Letters 1 part 13/55

from which he was also deemed worthy of the priesthood, and undertook the office of oversight over many brothers, useful to the flock in shepherding it lovingly, living truly for God and for his superior, but not for the world and for worldly affairs.

his were exiles for the Lord's sake and persecutions, both earlier and later; his too, to speak in scriptural terms, were 'beautiful feet,' as he went about here and there, proclaiming to the brothers the promises of salvation.

His spiritual sweat was myrrh; his strenuous course of virtue was a sacred dew.

Having been taken up in this very present persecution, what else did he do but bind upon himself the blessing pronounced by the Lord? And now he is in heaven, journeying together with those of like rank, while we still stand in the contest and lie exposed to the fear of defeat;

for there is no perfect blessedness for a man until his death, on account of the uncertainty of the outcome.

Therefore I exhort you, brothers, to watch and be sober, to act like men and be strong in the contest set before you, of both the intelligible and the sensible persecution;

for he who lives according to God is always persecuted by the invisible persecutor, that he may be overtaken by sin.

Let us flee from him, noble soldiers of Christ.

But how is it possible to flee? By coming under the mighty hand of God through pleasing him in all things.

And this will come to pass if you live not according to your own private will, but in cenobitic fashion, evidently having brother Ephraim as your presiding superior, just as that one appointed, and as we too approve, and as the time and circumstance would require.

Let all things be held in common; let 'mine' and 'thine' be banished; let love be your distinguishing mark; let obedience keep guard;

and, 'if you know these things,' he says, 'blessed are you if you do them.'

{To Procopius the monk} I am writing now to your honored self, since I have found a bearer of this letter who is both mine and yours, one who has indeed also urged me to do this very thing, inasmuch as your piety likewise so desires and loves it.

But rejoice, O man of God, rejoice, best of friends and indeed of the old friends, rejoice, you who are renowned for piety and celebrated for knowledge.

Where in the world have you left us, hiding your honored face for so long a time? And what is this manner of your confinement at your hearth, not yet coming forward and appearing in public? And thirdly, that I may speak more boldly, or rather more lovingly (for it is the property of love not to hold back in beneficial reminders addressed to the one who is loved), what is this occupation of yours: having fled the world through monastic consecration, and then having turned back again to your household, released from the bonds of worldly attachment (for this is what renunciation means), and again bound to cohabitation with your lady wife and your God-protected children? And, what is stranger still, having had your head tonsured according to the distinctive mark of the unified monastic life and having been perfected by the divine mystagogy, and again letting your hair grow in the manner of eremitic life? 'Let each one,' says the apostle, 'remain in the calling in which he was called.'

And again elsewhere: 'Give no offense, either to Jews or to Greeks, or to the church of God.'

And elsewhere again, he himself concerning himself: 'I will never eat meat, that I may not cause my brother to stumble.'

And each one makes himself known by his own particular habit: the soldier by wearing a sword, the townsman by wearing a cloak.

And, simply put, almost everyone who holds office, or practices a craft, or follows a profession, carries about him the implements proper to it.

For neither would a physician choose to carry a shepherd's staff, nor would a shepherd hold a physician's instrument in his hand.

No one ought either to live or to change his outward form contrary to what belongs to his own station, lest, by scandalizing the world, he bring upon himself the judgment that hangs from the Lord.

From which may we flee, O thrice-longed-for one, and especially we who surpass the many in both knowledge and rank;

since judgment is severe upon those who excel, while the least is pardoned, as it is written:

'From him to whom much was entrusted, they will require the more.'

Let us not, then, I beseech you, we who ought to be light to those in darkness, become the opposite, nor let us who are appointed by the gospel to be salt be made foolish through carelessness.

'Let all things be done decently and in order,' cries the apostle — all things for the benefit of the neighbor, and not for his harm.

And even if a stumbling-block should arise from the very things permitted to us, this too Great Basil proclaims loudly, and simply the whole of both the Old and the New Testament enjoins that each thing abide within its own bounds and manner.

