Letters 1 part 12/55

Again, let there be a ring engraved with the royal image; then let it be stamped in wax, in pitch, in clay.

The seal, then, is one and the same, unaltered in both materials, though the materials themselves differ from one another.

Nor would it have remained unaltered in materials that differ from one another, except by having no communion at all with the materials, but rather being, in conception, separate from them, and truly remaining in the ring.

So too, then, the likeness of Christ, even though it be impressed in whatever material, has no communion with the material in which it is displayed, but remains in the hypostasis of Christ, to which alone it properly belongs.

And, simply put, it is not the image of Christ that is worshiped, but Christ who is venerated in it; and it must be venerated according to the sameness of the hypostasis of Christ, notwithstanding the difference in the substance of the image.

Thus, then, so far as I know, resting upon the teaching of the holy fathers, is the veneration of the image of Christ to be understood.

When this veneration is abolished, the economy of Christ is in effect abolished as well; and when it is not venerated, the veneration of Christ himself is likewise abolished.

And for this reason, O divine father, one must approach it and venerate it with fear and reverence, since the veneration passes over to Christ, and one must believe that divine grace visits it and that it is able to impart sanctification to those who approach it in faith.

Since also in the case of the figure of the life-giving Cross, and of the image of the all-holy Theotokos, and of all the saints, the veneration of every sacred image, passing through their respective prototypes, ascends to God — and for this reason there is one and only one worshipful veneration belonging to the holy and consubstantial Trinity, on whose account the various veneration of the others exist, and to whom the reference of all veneration is unified.

But if through ignorance I have said anything mistakenly, either falling short of what is fitting or going beyond it, deign, as a good father, to correct the one, to supply the other, and to remove yet another, praying and interceding earnestly for my lowliness, that I may think rightly, speak without stumbling, and act blamelessly.

{To my holy fathers and confessors of Christ, John, Michael, and Basil} And now I have judged it good to write to my fathers, and to write to them together, since they have been deemed worthy of the same virtue and concord, or rather of the same testimony of Christ.

For since our good God was pleased that we sinners too should be released from prison through the mediation of the good emperor, I offer you this letter as a kind of gift, rejoicing and sharing in the joy of your paternal dignity and, so to speak, your victory in Christ.

For indeed you have conquered the evil one, O admirable men, both within, through the struggle of your thoughts, and without, through your God-inspired endurance, not bending the knee to the servant of the dragon.

For manifestly the minister of that dragon is Leo, most wicked of all, his servant, the one who insults the image of Christ and murders the saints — each in agreement with the other, the two of them having made a compact together to remove the name of Christ by doing away with his divine and venerable image —

since the time of the second divine manifestation has not yet arrived, so that Christ might be openly and wholly denied.

You are the very images of those blessed and long-ago saints —

who, having shown themselves courageous in similar trials, were adorned with the unfading crown of righteousness, dancing eternally.

Such are you; and your praise is beyond my worthless tongue, which sings only so much as to discharge the occasion, to satisfy longing, and to rekindle the spirit unto unceasing supplication that God be called upon to make the perfect good of peace dawn fully for us.

For do you see, O venerable ones, how affairs still tremble? Yet he is able, together with the beginning, to bring the end too to a favorable manifestation.

Be entreated to pray for my lowliness, O ever-venerable ones.

{To the hegoumene of Gordina} Our beloved brother Antony has requested of us this present letter, saying, 'This is what I promised long ago to do.'

And so, for this very reason, and because of your messages, behold, I address you and greet you as mothers, as sisters in the Lord, remembering your reception of us and the labor of love which you showed for his name's sake, having fled the fellowship of the heretics and having kept yourselves unstained from the world.

Look, then, also to what follows, O holy women.

Since impiety is still pressing in, keep the deposit of the faith inviolate, so that, should it even be necessary to die, you would with joy give yourselves up rather than partake of the leaven of those of heterodox belief.

