Letter 10: Theodore Studite, Letter 10; Greek heading: Νικολάῳ μαθητῇ.

Since by the good pleasure of God you have been promoted, Nicholas my spiritual child, to the dignity of the abbacy [hegoumeneia, the office of abbot], it is necessary that you keep all the things enjoined upon you in this present document. You shall not, then, alter in anything, except under necessity, the rule [typos] and canon [kanon] which you received from your spiritual monastery. You shall not acquire any of the things of this world, nor lay up in store for yourself privately so much as a single piece of silver. You shall not divide your soul and your heart in attachment and concern toward those who have been entrusted to you by God and have become to you spiritually sons and brothers, nor toward those who were once your own according to the flesh, or kinsmen, or friends, or associates. You shall not dispose of the goods of your own monastery, neither while living nor after death, by way of almsgiving or inheritance, to those previously mentioned as your own and your friends (for you are not of the world, that you should share in the things of the world, unless perhaps some should pass over from the communal life into our own order [tagma]); and so you shall take thought in imitation of the holy fathers. You shall not acquire a slave, neither for your own use nor for the monastery entrusted to you nor for your fields - a human being who has been made according to the image of God; for this is permitted only to those in the secular life. But you must offer yourself as a slave by intention to your brothers who are of one soul with you, even though in outward appearance you are accounted as master and teacher. You shall not keep, for any service, an animal of the female kind - you who have renounced the female altogether - neither in the monastery nor in the fields, just as none of our holy and saintly fathers made use of such, nor does nature herself permit it. You shall not ride on horses and mules without necessity, but in imitation of Christ you shall go on foot; but if it be otherwise, a colt shall be your beast of burden. You shall by all means observe that all things in the brotherhood be common and undivided, and that nothing be set apart privately for any individual as his own possession, down to a needle; and let even your own body and soul - to say nothing of anything else - be shared out in equality of love among all your spiritual children and brothers. You shall not exercise authority over your two brothers and my children, neither with regard to office [arche] nor with regard to ordination [cheirotonia], to do anything apart from your father's injunction. You shall not contract with worldly people any brotherhood-bonds [adelphopoiia, the rite of ritual brotherhood] or co-sponsorship-of-children [synteknia, the bond of godparenthood], you who are a fugitive from the world and from marriage; for this is not found among the fathers, and even if it is found, it is rarely so, and this is no rule. You shall not dine together with a woman, except your mother and sister according to the flesh - and I do not know whether even then, unless some force and necessity should summon it, as the holy fathers enjoin. You shall not have the habit of going about much and roaming about much without necessity, abandoning your own flock, seeing that even while you remain settled the rational sheep [the monks under his care], so many-wayed and prone to wander off in every direction, are scarcely kept safe. You shall by all means observe the giving of the catechesis [katechesis, the instructional address] three times a week and every evening, since this is handed down from the fathers and brings salvation. You shall not give what they call the lesser habit [the lesser monastic schema], and then after some years another as a greater one; for the habit [schema] is one, just as baptism also is one, as the holy fathers practiced. You shall not transgress the laws and canons of the fathers, above all of our holy father Basil [Basil of Caesarea], but in everything that you do or say you shall act as having testimony from the Scriptures, or as drawn from your father's custom, without transgression of God's commandment. You shall not abandon your flock and pass over to another, nor run off to a greater dignity, without your father's discernment. You shall not form a friendship with a canoness [a woman of a religious community], nor pay visits in a convent of women, nor converse alone with a nun or a worldly woman, unless some necessity should draw you to it, and then with two persons present from each side; for being alone, as the saying goes, is open to slander. You shall not open the door of the flock to the entrance of any woman whatsoever without great necessity; but if you are able to receive her unobtrusively, not even this is to be rejected. You shall not make for yourself a lodging-place, or for your spiritual children, in a worldly house in which there are women, by visiting it frequently; but you shall choose to have your transient and necessary needs met among devout men. You shall not acquire as a disciple in your cell a youth out of fond attachment, but you shall have your service performed by a person above suspicion and by various brothers. You shall not acquire clothing that is outlandish and costly, apart from the priestly vestment, but in lowly fashion, in imitation of the fathers, you shall both clothe and shoe yourself. You shall not live luxuriously, neither in your own expenditure nor in the reception of guests; for this belongs to the portion of those who take their enjoyment of the present life. You shall not store up gold in your monastery, but whatever is over and above of every kind you shall distribute to the needy at the opening of your courtyard, just as the holy fathers also did. You shall not hold a fortified place and the administrative care, but let all your care belong to what pertains to souls; the gold and the things needed you shall hand over to the steward [oikonomos], to the cellarer [kellarites], and as is fitting to each office of service - while you yourself plainly hold authority over all and transfer each office of service to whatever person you wish, and receive the account of each administration as you direct. You shall not do or perform anything according to your own private judgment in any matter, neither in going out, nor in selling and buying, nor in receiving or dismissing a brother, nor in the change of an office of service, nor in any other of the bodily matters, and indeed not even in matters of spiritual fault, without the counsel of those who excel in knowledge and reverence - one, or two, or three, or even more, according to the matter at hand - just as has been enjoined in fatherly fashion. All these things, and whatever others you have received, may you keep and guard, that it may be well with you, and you shall be prospered in the Lord all the days of your life; for may the contrary be far from us even to speak of or to conceive.

