Letter 390: Theodore Studite, Letter 390; Greek heading: Ἀρκαδίῳ μοναχῷ.

This is now the second time I am writing, since you were arrested, beloved, by the Judaizers [Theodore's term of contempt for the iconoclasts, whom he charges with rejecting the image as the Jews rejected images]. The first you did not receive; I pray that at least this letter may come into your hands. For I, in the first place, reckoning myself a debtor according to the common law of love—since those who are joined together in one and the same conviction of the confession of Christ ought to spur one another on—hold it necessary to write to you; and then also, on account of the particular relationship which you know of what kind and how great it has been between us from the beginning, I write to you most urgently. But thanks be to God, my most honored brother, that in this bitter winter of unbelief you have shone forth as a flower of orthodoxy, or rather as a confessor of Christ. Once brought before the eyes of those in power, you did not cower; you confessed the good confession. You were scourged severely, you were exiled, you were confined here in some out-of-the-way place; again you were brought into the hands of your tormentors, you did not give way, you did not deny the faith, you were once more torn apart with blows and have remained unconquered, not fearing those who kill the body, but the only Lord and God and King, according to what was commanded by Him. Blessed are you, and it shall be well with you; how noble you are, and more noble than those from the risings of the sun. And if they have numbered you among the weavers as though a servant of the imperial household, do not be astonished; for such things befall the saints. And then, even though they did not wish it, they have truly shown to the world that you are a servant of the King of the heavens—a token of the witness of God, a refutation of impiety. Stand firm, therefore, noble soldier of Christ; contend valiantly to the end, suffer hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your confession, having God invisibly as your helper, the angel who guards your life encircling you, attending you, rejoicing greatly over you and bearing up your prayers to God as a fragrance of sweet savor; in which prayers remember us also, sinners indeed, but longing for you greatly.