Letters 1 part 39/55

But since the second matter concerns the sincere and unblemished faith of us Christians, we dare, with reverence, to bring this forward: that if what is being said were something merely human, subject to the authority either of our most holy high priest or of us the unworthy, it would be necessary to yield not merely a little but indeed everything, as the commandment bids;

but since the matter concerns God and is directed toward God, whose servants are all things—not merely this or that person, but not even if it were Peter and Paul, nor any of the angels, would dare alter even the slightest thing, since through this the whole gospel would be overturned;

and as for engaging in a disputational discourse with those of heterodox belief, contrary to the apostolic injunction, this is not fitting, except only for the purpose of admonition;

and therefore we, the unworthy servants of your pious majesty, do not even dare so much as to murmur a word about it.

But if there is anything doubted or disbelieved that needs to be resolved piously by the high priest for your divine great-mindedness, let its great and God-supported hand, being zealous for divine things for the benefit of all, command that the clarification be received from elder Rome, just as it was issued from above and from the beginning, handed down from the fathers;

for this, O Christ-imitating emperor, is the foremost of the churches of God, of which Peter holds the first throne, to whom the Lord says:

'You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church;'

'and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.'

This is our request, we your unworthy servants; this, with God's help, is the entreaty of those who have been humbled.

May the mighty hand of God preserve you, the one desired by the world and beloved of God, the emperor of Christians, extending your reign for many years and passing on the realm to your children's children, amid prosperity and victories over enemies and foes.

{Beginning of Book III. To bishops exiled for the Lord's sake} Having just now heard news concerning your blessedness, O thrice-beloved fathers, I, the humble one, rejoiced greatly and glorified our good God,

but because I was not deemed worthy to see you and to enjoy the graces present in you, I was also greatly grieved;

for I was about to see men of God, hierarchs of the Lord, blessed men, luminaries of the world, pillars of the faith, and whatever other good things you both are and are called;

but our many sins are the cause of what has happened;

and we do not marvel at the misfortune, but we put forward our supplication;

what is this supplication? That by letters you might console us for this deprivation, admonishing, enlightening, strengthening, setting forth whatever is true, whatever is dignified, whatever is just, whatever is steadfast, whatever is worthy of the contest, whatever virtue there is and whatever praise belongs to the confession of faith.

Write these things, and explain how Christ, when depicted, is to be venerated—homonymously or synonymously—since the one belongs to orthodoxy, the other to false doctrine;

and how the veneration directed toward Christ and his icon is to be understood—as one or as two—since the one is our position, the other that of the icon-fighters;

for of those things whose hypostatic likeness is one, of these the veneration also is one and the same, except that the essence of the icon itself is in no way venerated.

This little discourse of ours is a reminder, not a teaching, whereas yours is altogether more perfect, in the same measure as your anointing surpasses ours;

wherefore may you complete the race set before you, most holy fathers, most manfully, as those who will receive the crown of righteousness.

{To Ammon, his son} Woe is me! Even from the very starting-gate of this letter, I send up a groan from the depths of my heart and mix tears with the ink, on account of what I have heard about you, brother;

for they say that you have cast off the holy garment of the monk and are living among laymen and going about with a woman.

O what a pitiable thing to hear!

For your sin, child, is my own, according to the manner of paternal sympathy.

