Letter 449: Theodore Studite, Letter 449; Greek heading: Λαυρεντίῳ τέκνῳ.

It has come to our hearing, child Laurentius, what a drama, brought about by the wicked demon, was carried out in the village of Antisarchos; and we groaned greatly over it, both according to the common law of human love, and because the one who was hanged is of the blood of brother Athanasius, the protopresbyter [first/chief presbyter] (at whose prompting I also write). O fearful tragedy! A man who was held in honor, more distinguished than the natives of that place, self-sufficient in his manner of life, a man of understanding, persevering in prayers and supplications and conspicuous in the rest of his conduct of life, with no circumstantial calamity having befallen him, by which one is often turned away to some small degree from what is proper, that he, in such tranquility of affairs, should bring to completion so great an evil, making use of the noose! O, and again I will say it, the abominable news. Such are the contrivances of the devil. He was a manslayer from the beginning, as the Lord said; he it was who first persuaded Ahithophel, and then Judas, to hang themselves [Ahithophel, 2 Samuel 17:23; Judas, Matthew 27:5]; he who does not cease even to this day to accomplish the same thing among those who are persuaded by him. And I think that he plunders the human being in two ways, as we have learned by experience: either from a grief of heart that admits no comfort, or from an unreasoning craving, having darkened and overturned the person. For just as in the case of murder or adultery and the like acts of licentiousness, the darkness presents itself as light and the bitter as sweet (for he would not catch us, unless he thus re-elements our reasoning), so also in the case of the noose he made death sweet, he darkened the mind, he brought the hanging to completion. Alas, what manner of thing is the dragon, and by how many sorceries he commits murder of human beings on every occasion: this one in this way, another in another way, and there is no one who shall escape his snares without the help of God, which may be granted, with fear and trembling, to the one who lives faithfully according to His commandment. But let the discourse turn to the pressing matter. You made known that all the people of the village together are turning away from his household, that is to say, from the wife and children, neither touching nor coming near them, even to the point of the sharing of a loaf of bread on loan. Now if the kinsmen of the man who hanged himself say that the act of self-hanging is a good thing, and that they too love to accomplish the same for themselves, then those people [the villagers] do well to keep their distance-although not even thus is it straightway right; for it is first necessary to teach, to enlighten, to exhort them to flee from destruction. For this is the mark of Christians, this of those who love their brethren, since the Lord too, with many kindnesses and corrective prophetic warnings, knowing what he [Judas] was about to do, tried to dissuade Judas, pronouncing the "woe to him" and saying that it would have been better if that man had not been born, even though the wretched one did not understand. But if, as you say, they