Letter 530: Theodore Studite, Letter 530; Greek heading: Εὐφροσύνῃ ἡγουμένῃ.

I have learned from one well informed that grief has touched Your Honor [the abbess] because one sister wishes to be cut off from your holy community. And the grief is not unreasonable; for how should a soul not feel pain when its own member is being cut away? But nevertheless, since such things happen through the malice of him who lies in wait among the sons of disobedience, we too must bear it with patience, displaying all the diligence that the true word permits, so that we may be guiltless of the blood of such a one—that is, of such a woman, whether the person named be a brother or a sister. You have sought to learn whether it is without blame for Your Honor to release the sister who is contentiously striving to break away. And how is it that you, being wise and prudent, do not recognize of yourself what is fitting? The separation, then, when it comes about willingly, is not free of danger—neither for you yourself, the teacher, nor for the one taught. For on what ground and from what reason does she have any reasonable case? For if indeed the disciple, being perfect and fully equipped to take the lead over other sisters, is already being sought by a sisterhood, such a thing is dispensation [oikonomia: a permitted accommodation of the strict rule for a greater good], as Saint Basil says, and not separation—far from it; and so from being well governed one rises to govern lawfully, and from this there is a good zeal among those of like manner of life to advance toward perfection and to act in the same way in a manner befitting God, since the Lord and our God, pointing out to the chief of the apostles [Peter] the proof of love toward himself, said: "If you love me, feed my lambs"; and again: "Shepherd my sheep." So that the one who has gone forth to shepherd with such a purpose would be blessed, imitating Christ the true and first chief shepherd. There is, then, yet another dispensation observed among our fathers, whenever a soul that is hard to manage, after much and long care, chooses to pass over into another sisterhood, as being about to be of service there, after the manner of trees transplanted from this place to that. If therefore you should do this also, it has some reason—both, clearly, the one giving over and the one receiving, joining together with one another—the apostolic injunction being fulfilled: "Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." But the word of truth does not admit any other kind of separation. First, because the covenant of the Holy Spirit is torn apart—the covenant confessed before God and men at the monastic consummation [the profession of vows]; than which what could be more destructive? And here too the word of the Lord is fitting: "Those whom God has joined together, let no man separate"; for if there, even in a bodily union, separation is forbidden, how much more in a spiritual joining—unless indeed the things of God are being made a plaything? But far from it: faithful is the word of the mystery, both for the remission of things sinned and for the indissoluble bond of the joining. Next, how shall the sisterhood be built up from which she is torn off, if the one released be held blameless by the superior, and shall she not rather be drawn into separation—one being severed now by the like zeal, and presently another, and not long after yet another (and thus the perfect body of Christ will be gone and utterly corrupted), once she has set out from the first starting point? And the heir of the "woe," as Saint Basil cries aloud, is she who works this whole evil; for neither standing nor footing will it have—neither your monastery nor any other that acts in this way. Therefore let him who is disobedient be disobedient, and let him who acts lawlessly act lawlessly, according to what is written. But you, saving, save your own soul, not abandoning the laws of God, but being firmly established in the teachings of the saints—of whom the first in these matters is Basil the Great—even if you should come to live together with but two or three virgins; for "where there are two or three in my name," says the Lord, "there am I in the midst of them"—but surely not with those who transgress the law, even if they be ten thousand.

