Letter 228
Isidore of Pelusium→Unknown|isidore pelusium
From: Isidore of Pelusium, monk at Pelusium
To: Cyrus the Presbyter
Date: ~410 AD
Context: Isidore on the dignity and the weight of the priesthood — that it is a burden to be accepted, not a prize to be sought.
The priesthood is not a rank to be sought but a weight to be accepted. The person who pursues it as an honor has mistaken what it is. The honor is entirely on the side of what the priest serves, not on the side of the person serving.
This is why Isidore consistently declines to recommend candidates who want the office — and recommends those who are being called to it against their own inclinations. The man who doesn't want to be a priest and accepts out of obedience is more likely to exercise the office faithfully than the man who wanted it and got it.
Ρε εαοετάοιϊξ ργαείαπιία. ((οπ[. ἐρίδι. , εἰ ἰδ. υἱ, ρει. .. εἰ {πὴ τν, ὁρίει. ; εἰ Ζοαπ. Ολτῳτοεῖ. Η οπιλ δὲς περὶ ἱερωσύνης. Βιοὶ δεοσγάοι η ΟΥ̓ ΐΪ ΓΟσΠΟ ΒΕ ΠΠπι!αδ, ἀ- ΕἸ καὶ πάσης ἐστὶ βασιλείας ὑψηλοτέρα καὶ ἀξιω- κηϊπϑυ, ΠοΠ ρΡΓΟΡίοΓθα γῖβ ἰηἰ ἶλ ἀθοσί πῃ) | τΚοαγο οἰογγὶ, αυΐη ἀδοση [ πειπὶ δ ρ ] ᾿υΐυ ογηδίυπι Θχὶ δι ππογα, 'ρϑϑιη οὐπὶ ἰπ||- οἷυ Ιοηἰ αἰ ο πῇ : οορί Δη ὁΔη ΟΠΠΠΐ ᾿ΟΠΟΓΟ δἰ- υ υπηᾶπᾶ ἀϊχι! δια ροιίογοπι : οἱ ]η ι.}}}}- αἰα οὐροὸ ρεὺῦ Ὠοὶ φτγαιίαπι ἢυης οτάϊποιῃ δοσορογυπί, αυδη ἰγγδηηΐά δ οθπίδηἑ ΠΑ ΓΙ ἰπἰφυυπὶ . ΟΌΧΧΙΠΙ. -- ΗΠΔΕΡΟΟΒΖ“ ἈΠΕΤΟΉΙ. τέρα ἡ ἱερωσύνη, ἀλλὰ τοὺς ταύτην λαχόντας οὐ χρὴ χατὰ τῶν ἄλλων διὰ ταύτην ἐπαίρεσθαι, ἀλλὰ πρεπω- δέστατον καὶ ἁρμοδιώτατον ταύτης χόσμον ἡγεῖσθαι τὴν μετὰ συνέσεως πραότητα" ἑἐννσοῦντας, ὅτι κρείτ- των μέν ἐστι πάσης ἀνθρωπίνης τιμῆῇς τε χαὶ ἀξίας" διὰ δὲ τὴν θείαν χάριν τε καὶ διάταξιν ταύτην εἰλή- φασι τῆς τῶν ἄλλων ὠφελείας ἕνεχεν, ἣν οὐχ ἂν εἶεν δίχαιοι τῇ τυραννίδι καθυδρίζειν,
◆
From: Isidore of Pelusium, monk at Pelusium
To: Cyrus the Presbyter
Date: ~410 AD
Context: Isidore on the dignity and the weight of the priesthood — that it is a burden to be accepted, not a prize to be sought.
The priesthood is not a rank to be sought but a weight to be accepted. The person who pursues it as an honor has mistaken what it is. The honor is entirely on the side of what the priest serves, not on the side of the person serving.
This is why Isidore consistently declines to recommend candidates who want the office — and recommends those who are being called to it against their own inclinations. The man who doesn't want to be a priest and accepts out of obedience is more likely to exercise the office faithfully than the man who wanted it and got it.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.