Where is the light of your mind? Where is the wing of hope? Where is the shield of faith? Where is the discernment of your reason? Where is your love toward God? Where is your flight from the world that followed? Where is your abandonment of all things upon earth? Where is your diligent oversight of the monastery? Where is the compunctionate acceptance of your reception into monastic life? Where is your grounding in the cenobitic life? Where is your illuminating confession of sins? Where are your good tears? Where is your reverent habit? Where is the testimony from the whole fullness of the brotherhood? Where is your confession made at the holy sanctuary? Where are the promises made with God and the angels as witnesses? Where is the radiant splendor of the habit? Where is the marriage understood spiritually? Where is the Lamb of God who was slain for you? Where is the evangelical and fraternal rejoicing? Where is the most sacred kiss from all? Where is your standing before the divine altar? Where is the divine partaking of the Body and Blood of Christ? Where is that whole bright and angel-gladdening rite? Where is the shining lamp? Where is the true vine? Where is the fruit-bearing planting of the Spirit? Where—for wretched me—is my son, who kept advancing further and further in goodness and proved useful to the brotherhood, the child of God, the dancer in the light, the citizen of the kingdom of heaven, the chosen vessel? How was he turned back? How did the beloved one kick against the goad? How was the enlightened one darkened? How did he shake off the weapons of chastity? How did he become the devil's prey, captured alive by him unto that one's will, forsaking the good Bridegroom, the Lord of glory, the sovereign of all things? O, who would not groan from the depths? Who would not pity the one deceived? O heaven, be astonished at this; O earth, cry aloud at this suffering!

What has happened, brother? Did you not feel shame even before those who see you? Did you not blush even at the very air? Were you not repelled by the stench of this all-accursed sin? Do you have your senses? Are you indeed alive? Do you gaze upon the sun? Do you see the moon? Do you behold the stars? It is not, it is not possible to say how great the sin is, how great the darkness, how great the irrationality (and would that my discourse might stop at this point;

for then this misery would have some measure), but such is not the case, because, brother, there is inexorable judgment, eternal fire, outer darkness without light, gnashing of teeth, and all the other torments to which this accountability belongs, and this without end, unto the ages.

And I have not yet even mentioned the loss of the good things, which you have procured for yourself in advance—

ineffable joy, unending life, eternal gladness, the delight of paradise, the illumination of the Holy Trinity, and every other blessedness, whether spoken of or conceived.

Come then, come, child, sober up, be recalled, be renewed, cast off the cords of sin wound about you by the enemy, be cut off from your Eve, come to Jesus, who does not remember wrongs and is most loving of mankind;

'Come to me, all you who labor,' and are burdened with sins.

He meets you, embraces you, brings you to dwell within, does not reproach you for what went before, holds a feast once again, saves the one who was prodigal.

Yes, I beseech you, child, listen, be kindled with zeal, wound the one who wounded you;

come then, come quickly to us sinners;

I lay down my soul for you, I am the guarantor of your salvation, I will heal you with gentle remedies, I, wretched as I am, will with God's help embrace you more than before.

Only run to us, only do not stand still any longer, but leave your Eve to amuse herself on her own (or rather, if she listens to divine things, place her in a convent), and present yourself to God and to us.

I therefore solemnly testify before God and the elect angels, that hearing these things you may change yourself, hastening to us before the end arrives, before the inexorable sentence closes against you.

{To Theophilus, abbot} Not a few things have I heard concerning your honored self, which grieved me not a little; yet these have been dispelled by your honored letter.

And indeed, I dare to say, the Lord has accepted your repentance and your defense for the return to the monastery, even though it was not fitting at that time, when Christ was being persecuted;

but now, since the persecution has abated, what reason is there for retreat, rather than for the contest? 'From me,' he says, 'you shall see, and so shall you do.'

This is what you ought to have said to your disciples when they were urging you to run back home—not to obey them and become a pattern of defeat, and this after your fall;

or do you not know that your communion, and that of those who were impiously led away with you, was upon the denial of Christ? Then, since you chose repentance through withdrawal (for this is the essential point of repentance, without which the fall remains unrepented of), why did you turn back again to the offense (forgive me, father—since you have given yourself over to my humble self, I am compelled to say to you the fitting things as though from the mouth of the Lord)? Why did you not admonish all your disciples either to be persecuted together with you in the same manner, or, if they were unwilling, let them go as Christ-haters, as flesh-lovers, as disobedient ones, but not as sons? In this way you would have well retrieved your defeat and become a good model for those under your hand, and would have appeared to the church of Christ as an edification instead of your former ruin.

