Letter 34: Theodore Studite, Letter 34; Greek heading: Τῷ αὐτῷ Τῷ ἰσαγγέλῳ μακαριωτάτῳ καὶ ἀποστολικῷ πατρὶ πατέρων Λέοντι πάπᾳ Ῥώμης Πλάτων ἐγκλειστὸς καὶ Θεόδωρος πρεσβύτερος καὶ ἡγούμενος τῶν Στουδίου.

It was a great thing for us in our lowliness, and truly the work of the prayer offered on high, that we were counted worthy to receive from your apostolic Beatitude a salutation of greeting, and moreover a written record of its Spirit-moved sacred utterances, through Epiphanios, our fellow-servant and beloved child; and this when we were shut up by the heterodox [the iconoclasts/Moechians] and beheld the letter-bearer only with our eyes. At these things we leaped for joy, we exulted, we gave thanks to the Lord, who by your divine prayers has granted to us, the unworthy, beyond hope and beyond expectation, so that we all but imagined that we beheld your sacred countenance through the midst of the words. But you, in imitation of Christ, both greeted us who are of no account and rekindled our spirit, strengthened our weakness and braced up our feebleness, as though anointing us, with words of exhortation and admonition surpassing our measure, enjoining us to stand firm in the orthodox faith, unswerving, even to the end (and may this be granted to us through your merciful intercessions); while we, the worthless ones, have once again judged it well, as we did formerly through this same most faithful letter-bearer of ours, and again through Eustathios his companion and our child, so now also to refer to you the things that are fitting. A synod has taken place among us, O most blessed one, a public one, with the magistrates and those in authority sitting in session together; and the synod was for the setting aside of the Gospel of Christ, whose keys you received from him through the chief of the apostles [Peter], and from those who in succession came down to him who preceded your most sacred Head [Theodore addresses the Pope as the present successor of Peter]. And that your God-imitating clemency may deign to give ear, let us begin from the Law and the Prophets. For thus it says: "You shall not commit adultery, you shall not bear false witness, you shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain." And Jeremiah says that he is foolish and impious who keeps an adulteress; and Malachi: "The lips of a priest shall keep knowledge, and they shall seek the Law from his mouth, for he is the messenger of the Lord Almighty." Let us pass on to the Gospel: "He who puts away his wife," it says, "and marries another, commits adultery." And again: "Those whom God has joined together, let no man