Letter 450: Theodore Studite, Letter 450; Greek heading: Τοῖς ἐν ἄστει ἀδελφοῖσ.

I have judged the present moment opportune, now that brother Leo is coming in, to write jointly to you all, blessed brothers and fathers, reminding you once more of the things that pertain to salvation; for even in this absence and exile I am fearful and trembling, both because of the burden of my own sins and because of the care and protection over you that falls to me. For I fear and dread lest you who are spending your time in the city should, being all too easily swayed [the Greek likens such instability to the Euripus, the notoriously shifting strait], fall into some downfall, and lest the good works which we gathered together through many labors and contests, both before the persecution and during the persecution, we should, by relaxing our guard even for a short while, utterly lose. I hear of instability, of wandering from place to place, of one man passing from another brother and from one place to another and -- what is more pitiable still -- of one sitting alone, and another having his cell in a house where there are women; and yet another residing perpetually in a convent of women; and another again wearing himself out [the Greek suggests squandering his life as a domestic] here and there, where there are girls, where there is a fire that does not burn grass but the house of the soul; and some again forgetting the lawful life [the regulated monastic discipline], having bought slaves to live together with them, and even buying for themselves other fields. O my wretched soul! How shall I not groan over these things, and how shall I not be afraid if I do not proclaim the just ordinance of God? Why then have you lost your senses, brothers, and why have you who are the servants of the Lord become servants of the passions? Why do you who are under the rule [of the monastic law] endure to act lawlessly; and why do you who are the worshipers of Christ, sons who provoke to bitterness, not abandon this wicked straying off? Why do you not settle in places free from scandal? Why are you not, in apostolic fashion, two by two or in even larger company? Woe to the man who is alone! Woe to the unstable! Woe to him who consorts with women! Woe to the slave of slaves! Woe to Gehazi, who, having bought fields and vineyards, inherited the leprosy of Naaman! [the reference is to 2 Kings 5]. Are these not divine utterances? Am I bringing forward anything of my own? When the persecution was at its boiling pitch, one had, of necessity, some excuse for falling into certain of the things I have enumerated, and the necessity imposed for the sake of the faith saved the one who was caught in it. But now there is no one persecuting and no one hindering us from settling well and from being at least two together; for you condemn yourselves out of your own number -- you who live ill condemned by those who live according to the rule. Or is not your present faithlessness a plain proof of your refusal to live in concord in time of peace? Come to your senses again, I beg you, my holy brothers, partakers of a heavenly calling! Unless you set yourselves right, you are not to be called such, but the opposite -- which God forbid. These things I solemnly testify before God and the elect angels: if anyone does not set himself right after persevering