And indeed, as regards your manner of life too, I exhort you to conduct yourselves in holiness.

Do not become secret thieves of slavish pleasure, but for the sake of the virginity with which Christ has espoused you, purify your hearts and bodies, fleeing, as far as possible, the sight of men's faces;

for from looking, fire is kindled, and sin burns.

Let the hegoumene be as a hegoumene, set forth as a pattern of good works; let the disciples be as disciples, having one will, one heart, not quarreling, not babbling, not holding private property, but breathing only their teacher, keeping what is approved by her, according to the law of the Lord.

But if these things pertain to the disciples, how much more to the abbess herself, for whom, as great as is the reward of leadership, so great also is the danger of failing in it.

Let saying 'mine' and 'yours' in a coenobium be done away with, as the cause of countless conflicts;

let living by one's own rule and acting on one's own be banished, as destructive of good order;

let quarreling with the tongue and making disturbances be driven far away, as unholy for women who have taken monastic vows.

But whatever pertains to silence, whatever to prayer, whatever to psalmody, whatever to work — practice these, and the God of peace and love will be with you.

Pray for us sinners, that we too may be saved.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.

{To Basil the hegoumenos} In what your honor has written, brother, you have shown yourself well-pleased with the penances and eager for what is better, as not only the letter-bearer has made known, but also, even before him, our most honored brother Peter, who is dear to you as well.

At this I, the lowly one, rejoiced and gave thanks.

For indeed, my friend, what we have suffered — having become partakers in the denial of the image of Christ — is no small or contemptible thing, but a most monstrous act and manifestly a denial of the faith, because the denial of the image ascends to the prototype;

and by this denial of Christ, all who have in any way participated have participated in it.

But since you have again confessed that, out of fear of the persecutor, you permitted the images to be destroyed, the transgression is more grievous still;

and since you also said that you signed your name, the sin and the denial are complete and total.

What then must be done, since you both seek the remedy for your health, and yet again say you cannot bear the gradual application of it, pleading weakness, and choosing rather to accept this course or that? I am hard-pressed on both sides — whether letting it pass out of brotherly love, or lessening the remedy on account of the greatness of the sin.

Nevertheless, being constrained rather by love, I determine, with fear and trembling, the following:

...you were caught tracing a cross in place of the icon) — you are to perform the same prayers and genuflections, without pleading infirmity.

But since the penance is very slight, contribute a counterbalancing gift of ample almsgiving to make up for it.

How much this should be, brother Eusebius will explain to you — the one whom, together with two other brothers, I allowed, at your request, to remain there by way of pastoral accommodation, both to stop them from wandering about here and there, and so that you might have some comfort of encouragement — not indeed in the monastery where you reside, but somewhere else, on a small farmstead subordinate to the monastery.

Take care, then, beloved, from now on, just as you promised, never again to fall into this in any way, nor indeed to go into Antony's presence, but be ready to depart not only from the monastery but even from the flesh itself, for the love of Christ.

{To Gregory, Abbot} We have already written to you, as our son, in keeping with our promise, that you should shepherd the flock there with understanding, according to the Lord's commandment, overlooking nothing that contributes to the brothers' benefit.

For if the one entrusted with irrational sheep does not sleep but keeps watch, and does not neglect his duty but strives night and day so that nothing is seized by a beast or left unfed, but also watches for thieves and robbers, drives off wild beasts, speaks gently to the flock, and, going before them, provides them with food, leading them beside restful waters and shaded places, and all the other things one may see attending the shepherd's staff — how much more, and how great, ought the one allotted to preside over souls to be, whose blood, if any negligence should occur, will be required from his hands, as it is written? Stand firm, then, henceforth, O child, being watchful in your pastoral office; heal those who are weak, turn back those who have gone astray, exhort, admonish, remind those who walk in a manner worthy of holiness of the kingdom that has been promised, and, conversely, remind those who live according to their passions of the unending judgment, so that in this way you may save both yourself and those who hear you.

