Letter 254: Theodore Studite, Letter 254; Greek heading: Εὐοδίῳ τέκνῳ.
Since I have received your defense made by letter, beloved child, I have altered the grief of my humble soul, which had been aching over what had happened. For do not suppose, brother, that to fall in word is a small thing. What does the Lord say? "If anyone shall confess me before men, I also will confess him before my Father who is in heaven" [Matthew 10:32]. And likewise the contrary as well. But since it has happened, God is merciful, forgiving our slips. Yet, having come this far, fear God and do not advance into anything further; rather, spare your own soul and me, the humble one, seeing your brothers contending [in the struggle of confession]. For those who have fallen are pitiable both on this side and on that, unless they repent in a manner worthy of account. As for our own affairs, learning of them as the letter-carrier shall report, pray that we may be kept safe.
AI-assisted translation - This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek below for scholarly use.
Latin / Greek Original
Ἐπεὶ ἐδεξάμην σου τὴν διὰ τοῦ
γράμματος ἀπολογίαν, τέκνον ἠγαπημένον, μετέβαλον τὸ λυπηρὸν τῆς ταπεινῆς
μου ψυχῆς, ἀλγυ νομένης ἐπὶ τοῖς συμβεβηκόσι· μὴ γὰρ οἴου, ἀδελφέ, μικρὸν εἶναι
τὸ ἐν λόγῳ πεσεῖν. τί λέγει ὁ Κύριος; εἴ τις ὁμολογήσει ἐν ἐμοὶ ἔμπροσθεν τῶν
ἀνθρώπων, ὁμολογήσω κἀγὼ ἐν αὐτῷ ἔμπροσθεν τοῦ πατρός μου τοῦ ἐν οὐρανοῖς.
ὁμοίως καὶ τὸ ἐναντίον. ἀλλ' ἐπεὶ γέγονεν, ὁ θεὸς ἐλεήμων, συγχωρῶν τὰ
ὀλισθήματα ἡμῶν. μέχρι δὲ τούτου φθάσας φοβήθητι τὸν θεὸν καὶ μὴ προβῇς εἰς
περισσότερον, ἀλλὰ φεῖσαί σου τῆς ψυχῆς κἀμοῦ τοῦ ταπεινοῦ, ὁρῶν σου τοὺς
ἀδελφοὺς ἀθλοῦντας· οἱ γὰρ πεσόντες ἐλεεινοὶ καὶ ἔνθεν κἀκεῖθεν, εἰ μὴ
μετανοήσειαν ἀξιολόγως. Τὰ δὲ καθ' ἡμᾶς ὡς ἂν ἀπαγγείλῃ ὁ γραμματηφόρος
μανθάνων προσεύχου σῴζεσθαι ἡμᾶς.
Revision history
- 2026-05-27v2.2.34-import
Initial corpus import from modern theodore studite workflow v1.
Fields: letter text, metadata, source links. Source: https://greekdownloads3.files.wordpress.com/2014/09/epistulae2.pdf
Related Letters
Theodore Studite, Letter 436; Greek heading: Εὐδοκῷ παρθενευούσῃ.
Theodore Studite, Letter 71; Greek heading: Τῇ εἰκονομαχικῇ συνόδῳ ὡς ἐκ προσώπου πάντων τῶν ἡγουμένων.
Theodore Studite, Letter 250; Greek heading: Συμεὼν τέκνῳ.
Theodore Studite, Letter 554; Greek heading: Πλάτωνι οἰκείῳ πατρί.
Theodore Studite, Letter 198; Greek heading: Τιμοθέῳ τέκνῳ.