Letter 173: They stood firm against the passions — the very passions they had previously acknowledged defeat against.
The Prophet called those who are unstable and resemble you, O fickle one, dust thrown off from the face of the earth. For though you were planted by the blessed Ammon and watered in a manner pleasing to God and firmly established and, as we supposed, bore fruit, you wander through many houses not for the sake of instruction but of restlessness. The monk who changes his place constantly will never change himself.
AI-assisted translation — This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek below for scholarly use.
Latin / Greek Original
ΡΟΓ. – ΜΑΡΚΟ ΜΟΝΑΧΩ.
Πρὸς μοναχὸν τόπον ἐκ τόπου ἀμείβοντα.
Τοὺς ἀστηρίκτους καὶ σοὶ προσεοικότας, ἀβέβαιε,
χοῦν ἐκριπτούμενον ἀπὸ προσώπου τῆς γῆς ὁ Προ-
φήτης ἐκάλεσεν. Εἰ γὰρ φυτευθεὶς παρὰ τοῦ μακα-
ρίου (67) ῎Αμμωνός, καὶ ποτισθεὶς θεοφιλῶς, καὶ
ἀσφαλῶς ἑδρασθεὶς, καὶ καρπὸν ἐνηνοχὼς, ὡς
ᾠόμεθα, πολλοὺς οἴκους περινοστεῖς οὐ χάριν παι-
δεύσεως, ἀλλ᾿ ἀβροτέρας σιτήσεως, τις σε κατ'
ἀξίαν ὀδύραιτο, καὶ σαυτὸν ἀπολλύντα, καὶ πολλοὺς
ἀχρειοῦντα, οἷς ἡ νεότης τὴν εὐκολίαν εἰσποιεῖται
συμφέρουσαν;
Related Letters
If there were no resurrection, Peter, the advice I give you would be foolishness.
The spiritual life is a journey with a beginning, a middle, and an end.
Gregory to Peter, Bishop of Aleria in Corsica. Inasmuch as in the isle of Corsica, at the place Nigeunum, in the possession which is called Cellas Cupias belonging to the holy Roman Church, which by the providence of God we serve, we have ordered to be founded a basilica, with a baptistery , to the honour of the blessed Peter, Prince of the apos...
The divine precepts admonish us to love our neighbours as ourselves; and, seeing that we are enjoined to love them with this charity, how much more ought we to succour them by supplies to their carnal needs, that we may relieve their distress, if not in all respects, yet at least with some support. Inasmuch, then, as we have found that the son o...
I have watched how the communion is administered, and I am troubled.