書信集 第 1 章 第 32/55 段

For this is a manner of dispensation, called something apart from hypocrisy — to change, for a small time and place, one's outward form, habit, and manner of life, not forever;

and of the first the practitioner was Saint Abramios, of the second Saint David, and of the third Saint Peter.

Of two evils then set before us, falling and limping, the lighter must be chosen, namely the second;

for it is more expedient to be a hidden monk, unimplicated in impiety on the pretext of inability, than to fall away completely.

Concerning what you said, through the mouth of the letter-bearer, that the eighth chapter is deficient because it lies under the canon of Saint Peter — of this I was unaware.

For who am I, wretched as I am, to legislate against it? Rather, both what I wrote in the other chapters, and what you have just now asked, and what I answered when questioned by others, was said advisorily — not canonically, not legislatively, at least so far as it would be made public to outsiders, since that is neither permitted nor within my authority;

for I am a priest, even if unworthy, not a hierarch;

for it belongs to such a one, and to those of the same rank as he, to make canons and legislate universally.

Let him, then, come forward and teach how the matter stands by nature, and what is the reason for saying he cannot be depicted;

Is it because he was not shaped according to our own form? Because his body was not held together by bones? Because his seeing pupils were not fitted with eyelids and eyebrows? Because his ears were not furnished with their spiral passages? Because his nose was not made straight for perceiving smells? Because his cheeks, grown to maturity, were not properly formed? Because he did not converse by mouth and tongue, lips and teeth, and did not eat and drink? Because he was not shaped with the fitting together of shoulders, forearms, and hands? Because chest and back, together with shins and feet, did not grow upon him? Because he did not undergo a temporal extension in growth and increase of age? Because motion by walking — upward, downward, inward, outward, to the right, to the left, in a circle — was not manifested together in him? Because he was not consubstantial with toils and burdens and the other blameless passions, wearing his hair long on his head and covering his whole body with garments? But if, by common confession, he has been seen in all these things — the sum of which is a true man, and of which the depiction according to bodily character is an unlying representation, without which no composite body can even exist, if indeed such a thing consists in touch and color — then what is this excessive blindness and godless contentiousness, to say that Christ, who has appeared consubstantial with us and like us in all things, cannot be depicted? And how, when the depicted image is done away with, will not all the corresponding properties be done away with together with it? For 'personal identity,' says the Theologian, 'is immovable';

Or how could a property remain, if it were moved and changed? Let the adversary say.

{To Timothy, my child} 'Waiting, wait for the Lord,' my longed-for child Timothy;

for it is written, 'if we endure, we shall also reign together with him';

how great is the promise — that you should be shown to be a king in the heavens, completing the martyrdom of your confession.

And let not what has been said seem strange to you;

'He has made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father,' says the theologian and apostle;

and why do I say this? God has even commanded that man become god;

'I said, you are gods, and all of you sons of the Most High';

so that whoever does not die through sin nor fall into impiety has received this dignity.

Therefore let us stand firm, brother, and may we never die, so that we may be styled gods and kings.

Against these let there be imprisonments, afflictions, distresses, famines, fire, sword, countless deaths — nothing separates us from the love of God;

let the impious make use of whatever instruments of punishment they wish.

As for me, I have no strength at all, but only utter helplessness from my sins; yet the word of truth has shown what is sought;

of which you, by the grace of Christ, have both made a beginning and are very eager, as I hear.

But pray also for me, wretched as I am, that I may be made eager to come after you.

He who is with me greets you.

{To Basil, monk} Who is this star of piety that has risen for us from the west, whose radiance of word is all-shining and whose ray of life is resplendent? Your ascents are ascents like the sun's, and your confessions are confessions worthy of martyrs — even though it was not granted, by the dispensation of him who is confessed, for you to share for the present in the scourging contest, perhaps so that, by the withholding of the gift, the good God might kindle a greater longing for its reception in your honored soul, as mothers do toward their children, who, by giving portions to other kinsfolk, inflame in those passed over a keener love for the gift;

or again, so that the blood of the martyrs, being poured out, might not fail to continue onward, by which time is made bright, ground is made holy, and the company of the orthodox is made firm.

