Letters 1 part 7/11

And the late Cyril himself, writing to the blessed Acacius, disclosed the purpose of these chapters, saying: 'Those things we wrote against this man's innovations, and, now that peace has come about, they will be effaced.'

And this defense, then, confirms the accusation.

And I have also sent a copy of what was written by him at the time of the reconciliation, so that you may know, my lord, that he made no mention of these things whatsoever;

and that it is necessary for those going to the synod to bring forward what was written at the time of the reconciliation, and to state clearly what brought about the division, and on what terms the divided parties were joined together.

For those called to the contest on behalf of piety must undertake every labor and invoke the divine alliance, so that we may preserve inviolate the inheritance left to us by our forefathers.

And it is necessary for Your Holiness to consider, and to make companions of the journey those most God-beloved bishops who are of the same mind;

Otherwise, betrayed, we would either be compelled to do something displeasing to the God of all, or, left alone, we would become easy prey for those who make war on us.

It is the faith, I beseech you, in which we have our hopes of salvation;

and it is necessary to set every means in motion, so that nothing spurious be introduced into it, nor the apostolic teaching be corrupted.

If Paul, the herald of the truth, the trumpet of the all-holy Spirit, ran to the great Peter, so that he might obtain from him the resolution for those in Antioch who were disputing concerning conduct according to the Law, how much more do we, lowly and small as we are, run to your apostolic throne, so that we may receive from you a remedy for the wounds of the Churches.

For your throne is adorned with many advantages.

For other cities are adorned either by size, or by beauty, or by the multitude of their inhabitants;

but upon yours the Giver of good things has bestowed an abundance of good things.

For it is itself the greatest of all, and the most splendid, and presides over the world, and surges with the multitude of its inhabitants.

And besides these things, it has also given birth to the empire now reigning;

and it has imparted its own name to those under its rule.

But it is the faith, above all, that adorns it;

and the divine Apostle is a sufficient witness, crying out that 'your faith is proclaimed in all the world.'

And if, having straightway received the seeds of the saving proclamation, it was already laden with these admirable fruits, what speech suffices to praise the piety now practiced in it? And it also possesses the tombs of Peter and Paul, the common fathers and teachers of the truth, which give light to the souls of the faithful.

And this thrice-blessed and divine pair rose in the East, and sent forth their rays in every direction;

These made your throne the more illustrious;

this is the crowning glory of your blessings.

And their God has now also made bright their throne, having established Your Holiness upon it, sending forth the rays of orthodoxy.

And of this many other proofs also can be found;

but the zeal of your Holiness against the ill-named Manichaeans suffices, which your Holiness lately displayed, showing the earnestness of your Piety concerning things divine.

And what has now been written by you suffices to show your apostolic character.

For we have read what was written by your Holiness concerning the incarnation of God our Savior, and we admired the precision of what was written.

and that in all respects the nature that was assumed was like unto us, save only that it was unlike us in this, that it remained untouched by all sin;

since this arises not from nature but from choice.

The letter contained this too: that the only-begotten Son of God is one, and his deity is impassible, unchangeable and unalterable, even as the Father who begot him, and the All-Holy Spirit;

and for this reason he assumed the passible nature, since the divine nature did not admit of suffering;

in order that by the suffering of his own flesh he might grant impassibility to those who have believed in him.

These things, and whatever is akin to them, the letter contained.

And we exhort, and entreat, and beseech, and implore your Holiness, to come to the aid of the Churches of God, which are storm-tossed.

For having expected that there would be a resolution of the storm through those sent by your Holiness to Ephesus, we have fallen into a more grievous tempest.

For the most just president of the city of the Alexandrians was not content with this lawless and most unjust deposition of the most holy and most God-beloved bishop of the Constantinopolitans, the lord Flavian, nor was his fury sated by the similar slaughter of the other bishops, but he likewise slew me too, though absent, with his pen — neither summoning me to trial, nor judging me present, nor asking what I hold concerning the incarnation of God our Savior.

Now murderers, and tomb-robbers, and those who have violated the marriage-beds of others, judges do not condemn until either they themselves confirm the charges by confession, or are clearly convicted by others.

But us, though we were thirty-five stations distant, he who has been reared in the divine laws condemned as he pleased.

