Letter 441: Theodore Studite, Letter 441; Greek heading: Ὑπατίῳ τέκνῳ.

We too, lowly as we are, did not receive without feeling, my child, the holy falling-asleep [death] of James, the confessor of Christ and our brother worthy of all love; and yet neither did we receive it without great joy. The first, on account of our spiritual affection (for what is he but a son, and a son of such stature, whose father I, because of my sins, am not even worthy to be called?); the second, on account of the hope, or rather on account of the benefit, and not of us alone, of whom as a member he was naturally constituted a holy ornament, but indeed of the whole Church of God. For what do you suppose the man to be? Was he not a confessor? Was he not a martyr? Was he not a holy man? From his youth he contended ascetically, submitting himself according to the rule, playing the man against the passions, keeping his body virgin through the chastisements [self-mortifications] of self-control and through bringing it into servitude, eating just as it happened, sleeping likewise, yet remaining so healthy as to astonish those who looked on him; for the most part withdrawn, as far as was possible drawing back into himself, and from there winging himself toward the heavenly love. And let no one suppose that I am fashioning these things as a fiction, for the sake of charming the ears of those who hear my words. God is my witness, and his tutor Lucian the holy man, hard though he be to rouse, from whom I also have the disclosure of the things I did not know. These things, then, are as a brief sketch of his ascetic labor; but in the matter of his confession, how many and how great were his deeds? He became a spectacle both to angels and to men. Oh, the cheerful and God-loving heart! He entered into the stadium as a soldier of Christ, fearless, unshaken. From this side and from that the servants of darkness tore his back, his breast, his arms with their blows, they poured out his blood, they cut away his flesh, they left the holy man flung upon the ground, yet he did not let slip a single sinister [cowardly] word at all, but made his witness perfect unto God; and this for the sake of Christ the Son of God and our God. For to contend over his holy icon [eikon, the venerated image] is to bear witness for that very One. Let the meek hear and be glad; let the lovers of martyrs dance and rejoice; let the devil be put to shame; let the throng of the iconoclasts [eikonomachoi, image-fighters] fall. From the works of both parties recognize, as God commands, both parties: for the one party not only this man, but indeed many of our own and of those not our own, our own nonetheless (since all are one body in Christ Jesus, who is the head of all), they likewise tormented, they slew, they starved, and whatever else follows upon these things; while he, paralyzed and dislocated from those most grievous blows, was operated upon in his body with sharp pains, and from then until the end was thenceforth so broken that he continued as one dying daily, and that in thanksgiving, and that in humility of mind. And if, as you say, he also foretold his own death, this too is in keeping with his contests. And since you have stated beforehand that a great concourse of people gathered for the funeral, indeed even from the eminent on both counts, this too is a testimony to my account; for such an assembly would not have come together for a man obscure as to the flesh, had it not been by the nod of God. He, then, has passed over to heaven and has been added to his fellow-contestants, and the choir of the confessors and martyrs from of old has been increased, at which there is joy in heaven and gladness. By his prayers may we be saved, brothers, and may you find a reward worthy of your holy service to him. And blessed too are those who gathered together, as being truly pious, as being truly lovers of martyrs; may their portion be with him whom they carried out to burial. Concerning his precious relic, as I have written concerning the canon [rule], if the Lord is pleased, I will act. Greet one another with a holy kiss; for this is to be read also to all the brothers. The lord the archbishop greets you, and the protopresbyter [chief presbyter], the steward [oikonomos], and the rest of the brothers. The Lord be with you. Amen.