for the appointed time until the term of a certain period, he is barred by God from partaking of the holy things [the sacraments], according to the authority which the Lord has given me among you. This word is for building up and not for tearing down. But you, my brothers, as sons of obedience, do well, so that you may both serve God and may deliver me, the pitiable one, from the death of sin, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be the glory together with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Εὔκαιρον ἡγησάμην τανῦν, εἰσιόντος τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ Λέοντος, ἐπιστεῖλαι κοινῶς πᾶσιν, εὐλογημένοι ἀδελφοὶ καὶ πατέρες, προσυπομνήσκων τὰ ἐχόμενα σωτηρίας, ἐπειδὴ κἀν τῇ ἀπουσίᾳ ταύτῃ καὶ ἐξορίᾳ, ἔμφοβός εἰμι καὶ ἔντρομος μετὰ τοῦ οἰκείου φορτίου τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων καὶ περὶ τῆς ἀνηκούσης μοι εἰς ὑμᾶς φροντίδος καὶ προστασίας· φοβοῦμαι γὰρ καὶ δεδιῶ μήπως ὑμεῖς οἱ ἐν ἄστει διατρίβοντες εὐριπιστότερον εἰς ἔμπτωσίν τινα ἐμπέσοιτε καί, ἅπερ διὰ πολλῶν κόπων τε καὶ ἄθλων τῶν πρὸ διωγμοῦ καὶ ἐν τῷ διωγμῷ συνηθροίσαμεν ἀγαθουργήματα, ἀφυλακτήσαντες πρὸς βραχὺ ἄρδην ἀπολέσωμεν. ἀκούω ἀστασίαν, μεταβασίαν, ἄλλον ἐξ ἄλλου καὶ ἀδελφοῦ καὶ τόπου μεταβαίνοντα καί, τό γε ἐλεεινότερον, μόνον ἄλλον καθεζόμενον καὶ ἕτερον τὸ κελλίον εἰς οἰκίαν, ἔνθα γυναῖκες, ἔχοντα· καὶ ἄλλον πάλιν εἰς μοναστήριον γυναικεῖον διαιτώμενον εἰσαεί, ἕτερον πάλιν ὧδέ τε κἀκεῖ οἰκοτριβοῦντα, ἔνθα κόραι, ἔνθα πῦρ οὐκ ἐμπρῆζον χόρτον, ἀλλ' οἶκον ψυχῆς, ἐνίους πάλιν ἐπιλαθομένους τῆς ἐννόμου ζωῆς, δούλους ὠνησαμένους, αὐτοῖς συζῆν καὶ γοῦν ἑτέρους ἀγροὺς ἀγοράζειν. ὢ τῆς ἀθλίας μου ψυχῆς· πῶς ἐν τούτοις οὐ στενάξω, πῶς δὲ οὐ φοβηθήσομαι μὴ ἀναγγέλλων τὸ δικαίωμα τοῦ θεοῦ; τί δὴ ἐξέστητε, ἀδελφοί, τί δὲ οἱ δοῦλοι Κυρίου δοῦλοι παθῶν γεγόνατε; τί οἱ ἐν νόμῳ ἀνομεῖν ἀνέχεσθε, τί δὲ οἱ θεραπευταὶ Χριστοῦ, υἱοὶ παραπικραίνοντες, οὐ μετέρχεσθε τῆς πονηρᾶς ἀπαγωγῆς, οὐ καθέζεσθε εἰς τόπους ἀσκανδαλίστους, οὐ δύο δύο ἢ καὶ πρὸς σύνεστε ἀποστολικῶς; Οὐαὶ τῷ μόνῳ· οὐαὶ τῷ ἀκαθίστῳ· οὐαὶ τῷ γυναιάζοντι, οὐαὶ τῷ δουλοδούλῳ· οὐαὶ τῷ Γιεζῇ, ὃς ὠνησάμενος ἀγροὺς καὶ ἀμπελῶνας κεκληρονόμηκε τὴν λέπραν Νεεμάν. μὴ οὐχὶ θεῖαι φωναὶ αὗται, μή τι ἐγὼ παρ' ἐμαυτοῦ εἰσφέρω; ὅτε ἔβραζεν ὁ διωγμός, εἶχέ τις λόγον ἐξ ἀνάγκης ἔν τισιν ὧν ἀπηριθμησάμην ἐμπίπτειν καὶ ἡ διὰ τὴν πίστιν ἀνάγκη ἔσῳζε τὸν εὑρισκόμενον. νῦν δὲ οὐδεὶς ὁ διώκων οὐδὲ κωλύσων καλῶς ἡμᾶς καθέζεσθαι καὶ σὺν ἀλλήλοις δυοῖν εἶναι τοὐλάχιστον· ἐξ ὑμῶν γὰρ αὐτῶν κατακρίνεσθε, τῶν ἐννόμως διαζώντων οἱ κακόζωοι. ἢ οὐχὶ προδήλωμα τῆς ἐν εἰρήνῃ ἀσυνδρομίας ὑμῶν ἡ παροῦσα ἀθεσία; ἀνανήψατε, παρακαλῶ, ἀδελφοί μου ἅγιοι, κλήσεως ἐπουρανίου μέτοχοι· ἂν μὴ διορθώσησθε, οὐχ οὕτως κλητέοι, ἀλλ' ἐναντίως, ὅπερ ἀπείη. Ταῦτα διαμαρτύρομαι ἐνώπιον τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ τῶν ἐκλεκτῶν ἀγγέλων· εἴ τις μὴ διορθώσηται μετὰ τὴν ὡρισμένην εἰς χρόνου τινὸς σύμφθασιν ἐπιμονήν, τῶν ἁγιασμάτων ὑπὸ θεοῦ εἰς μετάληψιν εἴργεται κατὰ τὴν ἐξουσίαν, ἣν ἔδωκέν μοι ὁ Κύριος ἐν ὑμῖν. εἰς οἰκοδομὴν καὶ οὐκ εἰς καθαίρεσιν ὁ λόγος. ὑμεῖς δέ, ἀδελφοί μου, ὡς υἱοὶ ὑπακοῆς εὖ πράξατε, ἵνα καὶ θεὸν θεραπεύσητε κἀμὲ τὸν ἐλεεινὸν τοῦ θανάτου τῆς ἁμαρτίας ἐξέλησθε ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ τῷ Κυρίῳ ἡμῶν, ᾧ ἡ δόξα σὺν πατρὶ καὶ Ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι. ἀμήν.