And he has done this not only now, but also last year, after two men who had embraced the disease of Apollinarius ran there and wove false charges against us, he rose up in church and anathematized us;

and this although I had written to him and had made known through letters what I hold.

But I lament the tempest of the Church, while I embrace quietness.

and I was allotted to shepherd eight hundred Churches;

for so many parishes does Cyrrhus have, in which, through your prayers, not even one tare has remained;

but our flock has been set free from every heretical error.

He who oversees all things knows how many stones I received, thrown at me by the ill-named heretics, how many contests I have had in most of the cities of the East against Greeks, against Jews, against every heretical error.

And after so many labors and toils, I have been condemned without a trial.

But I await the verdict of your apostolic throne;

and I implore, and entreat your Holiness, to come to my aid, since I appeal to your right and just tribunal, and to command that I may run to you, and to show that my teaching follows in the footsteps of the apostles.

For I have writings composed twenty years ago, others eighteen years ago, others fifteen, others twelve — some against the Arians and Eunomians, some against the Jews and Greeks, some against the magi in Persia, others on Providence in general, and others on theology and the divine incarnation.

By divine grace I have also expounded both the apostolic writings and the prophetic oracles.

And from these it is easy to learn whether I have kept the rule of faith unswerving, or have transgressed its rectitude.

But do not, I beg, spurn my supplication, nor overlook my wretched gray hairs, insulted after so many labors.

But before all things, I entreat to learn from you whether I must acquiesce in this unjust deposition, or not;

for I await your verdict.

And if you bid me abide by those who condemned me, I will abide, and will trouble no man any further, but will await the unswerving tribunal of God our Savior;

because many of the more simple, and especially those who were won over by us from various heresies, giving heed to the throne of those who condemned me, will perhaps suppose us to be heretics, being unable to discern the precision of the doctrine.

And that, having been bishop so long a time, I acquired neither house, nor field, nor obol, nor tomb, but embraced voluntary poverty, and distributed at once what came to me from my parents after their death — all who dwell in the East know.

But before all things, I implore your sacred and God-beloved head to grant me the help of your prayers.

These things I have made known to your Holiness through the most reverend and most God-beloved presbyters Hypatius and Abramius, the chorepiscopoi, and Alypius, the exarch of the monks among us, since the bonds of the imperial letters restrained me from running to you, even as they restrained the others also.

And I exhort your Holiness both to receive them in fatherly fashion, and to grant them your unswerving ears with goodwill, and to deem my old age, which is slandered and vainly assailed, worthy of your care, and above all to take thought with all your strength for the faith that is being plotted against, and to preserve for the Churches the paternal inheritance undefiled.

The most reverend presbyter Peter is adorned with the dignity of the priesthood, and is adorned also with the rational treatment of bodies.

Having spent a considerable time among us, he won over everyone by the harmony of his character.

He has now resolved to leave Cyrrhus, having learned of my banishment.

For this reason I commend him to your Magnificence, and I entreat that he may obtain your forethought, being able to become useful to the city.

For having lived in Alexandria, he practiced this art there.

Having been allotted to govern Cyrrhus, I procured for it from every quarter the arts it needed;

and besides these, I also encouraged those skilled in medicine to settle there.

One of these is the most reverend presbyter Peter, who handles the art rationally, and adorns it with his character.

But now, since I am away from home, many others too have left it, and he also has resolved to depart.

For he is competent to bring aid to the sick and to make war upon diseases.

We have learned of the fervent and just zeal of your Holiness, and the most just and lawful boldness of speech which you employed, my lord, in confuting what was dared at Ephesus.

Nor have we alone learned these things, but into all the earth has the report of your rectitude gone forth, and all sing the praises of the righteousness, the zeal, the boldness of speech, and the threats made by you against the lawlessness.

And your Holiness did these things, having beheld but a single slaughter.

But had you also seen the other slaughters that took place after your departure, perhaps you would have emulated that Phinehas.

...they having been tried — I myself, prevented from going there in person by imperial letters, was condemned while absent.

For after twenty-six years of the episcopate, after many and countless labors, after contests undertaken on behalf of piety, after having offered to the Savior of all countless myriads of heretics delivered from their former error, they have stripped me of the priesthood, and they are driving me even from the city, not respecting my old age, nor these gray hairs nourished in piety.