And do not think, master, that I have spoken to you in a domineering manner, but rather most lovingly and laboriously, taking your affairs upon myself according to the commingling of love, and desiring the salvation of your honored soul as I would my own.

But if my word contains anything beyond what is fitting, let a word from you teach and persuade my humility that you are acting fittingly in the matters that have been shown to be out of order.

{To Theodore the Deacon} I have come, at the charge of your love, to answer the heretic's difficulties.

And if I should answer well, set your seal upon the argument; but if not, do you yourself clarify it more distinctly.

But since it is not possible to dissolve the heretical opinion very thoroughly unless the very proposition be first set forth, let this be laid down first, and then, in this order, the orthodox solution.

{Problem of the heretic.} Confessing one incarnate nature of God the Word, you say that Christ is a certain whole — that is, one totality composed of parts, evidently of divinity and of humanity.

We ask, then: which do you number together with the Holy Trinity, the whole or the part? And if the whole, then the Holy Trinity will not be consubstantial;

but if the part, then either, by numbering the divinity together with it, you plainly leave the humanity outside the Holy Trinity, or, by numbering the humanity together with it, you will be caught saying that the divinity lies outside the Trinity.

{Solution to this.} Confessing one incarnate nature of the Word, we do not confess Christ simply as a certain whole, but as brought together from two totalities, divinity and humanity.

According to which totalities — taken as parts toward the composition — he is, as God, wholly and naturally joined to the Father and the Spirit, and, as man, wholly and essentially ranged together with his mother and with us, binding the two extremes to himself by his unique character, and preserving the boundaries of the extremes unharmed and unconfused in the union.

Whereby the Trinity remains Trinity, admitting nothing foreign as an addition, and the humanity remains humanity, never being divided from the divinity united to it.

So that your problem is irrational, being detached from the confounding heresy of the Acephali.

{Another problem of the same heretic.} This Christ confessed by you — is he numbered with the Holy Trinity, or not? And if he is numbered with the Holy Trinity, how then will the Trinity still be consubstantial? But if he is not numbered with it, then he is not God either, but only a mere man.

Whatever arguments, then, you use to resolve this difficulty while keeping unharmed the doctrine of one Christ, these same arguments will suffice for us also against it.

{Solution to this.} This Christ confessed by us — by the true arguments with which he drove off the former proposition, he would likewise drive off this present one, since it carries the same weight of impiety.

But the Christ whom you proclaim — namely, one natural whole composed of parts, of divinity and humanity — would be neither consubstantial with the Father, since the Father is God only and not also man, nor consubstantial with the mother, since the mother is man only and not also God;

so that it remains for you to seek other Christs, to whom this one might be consubstantial,

since a nature of a single person cannot be recognized as consubstantial with two others at once.

But if you cannot find any, then, caught in your own difficulties, you will be found glorifying, by an empty fabrication, something that is not Christ at all.

{BEGINNING OF THE FIRST BOOK OF THE LETTERS OF OUR HOLY FATHER AND CONFESSOR THEODORE, ABBOT OF THE STUDITES: VARIOUS LETTERS OF THE THIRD EXILE. To the iconoclastic council, as on behalf of all the abbots.} Following the divine laws and canonical decrees that no one ought to do or say anything pertaining to ecclesiastical order — much less be drawn into dogmatic dispute — apart from the judgment of his own bishop, for this reason, though your authority has once and twice summoned our lowliness to such things, it has not dared to appear doing anything outside what is customary, as being under the sacred hand of Nicephorus, the most holy patriarch, and conducting itself by the divine Spirit.

But since some of the abbots of like rank with us, making a certain attempt, have decided to come and enter into disputatious discourse, what else could result but that we should hear those very things which astound our humble heart? For they say that the summons is aimed at the overthrow of the holy council held in Nicaea the second time — that is, at the abolition, as it is called, of the veneration of the revered icon of our Lord Jesus Christ, of the Theotokos, and of all the saints together.

