but local, and one that merely corrected the peculiar error of those regions. For they were not deputies of the other Patriarchs who sat on their behalf; this is false, since the Romans had been sent here not because of the synod, but for another reason. Wherefore, they were deposed, as it is said, after they returned to the one who had sent them, although they claimed they had been coerced. The others, from the East, were indeed persuaded and induced by our people, but not sent by the Patriarchs, who knew nothing of it—not even afterward—because of the fear of the nation, clearly. And our people did this so that the heretic-minded

^A population might more easily be induced to hold the orthodox faith, once the ecumenical synod had been convoked.

But if you should ask how it is that we ourselves did not stand against it at that time, and why we received ordination after the synod at the hands of the lord Tarasius, we offer this apology to you and to all: that on the one hand, we were living in obedience to you, and did not yet know what was afterwards brought to our knowledge; and on the other hand, we had grasped a reasonable explanation in the fact that Tarasius said he had neither imposed penance, nor would he—had he known of such things—have communicated with any of them, but would rather have deposed them. Although the truth was not so, because the matter was manifest, we, nevertheless, desiring concord, were satisfied with what was said; having decided this: to incline towards the more humane side of peace in an ambiguous matter, just as the Theologian says somewhere. And at the same time, [we considered] that he had been received by the other ^B Churches on account of his orthodoxy and his courageous and zealous action regarding it. I have made these things known to you, my son, for your information regarding what is fitting; and [to show] that if those around Sabas opposed him for this reason, and not for other irrational causes, they had and have a reasonable cause. For just as we, under the pretext that he said he did not receive such ones, but would depose them, came to terms with the Patriarch, so they, having an evidently righteous cause for what was done, justly contend for the divine canon. And there is no one who, for the sake of this chapter, can stand against them, if they say that Tarasius received those who sought ordination through money by the economy. But not even if Peter and Paul stood present [could one do so]; for they themselves set forth the canon, and they themselves say: *But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed* (Gal. I, 8).

XXXIX. — To Theophilus the Abbot.

I wished to write to your holiness more quickly, but I found no way, as I was enclosed in close custody. But after it pleased the good God to grant both the means and the person, then I, the humble one, fulfill my desire, and I greet and embrace my spiritual Father, whom I truly love most dearly. For not because the princes of this age have separated us physically have they also dissolved the concord and relationship which we have toward one another in God; nay, they have even confirmed it all the more. For I am confident that I, though unworthy, am loved by your holiness, and that you remain unmoved in the orthodox and God-pleasing resistance, by which you have previously and subsequently ^D proved yourself to God and men, so as to share with us, the humble, the persecution for the sake of piety; even though those who hold power did not wish it, sparing themselves from exiling and imprisoning many people; and so that they might seem thereby to persuade the world that the controversy with them is confined to us alone, and that there are no others who resist; whereas they are so many in number, under the authority that they hold; even if, through fear or through dissimulation,

^A they cover themselves; as we may hear the divine David crying out: I shall number them, and they shall be multiplied more than the sand. For that which is done impiously is not a small or hidden thing; but it is something truly grave and manifest to those who have the faculty of understanding. ^B O most holy one, they have, as far as in them lies, overturned the Incarnation of Christ, having dogmatized that the transgression of the Gospel in the prohibited union and adultery is a salutary dispensation for the Church, pronouncing anathema upon those who do not accept such things. They have dissolved the Gospel through the breaking of a single commandment, declaring this dissolution to be a dispensation of God. For if, as it is written: Whoever shall keep the whole law, but offend in one point, he is guilty of all; yet they do not deem them—the fall, or rather the falls, both of the adulterer and of him who united the adulterers, and of those who joined in the adultery and took their part with the adulterer, for it is not possible that those who acted and those who were carried along with them should be separated from one another—to be guilty, but rather "dispensers" of God. Whoever pronounced them to be guilty has lied; but the saints themselves are also alienated from these "dispensers" of God, since no saint has transgressed the law of God, nor, if he should transgress, can he be called a saint. But these men have set up a dogma in their transgression that is inviolable, as if it were the law of God, and they have anathematized all who do not agree with them in this matter. ^C The saints who are in heaven and on earth do not, without doubt, agree with adultery. Whence it is transparent that by the breaking of one commandment of the Gospel, not only have they overturned the whole Gospel, by defining it synodically as a salutary dispensation for the Church, and by establishing as an inviolable law—so far as in them lay—that for every commandment that is violated, the violation itself should be and be named a "dispensation"; but furthermore, they have also anathematized the saints who do not agree, seeing that not even God, according to them, agrees.

But in a word, why say many things, when the letter cannot hold them? A perverse and dire opinion has been brought into our Church. This Mochian heresy, together with the destruction of the Gospel, has also dissolved the divine canons through the absolution of him who had been deposed by them as an uniter of adulterers. For if they have neglected the Gospel, it would have been idle for them to be concerned about the sacred canons. ^D These things, therefore, with a salutation, I have thought it necessary to suggest to your paternity, so that, understanding it to be a heresy, you may flee the heresy, or rather the heretics, in such a way as neither to communicate with them, nor to commemorate them in your most religious monastery during the divine liturgy; for there are great threats issued by the saints against those who partake with them even as far as sharing a meal. But if your holiness should ask what the reason is why we did not say these things to you before the captivity, but even made the commemoration of the Byzantines to you ourselves, let this be known: that a synod had not yet been assembled, nor had the evil dogma and anathema been promulgated as yet. And before these things, it was not safe to withdraw from the...

transgressors, or to flee only from their open communion, but rather to mention them for a time by a fitting dispensation. ^A But since the heretical impiety has now broken out into the open through a synod, it behooves your reverence, together with all the orthodox, to act freely by not communicating with the wrong-thinking, nor by mentioning any of those who were found in the adulterous synod, or who are of the same mind as it. And it is surely just, holy Father, that you, who are in all things, according to the meaning of your name, a lover of God, should love God in this matter as well. For Chrysostom pronounced with a great and loud voice that not only heretics, but all those who communicate with such as they, are enemies of God. And if your steadfastness does not remain secure, who then will be saved? And if one who has shown boldness by the power of God, as a saint, yet minus a perfect heresy, now after the heresy holds back; how will another dare to stir? And if the monastic order does not hold all things to be refuse—I mean monasteries ^B and everything pertaining to them—how will a layman despise his wife, children, and the rest?

Therefore, I remind you, as a most insignificant brother and son, let us not be silent, lest we become a cry of Sodom; let us not spare earthly things, lest we lose the heavenly; let us not be a scandal to the Church of God, which is defined as existing even in three orthodox believers according to the saints, lest we be condemned by the decree of the Lord. And I do not say these things, wretched as I am, for my own sake; for to me, even if it be a bold thing to say, even to die for the truth is gain and joy and life, if only I might be strengthened by your holy prayers; but this I say because of our ancient and spiritual love, and for the common benefit. For if the Son of God, the Lord and Master of all, offered Himself for all as a sacrifice to God and the Father, what ought we to do, and how much are we not obligated to suffer and endure for Him? ^C And especially those who are monastics and have been crucified by their renunciation—those who have truly and not in vain renounced; for it is not possible to judge matters by the outward habit alone; for many are those who put on masks and are not what they appear to be, but rather the habits are made clear by the works. If, then, there are any monks in these present times, let them show it in their works. For it is the work of a monk not to endure even the slightest innovation in the Gospel, lest by setting an example of heresy and heretical communion to the laity, they render an account for their destruction. The extreme humility of your holiness has compelled me to speak at such great length on this subject, as you do not in the least disapprove of it. But you, O Father, pray and intercede for a weak and sinful man, yet one who loves you as much as possible. My fellow-prisoner likewise greets you and begs for your prayers. ^D

XL.—To Naucratius, my son.

Another prison for you again, beloved son; but also, once more, a monument of infamy for the heretics of ill-repute; for you

^A there is an addition of rewards and heavenly honors. Therefore, for those, I have reason to groan and weep; but for you, to rejoice and give thanks. Is it not more acceptable that you should be proven by this renewed confinement, just like gold purified in the furnace? Take firm root, therefore, holy child, and be seen by the Lord, the Master, in all things pure and unalloyed, a vessel truly useful, prepared for every good work. ^B Bear, then, with patience the strangeness of your second guard; for I would not call him a superior, nor even a priest; for no minister of God, nor even a monk, would serve in military duties, nor would you communicate with one who serves thus. Nevertheless, let me know how he treats you. I think it is more accommodating than the previous one. But whether matters stand this way or otherwise, do you, however, my child, stand bravely; lightening your sorrows with the great joy of hope, and acquiring for yourself solitude, the discovery of apathy, through your looking and turning of your eyes and soul only toward God who sees you; despising ^C and dispelling the bran-like thoughts that are cast in by the sower of tares again and again. As for what you have requested of me, that I should answer you point by point regarding heresies and baptisms, that exceeds the length of a letter; and again, it is superfluous to recount what the divine Epiphanius discovered and wrote down as no other of the Fathers has. Read, therefore, his sacred book concerning these matters, and there you will know what you desire to learn. The excellent Euprepianus will place it in your hands.

Of baptisms, moreover, I will answer more briefly. This treatise is divided in three ways. For the Marcionites, Tascodrugitae, Manichaeans, and those of the same order up to the Melchisedechians—twenty-five heresies in number—are baptized. But ^D the Tessarescaedecatite, Novatians, Arians, Macedonians, and Apollinarians—five in total—are anointed with the holy chrism. Those, however, who are neither baptized nor anointed, but only anathematize their own and every other heresy—the Meletians, Nestorians, Eutychianists, and those of their same rank up to the present heresy, who are not numbered by me at this moment because of the many branches of the Acephali and because the letter would otherwise grow too long. As for what you said about not distinguishing the canon, but pronouncing definitively that those ordained or baptized by heretics can neither be clerics nor believers: consider this, that the apostolic canon calls those heretics who are not baptized and who do not baptize in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. And we are taught this also by the divine voice of the great Basil. For he says that heresies are those which are completely severed and alienated in the very faith itself; schisms are those who have dissented from one another because of certain ecclesiastical causes and questions that can be remedied; and parasynagogues are the congregations that...

arise from disobedient presbyters or bishops, or from uneducated peoples. And of the first, he himself offering one example, says to saint Amphilochius: "What reason, then, is there for the baptism of the Pepuzenes to be accepted, who baptize into the Father and the Son and Montanus or Priscilla? For they are not baptized who are baptized into things not delivered to us." These then, and those who follow them, the canon and the Fathers, as divine Basil says, have named heretics. Saint Basil again offers an example of the second kind: "The Cathari are themselves also among those who have been cut off." ^B But if you should say: And how are these also, and all those who came after them, called heretics? We say and understand this: the first are properly heretics, because they have committed impiety against the very pivot of our Trinitarian faith. But the second are so called by abuse of terms, and as derived from the first; notwithstanding that they confessed to believe in the Trinity and to baptize in the proper particularity of each hypostasis, and not as one existing in three; even though they were heretical in other matters. The same saint again offers an example of the third kind, for instance if someone, having been convicted in a fault, was suspended from ministry and did not submit to the canons, but claimed for himself the position and the ministry. And just as the second share a name with the first, so too do the third with the second. Certainly, the ancients call the Meletians schismatics, having been led astray by Meletius the schismatic, even though they were not heterodox. For, anathematizing their own ^C schism, as they say, they were received by the catholic Church. Heresy seems in general to be a certain chain woven by the devil, one thing holding to another, and all hanging as it were from one head of impiety and atheism, however much they may differ in name, and time, and place, and quantity, and quality, and power, and activity. Since not even one and the same body is a single member, but many; and their activities, powers, properties, positions, and honors toward one another are diverse. ^D Concerning your other questions: the first, regarding an orthodox presbyter who, however, for fear of persecution commemorates a heretical bishop, I have already answered you; but again: if he does not concelebrate with a heretic, and does not distribute to such people, this man is to be received for a meal, and psalmody, and the blessing of foods, and this by economy, yet not for divine participation. One must certainly inquire when heresy is dominant; but when a confession has been received, one must be satisfied, unless it is clearly dishonest. For I would say that we are taught by the Fathers not to inquire in a time when heresy is not raging, nor concerning those who are not manifestly condemned. But it is rare to find such a presbyter now who does not mingle and communicate with heretics.