also bitterly lament the man brought to a Judas-like end, and every Christian shrinks from that portion, and they have been driven to a frenzy of unbearable affliction and seek consolation-what is this that you describe, but that the villagers set themselves against Christ and open to the devil a door of destruction for those who are worthy of comfort? Woe to those who act thus, for they are fellow workers of the devil. Well, then, did the lord Macarius, the spiritual father, exhort such people; well also did he take a meal in that house, and let no Christian hesitate to do the same. And since there is a word concerning a penance-not because they are culpable (for each one, it says, shall die in his own sin, and children shall not die for fathers, nor the reverse [Ezekiel 18:20])-but rather for consolation: for one Lent they shall abstain from eating meat, and it is clear that they shall also abstain from partaking of the sacred Mysteries [the consecrated elements / Communion]. But let them enter into the church praying, remaining until the dismissal of the catechumens, and let them give also the share due to the wretched man to the poor; for an offering [prosphora] and liturgy on his behalf is by no means lawful to be made, but let almsgiving be done, for this benefits even an unbeliever, as Chrysostom says, and besides, because the strangling-money [the silver, literally "the choking/throttling silver"] of Judas was given for the burial of strangers [Matthew 27:7]. Let them also fix the sign of the life-giving Cross in the place where the hanging was, since the Cross itself too is fixed in the place of the Skull, because there is the skull of the murdered Adam, from which it [Golgotha, "place of the skull"] is also named. This much we have to say from the written sources, exhorting on the one hand the kinsmen of the one who suffered to cease from their great grief and, through thanksgiving and good works, to wait upon the good God; and on the other hand admonishing the people of the village, having let go of their evil discrimination, to hold as before the members of that household in fellowship, in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

Ἀκουστὸν ἡμῖν ἐγένετο, τέκνον Λαυρέντιε, ὅπερ ἐκ τοῦ πονηροῦ δαίμονος ἐτελέσθη δρᾶμα ἐν τῇ Ἀντισάρχῳ κωμοπόλει· καὶ ἐστενάξαμεν ἐπ' αὐτῷ μεγάλως καὶ κατὰ τὸν κοινὸν νόμον τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης ἀγάπης καὶ διότι ἀφ' αἵματος τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ Ἀθανασίου καὶ πρωτοπρεσβυτέρου (ὑφ' οὗ καὶ κινηθεὶς γράφω) ἐστὶν ὁ ἀπαγχονισθείς. ὢ φοβεροῦ τραγῳδήματος· ἄνθρωπος ἐν τιμῇ ὤν, προφερέστερος τῶν ἐκεῖσε αὐτοχθόνων, αὐτάρκης κατὰ τὸν βίον, ἀνὴρ συνετός, προσκαρτερῶν εὐχαῖς τε καὶ δεήσεσι καὶ τῇ λοιπῇ τῆς ζωῆς ἀγωγῇ ἐμπρέπων, μηδενὸς περιστατικοῦ συμβεβηκότος, ἐξ οὗ πολλάκις ἔστι περιτρέπεσθαι τοῦ δέοντος κατά τι μικρόν, οὕτως ἐν ἀταραξίᾳ πραγμάτων τηλικοῦτον κακὸν ἀπεργάσασθαι, ἀγχόνῃ χρησάμενος. ὤ, καὶ αὖθις ἐρῶ, τῆς ἀπευκτῆς ἀκοῆς. τοιαῦτα τοῦ διαβόλου τὰ μηχανήματα· ἐκεῖνος ἀνθρωποκτόνος ἀπ' ἀρχῆς, καθὼς ἔφη ὁ Κύριος, ἐκεῖνος πρῶτον μὲν τὸν Ἀχιτόφελ, ἔπειτα τὸν Ἰούδαν ἔπεισεν ἀπάγξασθαι· ὃς οὐ παύεται καὶ μέχρι σήμερον τὸ αὐτὸ ἀποτελεῖν ἐν τοῖς πειθομένοις αὐτῷ. οἶμαι δὲ κατὰ δύο τρόπους συλᾶν τὸν