Letters 1 part 53/55

Orphaned are the children whom he begot, and orphaned too is she herself, together with her sisters, having nowhere to lean her hand when she stumbles, nor anywhere to turn her gaze when beset by hardship.

But why should we lament this suffering any further? Our word is addressed to one beloved of God, to a woman of understanding, of sound mind, of much experience, full of divine knowledge, able even to bring others to self-mastery by her own example.

Bring forth from the good treasure of your heart the spiritual riches, the remedies of consolation, providing sufficiently for yourself and for your sisters;

For we know that grief has touched them equally, since also the lady abbess, and indeed the whole family as well, and I would add even the senate itself.

Who would not groan over him? Who would not shed tears, since grief has touched even us lowly ones, though we so philosophize? But since we considered that no one who has come into being fails also to depart from here, and this has been so from our forefather Adam until now, we deemed nothing strange in what has happened;

But it would indeed be an extraordinary thing if your God-wise heart should bear it with thanksgiving, becoming, together with the lady abbess, a pattern for the sisters and cousins and all your kindred.

Arrange everything as is your custom, with good courage and magnanimous purpose, helping as far as possible also the household of the brother, so that those who lie in wait amid men's misfortunes may not find it desolate and overrun it.

And simply, we know that you dispose all things well in every respect, and that you command your reasoning rather than being commanded by despondency and distress.

For this very purpose we have also sent brother Athanasius, to show our deep sympathy for the man, and a sympathy inclining also toward your honored self;

whom we pray you receive speedily, as he becomes a good messenger of your grateful endurance.

{To Olbianus the Patrician} George, the God-loving man and most illustrious notary, having brought us a greeting from your all-renowned and celebrated Excellency, requested that we make a written reply of greeting, since your Blessedness had so commanded.

But we, having persuaded ourselves to yield in matters of friendly obligation, indite this letter, first offering, as we lowly ones ought, the fitting greetings, gladly and more than gladly accepting this very thing, that he should desire to hear our voice, we being wretched and sinful (for this is no small token of piety, that one exalted in eminence should incline toward the voice of the lowly, especially in this present time, when so many shrink even from their very close friends, let alone from those of lesser note); and then reminding you, with due modesty, to rule and administer those under your authority in a manner befitting God:

For if 'every rule and authority is ordained by God,' to speak in apostolic terms, it is plain that the one who rules and holds authority in a manner worthy of God ought to govern the people under his hand — on the one hand, by incorrupt judgments in the disputes brought to litigation; on the other, by showing to those who approach a kindly and peaceable countenance, and by granting, through an accessible reception, boldness to speak what is in the petitioner's heart (for, it says, 'the poor man does not withstand a threat'); further, by inclining also toward the poor and humbled portion, and disciplining, when necessity compels, yet disciplining not in wrath but with a view to correction, calmly, and not with many stripes (for harshness is unloved by God), but judiciously, only so far as to check indiscipline and effect correction, as a father toward his child, or a physician toward the sick.

And blessed is he who thus leads and commands the people, since Moses too, the servant of God, was a ruler, and Joshua the son of Nun a general;

and it would take much to tell how many, not only among kings, but also among judges and rulers, both before the Law and under the Law and after grace, held rule and preeminence from ancient times, and pleased the Lord, conducting themselves with piety.

In this way, then, we also love you, our all-renowned and greatly longed-for lord, and beseech you so to govern, and to become numbered among these who are saved and worthy of admiration.

And do not take our admonition as presumption, but as a token of love, since we love you as one who loves God, and it is a mark of a friend to speak what is beneficial to the one he loves;

this is what our humble letter has shown.

May our good God grant us also, at some time not too distant, to come to a meeting face to face, and to enjoy the good things that are in you, so that whatever the report of hearing cannot convey, the very sight of eyewitness experience may show us and render us more effective in our friendly union — since we have been taught by the good letter-bearer that your piety is marked by no small number of excellent achievements;

which may the Lord also preserve as the apple of an eye, keeping it safe above every harmful attack, and may He bring it safe into His heavenly kingdom.

{To Antony the Bishop} A fitting address your paternal holiness has now made — not, indeed, to us the lowly (far from it! for we know well what we are, falling short even of those assigned the lowest rank according to the measure of virtue), but to all the divine fathers and confessors, like some good angel proclaiming greetings and binding all of us together in a loving manner,

scattered as we are on account of the word of God and the testimony of His only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, that we might speak to one another through letters, and be joined spiritually through written memoranda, and by no means be reckoned, through our silence, as though dead.