^A The Second: Regarding a Christian who calls one to his oratory to celebrate a vigil; and whether one ought to perform sacred rites therein; and with whom it is appropriate. One must comply, and indeed go, and chant together, provided that he who invites and those who chant are orthodox, both parties taking care not to communicate with heretics. Furthermore, the divine liturgy is to be performed in the oratory, if he who possesses it affirms that no heretic has yet ministered therein. For it has already been said that, because of the raging heresy, it is necessary to inquire about everything.

The Third: If an orthodox person receives a church from someone, and it is the custom for the people to assemble there once or twice a year, and for the name of a heretic to be mentioned in the liturgy: it is indeed necessary to permit chanting to take place there, but not for the liturgy to be celebrated; yet if it can be obtained that that custom be rescinded, then the liturgy too may be performed.

The Fourth: If there is a church in which the one officiating commemorates a heretic, and the orthodox person has an altar cloth sanctified with a corporal or on boards; is it appropriate for it to be placed in the same church, in the absence of him who commemorates, and for the orthodox person to concelebrate upon it? It is not appropriate, but rather, out of necessity, in a common house, in some place chosen as more clean.

The Fifth: If it happens on a journey that an orthodox person is invited by some priest or layman to a meal, and it is a time for psalmody; how is it permissible to participate? I have said, and I say again: since heresy is prevailing and has not been struck down by an orthodox synod, it is ^B necessary to inquire, both regarding divine participation and common dining; nor is any time inappropriate for this, nor is there any place for shame. Therefore, for one to accept bread simply from anyone, interrogation is not necessary; nor is it forbidden to dine with him—perhaps separately—and to sleep there, if the person being dined with is not known to be in heresy or wickedness. But concerning other matters, it is necessary to inquire.

The Sixth: Whether it is permissible for an orthodox person, during the course of a journey, if he finds a church near a village or city, to pray there, or even to lodge in it while avoiding the use of the homes of laymen? It is to be prayed in, and one may lodge there if it is unoccupied; but also in the home of a layman or a priest, as has been said, when the hour of necessity presses, it is indifferent to remain or to eat privately by oneself, without interrogation, and to take what is for use; provided it is not manifest to him who is being received, as I have said, that he who receives him lives impiously or against the laws. However, outside of necessity, it is not good to accept these things as they happen; but rather to inquire, and to lodge with an orthodox person, and from him to take supplies if there is need. For thus the Lord commanded through ^C His saints.

Thou hast rightly answered the presbyter and hegumen that those who have now been ordained by him who has been found guilty are prohibited from the ministry—even if he himself were to say, "The synod was conducted wrongly, and we are lost." For why, when he confesses this, does he not flee destruction by withdrawing from the heresy, so that he might remain a bishop before God? And his ordinations would immediately be acceptable. Or why... ^D

did the superior promote the brothers to heretical ordination when the heresy was still prevalent? If, therefore, the one who ordained acted correctly, they could have ministered immediately; but since he is a heretic, for the reason that he himself commemorates a heretic, even though he might say that he holds a sound opinion, those whom he ordains cannot be considered among the true ministers of God. But if a spirit of zeal for God has been kindled in the superior, and he is eager to wreathe himself with the crown of confession, let him not minister in the church enthroned by him, nor let him commemorate him as bishop. And blessed is he who becomes an example of salvation to many others as well ^B.

When an altar has been set up in the same church, there is nothing to prevent one from ministering there. But that which escaped me earlier to point out, I shall mention here: since St. Basil ^C says regarding those who have been in a parasynagogue that "frequently also those in rank who have followed the insubordinate, when they repent, are received back into the same rank," let not your prudence think that these words contradict the Apostolic Canon which says: "If any cleric should pray with a deposed cleric as a cleric, let him be deposed himself." But let it be considered that, just as it has been distinguished by the Fathers how heresies differ from schisms, so it is clearly distinguished by a consistent understanding which is the canon that inexorably deposes one who has prayed with a deposed person, as opposed to one who was in a parasynagogue: for the former, knowing that he is praying with someone who is openly deposed, is deservedly deposed immediately as one who has acted without discernment and has not paid heed to the canon; but the latter, as one who did not think the person to whom he was swept away along with the multitude to have been deposed, once he repents, it says, is received back into the same rank. And this, moreover, is frequently added in the words of the saint, so that there is also the case of one who repents not being received into the same rank. And this account is indeed given contingently, whereas the Apostolic Canon is given necessarily and inexorably.

That the falsely named Christophorus has again returned to his own vomit, I was not at all surprised, knowing his instability and inconstancy. But that Cledonius endured confinement and stripes at the hands of the impious for the sake of the truth for one single day, I was completely astonished. So if he persists until now by the power of God, it would not be idle for you and other brothers to reach out a hand to him, if it is possible. Regarding those mentioned before—I mean those being baptized and anointed with holy chrism, and who anathematize the heresy—I have not written the heresies in the manner that the divine Epiphanius has arranged and enumerated them, but as a rare notation of some older industrious man who made the investigation and discovery from books of the Church in Byzantium. Brother Gregory sends sincere greetings.

XLI. To Silvanus and Euprepianus, my sons.

Since I am seeking to learn about the brothers, my sons, and they themselves about...

^A them often wish to signify, I have judged it beneficial, both for the sake of brevity and for greater secrecy, that they be designated by the elements, that is to say, by the twenty-four letters, and indeed I say: α. Of our Father. β. Of the Archbishop. γ. Of the Calogerus. δ. Of Athanasius. ε. Of Barsanuphius. ζ. Of Nicholas. η. Of Sophronius. θ. Of Euthymius. ι. Of Joannicius. κ. Of Domitianus. λ. Of the Oeconomus. μ. Of Arsenius. ν. Of Acacius. ξ. Of Meletius. ο. Of Lucianus. π. Of Epiphanius. ρ. Of Letoe. σ. Of Basil. τ. Of Euschemon. υ. Of Silvanus. φ. Of Euprepianus. χ. Of Gregory. ψ. Of Eustathius. ω. Mine.

When, therefore, any element is placed in the inscription, it is completely understood whose the letter is; for instance α, of our Father; and each one similarly. Again, when I ask, "How is β?" it is clear that the inquiry is understood to be about the Archbishop. Similarly, when I ask again, "How are those with β?" it is evident that the inquiry is about those who are with him; and likewise for the remaining elements. Again, another inquiry: "What do you hear about π, or about ρ, or about ψ?" The response is to be made for each individual element. Again I ask, "Who has come from the outside?" You must respond according to the element—either that η, or that ο, or from the rest; or that η or ο did not enter, but those with η or ο, in such a number; that such and such a thing has happened to such and such an element. So too when there is a death: "This element has died," or "is ill," ^B or "it is grieving," and whatever else. But if someone is from those who have suffered something regarding an element, and you indicate the name, for example, regarding Christopher, that he has fled from ε, which has also happened.

Therefore, receiving the letters sent by us, if the sender is from the number of the elements, the letter will entirely have the inscription of the element. You also, who are from the elements, when you send letters, place the element itself in your own letter. But if those who are sending are unaware, you erase the inscription and put the element of the writer in its place. But if he is not from the number of the elements, let the inscription remain, just as I myself do when I write. If it is not from the elements, let the inscription remain directed to whom the letter is intended. Again, it is to be observed that in each of my letters to those who are under the elements, the inscription will be thus: to α, and so on; and the letters sent to me should thus have α, or υ, or another of the elements. It must be known also that (cf. Matth. x, 12; Matth. vi, 9).

these three letters are also outside the number of the twenty-four elements, ς, ι, π. The ς signifies all those who have fallen away, whether brothers of ours from before or after; the ι, the patriarch; the π, the one who holds power. When, therefore, there is need either for me to ask, or for you to give notice about one of the three, the declaration shall be made through the letter. ^B

XLII. — To Anna, a nun.

It teaches how one ought to pray.

I thought my blessed mother had departed this life; but she is still on earth, as it appears. For what more could she have been expected to do, acting towards me, humble as I am, with motherly solicitude? But even if I am a sinner, I nevertheless trust in the Lord to repay you for our unworthiness with no ordinary grace, and with the attainment of those things which you desire and ask for. Nevertheless, what has been done is sufficient. For I answered this also in my previous letters. But you, on the contrary, have added to them, wanting rather to increase your expenses in giving. For how could I not even now be mindful of your piety? By your garments, by your holy offering, by food and drink—from every side you have filled us with wonder. Wherefore, put an end at last to such gifts, and be secure regarding the divine recompense. For He who said that He would give a reward even for a cup of cold water is truthful. You say that you are grieved by anxiety over your son, which does not allow you leisure for the care that your soul requires. But God is able both to manage the affairs of your noble son and to cause you to have leisure in all things for what is profitable to the soul, so that you may stand ready in heart for the departure from the body. Now, to fast and to endure hardships, while having a sickly body, you cannot; but bear even this with an even temper, offering to the Lord what you are able, and by the abundance of your humility supplementing what is lacking in your exercise. You seek to be taught how you ought to pray. And this the Lord Himself taught through the invocation of the "Our Father," and by warning us to ask for nothing transitory, but for His kingdom and eternal righteousness. Besides, it has been prescribed by the Fathers that there should first be thanksgiving towards God; then, confession of sins to Him; and so, the asking for their forgiveness, and for the attainment of other saving ways.