put asunder." And how great is the difference between Law and grace, we shall learn from the very words of the Lord, who says, "And behold, something greater than the temple is here"; and then also from the words of the Apostle, who declares: "Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses; how much worse punishment, do you think, will he be deemed worthy of, who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has counted the blood of the covenant a common thing, and has outraged the grace of the Spirit?" These things being so, those who with lawless tongue are disobedient toward the Lord have publicly proclaimed the dissolving of both the Law and the Gospel (that is to say, the adultery of him who formerly held power [the emperor Constantine VI], in the casting out of his lawful wife and the bringing in of the adulteress, and the transgression greater and more grievous than this, namely the adulterous union [the priest's blessing of an adulterous marriage], by bearing false witness against God and taking his name upon the unlawful deed in the sacred rite, and indeed by giving to those committing adultery crowns of victory against Christ in the partaking of the divine gifts, which were outraged as common things by the celebrant of the adulterous union, and by one who in truth showed himself to be a messenger not of God the Almighty but of Satan the world-ruler; and also of all those who through collusion and approval have set their portion in this transgression together with the adulterer and the celebrant of the adulterous union) -- they have proclaimed all this to be a saving dispensation [oikonomia: an exceptional accommodation made for the good of souls] for the Church of God, so firmly fixed and divinely ratified, as to subject by synodal decree to anathema, with imprisonments and other sufferings, those who did not yield and agree with them, on the ground that they did not accept this dispensation to be holy-wrought. "Hear, O heaven," says Isaiah, "and give ear, O earth, for the Lord has spoken"; and we the lowly say to you now: "Hear, O great Head of God, and give ear to what Satan has wrought." If, then, this assembly and the anathematizing sentence is according to the will and acceptance of God, it is clear that the Law is not of God, nor the Prophets, among whom is the Forerunner [John the Baptist] as the rebuker of adultery, nor again the Gospel, contrary to which they have made their dispensation a thing dear to them. For if they should say that it is of the same God, then one of two things follows: either they will declare Christ false -- who of old spoke and gave