He who loves disciplines diligently, but he who hates leaves those who follow him to grow indifferent.

But you too, brothers and children in the Lord, be as sheep of Christ, loving to carry out his commandments and to conduct yourselves as monastics, not as worldly people.

Let there be one will for all, one heart, one soul; let there be no 'mine' and 'yours,' but let everything be held in common, everything made pure through confession.

But if it is not so, you will have lost even what is worldly, and, not being true monks, you will become liable to a just condemnation.

May you fare well and be pleasing to God, praying also for us sinners, whom we teach these things, that we may ourselves be doers of them in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be the glory.

{To Irene and Euphrosyne, Nuns} As the brother and assistant steward is setting out, we thought it a fitting occasion to write you, sisters in the Lord, a brief note.

And indeed we ask how your holy pair is faring, and all the sisters.

Do you see how we ask after you and converse with you, as though attached to you before God more than to other sisters? And rightly so.

For where there is faith, there is also longing, drawing and being drawn through the Holy Spirit; and where these are, there too is concern for the body.

For this reason we, unworthy though we are, write on behalf of Christ, exhorting you to hold fast to the good confession which we all confessed before God and the elect angels: to live in the Lord by putting off the carnal mind, which is the breaking of the bonds of attachment to this present age and being united with God, whom we have loved, to whom we have been betrothed, and with whom we shall be together forever.

Him, sisters, we breathe always; him do we love with this true love, this unapproachable longing, the only Master of heaven and earth.

whose love for mankind is so great that he took the form of a servant, to call us back from corruption and to make us gods.

How extraordinary the meeting in the heavens will be!

There the righteous will shine forth like the sun.

There those who have practiced submission and obedience will, as rulers with Christ, dance eternally; while those of the opposite disposition will clearly suffer the opposite.

So then, cross-bearing sisters, let us not unknowingly store up for ourselves, instead of life and boundless joy, punishment and eternal fire, through negligence and corruption of the flesh, disobedience, and a life given over to the passions.

Virtue is from God, and is divine; vice is from Satan, and is satanic.

Those who choose the former belong to God and are gods; those who choose the latter are demons and belong to Satan.

Thus we now greet you as well.

And may I not be reckoned burdensome to you, as one speaking oppressive things, but rather pleasant, as one exhorting for God's sake.

And this word is not addressed to the superiors — for they themselves are teachers of others as well — but to the whole body of the sisterhood, which may it be preserved, ever more flourishing and thriving, as a boast for me as well, as one who exhorts you, unto the day of Christ.

{To Abolius and John, Monks} Having received news of you, holy men, from Isaiah, the most God-beloved bishop and spiritual father, I was not only informed who your holy and fatherly pair is, but was also urged to write you this humble letter.

We, though lowly and sinful, nevertheless loving you and wishing to kindle you unto love, than which nothing is more excellent, and also fulfilling an obedience, have devoted ourselves to this letter.

And indeed we give thanks to God that you too, holy fathers, remained unshaken amid the earthquake of the iconoclast heresy, not being caught up in its soul-destroying communion, but through flight obtained the God-blessed crown of persecution — truly worthy of...

...your virtue, and it clearly manifests the ascetic contests you had already accomplished.

For everyone brings forth, from what he has already attained, proof of his former life.

And this holds true both in a good sense and in the opposite.

You who were clothed in holiness have also put on the confession of Christ, becoming beautiful on both accounts.

For, fathers, the confession of Christ is the defense of his holy image, just as, conversely, he who denies it rejects Christ.

For, as Basil the Great says, the honor given to the image passes to the prototype, and in each the other is both seen and venerated — even though Leo, who bears the name of a beast, servant of Satan, driven mad by zeal for the impiety of Constantine of old, raged against Christ, his holy Mother, and every saint.