Μεμάθηκα παρὰ τοῦ εὖ εἰδότος ὅτι σου ἥψατο λύπη τῆς τιμιότητος διὰ τὸ ἐθέλειν μίαν ἀδελφὴν τετμῆσθαί σου τῆς ἁγίας συνοδίας. καὶ οὐκ ἔξω τοῦ εἰκότος ἡ λύπη· πῶς γὰρ ἂν καὶ οὐκ ἀλγήσειεν ψυχὴ ἐκκοπτομένου τοῦ οἰκείου μέλους; ἀλλ' ὅμως, ὅτι συμβαίνει τὰ τοιαῦτα ἐξ ἐπηρείας τοῦ ἐνεδρεύοντος ἐν τοῖς υἱοῖς τῆς ἀπειθείας, καὶ χρὴ ἡμᾶς μακροθύμως φέρειν, πᾶσαν ἐπιδεικνυμένους ἐπιμέλειαν ὅσον ἐπιτρέπει ὁ ἀληθὴς λόγος, ὡς ἂν ἀθῷοι τοῦ αἵματος εἴημεν τοῦ τοιούτου, ἤγουν τῆς τοιᾶσδε, ἀδελφοῦ τε ὀνομασθέντος ἢ ἀδελφῆς. Ἐπεζήτησας δὲ μαθεῖν, εἰ ἀνένοχόν ἐστι τῇ τιμιότητί σου ἀπολῦσαι τὴν φιλονεικοῦσαν ἐκραγῆναί σου ἀδελφήν. καὶ πῶς, σοφὴ οὖσα καὶ συνετή, οὐκ ἀφ' ἑαυτῆς ἐπιγινώσκεις τὸ δέον; οὔτε οὖν σεαυτῇ τῇ διδασκάλῳ οὔτε τῇ μαθητευθείσῃ ἀκίνδυνος ἡ διάστασις, ἐθελουσίως γινομένη. διατί γὰρ καὶ πόθεν τὸ εὔλογον ἔχουσα; εἰ μὲν γὰρ τελεία οὖσα καὶ κατηρτισμένη ἡ μαθήτρια πρὸς τὸ ἄλλων ἀδελφῶν καθηγεῖσθαι, ἤδη ἐπιζητουμένης ὑπ' ἀδελφότητος, οἰκονομία τὸ τοιοῦτον, καθώς φησιν ὁ Ἅγιος Βασίλειος, καὶ οὐ διάστασις, ἄπαγε· καὶ γοῦν ἀπὸ τοῦ ἄρχεσθαι καλῶς ἄνεισί τις ἐπὶ τὸ ἄρχειν ἐννόμως, κἀντεῦθεν ζῆλος ἀγαθὸς ταῖς ὁμοτρόποις ἰέναι ἐπὶ τελειότητα καὶ ταὐτοπραγῆσαι θεοπρεπῶς, ἐπειδὴ ἔνδειξιν τῆς εἰς αὐτὸν ἀγάπης ὁ Κύριος καὶ θεὸς ἡμῶν τῷ κορυφαίῳ τῶν ἀποστόλων ὑποδεικνὺς ἔφη· εἰ ἀγαπᾷς με, βόσκε τὰ ἀρνία μου· καὶ πάλιν· ποίμαινε τὰ πρόβατά μου. ὡς ὅ γε, ὁ τοιαύτῃ προθέσει ἐκβεβηκὼς εἰς τὸ ποιμαίνειν, μακάριος ἂν εἴη, Χριστὸν μιμούμενος τὸν ἀληθινὸν καὶ πρῶτον ἀρχιποίμενα. Ἔστι γοῦν καὶ ἑτέρα οἰκονομία ἐν τοῖς πατράσιν ἡμῶν τεθεωρημένη, ὁπόταν ψυχὴ δυστροπεύουσα μετὰ πολλὴν καὶ μακρὰν ἐπιμέλειαν αἱρῆται μεταπεσεῖν εἰς ἄλλην ἀδελφότητα, ὡς ἐκεῖσε χρησιμεύσειν μέλλουσα κατὰ μίμησιν τῶν μεταφυτευομένων δένδρων ἐκ τοῦδε