Thus acted our most God-beloved brother, the abbot of Medikion; thus also our most holy father of Laodicea, since others too did the same.

It is one of two things: either these acted lawfully, and you acted unlawfully, along with whoever else has acted as you did—

but there are some, as I learn, of the fallen category (whose names I shall willingly pass over), who say that concerning this they need not repent at all, nor even ask for a single word of forgiveness, and that they have done well;

as a result of which, they say, the brothers have been saved and the churches remained undesecrated.

Christ was denied, his holy icon being set at naught, as was the Theotokos, and whichever of the saints—on account of which the high priest was persecuted, and bishops were confined to exile, and abbots suffered the same, monks and nuns, laymen and laywomen—some being beaten, others imprisoned, others starved, others flayed, others cast into the sea, others put to death, others hidden away, others fleeing.

The deserts and caves were full, the mountains and glens were full;

flesh being cut, blood flowing, our inhabited world resounding like a bell with the persecution, virtually everything under heaven groaning and weeping bitterly.

...to suffer? And what temple did you preserve, having defiled yourself, the temple of God? And what brothers did you protect, when they were corrupted by your ruinous communion, even in matters of food? A scandal to the world, an example of denial, an incitement to perdition, flesh but not spirit, a darkener but not a luminary.

These things Truth itself cries out against those who are impious in this way:

whom, if they do not repent of saying such godless things, one must not consider Christians.

Have you heard the judgment, father? You have sinned, having turned back and repudiated your promise.

Yet the good God will forgive you.

Remain, then, for now in the monastery, since matters have turned out otherwise, holding fast to confessing to every man that you have sinned, so that God may be made gracious and bring you back up to the former light, when the lamp of your way of life shone brightly, when you were revered even by emperors, when not even the smallest oversight was something you regarded lightly.

And for what follows, as the Lord shall order the affairs of the Church, so shall we also speak, so shall we also die together with you for love's sake, in love.

Pray for us sinners, and do not suppose that we have written arrogantly (for we know ourselves to be an abomination among holy men), but rather for the sake of truth and of your salvation:

and if for the sake of others also, may the one who benefits from it give thanks to God for the grace.

To the beloved spiritual children and brothers Laurence, Symeon, Dionysius, Poemen, Litoius, and the rest scattered here and there, Theodore, sinful monk, greeting in the Lord. Rejoicing belongs always to those who live according to God, even should they fall into things contrary to joy, since the one work of true gladness is hope in God, and to live and move for his sake and because of him, and to do everything else whatsoever.

That you are indeed such, the very facts themselves bear witness:

For on account of what else has your dispersal, toil, and turmoil come about, except for the sake of our good God himself? — even though now, by his providence, the persecution has abated with the proclamation of the gracious rule, and a door of free speech has been opened to those who were persecuted, who enjoy a moderate measure of release and peace throughout every city and region.

For these things, O fathers, we are debtors to offer thanksgiving to the Lord, and intercessions for a more abundant peace and for the strengthening of our God-appointed emperors.

Second, that both we and you should not receive this release as a dissolution of virtue, but that each of us, wherever we are, should think the same thing, keep to the same rule, giving offense in nothing, so that the ministry may not be blamed, but in everything commend ourselves, as it is written, as ministers of God, in endurance, in afflictions, in hardships, and in the other things to which the life of these present days is subject:

For thus we shall both keep what has already been accomplished unassailable, and handle with ease the things now befalling us, and meet in a manner befitting God the things that are to come.

Here we are, dwelling outside the city with the knowledge of the imperial authority, seeing and being seen by our brothers and fathers who come to visit:

and the freedom to do so has been decreed by the good emperor.

As for what follows, whether the Lord grants success, or the authority commands us either to remain here or to move elsewhere and withdraw, so shall we also conduct ourselves.