Oh, who, hearing these things, would not groan bitterly from the depth of his heart, seeing that in these very things the saving dispensation of our Lord Jesus Christ is already being overturned? 'Hear, O heaven, and give ear, O earth' — let the loudest-voiced Isaiah cry out with us, and all that follows continuously after these words.

Or rather, that we may speak more fittingly: hear, O east and west, north and the region by the sea, you in the midst of whom our affairs now stand, and against whom this council has been dared to be convened.

We, then, the least of all, both those who were present and those who were not (for the same word applies to both, as being of one soul in a single divine mind), hold a faith in accord with the Church under heaven — namely, to set up and venerate the divine icon of our Savior Jesus Christ himself, of his all-holy Mother, and of any of the saints whatsoever — not affirming that we hold this assurance from the holy council held in Nicaea the second time, or from the council before it which so divinely established the doctrine, but rather, being firmly grounded from the very presence of our Lord and God himself, both in writing and unwritten, we have stood securely upon that foundation on which Christ says, 'You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.'

For what argument could be found by one who chooses to speak against such power of the truth? For if, as is commonly confessed, our Lord Jesus Christ has been seen in human form and in a manner like ours, he is thereby firmly circumscribed and depicted in images just as we are, even though he remains, in his divine form, himself uncircumscribed, since he is the mediator of God and men, preserving unimpaired the properties of each of the two natures of which he consists.

But if he could not be circumscribed, he would have ceased to be man — much less to say, mediator — since, through the removal of the circumscribable, all the properties belonging to that same order are removed together with it.

For if he is not circumscribable, neither is he tangible.

But if he is at once tangible and can be felt by touch (to deny which would be foolish —

for these belong to a body, which falls under touch and color), how is he not also circumscribable, seeing he is also passible? And if he is circumscribable and passible, then he is assuredly also to be venerated, evidently even in the form under which he is circumscribed, since the glory of the prototype is not split off in the derivative image, according to Great Basil.

For the honor given to the image passes up to the prototype — clearly, to whatever prototype it may be, whether natural or artificial.

Since indeed the same principle must be understood also in the case of the figure of the precious cross;

for by the veneration of the figure, the life-giving wood is venerated together with it, just as, conversely, by its rejection the wood too is of necessity rejected together with it.

It is a confession of the life-giving cross, just as, in like manner, by a converse resemblance, its denial is also [a denial of the cross]. The same proportion, then, is to be applied to the icon of Christ and to Christ himself, by anyone of understanding.

And it is not yet the time for a full unfolding of doctrine, which would persuade even the most dull-witted to lift their heads readily toward the rays of truth.

This is our evangelical faith, we who are sinners; this is our apostolic confession, we who are of little worth; or if not that, this is our religion handed down from the fathers, we who are the very least.

Contrary to this — not to speak of such-and-such a man of the present day or of old — not even if it were Peter and Paul (let us speak of the impossible as though possible), not even if he should come from the very heavens themselves, teaching doctrine and preaching the gospel, could we accept him as a communicant, since he would not be conforming to the sound teaching of the faith.

And in view of this, whatever may seem good to your authority, our lowliness stands ready to endure even unto death, rather than to become deniers of this our sincere confession.

{To Joseph, brother and archbishop} I received the letter of your holiness, in which, learning of your discourse with the ruler and, in short, your blessed exile, I, in my lowliness, groaned indeed (for how could I not?), yet I also glorified God, who glorified you in this.

I rejoice, then, and rejoice with you, beloved brother, in your good renown, and I am adorned by your good fortunes — or rather, your exiles — as much as kings are adorned by their diadems.

And who would grant me to see your longed-for face? For I would embrace you insatiably — you who are now exiled and imprisoned for the third time for the truth of God.

Your virtue was truly being wronged, and was as it were under a bushel while you sat in the monastery;

now it goes up onto the lampstand and shines for the whole Church.

Thus those who thought to hide it away have instead made your virtue shine forth.

