Letter 136: Since small causes often ignite great wars, I advise you: do not throw sparks of contention.

To Herminos the Comes. Concerning the order of the bishop and what type he represents. As much as you are insatiable in your desire for learning, so much am I eager to make things clear, if only God grants the discovery from above through your prayers. The linen cloth with which deacons serve in the holy places recalls the Lord's humility, when he washed the feet of his disciples and wiped them. The bishop's omophorion, being of wool and not of linen, signifies the sheepskin, which the Lord sought when it had gone astray, and carried upon his own shoulders.

PAG. - EPMINΟ ΚΟΜΗΤΙ. Περὶ τάξεως ἐπισκόπου, καὶ τίνος τύπον φέρει. Ὅσον αὐτὸς ἄπληστος εἶ πρὸς τὴν μάθησιν, τοσοῦ- τον ἐγὼ πρόθυμος πρὸς τὴν δήλωσιν, μόνον εἰ θεὸς δῷ ταῖς εὐχαῖς σου τὴν εὔρεσιν ἄνωθεν (31) · ἡ ὀθόν νη, μεθ' ἧς λειτουργοῦσιν ἐν τοῖς ἁγίοις οἱ διάκονοι, τὴν τοῦ Κυρίου ἀναμιμνήσκει ταπείνωσιν, νίψαντος τοὺς πόδας τῶν μαθητῶν, καὶ ἐκμάξαντος. Τὸ δὲ τοῦ ἐπισκόπου ὠμοφόριον ἐξ ἐρέας ὂν, ἀλλ᾽ οὐ λίνου, τὴν τοῦ προβάτου δορὰν σημαίνει, ὅπερ πλανηθὲν ζητή σας ὁ Κύριος, ἐπὶ τῶν οἰκείων ὤμων ἀνέλαβεν. Ὁ γὰρ ἐπίσκοπος εἰς τύπον ὢν τοῦ Χριστοῦ, τὸ ἔργον ἐκείνου πληροῖ, καὶ δείκνυσι πᾶσι διὰ τοῦ σχήματος, ὅτι μιμητής ἐστι τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ καὶ μεγάλου ποιμένος, ὁ τὰς ἀσθενείας φέρειν τοῦ ποιμνίου προβεβλημένος· καὶ πρόσχες ἀκριβῶς. Ἡνίκα γὰρ αὐτὸς ὁ ἀληθινὸς ποιμὴν παραγένηται διὰ τῆς τῶν Εὐαγγελίων τῶν προσκυνητῶν ἀναπτύξεως, καὶ ὑπανίσταται καὶ ἀπο- τίθεται τὸ σχῆμα τῆς μιμήσεως ὁ ἐπίσκοπος, αὐτὸν δηλῶν παρεῖναι τὸν Κύριον, τὸν τῆς ποιμαντικῆς ἡγεμόνα, καὶ Θεὸν καὶ δεσπότην. ``` ΡΝΓ΄. – ΔΙΟΝΥΣΙΩ Πάντων τινὰ αἰσθάνεσθαι.