Letter 28: Theodore Studite, Letter 28; Greek heading: Βασιλείῳ μονάζοντι.

We have received your letter of brotherly love, and we marveled at its sudden change. The earlier letters (to leave aside saying the rest), although not necessary as the matter presented itself, contained an accusation of Joseph the steward [oikonomos, the manager of church administration; here Joseph of Kathara, who had blessed the adulterous second marriage of the emperor Constantine VI], to the effect that he had wrongly entered the church; but the later letters, on the contrary, displayed an acquittal of him altogether. And as to him who concerning the very same affair at one time praises and at another time blames the same man, your Godliness ought to recognize what one of the saints says. But let this count for nothing, even though it is a debt of self-contradiction. But why is it that you were so heedlessly led on, before any investigative and inquiring trial, to pronounce against our lowliness a schism from the Church that is ours, and on account of this an anathema? "Take heed to yourself," says the Word, and before you will examine, do not blame, and consider first, and then censure. But you, observing none of these things and not even taking into account that it belongs entirely to us also to speak and to act in accord with reason, censured us as though we were uninstructed and irrational men and as though we were only just tasting the monastic way of life and stood among those still being taught as disciples. And not only this, but you also rebuked us. And would that it had been only this! But you also consigned us to anathema. And alas for the affairs of men! How is it that for so long they do not preserve the bounds of friendship unmoved? For if this had been pure and unmixed in your Honor, you would not so unforeseeingly have heaped scorn upon our worthlessness. Yet we are worthy of such things, and it is no wonder if we are also insulted by your friendship. But as for what we are, we have been made manifest to God, and it is right also to declare it plainly to your understanding, since it stumbles and is scandalized. We are not schismatics, O wondrous one, from the Church of God-may we never suffer this!-but even if in other respects we happen to be in many sins, nevertheless we are members of the same body with her and her nurslings, together with the divine doctrines, and we yearn to keep her canons and ordinances. But to disturb and to split off from her-from her who truly has no stain or wrinkle, both as regards the doctrine of the faith and the rule of the canons, from the beginning of the age and down to the present-this belongs to those