Good indeed also is the exile of the other most holy bishops, and it lacks nothing in praise, yet it is not equal in weight to yours;

why? Because theirs is, as it were, single-stemmed, and does not advance from strength to strength as yours does, which is triple-stemmed and triple-crested.

For this reason your name is praiseworthy, your achievement is conspicuous, your exultation eternal.

We have been made strangers to one another and removed to distant places, but God is good, to unite us and settle us together everlastingly;

and perhaps even here it will not be beyond his power to grant that we again see one another face to face.

We sent ahead the holy fathers and brothers — and indeed the good Kalogeros, whose last breath was breathed out in your hands, as though by the ordinance of God and not of a perishable king, after he had departed for Thessalonica and gone forth from Sakkoudion.

We two were left behind — some talk or other, I know not what, among men, but at any rate a good thing for the pious, even though I, for my sins, am without honor;

but may you, O most blessed one, ever advance in what is good, praying unceasingly for my salvation;

and that I too remember you — for indeed, what else could I do, after God, but breathe you? They have torn brother Athanasius from your side (an addition of pain, but also of crowns), and likewise Nectarius too;

but if this was against his will, the grief is not great; but if it was by prior arrangement, alas for my wretchedness!

However it may be, let time show which way it was.

You have been left almost alone, having my good Anthos and Epiphanius.

May the Lord grace them for their service to your holiness — whom I also greet most warmly, and pray that they may be shown to accompany you even unto death.

What of the rest? May God look upon his own inheritance and grant the prize of peace in his Church.

The brothers who are with me greet you as befits servants.

To the same person. I am now writing to you for the second time since your holiness's arrival from Byzantium.

For my part I would wish to do this every day, if it were possible;

nevertheless thanks must be rendered to God, because in so long an interval the Good One has granted, within a short space, through the mediation of a letter, that we should converse with one another, beloved one.

Now then, our anxiety over the sea voyage has come to an end;

for the sake of truth, O pillar of orthodoxy and foundation of the Church.

But what sort of place it is, and the hearth that has received you, and the owners of it — these turn about in my mind's contemplation, being sketched in various forms, lest perhaps they be troublesome to you;

but altogether, whatever they may be, I know that your God-loving self will bear them, being accustomed to endure hardship in the testimonies borne for Christ's sake.

As for us sinners, there is nothing newer than what you already knew, except that a report has spread abroad that we are again to be transferred elsewhere.

But the earth is wholly the Lord's, wherever we may be cast off to, provided only you do not cease praying that we may conduct ourselves in good things, in mind and heart and soul;

for we confess that we are subject to countless failings.

But the affairs of the heresy increase daily because of our sins, and it seethes, as it were, with the fire of tortures and exiles, while very many — especially abbots, I forbear to speak of subordinate monks — stand firm by the grace of Christ.

and indeed he who was once a persecutor of Christ now suffers for him — Joseph, the most devout abbot.

Behold, then, brother, the loving-kindness of God, how he wills to save all.

But observe again the deceitful enemy;

he has carried off one who was never truly faithful, but in many ways a traitor — Nectarius, once one of ours, but now among the impious.

And what is even more grievous, he is one of those who demand written pledges of impiety from the abbots of the outlying region.

Do not, then, be amazed, O man of God, nor let it grieve you greatly, since it is by no means altogether without grief that the lawless one has gone out from our bosom;

since even from among the apostles there was a Judas.

May they find mercy — our faithful brothers who are dying together with you — whom I also greet most warmly, especially my good Anthos, if he is present, and my Athanasius, who is true to his name.

Those who are with me reverently kiss the traces of your footsteps.

To Euthymius of Sardis. Your holiness has been removed far from us sinners by the authority that holds power over all, but not in spirit, in which it is rather pleasing to God that we be united;

since many who are united in body are not truly with one another, because of a lack of the Spirit.

So that not even if the one in power should strive to convey us to the very ends of the inhabited earth could he separate us from one another, especially since God is well pleased that we should see and converse with one another through letters.

This, then, is my first point.

The second is the remote frontier to which you have been confined, which causes anxiety for your safety because of the barbarian land nearby.