For we know that the blessed apostle Paul too, together with his fellow God-sent workers, called to one another from afar and came together by their common message, proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom of God to the whole world — in which endeavor, if it is not too bold to say, the Holy Spirit itself, having appointed us, also charges us;

'Speak,' it says, 'and do not be silent, for I have many people in this place.'

'If he draws back, my soul has no pleasure in him.'

So that the judgment upon silence is a fearful thing, especially amid this willful, deliberate deafness of those who take the heretical side.

which your holiness — as you yourself have written, acting in a manner befitting God — may say you endure many trials on account of it, from those who are unwilling to have a holy word sounded in their ears, but who have instead denied the God-painted image of Christ, of the Theotokos, and of any one whatsoever of His servants.

May you, then, O thrice-longed-for one, remain set upon the lampstand of the word, according to the evangelical precept, shining upon all who are in the house, so that those who open wide their eyes may receive the light, while those who shut their senses may reap the fruit of their own blindness;

and may you also pray that we do likewise, and may you carry off the gift of your pastoral office without blame.

We wish you to know that one of the lamps has flown away to the Lord — namely, the most holy metropolitan of Synnada — since even before him the renowned brothers and fathers, Athanasius the abbot of Paulopetrion and John the teacher of Chalcitis, had also departed.

And the heretics indeed suppose that they are cutting short the confessing fullness of Christ, but they do not know that it is rather multiplied, flying up together in zeal with those who have already contended, even that flock which has, as it were, molted its feathers.

But Christ still sleeps — to some opening a door with ineffable goodness, to others testing their longing through the crown of endurance, and yet others He receives each time, as tested gold, into the diadem of the glory of His beauty.

These things we write to you from us, O most blessed one;

and may you yourself still further move God to establish peace in His church, uprooting all evil from the midst of it, and deeming us who are left behind worthy to come to a face-to-face meeting, even as you also intimated in your prayer for us.

{To Dionysius the Monk} Those being treated by skilled physicians have no need of visits from those of lesser skill, except perhaps out of love, paying their respects to their true physicians;

so that your fraternal honor, too, would be doing something quite superfluous, seeing that you have been healed by our most God-loving father, the archbishop of Dyrrachium, and have not relapsed — yet still you seek treatment even from us, the lesser and humbled ones.

But since the word of love has now moved you to write, it has likewise persuaded us, unworthy as we are, to write back to you and to be joined with you in a loving disposition;

for those who have taken up the same profession and likewise embrace the same mind ought to be blended together in love, even apart from any particular necessity.

For indeed the Lord has said that, because lawlessness would be multiplied, the love of the many would grow cold.

Let the matter of your treatment, then, be kept sound according to what has been canonically prescribed by the most holy archbishop.

But this we exhort and remind you: do not sink back again, nor be drawn down toward that ruinous relapse through these and those old symptoms;

for the past failures alone suffice, on account of which we ought forever to groan and lament, to weep and wail, that while the brothers of like habit have soared aloft like eagles by their confession, we are held fast beneath the snare of heresy;

while they were being imprisoned and starved, we were living in safety.

How then should we not take these things to heart and lament because of them? 'How shall I stand with Job,' says the great Basil, 'I who have not received even the slightest affliction with thanksgiving? And how shall I stand with each of the saints, I who have not walked in their footsteps?' Behold, brothers, what fearsome things, what vast distances separate us from them! 'What,' it says, 'will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, but forfeits his soul?' Is this not the very voice of the Lord? Let us, then, fear and tremble, and indeed let us yet beg forgiveness concerning our former failures, and as for what lies ahead, let us walk on with straight steps, in no way tripping nor limping on both knees according to what is written, but walking uprightly in the commandments of God, keeping our faith unadulterated and our conduct unfeigned, so that we may inherit not fields and vineyards and fig trees and whatever belongs to this perishable and corruptible life, but the good things promised — eternal life, the kingdom of heaven;

for far be it from us even to think or say that a result contrary to good conduct should follow from contrary deeds!

Peace to you, brothers in the Lord;

be at peace with one another; be entreated to pray for us sinners.

{To Joseph, Abbot of the Keramians} Even before the arrival of the good Sergius, the news of the mourning for the blessed metropolitan among you had reached our ears, O most honored brothers; and how much we groaned — I might add, and wept — the Knower of hidden things knows, since he was a father common to both you and us, a faithful friend, that which is sought by all and found so rarely.

