Letter 522: Theodore Studite, Letter 522; Greek heading: Τῇ σπαθαρέᾳ τοῦ Φλαβιανοῦ.

The unwished-for news of the suffering [death] concerning your ever-remembered son has reached even our lowliness; and in it, just as those who are utterly thunderstruck in their hearing cower down completely, so the report has made us be at an utter loss and unable even to utter anything worthy of the grief. Oh, what has suddenly happened? How has so wondrous a man departed, while in the very prime of life that is worth living? How tall and stately he was; how fair in appearance; how noble in his blood; how illustrious in his renown; how he alone was left behind as a consolation to a fortunate mother, a support to his ancestral house, an ornament to his lineage; and I would add, even to the imperial courts a rare sight to behold. This man, while administering the emperor's affairs in a foreign land, flew away [died], leaving behind his renowned mother, and forsaking together with her also his far-famed wife along with their well-born newborn children and a brilliant hearth, the much-talked-of blood, the substantial estate, the able servants, the master-loving attendants, these things and those, all of them together, so that the account may not break each one into small pieces; and then, returning home from the foreign land, a piteous freight, a grievous arrival both for the imperial city and for the admirable household. Oh, the surpassing calamity! Even the very walls of the city would groan, not to speak of magistrates and his peers; and the very emperors themselves would groan, having lost a most marvelous young shoot; perhaps even the whole crowd of the city would weep, and fittingly the entire kindred would be plunged into gloom. And if these things are so, who could tell as a tragedy the suffering that is upon you, O Lady? Who that of his wife? Who that of his sister? Who that of the household servants? Not even the streams of the rivers, were they turned into tears, would suffice to serve you in your lamentation. And what of the air? Has it not been altered in your eyes? And the sun too, has it not failed to rise for you, since you have lost the sun of your hearth? So much, and as many things as rival these, does the suffering prompt one to lament. But since our discourse is addressed to a woman long instructed in things divine, and one who sets forth her own life as wholly a foundation of virtue—as nearly every hearing and sight bears witness—there is no need of much reminding, since you have at home the remedies of consolation. Many sacred books have you taken in hand; through many patristic readings have you gone; both by night and by day giving yourself leisure to prayers, persevering in supplications, in the all-night—or rather the nightly and daily—psalmody and hymnody; from which come also your self-control and the chastening of the body, your generosity toward the needy, your ministering care for priests and monks, and that which is therefore hymned and sung in many other modes of piety. From home, then, and from yourself you are sufficiently able to chant over your own soul what is fitting; and not only that, but also over your daughter-in-law and your daughter and the whole Abrahamic household [i.e. a household of faith like Abraham's], as a common teacher, as a pattern of virtue, as one who has long ago treasured up the divine oracles and is able to distribute to each in due season the measure of grain [cf. Luke 12:42]. Remember, O noble and admirable among women, that what has come to pass is nothing strange, nor among things contrary to expectation. Consider those from Adam down to this present day, and advance into the deep judgments of God, and see that man is like grass; his days pass by like shadows [cf. Ps. 102:11; 144:4]. Since, then, the forefather became mortal through sin, mortal too is his offspring, going on in unbroken succession down to the present. Yet nevertheless, since Christ came, death is no longer death, but the beginning of an immortal regeneration. A pious and orthodox child, a lover of monks and a lover of the good, you have both begotten and sent on ahead. Let this be a sufficient consolation for you and a ground for thanksgiving. Yes, we entreat you, we entreat you—you who are comforted by God and altogether prudent—become here too, as in all other things, a pattern of greatness of soul, a fair burial-gift even for your all-beautiful son, as one who, even in spirit, longing for the things that befall him, will bring an offering to God; for perhaps it was for this that God reserved you as the last of those who went before, in order that, having arranged all things in a manner worthy of God, you may at your prayer depart together with them from this world and inherit along with them life eternal. In these things our brother also, the most God-beloved archbishop, joins his voice, my most honored Lady.