whose faith holds the distorted element and whose life holds what is uncanonical and lawless; of whom one is also that Joseph who crowned [in marriage] the adulterer, and those who tolerate concelebrating with him as though he were blameless, and indeed also those who recommend him as performing the sacred rites in innocence. For how is it that your Reverence, writing to us about canonical matters, does not know the divine canons-that according to them the man stands deposed? For if they do not permit the presbyter to be feasted at the wedding of one entering a second marriage, what then of crowning the bigamist? And what of being feasted at an adulterous marriage for thirty whole days? And what (the more destructive thing) of even crowning the adulterer-the one who, contrary to the word of the Lord, speaks the sacred prayer over the union, the man who is an adulterer-yoker [moichozeuktes, one who joins adulterers in marriage] and impiously invokes the divine grace upon the profane? Such a man, according to the divine Dionysius, is rejected by God and unholy; for it is superfluous to write here the other canons laid down concerning him. And as for the fact that he had been excommunicated by the preceding patriarch for a nine-year period, and that the canon, if it be not loosed within a year, no longer admits of loosing-where shall we place that? But surely the rejoinder will be that it had been loosed. And if it had been loosed, how was he not performing the sacred rites? And if it had been loosed, how did he just now seek a loosing from a synod? It is plain that the one bound seeks to be loosed, not the unbound one; so that here too he who wishes to move against the truth falls into self-contradiction. It is therefore a profanation of holy things, O brother, for this man to perform the sacred rites, and a total confounding of the canons not to keep such things. For what does Chrysostom also say? That the matter of leaving things unexamined in the case of the priest is not without danger-not saying this about faith, as you suppose, but about exactness as regards the manner of life. To search out, then, and to investigate each man as to how he stands is not fitting; for grace descends even upon the unworthy on account of those who approach. But as for those who are manifestly condemned-of whom Joseph is one, having openly joined together a great lawlessness before the whole inhabited world, which the Lord has declared [adultery], and the man who united that pair, having shown himself more accursed than the one who committed adultery-to make no distinction in their case is, according to the Theologian [Gregory of Nazianzus], a clear