For that all-holy throne holds the leadership of the Churches throughout the world for many reasons, and before all the others, because it has remained untouched by the stench of heresy, and no one holding contrary opinions has sat upon it, but it has preserved the apostolic grace undefiled.

For whatever shall be judged by you we will accept, whatever it may be, trusting in your righteous judgment;

and we ask to be judged on the basis of our writings.

For I have composed more than thirty books, against Arius and Eunomius, against Marcion, against Macedonius, against the Greeks, against the Jews;

and I have also expounded the divine Scripture;

and it is easy for anyone willing to learn that I have followed in the footsteps of the apostles, proclaiming one Son, as one Father, and one Holy Spirit;

one deity of the Trinity, one kingdom, one authority, eternity, unchangeableness, impassibility, one will; the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ perfect, the humanity perfect — the humanity which was assumed for our salvation, and delivered up to death on our behalf.

I do not know one Son of Man and another Son of God;

but the same one, Son of God, and God begotten of God;

These things, and whatever is akin to them, I continue to teach.

For this reason, then, I have also sent to your Piety the most God-beloved presbyters Hypatius and Abramius, the chorepiscopoi, and Alypius, the exarch of the monks among us, men adorned with a splendid life, and able also by word of mouth to teach you accurately the matters concerning my own insignificance.

The grace of God our Savior has not, then, altogether forsaken the race of men;

but has left us your Holiness as a seed, that we might not become as Sodom, and be made like unto Gomorrah.

This does not allow us to despair altogether;

but enjoins us to await the resolution of the grievous storm;

this makes us full of good hope.

And first, may you confirm the faith handed down to us of old from the holy apostles, and stigmatize the heresy that has risen up, and openly convict those who dare to falsify the preaching of the dispensation; and then also fight on behalf of those who are warred against for the sake of piety.

For it is on behalf of the apostolic faith, most holy ones, that we have endured this unjust slaughter, since we would not abandon the truth of the evangelical doctrines.

It befits your Holiness not to overlook those who share your convictions being unjustly persecuted, but to put an end to this injustice by righteous assistance, and to teach those who are emboldened against the truth that it is not permitted to do everything, to those who attempt to do whatever they please without fear.

A most grievous storm has fallen upon the Churches among us;

and those who hold fast to the apostolic faith have your Holiness as a fair-entranced and calm harbor.

For you do not only champion the evangelical doctrines, but you also utterly abhor the injustice that has been done against us.

For while we were dwelling far off, thirty-five stations distant, those most righteous judges condemned us just as they pleased, and, setting aside the teaching that has prevailed in the Churches from the coming of God our Savior until this very day, they introduced a certain new and spurious doctrine, directly contrary to the tradition of the apostles, and they openly make war on those who hold to the ancient preachings.

Deign, therefore, most God-beloved one, to kindle the zeal of the archbishop, most holy in every respect, so that the Churches of the East too may enjoy your care;

and especially to champion the faith handed down from above by the holy apostles, and to preserve inviolate the paternal inheritance, and to disperse the mist that hangs over us, and to bring about clear sky in place of the moonless darkness, and to expose the slaughter unjustly wrought against us.

For it befits your Holiness to add this zeal also to its other achievements.

Your Greatness has certainly learned of what was done by the most righteous judges at Ephesus.

For their voice has gone out into all the earth, and their most upright verdict to the ends of the world.

For what Church has not received the storm that has arisen from this? For some did wrong, and others were wronged;

and others, who neither suffered this nor did it, grieve together with the wronged, and lament over the wrongdoers, because they have most cruelly, and contrary to all laws, both divine and human, slaughtered their own members.

For as to housebreakers caught in the very act, judges first try them, and only then do they punish them;

and moreover, murderers, and tomb-robbers, and those who violate the marriage-beds of others, they first bring into court, and they order the accusers to draw up the indictments, and they examine the intent of the witnesses, whether they testify to favor the prosecutors, whether they bear ill-will toward the defendants, and besides this they order the accused to make their defense before the accusers.

And this happens twice and thrice, and sometimes even four times;

and only then, after seeking out the truth in the words of both sides, do they pronounce the verdict.

But as for how these men judged others, I will say nothing, lest I seem to be meddlesome and to be prying into matters not my own;

but concerning myself alone am I compelled to speak, the unjust slaughter constraining me.