May his memory perish amid the sound of an eternal anathema.

But may you be preserved for the Church of God as pillars and foundations, and for us the lowly ones as champions and intercessors before the good God, so that, having faith working through love, we may be saved from the evil one.

And since we have written, fulfilling the task of love, may we also receive a written reply in turn, so that we may come to know one another all the better, and, as though seeing one another, may continue, through this written greeting, in Christ Jesus our Lord.

whose immaculate image is the salvation of the world, opposed to the deception of idolatry.

{To the Brotherhood around the spiritual son Gregory} Brothers and fathers, having been entreated by your father — I being father both of him and, through him, of you — to speak to you the things pertaining to salvation, I was rightly persuaded, and I, the lowly one, now speak, taking my start from here.

Our salvation, beloved children, is to believe rightly in the Holy Trinity, and to have works attested by the holy commandments of God.

For in Christ Jesus, as the apostle says, neither circumcision avails anything, nor uncircumcision, but faith working through love.

And the doctrine of faith pertains to the teaching of orthodoxy, while that of love pertains to the principle of right conduct.

We believe, then, in Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, who are three persons, one nature, one power, one sovereign kingship over all things, worshipped as one in nature, will, and activity, with might and glory.

[The Son] took the form of a servant, having appeared in a manner like our own.

For this is what the Theologian (Gregory of Nazianzus) says: 'And the Word became flesh,' and what the great apostle says: 'God was manifested in the flesh.'

And he is one and the same in two natures, perfect God and perfect man, in each nature perfect, having diminished no property that belongs to it, but rather possessing all that belongs to the Father in a divine manner, and all that belongs to the Mother in a human manner, as a true and genuine Son.

As, therefore, he is uncircumscribed from the Father, so he is circumscribed from the Mother — that is, depicted in an image after the manner of his Mother.

The iconoclasts, then, concerning whom this doctrine is set forth, by not confessing that he can be circumscribed, are indeed found not even confessing him to be the genuine Son of his Mother.

For where would genuineness be, and not rather utter estrangement, unless the offspring were, in all natural properties, like the one who bore him? For just as, with respect to circumscription, he has no communion with the Father but with the Mother, so also, conversely, with respect to non-circumscription he has communion not with the Mother but with the Father.

for that communion is with the one who begot him, not with the one who bore him.

Thus is the correct doctrine of truth, this is the apostolic faith: to confess Christ as circumscribed in the flesh.

And indeed Basil the Great says: 'Let Christ, the judge of the contests, also be inscribed on the panel,' and bids us honor the depicted image, since Christ is venerated in it.

For golden-mouthed Chrysostom proclaims that an angel is seen in the image.

And if the bodiless angel can be seen in an image, how much more the incarnate Word? And if one sees, it is clear that one also venerates, in the image, the angel just as one venerates Christ.

For to be counted worthy to see something in a painting is equal to venerating it.

since indeed the honor given to the image passes to the prototype, as the divine Basil would again say.

Deniers of Christ, therefore, are those who insult his image, since by their rejection of it they direct their rejection to him, even though they may claim to confess Christ.

since even the demons, it is said, confess God, yet deny him by their deeds.

Great, then, brothers, is their impiety, and great is our confession, in no way falling short of the martyrs of old.

Stand, then, firm, in no way wavering concerning what has already been demonstrably proven true, but for this faith, even unto blood, should the occasion demand, undertake the contests.

From this also arises the radiant life, sun from sun, since the Brother of God (James) has shown that the one is a witness of the other.

Love God with the whole of your threefold faculties, as the commandment enjoins; love also one another as members of Christ.

'For by this,' he says, 'all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.'

Follow your superior with faith.

Let no one withhold confession from him.

For such a one is a keeper of a serpent.

For such a one has no share in the fervor of the Holy Spirit.

For such a one is a thief like Judas.

For such a one is a monk in name only.

For such a person is a worker of corruption.