O, how has the unshaken pillar of the church fallen! How has the light of those in darkness been extinguished, that radiance so peculiarly your own! The sweet-speaking tongue has fallen silent, the most prudent mind has departed, the buttress of faith has been torn away, the champion of the churches, the gentle word, the persuasive voice, all that is good which is sung and known concerning that man!

and we have become — I do not say only you, but also, throughout the whole body of the orthodox — orphans upon earlier orphanhoods;

one blessed father went before, another followed after him, yet another flew away together with them; almost all the luminaries of the faithful have set, with only very few left remaining.

And the sky is gloomy, wrapped about with cloud; and the church, too, is gloomy now above all, having lost her stars.

Yet nevertheless the sun of righteousness has taken up the stars, who have died a blessed death, and He Himself has promised to be with us until the consummation of the age;

so that, even though the present is grievous, yet it is again full of joy on account of the hope that we have our fathers as our advocates before God, watching over us graciously from above and bending His goodness into pity upon us.

For the rest, our word must now be turned toward you.

You are not a flock without a shepherd, O brothers;

for your good chief shepherd, namesake of the blessed apostle Peter, had already both instructed and formed you, and, while still living, appointed a leader for you and ordained everything that was due;

and for a whole year, as one already on the point of departing, uttering each day words of farewell, he prepared each and every one of you.

and it is a matter for our prayer that things should not, owing to the difficulty of the times, turn out otherwise, but that both you and these arrangements should remain just as he ordained;

yet even should it turn out to the contrary, this should not be a reason for you to abandon the truth, but, just as he too ordained in writing, you should count all things as refuse for the sake of Christ, and not betray the words concerning faith and truth.

These things must be said to all of you, but especially to you, my lord abbot, since as is the ruler, so, by nature, is the ruled.

Keep the exactness of your profession, lest we be defiled through communion with the heterodox, looking all around at the crooked examples set by others.

these things will not stand by us for help in the hour of death, in the time of judgment, but rather a good conscience and a blameless way of life will.

And we urge these things not because we wish you to suffer something dreadful, but as brothers desiring to help brothers, in accordance with the commandment that bids us do so.

since indeed we also pity and have compassion on the lord Gregory, our spiritual brother, seeing that he has now grown richly old, and is such a one as you know both from his bodily services and from his spiritual achievements — even though, in Christ-imitating humility, he chose to bear everything rather than do anything contrary to the paternal ordinances.

May the peace of God be granted to you — that peace which He spoke to His holy apostles as He departed into heaven — and likewise also love for one another;

'By this,' it says, 'all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.'

Take courage, my lord abbot, and you yourself, lord Gregory, and then each one in turn, all lifting your heads up from grief and paving, as it were, a new road for your spiritual struggle, praying also for us the lowly ones, for the better things pertaining to salvation.

{To Euthymius of Sardis} You, O blessed one, ever maintaining your accustomed humility, do not cease to bestow honor upon us who are without distinction;

but we know you truly indeed as both a foundation of the word and a support of the church, and especially now, when so-and-so and so-and-so, those illustrious fathers, the glory of the orthodox, have left us, and you, almost as a single beacon, shine above the lowly ones and range through those in the city, enlightening many who are dim-sighted from want of light, and bringing yet more to God through the flooding stream, as it were, of your honey-dropping teaching.

But may you be preserved to us still, O thrice-longed-for one, and indeed also to the whole church, for support and divine rejoicing.

Concerning the presbyter about whom you bade us give word thus and thus — that he both is alive and has been ransomed from barbarian captivity — we know this, having learned each detail from the man himself;

but the man does not wish, or rather does not consent, to be brought under regulation by our canon;

for you know, O one honored by God, that it has been determined by the common decree both of those still alive on earth and of those confessors who have recently departed to the Lord, that those who, once ordained, have fallen into heretical communion be barred from priestly ministry, until, clearly, a time of oversight determined by providence from above.

And how could we possibly break the rule, and by admitting the one case bring the law to bear upon all who were previously restrained, and in doing so act contrary to our divine and foremost guide -- seeing that he himself does not even allow such men to bless ordinary food, let alone perform anything greater in a priestly capacity -- and so scandalize the rest of the confessors and bring dissension upon those who hold fast to strictness? And even if some, perhaps, in their own judgment, on account of the shortness of time and the pressing insistence of petitioners, released certain of the presbyters after their penance, yet we could by no means accomplish this apart from the president, since it must also be reckoned that the reasoning behind the confinement stands sound.

For where would the difference appear between those who betrayed the truth and those who did not, between those who contended nobly and those who by no means chose to suffer for the sake of the good? And where then would Christ and Belial be, light and darkness, if everything were mixed together, and there were judgment before the synodal judgment, and peace before peace? This is a thing utterly to be forsworn, O best of the fathers, as it seems to us -- and, we would say, in truth as well.

