Letter 377: Theodore Studite, Letter 377; Greek heading: Ἐπιφανίῳ τέκνῳ.

See, my beloved child, just as you were eager to set out for the West, when I told you to carry these letters: I have sent two epistles, one to the Apostolic [the pope of Rome] and one to the lord Methodius [later patriarch of Constantinople, then in the West]. For those in the company of the brother Dionysius, by the good pleasure of God, both reached safely as far as the people there and brought back good hopes; and so I judged it well to write to them again. And I have written not as from myself alone, but as before, on behalf of both the abbots whom the epistle names, except the one of Eukairia; for he, as I have learned, has fallen [i.e. lapsed, given way to the iconoclasts] in keeping with my sins. You will know, then, that it was also by common counsel, through a secret message and the reading of the epistle, that we wrote at that time, as the departing letter likewise made clear. But now, even though I have not been able to do this because of the [need for] security, nevertheless this present epistle too is as from both, since they are already of one mind; and perhaps even after this it will be possible for those others as well to be informed. Go forth, then, O noble Epiphanius; shine forth [a play on the name Epiphanius, "the one who appears"] upon the West, a faithful messenger, prudent, long-acquainted, delivering the epistle, and, in accordance with what has been laid down under divine impulse in the holy apostolic manner and word of counsel of the sacred Methodius and of the holy bishop of Monembasia, yourself also joining in the embassy as an elder and entreating earnestly that these things be brought to their conclusion by the good pleasure of God, who is able both to keep you safe and to present you to the sacred and blessed head [the pope]. Do not be afraid; great is your reward and great the contest; Christ is with you. Greet all the holy ones, and especially those better known to me, and above all my holy father the archimandrite, and also my lord the chartophylax [keeper of the archives], whose love is set within my humble heart.