For such a person is slavish.

giving no offense in anything, so that the ministry may not be blamed, as the apostle cries out, but in everything commending himself as a minister of God, in much endurance, in afflictions, in hardships, and in the rest which he himself enumerated, forming the true Christian.

But if the obedient one is such, how much and to what degree ought the superior be required, obliged as he is to stand forth as a good model of what he teaches? Great is the contest, but the reward too is boundless: the kingdom of heaven, of which may we be counted worthy, both those who govern and those who are governed, living in a godly manner in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and dominion, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and always and unto the ages of ages.

{To the Canonesses of Prinkipo} Having seen you yesterday, sisters in the Lord, since matters were pressing on account of the illness of the most God-beloved archbishop, I was prevented from speaking to you as much as was needful;

but now I thought it good to fill up, through this letter, what was lacking.

...excelling in understanding, and I glorified our good God, who has gathered you, so great a multitude, together for the cross-bearing life, to serve him in holiness and righteousness.

Whom then shall I praise more, the abbess, or you who follow and submit? Both are full of encomia, of praises and of laudations;

and not only with respect to the bond of the spiritual life, but because, as I have learned, you are also preserved in a life exact in self-control, in servitude to one another, and in every kind of service.

Blessed are you in the Lord;

blessed is your community;

praiseworthy is your way of life.

Each virgin, to speak in the words of the Song, is a garden enclosed, a fountain sealed, a rose of God's fragrance, a lily of purity.

Christ is in your midst, who is the tree of life.

But since, for the trial and testing of virtue, there also exists the forbidden plant, which is fair to behold, yet is not what it appears to be, but is bitter and deadly to taste (and what is this but pleasure, by which Eve our foremother was ensnared?), we remind and exhort you never to touch the deadly fruit, but to partake of the commandment as of the truly all-beautiful and genuine fruit, employing obedience and humility, love for one another and generosity, non-possessiveness and peacemaking.

For by living thus you would glorify God in your body and in your spirit, as the sacred apostle proclaims;

thus you would also be multiplied all the more;

thus here too you will be named with the name of holiness, and in the age to come you will be glorified together with him;

for it is written, 'if indeed we suffer with him, we shall also be glorified with him.'

And what, then, is more beautiful than you? What is more venerable than to be called daughters of God, sacred offerings, temples of virginity? Since, then, this is so, rejoice, sisters, in the Lord, rejoice, you who hate the joy of the world, who hate attachment to your own kin according to the flesh, who hate having an inheritance on earth, who hate all the things the world loves.

since your commonwealth is in the heavens, and your inheritance is the kingdom of heaven, and your bridegroom is Christ himself, who has called you to follow after him and who will lead you, through consecration, into the heavenly bridal chamber together with the wise virgins.

These things, then, briefly, so that you may know that in the Holy Spirit we have reckoned you as sisters and we pray for what is better for you.

{To Maria, living as a virgin} Since we have already received messages from your honored self once and twice, we judged it necessary to address your dignified reverence not only with a bare word of greeting, but also by letter;

and not so much because of the messages, as because of your gravity.

For we learn that, having chosen the life of virginity, you have undertaken to serve the Lord in holiness and righteousness.

For what is better than virginity, whose concern is how she may please the Lord, how she may attain the good things to come, how she may be able to escape the manifold devices of the devil? But she who lives under marriage, on the contrary, is concerned with how she may please her husband, how she may arrange well the affairs of the world, being tossed about by the salty waves of life in caring for children and menservants and maidservants, and, before all these, for pleasing her husband, not yet able to rise above the turnings of the world and to be lifted up on the wing of the mind toward the Lord.

You, then, O fairest of women, are truly blessed, and thrice-blessed, because you have chosen the good portion after that celebrated Mary, as it were sitting beside the feet of Jesus and hearing his word through a life free of worldly cares.

You have sanctified yourself, dedicating your life to God as a treasured heirloom.

