Letter 151: Theodore Studite, Letter 151; Greek heading: Τῷ αὐτῷ.

All that you wrote to me, beloved child, gave me joy: things good and not good, things full of gladness and things grievous, things hopeful and things despairing, things known and things unknown. For I forbear to speak of the praises concerning my own wretchedness, since I neither do nor indeed have ever done any good upon the earth, even though it is your custom to exalt my affairs out of love and faith. Seeing the face of your soul stamped with these, I glorify my God, who confirms you in the confidence of His fear. As for our own affairs, they stand thus, in lowliness and wretchedness. For what indeed have we suffered? Not even as my fathers and those of equal rank, but far behind them, inasmuch as I fall short of their worth in virtue; nevertheless, because by the mercy of God and by fatherly, indeed brotherly, intercession, the exile and the solitude have been fruitful for us, since the goodness of God has otherwise brought about in us the disposition of humility. This I would not have attained, had I not been brought into solitude, which I have embraced as better than honey. And, O the loving-kindness [philanthropia] of Him who, for our profit, grieves us a little, and then afterward shows the gain that comes from affliction and the sweetness that comes from bitterness! No longer, then, shall I, wretched as I am, be vexed at the things to which Christ, the joy of all, may lead me; rather I cry aloud: I became as a beast before you, yet I am continually with you. Therefore I shall not be anxious about anything, just as neither about the intrigue of the emperor, even if with cords he has stretched out a snare for my feet, setting stumbling-blocks beside my path; for it is written, 'Upon the asp and the basilisk you shall tread, and you shall trample the lion and the dragon.' May this charge be effective for me, O good child, through your prayers, by the utmost loving-kindness of God which covers the abyss of my sins, for the whole of my life, against every power both visible and invisible. As to how I am situated, I have also reported it word for word, and the letter-carrier will recount it well by his own voice, and who it is that is the patron of my lodging in many ways, for whom I also beg that you take them up in your prayers. But why have you wearied yourself, you who love your father, in the things you sent, which were many and various? My God will repay you with spiritual things from here and with eternal things from there. You are weary, I know it, being dragged this way and that, pressed and stretched on every side: toward those present and toward those absent, toward word and toward deed, toward admonition and reconciliation, toward those who are above and those who are below, toward every single thing among those that present themselves and fall out, and these too accompanied by the preparation of a burden, or even of danger. But take courage: great is your reward, the crown of martyrdom is yours. And, O the providence which has made use of the intrigue of the ruler for the salvation of many! Only watch exceedingly, together with the rest; for not at random are nets stretched out for winged creatures. But may the Lord cause you to fly over them to the end. Truly the fall of the man of Chrysopolis [a brother who lapsed] has touched my pitiable soul. But may the Lord be the helper both of the Grammarians and of the lord Joseph and of whoever else is being tempted by the new Jannes [an iconoclast opponent, after the magician of Exodus]; to whom indeed I have written, if their delivery should prosper, you first reading the letters. Lend yourself also to the convent of Saint Phokas, according to the Lord and for the Lord's sake, in what you are able, since they too are kept under guard; for they are God's servants, fulfilling the work of confession. May the grace of the Lord be your safeguard in all things, beloved. The lord John greets you, together with the brother Nikolaos.