Letter 460: Theodore Studite, Letter 460; Greek heading: Εὐφροσύνῃ ἡγουμένῃ.

How fine is the letter of your Honor, displaying both the grief over the falling asleep [death] of your holy mother and holding the reminder of hope. For just as being wholly without grief and tearless at the parting from those who have fallen asleep is to be condemned (since it is a sign of insensibility), so on the other hand to be broken down by grief beyond measure belongs to those who have no hope of the resurrection. Come then, sister in the Lord, having paid the sufficient due of mourning, let us return to ourselves -- not so as to cast out of the heart the image of that holy woman (far be it; rather, let there be in you a remembrance prompting every consolation and good governance), but so as to be led more cheerfully and to accomplish the contest of ascetic discipline that lies before you. Your mother, then, did not leave you at an untimely age, nor unlearned in things divine, nor inexperienced in the things of life, but in every way made sufficient by the grace of Christ, both experienced in life and full of prudence and well-furnished with knowledge and well-fitted for administration and with days made complete for the life of human beings. Hold fast, then, to your own security, taking a helper whether from within the house -- as indeed there is -- or from without; for it is not impossible to find a woman for the reference of matters that sometimes befall and are hard to discern, whose solution one mind is not able to give. Hold fast likewise also to the governance of the sisters under your hand, leading them in the Lord with all long-suffering, with sympathy, with the requiring of what is owed, neither pressing them down harshly, but as a nurse cherishes her own children, yearning over them so as to give up your very soul on their behalf; nor, on the other hand, letting go entirely the reins of the bridle -- for this is a cause of dissolution, of disorder, and of want of love for one's children. You know how you used to act while your mother was with you; you know that the eyes of all of them look to you as to God, beholding your face as mediating to them the things that pertain to Him. And if this is so, it is clear that for them too nothing else is owed than to breathe what you, their teacher, both love and command and proclaim; and simply, as genuine children toward a mother, as members in part toward a head, as flowers toward the rose-garden. For it was for this that they came together to the same place, having left behind the world and the things in the world, parents and brothers, kinsfolk and friends, possessions and the ties of the flesh, having loved the unmarried state and been wedded to Christ, so that, having lived in holiness and in a manner befitting virgins, they might inherit the kingdom of heaven and entrance with Christ into that heavenly and unspeakable bridal-chamber. Such is the struggle and the profession both for them and for you, my lady; to this let us attend, in this let us also move and pass our lives, not looking here and there [saying] that that monastery is thus, and the other monastery is thus. This is harmful: we must measure ourselves by the commandment, and not by our neighbors. For from this source one does not come to walk uprightly or to proceed in a manner befitting God, since the present generation is also negligent, having fallen short of the exact [strict] life, and to be regulated by it is stale and unprofitable. Let us look there, where the holy life is, where there shone forth what is well-pleasing to the Lord. Do you see, sister and spiritual mother, how the love that is according to God has compelled me to speak frankly among you? I would have done nothing more if it were to my own mother and to my sisters according to the flesh that I had to discourse -- except that we are all the body of Christ and call upon one Father, our good God. So that we are all brothers of one another, members of one body, partakers together, and fellow-heirs; and hence comes our loving and your being saved, just as the Lord loves and has commanded. Peace to you, the lady mother; peace to the sisters in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

