Letter 16: Theodore Studite, Letter 16; Greek heading: Νικηφόρῳ βασιλεῖ.

Our good God, in his care for his own Church, was destined to set up your piety to reign over the Christians in the present generation, so that not only might the secular government, which was in a bad condition, be well ordered, but also that the leadership over the Church, if it had any deficiency, might be set right, and that there might come to be, as it were, a new lump [cf. 1 Corinthians 5:7] in both alike. This your Christ-loving sovereignty has, by his grace, set right in the one part, and may you set it right still further, strengthened by the inclinations from above. It remains, then, just now, that the other part too should enjoy an equal forethought and care. And this would be, after God and together with God, bestowed by you through the lawful election, made in accordance with what is well-pleasing, of the one who is to hold the high-priestly office. And since you have sought to learn from us also, sinful and unworthy as we are, what is present to our mind as in the presence of the Lord who is to call us to account, concerning which we shall have to speak on the day of judgment, the matter stands thus. We do not know, nor are we acquainted with, anyone -- not that those who shine forth in life and in word have failed (for there are some who are manifest both to God and to men, even if not in equal measure, and most of all to your luminous soul) -- but since the reasoning and the longing of your sovereignty seeks such a man: one who is able with a perfect heart to seek out the ordinances of God [dikaiomata, the righteous decrees]; one who has been brought forward by degree and rank, little by little, to the higher station; one who has been tested in all things, who, from what he himself has suffered, would be able to help those who are being tested [cf. Hebrews 2:18]. And what need is there to say much to you, who know this well and from your own condition and advancement recount such a man? He ought to shine before the many as the sun among the stars. Since, then, we do not see such a one, neither do we dare to cast a vote. But this we set forth as a reminder, with reserve and reverence -- something which is altogether not hidden from your much-experienced and divine great-mindedness -- that, receiving a selection from the bishops, from the abbots, from the stylites [solitaries who lived atop pillars], from the recluses [enkleistoi, monks shut up in cells], and then from the clergy, and taking from those very ones who have submitted [names] the men who excel the others in understanding and prudence and life (for let the stylites also come down and the recluses come out, since the thing sought is common and of common benefit), you may judge and compare and, together with them, designate the more worthy. And blessed would you be -- rather, thrice-blessed -- if you accomplish this whole matter, our Christ-imitating masters. And in this your sovereignty will be still more strengthened, and your name will be magnified from generation to generation, and the years of your dominion will be increased. For God has given these two gifts to the Christians: priesthood and kingship, through which earthly things are tended, through which they are adorned as the things in heaven. In whichever of the two, therefore, there is unworthiness, of necessity the whole is endangered together with it. So that, if you wish to add the greatest things to your sovereignty, and through your sovereignty to all the Christians, let the Church also receive its own president [proedron, the presiding bishop] -- balanced, so far as is in its power, against the virtue of your reign -- so that the heavenly things may exult and the earthly things may sing. May the hand of God, in which your heart also is, be for guidance and revelation of the better course; and you will receive from it, in return for the toils and cares and anxieties laid down by you for this work, the kingdom that has no successor [the undying kingdom of heaven].