Only do you yourselves hold fast to your own work, and also to praying for our lowliness, so that we may be blameless toward these and toward those, and toward the Church of God.

As for the brothers who had earlier rashly broken away, God, who is exceedingly good, has been pleased, in many ways, to have them reunited with us, together with a due account.

And we, unworthy as we are, rejoiced with great joy, because we saw with our own eyes the things we had not hoped for:

and the members that had been torn apart were knit back together, and we celebrate a feast to the Lord in the reuniting of each one, and we give answering thanks to the Lord, and we render gratitude to those in power, because, even if nothing else, how great this gift is toward us; and again, because we could not otherwise have fittingly obtained this reconciliation except by being thus released from confinement and being seated in so great a see.

And since the account concerns recall, the bearer of this letter, our beloved son Clement, the most devout abbot, was recalled and united with us along with the others, and indeed more than the others, gladly receiving all that needed to be said to him, and making a fitting defense concerning everything:

at which, being pleased, we embraced him warmly to our bosom, hoping that we sinners might also, through him, have this very salvation as our boast.

And you too, I urge, receive the brother as brothers, the member as members, the one who is like-minded as those who are like-minded:

for thus, by the grace of Christ, you will find him sound in all things and seeking God.

{To the Abbess of Nicaea} Even before now, the good report concerning your honored self drew us to write to you, and now, relying on those same praises, we both write and address your dignified reverence, receiving and blessing you, because you chose, for the Lord's sake, to endure afflictions and hardships, the persecution of the monastery and the exile of relocation, and whatever else is circumstantial and indicative of confession.

These are matters for praise and confession, these are the prizes and contests of a bride of Christ, and, still more admirable, the holiness shown toward the sisters under your charge:

because they too chose to strip themselves along with you for the confession, and acted with manly courage, and were scourged, and were confined, and glorified God in their body and in their spirit.

Oh, what contests! Oh, what excellent training!

Such as the ruler is, such also is the ruled; such as the teacher is, such great also are the pupils.

Behold, I and the children whom God has given me — combatants, manly, lovers of Christ rather than lovers of the flesh, counting all things as refuse that they might gain Christ, having offered all their members to Christ that they might serve their Beloved.

You have been numbered with the confessors, you have been crowned with the martyrs, so far as concerns what has already come to pass.

But since, O mother, no one is crowned unless he competes according to the rules, and the rule is to excel to the end both in faith and in life, I beseech and remind you that we should walk worthily of the calling to which we have been called, with all humility and gentleness, and with security for what follows, so as neither to be caught by the still-raging, Christ-denying heresy, nor to be turned aside in any way from the ascetic life that ought to be regulated according to rule, but to do all things for the glory of God, shining forth in every way with the illumination of the commandments:

which I believe you are indeed accomplishing, to the praise of Christ's glory, to your eternal boast — and may I be permitted to say, also to that of us sinners.

For indeed, if we are of one Father, we are all reckoned brothers of one another, and it is not unreasonable that we all consider the labors of all as a common boast.

Our greeting is in spirit.

The Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.

I have heard that you practice much self-restraint, and I was pleased:

yet since moderation in all things is best, I remind you: temper yourself also in this, so that the body may be brought into subjection and yet not become too weak to carry out the commandments.

{To the Bishops exiled for the Lord's sake in Cherson} It is a work of true love and a proof of unfeigned faith that, from so great a distance of place, your fatherly holiness should send one of the brothers who were persecuted along with you, the most reverend monk Agapetus (or rather, most blessed, according to what the Lord has sung concerning those persecuted for righteousness' sake), to pay a visit — first of all to the divine and most sovereign Head, and then to us, the least among the spiritual brothers and sons.

O sincere love!

You have accomplished, and still bear, O thrice-blessed fathers, for the sake of the name of our Lord Jesus Christ:

upon hearing of which, we rejoiced, we praised, we gave answering thanks, we said that God is truly among you, well pleased and served by your confession on behalf of the truth.