When, therefore, you are about to pray, give thanks to the Lord and Master, that He brought you out of non-existence into being; that He redeemed you from all error, calling you and deeming you worthy to become a partaker of His own knowledge, [rescuing you] from pagan error, from heretical error; then, that He prepared you to exist within the monastic and angel-like life, after the enjoyment of the life in the world; the reflection on which is sufficient to soften the soul towards compunction and the shedding of tears. From these things come illumination of heart, sweetness of spirit, desire for God. When this is present in the heart, it is the expulsion of every evil. When you have sent up thanksgiving to God in this way, confess to Him, saying: "You know, O Lord, how many sins I have committed against You, and how...

at every hour, this sin and that transgression, reflecting also on those things known and unknown to thee, but without dwelling recklessly on those which, in clear recollection, bring harm to the soul. ^A From this will arise the grace of humility, with contrition of heart and fear of divine retribution. After this, ask, lament, and beseech thy Lord for the remission of these things and for the strengthening of thy powers, so that thou mayest henceforth be pleasing to Him; saying: "I will no longer irritate Thee, my Lord, my Lord; I will no longer desire anything besides Thee, who art truly lovable. And if I should offend again, I become a suppliant to Thy tender mercies, that strength may be given to me to accustom myself to pleasing Thee." If any other good thing occurs to thy mind to be done, ask for it fervently. Having done these things, invoke the holy Theotokos to have mercy on thee, and the holy angels—and the angel whom thou hast as the guardian of thy life, that he may preserve and protect thee—and the Forerunner, the apostles, all the saints, and those whom thou hast been accustomed to invoke in particular, ^B and the one who is commemorated on that day. These things, then, seem to me to possess the power of prayer; even if each person prays in different words and not always the same ones, since not even the one praying speaks the same words to himself always; yet the same power is, as I think, necessary for all. Fare thee well, therefore, praying fittingly, and advancing in every way, and presenting thy whole self through an accurate life as pleasing to the Lord.

XLIII. — To Joseph, brother and archbishop. He consoles him in his expulsion from the See of Thessalonica. (Baron. an. 809, n. 47.)

The first letter of thy brotherly and paternal holiness, although short in the number of its syllables, ^C nevertheless abounded in a wealth of allegorical meaning; and the second, in all knowledge and humility, had but one thing to be criticized: the unworthy praises of me, a wretch. But I spoke not by antiphrasis—heaven forbid—but in truth, saying that thou dost shine forth in these our times in the dignity of the archbishopric, after the likeness of the holy Fathers. Nor would I be in error if I called thee a pillar and foundation of the Church, O my noble brother. For whoever contends and suffers for the truth is a pillar and a pinnacle of it. It has happened well that thou didst examine the quaternions. For thy admonition, or rather thy command, provided us the occasion to undertake the refutation of this proposition which, with others, at the exhortation of our Father, I sent in the aforementioned quaternions to thy holiness, ^D not weaving into the whole composition any opinion of my own; since nothing can be more just than the law, nor more upright than the canon; but merely bringing forward and connecting, however ineptly, the documents and precepts of the divine Fathers, as the nature of the opposing proposition required. And unless thou shrinkest from the labor of reading, it will be, if I am not mistaken, worth the effort. Now, as to the fact that peace is agreed by common consent to be the best thing—for indeed I love it, even if I am a sinner—and that we must bend towards it, we ourselves have done this as far as was permitted, casting off a great part of the burden, according to the divine Cyril: in part

when at the first they acquitted the adulterer—I being present there, and as we had counseled—by keeping silence; and silence is a part of consent. ^A And the adversaries caught at this, as you know, and sought to debar us from our opposition. This was when his second acquittal was being proclaimed by those who trampled upon the laws of God, while we were saying: "Let him only stand aside, enjoying the honor of the priesthood," according to the canon of the holy Basil, although he had already ministered together with the patriarch for two years; which was indeed a fearful thing, and beyond economy. ^B I omit mentioning the false pretexts for his flight [from us], and the fact that we communicated in the blessings of a presbyter at banquets, and [in] the commemoration of the patriarch. Yet, although we abased ourselves thus far for the sake of economy, they, on the contrary, were puffed up in their hardness of heart through sin; God having foreseen something better, that we, the humble, might not render our first exile of no avail, nor that the adultery which had been dared upon the world should, perhaps, be diminished by an excess of economy towards its perpetrator. ^C Wherefore, it is now time, most beloved, for us to say that: "How long will you use economy?" and, "Set to work to build at last." And, according to the divine Basil, let us serve the exactness of the canons. For there are other words before the war, and other words after the war; and [we must] pass our days in patience, as you have admonished, and pray for those who persecute us.

But your three honorable expressions are ^D acceptable and agreeable to me: first, that for the lapse of one man the Churches should not be divided; second, not to communicate in the absolution of such a one; and third, to participate from every blameless priest. For such is indeed the meaning. And forgive me, brother, not for the desire of teaching, but for the sake of the common benefit, explaining the matter more fully. Regarding the first, we certainly do not make a schism from the Church which is to the North, and the West, and the Sea—nor indeed from the one here—except from those who confirm the adultery. For they are not the Church of the Lord. But if they are the Church, [yet] we secede from the Church on account of one man bound to it, in that we do not accept the perpetrator of the adultery. But since they are not the Church of God, they themselves are truly separated from the Church of God on account of one man associated with them, being like those who are recorded in the chronograph, while we do not secede from her on account of such a one. Regarding the second, we do not communicate in his absolution, since we do not communicate with those who have manifestly absolved him. But if we communicate with them, we certainly communicate in his absolution. But since we refuse to communicate with those who have absolved him, as God demands, then clearly we do not communicate in his absolution. Regarding the third: we partake from every blameless priest. And for this reason we do not partake from Joseph, as he is publicly accused; and they would certainly be accused

^A along with him, being his concelebrants. If we were to partake from such men, as if they were blameless, Joseph too, who concelebrates with them, would be blameless. But since he is truly accused, and we do not partake from him, it is clear that we do not partake from those who serve with him either, as they are likewise accused. May the discourse of your holiness, therefore, be strengthened; and in this way let us be in agreement. And may this indissoluble bond, through our true harmony here, in the world to come be preserved for us, my dearest brother, so that we too, humble as we are, may be deemed worthy to follow some trace of the virtue of our Fathers.

Regarding your city, you have kindled a pillar of piety, which no man can ever extinguish. And there is no need to be grieved, but rather to rejoice—just as I, wretched as I am, rejoice in the dissolution of my humble monastery—because this dissolution is for the sake of the Lord. And it is not ^B a great boast that so many stood without bending their knees, but (it is a boast) even if only one did. For one man doing the will of the Lord is better than ten thousand transgressors. And you are not the cause of their dispersion, even if some babble such things, but I, the miserable one, am. May there be communion between us, if you are able to endure it, in both cases. And you yourself will receive such a reward in the divine dispersion of the brothers, as I shall find in those who have been left behind in Thessalonica, keeping the divine law.

Concerning my jailer, there is nothing to say, such a man as he is, and being of one soul with Joseph. Do not cease to pray fervently for my humility, my good and most holy brother-father. ^C Know that Theosostus has been hard pressed, because he would not communicate with him who sacrilegiously ascended your throne; and he was driven out in a youthful manner from his monastery. Our brother Athanasius was taken again and relegated to that place. My jailer, having gone out, brought me a greeting from the patriarch, saying that God will forgive you, for we wished to have you here for our help. You have gone away and settled there; and I envy you. When I heard this, I laughed. For there was no need for me to answer at the time, except this one thing: that if he envies, let him also depart. He even relaxed the guard, inviting me to rest. For he brought me a greeting also from Simeon, and that he wishes to tell the emperor that you have labored in prison. And (he brought) from Leontius ^D a humble greeting, saying: I suffered under necessity; and may God not separate me from your word. And I said that I do not require these things from him. They forced him to go to the oeconomus, and to Arsenius, and to John, saying that the lord Tarasius has released him, and that just now I have recovered my sight. And they struck him with their fists, in truth. He who is with me greets my shepherd through me with great affection.

XLIV. — To Sergius the Consul.

XLIV. — To Sergius the Consul.

Regarding your city, you have kindled a pillar of piety, which no man shall extinguish until the end of the age. And there is no need to be grieved, but rather to rejoice; just as I, the miserable one, in the dissolution of my humble monastery, because the dissolution is for the sake of the Lord. And it is not ^B that it is a great boast that so many stood without bending their knees; but even if one did. For one man doing the will of the Lord is better than ten thousand transgressors. And you are not yourself the cause of their disruption, even if some prate; but I, the wretch. May there be communion between us, if you endure it, in both matters. And you will have as much reward yourself in the divine dispersion of the brothers, as I might find in the abandoning of Thessalonica, by the law of God.

Concerning my jailer, there is no word, such is the man, and being of one soul with Joseph. Do not cease to pray fervently for my humility, my good and most holy brother-father. Know that Theosostus was pressed not to hold communion with him who unpriestly ascended your throne; and he was youthfully expelled from his monastery. The brothers around Athanasius, our brothers, are still held and confined there. My jailer, having gone out, brought me a greeting from the patriarch, saying that God will forgive you; and that we wished to have you here for our help. You have gone away, and have sat down there; and I envy you. And having heard this, I laughed. For there was ^C no need to answer for the time being; or only this. That in envy, he should go away also. He even relaxed the prison, urging me toward rest. For he brought me also a greeting from Simeon; and that he wishes to speak to the emperor, that you have labored in prison. And from Leontius, a humble greeting, saying: that I suffered necessity; and may God not forgive me the word of yours. And I said that I have no need of these things from him. They forced him to go to the oeconomus, and to Arsenius, and to John, saying: that the lord Tarasius has released him; and that just now I have seen. And they truly slapped him. He who is with me greets my shepherd with much desire from me.

XLIV. — To Sergius the Consul.

You yourself, as I learn, are exchanging offices for offices; ^D and

to urge him to do well. Eccl. xvi, 3.

^A near the subordinate Caesar, and against your will, my beloved and most honorable one. But as for me, humble though I am, I do not cease to wish that you may be a familiar friend to the King above and of all, through piety. For it is better to be numbered as the thousandth and the very last in the kingdom of heaven than to be held as the first under an earthly king. But I am in good hope, knowing your care for salvation, that you are in no way damaging your soul, but are even gaining from your position; for there are not a few ways to achieve profit. For it is enough for a poor taxpayer, not only to have a remission of taxes, but also to see the kindly face of him who collects the royal funds, and to hear a gentle voice and a greeting tone; and I am not yet speaking of the loosing of the bond of iniquity, and other such things that easily follow when a ruler does well towards those who are ruled. Do not therefore, in matters where you can do good, neglect yourself, my lord, because of your kindness to others; but as a prudent man, and knowing that we shall soon depart from this life, taking nothing with us other than our deeds, let us apply ourselves to these, and let us store them up, for they are our provisions for eternal life and will be for the enjoyment of unspeakable good things. ^B Indeed, I beseech you, my own blood, my own desire, the offspring of a truly good root, that Anna—venerable and most beloved to me, and praised by all her acquaintances for her modesty—my own truly blessed mother on both sides.

Tres epistolæ sequentes desunt in libris mss. quibus usi sumus : tantum inscriptiones notantur isto loco et ordine in ms. collegii nostri Parisiensis. ^C

XLV. — To Naucratius, my son. XLVI. — To Anna, the abbess. XLVII. — To Naucratius, my son. XLVIII. — To Athanasius, my son.