betrayal of the truth and a dissolution of the canons. Or does your friendship not know that the divine itself has become its own avenger, when the one who was then guiding the Church did not rise up, as Samuel of old against the senseless Saul, to tear apart the kingdom of the new Herod after the manner of adultery? For that Herod also suffered these things, being driven out and slain by his own people, when he sent away the daughter of King Aretas, who was his lawful wife, and unlawfully took to himself Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip. But if these things ought not to be avenged, then John the Forerunner sinned in the sight of your love-even if it is bold to say it-when he reproved Herod and died for the reproof; and likewise also Chrysostom, who displayed an athletic firmness on behalf of the widow's field ("for on behalf of the good," he says, "perhaps someone even dares to die"), not to mention the like-minded firm stands of the other saints on behalf of such matters. Or again, does your Honor not know that, since Christianity is composed of two things-I mean faith and work-if one is lacking, neither does the other profit the one who has it? Let her therefore be zealous, we beseech, for the things of God; and first, since she is called the child of the common father, let her be lifted up together with us toward what is needful; second, since she was made a disciple of the blessed Sabas, let her embrace exactness not only in regard to the faith but also in regard to the canons; third, let her think the same things as we, as being our sister, and (we remind her) let her watch over her own seat, lest from this point we go limping concerning the noblest things. Forgive those who remind you in brotherly fashion, just as we ourselves forgive him; and we ought not to be indignant at being reminded, nor let your Honor be embittered, but rather let her be kindled to love and write such things as often as she may wish. For we shall be harmed in no way by this, but rather shall live more securely. But concerning the pope, what word have we for one who acts thus, except this-as in the case of one's own people, forgive-that he "was caught by his own feathers," according to the saying? For when he said that one need have no concern about the manifest sins of the priest, he held up to mockery and recoiled from-not some particular priest, but the head of the Church-such things and so greatly that we were ashamed even to hear it. But if it is truly so, alas for the hierarchy! Yet let us move our tongue thoughtfully, we beseech, against the heads, and let us not pronounce so vehemently. But if it is because men are going to