For while the imperial law confined me at home, forbidding me to go beyond the boundaries of the city I shepherd, they convened the council against me, and condemned me though I was thirty-five stations away.

And the God of all things said to the patriarch Abraham concerning Sodom and Gomorrah:

"The outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah has grown great before me, and their sins are very great;"

"whether they are being accomplished according to this outcry of theirs that has come to me."

And yet he clearly knew the wickedness of those men;

"I will go down and see" — teaching us to await the test of the facts.

But these men, without summoning us to a court, without hearing our voice, without wishing to learn from us what we believe, granted our slaughter as a gift to the fury of the enemies of the truth.

For my part, I embrace quietness, and especially at the present time, when the apostolic doctrines have been corrupted among many, and the new heresy has gained strength.

But lest any of those who do not know us should believe true the slanders raised against us, and be scandalized, supposing that we hold opinions other than the evangelical teaching, I entreat your Magnificence to ask this favor of the all-victorious Majesty: that I be permitted to reach the West and be judged before the most God-beloved and most holy bishops there;

and if I should be found to deviate even the least from the rule of the faith, let me be delivered to the very midst of the depths of the sea.

But if he does not accept even this petition of yours, then let him at least command that I dwell in our monastery, which is a hundred and twenty miles from Cyrrhus, seventy-five from Antioch, and situated three miles from the city of Apamea.

Of these two, if the former be possible, I ask that it be granted me; but if not, then at least the latter, through your Greatness.

The memory of which we continually carry both in mind and on tongue, imploring the Lord of hosts to reward your Magnificence with both present and future blessings.

I have been compelled to write these things now, having learned that some are even contriving to have me removed from here as well.

I think that even the enemies of the truth are indignant at the unjust and unlawful slaughters inflicted on us.

But much more, as is reasonable, does this new and strange tragedy distress the nurslings of piety, among whom your Magnificence holds the first place.

It is fitting that those who grieve the more should bring the more zeal and eagerness, so that what has been done impiously and unlawfully may be undone, and the body of the Church, which is in danger of being torn apart, may return to its former harmony.

For this reason, therefore, I entreat your Greatness to regard the present occasion as an opportunity for spiritual trade;

for the writings of the most God-beloved and most holy archbishop of great Rome, my lord Leo, addressed to Flavian of blessed memory and to the others assembled at Ephesus, agree exceedingly with what has always been both written by us and preached in the church.

For this reason, as soon as I had read it, I praised the Lord who loves mankind, because he has not utterly abandoned the Churches, but has preserved the spark of orthodoxy;

or rather, not a spark, but a very great torch, able to kindle and illuminate the world.

He has preserved the true character; and we found in his letters what was set forth by the holy and blessed prophets and apostles, and by those who after them proclaimed the Gospel, and indeed also by the holy Fathers assembled at Nicaea;

we confess that we abide in these, and we indict as impious those who hold any opinion other than these.

I have appended to this letter of mine one of the epistles sent by him to Ephesus, so that your Excellency, upon reading it, may be reminded of what has often been said by us in the church, and may know the harmony of our doctrines, and may hate those who speak falsehood, and those who have composed the new heresy against the apostolic doctrines.

That we, who were already joined in affection, have now been joined also by letters, has given us great delight.

But we have not understood the saying, "Are not these my words?" For if it was said merely for the sake of greeting, the statement causes no distress;

but if it recalls counsel that urged silence, and the so-called "economy," we acknowledge the kindness, though we do not accept the suggestion.

For the divine Apostle enjoins the contrary:

"Be urgent in season, out of season;"

"Cry aloud with your strength, and do not spare."

"Go down and solemnly charge this people."

And indeed also to Ezekiel:

"I have made you a watchman to the house of Israel;"

"and it shall be, if you do not warn the lawless one..." and what follows accordingly.

for it is superfluous to prolong discourse to one who already knows.

Therefore, not only are we not distressed in using frankness of speech, but we also exult and rejoice, and we praise him who has deemed us worthy of these sufferings; and indeed we also summon our familiar friends to the same contests.

For if they know us not to be keeping the apostolic rule of faith, but turning aside to the right or to the left, then let them hate us, and let them join the opposing party, and let them be ranked with those who make war against us.

But if they bear witness that we hold the correct teaching of the evangelical proclamation, then we cry out to them:

"Stand, then, you also, having girded your loins with truth, and having shod your feet with the readiness of the Gospel of peace," and so forth.