The opinion of the Moechians, showing it to be a heresy, and describing the struggles of the orthodox. (Baron. an. 809, n. 30.)

I read your letters, beloved brother, with great patience; and I was exceedingly astonished at your sudden change. I pass by the former things: that when you were with me face to face, you confessed the Moechian wrong-thinking to be a heresy, pleading ignorance and the influence of others; and that even after reading the Pentalogos, you declared it to be a "five-fold light." But now, as it seems, you take it upon yourself to attack it, mouthing your entire speech in a manner similar to your former ignorance, and indeed, blowing even more fiercely against ^D what was said by my humility. And if these were my own words, since I am obscure, it would be no wonder. But since it has been demonstrated through the voice of the Lord, and of the apostles and the prophets, and in addition to these, by the God-bearing Fathers, that it is a most grievous heresy, let your prudence see, and whoever else supports you in this, into what state you are to be brought. For those arguments of yours, by which you contend that it is not a heresy, excuse me, have not been drawn from the words of the Lord, nor from a holy mouth; but, to speak with the prophet, they are "of those crying out from the earth," and from

^A permitted speech. For you say that all your friends and the pious, both the learned and the unlearned, are struck with fear when they hear that it is a heresy; and they put forward these arguments: that since no one is resisting and teaching against the committing of adultery and the dissolving of the holy ordinances, how are we to call them heretics? For it is right to call them transgressors of the Lord's commandments, and tramplers of the divine canons, and unholy, but not heretics. How, then, is one not to be astonished, first at your prudence, which repeatedly brings forward the same things from them and hears the truth in turn—which could persuade even children!—and then again, as if having forgotten what was heard before, you bring them forward with more vehement questioning and rebuke of us, as if we were calling it a heresy unreasonably? Thus, ^B this, at least, is what is astonishing about you.

But regarding the adversaries themselves, I say this: How is it that they deny that they preach and teach what they have proclaimed synodically, and have confirmed under the anathema of those who oppose their dogma—that is, their dispensation—and what they continue to teach in practice every day? For what reason, therefore, am I, a humble man, held confined here? For what reason has my Father, who is confined, been afflicted with distress, having been separated from others first, and then thrust into the place where he now is? For what reason has the archbishop, having been deposed by their judgment and reduced to such straits that he received food by measure, as the attendants were bound by imperial order, then been confined in the palace, ^C and more recently even cast into exile? For what reason have you, your Reverence, with the brethren, been handed over to custody in Thessalonica; and Theosostus the abbot driven from the same city with his disciples; and another abbot there beaten beyond measure? For what reason are the brothers Naucratius and Arsenius held safely in close custody until now, and likewise Basilius and Gregorius? For what reason was Stephen, that virtue-loving abbot, driven from his own monastery with fifty disciples—along with one hundred and ten, and with him who had been bishop before—after he had anathematized the adulterous-synod as one that broke the Gospel, just as the letter sent by him testifies? For what reason was Antony, ^D the most pious abbot, given into custody at Ammorium, having in the same manner as the former anathematized the adulterous-synod together with the brotherhood under him? For what reason was our brother Emilianus bound and led by the governor of Nicomedia into Thynia, and subjected to stripes and mockery, his monastery having been plundered by those who broke into it as if they were spoils of war? For what reason was Leo, the most pious bishop, surnamed Valelades, persecuted in Cherson, and Antony the honored abbot, with two others, held in custody? For what reason are our brethren in the island of Lipara, situated beyond Sicily, kept in custody? For what reason were those around Letoius kept under guard in Cherson, and from there sent under guard to the emperor, and then cast into prison in Byzantium, and others likewise kept in monasteries? I will speak again of us three. For what reason were we [taken] to Agathi by the Spatharios by the impe-

imperial mandate: "You are anathematized and deposed by the synod"? For what reason were the three of us kept in seclusion in the custody of Saint Mamas? For what reason did the same Spatharii come to that place, along with the three others bearing from the adversary the papers of our deposition and excommunication, so that we might hear them again, even though we had stopped up our ears? For what reason were we dispersed, one here and one there, and shut away—both the oikonomos and Arsenios the brothers? And why were the others driven out twelve miles from Constantinople, so that some were hidden in a cave to serve us secretly, having put on the clothes of laymen? And others hid all day under a slab, and because it was not possible to appear by day, they ran to one another by night? ^B For what reason were those who were found, arrested by the soldiers and imprisoned in the praetorium, and then banished from the city? And that I may recount the things from the beginning, for what reason was [the monastery of] Studios suddenly occupied by a host of soldiers who had broken in, so that we could hardly even breathe? And why did the bishops of Nicaea and Chrysopolis arrive there so that we might accept the groom of the adulteress, as if he who had been commanded by the preceding patriarch had performed the adulterous union? And they said, "Since he who commanded it is a saint, just as Chrysostom is, it is a dispensation of a saint; therefore, receive it." For what reason were we four taken away at night from there by a commander and soldiers, and led off to Simeon—whom I know not by what name to call—and what were the things signified to us through him by the emperor, that we should change our mind and desist from our purpose, as if a dispensation had been made, to which thing we have resisted up to this day? ^C For what reason were we again shut up in Saint Sergios, and Simeon again went there by order of the emperor for this same cause? For what reason were we presented by commanders in the populous synod, in which also sat the three greatest officials? For what reason was I, humble man that I am, treated contumeliously there, and surrounded on all sides, and hearing it said, "You do not know what you are babbling, what you are saying," when I was shouting: "The Forerunner falls! The Gospel is being loosened! It is not a dispensation!" and they kept repeating: "It is a dispensation; and thus the saints managed things, and the one who preceded us among the saints." Behold the witnesses that he commanded the adulterous union! Although they did not call it so, but rather they gnashed their teeth whenever they heard "groom of the adulteress." For what reason was the anathema against those who do not accept the dispensations of the saints loudly proclaimed, ^D and I, with my father and the Calogeros, was removed from the midst by the hand of the ruler; and the archbishop was deposed, and for that cause alone, that at my request he had celebrated in the Studite [monastery] as a common presbyter; and thus he was deposed by their sentence? For they absolved the groom of the adulteress, who had been deposed by Christ Himself and the divine canons, pronouncing him innocent in all things, [the very man] who was already sacrificing with them beforehand. But him who could not be deposed according to the canons, they consigned to deposition, confirming their own saying by their deeds, that bishops can use the canons as it seems best to them. And this they do perpetually; not wishing to consider, at the least, whether, if the matter is so, those who depose a bishop can [themselves be deposed] by that...

same man, as the apostolic oracle is fulfilled 49.

These things ^B we have ordained for you, O bishops, concerning the canons. You, remaining in them, shall be saved and shall have peace; but disobeying, you shall be punished, and you shall have perpetual war among yourselves, paying the fitting penalty for your disobedience. ^C Why was there the interrogation of all the brothers after the synod by the emperor, who said that we were deposed, but the synod was holy and sealed by him—as if the adulterous union were a dispensation of the saints, and the one who had accomplished these things were uncondemned? And since they did not accept it, why the imprisonment of each one individually, or of two or three together, or even more, in monasteries and forts; and for some, the lashings and the whippings; when these things are now known everywhere by land and sea and are common talk?

For what cause, then, to sum it up in a few words, are all these things—if not because they could not be brought to say or agree that the transgression of the Gospel was a "dispensation," which those adversaries proclaimed as if it were saving and equal to the saints, persisting still in this in word and deed, saying this and doing this by means of the persecution? How, then, do they say that, with no one opposing or teaching, we call them heretics? Are these things that I have said inventions and dreams, or are they true? And since they are true, how is it that they do not everywhere teach and preach it by word and deed? Or how is it that you, though not believing them, stand all but with those who say these things (but even if we remain silent, the ends of the earth cry out the truth), bringing upon yourselves the terrible judgment of silence? ^D For which reason I, humble as I am, am compelled not to be silent, whether in writing or without writing, according to the strength that is in me, with fear and trembling, with peril to my life, even if one of you perhaps deems that I do these things not necessarily, or I shall say, superfluously.

But let the discourse at last come to the matter at hand. You say: if no one opposes or teaches that it is right to commit adultery and to absolve the sacrilegious, by what right do we call them heretics? That it is right to commit adultery and to absolve the sacrilegious, they do not indeed teach by word; for not even the nations who do not have the law teach that one should commit adultery. Nor did we say that they state this nakedly; but that by approving the adulterous union and the things annexed to it, and through it other transgressions of the Gospel along with the breaking of the divine canons, by decreeing under anathema that this is a saving dispensation, and by defending this same thing day by day through the aforementioned exiles and prisons, they have dissolved the Gospel according to the voice of the saints; and they propose that by proxy, a dispensation can be made in every transgression; changing God’s immovable...

^A commandments and proving them mutable. And how could they not be changing and mutable, if salvific dispensations are taught synodically, in deed and word, when they are transgressed? For may they not progress to such a degree of falsehood as to deny that they have held a synod. If they do not admit that they named the adulterous union a dispensation equal to those of the saints; if they do not admit that they anathematized those who do not accept it. But if they say they did not anathematize, for what did they cry out: "Let there be anathema to those who do not accept the dispensations of the saints"? For it is clear that, because some were standing against accepting them, that proclamation was made—unless we are drunk. Regarding what other matter, then, was the objection, if not the adulterous union? Therefore, the excommunication was safely for its sake, as if it were in accordance with the dispensations of the saints. And if it is on par with them, the dispensations of the saints were illegal; but if the saints were not illegal, which is the truth, then those [who opposed] were anathematized for not receiving the adulterous union—even if they use tricks to show that what is manifest is obscure. But it is impossible for what happened to be hidden. ^B That the commandments of the Gospel are unchangeable, hear the Great Basil crying out: "Perhaps the Lord desired to brace my soul and make it more vigilant for the future, so that I might not pay attention to men, but might be perfected through the evangelical commandments, which are not changed by times nor by the circumstances of human affairs, but remain the same; as they were brought forth from the truthful and blessed mouth, so they endure through every age." But on the contrary, those who have proclaimed the adulterous union a salvific dispensation, what else do they declare but that the commandments of God are mutable? At one moment changing, and at another not changing, but acting immutably; but at certain times and human circumstances—just as they themselves said regarding the rulers—they are changed and not reckoned as lawlessness, and indeed, they have such power that those who do not accept them—that is, the transgressions which, as they say, are the dispensations of the saints—are anathematized by the Church. ^C From this, then, it is gathered that there is nothing else than that God is mutable and changeable; the one who says this being made similar to his own discourse, and the Gospel being made indifferent to both salvation and perdition. For is there a dispensation in the case of all men, and in the case of every transgression of a commandment, or in some cases and in someone? And what is this lot, such that it is in some cases and in someone, while in others and in someone it is not at all? By whom, then, and by how many is this dispensation to be performed? By hierarchs alone, or also by priests? Synodically, or individually by everyone? And if in the case of kings only, is it only in adultery, or in every form of lawlessness? And how do the commandments of God cease in the case of kings? Or is it altogether as if His kingdom had an end? Seeing that not even the law of an emperor ceases unless another emperor succeeds him. But this too must be questioned: since the divine Apostle says: "Husbands, love your own wives, just as Christ ^D also loved the Church, and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify her, so that He might...