open their mouths, as you have written, to say that, having fallen from the patriarchate here, we have shifted to another design, let not your Honor be concerned. God knows both the first impulse and the second, and indeed the third also He Himself will test, He Himself will examine, He Himself will set us before the dread tribunal, He Himself rendering to us according as we have purposed and acted; for that saying-"if I were pleasing to men, I should not be a servant of Christ"-is not for us sinners to utter. We therefore both commemorate the most holy patriarch, as is fitting, in the celebration of the mysteries, just as we do our pious emperors, and we do not refuse to commune with any unimpeachable priest. And we have written to the chief priest himself, since it has also become known to our pious emperors, that we differ in nothing except only on account of Joseph, and that whenever this man withdraws from the sacred ministry, we straightway enter into communion with him. And the man is dear to us, not only because he has become the summit of the Church that is ours, but because he was venerable to us long ago; and as for all the good things of his life, we do not cease to honor them. But if it should come to pass that he too accepts the zeal (for I forbear to mention holy bishops and abbots and monks and a multitude of laypeople), what would your dearness say? Therefore know that there is no schism of the Church, but a prevailing of the truth and a vindication of the divine laws; otherwise, as your Honor has said before, a rending of the truth and a dissolution of the canons. And that saying might well be applied: "the priests set at naught my law and profaned my holy things; they made no distinction between the profane and the holy, but all things were common to them." For "to have no spot or wrinkle," that we may say it again, let it be understood thus: that she does not admit either the impious doctrines or the uncanonical undertakings, nor indeed the shared opinions found among those who themselves practice the forbidden things, as the divine Basil somewhere says-things with which the great Paul does not even permit one to share a table with such men. For from the time of the apostles and afterward, in many ways many heresies have dashed against her, and lawless and uncanonical pollutions have spread over her, just as also now; yet she herself, in the aforesaid manner, has remained unsplit and unblemished and will so remain unto the age, all those who think or act wickedly being taken away and sent off from her, as the waves that dash against an unshaken rock by the sea. Let us therefore come to ourselves, O brother, and look