Sufficient for such a one is this punishment inflicted by the majority, as the Apostle says, lest such a person be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow.

Certain exceptional measures, on account of necessity, when no unblemished minister is present, have been conceded to be performed in priestly fashion -- things which your perfection also well knows, since you yourself have already been confined on this very account.

But such as this presbyter, considering what he did before the barbarians came, and how he enlightened many here, and -- as they say -- that on account of all these things he ought to be set free, did not consent to submit himself in the same manner as those confined here.

Therefore we have left the matter concerning him to himself, that he might decide what to do, neither having released him nor confined him.

Farewell in the Lord, O most illustrious one; both we and the brothers with us send you our warmest greetings.

{To John the Grammarian} I give thanks to the holy God, that I have heard your beloved voice, even though late in coming.

For I would not say that I am grateful to the one who cut it off by shameless rashness.

But since, together with the setting aside of sorrow, your wise honor has also, in turn, put forward a discourse concerning the venerable icon of Christ, I have this to say, O thrice-longed-for one: I found your recent letter to be in agreement with -- and advocating for, not contending against -- what was formerly sent by me.

For it is confessedly, according to your previously established premises, that every icon is indicative of something else, namely of its prototype; and, if one must speak according to grammatical terminology, this would be what is called a 'relative' term -- which is also termed 'likeness-signifying,' 'demonstrative,' and 'reciprocal.'

And indeed, veneration ought not to be offered to the icon of Christ as to matter, but as to Christ himself, since the honor given to the icon passes over to the prototype -- the matter being set aside by the reasoning of the mind, on account of the character formed within it.

And, as you say, veneration in the manner of worship must be offered to Christ the Savior both before the incarnation and after it, both apart from the icon and through it; and I think none among those of sound mind would set themselves against what has been rightly dogmatized.

But indeed it is not unfitting to follow also the examples of the sun in relation to water, and of the immaterial triangle -- that is, the mathematical one -- in relation to the material triangle. For, hypothetically, if the sun, or the triangular figure, were taken to be an object of worship even before the one shimmers upon the waters and the other appears in matter, then it is clear that after its falling therein -- that is, its union with matter -- each remains equally an object of worship.

For thus you have firmly shown that our Lord Jesus Christ, both after the incarnation and before it, is alike to be worshiped and to be venerated.

Christ, then, my friend, is confessedly an object of worship, but his venerable icon is not an object of worship -- just as the sun, hypothetically mingled with the water, is worthy of worship, but the image of the sun is not; and the triangle, once made material, is worthy of worship, but the image of the triangle is not.

For observe: there is but one worship belonging to us Christians, offered to the holy and consubstantial Trinity alone, by every nature both visible and invisible; and it is not admissible to call the venerable icon of Christ an object of worship.

For it must be one of two things: either one includes the worship proper to the icon within the Trinitarian worship -- which is impossible, since it is not possible to introduce any addition into the Trinity

(for then it would be found to be a quaternity) -- or else, without it being so included, but being in itself an object of worship, one would be dogmatizing that our worship is twofold

And what else would the pagan iconoclasts seek against us, than to demonstrate thereby that we worship with a twofold worship -- the creature alongside the Creator -- and are no less impious than the Arians? The icon of Christ, therefore, is to be venerated, not worshiped; rather, it is Christ who is venerated in it that is to be worshiped, according to the true reasoning, since these are two things -- the icon and the prototype -- and the distinction lies not in the hypostasis, but in the principle of essence.

{To Michael, Syncellus of the Holy City} I am now writing to your honor, at the moment when it was granted to me, by the will of God, to find a bearer for this letter; for otherwise I would have been doing this very thing ever since your own confinement began -- and not once only, but perhaps twice and many times over.

having been formed by the character of sincere faith, both brothers and fellow-citizens, having Christ as our head.

As those who constitute his body, and members in part, we are obligated both to rejoice together with one another in prosperous circumstances, and, in turn, to grieve together in sorrowful ones.

But, oh, how the drift of the times compelled you, though setting out toward another place, to fall into the snares of those who hold power here! What then can one say to this? Perhaps what the sacred writing says: 'and the driving was like the driving of Jehu'? But there it was for the reigning over Israel; here, however, it is for bearing witness to the truth, that what was spoken might now also be fulfilled: 'Out of Zion shall the word go forth, and the law of the Lord from Jerusalem.'

Stand firm nobly, we remind you.