cleanse her with the washing of water by the word; that He might present her to Himself a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish" (Ephes. v, 25-27). How then, while admitting adultery and adulterous union ^A now, and in surrounding times other similar things, could she remain spotless and wrinkle-free, and not rather be muddy and covered in filth, which I shudder to even say? May these new evangelists leave us! For they call themselves, who accept such things, the Church of God, while deeming those who do not approve of the same to be adversaries of the Church. But in truth, according to the prophet: "A foolish man will speak foolishly, and his heart will contemplate vain things, to perform lawless deeds, and to speak deceitfully against God" (Isa. xxxii, 6). This heresy is therefore most grievous, and the word of the most blessed Apostle is appropriate to be used here: "I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed" (Galat. i, 6-8). But notice ^B that it was not the Apostle, but Christ Himself who preached—it was the adulterous synod [moechosynodus] that preached the adulterous union, from which comes adultery, and a multiform induction to committing adultery, as being a salutary dispensation. And this is what it evangelizes everywhere in words and deeds; though it craftily dissembles so that, after it has deceived and ensnared many, it may then exalt its own Corybant. May I, miserable as I am, flee far from this, and I pray for you—as a sinner, even if you are unwilling to listen to me—to flee from it! Behold then, brother, that I have demonstrated to you, out of the Gospel and the Apostles, and likewise from the Fathers, if only you wish to have an end to the words of truth, that the adulterous synod has undeniably fulfilled all the features of heresy, beginning from adultery—even though it withdrew a little bit in the middle, in that it only named the adulterous union, or rather proclaimed it to be ^C a dispensation in the Church of God. And do not marvel if one single word gives birth to heresy, when you hear the Lord saying: "One jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled" (Matth. v, 18). And do not let it appear to you that one should say: "What is the need to labor so anxiously, and by one word to draw out learned speculations, and to combine this and that?" lest you fall into the so-called heresy of the Gnosimachi, concerning which the author says: "Gnosimachi are those who oppose all knowledge of Christianity, saying that it is a vain and unnecessary labor for those who seek any science in the divine Scriptures; for God asks nothing else from a Christian except good actions. Therefore, it is ^D better for each to walk more simply, and to take no pains in investigating the dogma of speculative knowledge." Such, then, are the Gnosimachi.

^A Teach me, then, if you can, from the divine Scriptures, that it is not heresy; and do not bring against me a multitude, nor boast of your nocturnal worshippers of God, and the learned whom you call friends, and private individuals. For if they are worshippers of God, where is the freedom of speech? And if they are learned (and I do not say that they are not; for I confess that there are many more learned than I, an unlearned man; but if they possess the truth), let them show it learnedly from the truth itself, and indeed from examples, from suitable ones, I say, and not from those that are foreign and contrary to the truth and to the apostolic and patristic canons. And if they are friends in accordance with God, how is it that they participate in the communion of heretics? For such persons are not true and faithful friends. Attend, therefore, brother, to what the divine Basil says regarding those who judge the truth by a multitude. "He who does not dare," he says, "to give an account of the question at hand, nor possesses a demonstration, and for this reason takes refuge in the multitude, confesses his defeat, as having no provision of boldness." ^B And after other things: ^C "Let at least one show me the beauty of the truth, and persuasion will be immediately ready. For a multitude claiming authority for itself without demonstration is indeed able to frighten, but it is not able to persuade. For how many myriads of men could persuade me to think the day is night, or to regard a copper coin as gold and accept it as such, or to receive a manifest poison instead of appropriate food? Shall I, then, for the sake of earthly matters, not stand in awe of a multitude that lies, but in the case of heavenly dogmas follow them by unproven nods, departing from those things which were delivered of old and long ago with great consensus and the testimony of the holy Scriptures?" Have we not heard the Lord saying: *Many are called, but few are chosen* (Matt. xx, 16)? And again: *Strait and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it* (Matt. vii, 14)? Who, then, of sound mind would not wish to be one of the few who enter through the narrow way into salvation, rather than one of the many who are pushed through the broad way into destruction? And who would not have desired—had he lived at the time ^D when the blessed Stephen finished his contest—to be counted in the party of him who was alone pelted with stones, who was held up to the mockery of all, rather than among those many who, on account of unjust authority, seemed to possess a plausible cause? One who is pleasing to God is worth more than myriads who boast arrogantly. As we also learn from the Old Testament, when many thousands of the people fell by a heaven-sent plague. But Phinees alone stood, and he made atonement, and the slaughter ceased (Num. xxv, 7, Psal. cv, 30). But if he had said, "How shall I dare to act against things being done by the consensus of so many? How shall I set myself against the verdict of those who have decided to live in such a way?" neither would he himself have performed his heroic deed, nor would he have stayed the evil, nor would the rest have been saved, nor would God have bestowed His favor. It is good, therefore, it is good both for one to speak boldly with justice, and the...

^A unjust concord of the many to dissolve. But do you, if it seems good, prefer the drowned multitude of Noah; but grant me leave to run with the few to the ark. And again, if you wish, range yourself with the many in Sodom; but I shall journey with Lot, even if he alone, profitably for himself, withdraws from the crowds. Yet, to me also, a multitude is venerable: not that which flees examination, but that which provides proof; not that which avenges itself bitterly, but that which corrects you paternally; not that which delights in innovation, but that which preserves the ancestral inheritance. But what sort of multitude do you describe to me? One hired by flattery and gifts? One captured by ignorance and lack of learning? One prostrated by fear and terror? One that has preferred the brief usury of sin to eternal life? Which many openly confessed. By the multitude do you strengthen the lie? You have demonstrated ^B the intensity of the evil. For by as much as there are more in the evil, by so much is the calamity greater. On these things, therefore, in this manner. To pursue your other propositions would be superfluous, beloved, both because they exceed the measure of a letter, and because, to those who receive what is said with a right mind, the things said will be easy to encounter.

XLVIII. To Naucratios, his son.

He exhorts him to the study of eloquence. Then he responds to some who asked about communion with heretics. (Bar. an. 809, n. 44.)

You speak and relate to me at every turn, my most beloved son, nothing superfluous or empty of speech, but timely and decorous, and bringing benefit to the soul, just as you do now. For my part, praising your gravity, I also embrace your improved style, which you would adorn much more if you could read the grammatical commentaries. For it behooves one who ^C defends right doctrine and wishes to contend against those who think perversely, to partake in both the power and experience of speech. For since those men, thinking they have something great from such knowledge, boast and tickle the ears of those who itch; it is most excellent for the right-minded not to be deficient even in the power of speech, and to cast down their well-aimed siege engines. Thus it is my wish that you be strengthened, my son. Not, however, that what I desire for you [I desire] for everyone; because one person is one way, and another is another, according to their habit; and this is expedient. You said, furthermore, that the brothers Philip and Philon have fallen asleep. And well that is, because both had a good end. Not that the things before the end were ^D blameworthy—for how could they be, those who had renounced the world, and flesh, and blood, and had imposed upon themselves the sweet yoke of obedience?—but because they attained the final blessedness by having been persecuted, afflicted, and reduced to straits for the Lord’s sake. And against these there is no one who contradicts, except those infamous Mochians who have set aside the Gospel. And as far as Philon is concerned, it has pleased me to carry his praise this far. But of the good Philip, there are many excellent deeds, which you yourself have recounted. I, however, beyond those things that have been said, admire his guilelessness and innocence, that he was ignorant of anger, and not mindful of injuries, compassionate and loving of his brothers, obedient, and

^A a hater of the world and a lover of God, and free from boldness of speech. Say, as you also have predicted, the abundant tears of the man, his love for his country and his perseverance, and his competitive spirit in dangers, and his diligence, and his constant lack of complaining, and the, so to speak, ever-blooming virtues of his many-flowered soul. It is well also with the steadfast Gaianus, who has traversed almost every place where the dispersion of the brothers is found. And that they are in good health, thanks be to the Master God; that they do not fall in tribulations, but are rather emboldened, glory be to Christ who strengthens them. That they are driven away, not even deemed worthy of shelter by certain monks, especially those who have all conspired together in this; do not marvel. It is written: *And a man's enemies are those of his own house.* For did not the miserable ones reject Christ our God who said these things? And so the son of thunder says: *He came unto his own, and his own received him not.* ^B What then is the difference, if they indeed did not receive Christ the Redeemer of the world, but these others [the monks] did not receive those who, for the sake of Him and His Gospel, endured persecutions and imprisonments? None, except for the desire to crucify and kill. May the bond of iniquity not be imputed to them. But, as you have said, not bearing the offenses of those subject to them, and so that the light of truth might not shine upon them, but that they might walk in the darkness of ignorance, they drive away our brothers: lest perchance they might hear the holy word of truth and righteousness, and be reminded. It shall not be; nor shall this counsel of theirs stand; but the word of God which they have trampled underfoot shall be proclaimed and established forever. For, He says, *Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.* And who is able to gainsay these things? ^C Except for the tyrant Satan, and his prophets, who have declared the adulterous dispensation to be the saving dispensation for the Church of Christ, men truly empty of mind and most hateful. The discourse must now be turned to your questions. You ask why the divine Cyril made a dispensation that it was not necessary to separate from those who, in the East, were commemorating Theodore of Mopsuestia in the diptychs, even though he was a heretic. Because the most correct and most fitting dogmas of piety were preserved among them. For so it is written by him who committed these things to memory, the holy Eulogius, archbishop of Alexandria, in his book *On Dispensation*; whose usage of this opinion we also have explained in the work which we wrote specifically *On Dispensation* in general. Therefore, the one who narrated it also gave the solution. For it has not been said elsewhere, nor is it necessary to seek anything else. But what has been said by us to the same effect, let it be said for the sake of clarification: that dispensations were made by the Fathers, some for a time, and others possess a perpetual force. ^D For instance, it was a perpetual one when Saint Athanasius granted to the Italians that they might use "persons" (*personae*) in place of "hypostases." But one for a time, for example, that of the Apostle regarding circumcision;

which the great Basil ^A in [his work on] the Holy Spirit [employed]: just as also what we have now of the divine Cyril. Things done for a certain time possess nothing worthy of blame, nor anything absurd or illicit in any respect; [they are] merely something relaxed and not entirely precise. This, in truth, is called an "economy" for a time. For it is not possible for a physician to banish a disease from a sick man immediately, nor for one skilled in these matters to make an unbroken horse or a dry branch follow the rein or stand straight at once, unless he utilizes, little by little, soothing words and flatteries, and employs soft touches and bendings—he who is most experienced in such things.