toward the light of the truth, and let us appear masters of the sacred canons as well as of the doctrines-most of all we who are monks, most of all we who seem to be something. For if the light that is in us is darkness, how great is the darkness? And if the salt loses its savor, with what shall the laity be salted? We think you to be, and we pray that you may be, the savior and luminary and lamp of piety and of exactness for those in your place-not by becoming all things to all men, but by the height of virtue and by a canonical life and by a manner of conduct befitting the sacred. And bear with the reminder of your brother, which is loving and truth-loving and judged by God. And though my desire draws me to say more, the immoderate length of the letter, drawing us together, brings us to a halt here. We have therefore accepted your rich blessing [gift]; and that you took thought for the lowliness of your monastery is a proof of your sparing and laboring on its behalf, and your toil is sufficient. But the Lord will repay you with the things you need-the recovery of the virtues and the enjoyment of His eternal good things.

Ἐδεξάμεθά σου τὰ γράμματα τῆς ἀδελφικῆς ἀγάπης καὶ ἐθαυμάσαμεν ἐπὶ τῇ ἀθρόᾳ μεταβολῇ αὐτῆς. τὰ μὲν πρότερα (ἵνα τὰ ἄλλα ἐάσω λέγειν), οὐκ ἀναγκαῖα ὄντα κατὰ τὸ παριστάμενον, Ἰωσὴφ τοῦ οἰκονόμου κατηγορίαν εἶχον, ὡς κακῶς εἰσελθόντος αὐτοῦ εἰς τὴν ἐκκλησίαν, τὰ δὲ δεύτερα τοὐναντίον ἀθώωσιν ἐμφαίνοντα παντάπασιν. καὶ ὁ τὸν αὐτὸν κατὰ τὸ αὐτὸ πρᾶγμα ποτὲ μὲν ἐπαινῶν ποτὲ δὲ ψέγων ὅ τι λέγει τις τῶν ἁγίων γινώσκειν ὀφείλει ἡ θεοσέβειά σου. ἀλλ' ἔστω τοῦτο εἰς μηδέν, καίπερ ὂν ἐναντιολογίας ὄφλημα. τί δὲ ὅτι οὕτως ἀκρίτως προήχθη, πρὶν ἐξεταστικῆς καὶ μαθηματικῆς πείρας, ἀποφήνασθαι κατὰ τῆς ταπεινώσεως ἡμῶν ἀποσχισμὸν τῆς καθ' ἡμᾶς ἐκκλησίας καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἀναθεματισμόν; πρόσεχε σεαυτῷ, φησὶν ὁ λόγος, καὶ πρὶν ἐξετάσεις, μὴ μέμψῃ καὶ νόησον πρῶτον, καὶ τότε ἐπιτίμα. αὐτὴ δὲ μηδὲν τούτων παρατηρήσασα μηδὲ ὑπολογισαμένη ὅτι πρόσεστι καὶ ἡμῖν πάντως τὸ κατὰ λόγον λέγειν καὶ πράττειν οὕτως ὡς ἀπαιδεύτοις καὶ ἀλόγοις καὶ ἀρτιγεύστοις τῆς μοναδικῆς πολιτείας καὶ ἐν μαθητευομένοις τελοῦσιν ἐπετίμησας. καὶ οὐ μόνον τοῦτο, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐπέπληξας. καὶ εἴθε τοῦτο· ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀναθεματισμῷ παρέπεμψας. καὶ φεῦ τὰ τῶν ἀνθρώπων· πῶς οὐκ ἐπὶ πολὺ διασῴζει τοὺς τῆς φιλίας ὅρους ἀμετακινήτους; εἰ γὰρ τοῦτο ὑπῆρχεν τῇ τιμιότητί σου ἀκραιφνές, οὐκ ἂν οὕτως ἀπροόπτως τὴν εὐτέλειαν ἡμῶν κατεκερτόμει. πλὴν ἄξιοι τῶν τοιούτων, καὶ οὐ θαυμαστόν, εἰ καὶ ὑπὸ τῆς φιλίας σου προυπηλακιζόμεθα. Ἡμεῖς δὲ ὃ ἐσμέν, θεῷ μὲν