εἰς τόνδε τὸν τόπον. ἐὰν οὖν καὶ τοῦτο ποιήσειας, ἔχει τινὰ λόγον, ἀμφοτέρων δῆλον ὅτι, τῆς τε ἐπιδιδούσης καὶ τῆς ἐπιδεχομένης, συναιρουμένων ἀλλήλαις, πληρουμένου τοῦ ἀποστολικοῦ παραγγέλματος, ἀλλήλων τὰ βάρη βαστάζετε καὶ οὕτως ἀναπληρώσατε τὸν νόμον τοῦ Χριστοῦ. ἄλλον δὲ χωρισμὸν οὐκ ἐπιδέχεται ὁ λόγος τῆς ἀληθείας, πρῶτον μὲν ὅτι ἡ σύμβασις τοῦ Ἁγίου Πνεύματος διασπᾶται, ἡ καθομολογηθεῖσα ἐνώπιον θεοῦ καὶ ἀνθρώπων ἐπὶ τῇ μοναχικῇ τελειώσει· οὗ τί ἂν εἴη ὀλεθριώτερον; καί γε ἁρμόζει κἀνταῦθα ὁ λόγος τοῦ Κυρίου, οὓς ὁ θεὸς ἔζευξεν, ἄνθρωπος μὴ χωριζέτω· εἰ γὰρ ἐκεῖ, καίτοι ἐπὶ σαρκικῇ ζεύξει, ἀπηγόρευται ὁ χωρισμός, πόσῳ γε μᾶλλον ἐπὶ πνευματικῇ συναφείᾳ, εἰ μή τι ἆρα παίζεται τὰ θεῖα; ἀλλ' ἄπαγε, πιστὸς ὁ λόγος τοῦ μυστηρίου ἐπί τε ἀφέσει τῶν ἡμαρτημένων ἐπί τε δεσμῷ ἀλύτῳ τῆς συναφείας. ἔπειτα, πῶς οἰκοδομηθήσεται ἡ ἀδελφότης ἐξ ἧς ἀπορρήγνυται, εἴπερ ἀνεύθυνος ᾖ ἡ ἀπολελυμένη παρὰ τῆς καθηγουμένης, καὶ οὐχὶ μᾶλλον ὑπαχθήσεται εἰς διάστασιν, τῷ ὁμοίῳ ζήλῳ τεμνομένη νῦν μὲν αὕτη, πρὸς δὲ τὸ ἑξῆς ἑτέρα καὶ μετ' οὐ πολὺ ἄλλη (καὶ οὕτω τὸ ἄρτιον σῶμα τοῦ Χριστοῦ οἰχήσεται καὶ διαφθαρήσεται πάμπαν), ἐκ τῆς πρώτης βαλβῖδος ἀφορμηθεῖσα; καὶ τοῦ οὐαὶ κληρονόμος, ὡς βοᾷ ὁ Ἅγιος Βασίλειος, ἡ τοῦτο ὅλον τὸ κακὸν ἀπεργαζομένη· οὔτε γὰρ στάσιν οὔτε βάσιν ἕξει οὔτε ἡ σὴ μονὴ οὔτε ἑτέρα ἡ οὕτως πράττουσα. Ὥστε ὁ ἀπειθῶν ἀπειθείτω καὶ ὁ ἀνομῶν ἀνομείτω κατὰ τὸ γεγραμμένον. σὺ δὲ σῴζουσα σῷζε τὴν σεαυτῆς ψυχήν, μὴ προϊεμένη τοὺς νόμους τοῦ θεοῦ, ἀλλ' ἐρηρεισμένη ἐν ταῖς διδασκαλίαις τῶν ἁγίων, ὧν πρῶτος ἐν τούτοις ὁ Μέγας Βασίλειος, κἂν μετὰ δυοῖν ἢ τριῶν παρθένων φθάζῃς συζῆν· ὅπου γάρ εἰσι δύο ἢ τρεῖς ἐν τῷ ὀνόματί μου, φησὶν ὁ Κύριος, ἐκεῖ εἰμι ἐν μέσῳ αὐτῶν, οὐ μὴν μετὰ παρανομούντων, κἂν μυρίοι ὦσιν.