Ἔμελλεν ὁ ἀγαθὸς θεὸς ἡμῶν, τῆς ἑαυτοῦ ἐκκλησίας φροντίζων, τὴν ὑμετέραν εὐσέβειαν ἐπὶ τῆς παρούσης γενεᾶς προστήσασθαι βασιλεύειν τῶν Χριστιανῶν, ἵνα μὴ μόνον ἡ κοσμικὴ ἀρχὴ εὖ διατεθῇ, κακῶς διακειμένη, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἡ κατὰ τὴν ἐκκλησίαν ἡγεμονία, εἴ τι ἐνδεῶς ἔχει, ἀνορθωθείη καὶ νέον πως φύραμα γένηται ἐν ἀμφοτέραις· ὅπερ τῇ αὐτοῦ χάριτι κατώρθωκεν ἐν τῷ ἑνὶ μέρει ἡ φιλόχριστος ὑμῶν βασιλεία, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἔτι κατορθώσειεν, ταῖς ἄνωθεν ῥοπαῖς δυναμουμένη. λειπόμενον οὖν ἐστιν ἄρτι καὶ τὸ ἕτερον τῆς ἴσης ἀπολαῦσαι προμηθείας καὶ θεραπείας. τοῦτο δ' ἂν εἴη μετὰ θεὸν καὶ σὺν θεῷ πρὸς ὑμῶν δωρηθῆναι διὰ τῆς κατ' εὐαρέστησιν νομίμου ἐκλογῆς τοῦ μέλλοντος ἀρχιερατεύειν. Ἐπεὶ δὲ καὶ παρ' ἡμῶν ἐπεζήτησας μαθεῖν, τῶν ἁμαρτωλῶν καὶ ἀναξίων, τὸ παριστάμενον ἡμῖν ὡς ἐνώπιον Κυρίου τοῦ μέλλοντος εὐθύνειν ἡμᾶς, περὶ οὗ μέλλομεν λέγειν ἐν ἡμέρᾳ κρίσεως, οὕτως ἔχει. οὐ γινώσκομεν οὐδὲ ἐπιστάμεθά τινα, οὐχ ὅτι ἀπέλιπον οἱ διαλάμποντες ἐν βίῳ καὶ λόγῳ (εἰσὶ γὰρ καὶ θεῷ φαινόμενοι καὶ ἀνθρώποις, εἰ καὶ οὐκ ἴσῳ λόγῳ, καὶ μάλιστα τῇ σῇ φωτεινῇ ψυχῇ), ἐπεὶ δὲ τοιοῦτον ζητεῖ ὁ λόγος καὶ ὁ πόθος τῆς ὑμῶν βασιλείας, τὸν ἐν τελείᾳ καρδίᾳ δυνάμενον ἐκζητῆσαι τὰ τοῦ θεοῦ δικαιώματα, τὸν βαθμῷ καὶ τάξει ἐκ τοῦ κατὰ μικρὸν εἰς τὸ ὑψηλότερον προανηγμένον, τὸν πεπειραμένον κατὰ πάντα, ὅς γε ἐξ ὧν πέπονθεν τοῖς πειραζομένοις δύναιτ' ἂν βοηθήσειν. καὶ τί δεῖ πολλὰ λέγειν πρὸς σὲ τὸν εὖ εἰδότα καὶ ἐκ τῆς οἰκείας καταστάσεως καὶ προκοπῆς τὸν τηλικοῦτον ἀνιστοροῦντα; τῶν πολλῶν ὀφείλει προλάμπειν ὡς ἐν ἄστρασιν ἥλιος. Ἡνίκα τοίνυν οὐχ ὁρῶμεν τοιοῦτον, οὐδὲ ἀποτολμῶμεν ψηφίσασθαι. τοῦτο δὲ ὡς ἐν ὑπομνήσει μετὰ συστολῆς καὶ αἰδοῦς ὑποτιθέμεθα, ὅπερ ἀλάθητόν ἐστι πάντως τῇ πολυπείρῳ καὶ θείᾳ μεγαλονοίᾳ σου, ἵνα ἀπό τε τῶν ἐπισκόπων ἀπό τε τῶν ἡγουμένων ἀπό τε τῶν στυλιτῶν ἀπό τε τῶν ἐγκλειστῶν, εἶτα τοῦ κλήρου ὑποδεχόμενος ἐκλογὴν ἐξ αὐτῶν τε τῶν ἐπιδεδωκότων λαβὼν τοὺς ἐν συνέσει καὶ φρονήσει καὶ βίῳ τῶν ἄλλων προέχοντας (καταβάτωσαν γὰρ καὶ στυλῖται ἐκβαινέτωσάν τε καὶ ἐγκλειστοί, ἐπείπερ κοινῇ καὶ συμφέρον τὸ ζητούμενον) ἐπικρίνῃ καὶ συγκρίνῃ καὶ σὺν αὐτοῖς ἀποδείξῃ τὸν ἀξιώτερον. καὶ μακάριος εἴη, μᾶλλον δὲ καὶ τρισμακάριοι, ἐὰν τοῦτο ὅλον ἀπεργάσησθε, χριστομίμητοι ἡμῶν δεσπόται. καὶ ἐν τούτῳ ἔτι μᾶλλον κρατυνθήσεται ὑμῶν ἡ βασιλεία μεγαλυνθήσεταί τε τὸ ὄνομα ὑμῶν ἀπὸ γενεῶν εἰς γενεάς, αὐξηθήσεται δὲ καὶ τὰ τοῦ κράτους ὑμῶν ἔτη. ἐπειδὴ δύο ταῦτα δέδωκεν ὁ θεὸς τοῖς Χριστιανοῖς δωρήματα, ἱερωσύνην καὶ βασιλείαν, δι' ὧν θεραπεύεται, δι' ὧν κοσμεῖται ὡς ἐν οὐρανῷ τὰ ἐπίγεια· ὁποτέρως οὖν ἀναξίως ἔχει, καὶ τὸ ὅλον ἀνάγκη συγκινδυνεύειν. Ὥστε εἰ βούλοισθε τῇ βασιλείᾳ ὑμῶν συγκροτεῖν τὰ μέγιστα καὶ διὰ τῆς βασιλείας ὑμῶν πᾶσι τοῖς Χριστιανοῖς, ἰσόρροπον τὸ ὅσον εἰς δύναμιν τῆς κατὰ τὴν βασιλείαν ἀρετῆς ὑμῶν δέξηται καὶ ἡ ἐκκλησία τὸν ἑαυτῆς πρόεδρον, ἵνα ἀγαλλιάσηται τὰ οὐράνια καὶ ᾄσῃ τὰ ἐπίγεια. εἴη ἡ χεὶρ τοῦ θεοῦ, ἐν ᾗ καὶ ἡ καρδία ὑμῶν ἐστιν, εἰς ὁδηγίαν καὶ ἀποκάλυψιν τοῦ κρείττονος· καὶ ἀπολήψεσθε παρ' αὐτῆς τοὺς ὑπὲρ τοῦ ἔργου τούτου καταβαλλομένους ὑμῖν πόνους καὶ μερίμνας καὶ φροντίδας, τὴν βασιλείαν τὴν ἀδιάδοχον.