Ὡς καλὰ τὰ γράμματα τῆς τιμιότητός σου, καὶ τὸ λυπηρὸν ἐπιδεικνύμενα τῆς ἐπὶ τῇ ὁσίᾳ μητρὶ κοιμήσεως καὶ τὸ ὑπομνηστικὸν τῆς ἐλπίδος ἔχοντα· ὡς γὰρ τὸ πάντῃ ἄλυπον καὶ ἄδακρυ ἐπὶ τῇ τῶν κεκοιμημένων διαζεύξει κατηγορεῖται (ἀναισθησίας γὰρ τεκμήριον), οὕτω τὸ πέραν τοῦ μέτρου πάλιν κατακλᾶσθαι τῇ λύπῃ τῶν μὴ ἐχόντων ἐστὶν ἐλπίδα ἀναστάσεως. δεῦρο λοιπόν, ἀδελφὴ ἐν Κυρίῳ, τὸ ἱκανὸν τοῦ πένθους ἀφοσιωσάμενοι εἰς ἑαυτοὺς γενώμεθα, οὐχ ὅτι ἐκβαλεῖν τῆς καρδίας τὸ ἴνδαλμα τῆς ἁγίας ἐκείνης (μή τι γένοιτο· εἴη γὰρ ἐν ὑμῖν ὑπόμνημα πάσης παρακλήσεως καὶ διακυβερνήσεως), ἀλλὰ τὸ ἄγεσθαι εὐθυμότερον καὶ διανύειν τὸν προκείμενον ἀγῶνα τῆς ἀσκήσεως. οὐκ εἴασεν οὖν σε ἐν ἀώρῳ ἡλικίᾳ ἡ μήτηρ οὐδ' ἀμαθῆ τῶν θείων οὐδ' ἄπειρον τῶν ἐν βίῳ, πάντοθεν χάριτι Χριστοῦ ἱκανουμένην καὶ βίου ἔμπειρον καὶ φρονήσεως ἔμπλεων καὶ γνώσεως εὔπορον καὶ διοικήσεως εὔθετον καὶ ἡμερῶν ἀπηρτισμένων τῇ ζωῇ τῶν ἀνθρώπων. Ἔχου δὴ τῆς οἰκείας ἀσφαλείας, λαμβάνουσα βοηθὸν εἴτε οἴκοθεν, ἄνπερ καὶ ἔστιν, εἴτε ἔξωθεν· οὐκ ἄπορον γὰρ εὑρεῖν γυναῖκα ἐπ' ἀναθέσει τῶν συμπιπτόντων ἔστιν ὅτε δυστεκμάρτων πραγμάτων, ὧν τὴν λύσιν εἷς νοῦς οὐχ οἷός τέ ἐστι δοῦναι. ἔχου δὴ ὁμοίως καὶ τῆς κυβερνήσεως τῶν ὑπὸ χεῖρα ἀδελφῶν, καθηγουμένη ἐν Κυρίῳ μετὰ πάσης μακροθυμίας, μετὰ συμπαθείας, μετὰ ἐκζητήσεως τῶν ὀφειλομένων, μήτε καταπιέζουσα σφοδρῶς, ἀλλ' ὡς ἂν τροφὸς θάλπῃ τὰ ἑαυτῆς τέκνα τὰ κατ' αὐτὰς ὀμειρομένη, ὡς καὶ αὐτὴν τὴν ψυχὴν προέσθαι ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν, μηδ' αὖ ἀνεῖσα ὁλικῶς τὰς ἡνίας τοῦ χαλινοῦ· αἴτιον γὰρ τοῦτο διαλύσεως, ἀταξίας τε καὶ ἀφιλοτεκνίας. οἶδας ὅπως συνούσης τῆς μητρὸς ἐποίεις· οἶδας ὅτι οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ πασῶν αὐτῶν εἰς σὲ ἀποβλέπουσιν ὡς εἰς θεόν, ὁρῶσαι τὸ πρόσωπόν σου μεσιτεῦον αὐταῖς τὰ πρὸς αὐτόν. εἰ δὲ αὐτὴ οὕτως, δῆλον ὅτι κἀκείναις ὀφειλόμενόν ἐστιν ἄλλο μηδὲν ἀναπνεῖν ἢ ὅπερ σὺ ἡ διδάσκαλος καὶ ἐρᾷς καὶ ἐντέλλῃ καὶ διαγορεύεις, καὶ ἁπλῶς ὡς τέκνα γνήσια πρὸς μητέρα, ὡς μέλη ἐκ μέρους πρὸς κεφαλήν, ὡς ἄνθη πρὸς ῥοδωνίαν· ἐπὶ τούτῳ γὰρ καὶ ἐληλύθεισαν ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτό, καταλιποῦσαι κόσμον καὶ τὰ ἐν κόσμῳ, γονεῖς τε καὶ ἀδελφούς, οἰκείους καὶ φίλους, ὑπάρξεις τε καὶ σχέσεις σαρκός, ἀζυγίαν ἀγαπήσασαι καὶ Χριστῷ νυμφευσάμεναι, ἵνα ὁσίως καὶ παρθενοπρεπῶς ζήσασαι κληρομήσωσι βασιλείαν οὐρανῶν καὶ τὸ μετὰ Χριστοῦ εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τὸν οὐράνιον ἐκεῖνον καὶ ἀνεκλάλητον νυμφῶνα. Τοιοῦτον καὶ αὐταῖς καὶ σοί, κυρία, τὸ ἀγώνισμα καὶ ἐπάγγελμα, τούτῳ καὶ προσέχωμεν, ἐν τούτῳ καὶ κινούμεθα καὶ διαζῶμεν, μὴ ἀποβλέπουσαι ὧδέ τε κἀκεῖ, ὅτι οὕτως ἐκεῖνο τὸ μοναστήριον καὶ οὕτως τὸ ἄλλο μοναστήριον. βλαβερὸν τοῦτο· τῇ ἐντολῇ δεῖν παραμετρεῖν ἑαυτούς, ἀλλὰ μὴ τοῖς πέλας. ἐντεῦθεν γὰρ οὐκ ἔρχεταί τις εἰς τὸ ὀρθοποδεῖν οὐδὲ θεοπρεπῶς πορεύεσθαι, ἐπειδὴ ἡ παροῦσα γενεὰ καὶ ὀλίγωρός ἐστιν, ἐκλελοιπυῖα τοῦ ἠκριβωμένου βίου, καὶ τὸ ἀπ' αὐτῆς κανονίζεσθαι ἕωλον καὶ ἀλυσιτελές· ἐκεῖ σκοπῶμεν, οὗ ὁ ἱερὸς βίος, ἔνθα ἔλαμψεν ἡ εὐαρέστησις Κυρίῳ. Ὁρᾷς, ἀδελφὴ καὶ μήτηρ πνευματική, ὅπως με ἠνάγκασεν ἡ κατὰ θεὸν ἀγάπη παρρησιασθῆναι ἐν ὑμῖν; οὐδὲν πλέον ἔμελλον ἂν ποιεῖν, εἰ πρὸς μητέρα τὴν ἐμὴν καὶ πρὸς ἀδελφὰς κατὰ σάρκα ἦν μοι διαλέγεσθαι· πλὴν ὅτι πάντες σῶμά ἐσμεν Χριστοῦ καὶ ἕνα πατέρα ἐπικαλούμεθα, τὸν ἀγαθὸν θεὸν ἡμῶν. ὥστε ἀδελφοὶ πάντες ἀλλήλων καὶ σύσσωμοι καὶ συμμέτοχοι καὶ συγκληρονόμοι, κἀντεῦθεν τὸ φιλεῖν ἡμᾶς καὶ σῴζεσθαι ὑμᾶς, καθάπερ ἀγαπᾷ Κύριος καὶ ἐντέταλται. εἰρήνη σοι τῇ κυρίᾳ μητρί, εἰρήνη ταῖς ἀδελφαῖς ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ τῷ Κυρίῳ ἡμῶν. ἀμήν.