Letter 308: Theodore Studite, Letter 308; Greek heading: Ἰγνατίῳ τέκνῳ.

What you have written, beloved child, I have understood, and I rejoice to hear your voice, though not, as you suppose, regarding my own affairs, for these are stale and of no account. But if you should say that you are profited by my words, write and receive, and there is no grudging. I am aware that you are dragging out a constricted life in the present persecution, as also do those of your own manner of life who are in hiding; but let hope lighten the burden. Hold to your own affairs securely, together with the good Eusebius, whom I also greet. Communion with the heretics is not common bread, but a poison [pharmakon]; it does no harm to the body, but it blackens and darkens the soul. As for casting it away even in secret, it is not for me to say so, but rather for those who do so out of fear, concerning whom one may quote that saying: that many of the rulers believed in him, but they did not confess it because of the Pharisees, lest they should be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the glory of men more than the glory of God [John 12:42-43]. As to the objection that the prayers of the sacred rite [hierourgia, the eucharistic liturgy] belong to the orthodox faith: what does this contribute, if they are performed by heretics? For they do not hold the same belief as the one who composed those prayers, nor do they believe as the very words signify, since the whole mystagogy [the celebration of the mysteries, the liturgy] glorifies that Christ has truly become man. But they deny this, even if they say the words, because they hold the belief that he cannot be depicted in an image [exeikonizesthai]; just as if someone were to say, "I believe in the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit," while holding the belief that the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit are one hypostasis [subsistence, person] under three names, which is the very dogma of Sabellius the vain-minded [Sabellius, the early third-century heresiarch who denied the distinction of the divine persons]. What then? Shall we say that such a man believes in the Trinity? By no means, even if he says so. Just so, then, neither in this case does he believe as he says, even though the mystagogy is orthodox; rather, each of the two speaks idly, or rather commits an outrage, making a mockery of the liturgy; since sorcerers and enchanters too make use of divine chants in their demonic rites. It is better, if no orthodox baptizer can be found, that the unbaptized person be baptized by a monk, or, if even he is not available, by a layman, who says, "So-and-so is baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit," rather than that he should depart this life unilluminated [unbaptized]. And he has truly been baptized; for out of necessity there is also a change of the law, as has happened in former times and has been accepted.