Letter 223: Theodore Studite, Letter 223; Greek heading: Ναυκρατίῳ τέκνῳ.

Grievous was the news in your letter, my child; fastening upon my humble soul, it truly caused me pain and called forth a tear from my heart, so that it left me, one might say, sleepless through the night in which I received the letter into my hands. This was so concerning all who have fallen, but especially concerning the one of Phlouboute [a place], and because the others did now the same things as they had done before, while he was reckoned among those who seemed to stand securely. I marveled, therefore, while they were still standing, that, not having confessed their former defeat in the matter of the adulterous union and the contracting of the adulterous marriage [the so-called "Moechian" controversy over the emperor Constantine VI's remarriage], they laid claim to themselves in the present cause; and perhaps I supposed privately and in my own mind that they had come to repentance, and I, the humble one, rejoiced at their walking upright [in the faith]. But, as it seems, having built their house upon rotten foundations, they have fallen, by the tempest of the heresy that has fallen upon them, a most grievous fall, once again calling the setting-aside of the truth a "dispensation" [oikonomia: prudential accommodation]. These same men both formerly became a scandal to the Church of God and now likewise, through the things they have done, summoning all to destruction. And indeed most are ready for participation in the evil, seeking in their straits to find some pretext by which the contest for true religion might be made for them untroubled and without hardship. They have entered into communion in the denial of Christ, of the Theotokos [the God-bearer, the Virgin Mary], of all the saints; for this is what the denial of the icon [eikon: sacred image] of any one of them amounts to. Alas for the calamity! Alas for the deception! Woe is me, how, having begun well, have they turned back? Woe is me, to how many of their own rank and of those above them, laymen and clergy and monks, will they be a ruin? But the ancient plague, the evil within the bosom, Joseph, who of old was rightly called the contractor of the adulterous marriage, and now is the mocker of Christ, is himself the guide for those of the ancient guard. What against these things? Shall we be unstrung, shall we fall down, shall we grow weary toward our confession of Christ and our resistance? By no means, O brethren, by no means; for if, when the impious fall, the righteous shall be afraid, yet for him who stands the fall of his neighbor is the greatest security. Let us stand, then, in the Lord all the more firmly, I beseech you, terrified in nothing by our adversaries; for it is not on account of those who have been tripped up that our confession exists, nor were we made firm by leaning upon their standing, that we should also be shaken down by their stumbling. God forbid! Neither by these nor by others. Christ is our foundation, in whom we stand, in whom we boast, saying with Paul: Who shall separate us from the love of God? Tribulation, or distress, or famine, or persecution, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? For in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. Thus he who is not arrayed for battle will not contend for Christ; he cannot be a Christian. Not in vain were the contests of the martyrs, the prizes, the torments; for were they not of one flesh with us? Did they not suffer, subjected to so many torments? Were they not in despair even of living, as the Apostle says? But by the fear of eternal punishments and by the longing for the heavenly rewards they chose rather, as men of sound mind, the death of the flesh than the eternal death. They bore it, they were not dismayed, they were not struck down; and imagining the things to come as present, they advanced with joy toward the torments, and counted their many sufferings as gifts. For to us it has been granted for Christ's sake not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him; and again elsewhere: For in much testing by affliction was the abundance of their grace. Thus they rejoiced, thus they exulted, suffering for Christ, all the saints. Let us also, beloved, taste of the love of Christ, let us walk in the footsteps of the saints, let us shake off the attachments of this present age. We have here no abiding city; the Jerusalem above is our fatherland and our city. O men mighty in spirit, O children of God (for these words are not those of me, the humble and sinful one), let us not give way, even though all should turn aside, which may it not be; but let us, as of old strengthened by God, even now fight single-handed. God is with us, all the saints from the beginning of the age; with us are East and West. Small is the portion that has torn itself away from the Church beneath heaven, and this on account of fear, on account of things temporal, on account of the flesh, which a little later we shall hand over to the eternal fire together with the soul, if we do not hold fast to the truth. Let it be that we are also tested, and scourged, and this many times over, and at last that we even die; then is there not unspeakable joy in our attaining the kingdom of heaven and carrying off from here immortal glory? Or, on the contrary, in fleeing the aforesaid things and being from here held up to mockery to the end and bearing unending shame? Yes, I beseech you, my little children, whom I have begotten in the Lord, whom Christ has caused to grow in toils and labors not only ascetic but also athletic [of the contest of confession]: fulfill my joy, that you be of the same mind, having the same love, of one soul thinking the one thing, nothing according to strife or vainglory, but in humility esteeming one another as surpassing yourselves. The injunctions are apostolic, even though recalled to mind by me, the wretched one. Pray also concerning me, I beseech you, that there may be given to me strength, power, and speech for your sakes (even though I am unworthy of divine grace), so that with one accord, in one spirit, God may be glorified in our body and in our spirit. Send to the good archbishop Dionysius. Greet the abba Peter, the abba Ignatius, and the abba Tithoes, and show them the letter. Furthermore, prepare yourself together with the rest, and especially with those written above, because, now that those near you have slipped, it is not possible for you to be left alone, being slandered by those very men. And may the Lord grant you strength, power, mind, an eye, understanding, to do well in everything whatsoever, unto the praise and glory of Christ, unto my boasting, unto your eternal glory. Those who are with me greet you both; Christ be with you. Amen.