It seems to me that your exile was ordained, not for the sake of your own body alone, but indeed also for the salvation of those in that place, by the providence that saves all things, since, having arrived there, you were seen to be luminaries for those living in darkness and a life of error, guides for the blind, instructors in virtue, heralds of piety, teachers concerning the fearful acts of daring that have been committed here against Christ.

Thus also in that place, and everywhere on land and sea, the Lord has made the confessors shine forth, for a demonstration of truth, for the averting of impiety, just as in the times of old:

and his name was magnified, and the elect people of Christ were proven, and the Christ-hating band was rejected, and the great dragon, the Assyrian mind, received an end to its life fitting the audacity of what it dared against God.

As for how things stand here now, it would be superfluous to say, since the bearer of this letter is able, by the grace of Christ, to explain each detail fittingly:

to whom we have also entrusted, along with the letter, a certain distribution, which may you also deign to receive, granting us your precious prayers for the strengthening of the soul.

{To Eudoce, who lives in virginity} It is not good to forget friendship and kindness done to us:

for if irrational animals, though deprived of reason, know how to preserve goodwill toward their benefactors, how much more fitting is it for us, who have been made according to the image of God, to keep an irreproachable remembrance toward our friends.

For this reason we have made it our task to send to your honored self our beloved son Proterius, declaring this very thing: that we have not forgotten, but indeed remember very much, and carry it on our tongue, and recount to others your compassion toward us sinners — how great and how vast this is:

For in the time of trial, in the time of the persecution on account of Christ, when we were imprisoned there — I and the brother Nicholas — when guards were posted before the opening of the prison, not permitting anyone to make contact with the fortress, according to the command of the impious, at that time — to say nothing of what went before, though it too was considerable — being emboldened by your confidence in God, you kept sending, as it were nursing us, feeding us, giving us drink, encouraging us, anointing us, exposing yourself recklessly to death — which you would very nearly have suffered in fact, had not the hand of God arrived in time and restrained you.

You know the accusations of your neighbors, the exactions of the officials — that you have taken gifts from the condemned man, that you obey his words of instruction, this thing and that.

But nevertheless — O what great faith! — even when these things were in such turmoil, you did not give way at all, but, as though nothing new had happened, you again took hold of your ministry, propitiating the guards with gifts and, as the saying goes, serving God through us sinners; from which came both the snatching away from dangers and the unhoped-for salvation.

What is this but a second Priscilla and that Phoebe, or of those equal in rank to them in the matter of ministry, for which they are blessed by the divine Apostle? In no way inferior, as it seems to me, except that it was shown toward the unworthy.

But this, indeed, is all the more praiseworthy:

for there, the greatness of the person served might perhaps have moved even senseless stones to do good; but here, on the contrary, the repulsiveness of the subjects served was enough to persuade even the most sensitive minds to grow numb.

But because you were seen to have acted thus, even under such adverse conditions, consider what praise this deserves.

We therefore have received, O fair virgin, this mercy of yours, and we rightly praise you, receiving besides and joining in praise of your other noble qualities as well: your self-restraint, your unkempt hair, your neglected attire, your almsgiving, and, among other things, your love of chastity — and in this you have in no way been found fault with by any person whatsoever.

O your excellent work!

O head, beloved of God and aged!

Like a rose among thorns, you have given forth fragrance in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, like a lily growing upright.

What, then, remains? That you continue also henceforth blameless, in a state of salvation, discerning carefully every other commandment of the Lord, so as neither to swear by the name of the Lord at all, nor to overlook anything else that has been commanded:

I say this not as one who has caught you at fault and is accusing you, but as one who longs for you to be perfect in all things, and thereby to attain to the good things promised.

Brother Nicholas greets you, and I too greet the lord your nephew.

{To Nicetas the Curator} Nothing is more valuable than a faithful friend:

but when discord concerning the faith comes between those who love each other, then love too, by its very nature, is divided along with the faith.