Glorify God, then, in your body and in your spirit; say also, together with the divinely-inspired Paul: 'I know that this shall turn out to my salvation, through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, according to my earnest expectation and hope, that in nothing shall I be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so also now, Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death.'

For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

Behold the sweet contest! Behold the blessed exchange! Through brief afflictions and trials -- that is, through blows and drops of blood -- to become divine, and to attain to the God who truly is.

You have been made solitary, then, as we have heard, cut off in mind from those who have loved the present age, but you have been united with all who hold fast to the word of truth.

From this side, the chorus of martyrs desires to receive you whole; from that side, the throng of confessors extends a hand to draw you in as a fellow member of their company.

Let us not, then, be left out of the goodly company, O venerable one; nor, again, let us put to shame the hopes of all, O thrice-longed-for one.

How much labor would you have had to expend, for your name to become renowned for virtue among those here and there? But now, having ascended, as it were, the mountain of the virtues through your confession, you have become manifest to the world, and you shine forth brighter than the sun, both in word and in life, unto the glory of our Father who is in the heavens.

You were confined in a place of insolence; you were handed over to a blaspheming tongue -- how much it did not flatter, how much it did not lie, and strove to bend you down from your lofty and divine resolve! But we know from report how great you yourself are by the grace of Christ, holding fast the word of life, pouring forth from your mouth a stream of wisdom to bring fitting counter-arguments against vain propositions.

But we in our lowliness say and make clear this: that chosen men, both formerly and now, have presided over this hierarchical throne, having, by skillful formulation of doctrines, set forth and issued the theory and formula concerning the venerable icons; and, if one must speak in apostolic terms, 'where sin abounded, grace abounded all the more.'

For here, having come forth as though from the gates of Hades, the iconoclastic heresy has also here been abolished; and it shall yet further be abolished by the breezes of the Holy Spirit, whenever he shall rebuke it --

-- Christ rebuking this truly wicked sea, around which there are many shipwrecks concerning the faith, not so much through perversion of mind as through fear of those in power.

Yet many have leapt over the surge, being steered by the Holy Spirit, and there are many testimonies and writings of piety, refuting every deception, and displaying the beauty of the truth to all faithful minds.

among whom may your blessedness also be preserved, fighting the good fight, finishing the course, keeping the faith, unto the receiving of the crown of righteousness.

{To Hypakoe, a nun} Though we are hesitant to write, nevertheless we are compelled to open a mouth of thanksgiving and praise to your honor

-- for what you have accomplished concerning your blessed brother.

For they say that you opened the coffin upon its arrival from a foreign land, and then embraced the relic and took it into your arms, re-wrapping the dead body, as it were, in other new linen cloths.

Who, then, would not admire your brotherly love? And who, being present at that time, would not have poured forth tears, would not have wailed fervently -- seeing that even we, situated far away, were touched by the suffering merely through report, and it grievously pained our heart? O bitter tidings!

O lamentable event!

What were we, and what have we become? Suddenly orphaned, bereft of a brother.

Perhaps even the sun groaned as it beheld what was happening; the moon wept over what had come to pass; the stars grew somber as though grieving -- or whatever else one might say of the other elements, having suffered the same.

What then, shall we persist in our grief? Shall we darken ourselves under the cloud of sorrow and become like those without hope? By no means, sister in the Lord.

For our affairs are not without providence, nor without hope, as among the uninitiated nations, but are in the hands of God who holds all things together -- from whom we ourselves came to be, as did those who begot us; from whom we have received both our breathing and our living, and our having been brought to this, the virginal profession, the greatest of dignities.

We have wept, then, as was fitting, over our brother.

Now is the time for consolation; now is the day for thanksgiving.

Let us therefore lay aside the garment of mourning, and put on the armor of magnanimity.

We have sent ahead a brother good both in appearance, in disposition, and in faith -- just as we did formerly with our own kinsmen and our parents.

A little while later, we too shall follow after; and there is no one who has been born who is not also destined to be buried.

Let us, then, also prepare ourselves for our departure; let us make ready the provisions for our passing; let us instruct the sisters, by our own example, both to mourn at the fitting time and to give thanks appropriately.

Let us show those who observe us that God is being glorified among us, and thanked for whatever he ordains.

He himself gave, and he himself took away; as it seemed good to the Lord, so it came to pass.

Yes, I entreat your honor, equally as a mother, one who bore me, or rather as my most beloved sister: let us send forth a voice of praise, let us show a face of cheerfulness, let us teach by our deeds that we bear the cross upon our shoulders, that we have died in resolve, and that we yield in all things to the things of God.