Letter 279: Theodore Studite, Letter 279; Greek heading: Τοῖς ἐν τῇ ἁγίᾳ πόλει μονάζουσιν Ἰσαὰκ καὶ Ἀρσενίῳ.

It is dear to us, the lowly, to address every father of those in the Holy Land, now that it has been granted us to send one of our beloved brothers to those parts; how much more so to you, the most holy fathers, whose companionship, brief in time though it was, was so affectionately planted in our lowly heart that it is unforgettable in our good remembrances, on account of the goodness in all things both of your manners and of your words. For where there is humility, there is every good achievement; and concerning this your holy pair [the two monks Isaac and Arsenius addressed here] is fragrant, sending forth to us a scent of the sweet savor of sanctification not only then, but indeed even until now. Such did you appear, worthy of praise above all those who have come visiting from the East, having left behind good remembrances in those who love you. As for the reason for which the brother has been sent, he himself will explain it; though I think it is not unknown even to you, since you were still in Byzantium [Constantinople] while the affair was being thrown into turmoil. For the ruler [the emperor Leo V the Armenian] has kindled the heretical flame against the venerable icons, so as to set the whole Church ablaze and to destroy nearly every man drawn under the impiety, having become another Ahab or Nebuchadnezzar; he who, by the casting down of every holy icon, has set up his own image alone, and whoever is not willing to do veneration [proskynesis] to it is straightway handed over to the flame of tortures. I consider it superfluous to recount each particular, since they are set forth in the letters to your most holy patriarch, and especially since the brother is able to report them as well. But this I beseech, I the least of your brothers, for the sake of love in the Lord: to open to the letter-bearer the bowels of compassion, both for his approach to and veneration of the holy summit [the holy places, or the see itself], and for whatever else your brotherly love must approve; for he is bringing also other letters to other persons, and indeed a treatise of ours, the unlearned. Therefore, as those who are of one body with us and partakers of our humiliation, or rather as servants of God and guardians of the common good, deign also to look favorably upon the brother, and to receive him, and to bear with him in every manner, so that, God being well pleased, he may be sent back again to us. As for the letter of yours that was sent to us, we received it and learned for what reason, after setting out from Constantinople, you were not granted to go on into the West.