Letter 273: Theodore Studite, Letter 273; Greek heading: Βασιλείῳ ἀρχιμανδρίτῃ Ῥώμησ.

Earlier too I did not write, on account of a certain turn of misfortune; but now at least I send word to my beloved and holy father. For to whom else among those there [in Rome] have I to converse with than to one who is from of old and from the beginning both an acquaintance and a friend and a father and a champion and one of one soul and of one mind and a fellow-zealot and a helper and a counselor, and whatever it is one may say toward intimacy and forethought and support, for the sake of God alone and of the virtue with which you have clothed yourself in a god-inspired manner of life? Truly worthy of love and pre-eminent in dignity, you shine forth in the very first of the churches of God, and from it you cast your rays, as it were, upon the ends of the earth through your divine appellation, heard everywhere, and your truly royal title. Such and so great are you, the man of God and most admirable father; but for us [it remains] to write and once again to send Euphemianus, our faithful son. The matter is for no other cause than that for which the earlier letters [were sent] as well, which Dionysius and the same Euphemianus, our most genuine and beloved sons, brought safely [to you]. They, even if they did not bring back replies, nevertheless, both through their own report and through the letter of the holy Methodius together with that of the most God-loving bishop of Monembasia, sufficiently rekindled our lowly souls, telling us things to be prayed for and most pleasing to God and truly worthy of an apostolic soul, things that were spoken compassionately and in imitation of Christ, and indeed were also set down [as a model] by the most holy apostolic one [the pope] under the moving of the Spirit and in accordance with the tradition of the fathers. For thus we too, the lowly, longed that the aid might come about by the inclination of him who rules the inhabited world among you, through the mediation of the one who holds the first throne and through his God-given authority; yet we did not yet dare to ask this, because of its surpassing greatness. But when it was breathed by the finger of God into the sacred heart, this is what our discourse also seeks, this we too, the unworthy, pray may be brought to completion, foremost for the glory of God, which would be the greatest benefit to His own Church. For as there is one Lord, one faith, one God, so it is clear that there is also one Church, even if it comes to a head from you. Therefore secure what is yours, my masters, while caring for what is ours; for, it is said, the members are anxious for one another in the same way, and whether one member suffers, all the members suffer together, and whether one member is glorified, all the members rejoice together [1 Corinthians 12:25-26] (we sinners have reminded you, we have not taught you, far from it), and [it is] for the glory of you who are holy. These things [I write] as proceeding by divine judgment from the most blessed apostolic one; but who could there be, except you, the noble supporter and the skilled counselor and the one who acts apostolically in all things, to agree and to cooperate and to share in the eagerness toward the accomplishment of the things sought for God, just as long ago you also displayed, in past affairs, deeds pleasing to God, being zealous for the Lord as a defender of the truth and a protector, after the apostolic head, of the Church of Christ? I beseech your holy soul to make remembrance of me, who am in all things a sinner, that I may be saved in every way.