For they say that virtue possesses not only temperance, and justice, and prudence, but also courage, and that through this the others also are perfected.

For indeed justice, in its war against injustice, needs courage as an ally;

and temperance, employing courage as a fellow-worker, overcomes licentiousness.

"But my righteous one shall live by faith; and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him."

And he called cowardice "shrinking back."

Hold fast, then, O dear friend, to the apostolic doctrines.

"For yet a very little while, and the coming one shall come, and shall not tarry;"

"he will render to each according to his works."

"For the form of this world is passing away," and the truth of things shall be revealed.

TO THE SAME. Both long is the letter, and charming, and it displays the warmth and genuineness of your love.

And it filled me with such joy that I no longer regret having supposed, from the preface of the former letter, that it held a different meaning.

For my not grasping the sense of the letter in fact revealed the treasure of brotherly affection, and made manifest the purity of your faith, and made known your zeal for piety.

But we are struck by squalls and raging waves, and together with him we cry out against those who were rowing the boat:

"Those who observe vain and false things have forsaken their own mercy."

But even if the surge should remain seething, we hope that even so we shall enjoy the divine providence, and learn by experience that his power is made perfect in weakness;

for indeed he has measured out the very dangers according to our weakness.

For that divine prophet, all his fellow-voyagers let down into the deep;

but to me he has granted the comfort of your Holiness, and indeed also of other God-beloved men;

whom, together with your love-of-God, I pray may obtain the blessing of the wondrous Onesiphorus, because you were not ashamed of our chain;

but have shared with us in the afflictions for the sake of the faith.

Know this well, however, master: that even when other most-God-beloved bishops sent me gifts of blessing, I did not accept them;

not as insulting those who had sent them — far from it —

but as one who for the time being procures his necessary food from him who provides it abundantly even to the ravens.

But in the case of your love-of-God I have done no such thing.

For in truth the warmth of love has conquered the resolve that had for a time formed in me.

For let your God-beloved soul be persuaded that, ever since our intimacy increased, affection too has been kindled the more ardently.

I too lament the calamities of the churches, and mourn the storm that lies upon us;

yet I rejoice with myself, being freed from tumults, and enjoying the calm that is dear to me.

But those whom, even now, your Learning has said are doing wrong, will not long delay in paying the penalty for the things they now lawlessly dare.

For the Lord governs the whole of things by weight and measure;

and whenever certain men fall into an excess of transgression beyond all measure, he is no longer longsuffering, but thereafter inflicts punishment as a judge.

Foreseeing these things, we pray that they may cease from their excess, lest, seeing them punished, we again be compelled to lament for them.

As soon as I received the earlier letter of your Holiness, I wrote back.

But concerning the matters now before us, there is nothing good to be hoped for.

For I take these to be the preludes of a total apostasy.

For the fact that those who lament what was done by violence, as they say, at Ephesus, do not repent of it, but persist in the lawless acts they dared, and build up injustice and impiety together upon the same foundation; and the fact that they neither advise others so that the deeds dared might be disavowed, nor, while others persist in what they lawlessly did, flee communion with them — what good does this allow us to hope for? For if they were praising what had happened as being good and right, it would be reasonable that they should persist in what was praised by themselves.

For I have read their depositions;

and they proclaimed me deposed as the ringleader of the heresy, and likewise cast out the others for the same reason.

For that they supposed practical virtue to have been legislated by the Savior rather for the wagon-dwelling nomads than for themselves, the facts themselves cry aloud.

For against Candidianus of Pisidia certain persons submitted petitions, accusing him of many acts of adultery, and other lawless deeds.

And they say that the president of the synod said:

"For we have not come to judge cases of adultery" —

as though our Savior had legislated nothing concerning conduct of life, but had commanded only the guarding of doctrines — the very doctrines which these most wise men, before all else, have themselves corrupted.

Let them, then, neither jest nor conceal the impiety which they have confirmed both with their tongues and with their hands.

But if this is not so, let them state the reasons for the slaughters, let them confess in writing the difference of the natures of our Savior, and the unconfused character of the union;

let them say that even after the union, both the deity and the humanity have remained undiminished and entire.

Let them now renounce the propositions which they had often disavowed before, but which they have now confirmed at Ephesus.