Why, then, have we opened in this way, master? Surely your admirable self is not ignorant of either our first friendship or the subsequent estrangement:

For this reason, at the messages sent by your most illustrious self, we were seized at once with hesitation as to whether to accept them.

But since our brother Glycerius reported thus and thus — that the friendship remains and orthodoxy stands strong, and that the submission and the heretical communion, as with anyone who loves life, is due only to human fear — inclining toward the more humane view, we accepted both the greeting and the offering, and loved you again, and returned to our former relationship, especially having heard that your honored self is preparing to set up holy icons in the house of prayer, which is proof of a more ardent zeal.

And indeed, most honored one, the error of the iconoclasts is manifest:

For formerly, when God was without flesh, it was not possible to make a likeness of God:

for it is said, 'No one has ever seen God,' and whoever does this is an idolater.

But when the Word, who is God, became flesh, made like us in every respect, then he is circumscribed — that is, he is depicted in an image just as we are — if indeed the apostle who says, 'God was manifested in the flesh,' speaks the truth:

And if this is so, he was also portrayed in an image in the flesh, along with whatever other human thing you might mention: he ate in the flesh, he sweated in the flesh, he wept in the flesh, he suffered in the flesh.

So whatever you wish to say of him, the phrase 'in the flesh' will meet it:

And the argument stands clear and firm: to overthrow the fact that he is depicted in an image in the flesh overthrows together with it, immovably, all that has been said before.

And thus one is compelled to say that God was not manifested in the flesh:

than which what could be more Jewish? These things have been said within the compass proper to a letter:

but if God should grant, at some later time, that we see one another, then such an abundance of true doctrines concerning both the depiction and the veneration of the holy icons will be spoken to you as your honored ear could scarcely be able to hear.

{To Basil, spiritual son} We desired, beloved child, to see you here also, together with lord Gregory; but since this did not come to pass, we console ourselves for the absence by letter, letting you know that we always hold you in our lowly heart, cherishing the salvation of you and of the brothers and children who are with you:

for indeed a father's glory is the good repute of his son, and a son's honorable renown is a sacred boast for the father.

I exhort you, therefore, in the Lord, to hold fast not only to your own stability, but also to the care of the brothers, being longed for and longing, being cherished and cherishing:

for where spiritual love is, there Christ is in the midst, just as he promised.

As a good guide, lead the lambs of Christ with compassion and forbearance, yearning over them as your own members:

I know who you are: that you are free of partiality, that you are accommodating, and yet also that you are exact concerning the commandments of God.

Let there be one soul among all, since all things are held in common; let there be confession, since everything that is brought to light is light, just as the opposite is darkness; let there be obedience, under which the thief finds no way in for his deceit; let there be humility, which God, clothing himself with it, became man, thereby making men into gods.

O good Basil, guard the deposit entrusted to you: turn away from wickedness, gird yourself with divine things, and stand forth as a model of good works before the whole brotherhood:

and thus he who rejects you rejects God, and he who submits to you submits to God.

Remember my lowliness, together with the brothers.

{To the beloved brothers Gregory, Ezekiel, Erastus, Theophanes, Anina, and the rest in Greece} There is a time to speak, it is said, and a time to be silent.

Since, then, the latter has governed our preceding days — and, I might say, even these present ones — for this reason, having only now, with difficulty, come out from the city by God's good pleasure, we speak to you, fathers and brothers, and we speak in apostolic words:

'Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I will say, rejoice' — not according to the joy of this present world (though indeed that is not even joy, but altogether affliction, since the subject is disorderly), but rejoice according to the spirit of holiness, because you have been redeemed from the slavery of the enemy, from vain conduct, from flesh and blood, and now serve the living and true God:

from which also comes both the former blessedness in the persecution and the present state of being strangers in a foreign land, scattered here and there as you are, until the Lord look upon us, granting peace as a prize to his church and restoring us together into the same place.