You have ennobled your blood in the Holy Spirit, setting yourself forth as a good example.

...do they depart from this life? And how pitiable are the affairs of marriage:

some are childless, others have wicked children;

poverty and wealth: the one oppresses and, as it were, scorches, while the other is tossed about as in a game of dice, from this one to that one.

bridal chambers are raised up, but also dissolved amid lamentations; wailings and beatings of the breast, calamities one upon another, of which life is full, with the examples set before our eyes.

But you have fled from all these things, O beautiful virgin, dwelling in solitary fashion in your house, kept for the Lord as a fragrant rose through your virginity, though of course also having afflictions from both visible and invisible enemies;

since wherever there is an offering dedicated to the Lord, there the robber lies in wait to steal and plunder the sacred thing.

But take courage in the Lord, in whom you have trusted, for whose sake you cherish your labors, because he himself is the guardian of your life, a helper and aid in afflictions;

who, when he brings your course to completion, will make you worthy of his heavenly kingdom.

These things have been addressed to you by us sinners, so that you may know that you, the Lord's handmaid, have us also, who strive to serve the Lord, as brothers according to the spirit, just as also fellow-slaves according to nature, earnestly praying for your honored self.

{To the Brotherhood of Kizara} The news of the falling-asleep of our and your spiritual father, beloved brothers, has troubled our soul, as is fitting, and brought us to grievous sighing, not on account of him who fell asleep (for blessed is that man, having been perfected by a blessed life, since he was a proven monk who practiced admirably even to old age, and, the chief point, having departed from this life with a preserved and orthodox faith, amid persecutions and hardships endured for the sake of the good, and, as it were, crowned with the righteousness of confession on behalf of Christ), but on account of us, or rather on account of you yourselves, who have been left behind like a flock bewildered by the departure of its good shepherd.

for indeed the memory of the superior draws us to pity and contrition of heart, being called to mind according to the place and manner of his guidance in the Lord;

how he would encourage one who stumbled, and rebuke another who grew insolent, call back yet another who was becoming unruly, and rouse from sleep another who was growing sluggish, managing all with gentleness and mildness, in imitation of the Master himself who said, 'Learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart';

and, simply put, in all things wherein he shone forth in your midst like a morning star.

and besides, through the habit of long years, separation from a father is wont to weigh very heavily upon the soul.

But what shall we do, brothers, against the law of God that decrees thus: 'You are earth, and to earth you shall return'? Or rather, this separation is a journey abroad to the Lord.

He was permitted the transition, and he went forth from the body.

He was separated from you and was gathered to his fathers, having left behind for you his own life as a good example and likeness of virtue.

What, then, remains to be sought? That you come to yourselves and exhort one another in the Holy Spirit.

And just as he left for you the lord Antony as your superior, so you must begin to conduct your life by the same rule and in the same footsteps of piety, guarding the faith and, if need be, suffering for it even unto death in the present persecution, and by no means betraying the truth, but embracing with all your strength both love for one another and obedience to your superior.

for this leads to your salvation, this is a boast also for that blessed one on the day of Christ, and this is also most delightful to us, your friends and brothers.

For if you walk in this manner, you will excellently have us accompanying you, so far as possible, in the things pertaining to the Lord, most honored brothers.

{To Ephraim and Agathon and the rest of the disciples} As for the falling-asleep of the blessed Laurentius: for him, death is rest;

but grievous for you, who have lost a proven monk, an honored brother, one who was being appointed head of spiritual guidance.

But nevertheless the grief has been turned into joy for both parties, because he who was snatched away from you by the command of the good God is one of God's elect, having lived in holiness and righteousness.

Therefore I too, the humble one, rejoice and rejoice together with you, because we have sent forth to the Lord so great a vessel.

For Laurentius was truly a vessel of election: first, through his sincere renunciation and submission; second, through his virtue-loving zeal and progress;