Yet your affairs are in the hand of the Lord, who, caring for you, will guard you from every evil.

Perhaps God, wishing his own elect to dart across, like certain stars, in the firmament of the faith, has sent forth each of these manly men, such as yourself, to a different place, so that the radiance of orthodoxy might not pass over one region alone, but might illumine many of the uninitiated.

Therefore, rise like the bright morning star with your sun-like teachings, and create a day of salvation for those who fight in the night, or else strengthen those who are weakened from lack of light.

May you become a bond joined with Paul; but if not that, then at least a fellow-combatant with Athanasius;

for his great renown comes from the West.

Thus we, cherishing deep affection, speak as a son to a good father, endeavoring to stir up the sacred sparks within your God-loving self, so that the torch of your teaching might blaze up all the more brightly.

since, as you know, it is a grievous night and deep darkness, far more destructive than the ninth plague upon Egypt, gathering together, confounding, and darkening — most pitiably — not bodies, but very souls.

The ruler roars: threats, blows, imprisonments, mistreatments, trials, mockeries, flatteries, exiles — every kind of fear and deceit.

But who else shines forth and stands strengthened, but our own Nazirites, the sinews of the Church, the choicest first-fruits of holiness, of whom the world is not worthy? Among the many so numbered is also the most devout abbot of Kerameas;

for thus must he be called who has fought back and reversed his defeat.

And blessed is the Lord, who has many martyrs in the present persecution for the confirmation of the unblemished faith.

May your holy soul, entreating for the abatement of these evils, obtain the shining forth of divine providence — and indeed also on my behalf, lowly as I am, that I may walk in the footsteps of you holy fathers.

To Ignatius, bishop of Miletus. I have hunted down a fine find in meeting with a letter-carrier, through whom I inscribe to your holiness this letter now in hand — worth no particular account in itself, yet containing, above all, the utmost disposition of love;

For we love you exceedingly, O best of fathers, not only as a shepherd blessed of God, in that you have been seen risking yourself in advance for the faith, choosing every hardship, exile, and the deprivation of all things, but also because you are of the same monastic habit as we, and one of our acquaintances and friends from the beginning — and I would add, also because of the devotion which you have striven to stamp upon yourself through self-restraint.

We rejoice, then, that we have such and so great a father — or rather, that the Church of God has a pillar and foundation in this grievous earthquake of impiety;

for it is indeed an earthquake, in which the impious fall, having no ballast, while among the pious some are shaken, and others suffer nothing at all, because of their exceedingly steadfast hearts.

For this reason, the more numerous the pillars and spiritual foundations are, the more we too, who are lesser, are fortified.

Blessed is God, who has displayed your virtue all the more brilliantly in the present time.

For this trial is a test — or, to put it more fittingly, a smelting furnace — so that the elect may be revealed, and those otherwise disposed may be exposed;

for you are surely not unaware, O honored of God, of what sort and how many there are on each side.

Therefore we also grieve and groan at the tearing apart of the members, and at how the precious, who could be set against gold, have been reckoned as vessels of clay.

May the great hand of God guard you round about, our beloved father — in health, shining forth in teaching, renowned for your boldness of speech, and praying both for the Church of Christ and for us who are unworthy — so that, following after, I may walk in your footsteps, delivered from the evil one.

To John, abbot of Chalke. I wished to use as bearer of the present letter Silvanus, our spiritual son, from whom I also received the greeting sent to me by your holiness at the time he was being dispatched into exile for the Lord's sake.

But since it was not possible for me to do so until now, I have thought it fitting, through the couriers I have just found, to address your honored self.

Rejoice, O good brother, or rather, most beloved of fathers to me — you are exiled together with Christ, you suffer together with him who suffered for you;

Well done, that you have taken up a spiritual chariot; well done, that for Christ's sake you have counted all things as refuse.

Fine is the monastery which you established through many labors and toils, surpassing the surrounding islands both in the situation of its site and in not a few other distinguishing features.

