Letter 444
Isidore of Pelusium→Unknown|isidore pelusium
From: Isidore of Pelusium, monk at Pelusium
To: A Bishop
Date: ~410 AD
Context: Isidore instructs a bishop that his responsibility toward those entrusted to him demands active vigilance, not merely passive avoidance of scandal.
A bishop cannot content himself with having done no harm. The charge you have accepted is not a minimum — it is a calling. Not to reproach oneself for open offenses is within reach of ordinary people. To fill that office with genuine care for those who have been given into your keeping is something else entirely.
The shepherd who simply does not slaughter the sheep has not yet been a shepherd. The shepherd is the one who goes out, who watches, who brings the scattered back. Consider well which of these you have been, and which you ought to be.
ΕΠΠυ ἃ Ὑδ11 , Υἷγ ργιϑιδηι βίη, 4φπο οἵπὶ ἰη οιἰπηΐ γα ουγγίουϊο, ὈΓΘΒ6Γ Π) εὐ! διὶ ἤπ68, Π01 ) δ , υἱ τὺ Θχὶδβι! ηγ5ι1 , υϑιι ΟΠ; πιϊἰδίεγὶϊ θη ἰ8ι1, ΦΡηυιτη δ' ουρ εἰ ἃ- 7Δ1 ἰυὰΔ8 ΓΟρΡΓΪπΊαΓΟ . : σΟΟΓοογα : ἰἴὰ υἱ Υἱ- εἰσγυ Θογιπὶ, δυ ἢ ἰΑΠογΆη!, .. - ουμπ . Τυγρί δεν. αἰ [μδτγὶῖ, [ ὶ δΌ δυη!ϊ, ᾿πηρογᾶγα σπρΐθις5, [ ἡ Πἴδοίι8 (ἰδ ρΓΟ- μδηάαγίδ, υἱ η6 ν ] φη ίΐθπι ἱρ81 ργεθ886 ηιϊι6 .
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From: Isidore of Pelusium, monk at Pelusium
To: A Bishop
Date: ~410 AD
Context: Isidore instructs a bishop that his responsibility toward those entrusted to him demands active vigilance, not merely passive avoidance of scandal.
A bishop cannot content himself with having done no harm. The charge you have accepted is not a minimum — it is a calling. Not to reproach oneself for open offenses is within reach of ordinary people. To fill that office with genuine care for those who have been given into your keeping is something else entirely.
The shepherd who simply does not slaughter the sheep has not yet been a shepherd. The shepherd is the one who goes out, who watches, who brings the scattered back. Consider well which of these you have been, and which you ought to be.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.