Ἐπειδὴ εὐδοκίᾳ θεοῦ προεβιβάσθης, τέκνον πνευματικὸν Νικόλαε, εἰς τὸ τῆς ἡγουμενείας ἀξίωμα, δέον παραφυλάξαι σε πάντα τὰ ἐντεταλμένα σοι ἐν τῷ παρόντι γραμματίῳ. οὐ διαλλάξεις οὖν ὅνπερ παρέλαβες τύπον καὶ κανόνα παρὰ τῆς πνευματικῆς σου μονῆς ἐν ἅπασιν ἄνευ ἀνάγκης. οὐ κτήσῃ τι τοῦ κόσμου τούτου οὐδὲ ἀποθησαυρίσεις ἰδιορίστως εἰς ἑαυτὸν μέχρι καὶ ἑνὸς ἀργυρίου. οὐ διαμερίσεις τὴν ψυχὴν καὶ τὴν καρδίαν σου ἐν σχέσει καὶ φροντίδι παρὰ τοὺς πεπιστευμένους σοι ὑπὸ θεοῦ καὶ γενομένους σοι πνευματικῶς υἱοὺς καὶ ἀδελφοὺς οὔτε εἰς τοὺς ποτὲ ἰδίους κατὰ σάρκα ἢ συγγενεῖς ἢ φίλους ἢ συνεταίρους. οὐ χρήσῃ τοῖς τῆς οἰκείας σου μονῆς οὔτε ζῶν οὔτε μετὰ θάνατον ἐλεημονητικῶς ἢ κληρονομικῶς εἰς τοὺς ποτὲ προειρημένους ἰδίους καὶ φίλους (οὐ γὰρ ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου εἶ, ἵνα μετέχῃς τῶν ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου, πλὴν εἰ μή που μετάβοιέν τινες ἐκ τοῦ κοινωνικοῦ βίου εἰς τὸ καθ' ἡμᾶς τάγμα) καὶ οὕτω φροντίσεις κατὰ μίμησιν τῶν ἁγίων πατέρων. οὐ κτήσῃ δοῦλον οὔτε εἰς οἰκείαν χρείαν οὔτε εἰς ἣν ἐπιστεύθης μονὴν οὔτε εἰς ἀγρούς σου τὸν κατ' εἰκόνα θεοῦ γεγονότα ἄνθρωπον· τοῦτο γὰρ μόνοις τοῖς ἐν τῷ βίῳ συγκεχώρηται. σοὶ δὲ χρεὼν ἑαυτὸν παρασχεῖν τοῖς ὁμοψύχοις σου ἀδελφοῖς δοῦλον τῇ προθέσει, κἂν τῇ ἔξω ἐπιφανείᾳ ὡς δεσπότης λογίζῃ καὶ διδάσκαλος. οὐ σχοίης ζῷον τῶν ἐκ τοῦ θήλεος γένους εἰς χρείαν ὑπουργικήν, ὁ τῷ θήλει παντάπασιν ἀποταξάμενος, οὔτε ἐν τῇ μονῇ οὔτε ἐν τοῖς ἀγροῖς, καθὼς οὐδεὶς τῶν ὁσίων καὶ ἁγίων πατέρων ἡμῶν ἐχρήσατο οὔτε ἡ φύσις αὐτὴ ἐπιτρέπει. οὐκ ἐποχούμενος ἔσῃ ἵπποις καὶ ἡμιόνοις ἄνευ ἀνάγκης, ἀλλὰ χριστομιμήτως πεζοπορήσεις· εἰ δ' οὖν, πῶλός σοι τὸ ὑποζύγιον ἔσται. παραφυλάξεις πάντως τὸ τὰ πάντα τὰ ἐν τῇ ἀδελφότητι κοινὰ εἶναι καὶ ἀμέριστα καὶ μηδὲν κατὰ μέρος τοῦ καθ' ἕκαστον