the Law in the Prophets, and now through himself in the Gospel -- or they will declare that he speaks the truth, as indeed he himself is the truth, and that they themselves are lying and are firmly proved to be accusers of God; and on this account they are liable to the very anathema which they pronounced against Christ and his saints, having confirmed adultery and the adulterous union and complicity in adultery to be a dispensation of God and of the saints. And it cannot be otherwise; for there is no respect of persons with God, as the Moechians [the "adulterer party," Theodore's name for those who condoned the emperor's illicit marriage] suggest -- that his laws do not lie equally upon all, but in the case of emperors, as one of them says, give way and are altered by innovation. And where is the Gospel of the emperors? But in truth they have been exceedingly impious, not understanding that God does not accept the person of man, as the holy Apostle said, nor that the same God, through one of the prophets, reproaching them, says: "You have not kept my ways, but have accepted persons in the Law. Has not one God created you? Is there not one Father of you all?" And Solomon also writes thus: "Hear therefore, O kings, and understand"; and after other words: "Because, being ministers of the kingdom of the Most High, you did not judge rightly, nor keep the Law, nor walk according to the counsel of God. Terribly and swiftly will he come upon you, for a stern judgment befalls those in high places. For the Master of all will not draw back before any person." And again, that they have set aside the whole Gospel by the transgressions already committed, O sacred and divine Head, since even a single act of lawlessness suffices to overturn the whole Law -- for all the commandments are bound up with one another, says Basil the Great, so that in the dissolving of one the rest also are of necessity dissolved together with it (and he says this not of himself, but from Christ who speaks in him), who declares: "Everyone who looses one of these least commandments, this man shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven," that is, he shall perish. And the divinely inspired James: "Whoever shall fulfill the whole Law, but stumble in one point, has become guilty of all." They have therefore dissolved both Old and New Covenant, O blessed one, by the dissolving not of the least but of the greatest commandments of the Lord, the wretches having set up a law against the law of the Gospel -- to prefer the will of the emperors to God, whenever they wish. But different men wish different things, and the same