Letter 129
Isidore of Pelusium→Unknown|isidore pelusium
From: Isidore of Pelusium, monk
To: An unnamed priest
Date: ~410 AD
Context: Isidore reports an incident at the altar involving a distinguished man and an unworthy priest.
A distinguished man — upright in character and splendid in life (I will pass over his high office, for that is only a shadow and a dream) — approached us and reported that he had come to the holy altar to receive the divine mysteries. But when he saw a certain person standing beside him — an old man whose life was notorious — he recoiled. And rightly so. The altar is not improved by the rank of those who approach it, but it is profaned by the character of those who serve it unworthily.
᾿Ανὴρ ἐλλόγιμος χαὶ ὀρθὸς μὲν τὸν τρόπον, λαμ- πρὸς δὲ τὸν βίον (τὸ γὰρ χαὶ ἀξιώματι αὑτὸν λαμ.- πρῷ χεχοσμῆσθαι, παρήσω" σχιὰ “γὰρ τοῦτο χαὶ ὄναρ), ἐντυχὼν ἡμῖν ἀπήγγειλεν, ὅτι προσῆλθε μὲν τῷ σεπτῷ θυσιαστηρίῳ τῶν θείων μυστηρίων μεταλη- ψόμενος " θεασάμενος δέ σς αὐτῷ παρεστῶτα, ἄν- θρωπὸν πρεσθύτην μὲν τὴν ἡλιχίαν, πρεσθύτε- ρον δὲ τὴν ἀξίαν, ἀχμάζοντα δὲ τῇ λαγνείᾳ, χαὶ πάντας. τοὺς ἐπ᾽ ἀσελγείᾳ βεδοημένους ὑπερακον- τίσαντα, εἰς τοὐπίσω χεχώρηχϑε. μὴ ἀξιώσας τὰ ἱερὰ μυστήρια διὰ μιαρᾶς χειρὸς δέξασθαι. Ἐγὼ δ᾽ ὅπως μὲν ἐπλήγην τὴν ψυχὴν ταῦτα ἀχούσας, παρήσω" ἃ δ᾽ ἐχεῖνον χαταχράτος ἐμεμψάμην, λέξω. Οὐδὲν, ἔφην, ὦ σοφώτατε, παραδλάπτεται ὁ δεχόμενος, εἰ χαὶ ὁ διδοὺς ἀνάξιος εἶναι δοχοίη, οὐδὲ τὰ ἄχραντα χραίνεται μυπτήρια, εἰ ὁ ἱερεὺς πάντα; ἀνθρώπους εἰς χαχίαν παρελάσειεν. Εἰ δ᾽ ἀπιστεῖς, ἐννόδι τὸν χόραχα, τὸ ἀκάθαρτον χαὶ μισότεχνον ζῶον, δι᾽ οὗ ὁ οὐραυοδρόμος χαὶ οὐρανοπολίτης Ἠλίας ἐτρέφετο. Καὶ ἄλλα δὲ πολλὰ ἔφην, ἅπερ γράψαι σοι δυεῖν ἕνεχεν παρῃτησάμην, τοῦ τε μὴ μῆχος περιττὸν τῇ ἐπιστολῇ προσθεῖναι, τοῦ τε μὴ δόξαι λίαν τὰ σὰ ἐχ- τραγῳδεῖν χαχά. “Ὥππερ τοίνυν ἐχείνῳ ἐμεμψάμην, οὕτω καὶ σοὶ παραινῶ, ἣ μεταγνῶναι, ἢ ἀποστῖινα! τοῦ σεπτοῦ θυσιαστηρίον, ἵνα μὴ τοὺς προσιέναι αὑτῷ προῃρημένους, διὰ τῶν σαντοῦ πράξων ἀπ- ελαύνοις. οϑηδυΐ, εἶς δἰϊϑι (! υἱ “υἱ ΓοΒΙρί, δἃυϊ ἃ γϑινδγαιο αἰϊαῦὶ δυθοθάδδ: Π ΔΠοφυΐ , ] Ἰρϑιιαὶ δοοθύεγα ἰπϑι σι, ρῈΓ [π δοίη } πον : . δ. Ῥφλ} ιν, δ. }}} Ἀυς. χνιι, . ΝΑΙ ΠΕΟΤΙΟΝΕῈΒ ΕΤ ΝΟΤΕ. () ἰάθη οοά., ἀνόμους. [υ. ΤΜΔ,. --- ΠΑΥΛΩ. Α Εἰς τὸ γεγραμμένον" « Οὐχ ἐπ' ἄρτῳ μόνῳ ζή- σεται ἄγθρωπος. " Ἐπειδὴ ᾿Εδραῖοι τεσσαράχοντα ἔτη τῷ μάννα τρεφόμενοι, οὐκ ἀξιοπίστῳ, ὅσον χατ’ ἀνθρώπινον λογισμὸν, πρὸς ἰσχὺν σωμάτων τυγχάνοντι, διέμενον ἐπὶ τῆς ἴσης ἀλχῆς τε χαὶ ῥώμης, ἴσως δὲ χαὶ μείζο- γος ἀπέλανον δυνάμεως (οὐ γὰρ ἡ τροφὴ, ἀλλ᾽ ὁ θεῖος ὄρος διεχράτει χαὶ τὰς ψυχὰς καὶ τὰ σώματα), ἔτη ὁ νομοθέτης, ὅπερ μαθεῖν [ἢ] ἐθέλησας ()" ε« Οὐχ ἐπ᾿ ἄρτῳ μόνῳ ζήσεται ἄνθρωπος, ἀλλ᾽ ἐπὶ παντὶ ῥήματι ἐχπορευομένῳ διὰ στόματος Θεοῦ. » Ὅπερ χαὶ ὁ Χριστὸς διαχρουόμενος τὸ διαδολιχὸν μηχά- νῆμα, προεδάλλετο, καὶ χατέσεισε τοῦ πειράζοντος τὴν ἰσχύν.
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From: Isidore of Pelusium, monk
To: An unnamed priest
Date: ~410 AD
Context: Isidore reports an incident at the altar involving a distinguished man and an unworthy priest.
A distinguished man — upright in character and splendid in life (I will pass over his high office, for that is only a shadow and a dream) — approached us and reported that he had come to the holy altar to receive the divine mysteries. But when he saw a certain person standing beside him — an old man whose life was notorious — he recoiled. And rightly so. The altar is not improved by the rank of those who approach it, but it is profaned by the character of those who serve it unworthily.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.