I rejoice, then, and rejoice with you at your addition to the roll of confessors, and, as though having seen you with my own eyes, I embrace and greet you in spirit, and judge you to be of one mind with me, and as a father, or rather a brother — not as you yourself, out of great humility, say of yourself.

I hold you thus and cherish you, and, with God as witness, I invisibly give you the right hand of agreement in the same mind and joint confession unto blood — not as it might chance, but a confession that we should not deny Christ our God who made us, nor indeed the Theotokos, nor any of the saints;

by the denial of the icon of each of these, the one depicted is denied without any distinction, since both are the same — archetype and image — in honor and in power;

and if this is so, as the God-bearing fathers say, then it is clear too as regards confession and denial;

for is not the life-giving Cross itself denied, when its representation is spat upon? Indeed, it is clearly denied;

and is he not rejected also when his icon is contradicted? Indeed, he is certainly rejected.

What does the Lord say? 'He who rejects you rejects me.'

And indeed man is an image of God; yet art is a more faithful guarantor of his bodily character than man is — inasmuch as there is the greatest resemblance, on the one hand, to the prototype Christ, whereas on the other hand there is only an imitation with respect to the divinity, which in all that exists has no resemblance at all — even though it is said, in some admissible sense, that man has been made like God.

Therefore the Lord himself has said, in effect, following the logical consequence of the thought: 'He who rejects my icon rejects me';

and it cannot be otherwise, even if it should not seem so to the Christ-deniers.

Let the discourse stop here, not overleaping the measure proper to a letter;

and let your holiness pray for my nothingness, setting aside the praises you offer of me, who possess nothing good, nor indeed have done anything good.

But if our disciple, brother Hypatios, is praiseworthy in your eyes, thanks be to the shoot, not to the root;

for many straight-growing shoots come even from evil roots, especially in matters that depend on free choice.

{To Makarios, abbot} The time of silence has run its course sufficiently;

therefore I have judged it necessary to let loose my voice — pitiable indeed, yet loving — toward your paternal holiness.

For who is more closely joined to us, in the things pertaining to the Lord, than you — you who are made resplendent both by your life and by your word, to which I would add also that you have long been united with us by shared suffering? What, then, do the present circumstances seem to you, most excellent of fathers, but the preludes to the coming of Antichrist? Christ has been taken away from our midst as depicted, together with his Mother and his servants, which is a mark of Judaism or of paganism;

not shepherds but wolves rule, making all those under their hand like themselves, and if anywhere a sheep of Christ is found, they hasten to make it a prey seized by beasts.

Two who were once my disciples, now shepherding impiously, rage more savagely than the rest, devouring some of their fellow disciples by the seizure of heresy, and punishing others as no other punisher does.

And what need is there to enumerate further? All things have been thrown into confusion and have vanished, the present impieties having been drawn together with the evils that existed before, to a degree exceeding measure upon measure.

For what reason have I said these things? Partly so that I might gain some relief through the recounting of what grieves my humble soul; and partly so that, by the prick of this word, I might make your holiness more assiduous in interceding with our good God for the release of these present troubles;

for since you are righteous, I know that the Lover of Mankind is easily made merciful through your intercession.

{To Constantine, abbot} I add this letter to the previous one, greeting your paternal holiness, whom I hold in every loving disposition — not only on account of the relationship mingled with us from the beginning in Christ, but also on account of the shared suffering of testimony on behalf of Christ.

So earlier I learned that you were in the City, contending for the confession most nobly and most fervently; then that you had been exiled to the land of the Thracians; and now again that you had been taken up and transferred to the region of Byzantium.

You run, O blessed one, the double course of piety's race.

But rejoice, for crowns woven by God and incorruptible prizes are stored up for you eternally.

Speak also to us lowly ones, yourself, words of life (for such are the things that come from you, even if briefly spoken); but if not, at least do not cease to intercede fervently for my wretchedness, unto salvation.