men at different times wish otherwise. And on this account there is the overthrow of everything, leading up to the Antichrist; and hence the so-called dispensation among them will fittingly be named the antichristian forerunning. For concerning the transgression of the canons, what need is there even to speak? For when they came in headlong flight from the Gospel, there is scant leisure to take thought about the canons. And God indeed through the prophet says this: "I will set the key of the house of David upon his shoulder; and he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open." But they, in opposition to God, have shut where he opened, deposing those who are blameless, as it seems to them but not to God; and where he shut, they have opened, advancing those who have once for all fallen under deposition by God's judgment, according to what seems and is pleasing to them, ever abusing the sacred canons in lordly fashion as though they were servants and slaves. These are the lawless and impious undertakings and accomplishments of the Moechian heresy. And these things we, as the least children of the Catholic Church, have eagerly set ourselves, out of necessity, to announce to you, our foremost apostolic Head. It remains for you both to consider and to do the things pleasing to God, being moved by the Holy Spirit in this as in other matters; and indeed we entreat you to deem us worthy to receive your own-spoken and God-imprinted letters, in imitation of the saints who shared your zeal, just as now we have received your rich gifts and blessings that surpass our merit. This same brother of ours, Epiphanios, O most divine Head, reported to us that he received a charge from you concerning Barsanouphios, Isaiah, and Dorotheos the heretics, as though we receive them as orthodox; and we were greatly amazed, that we the lowly, who suffer for orthodoxy, should be charged with suffering for heretics. Let every mouth that maligns and slanders us be stopped. We are orthodox, even if otherwise sinners, O most blessed one, having not the slightest diminution in this respect of the apostolic faith, embracing every council, both ecumenical and local, approved by the truth, together with the holy canons set forth by them, and abominating and anathematizing every heresy and heretic. And anathema to Barsanouphios, Isaiah, Dorotheos, and Dositheos, who were anathematized by the holy Sophronios. But also, if there be any other namesake of these, yet a heretic according to their heresy or another, even if a bishop, even if an ascetic, even if anyone whatever, let him be anathema. And moreover, if anyone