ἄνθρωπον, ὡς πείρᾳ ἔγνωμεν· ἢ ἀπὸ ὀδύνης καρδίας ἀπαρακλήτου ἢ ἀπὸ ἐφέσεως ἀλογίστου, σκοτώσας καὶ περιτρέψας· ὡς γὰρ ἐπὶ φόνου ἢ μοιχείας καὶ τῶν ὁμοίων ἀσελγημάτων ὑποδείκνυσι τὸ σκότος φῶς καὶ τὸ πικρὸν γλυκεῖον (οὐ γὰρ ἄν, εἰ μὴ οὕτως ἀναστοιχειώσει λογίσασθαι, ἡμᾶς εὑρίσκῃ θηρᾶσαι), οὕτω καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς ἀγχόνης ἥδυνε τὸν θάνατον, ἐζόφωσε τὸν νοῦν, ἀπετέλεσεν τὴν ἀγχόνην. οἴμοι, οἷός ἐστιν ὁ δράκων καὶ ἐφ' ὅσοις μαγγανεύμασιν ἀνθρωποκτονεῖ ἑκάστοτε· τοῦτον οὕτως, ἄλλον ἄλλως, καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ὃς ἐκφεύξεται τὰς παγὰς αὐτοῦ ἄνευ βοηθείας τοῦ θεοῦ, ἥτις εἴη μετὰ φόβου καὶ τρόμου τῷ κατ' ἐντολὴν αὐτοῦ πιστῶς βιοῦντι. Ἀλλ' ἐπὶ τὸ κατεπεῖγον ὁ λόγος. ἐδήλωσας ὡς οἱ τοῦ χωρίου ὁμοῦ ἅπαντες ἀποτρέπονται τῆς οἰκίας αὐτοῦ, ἤγουν γυναικὸς καὶ τέκνων, μήτε ἅπτεσθαι μήτε θίγειν μέχρι καὶ μεταδόσεως ἄρτου δανεικοῦ. καὶ εἰ μὲν λέγουσιν οἱ τοῦ ἀπαγξαμένου καλὴν εἶναι τὴν πρᾶξιν τῆς ἀπαγχονίσεως καὶ τὴν αὐτὴν αὐτῷ φιλεῖν τελέσαι κἀκεῖνοι, καλῶς ἀφίστανται, ὁπότε οὐδ' οὕτως εὐθύς· δεῖν γὰρ πρῶτον διδάξαι, φωτίσαι, παρακαλέσαι φυγεῖν τὸν ὄλεθρον· τοῦτο γὰρ χριστιανῶν, τοῦτο φιλαδέλφων, ὅτι καὶ ὁ Κύριος τὸν Ἰούδαν πολλοῖς χρηστεύμασιν καὶ διορθωτικοῖς προφητεύμασιν, εἰδὼς ὃ ἔμελλεν ποιεῖν, ἐπειρᾶτο ἀναπείθειν, τὸ οὐαὶ αὐτῷ ἐπιφθεγγόμενος καὶ τὸ συνέφερεν εἰ οὐκ ἐγεννήθη ὁ ἄνθρωπος ἐκεῖνος λέγων, κἂν οὐ συνῆκεν ὁ τάλας. εἰ δέ, ὡς φῆς, καὶ καταθρηνοῦσι τὸν ἰουδοτέλεστον καὶ ἀπεύχονται τῆς μερίδος ἐκείνης πάντα χριστιανὸν καὶ ἔκστασιν ἐξέστησαν ἀφορήτου θλίψεως καὶ ζητοῦσι παράκλησιν, τί τοῦτο, ὅπερ διηγῇ, ἢ ὅτι τῷ Χριστῷ ἐναντιοῦνται οἱ χωριάται καὶ τῷ διαβόλῳ ἀνοίγουσι θύραν ἀπωλείας τῶν ἀξιοπαρακλήτων; οὐαὶ τοῖς οὕτω ποιοῦσιν, ὅτι συνεργοί εἰσι τοῦ διαβόλου. Καλῶς οὖν ὁ κύριος Μακάριος καὶ πνευματικὸς πατὴρ παρεκάλεσεν τοὺς τοιούτους, καλῶς καὶ ἑστιάθη ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῇ οἰκίᾳ καὶ μηδεὶς χριστιανὸς διακρινέτω τὸ αὐτὸ ποιεῖν. ἐπειδὴ δὲ λόγος περὶ ἐπιτιμίου, οὐχ ὅτι ὑπαίτιοι (ἕκαστος γάρ, φησίν, ἐν τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ αὐτοῦ ἀποθανεῖται, καὶ οὐκ ἀποθανοῦνται τέκνα ὑπὲρ πατέρων, ὡς καὶ ἔμπαλιν), πρὸς δὲ παρηγορίαν, μιᾷ τεσσαρακοστῇ φυλάξονται κρεοφαγίας, δῆλον ὅτι καὶ τοῦ μὴ μετέχειν τῶν ἁγιασμάτων. εἰς δὲ τὴν ἐκκλησίαν εἰσιέτωσαν εὐχόμενοι, μέχρι τῶν κατηχουμένων ἐπιμένοντες, δότωσαν καὶ τὴν ἀνήκουσαν μοῖραν τοῦ ἀθλίου εἰς πτωχούς· προσφορὰ μὲν γὰρ καὶ λειτουργία ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ οὐ θέμις γίνεσθαι πάντῃ, ἡ δὲ ἐλεημοσύνη γινέσθω· ὠφελεῖ γὰρ αὕτη καὶ εἰς ἄπιστον, ὥς φησιν ὁ Χρυσόστομος, καὶ ἄλλως ὅτι τοῦ Ἰούδα τὰ ἀγκτικὰ ἀργύρια εἰς ταφὴν τοῖς ξένοις ἐδόθη. πηξάτωσαν καὶ τὸ σημεῖον τοῦ ζωοποιοῦ σταυροῦ εἰς τὸν τόπον, οὗ ἡ ἀγχόνη, ὅτι καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ σταυρὸς ἐν τῷ Κρανίου τόπῳ πήγνυται, διότι ἐκεῖ τοῦ ἀνθρωποκτονηθέντος Ἀδὰμ τὸ κρανίον, ἀφ' οὗ καὶ ὠνόμασται. Τοσαῦτα ἔχομεν λέγειν ἐκ τῶν ἐγγράφως, καὶ τοὺς μὲν τοῦ παθόντος παρακαλοῦντες καταλῆξαι τῆς πολλῆς λύπης καὶ δι' εὐχαριστίας καὶ ἀγαθοεργίας προσεδρεύειν τῷ ἀγαθῷ θεῷ, τοὺς δὲ τοῦ χωρίου παραινοῦντες, ἀφεμένους τῆς πονηρᾶς διακρίσεως, κοινωνοὺς ἔχειν ὡς πρὶν τοὺς τῆς οἰκίας ἐκείνης ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ τῷ Κυρίῳ ἡμῶν. ἀμήν.