{To Michael of Synnada} I learned long ago that the destroyers of piety, who hold you in the City, released you, the pillar and foundation of truth, from your former confinement;

and I wished to write to your Beatitude, but I restrained myself, having once and twice spoken and not been deemed worthy to hear a reply,

thinking that for me, small and worthless as I am, it would be enough merely to hear a word of greeting from her — which I have now received, through a letter, from your fellow-contestant, my father, the holy abbot of Kathara. Cheerfully set in motion by this, I have come to write, though my discourse brings no benefit to your godly virtue, since it is poor and unrefined, but it produces comfort for me, a sinner, as for a child conversing with an admirable father who contends nobly for Christ.

For I understand that the place in which you are held is a place of punishment, chosen not for its location but for the harshness of the one who holds you there.

And so a well-tried punisher has come together in the same place with a still more well-tried adversary, and the spectacle is common to both: for the impious, in hope of obtaining what they desire — a hope which the Lord slaps aside — but for us it is a contest (how could it not be?), yet also one of firm standing, as we are tempered by manly courage for the struggle.

This is my brief address; may you receive it with condescension and repay me with your sacred prayers unto the salvation of my soul, O most holy and thrice-longed-for one.

{To Tithoes, my child} Your letter, brother, is good and fitting, containing neither excessive words nor lacking what is needful, so that as I read it with pleasure I bless you and pray that you may be steadfast both in word and in deed.

Be strong, then, still, and act like a man, always preparing yourself for death for the Lord's sake, training yourself through reading, through the grasp of the doctrines of truth, and indeed of the piety now set before us.

Rejoice and do not grieve, but give thanks to Christ who has loved you, that you have attained to such a measure of confessing him, upon which follow eternal life and inexpressible joy — even should our limbs be cut off, let alone if we are shut up, left alone, shivering with cold, and given but little bread;

For the one who is not thus prepared withers like grass, that is, falls away, as those who have fallen away have fallen.

You, then, my child, stand firm, endure hardship as a good soldier of Christ, fulfill your confession, extending a hand — as I have also written before — to the brothers of Studios, if they are still preserved in the Lord, since they belong to you in a special way as fellow-contestants and fellow-travelers.

May the Lord gild you with purity of heart.

Pray for us sinners, beloved one.

{To Silvanus, my child} I praised my God, my child, on learning through your letter of your good health, and I was greatly delighted also that you have escaped from those in the City, having joined your brother Lucian;

and you live in such a place from which vain boasting, turmoil, and the flame of heresy have fled, but where quiet and freedom from disturbance dwell, from which a good disposition arises in the soul — a place that is at once profitable and befitting a brother in this affliction, and to me too a great comfort, since I do not bear it without feeling.

Blessed are you, beloved, for having thought well.

May your fellowship prosper in the Lord, may your work be guided aright in holiness, as you also hold us sinners in your prayers, that we may be saved in every respect.

{To Euodius and John, my children} In a brief message we saw, as though with our own eyes, your health and your pair preserved safe, and we rejoice that you live in the Lord, even though under affliction by the persecution (how could it be otherwise?).

But let hope lighten the things that grieve.

No one who rejoices in the joy of this world will rejoice in the heavens, and no one who is afflicted for the Lord's sake will thereby fail to obtain eternal exultation.

Strengthen yourselves, exhort one another, band together, come to know one another, so that in deed and word you may be reckoned as servants of God, being deemed worthy of the beatitude spoken by God.

Write always, that you may always receive letter for letter.

Pray also for us sinners, unto salvation.

{To Symeon, my child} Since I read your letter and learned where you are staying, and how, and with how many and what sort of brothers, beloved child, I, the lowly one, was greatly refreshed, and I blessed both of you together, and before the others, you especially, who lead well and, by your good disposition, have drawn the rest to yourself as well,

passing your days in a manner leading to salvation and blessedness;

for indeed the Lord has called you blessed in the Gospels.

Great is the good report, unsurpassable is the hope;

Stand, then, I beseech you, my brothers, stand undefeated against both visible and invisible enemies, preparing yourselves lest you too be seized, and so that you may bear off the prize by the power of God, just as many of your brothers have also done.