should not anathematize, opportunely and as need requires, every heretic, let him be of their portion. For we are pure of every heretical opinion, by your most sacred prayers, all-holy one. Furthermore we also report this: that, even though in our letter sent through brother Eustathios it was not made clear that we wrote to your holy Head through Epiphanios, Epiphanios did not lie, and the reason for this is as follows. We had indeed truly handed over the letter to him, and again, out of fear of those in power, we erased it; but he, having knowledge of the signs [the marks or seals], brought it to your holy footsteps, rightly minded, after we had been sent into exile. For it is the mouth of our lowliness and the word that pours forth from our heart. And let not your holy soul suppose any offense in our fellow-servant, who is in all things most faithful. Our brother and the archbishop of Thessalonica, with the open hands of his heart, both received the salutation of your Beatitude and, through us, reverently salutes your most sacred Head.

Μέγα ἡμῖν τοῖς ταπεινοῖς ὡς ἀληθῶς καὶ εὐχῆς ἔργον τῆς ἀνωτάτῳ, ἀξιωθεῖσι δέξασθαι παρὰ τῆς ἀποστολικῆς ὑμῶν μακαριότητος πρόσρησιν προσαγορευτικήν, καὶ μὴν ἀποσημείωσιν τῶν πνευματοκινήτων αὐτῆς ἱερῶν λογίων δι' Ἐπιφανίου τοῦ συνδούλου καὶ ἀγαπητοῦ ἡμῶν τέκνου, καὶ ταῦτα κεκλεισμένοις οὖσιν ὑπὸ τῶν κακοδόξων καὶ ὄψει θεασαμένοις τὸν γραμματηφόρον. ἐφ' οἷς ἐσκιρτήσαμεν, ἠγαλλιασάμεθα, ἀνθωμολογησάμεθα τῷ Κυρίῳ, τῷ ταῖς θείαις αὐτῆς προσευχαῖς τὰ παρ' ἐλπίδα παραδόξως ἡμῖν τοῖς ἀναξίοις χαρισαμένῳ, μονονουχὶ καὶ ὁρᾶν αὐτῆς τὸν ἱερὸν χαρακτῆρα διὰ μέσου τῶν φωνῶν φανταζομένοις. Ἀλλ' αὐτὴ μὲν χριστομιμήτως καὶ προσηγόρευκε τοὺς εὐτελεῖς καὶ ἀνεζωπύρησεν ἡμῶν τὸ πνεῦμα, ἐπέρρωσέν τε τὸ ἀσθενὲς καὶ ἐστιβάρωσεν τὸ ἀδρανές, οἱονεὶ ἐπαλείψασα τοῖς ὑπὲρ ἡμᾶς παρακλητικοῖς καὶ νουθετικοῖς φθέγμασιν στήκειν τε ἐν τῇ ὀρθοδόξῳ πίστει ἀκλινῶς μέχρι τέλους παρεγγυοῦσα (καὶ γένοιτο ἡμῖν ἱλέοις αὐτῆς ἱκετηρίαις), ἡμεῖς δὲ οἱ οὐθενεῖς καὶ πάλιν εὖ ἔχειν νενομίκαμεν, ὥσπερ τὸ πρότερον δι' αὐτοῦ τοῦδε τοῦ πιστοτάτου ἡμῶν γραμματηφόρου καὶ αὖθις δι' Εὐσταθίου τοῦ ἑταίρου αὐτοῦ καὶ ἡμῶν τέκνου, οὕτω καὶ νῦν ἀνενεγκεῖν αὐτῇ τὰ εἰκότα. Σύνοδος γέγονεν ἐν τοῖς καθ' ἡμᾶς, ὦ μακαριώτατε, πάνδημος, συγκαθεσθέντων καὶ ἀρχόντων τῶν ἐν τέλει· καὶ ἡ σύνοδος ἐπ' ἀθετήσει τοῦ εὐαγγελίου Χριστοῦ, οὗ σὺ τὰς κλεῖς ἐδέξω πρὸς αὐτοῦ διὰ μέσου τοῦ τῶν ἀποστόλων προστάτου καὶ τῶν ἀμοιβαδὸν μέχρι τοῦ προηγησαμένου τὴν ἱερωτάτην σου κορυφήν. καὶ ὅπως ἀνάσχοιτο ἐπακηκοέναι ἡ θεομίμητος ἐπιείκειά σου, ἀρξώμεθα δὲ ἀπὸ τοῦ νόμου καὶ τῶν προφητῶν. καὶ γοῦν φησίν, οὐ μοιχεύσεις, οὐ ψευδομαρτυρήσεις, οὐ λήψῃ τὸ ὄνομα Κυρίου τοῦ θεοῦ σου ἐπὶ ματαίῳ. καὶ Ἱερεμίας μέν, ἄφρων καὶ ἀσεβὴς ὁ κατέχων μοιχαλίδα, Μαλαχίας δέ, χείλη ἱερέως φυλάξατε γνῶσιν, καὶ νόμον ἐκζητήσουσιν ἐκ στόματος αὐτοῦ, διότι ἄγγελος Κυρίου παντοκράτορός ἐστιν. μετέλθωμεν ἐπὶ τὸ εὐαγγέλιον· ὁ ἀπολύων, φησίν, τὴν γυναῖκα αὐτοῦ καὶ γαμῶν ἑτέραν μοιχεύει. καὶ πάλιν, οὓς ὁ θεὸς συνέζευξεν, ἄνθρωπος μὴ χωριζέτω. ὅσον δὲ τὸ διάφορον νόμου καὶ χάριτος, ἐξ αὐτῶν τῶν λόγων τοῦ Κυρίου εἰσόμεθα λέγοντος, καὶ ἰδοὺ πλέον τοῦ ἱεροῦ ὧδε· εἶτα καὶ ἐκ τῶν τοῦ ἀποστόλου φωνῶν φάσκοντος, ἀθετήσας τις νόμον Μωσέως χωρὶς οἰκτιρμῶν ἐπὶ δυσὶν ἢ τρισὶ μάρτυσιν ἀποθνήσκει· πόσῳ δοκεῖτε χείρονος ἀξιωθήσεται τιμωρίας ὁ τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ θεοῦ καταπατήσας καὶ τὸ αἷμα τῆς διαθήκης κοινὸν ἡγησάμενος καὶ τὴν χάριν τοῦ Πνεύματος ἐνυβρίσας; Τούτων τοίνυν οὕτως ἐχόντων, οἱ μετὰ γλώσσης ἀνόμου τὰ πρὸς Κύριον ἀπειθοῦντες τὴν λύσιν τοῦ τε νόμου καὶ τοῦ εὐαγγελίου (ἤγουν τὴν μοιχείαν τοῦ πρὶν κρατήσαντος ἐπὶ τῇ ἐκβολῇ τῆς νομίμου καὶ εἰσοικίσει τῆς μοιχαλίδος καὶ τὴν ταύτης μείζονα καὶ χαλεπωτέραν παρανομίαν, ἤτοι τὴν μοιχοζευξίαν, διὰ τὸ ψευδομαρτυρῆσαι κατὰ θεοῦ καὶ τὸ τούτου ὄνομα λαβεῖν ἐπὶ τῇ ἀθεμίτῳ πράξει κατὰ τὴν μυσταγωγίαν, καὶ μὴν καὶ δοῦναι τοῖς μοιχωμένοις νικητικοὺς κατὰ Χριστοῦ τοὺς στεφάνους ἐπὶ μεθέξει τῶν θείων δώρων, τῶν ὡς κοινῶν ἐνυβρισθέντων παρὰ τοῦ μοιχοζεύκτου, καὶ ἀγγέλου οὐ τοῦ παντοκράτορος θεοῦ, ἀλλὰ τοῦ κοσμοκράτορος σατανᾶ ἀποφανθέντος κατὰ τὸ ἀληθές, ἔτι μὴν καὶ πάντων τῶν διὰ συνδρομῆς καὶ εὐδοκίας ἐν τῇδε τῇ παραβάσει τὴν μερίδα θεμένων μετὰ μοιχοῦ καὶ μοιχοζεύκτου) οἰκονομίαν σωτήριον τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ τοῦ θεοῦ προηγορεύκασιν, τοσοῦτον ὀχυρὰν καὶ θεοκύρωτον ὑπάρχουσαν, ὡς τοὺς μὴ εἴξαντας καὶ συνθεμένους αὐτοῖς ἀναθέματι συνοδικῶς ὑποβάλαι μετὰ φυλακῶν καὶ ἑτέρων παθημάτων, ὡς μὴ δεξαμένους ταύτην τὴν οἰκονομίαν ἁγιόπρακτον εἶναι. Ἄκουε, οὐρανέ, φησὶν Ἠσαΐας, καὶ ἐνωτίζου, γῆ, ὅτι Κύριος ἐλάλησεν, ἡμεῖς δὲ οἱ εὐτελεῖς πρὸς σὲ τανῦν· "4ἄκουε, ἡ μεγάλη τοῦ θεοῦ κεφαλή, καὶ ἐνωτίζου, ἃ ὁ σατανᾶς ἀπειργάσατο"5. εἰ τοίνυν κατὰ θεοῦ βούλησιν καὶ ἀποδοχὴν ἡ συνάθροισις αὕτη ἥ τε ἀναθεματιστικὴ ἀπόφασις, οὐ θεοῦ ὁ νόμος δῆλον ὅτι οἵ τε προφῆται, μεθ' ὧν ὁ Πρόδρομος ὡς μοιχοελέγκτης, εἶτα καὶ τὸ εὐαγγέλιον, παρ' ὃ ἐκεῖνοι φίλην τὴν οἰκονομίαν αὐτῶν πεποίηνται. εἰ γὰρ φαῖεν τοῦ αὐτοῦ, δυοῖν θάτερον, ἢ ψευδήγορον τὸν Χριστόν, πάλαι μὲν ἐν τοῖς προφήταις λαλήσαντα καὶ νομοθετήσαντα, νῦν δὲ δι' ἑαυτοῦ ἐν τῷ εὐαγγελίῳ, ἀποφανοῦνται ἢ ἀληθεύοντα, ὥσπερ ἐστὶν αὐτὸς ἡ ἀλήθεια, αὐτοὺς ψεύδεσθαι καὶ θεοκατηγόρους ἐναποδειχθῆναι ἀραρότως, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο τοῦ ἀναθέματος, οὗ κατὰ Χριστοῦ καὶ τῶν ἁγίων αὐτοῦ ἀπεφήναντο, εἶναι ὑπευθύνους, βεβαιωσαμένους τὴν μοιχείαν καὶ μοιχοζευξίαν καὶ μοιχοσυνδρομίαν οἰκονομίαν θεοῦ καὶ ἁγίων. Καὶ ἀλλοίως οὐκ ἔστιν· οὐ γὰρ προσωποληψία παρὰ τῷ θεῷ, ὡς ὑποδεικνύουσιν οἱ μοιχειανοί, μὴ ἐφίσης τοὺς νόμους αὐτοῦ κεῖσθαι ἐπὶ πᾶσιν, ἀλλ' ἐπὶ τῶν βασιλέων, ὥς φησιν, ὑποχωρεῖν καὶ καινοτομεῖσθαι. καὶ ποῦ τὸ τῶν βασιλέων εὐαγγέλιον; ἀλλ' ὄντως ἠσεβήκασι λίαν, μὴ συνιέντες ὅτι θεὸς πρόσωπον ἀνθρώπου οὐ λαμβάνει, καθὰ ἔφη ὁ ἱερὸς ἀπόστολος, μηδ' ὅτι ὁ αὐτὸς δι' ἑνὸς τῶν προφητῶν, ταλανίζων αὐτούς, λέγει, ὑμεῖς οὐκ ἐφυλάξατε τὰς ὁδούς μου, ἀλλ' ἐλαμβάνετε πρόσωπα ἐν νόμῳ. οὐχὶ θεὸς εἷς ἔκτισεν ὑμᾶς; οὐχὶ πατὴρ εἷς πάντων ὑμῶν; γράφει δὲ καὶ Σολομὼν τάδε· ἀκούσατε οὖν, βασιλεῖς, καὶ σύνετε. καὶ μεθ' ἕτερα· ὅτι ὑπηρέται ὄντες τῆς τοῦ ὑψίστου βασιλείας οὐκ ἐκρίνατε ὀρθῶς οὐδὲ ἐφυλάξατε νόμον οὐδὲ κατὰ τὴν βουλὴν τοῦ θεοῦ ἐπορεύθητε. φρικτῶς καὶ ταχέως ἐπιστήσεται ὑμῖν, ὅτι κρίσις ἀπότομος ἐν τοῖς ὑπερέχουσι γίνεται. οὐ γὰρ ὑποστελεῖται πρόσωπον ὁ πάντων δεσπότης. πάλιν δὲ ὅτι καὶ ὅλον τὸ εὐαγγέλιον διὰ τῶν φθασάντων παρανομιῶν ἠθετήκασιν, ὦ ἱερὰ καὶ θεία κορυφή, ἐπεὶ καὶ ἓν ἀνόμημα ἀρκεῖ τὸν καθόλου νόμον ἀνατρέψαι· πᾶσαι γὰρ ἀλλήλων ἔχονται, φησὶν ὁ Μέγας Βασίλειος, αἱ ἐντολαί, ὡς ἐν τῇ λύσει τῆς μιᾶς καὶ τὰς λοιπὰς ἐξ ἀνάγκης συγκαταλύεσθαι, οὐκ ἐξ ἑαυτοῦ τοῦτο, ἀλλ' ἐκ τοῦ φθεγγομένου ἐν αὐτῷ Χριστοῦ λέγων, ὅς φησιν, πᾶς ὁ λύων μίαν τῶν ἐντολῶν τούτων τῶν ἐλαχίστων, οὗτος ἐλάχιστος κληθήσεται ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ τῶν οὐρανῶν, δηλονότι ἀπολλύμενος. καὶ ὁ θεσπέσιος Ἰάκωβος, ὅστις, φησί, τελέσει ὅλον τὸν νόμον, πταίσει δὲ ἐν ἑνί, γέγονε πάτων ἔνοχος. Λελύκασιν οὖν παλαιὰν καὶ νέαν διαθήκην, ὦ μάκαρ, διὰ τῆς λύσεως οὐ τῶν ἐλαχίστων, ἀλλὰ τῶν μεγίστων ἐντολῶν Κυρίου, νόμον κατὰ νόμου εὐαγγελικοῦ ἐκτεθεικότες οἱ τάλανες, τὸ βούλημα τῶν βασιλέων προκρίνειν θεοῦ, ὁπόταν βούλοιντο. βούλονται δὲ ἄλλοι ἄλλο καὶ ἄλλοτε ἄλλως. καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἀνατροπὴ τοῦ παντὸς μέχρι τοῦ Ἀντιχρίστου, καὶ ἐντεῦθεν εἰκότως ἡ λεγομένη παρ' αὐτοῖς οἰκονομία προσαγορευθήσεται ἀντιχριστικὴ προδρομία. περὶ γὰρ παραβάσεως κανόνων τί δεῖ καὶ λέγειν; ὁπότε γὰρ τοῦ εὐαγγελίου ἀποτροπάδην ἦλθον, σχολὴ περὶ αὐτῶν φροντίζειν. καὶ ὁ μὲν θεὸς διὰ τοῦ προφήτου τάδε φησίν· δώσω τὴν κλεῖδα οἴκου Δαυὶδ ἐπὶ τοῦ ὤμου αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἀνοίξει, καὶ οὐκ ἔσται ὁ ἀποκλείων· καὶ κλείσει, καὶ οὐκ ἔσται ὁ ἀνοίγων. οἱ δὲ ἀντιθέως ἐφ' οἷς μὲν ἤνοιξεν, ἀπέκλεισαν, καθήραντες τοὺς ἀνευθύνους ὡς δοκεῖ αὐτοῖς, ἀλλ' οὐ θεῷ, ἐφ' οἷς δὲ ἔκλεισεν, ἤνοιξαν, προχειρισάμενοι