πεφανερώμεθα, δίκαιον δὲ καὶ τῇ συνέσει σου, ἐπὰν προσκόπτῃ καὶ σκανδαλίζεται, ἐπιδηλῶσαι. οὐκ ἐσμὲν ἀποσχίσται, ὦ θαυμάσιε, τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ ἐκκλησίας, μήποτε τοῦτο πάθοιμεν· ἀλλ' εἰ καὶ ἄλλως ἐν πολλοῖς ἁμαρτήμασι τυγχάνομεν, ὅμως ὁμόσωμοι αὐτῆς καὶ τρόφιμοι μετὰ τῶν θείων δογμάτων καὶ τοὺς κανόνας αὐτῆς καὶ διατυπώσεις γλιχόμενοι φυλάττεσθαι. τὸ δὲ ταράττειν καὶ ἀποσχίζειν ἀπ' αὐτῆς, τῆς μηδεμίαν ἐχούσης ἀληθῶς κηλῖδα ἢ ῥυτίδα κατά τε τὸν τῆς πίστεως λόγον καὶ τὸν τῶν κανόνων ὅρον ἀπ' ἀρχῆς αἰῶνος καὶ μέχρι τοῦ δεῦρο, ἐκείνων ἐστίν, ὧν ἡ πίστις τὸ ἐνδιάστροφον ἔχει καὶ ὁ βίος τὸ ἀκανόνιστον καὶ ἄθεσμον· ὧν εἷς ἐστι καὶ ὁ Ἰωσὴφ ὁ τὸν μοιχὸν στεφανώσας οἵ τε τούτῳ ὡς ἀμέμπτῳ ἀνεχόμενοι συλλειτουργεῖν, καὶ μὴν καὶ οἱ συνιστῶντες αὐτὸν ὡς ἀθώως ἱερουργοῦντα. πῶς γὰρ κανονικῶς ἡμῖν γράφουσα ἡ εὐλάβειά σου οὐ τοὺς θείους κανόνας ἐπίσταται, ὅτι κατ' αὐτοὺς καθῃρημένος ἐστὶν ὁ ἀνήρ; εἰ γὰρ εἰ διγαμοῦντος γάμον οὐκ ἐῶσι τὸν πρεσβύτερον ἑστιαθῆναι, τί πρὸς τὸ τὸν δίγαμον στεφανῶσαι; τί δὲ τὸ εἰς μοιχικὸν γάμον ἑστιαθῆναι ὅλαις τριάκοντα ἡμέραις; τί δὲ (τὸ ὀλεθριώτερον) τὸ καὶ στεφανῶσαι μοιχὸν κατὰ τὸν λόγον τοῦ Κυρίου, τὴν ἐπὶ τῇ συναφείᾳ ἱερὰν προσευχὴν λέγοντα τὸν μοιχοζεύκτην καὶ προσκαλούμενον τὴν θείαν χάριν ἀθέως ἐπὶ τοὺς βεβήλους; ἀπόπτυστός ἐστι παρὰ θεῷ κατὰ τὸν θεῖον Διονύσιον καὶ ἀνίερος ὁ τοιοῦτος· παρέλκον γάρ ἐστι τοὺς ἐπ' αὐτῷ ἄλλους κειμένους κανόνας ὧδε γράφειν. ὅτι δὲ καὶ ὑπὸ τοῦ προηγησαμένου πατριάρχου ἀφωρισμένος ἐνναετῆ χρόνον ἔτυχεν καὶ ὁ κανών, εἰ μὴ ἐντὸς ἐνιαυτοῦ λυθῇ, οὐκ ἀνέχεται ἔτι τὴν λύσιν, ποῦ θήσομεν; πάντως δὲ ἡ ἀπάντησις, ὅτι ἐλέλυτο. καὶ εἰ ἐλέλυτο, πῶς οὐχ ἱερούργει; καὶ εἰ ἐλέλυτο, πῶς ἄρτι ἐζήτησεν λύσιν ὑπὸ συνόδου; δῆλον ὅτι ὁ δεδεμένος ζητεῖ λυθῆναι, οὐχ ὁ ἄδετος· ὥστε κἀνταῦθα περιπίπτει ἑαυτῷ ὁ θέλων κατὰ τῆς ἀληθείας κινεῖσθαι. Βεβήλωσις οὖν τῶν ἁγίων ἐστίν, ὦ ἀδελφέ, τοῦτον ἱερουργεῖν, καὶ σύγχυσις παντελὴς τῶν κανόνων τὸ μὴ τὰ τοιαῦτα φυλάττεσθαι. τί γὰρ λέγει καὶ ὁ Χρυσόστομος; ὅτι οὐκ ἀκίνδυνόν ἐστι τὸ ἀνεξέταστον ἐπὶ τοῦ ἱερέως, οὐ περὶ πίστεως, ὡς οἴει, τοῦτο λέγων, ἀλλὰ περὶ τῆς κατὰ τὸν βίον ἀκριβείας. ἐκζητεῖν τοίνυν καὶ ἀνερευνᾶν ἕκαστον ὅπως ἔχει οὐ δέον· ἡ χάρις γὰρ καὶ ἐπὶ τοὺς ἀναξίους διὰ τοὺς προσιόντας κάτεισιν. εἰς δὲ τοὺς προδήλως κατεγνωσμένους, ὧν ἐστιν εἷς καὶ ὁ Ἰωσήφ, μάλα ἀνομίαν μεγάλην συνάψας ἀναφανδὸν τῆς οἰκουμένης, ἣν ὁ Κύριος ἀπέφηνεν, καὶ ἐναγέστερος τοῦ μοιχεύσαντος χρηματίσας ὁ τοῦτον συζεύξας, τὸ μὴ διαστέλλεσθαι κατὰ τὸν Θεολόγον προδοσία τῆς ἀληθείας σαφὴς καὶ τῶν κανόνων παράλυσις. Ἢ οὐκ οἶδέν σου ἡ φιλία ὅτι αὐτὸ τὸ θεῖον αὐτεκδίκητον γέγονεν, ἡνίκα οὐ διανέστη ὁ ἰθύνων τὴν ἐκκλησίαν τὸ τηνικάδε, ὡς Σαμουὴλ πάλαι ἐπὶ τοῦ ἄφρονος Σαούλ, διαρρῆξαι τὴν τοῦ νέου Ἡρώδου κατὰ τὸν τῆς μοιχείας τρόπον βασιλείαν; ταῦτα γὰρ πέπονθεν καὶ Ἡρώδης ἐκεῖνος, ὑπὸ τοῦ οἰκείου λαοῦ ἀνασοβευθεὶς καὶ ἀποκτανθείς, ἐπὰν εἴασεν τὴν τοῦ Ἀρέτα βασιλέως θυγατέρα, νόμιμον αὐτοῦ οὖσαν γυναῖκα, ἀγαγόμενος παρανόμως τὴν τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ Φιλίππου Ἡρωδιάδα. εἰ δὲ ταῦτα οὐ δέον ἐκδικεῖσθαι, ἡμαρτηκὼς ἐνώπιον τῆς ἀγάπης σου γέγονεν, εἰ καὶ τολμηρὸν εἰπεῖν, ὁ Πρόδρομος Ἰωάννης, ἐλέγξας τὸν Ἡρώδην καὶ θανὼν ὑπὲρ τοῦ ἐλεγμοῦ· ὡσαύτως καὶ ὁ Χρυσόστομος, ὑπὲρ τοῦ ἀγροῦ τῆς χήρας ἔνστασιν ἀθλητικὴν ἐπι δειξάμενος (ὑπὲρ γὰρ τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ, φησίν, τάχα τις καὶ τολμᾷ ἀποθανεῖν), ἵνα μὴ λέγω τὰς τῶν ἄλλων ἁγίων ὁμοτρόπους ὑπὲρ τῶν τοιούτων ἐνστάσεις. ἢ πάλιν ἀγνοεῖ ἡ τιμιότης σου ὅτι ἐκ δύο συνισταμένου τοῦ χριστιανισμοῦ, λέγω δὴ πίστεως καὶ ἔργου, εἰ θάτερον λείπει, οὐδὲ τὸ ἕτερον ὀνίνησι τῷ ἔχοντι; Ζηλούτω τοίνυν, παρακαλοῦμεν, τὰ θεῖα, καὶ πρῶτον μὲν ὡς τοῦ κοινοῦ πατρὸς τέκνον χρηματίζουσα συνεπαιρέσθω πρὸς τὰ δέοντα, δεύτερον ὡς τῷ μακαρίτῃ Σάβᾳ μαθητευσαμένη ἀκρίβειαν οὐ μόνον κατὰ τὴν πίστιν, ἀλλὰ καὶ κατὰ τοὺς κανόνας ἀσπαζέσθω, τρίτον τὰ ἀδελφὰ ἡμῖν φρονείτω ὡς ὁμάδελφος οὖσα καὶ (ὑπομιμνήσκομεν) τὸ οἰκεῖον κάθισμα ἐπιτηρείτω, μήπως ἐντεῦθεν σκάζωμεν περὶ τὰ κάλλιστα. σύγγνωθι ἀδελφικῶς ὑπομνήσκουσιν, ὥσπερ καὶ αὐτῷ ἡμεῖς· καὶ οὐ χρεὼν ἡμᾶς ἀγανακτεῖν ὑπομνησθέντας, μηδὲ ἡ σὴ τιμιότης δριμυσσέσθω, ἀλλὰ ἀναπτέσθω μᾶλλον εἰς ἀγάπην καὶ ἐπιστελλέτω ὁσάκις ἂν καὶ βούληται τὰ τοιαῦτα. οὐδὲν γὰρ παρὰ τούτου βλαβησόμεθα ἢ τὸ βιοῦν ἀσφαλέστερον. Περὶ δὲ τοῦ πάπα, τίς ἡμῖν λόγος οὕτως πράσσοντος ἢ ἐκεῖνο, ὡς τοῖς οἰκείοις, συγχώρησον, ἑάλω πτεροῖς κατὰ τὸ λόγιον; μηδὲν γὰρ περὶ τῶν ἐκδήλων ἁμαρτημάτων τοῦ ἱερέως φροντίζειν φάμενος οὐ τόν τινα ἱερέα, ἀλλὰ τὴν κεφαλὴν τῆς ἐκκλησίας κατεκωμῴδησεν τοσαῦτα καὶ ἀπεμυσάξατο, ὡς ἡμᾶς αἰδεσθῆναι καὶ ἀκοῦσαι. εἰ δὲ ἀληθῶς οὕτως ἐστί, φεῦ τῆς ἱεραρχίας. πλὴν νουνεχῶς κινοῦμεν τὴν γλῶτταν, παρακαλοῦμεν, ἐπὶ τὰς κεφαλὰς καὶ μὴ οὕτω σφοδρῶς ἀποφαινώμεθα. εἰ δὲ ὅτι οἱ ἄνθρωποι μέλλουσιν ἀνοίγειν τὰ στόματα, ὡς γέγραφας, ἐπὶ τὸ λέγειν ὅτι ἐκπεσόντες τῆς ἐνταῦθα πατριαρχίας εἰς ἑτέραν ὑπόθεσιν μετεπέσαμεν, μὴ φροντιζέτω σου ἡ τιμιότης. οἶδεν ὁ θεὸς καὶ τὴν πρώτην κίνησιν καὶ τὴν δευτέραν, ἀλλὰ μὴν καὶ τὴν τρίτην αὐτὸς δοκιμάσει, αὐτὸς διελέγξει, αὐτὸς παραστήσει ἐπὶ τοῦ φοβεροῦ βήματος, αὐτὸς ἀποδιδοὺς καθὼς διεθέμεθα καὶ πεπράχαμεν· τὸ γάρ, εἰ ἀνθρώποις ἤρεσκον, Χριστοῦ δοῦλος οὐκ ἂν ἤμην, οὐ πρὸς ἡμῶν τῶν ἁμαρτωλῶν φθέγγεσθαι. Ἡμεῖς τοίνυν καὶ τοῦ ἁγιωτάτου πατριάρχου μνημονεύομεν, ὡς καθήκει, ἐν τῇ μυσταγωγίᾳ, ὥσπερ καὶ τῶν εὐσεβῶν ἡμῶν βασιλέων, καὶ ἐκ παντὸς ἱερέως ἀδιαβλήτου κοινωνεῖν