But for now, as long as the Lord in his providence allows you to remain unseized, may you remain living well: on the one hand holding yourselves toward one another in love and without partiality, and on the other hand submitting to one another in the fear of Christ, with you, brother, evidently leading as the head;

for everything without a head and without a ruler is disorderly and seditious — from which may we be delivered.

Pray for the peace of God's church, for all your scattered brothers, and especially for those at Studios who are being oppressed and greatly worn down by the godless Leontius, and yet who resist most mightily; then also for us sinners, that we may be saved in the Lord.

Your brother Nicholas sends his warmest greetings.

{To Constantine, a layman} The blessing of the Lord be upon you and upon all your household, in return for what you send to our humble self, O man of God, lily of orthodoxy, ardent friend.

If you acquire a friend, as the saying goes, acquire him in time of trial, since he is a partner in affliction, a guardian of faith, whose worth admits of no measure of beauty.

Such are you, confirming this saying by what you do and say.

But relax, I beg you, do not press yourself so hard.

But if you will not relent, may the good God likewise not relent toward you, invisibly working good for you —

may he also preserve you still unharmed, with your whole household.

{To Cassia} What things again your modest dignity has uttered to us — at once wise and sensible — such that it is fitting for me to marvel and give thanks to the Lord, seeing such great knowledge in a young girl newly grown; not indeed comparable to the ancients (for we of the present day, both men and women, fall far short — indeed immeasurably short — of their wisdom and learning), yet nonetheless, for the present time, you have excelled exceedingly, and eloquence is your ornament, more beautiful than every perishable adornment.

But what is sought is that your life run in step with your word, and that you not limp in either respect, since you have thus chosen, in the present persecution, to suffer for Christ's sake — not that you were once scourged and were content with that, but rather that you are again straining, as it were, unable to bear the burning love of the good confession.

may you be preserved in it, ever fervent;

For truly you know that nothing is good and pleasant except to suffer for the sake of truth and to gain advantage in one's sufferings.

But gold and silver, glory and comfort, and anything whatsoever among earthly things that seems to be good, are nothing at all — even though they are called good — since they exist in flux and outflow, like dreams and shadows.

What follows next? Your monk-loving choice of life, as you say, after the cessation of the persecution.

which did not surprise me, even though it is itself a surprising thing;

Why? Because from what precedes, one may conjecture what follows, and the proof works both ways.

If there is smoke, fire will certainly have come before;

so here too, since there is confession of Christ, it is clear that a life of monastic perfection will shine forth.

How blessed you are in both respects!

Only do not look eagerly for the laying-on of my hand, since I am a sinner, but for that hand by whose venerable imposition you shall be consecrated.

I send abundant greetings to her who bore you into the light, by the fashioning of the true light, as to a mother of Day;

having received her gifts along with those from you, I have offered up to my Lord, as a gift, thanksgiving and intercession on behalf of you both.

Only I have burdened you greatly;

but may he who takes away the sin of the world lighten your spiritual burden.

{To Macarius, hegoumenos} Since I greatly desired to learn where your Holiness, having been transferred, is being kept, when I received your letter and learned of it, I, the lowly one, was filled with joy even before reading it;

keeping it in apostolic fashion? You are blessed, in accordance with your name, O Macarius, and your contest is to be called blessed, both as long known and as now heard of, because you preferred nothing above the love of God, nor were you beguiled by the promises held out to you here by the ruler, nor indeed were you enfeebled by the threats brought to bear against you, but you remained the same — a soldier of Christ, a holy confessor, a living martyr — not disgracing your former life, but rather illuminating it all the more by what you have now attained.

But as for our own case, it does not stand as you say, out of love and excessive humility, O best of fathers, but rather as we ourselves know within ourselves;

How so? That we are unworthy even to be called part of your number, on account of the multitude of our sins.

Only that we groan over what lies before us — how those who were beloved have kicked away the truth, how also those who seemed to be something have taken their stand in opposition;

whom, even if I do not name them, your Holiness knows well.