τοὺς ὑποπίπτοντας καθαιρέσει θεοκρίτως ἅπαξ πρὸς τὸ αὐτοῖς δοκοῦν καὶ ἀρέσκον, ἀποχρώμενοι ἀεὶ δεσποτικῶς τοῖς ἱεροῖς κανόσιν ὡς ὑπηρέταις καὶ ὑποδουλίοις. Ταῦτα τῆς μοιχειανικῆς αἱρέσεως τὰ ἄνομα καὶ ἀσεβῆ ἐγχειρήματά τε καὶ ἀποτελέσματα. καὶ ταῦτα ὡς ἐλάχιστα τέκνα τῆς καθολικῆς ἐκκλησίας σοί, τῇ πρωτίστῳ ἡμῶν ἀποστολικῇ κεφαλῇ, ἀναγγεῖλαι κατὰ τὸ ἀναγκαῖον προεθυμήθημεν. λοιπὸν αὐτῆς ἐστι τὰ ἀρεστὰ θεῷ καὶ διανοηθῆναι καὶ πρᾶξαι, ὑπὸ Πνεύματος Ἁγίου ὡς ἐπ' ἄλλοις καὶ ἐν τῷδε κινουμένης, οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ δυσωπουμένης ἀξιῶσαι ἡμᾶς αὐτόλεκτα καὶ θεοχάρακτα αὐτῆς γράμματα δέξασθαι κατὰ μίμησιν τῶν ὁμοζήλων αὐτῆς ἁγίων, ὥσπερ νῦν τὰς πλουσίας καὶ ὑπὲρ ἡμᾶς δωρεὰς αὐτῆς καὶ εὐλογίας. Ἀπήγγειλεν δὲ ἡμῖν ὁ αὐτὸς ἀδελφὸς ἡμῶν Ἐπιφάνιος, θειοτάτη κορυφή, ὡς ἔγκλησιν ἐδέξατο παρ' αὐτῆς ἕνεκα Βαρσανουφίου, Ἠσαΐου τε καὶ Δωροθέου τῶν αἱρετικῶν, ὡς δεχομένων ἡμῶν αὐτοὺς ὀρθοδόξους· καὶ πάνυ ἠγάσθημεν, εἰ ἡμεῖς οἱ ταπεινοὶ ὑπὲρ ὀρθοδοξίας πάσχοντες αἱρετικοῖς προσπάσχομεν. ἐμφραγέσθω πᾶν τὸ καθ' ἡμῶν ὑποβάλλον καὶ συκοφαντοῦν στόμα. ὀρθόδοξοί ἐσμεν, κἂν ἄλλως ἁμαρτωλοί, ὦ μακαριώτατε, μηδ' ὁτιοῦν ὕφεσιν ἔχοντες ἐν τούτῳ τῆς ἀποστολικῆς πίστεως, πᾶσαν σύνοδον οἰκουμενικήν τε καὶ τοπικὴν ἐγκεκριμένην τῇ ἀληθείᾳ μετὰ τῶν ἐκτεθέντων αὐταῖς ἁγίων κανόνων ἀσπαζόμενοι καὶ πᾶσαν αἵρεσιν καὶ αἱρετικὸν μυσαττόμενοι καὶ ἀναθεματίζοντες. καὶ ἀνάθεμα Βαρσανουφίῳ, Ἠσαΐᾳ, Δωροθέῳ τε καὶ Δοσιθέῳ, τοῖς ὑπὸ τοῦ Ἁγίου Σωφρονίου ἀναθεμα τισθεῖσιν. ἀλλὰ καὶ ἄλλος εἴ τις εἴη τούτοις ὁμώνυμος, ὅμως αἱρετικὸς κατὰ τὴν ἐκείνων αἵρεσιν ἢ ἑτέραν, κἂν ἐπίσκοπος, κἂν ἀσκητής, κἂν ὁστισοῦν, ἀνάθεμα ἔστω. ἀλλὰ καὶ εἴ τις μὴ ἀναθεματίζοι εὐκαίρως κατὰ τὸ ἀναγκαῖον πάντα αἱρετικόν, εἴη τῆς αὐτῶν μερίδος. ἡμεῖς γὰρ καθαροί ἐσμεν παντὸς αἱρετικοῦ φρονήματος εὐχαῖς σου ἱερωτάταις, παναγέστατε. Ἔτι μὴν καὶ τοῦτο ἀναφέρομεν, ὅτι, εἰ καὶ ἐν τῇ ἐπιστολῇ ἡμῶν τῇ διὰ τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ Εὐσταθίου οὐ δεδήλωται ἐπιστεῖλαι ἡμᾶς τῇ ἁγίᾳ σου κορυφῇ δι' Ἐπιφανίου, οὐ διέψευσται Ἐπιφάνιος, καὶ ὁ τρόπος ἐν τούτῳ. ἦμεν ὡς ἀληθῶς ἐκδώσαντες αὐτῷ τὴν ἐπιστολήν, καὶ πάλιν φόβῳ τῶν κρατούντων ἀπαλείψαντες· ὁ δέ, ἔχων τῶν σημείων τὴν γνῶσιν, ἤγαγεν πρὸς τὰ ἅγια αὐτῆς ἴχνη εὖ φρονῶν μετὰ τὸ ἐξορισθῆναι ἡμᾶς. καὶ γάρ ἐστι στόμα τῆς ταπεινώσεως ἡμῶν καὶ λόγος ἐξερευγόμενος τῆς καρδίας ἡμῶν. καὶ μή τί γε ὑπολάβοι ἡ ἁγία σου ψυχὴ σκάνδαλον ἐν τῷ συνδούλῳ ἡμῶν, ὄντι πιστοτάτῳ κατὰ πάντα. Ὁ ἀδελφὸς ἡμῶν καὶ ἀρχιεπίσκοπος Θεσσαλονίκης ὑπτίαις καρδίας χερσὶ καὶ ἐδέξατο τὴν τῆς μακαριότητός σου προσηγορίαν καὶ δι' ἡμῶν προσκυνητῶς κατασπαζόμενός ἐστι τὴν ἱερωτάτην σου κορυφήν.