But see what a foretaste that vibrant place has already procured for you — of paradise itself;

and perhaps God will not be unable to grant even this itself to you, if indeed he so wills.

You have shone forth among your peers more brilliantly than the sun;

in deed you have fulfilled what it means to be a monk, having been isolated from all things — from spiritual children, kinsfolk, friends, homeland, and whatever else — for the sake of the truth.

Let me say something even more boldly (for I have from you the confidence to do so): you have fulfilled your promises; I have been defeated with a good defeat, and I rejoice greatly at being conquered, making your crown my own;

for such are the bonds of love that are according to God.

You know what I mean — when I reproached you concerning the mishap of that time, even though it was not held blameworthy, yet your devout self was seeking after the more perfect things.

But just as I here appear to be grateful, so also, I beseech you, agree with me there.

What is this? That even then the imprisonment was for the sake of truth.

And I say this not on my own behalf (far from it), but so that God may strengthen you, through that former confession, in this present one also, that you may contend lawfully.

These things have been said by me out of overflowing love;

since to another I would not have dared to say them, although indeed I pray that all may be so minded, from head to foot.

Our own state is free of mere conjecture and boorishness, even though in other respects we are living in sins.

Let us also know, O father, in what circumstances you yourself are, and how you are faring — not despondent nor despairing of the mercies of the Lord;

for if he should say, 'Peace, be still,' the storm's shattering will have already subsided.

But also pray for me unceasingly, I beg you, that I may be delivered from the evil one.

To Irene the patrician. A hymn of praise truly befits you, not from me the sinner alone, but nearly from the whole Church of God as well.

For what reason? Because in the present earthquake of impiety, when priests fall, high priests perish, monastics are crushed, rulers are shattered, the ruled are undone, men grow faint, women are afraid — you alone among women have shown yourself unfailing, unshaken, unmoved, fearless, unsoftened, unbroken.

Whence comes this? Because you have had the house of your soul founded upon the spiritual rock, bound together and well cultivated from many and various good works that went before, like spiritual stones — against which, by the power of God, the demonic winds and the snowstorms of assaults have been shown to be stale and powerless.

Blessed are you among women, called blessed among rulers, glorified among those in subjection.

You have truly raised up a horn of salvation for the Church of God; you have gladdened the angels, put the demons to shame, defeated those of evil opinion, struck down the deceivers of the people, strengthened those who were wavering, wounded those who deserted their post, stung sharply those devoted to the flesh; you have confessed Christ through his sacred icon, and have been numbered among his confessors.

Well done, manly-minded soul! Well done, heart with a martyr's resolve! Well done, mother worthy of my veneration!

For she who did, and continues to do, the will of Christ is — I might well say — far more worthy of veneration than I, the unworthy one.

Thus has God glorified and exalted you; and may He yet glorify you still further, if indeed we persevere to the end in our most excellent confession.

And what is the profit from it? The kingdom of heaven, in which you will shine forth as the sun together with all the saints.

To your fellow-contestant, and truly a young shoot of virtue, I address fitting words.

{To Zacharias, Consul} I greet you, man of God, best of friends, laborer of Christ.

What good have you received from us sinners, that you should repay us with such favors? And favors not of the kind by which the flesh is gladdened, nor from which the benefit is short-lived, but ones that truly pass over into the soul and are never emptied throughout the ages.

You know which favors I mean — those shown, I say, toward the most God-beloved archbishop and our brother, toward the protopresbyter, toward us ourselves the sinners, and toward whichever other of our children.

For indeed you had received no benefit from us whatsoever (for whence and when could you have?), but you acted out of a good heart and a purpose devoted to God, in accordance with which you also showed us kindness before, when the emperor raged against us like a mad Herod.

For to speak thus is more fitting and dignified.

May He, then, who out of loving-kindness receives unto Himself the favors you have done for us, the lowly ones, give you grace for grace; and may He deliver you, with your whole household, from every evil, and especially from the raging heresy against Christ.

{To Athanasius, my child} The Lord knows those who are his, as it is written.