εἰς ἐξαυθέντησιν μέχρι καὶ ῥαφίδος· σοῦ δὲ καὶ τὸ σῶμα καὶ ἡ ψυχή, μή τί γε ἄλλο, ἔστωσαν διαμεμερισμένα ἐν ἰσότητι ἀγάπης πᾶσι τοῖς πνευματικοῖς σου τέκνοις καὶ ἀδελφοῖς. οὐκ ἐξουσιάσεις ἐπὶ τοῖς δυσὶν ἀδελφοῖς σου καὶ τέκνοις μου οὔτε πρὸς ἀρχὴν οὔτε πρὸς χειροτονίαν πρᾶξαί τι πάρεξ τῆς πατρικῆς σου ἐντάλσεως. οὐ σχοίης μετὰ κοσμικῶν ἀδελφοποιίας ἤ συντεκνίας, ὁ φυγὰς τοῦ κόσμου καὶ τοῦ γάμου· οὐ γὰρ εὕρηται ἐν τοῖς πατράσιν, εἰ δὲ καὶ εὕρηται, σπανιάκις, καὶ τοῦτο οὐ νόμος. Οὐ συνεστιαθῇς μετὰ γυναικὸς πλὴν τῆς κατὰ σάρκα μητρὸς καὶ ἀδελφῆς, οὐκ οἶδα εἰ μή τις βία καὶ ἀνάγκη καλοίη, καθὼς παρακελεύονται οἱ ἅγιοι πατέρες. Οὐ σχοίης τὸ πολυπρόοδον καὶ πολυγύρευτον ἄνευ ἀνάγκης ἐγκαταλιμπάνων τὸ οἰκεῖον ποίμνιον, ὅπου γε καὶ ἐγκαθημένου σου μόλις διασῴζοιντο τὰ πολυτροπώτατα καὶ πολυδιεξόδευτα λογικὰ πρόβατα. Παραφυλάξεις πάντως τὸ ποιεῖσθαι τρισσάκις τὴν κατήχησιν τῇ ἑβδομάδι καὶ καθ' ἑσπέραν, ἐπειδὴ πατροπαράδοτον τοῦτο καὶ σωτήριον. Οὐ δοίης ὅπερ λέγουσι μικρὸν σχῆμα, ἔπειτα μετὰ χρόνους ἕτερον ὡς μέγα· ἓν γὰρ τὸ σχῆμα ὥσπερ καὶ τὸ βάπτισμα, καθὼς οἱ ἅγιοι πατέρες ἐχρήσαντο. Οὐ παραβῇς τοὺς νόμους καὶ κανόνας τῶν πατέρων, πρό γε πάντων τοῦ ἁγίου πατρὸς ἡμῶν Βασιλείου, ἀλλὰ πᾶν ὅ τι ἂν ποιῇς ἢ λέγῃς ὡς μαρτυρίαν ἔχων ἐκ τῶν Γραφῶν πράξεις ἢ ὡς ἐκ πατρικῆς σου συνηθείας, ἄνευ παραβάσεως ἐντολῆς θεοῦ. Οὐ καταλείψεις τὸ ποίμνιόν σου καὶ εἰς ἕτερον μετάβοις ἢ πρὸς μείζονα ἀξίαν ἐπαναδράμοις ἄνευ πατρικῆς σου διαγνώσεως. Οὐ φιλιάσεις μετὰ κανονικῆς οὐδὲ παραβάλῃς ἐν γυναικείῳ σεμνείῳ οὐδὲ κατὰ μόνας ὁμιλήσεις μοναζούσῃ ἢ κοσμικῇ, εἰ μή που ἀνάγκη ἕλκοι, καὶ τότε δύο παρόντων ἐξ ἑκατέρου μέρους προσώπων· τὸ γὰρ ἕν, ὥς φησιν, εὐεπηρέαστον. Οὐκ ἀνοίξεις τὴν θύραν τῆς ποίμνης ἐπὶ εἰσόδῳ παντοίας γυναικὸς ἄνευ μεγάλης ἀνάγκης· εἰ δὲ δυνατὸς εἶ ἀσυμφανῶς δέχεσθαι, οὐδὲ τοῦτο ἀπόβλητον. Οὐ ποιήσεις σεαυτῷ καταγώγιον ἢ τοῖς πνευματικοῖς σου τέκνοις, οἶκον κοσμικόν, ἐν ᾧ εἰσι γυναῖκες, ἐπὶ συχνῷ παραβάλλων, ἀλλ' ἐκλέξῃ εἰς ἀνδρῶν εὐλαβῶν τὰς παροδικὰς καὶ ἀναγκαίας χρείας ποιεῖσθαι. Οὐ κτήσῃ μαθητὴν εἰς τὸ κελλίον σου μειράκιον προσπαθῶς, ἀλλ' ἐκ προσώπου ἀνυπόπτου καὶ ἐκ διαφόρων ἀδελφῶν τὴν ὑπουργίαν σου ποιήσεις. Οὐ κτήσῃ ἱματισμὸν ἐξηλλαγμένον καὶ πολύτιμον ἄνευ τοῦ ἱερατικοῦ, ἀλλὰ τοῖς ταπεινοῖς πατρομιμήτως καὶ ἐνδύσῃ καὶ ὑποδήσῃ. Οὐκ ἔσῃ ἁβροδίαιτος οὔτε ἐν τῇ οἰκείᾳ σου δαπάνῃ οὔτε ἐν ταῖς ὑποδοχαῖς τῶν ξένων· τοῦτο γὰρ τῆς μερίδος τῶν ἀπολαυστικῶν τοῦ παρόντος βίου. Οὐ θησαυρίσεις χρυσίον ἐν τῇ μονῇ σου, ἀλλὰ τὸ κατὰ περίσσειαν ἐπὶ παντὸς εἴδους μεταδοίης τοῖς πενομένοις ἐν ἀνοίξει τῆς αὐλῆς σου καθὼς καὶ οἱ ἅγιοι πατέρες. οὐ κρατήσεις τόπον ἠσφαλισμένον καὶ τὴν οἰκονομικὴν φροντίδα, ἀλλ' ἔστω σοι πᾶσα ἡ φροντὶς ἀνήκουσα περὶ τῶν ψυχῶν· τὸ δὲ χρυσίον καὶ τὰ κατὰ χρείαν ἐγχειρίσεις τῷ οἰκονόμῳ, τῷ κελλαρίτῃ καὶ ὡς ἐπιβάλλει ἐν ἑκάστῃ διακονίᾳ, σοῦ προδήλως πάντων τὴν ἐξουσίαν ἔχοντος καὶ μεταφέροντος ὡς ἂν βούλῃ ἑκάστην διακονίαν ἐν τῷ τυχόντι προσώπῳ καὶ ἀπολαμβάνοντος τὸν λόγον ἑκάστης διοικήσεως καθὸ ἐντέλλῃ. οὐ ποιήσεις τι ἢ πράξεις κατ' οἰκείαν γνώμην ἐν παντὶ πράγματι οὔτε ἐν προόδῳ οὔτε ἐν πράσει καὶ ἀγορασίᾳ οὔτε ἐν δοχῇ ἢ ἐν ἀποκρίσει ἀδελφοῦ οὔτε ἐν ὑπαλλαγῇ διακονίας οὔτε ἐν ἄλλῳ τινὶ τῶν σωματικῶν, ἀλλ' οὖν οὐδὲ ἐν τοῖς ψυχικοῖς σφάλμασιν, ἄνευ βουλῆς προεχόντων ἐν γνώσει καὶ εὐλαβείᾳ, ἑνὸς ἢ δύο ἢ καὶ τριῶν ἢ καὶ πλειόνων κατὰ τὴν ὑποκειμένην ὑπόθεσιν, ὥσπερ ἐντέταλται πατρικῶς. ταῦτα πάντα καὶ ὅσα ἕτερα παρέλαβες φυλάξοις καὶ φρουρήσοις, ἵνα εὖ σοι γένηται, καὶ ἔσῃ κατευοδούμενος ἐν Κυρίῳ πάσας τὰς ἡμέρας τῆς ζωῆς σου· τὸ γὰρ ἐναντίον ἀπείη καὶ λέγειν καὶ ἐννοεῖν.