And I would add: 'a man's enemies are those of his own household,' and Absalom is not one, but many;

and evil men and impostors, advancing further into wickedness, deceiving and being deceived;

and the caves hold those who are persecuted, and the great mystery of piety is mocked, and Christ, depicted in icons together with his Mother and his servants, is made a laughingstock.

How are these things not grievous and worthy of tears? But, O most holy one, give an interceding hand to the fallen church, so that, being roused like the sleeping Lord, he may rebuke the noetic storm and settle a peace-giving calm.

Pray for your child, and also for the brother who is with me, who also greets you, that we may be preserved in the Lord.

{To Irene, the patrikia} Why should I trouble you, O lover of God and lover of monks? Your gifts exceed my worth.

The many great letters of old, from times long past, used to be enough;

What then are even these? But you are like Solomon's leech, never satisfied in doing good, and, as it were, squeezing out your own blood to nourish others.

though this is not the only thing known of you, but many things go along with it: zeal, longing, love for God;

and even if we have stumbled a little, we must rise up again and walk in the way of the Lord.

Set aside your grief, take up spiritual joy again, since the Lord is near to those who wait for him, who, while we are still speaking the words of our prayer, will say, 'Behold, I am here.'

To the lady Irene, God-given peace — I have also received your blessing, which I hope will run back up to the lofty life of the monastic estate, once the Lord turns the storm into a gentle breeze.

{To my son Paul} I read your letter, child, and finding that you are well both in body and in spirit, I gave thanks to the Lord;

and you did well to write, especially in showing that your mind, too, has been made firm in the faith;

but may it be so in practice as well;

therefore take heed to yourself, fleeing the sight of women, fleeing all familiarity as the ruin of the soul;

abstain also from wicked thoughts, as being a fire that burns the heart and destroys it;

fear God and serve him with trembling, performing the psalmody and vigils that are due;

do not be idle but laborious, not a jester but a mourner, not an idle talker but one whose speech is profitable.

These things I say not to you alone, but also to Antipater and to the other brother;

whom I also greet, and pray, sinner that I am, that both may be saved.

{To my son Litoios} I rejoice to hear your voice, child, as mothers rejoice at the voice of their young; and especially because your sojourn — that is, your exile — has now been placed closer to our prison, ever since arrangements were made for you to copy out the earlier letters.

I know you have labored much, but labor still more, beloved, knowing that your reward will not be small, since you share the labor with me, a sinner, for the gain of your soul.

May the Lord reward well the one who hosts you, since he has remembered friendship and holds fast to piety;

him I greet most warmly through you, though he protests that it is I who am shown the kindness.

That you are learning the chapters by heart — well done;

for in this way you will better grasp the force of what is said.

except that beyond others, the Lord has granted you the gift of understanding;

render him thanks in deed, child, and pray for us.

The brother greets you.

{To the Canonical Sisters} Since you love not to slacken in doing good, neither do we, lowly as we are, slacken in writing;

though the recompense is meager — words in place of deeds; yet I trust that these too are deeds, and far more precious than the deeds of this world.

When, and from whom? From God, and in the age to come;

and above all the offering of your magnanimity, which we received, and for which we have now in turn prayed abundantly for what is fitting for you, content and seeking nothing further;

But you, mothers and sisters in the Lord, who contend the good contest of the monastic life, rejoice, be strong, pressing on toward what is better, since there is no standing still for one who walks the road that leads to virtue;

for it is unattainable even while it is being attained.

Blessed, then, are you, who have chosen the life of virginity, the truly angelic and heavenly life, which has toil and no ordinary hardship — indeed it is full of sweat — but whose recompense is the kingdom of heaven.

Yet one must not be discouraged nor grow slack in one's labors;

for if one who longs to obtain perishable things does not flinch or give up until he has secured what he seeks — though it is not something unforfeitable but subject to change and ruin, and perhaps even provision for eternal punishment — how much more should we not hold back, but must be set ablaze to serve the living God and to await his Son from the heavens in a manner visible to men, whom those now embracing heresy deny to have been depicted in images? Flee, ladies, from this destruction; he will come in the very manner in which he was seen ascending.