οὐ παραιτούμεθα. γεγράφαμέν τε αὐτῷ τῷ ἀρχιερεῖ, ἐπεὶ καὶ τοῖς εὐσεβέσιν ἡμῶν βασιλεῦσιν γνωστὸν γέγονεν, ὅτι ἐν οὐδενὶ διαφερόμεθα ἢ μόνον διὰ τὸν Ἰωσήφ, καὶ ἡνίκα οὗτος ὑποσταλῇ τῆς ἱερουργίας, εὐθὺς συγκοινωνοῦμεν αὐτῷ. καὶ ποθητὸς ἡμῖν ὁ ἀνήρ, οὐ μόνον ὅτι κορυφὴ τῆς καθ' ἡμᾶς ἐκκλησίας γέγονεν, ἀλλ' ὅτι καὶ σεβαστὸς ἡμῖν ἦν ἔκπαλαι· καὶ ὅσα τοῦ βίου αὐτοῦ καλά, ἀποσεμνύνειν οὐ παυόμεθα. Εἰ δὲ φθάσει ὅτι καὶ αὐτὸς ἀποδέχεται τὸν ζῆλον (ἐῶ γὰρ λέγειν ἐπισκόπους ἁγίους ἡγουμένους τε καὶ μονάζοντας καὶ πλῆθος λαϊκῶν), τί φαίη ἡ σὴ φιλότης; διὸ ἴσθι μὴ εἶναι σχίσμα τῆς ἐκκλησίας, ἀλλ' ἀληθείας ἐπικράτησιν καὶ τῶν θείων νόμων ἐκδίκησιν· ἑτέρως δέ, ὡς ἔφθη εἰποῦσα ἡ τιμιότης σου, τῆς ἀληθείας ῥῆξις καὶ τῶν κανόνων παράλυσις. καὶ ἐκεῖνο ἔχοι καλῶς λέγεσθαι, οἱ ἱερεῖς ἠθέτουν νόμον μου καὶ ἐβεβήλουν τὰ ἅγιά μου· βεβήλοις καὶ ὁσίοις οὐ διέστελλον, ἀλλ' ἦν αὐτοῖς ἅπαντα κοινά. τὸ γὰρ μὴ ἔχειν σπίλον ἢ ῥυτίδα, ἵνα καὶ πάλιν εἴπωμεν, οὕτω νοείτω, τὸ μὴ προσιεμένην τά τε ἀσεβῆ δόγματα καὶ τὰ ἀκανόνιστα ἐγχειρήματα, οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰ ἐν τοῖς αὐτουργοῦσι τὰ ἀπηγορευμένα συμφρονήματα, ὥς πού φησιν ὁ θεῖος Βασίλειος· πρὸς ἃ Παῦλος ὁ μέγας οὐδὲ συνεστιᾶσθαι τοῖς τοιούτοις παραχωρεῖ. ἐπεὶ ἀπὸ τῶν ἀποστόλων καὶ κατόπιν πολλαχῶς πολλαὶ αἱρέσεις προσερράγησαν αὐτῇ καὶ ῥυπάσματα ἄθεσμα καὶ ἀκανόνιστα ἐπεπόλασαν, ὥσπερ καὶ τὸ νῦν· ἀλλὰ μὴν αὐτὴ τῷ προειρημένῳ τρόπῳ ἄσχιστος καὶ ἀμώμητος διαμεμένηκεν καὶ διαμενεῖ ἕως τοῦ αἰῶνος, ὑπεξαιρουμένων καὶ ἀποπεμπομένων πάντων ἀπ' αὐτῆς τῶν κακῶς φρονησάντων ἢ πραξάντων, ὥσπερ ἐξ ἀσείστου καὶ παραλίου πέτρας τὰ προσρήσσοντα κύματα. Εἰς ἑαυτοὺς οὖν γενώμεθα, ὦ ἀδελφέ, καὶ ἀπίδωμεν πρὸς τὸ φῶς τῆς ἀληθείας, καὶ τῶν ἱερῶν κανόνων ὥσπερ καὶ τῶν δογμάτων ἐγκρατεῖς φαινοίμεθα μάλιστα ἡμεῖς οἱ μονάζοντες, μάλιστα ἡμεῖς οἱ δοκοῦντες εἶναί τι. εἰ γὰρ τὸ ἐν ἡμῖν φῶς σκότος, τὸ σκότος πόσον; καὶ εἰ τὸ ἅλας μωρανθήσεται, ἐν τίνι ἁλισθήσονται οἱ λαϊκοί; ἡμεῖς οἰόμεθά σε καὶ εὐχόμεθα τῶν αὐτόθι σωτῆρα εἶναι καὶ φωστῆρα καὶ λύχνον εὐσεβείας καὶ ἀκριβείας, οὐκ ἐκ τοῦ πᾶσι τὰ πάντα γίγνεσθαι, ἀλλ' ἐκ τοῦ τῆς ἀρετῆς ὕψους καὶ ἐκ τοῦ κεκανονισμένου βίου καὶ ἐκ τοῦ ἱεροπρεποῦς πολιτεύματος. καὶ φέρε ἀδελφοῦ σου ὑπόμνησιν, ἀγαπητικὴν οὖσαν καὶ φιλαλήθη καὶ θεόκριτον. καὶ τὰ πλείω λέγειν ἡ ἐπιθυμία με ἕλκει, ἡ ἀμετρία δὲ τοῦ γράμματος συνέλκουσα ἐνταῦθα ἡμᾶς καταπαύει. ἀπεδεξάμεθά σου τοίνυν τὴν εὐλογίαν τὴν πλουσίαν· καὶ ὅτι ἐφρόντισας περὶ τῆς ταπεινώσεως τοῦ μοναστηρίου σου, δεῖγμα μὲν τοῦ φείδεσθαι καὶ πονεῖν ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ, κόπος δέ σου ἱκανός. Ἀλλ' ὁ Κύριος ἀνταμείψεταί σε οἷς χρῄζεις, τὴν τῶν ἀρετῶν ἐπανάληψιν καὶ τὴν τῶν αἰωνίων αὐτοῦ ἀγαθῶν ἀπόλαυσιν.