In the same way [do] the saints act in their economies; as did the great Cyril in this instance. For he waited for a short time for the slowness, or the instability of intent, ^B of the Orientals, that they might not esteem as a heretic him who was in reality a heretic. For what else was he to do, since they professed the orthodox faith, and even in this very act anathematized the person they were commemorating? For everyone who is orthodox in all things anathematizes every heretic—if not in word, then in virtue. Then, when a perfect mind dawned upon them, the saint was then joined with them equally in all things. Do we not also appear to do the same thing? There are times when some of those who think as we do differ in some respect, where there is no great grievance, and where one departs but little from the highest law; we nevertheless admit their communion, ^C so that we might not, for the sake of some small thing that could be corrected shortly after, lose the whole—which would be the mark of the unskilled, and not of those who are dispensers of the mysteries of God. Such, then, is to dispense one’s words and ways for a time in judgment, and truth, and law; but not in iniquity and falsehood altogether.

Let not the Moechians exercise their tongues here; let them not think a guide of the way is one who casts men down a precipice; nor a pilot, one who sinks the ship; nor, finally, a physician, one who induces disease. They are rather the ones who have been likened to these, having committed adultery with the adulterer, having joined together with the joiner of adulteries, having joined in accusing God with the accuser of God, having joined in destroying the Gospel with the destroyer of the Gospel in a dog-like fashion—for so it is more fitting to speak.

But where, or how, did the divine Cyril receive Dioscorus, the heretic of Alexandria, as the Moechians say—they who are blind in the midst of light, the accusers of the saints? ^D Nothing of their lie has ever been heard, nor does it have any semblance of truth; since he [Dioscorus] was later than the divine Cyril. How, therefore, could that saint, who had already attained the seats of heaven, have received him who was known as a heretic after the passing of the saint, at the time of the Robber Synod in Ephesus, which took place after the third and holy one? Thus do they lie, weaving fables, so that they might hunt the souls of those walking in simplicity.

Therefore, use every art and knowledge to be on your guard, that you might shun the serpent and those speaking with a serpentine voice, through whom very many have perished from generation to generation. Regarding your other questions: If a bishop has not taken part in the Moechosynod, but should call it...

a false synod: is it necessary to receive communion from a presbyter of his, the bishop being orthodox? I replied, as in other letters to Evodius, that yes, for the sake of economy, provided that he himself does not concelebrate with heretics. For it is of no account, while the bishop being commemorated is orthodox, that for fear of him he commemorates his own metropolitan who is a heretic. One should go to such a presbyter if he calls one to an all-night vigil; and one should accept the church provided by him; and if he comes to it to celebrate, one should allow it; and it is also permissible to commemorate the dead, provided they were orthodox; and there is no objection to the one who received it celebrating therein. ^B But if he commemorates a bishop who is a heretic, even if he speaks well of him or has correct sentiments, one must abstain from divine communion, and indeed from a common table, if he is to be commemorated there as well. Yet perhaps he is to be received for a blessing and for psalmody, provided he does not celebrate with a heretic bishop, whether his own or another, nor knowingly distribute to such. If anyone eats with someone who has joined in an adulterous marriage, or with any other heretic indifferently, one must take care not to eat with such persons, even if they pretend to be orthodox. For they do not observe the command of the Apostle, who says of such: "not even to eat" (I Cor. v, 11). Further, one must not make investigations, or seek to discover whether this person ate with one who has eaten with a heretic, and with that person another; and thereby weave a long tale, and abstain from everyone. ^C This is a matter of self-will, and not of the saints. For it is said: "Hitherto you shall come, and shall not go further" (Job XXXVIII, 11). For did they not know how to investigate these things and declare them to us? Not at all. Therefore it is not good to overstep the boundaries which our Fathers have set. With whom we do not eat, his gift is not to be accepted, if, having been instructed once or twice, he remains indifferent and does not obey us. I do not know if, except in the case of prison guards, one ought to accept—not as eulogies, but as necessities—or for the sake of economy, even from others, provided they avoid eating indiscriminately with heretics; unless perhaps it happens by necessary circumstance to accept and eat with them. But to give food and drink to such people and to the guards, one must not discriminate; because it must be shared with every man. ^D As to the church of our lord Gregoras, our son, I do not dare to say that our presbyter should celebrate there, because it was dedicated after the Moechosynod, and by one who concelebrated and has concelebrated with the perpetrator of the adulterous marriage, being consecrated by the proto-moechian.

To the same. On the Twice-Married.

You are zealous, my beloved son, in asking and learning what is useful, and the matter is indeed praiseworthy; but I am not capable of solving your difficulties;

^A yet we must contribute what we can to the common benefit, even now, according to our ability. Your question regarding those married twice—that there is a dispute concerning their union, whether they ought to be crowned as monoganous persons are, or not; and how, if this is done, it could be a union, not having them being joined by the priest; and that a report is circulated that the custom of the coronation of those twice-married has prevailed since the days of the impious Constantine, arising from his triple marriage, since it did not exist in the times before him—is one I do not reject as having, from that point, a credible account. But it is necessary for those who are lovers of the truth not to base the reliability of matters on the drift of a report, as it happens, or on human custom, but rather on the divinely inspired Scripture itself, and on the Patristic and canonical decree. Now, digamy was clearly permitted by the holy Apostle, and through him by Christ; yet it is not a law, as Gregory the Theologian says, but an indulgence. An indulgence, however, is by no means seen in that which is free from reproach ^B and fault—for who, and for what reason would it be so?—but rather where one succumbs, and the thing being done is allied to harm. For the divine Apostle himself hinted at this when he said: "If they cannot contain themselves, let them marry" (1 Cor. vii, 9). For incontinence, having lost the strength of fortitude, is an offspring of defeat and falling. Moved by these things, the divine Fathers subjected those married twice to a penance, some, like the Council of Laodicea, indefinitely, by saying: "After a short time has passed and they have given themselves to prayers and fasts, according to indulgence, we have decreed that communion be restored to them"; but the great Basil did so definitely. For he says: "Regarding those married three times and those married many times, the Fathers defined the same canon, namely, the one that applies to those married twice, in proportion; for a year is set for those married twice, but for others, two years." It is evident, therefore, from what has been said, that digamy, as being subject to fault, has received a penance. It is for this reason that the ^C holy Fathers of the Council of Neocaesarea also forbade a priest from even feasting at the wedding of one who is marrying for the second time. They say: "Since a twice-married person requires penance, what priest will there be who, through a feast, gives consent to such a marriage?" What, then, is concluded of necessity? That the first marriage, as being strictly a law, is rightly crowned by the priesthood, as untouched, as unspotted, as invulnerable to the passion of fornication, and for this reason is crowned as a victor over sin. Upon this follows the participation in the holy mysteries, and the feasting of the one who performed the crowning, and of any other priest, at such a marriage. Just as our Lord and God deigned to dine in Cana of Galilee, blessing through that feast all wedding banquets. Moreover, anticipating the blessing of the imposition of crowns, He Himself bestowed it upon our first parent, Adam. How? "And God created man; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them; and God blessed them, saying: Increase, and multiply, and

^A fill the earth, and subdue it (Gen. i, 27). This, then, is the blessing of the marriage union, from which all blessing of monogamous union derives; since Adam himself was monogamous. It should be noted that the "coronation" invocation also originates from there, memorializing the creation of the first man and his union with the woman formed from his side.

But a second marriage, even if it is permitted, is nevertheless censured. For how could it be worthy of coronation, when it does not conquer, but is conquered? And what priest would crown such a person, when he is even forbidden by the Fathers from so much as dining at the wedding feast of such a one? And how shall he partake of the divine communion, he who is barred from the holy mysteries for one or two years on this very account? And what kind of blessing-prayer could possibly be used at their union, when there is no other than the one used for the primary, monogamous marriage? ^B It has been shown, then, from all the Scriptures and the Fathers, that second marriages are devoid of the crown; and for this reason, they are not to be joined by a priest, nor indeed are they to be acknowledged, but only admitted once there has been a completion of the penance imposed according to the priest's discretion. After this, they may have communion of the divine gifts, being blessed thereafter, as if in a coronation, but in a secondary sense, following an indulgence. For the gift is a blessing, and at that time it is a sign of union from the priest, from which time he is no longer forbidden to dine with those who have married twice, just as with monogamous persons. And in this way, digamy proceeds by the law of indulgence, in accordance with the Apostle, acknowledging that second marriages hold a secondary place to monogamy, and not wrongly seeking the rights of the first, which it has already enjoyed.

You might ask: "And how, then, should they be joined?" By human observances, just like trigamists and polygamists—for so the Fathers call those who go beyond a third marriage. Or perhaps those should also be crowned? But in truth, the excessive subversion of the canons, or rather of the Gospel, has caused not only those who marry twice or three times to be crowned by the priests, but even adulterers; ^C and it persecutes those who, in their defense of the divine law, are unwilling to consent to this, and it anathematizes as strangers to Christ those who stand firm for His commandment and truth. Be astonished, O heaven, at this: the things above are turned upside down—justice is lawlessness, light is darkness—as is shown by1 what the Moechians say and do. This is for those who are blind and deaf in their souls, and because of this, they are bearing the precursors of the Antichrist.

Perhaps you might also say: "If one party is a virgin, what do some say, that one is crowned on the head, but the other, who has already experienced marriage, is crowned on the shoulder, while the coronation prayer is being recited?" To me, besides being absurd, this also seems ridiculous. For let it be granted that one may marry a third time; where, then, should the crown be placed? In the hand, or on the knee? If, when a woman marries from widowhood, she receives the crown on her shoulder—these things are absurd. ^D

who will impose the crown? And how will the indivisible blessing be divided? Will one part be blessed, as being free from stain and victorious, and the other not? It is a ridiculous and impossible thing. How can one receive communion and the other be deprived of it, seeing that one is doing penance? But if this part is still the man, and the woman is his head, and both who have come together participate in one body, will the remainder of the body, and not the head, be shared? It will be ^A divided immediately by the priest himself who unites them—this, indeed, by concession, if it be granted that he does so; for the head and the end of the union is the holy and unique body and blood of Christ; should he impart it to both? But let us set aside this line of speech. For he will manifestly not be a priest, but a transgressor of divine constitutions, and for that reason is himself deprived of the priesthood; he who is not even permitted to mingle in such marriages, much less to commit so great a wickedness. What then, you will say, does the virginal, victorious part lose the crown by the blessing? And does the part not defeated not rather prevail, so that it might be blessed, crowned, and receive communion at the same time, rather than the other part being defeated by bigamy? If it were so, it would have been sanctioned by the canons of the Fathers; but no distinction has been made. What is not decided or constituted by the testimony of the Fathers, therefore, is mere arrogance to think, to say, and to perform. I for my part think this: that it is just for the virginal part to be deprived of the monogamous rite; for to whom it is permitted to enjoy that which is of the same order, it is right to join pure to pure, virgin to virgin, and victor to victor. Moreover, he who has wished to be joined to one who is not a virgin, and who has in this way dishonored the virginal glory, falls—that glory which perhaps he did not even possess, or if he did have it, by a perverse affection toward a bigamist he has suppressed it in some way. Wherefore, not only will he not be exalted, but he himself will also be lowered to the penalty of the part that repeats the nuptials. These things have been found and stated by me according to my strength, excellent son. But if to you or anyone else something else seems truer, provided it be from Scripture alone and from paternal and canonical tradition, with concurring private reasoning of the mind added to these—we are also prepared to follow with our feet, and to be illuminated by the light of others, being ourselves truly most in need of light. ^{B C D}

LI. — To the Same.

He sets forth the faith and constancy of certain confessors, especially of the abbot Euthymius, and at the same time the cruelty of the Mochians; then he proposes a question regarding the penalties for homicide. (Baron. an. 809, n. 44.)