And how was he seen? As a man who can be depicted in an image — coming to judge all things, together with those who have denied that he can be so depicted.

I beg you, keep your manner of life running exactly alongside your faith;

'Those under the yoke,' it says, 'give something to God too; virgins give God everything.'

Do not become like some who wallow in unbecoming habits, hankering after superfluous things;

life is but a day, and our lifetime slips through our hands;

break off your worldly attachments, becoming fellow-slaves with Christ, since it is not possible to be bound in two directions;

buffet the flesh, bringing it into bondage to the spirit; purify the heart, that in both you may remain virgins;

for this is the extraordinary thing that is sought.

Loving you in the Lord as I would a mother or a sister, I have offered this reminder; and do you, for your part, pray that in the things of which I am appointed teacher to others, I myself may become one who fulfills them.

{To my son Naukratios} What could be more delightful than this — that I, a sinner, should hear that you, my beloved son, together with seven other brothers of yours, whose names are in the book of life, were scourged for the sake of Christ our good God? Glory to him who called you to the confession of his truth;

glory to him who made your precious souls steadfast to face the danger ahead of the others, so that you neither cowered nor drew back before the face of the accursed one, but confessed your good confession, and for its sake, together with Christ, gave your backs to the scourges.

You have been added as another choir of confession to the Church of God; you have increased the renown of the brotherhood in Christ.

Blessed indeed are you, my beloved ones, and thrice blessed; blessed too are the wombs that brought you into the light;

and if I may say something of myself as well, blessed am I too, unblessed and wretched though I am, that I hear myself called father of such children — sons of God and heirs of Christ.

What joy is this? Is it not more delightful than every other joy? What glory is this? Is it not more wondrous than that of those who wear diadems — to bear the marks of Christ, his life-giving sufferings, as crowns? Such, then, are your affairs, which heaven has praised and earth has heard proclaimed.

But our own affairs are worthless and sinful, save what brother Adrian has already reported;

and if anything more needs to be added, we shall make it known.

After the beating they shut the two of us into an upper room, barring the door and taking away the ladder;

guards all around, lest anyone approach or so much as touch the chamber;

the guards allow no one to turn anywhere except back to his own house, until he can go out again;

there is a strict order that nothing be given us but water alone, and the stocks;

thus simply disposing of us as though in a tomb, and indeed with a view to killing us.

But God, in the mercy of his loving-kindness, sustains us — through the supplies we had laid in beforehand, and further, through the one by whom what has been appointed for us is passed in through a hole in the door, as he climbs up on a ladder set there at the appointed hour.

We do not dare say what Daniel said when he received his meal from Habakkuk — 'God has remembered me' — except that he has remembered us sinners too, and shows us mercy, and cares for us, and shelters us.

So then, for as long as it is granted us to be fed from what is within, or however it may be — one of the doorkeepers, who is also on weekly duty, secretly bringing something from his own home — he feeds us, and we glorify God;

but when our supplies run out, by God's providence we too shall give up our life along with them;

and in this too we rejoice, and this too belongs to the great generosity of God.

And who am I, wretched man, to be seized in such a way for the sake of his name, and, as he further commands, to be deemed worthy — unhonored as I am — of still greater glory together with my brother? I beg you, then, brothers, strive together with me in your prayers to God on our behalf, that I may be delivered in every way and at all times from the evil one, and that he who began in us the work of confessing him — through the bowels of his compassion, not from any works of my own (for I have done no good upon the earth, but rather the opposite) — may himself bring it to completion in us both.

This too we, in our lowliness, do not cease asking on your behalf, with tears, for you who are suffering the same things.

not only the eight, the Lord's chosen ones, but also Abba Peter and the good Litoios, and whoever else — we greet them all in the Lord.

{To my son Epiphanios} Behold, my beloved child, since you were eager beforehand to set out for the West, I told you to take these letters with you;

I have sent two letters, one to the Apostolic See and one to lord Methodios;

for those with brother Dionysios, by God's good pleasure, arrived safely at their destination and brought back good hopes;