Letter 379: Theodore Studite, Letter 379; Greek heading: Τῷ αὐτῷ.

Your letter came to me from an unexpected quarter, O most beloved child; for the one whom I expected to be on his way to Rome speaks to me from Byzantium [Constantinople], and the one whom I reckoned to be at liberty has come as a prisoner. What is this? Plainly it is the work of God's providence, that you too, together with your holy brethren, might share in the sufferings on behalf of Christ -- not only as being one of those who hold the foremost place, but also as one who surpasses the many in knowledge and holds the primacy among writers; and I would add, as being the mouth of my lowliness. You, then, uttered what you uttered in your letter, extolling my affairs as divine (though it is yours to speak the truth, since what belongs to the father pertains to the son), and through your longing departing from due measure; but I exhort you to stand nobly in the contests on behalf of Christ, bearing all things even unto blood, since the sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed in us, as it is written. And besides, you chose from the beginning to submit yourself to the confessors and all but cast yourself into the danger. A lawful martyrdom, therefore, has been dispensed [oikonomia: providential ordering] to you, brother, now that you have been led away in due course. Let us not, then, draw back, I beseech you, nor spare our flesh, but let us yield it up to whatever Christ may make ready, that we may cast both soul and body into the immortal good things. Pray likewise yourself for me, the sinner. The brother who is with me sends greetings.

Ἐκ παραδόξου μοι τὸ γράμμα σου, ὦ φίλτατον τέκνον· ὃν γὰρ προσεδόκουν ῥωμαΐζειν, ἐκ Βυζαντίου μοι φθέγγεται, καὶ ὃν ἐλογιζόμην ἀφέμενον εἶναι, δέσμιος ἥκει. τί τοῦτο; δῆλον ὅτι προνοίας θεοῦ τὸ ἔργον, ἵνα καὶ σὺ μετασχοίης σὺν τοῖς ἱεροῖς ἀδελφοῖς σου τῶν ὑπὲρ Χριστοῦ παθημάτων, οὐ μόνον ὡς τῶν προεχόντων ὤν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν πολλῶν ἐν γνώσει διαφέρων καὶ τὸ πρωτεῖον τῶν γραφέων ἔχων, προσθείην δ' ἂν καὶ ὡς στόμα τῆς ταπεινώσεώς μου ὑπάρχων. σὺ μὲν οὖν ἐφθέγξω ἃ ἐφθέγξω ἐν τοῖς γράμμασιν ἐκθειάζων τὰ ἐμὰ (σὰ δὲ εἰπεῖν ἄληθες, ἐπειδὴ υἱῷ τὰ πατρὸς ἀνήκει) καὶ τοῦ μέτρου διὰ τὸν πόθον ἐξιστάμενος, ἐγὼ δέ σε παρακαλῶ στῆναι γενναίως ἐν τοῖς ὑπὲρ Χριστοῦ ἀγωνίσμασι, πάντα φέρων τὰ μέχρις αἵματος, ἐπειδὴ οὐκ ἄξια τὰ παθήματα τοῦ νῦν καιροῦ πρὸς τὴν μέλλουσαν δόξαν ἀποκαλύπτεσθαι εἰς ἡμᾶς, ὡς γέγραπται, ἄλλως τε ὅτι καὶ προῄρου κατ' ἀρχὰς ὑποβληθῆναι τοῖς ὁμολογηταῖς καὶ σαυτὸν ἐπέρριψας μικροῦ δεῖν τῷ κινδύνῳ. νόμιμον οὖν τὸ μαρτύριόν σοι ᾠκονομήθη, ἀδελφέ, ἄρτι ἀχθέντι κατὰ λόγον. μὴ οὖν ἀναδύωμεν, ἀντιβολῶ, μηδὲ ἐλεήσωμεν σάρκας, ἀλλὰ προησώμεθα ταύτας εἰς ὅ τι ἂν καὶ παρασκευάσοι Χριστός, ἵνα καὶ ψυχὴν καὶ σῶμα εἰς ἀθάνατα ἀγαθὰ ἐμβάλωμεν. Προσεύχου καὶ αὐτὸς τὰ ἴσα περὶ ἐμοῦ τοῦ ἁμαρτωλοῦ. ὁ σὺν ἐμοὶ ἀδελφὸς προσαγορεύει.