These three things your letters have produced in me, desired son: for I was at once astonished, and I admired, and I sang—the first on account of the impious, the second on account of the pious, the third on account of God, who strengthens those who rely upon His law. And regarding my holy Athanasius, and his most desired companions, and also my most manly Theosostus, and his company of twenty-five God-strengthened men; as it has been sufficiently said in my letters to them, it is to be omitted here, even though they are worthy of a longer speech and praises—for they have struggled divinely and bravely, and

are still struggling. But I now come to the colophon of this discourse. ^A What Christian has ever heard of such lawless and outrageous things as have been committed by the ill-named Mochians, who are called hierarchs but are, by every apostolic and Patristic testimony, unholy even without counting their heresy? Who among men—I do not say a Christian hand, but even a barbarian one—has ever beaten anyone like this: with two hundred and sixty-six lashes, and then, not long after, with two hundred blows of a rod upon the back? And who did this? That noble archbishop—or rather, "allotrie-piscopus" (foreign-bishop) of Thessalonica—inflicting this not upon some member of the flock, but upon a monk, and an abbot at that, and a most devout one, Euthymius by name, who truly lives up to his name of "good cheer" (Euthymia). ^B Heaven was distraught at this spectacle, and I, poor wretch, shuddered to hear of it; and I believe that every man who has any sense of humanity and mercy shuddered as well. He who ought to have stood as a type of Christ, and who should not have returned a blow even when struck, became more savage than the beasts, retaining no trace of a Christian, let alone of a bishop. And for what reason was this laceration? In order to compel the athlete of Christ to acknowledge him as a hierarch. But O, the bravery and fortitude of the blessed one! For it is right to speak thus, given that even after so many wounds and the shedding of such holy blood—to the point that the soles of the feet of those present were stained, and that purple dust was, as it were, turned into clay for the building up of the Church of God—when he lay there almost lifeless and speechless, and was asked by his tormentors to acknowledge the tyrant (I shall call him that, not archbishop), ^C the blessed one said, "No." Thus, even to the point of death, he did not turn his mind, nor did he deviate in any way from those things which he had rightly learned. I had almost overlooked a necessary point: that the temple of God itself became a Pilate’s praetorium. For there, as you stated—that is, in the holy sanctuary known as the Archangel’s—the martyr was beaten, whom the implacable torturers left half-dead. But a follower of Christ took him into his own house, and, by applying the skin of a freshly slaughtered lamb to the wounds of the flowing blood and lacerated flesh, revived the man. Having gradually gained strength, he secretly sent him away at the urging of the commandment; for the man who was already as good as dead had escaped and, by a miracle, was restored to life as a pillar of orthodoxy and a triumph over the heretics. What could be more impious than this? ^D And who among the orthodox has ever committed such deeds against a heretic? But so that the extent of the impiety of these Mochianizers might be revealed, and to see who is whose disciple: he who suffered the blows as Christ did is of Christ, but he who struck them is of the devil. Thus the hierarch seeks to use fear to assert himself and to avenge his own cause. Let us flee from his party, brother, and adhere to the former—the true one—together with all the pious. And look, Lord, Lord, upon this affliction, and spare Thy people, ordaining peace of orthodoxy for the Church among us. For we have nothing else to say concerning the things that are upon us, save that we shall gladly bear all things for His name’s sake.

^A But as for you, my beloved son, even if you have been transferred elsewhere, as you have indicated, rejoice; for many crowns are being woven for you. And if Leontius, the former disciple—now an apostate—presides over the places where you are currently held captive, do not be amazed. The present time is one of God’s long-suffering, that the elect may be recognized, and that the son of Tabeel may reign in Bethlehem. Concerning the man who confessed and asked for a penance, it has been rightly imposed. I agree with you, when you said to him: if he does not wish to accept penance for killing enemies, let him not refrain from killing; and as for us, we are beyond judgment. But if he chooses to submit to the canons of the Church, one of two things must be chosen by him: either he is to be praised for the fact that he killed, or he is not to remain without penance. And yet, one is not therefore to be rejected on that account, for they are worthy of praise, as the divine Father says; but they must also undergo penance. ^B Since even in the past, Moses, who saw God, when the people of Israel returned from the war against the Midianites with victory, excluded them from outside the camp for seven days—doubtless moved by God—saying thus: "Whoever has killed a person, and whoever has touched the slain, shall be purified on the third day, and on the seventh day, you and your captives." Whence it seems to me that the great Basil—or rather, being divinely inspired—was motivated to impose a three-year penance, and shows how he who imposes it is to manage it. For the imposition of such things is contingent and not strictly necessary, in accordance with the circumstances of the matter. Fare well in the Lord, my desirable son, praying for me, a sinner, and for my beloved son—your brother—Gregory, who greets you along with me.

LII. — To Philip the Deacon

^C Concerning the vow of a girl who, while her fiancé was ill, had vowed that she would marry Christ, even if the sick man should recover, but who afterward, when he had recovered, changed her intention.

Do not imagine, holy man, that I am closing the door of repentance—for that is the characteristic work of the Novatians—but rather that I refuse to open the door of sin for those who desire it. For is that not indeed the situation you have set forth in your previous letters? The young girl made a vow that, even if her fiancé recovered, she would marry Christ; then, after he was restored from his sickness, she desired to be joined to him, by the rejection of the second [the One she chose first], and sought a remedy for this. Most rightly, therefore, have we answered you; nor can there be any other answer from one who puts the things of God before the things of men. For who would impose a penance on one who has not yet sinned, except in intention? Or what physician would apply a cure before a disease, and not rather restrain from becoming diseased the one who was tending toward it? ^D Indeed, the purpose of medicine is either to preserve existing health or to recall that which is absent. It is absurd, forgive me, to treat a disease that does not exist, but is only imagined in the mind, as if it truly were there; such a task is not that of a physician, but of someone who handles corpses, inciting toward the disease itself that which is still untouched by disease. Consider the girl’s affair to be entirely of this sort. And I do not yet even mention that, regarding the fact that anyone has even contemplated some good, if this is not brought to the end...

completion, they shall face judgment, just as the divine Basil determined. Here, however, the matter has proceeded in a certain way, deliberated through ^A request and divine commitment. Spare yourselves, therefore, beloved, from trifling with such things; hearing him who says: "It is better not to vow, than to vow and not render" (Eccle. V, 4). "While it remained, did it not remain yours?" he says; "Why have you lied to the Holy Spirit?" (Act. V, 3, 4). And I pass over what follows, out of fear. Nor do I say these things because I despise the girl; for I spare her as the apple of my eye, as much for her own sake, since she desires a remedy from my mediocrity, as for the sake of the lady her mother, whom I revere and cherish as my own holy mother; but I do this fearing the judgment which is prepared on the day of judgment for each one, both for the one asking and for the one answering; for we cannot evade it, but must render an account for every idle word to the incorruptible Judge (Matth. XII, 36). If, therefore, the young woman is not yet joined in marriage, this is what we say and nothing else before God and men, which it behooves you to consider in all fairness. But if she is already joined, oh, my wretchedness! It must be pointed out, and then we shall impose the penalty; for nothing is incurable for those who wish to be healed.

^B

LIII. — To Stephen the Reader, and those with him.

Why he abstained from the communion of Tarasius.

^A as far as is manifest, he was orthodox, having followed the holy synods, and having been of one mind with the other patriarchs; indeed, he had previously struggled mightily for the faith. The reception of those returning from heresy? And this was not an innovation made by him; for before him, it was accepted by the holy Fathers in three ways: either by re-baptism, as with the Pepuzeni; or by the anointing with chrism, as with the Arians; or by the renunciation of their own belief, as with the Nestorians.

Is it ordination by money, which necessarily entails deposition? Yes, that is quite true; and certainly, at that time, shepherds were seen to be ravening wolves; altars were demolished; divine relics were dishonored; holy books were burned. What more? The image of Christ itself, alongside other most holy things, was insulted and trampled underfoot. And who could in a short speech cover matters that require a long narrative? And what of the fact that the patriarch who followed, having been suddenly promoted from secular status to the episcopal dignity, was not capable of contending for the Spirit as much as was sufficient? Thence arose the scandals; ^B from there also those things that trouble us now took their origin. You, therefore, know what your disposition is toward him. But we, since we heard from him that those ordained by money were not admitted to communion—even if it was not thought to be so—deemed it expedient for the sake of the good of peace to maintain concord with him; since, as the Theologian says, "As far as it is possible, one should incline toward this. ^C And where there is a suspicion of causing offense, it is better to assent than to be stubborn." And indeed, we do not force you away from your own conscience; nor should you demand of us that which is not manifest to us; since both person, and time, and experience are wont to reconcile those who did not previously think the same regarding the same matters.

But why this regression to the divine Germanus, in order to seek the ordination from there in its entirety? For what about the three [bishops] who were between them, who were heretics? Is there anyone who was not ordained by them, or by those whom they had ordained, with the succession of ordination passed on down to Tarasius? How many came from the east and the west, and the north and the sea during that time, and having received the priesthood, were joined to our Church through communion? ^D And how many were ordained without money at that time, and have ordained others, even if they were heretics? It belongs to God alone to know all these things, and not for man to assert, and to assume that all of them are deposed. But since we are human, I beseech you, let us look at the matters in a human way; because "man looks at the face, but God looks at the heart." And let only the confession by mouth be required, whenever it is not manifestly contradicted; according to which Tarasius also accepted the ordination; for which reason the men of that time who were zealous and precise both came together with Tarasius and were of one mind; and they were quickly divided after the synod regarding the acceptance of those ordained for money

And if this seems to you to be correct, we shall proceed to what follows. For these things will be said from Tarasius until the present time. And what is the conclusion? That one should communicate with every priest who is blameless, according to the Theologian and Chrysostom. The former, indeed, says: “Let everyone be trustworthy to you for the sake of cleansing, provided he is one of those who are approved, and not openly convicted, nor one of those who are alien to the faith.” The latter says: ^A “Examine, be inquisitive; for communion without examination is not free from danger. For the danger concerns great matters.”