Ἔφθασεν ἡ ἀπευκτὴ ἀγγελία τοῦ περὶ τοῦ ἀειμνήστου υἱοῦ σου πάθους μέχρι καὶ τῆς ἡμῶν ταπεινώσεως· ἐν ᾗ, ὥσπερ οἱ τὰς ἀκοὰς βροντηδὸν καταπλαγέντες πεπτήχασιν ὅλως, οὕτως ἡμῖν ὁ λόγος ἐξαπορεῖσθαι πεποίηκεν καὶ μηδὲ ἔχειν τι φθέγξασθαι ἄξιον τῆς ὀδύνης. ὤ, τί γέγονεν ἐξάπινα; πῶς ᾤχετο ἀνὴρ θαυμαστός, αὐτὸ τῆς ἡλικίας ἄγων τὸ βιώσιμον; ὡς μεγαλοῆλιξ· ὡς ὡραῖος τὴν ὄψιν· ὡς εὐγενὴς τὸ αἷμα· ὡς εὐκλεὴς τὸ κῦδος· ὡς μόνος ἐγκαταλελειμμένος παραμύθιον μητρὶ αἰσίᾳ, οἰκίᾳ πατρῴᾳ ἔρεισμα, γένει ἐγκαλλώπισμα, προσθείην δ' ἂν καὶ βασιλείοις αὐλαῖς ξένον ὅραμα. οὗτος, ἐν ἀλ λοδαπῇ τὰ βασιλέως διοικούμενος, ἀπέπτη, καταλιπὼν μὲν τὴν περιβόητον μητέρα, συναπολιπὼν δὲ καὶ τὴν περίδοξον ὁμόζυγα σὺν εὐγενέσι νεογόνοις καὶ λαμπρὰν ἑστίαν, τὸ πολυθρύλλητον αἷμα, τὸ πολυούσιον κτῆμα, τοὺς δεξιοὺς ὑπηρέτας, τοὺς φιλοδεσπότους παραστάτας, ταῦτα κἀκεῖνα, ὁμοῦ τὰ πάντα, ὡς ἂν μὴ κατακερματίζοιεν ἓν ἕκαστον ὁ λόγος, εἶτα, ἐπανελθὼν ἐκ τῆς ξένης οἴκαδε, φόρτος ἐλεεινός, σκυθρωπὸν ἀπάντημα καὶ βασιλίδι πόλει καὶ ἀξιαγάστῳ ἑστίᾳ. ὢ τῆς ὑπερβαλλούσης συμφορᾶς· στενάξειεν δ' ἂν καὶ αὐτὰ τὰ τείχη τῆς πόλεως, μὴ ὅτι ἄρχοντες καὶ ὁμήλικες, στενάξειαν δ' ἂν καὶ αὐτοὶ οἱ αὐτοκράτορες, ἀποβεβληκότες ἔρνος πολυθαύμαστον, δακρύσειεν τάχα καὶ ὁ ἐπιπόλιος ὅμιλος, ἐπιστυγνάσει δὲ εἰκότως καὶ πᾶν τὸ γένος. εἰ δὲ ταῦτα οὕτως, τίς τὸ ἐπὶ σοὶ πάθος ἐκτραγωδήσειεν, ὦ δέσποινα; τίς δὲ τὸ τῆς ὁμοζύγου; τίς δὲ τὸ τῆς ἀδελφῆς; τίς δὲ τὸ τῶν οἰκετῶν; οὐδ' ἂν τῶν ποταμῶν τὰ ῥεύματα εἰς δάκρυον μεταποιούμενα ἐξαρκέσειεν ὑμῖν ὑπηρετεῖσθαι τῷ θρήνῳ. τί δὲ ὁ ἀήρ; οὐκ ἠλλοίωται τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς ὑμῶν ἆρα καὶ ὁ ἥλιος οὐκ ἀνατεταλκώς, τὸν τῆς ἑστίας ἥλιον ἀπολελωκώς; Τοσαῦτα καὶ ὅσα τούτοις ἐφάμιλλα ὑποβάλλει τὸ πάθος ἀποδύρασθαι. ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ πρὸς γυναῖκα ἡμῖν ὁ λόγος, πάλαι τὰ θεῖα πεπαιδευμένην καὶ ὅλην ὑπόθεσιν ἀρετῆς τὸν ἑαυτῆς βίον ὑποδεικνύουσαν, ὡς μαρτυρεῖ σχεδὸν πᾶσα ἀκοὴ καὶ ὄψις, οὐ πολλῆς χρεία ὑπομνήσεως, οἴκοθεν ἔχουσαν τὰ φάρμακα τῆς παραμυθίας. πολλὰς ἱερὰς βίβλους ἐπὶ χεῖρας εἴληφας, πολλὰ πατρικὰ ἀναγνώσματα διεξελήλυθας, νύκτωρ τε καὶ μεθ' ἡμέραν σχολάζουσα ταῖς προσευχαῖς, ταῖς δεήσεσιν ἐπιμένουσα ταῖς παννύχοις εἴτουν νυκτεριναῖς καὶ ἡμεριναῖς ψαλμῳδίαις τε καὶ ὑμνῳδίαις· ἀφ' ὧν καὶ τὸ ἐγκρατὲς καὶ τὸ ὑπωπιαστικὸν τοῦ σώματος, τὸ πρὸς τοὺς ἐνδεεῖς ἐπιδοτικόν, ἱερεῖς τε καὶ μοναστὰς θεραπευτικόν, τὸ ἐπὶ πολλοῖς οὖν ἄλλοις εὐσεβείας τρόποις ὑμνούμενόν τε καὶ ᾀδόμενον. οἴκοθεν τοιγαροῦν καὶ παρ' ἑαυτῆς ἱκανῶς ἔχεις ἐπᾴσαι τῇ ψυχῇ τὰ εἰκότα, οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ τῇ νύμφῃ καὶ θυγατρὶ καὶ πάσῃ τῇ Ἀβραμιαίᾳ ἑστίᾳ ὡς κοινὸς διδάσκαλος, ὡς ἀρετῆς ὑπόδειγμα, ὡς ἔκπαλαι τὰ θεῖα λόγια θησαυρίσασα καὶ ἐν καιρῷ τὸ σιτομέτριον ἑκάστῳ διανέμειν ἔχουσα. ἀναμνήσθητι, ὦ γενναία καὶ θαυμαστὴ ἐν γυναιξίν, ὡς οὐδὲν ξένον καὶ τῶν παρ' ἐλπίδα τὸ συμβεβηκός. ἀναθεώρησον τοὺς ἀπὸ Ἀδὰμ μέχρι τῆς σήμερον καὶ χώρησον εἰς τὰ τοῦ θεοῦ βαθέα κρίματα καὶ ἴδε ὅτι ἄνθρωπος ὡσεὶ χόρτος· αἱ ἡμέραι αὐτοῦ ὡσεὶ σκιαὶ παράγουσιν. ἐπεὶ οὖν ὁ προπάτωρ θνητὸς δι' ἁμαρτίαν, θνητὸς καὶ ὁ γόνος, ἀλληλούχως ἰὼν μέχρι τοῦ δεῦρο. ἀλλ' ὅμως ὅτι ἀφ' οὗ Χριστὸς οὐκέτι θάνατος ὁ θάνατος, ἀλλὰ ἀρχὴ παλιγγενεσίας ἀθανάτου. εὐσεβῆ παῖδα καὶ ὀρθόδοξον, φιλομόναχόν τε καὶ φιλάγαθον καὶ γεγέννηκας καὶ προύπεμψας. ἔστω σοι παραμυθία αὔταρκες καὶ εὐχαριστίας ὑπόθεσις. Ναί, παρακαλοῦμεν, παρακαλοῦμέν σε, τὴν θεοπαράκλητον καὶ πανσύνετον, γενοῦ ὡς ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς ἄλλοις κἀνταῦθα μεγαλοψυχίας ὑπόδειγμα, καλὸν ἐντάφιον καὶ τῷ παγκάλῳ υἱῷ, ὡς καὶ ψυχικῶς ὀμειρομένη τὰ αὐτῷ ἐπιβάλλοντα, ἀπόμοιραν θεῷ εἰσοίσουσα· τάχα γὰρ διὰ τοῦτο θεός σε ἐταμιεύσατο τῶν προλαβόντων ὑστάτην, ἵνα, πάντα θεοπρεπῶς διαθεμένη, εὐκταίως συναπάρῃς τῶν ἐνθένδε καὶ κληρονομήσῃς σὺν αὐτοῖς ζωὴν αἰώνιον. ταῦτα καὶ ὁ ἀδελφὸς ἡμῶν, ὁ θεοφιλέστατος ἀρχιεπίσκοπος, συμφθεγγόμενός ἐστιν, πολυτιμιωτάτη μοι κυρία.