Let us, therefore, inquire and be inquisitive about the person with whom we ought to share communion: whether he confesses the faith correctly, whether he has not been ordained for money; whether any other thing, among those suspected of being harmful in his life and of which we have heard, is true. But if it is because he holds an ordination derived from someone else—whether from a heretic or from one ordained for money—but he himself is neither a heretic nor, in his knowledge, ordained by a man corrupted by money (that is to say, a Simonist), yet he confesses all the truth and professes to keep the faith and the canons unviolated, and rejects those who deviate from either—we have no grounds for separating from him. ^B For such a man is blameless according to the aforementioned saints, and through them, according to everyone. Thus, therefore, we do communicate, and we counsel you to do the same. If we do not listen, ^C since, if one investigates further, the admonitions of the Fathers are rejected, as has been shown, and the gift of the priesthood, by which we have the name of Christians, fails to such an extent that we would have to fall back into pagan worship—which is absurd. Besides, those who inquire in this manner and proceed to the West and to the East nowhere find what they seek, with all things being abandoned upward on account of the mutual communion of holy things among them; since it is manifest that in the time of Tarasius, the ^D apocrisiaries sent from herein performed sacred rites with the Roman pontiff, and perhaps his with those of the East; and hence the whole basis of the priesthood is void—which, entirely rejecting, we shall embrace to stand in the aforementioned measure according to the saints.

For many such faults have happened and continue to happen in the Church, which no one among the saints is read to have investigated so thoroughly; for it is neither possible, nor have they handed down to us that we must keep watch in this way. These things are as they are. But regarding our own struggle being supposedly less useful than that synod which patronizes adulterers, I have been astonished when I heard it; for that former thing is as much more preferable as the voice of the Lord precedes that of the Apostles. Nor do I only say that Tarasius did not proclaim that ordinations take place for money, but also that he confessed that he does not receive such people, as is manifest. But now, it is a dogma against the Gospel, and the Forerunner, and…

^A the canons, promulgated synodically through the acceptance of the adulterer, confirming lawlessness as an economy, and granting hierarchs and priests authority over the canons whenever they wish; and they anathematize and excommunicate those who do not think the same, as you know. This, even if it is a secondary issue, is nevertheless no less [evil] to those who piously examine the [matter] of the Iconoclast heresy. May the Lord, by their prayers, removing the evil, restore peace as of old to His Church. Except that, as you have written, one is cast out by the other, and there is a mutual recognition and dissolution of the lawless act. May the Lord keep you in health and praying for our lowliness and [for] all the family, O choicest of friends and most excellent of zealots.

LIV. — To Abbess Anna. [Letter 204]

He praises her piety toward the monks.

Why did you delay to write to us and to inform us of the things concerning your holiness? But we, for this very reason, will not cease. On the one hand, because we have once opened our humble mouth; on the other, because of your zeal according to God and your fire-breathing piety. For I hear that you do not have an idle [hand] regarding the doing of good to our brothers, running here and there, and treating everyone you meet with humanity, and sending them off with votive words as a minister of Christ. O this most beautiful occupation of yours! O your soul, vigilant in divine things! For these are not the only, unique things; but they are the offspring of other virtues, or rather the fruits of your spiritual fecundity. For it is not possible that one who carries perfumes should not smell sweet, nor that one who carries a torch should not shine. ^C Hence, therefore, they are distinguished everywhere and in every way, and especially in the persecutions for Christ, who the lovers of holiness and those blessed by God are, and who the wicked and those devoid of goodness are; even if they pretend by their outward appearance to have their inner [state] in good order.......

LV. — To Irene the Patrician. [Letter 282]

That she may continue to write. Then, he consoles her, mourning for her daughter's illness.

The communication of letters ^D has the power of a love-philtre, engendering affection in the souls of those who love; and [this is] so much the more, the more frequent the exchange of speech becomes, as it were stirring up the erotic sparks lying hidden within, and kindling a great flame of affectionate benevolence. Something similar has [this] epistle of your elegance wrought in us, the humble ones, multiplying its spiritual friendship and stirring up the sparks of memory to be more lively. Use, therefore, most pious Lady, this medicine of love; and inform us of your health and prosperity. For we know that your virtue is an ever-blooming flower, and of your abundance of piety from those things which we have heard, and which we still hear; and from the benefits by which we ourselves have been affected and are still being affected: whether [by] the voice

^A you borrow, or whether you speak from your own tongue; for our part, we receive this with a far sweeter sense, not attending to the mere sound; and at the same time knowing this, that no one will so portray a soul as the speech that proceeds from it, whatever it may be. Regarding the noble lady your daughter, learning what has happened to her, we were grieved; but what prayers, or what sort of soothing balm can we offer, being as we are sinners? Nevertheless, be persuaded of this: that such anxieties have no power, unless we ourselves give them room through some negligence. For just as it is impossible for a place illuminated by the sun to admit the opposite darkness, so neither can a man who is supported by divine light—that is, by prudence and virtue—be harmed by any of the shadowy and demonic sorceries. May the child, therefore, be healed in the name of the Lord who heals every disease and every infirmity; and may the hand of God be hovering over and overshadowing her head, and driving away ^B every harmful energy; so that, having recovered, she may with her pious mother offer her prayers in thanksgiving to the Lord.

LVI. — To Antonio, Abbot of Saint Peter, and those with him.

Having received the letters written to us from the great anguish and affliction of your heart by your paternal holiness, what need is there to say how deeply we groaned, moved by brotherly bowels, even if we are unworthy, and—from a fellow-feeling—estimating and sharing in your distress? For it is not possible for others to gauge the painfulness [of such things], except for those who are afflicted by the same sufferings in a similar way. But our sins have so multiplied in this present generation of iniquity, with love growing cold according to the Lord’s word, that those who ought to remove stumbling blocks and scandals are to be seen doing things equal to, or perhaps even worse than, those in the external magistracies. You speak of, and continue to suffer, prisons, exiles, reproaches, persecutions, ^C and hardships at the hands of those who administer the Churches of God; and not only if you were standing [firm] for the sake of a commandment, but even if you had been caught in human offenses, it would in no way be right for you to suffer such things at the hands of the shepherds of God—much less [when you are] struggling for the sake of the truth, for which praise and blessedness are due; and this [when you are] adorned with the monastic profession. "By their fruits you shall know them," says the Lord. Such a thing was certainly not known among the saints; on the contrary, they themselves were seen to suffer rather, being taught by the apostolic voice, which says concerning the Lord: "Who, when he was reviled, did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten," but he placidly offered his divine cheek to the smiter. Hence the shepherds of Christ are known; and from thence the alien bishops. But what is it necessary to suffer? On account of the [insult/oppression] that has invaded this

^A miserable age of ours, the wickedness of men—which even as a glory they parade—counting as lawful that which is unlawful, against the opposition to the divine commandments they exert themselves. But those things that they have done, and that they do, shall one day be found: rather may they obtain forgiveness from the incorrupt Judge, who leaves nothing unexamined, nor is it to be overlooked by Him unpunished in the day of judgment. But you, most beloved brothers and most reverend Fathers, rejoice and exult, because you bear the glory of divine beatitude, and have gloriously accepted the insults of Christ, obtaining the greatest and everlasting rewards through small labors and tribulations. And because, as we wrote before, by the benefit of the optimal God that which is the cause of discord in our Church has been removed: ^B victorious peace has obtained [its place] by the nod and authority and kindness, and—I may add—by the counsel of our Christ-loving emperor, and not without the work and defense of our most holy patriarch; for thus it is proper to call him henceforth. May your holiness receive, after much thought and investigation by us lowly ones, the contemplation and inquiry of the paternal dealings, and of the scandals also that sometimes happen in the Church, [cases] judged and approved: so that even in the Church of Christ which is among us, the peace of God may reign in the hearts of all. For indeed, unless we do this, it will be considered holy before God, nor will it be imputed to us as a fault: but if we perhaps lose the right [way] by inquiring too curiously, we also [lose] that which we have performed well by past labors as being good. Receive, therefore, we entreat you, and accept our most holy patriarch, and communicate, in those matters in which there is no manifest iniquity, even with your bishop: those things that have intervened, committing them ^C to the Lord, the censor and rewarder of facts and words. For on account of this very thing, having [sent] interceding prayers, we appealed to our most holy patriarch, that you might also be set free from custody; and may the sign of peace constituted by you be a token among you, so that if any controversy remains, it may be decided immediately: but if such a thing cannot be managed by your gathering together with the most reverend bishops: before the ecumenical patriarch himself let all diseases be healed, and let all things run together to the joy of peace and the sincerity of concord. ^D

LVII. — To his own Father Platon

(The bound one is consoled: he exposes the state of his own mind, especially how much fruit he takes from the daily use of the Eucharist, which he greatly commends. This epistle exists in the MS of our Parisian college outside the series of the others: in time it is prior to those that are contained in the second book.)

Why, holy Father, do you command for me a miserable man things that exceed my strength? I ought to be illuminated by the light of doctrine from you; and you desire to be taught by me, who am overwhelmed in darkness, and this surely for the informing of my mind unto humility. Nor indeed have I anything to say that is accommodated to the time, unless, by God’s disposing, our affairs are in a very good place. For if some, out of the love of God, having abdicated their magistracy, fleeing far away to the hesychastic life, were blessed. How are we, the lowly ones, guarded by the law of God in...

exile, not to rejoice in the Lord, accounting it a grace from Him and a most great gift that we have been deemed worthy to attain to such a measure, to which many desiring it did not attain? ^A Abide therefore, my holy Father, in the place where it is God, and not man, who has shut you in until the appointed time; for we do not even know what the coming day will bring forth, whether thus or otherwise, according as Providence commands; and glorify the Lord who glorifies you through your witness for the truth, ^B eating your bread with thanksgiving and joy, which men thought to offer to you as bitter. Your strength in old age is not yet gone; the ascetic labors were already endured by you in your youth, by the grace of Christ in all things. Therefore I entreat and implore you to take sustenance in food and drink for your worn-out body. Do not refuse: enough for you is the solitude, the confinement, the desert stillness, the deprivation, the feebleness of age along with your infirmity, and the concern for us sinners and the others. In these conditions, patient and sufficient for yourself, hunt after purity of thoughts through the heavenward striving of your honorable soul. When now the solitary state is present, the mind, like water compressed by a pipe, can easily leap up from earthly things to heavenly things. This is what we seek, to be with God in lack of passion forever. Nevertheless, it is established by our Fathers that battles are the cause of crowns; ^C so that if we stand fast even while being opposed, we carry away the glory of victory over the defeated devil.

But I feel ashamed, being as I am mastered by the passions, to speak such things to you, my Father; yet I have been compelled by my obedience to you. It is good to be released from the many-bonded passion and to be bound to the insatiable love of the Lord. It is expedient, my Father, to depart from the stench of the passions and to scent the fragrance of the Spirit. Blessed is it to be pricked with compunction here, and to weep for... and exultation for such a one in all things leading on... God; who, like fire when it comes into the soul, makes it natural to flee the assaults of sin. And how is He who is feared by angels not to be feared; He at whose look the creation is shaken; before whom we shall all stand ^D naked and laid bare, shortly afterwards to receive the recompenses for the things we have done in life? I, for my part,