Letter 559: Theodore Studite, attributed letter 559; Greek heading/source marker: Πρός τινας ἁγίους ἐν ἐξορίᾳ ὄντασ.

By however much, my most divine master, the waves of temptations [trials] that rise up against us become greater and break upon us one after another and rush in with terror, by so much the more do they render us, against the savage assaults and contrary blasts of the winds [spirits], more tested and wiser and possessed of greater experience. By however much the afflictions abound, by so much also does the ever-flowing grace of the Spirit gush forth upon us in abundance. By however much the sufferings of Christ the Savior overflow in you, by so much also is the comfort, to speak in the words of the Apostle, more richly added, being supplied by him. By however much this outward, sensible man is being corrupted in you by relentless ill-treatment, by so much does the inner one have the power, it says, to be renewed day by day, even as the same Apostle again teaches. By however much this statue of clay grows weak, by so much is the soul strengthened with sinews and made vigorous against its adversaries by the assistance and cooperation of the Spirit. By however much your contests on behalf of the good are stretched out beyond measure, by so much the more are crowns also woven for you by the crown-bestowing right hand of the Most High. By however much your labors and wrestlings increase, by so much also do the prizes and the unfading rewards multiply. In so far as you are persecuted and hemmed in by present goods [goods of the present life], by so much then are you lifted up in upward straining toward God, the truly Good, and, drawing near to the goods that are to come, are filled with full assurance and enlarged. In so far as you trample upon false-named and trodden-down glory and reckon it as nothing, by so much do you draw to yourselves the true and heavenly glory. In so far as poverty for God's sake and the lack of necessities wear you down and humble you, by so much also will the treasures in the heavens and the great and unconceived storehouses of the things promised glorify you and make you rich and satisfy you, and will furnish you with rest and delight and enjoyment beyond what one can tell. Therefore you must be of good cheer, rejoice, be glad, dance, leap, exult, pour yourselves out in every way, O godlike master, because the present circumstances are an occasion of joy and exultation and gladness and heart-delighting cheerfulness; for they procure the heavenly kingdom, the life without grief and without end, and the becoming gods [by grace and participation], which is, that I may say so, the greater and the chief of God's gifts, according to grace and participation. For if we suffer together, says Paul who speaks in Christ, we shall also be glorified together; if we endure, we shall also reign together. And what does John the great, who thundered forth the ineffable and heavenly mysteries, say? Now, beloved, we are children of God, and it has not yet been made manifest what we shall be. But we know that if it be made manifest, we shall be like him, for we shall see him just as he is. We suffer few things now, but we shall inherit great and inexpressible glory in the time to come. For indeed the sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed in us, as we have heard. But also, it says, the momentary lightness of our affliction works for us, beyond all measure unto measure, an eternal weight of glory, while we look not at the things that are seen, but at the things that are not seen; for the former are temporary, but the latter are eternal and unshaken. Near are the crowns and the rewards, near is the glory, near is the awaited repose of the good things that have no end. Do not grow weary, nor lie down even a little while and fall asleep; for the zeal of our adversary foes, until they prevail, encircles us round about with sleepless watching. Wait yet a little; for in a very, very little while the One who is coming will come and will not delay. He will come, and may he most cheerfully count you worthy of the just wages of your frequent sweats; he will come, and may he most graciously bestow upon you the inheritance of the undefiled good things, which eye has not seen and which has not entered into the heart of man, which also he has prepared for those who have loved him with their whole soul. Endure (for you are servants of Christ) the present hardships. Yes, I implore you, wait, and the presidencies of the patriarchs, the choir of the prophets, the thrones of the apostles, the ranks of the hierarchs, the army of the martyrs, the peoples of the holy ones, the flocks of the ascetics, and all the rest of the catalogue of the righteous from the beginning of the world will without doubt receive you into their own indissoluble tabernacles as having suffered the same things as those, as having striven the same contests, as having sweated youthfully in the same wrestlings, because we have learned that being saved belongs to the one who perseveres in the struggles to the end. With no small despondency was I filled, most honored head, by your separation and distance from one another, since from this you cast into your soul the crafty and many-deviced wile of Satan; for such a thing, and such ambushes, are the manner of that cunning one.

Ὅσον ἡμῖν, δέσποτά μου θειότατε, μείζω καὶ ἀλλεπάλληλα τὰ τῶν πειρασμῶν ἀνορθούμενα κύματα φοβερὸν ἐπεισφρήσουσι, τοσοῦτον πρὸς τὰς ἀγρίας ἐμβολὰς τῶν πνευμάτων καὶ ἀντιπνοίας δοκιμωτέρους καὶ σοφωτέρους καὶ πλείονα πεῖραν ἔχειν κατασκευάζουσι· ὅσον αἱ θλίψεις πλεονάζουσι, τοσοῦτον ἡμῖν καὶ ἡ ἀένναος χάρις ἄφθονος ἐπιβλύζει τοῦ πνεύματος. Ὅσῳ τὰ παθήματα περισσεύει ἐν ὑμῖν τοῦ σωτῆρος Χριστοῦ, τοσούτῳ καὶ ἡ παράκλησις, κατὰ τὸν ἀπόστολον φάναι, πλεῖον παρ' ἐκείνου χορηγουμένη προστίθεται. Ὅσον ὁ κατ' αἴσθησιν ἄνθρωπος οὗτος ταῖς ἀνενδότοις κακώσεσιν ὑμῖν διαφθείρεται, τοσοῦτον ὁ ἔνδον ἡμέρᾳ καὶ ἡμέρᾳ ἀνακαινίζεσθαι, φησίν, δύναμιν ἔχει, καθὼς ὁ αὐτὸς ἀπόστολος καὶ πάλιν διδάσκει. Ὅσον ὁ πήλινος οὗτος ἀσθενεῖ ἀνδριάς, τοσοῦτον ἡ ψυχὴ κατὰ τῶν ἀντιμαχομένων νευροῦται καὶ ῥώννυται τῇ συνάρσει καὶ συνεργείᾳ τοῦ πνεύματος. Ὅσον ὑμῖν οἱ ὑπὲρ τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ ἀγῶνες ὑπερεκτείνονται, τοσούτου πλείους παρὰ τῆς στεφοδότιδος τοῦ κρείττονος δεξιᾶς καὶ οἱ στέφανοι πλέκονται. ὅσον ὑμῖν οἱ ἆθλοι καὶ τὰ παλαίσματα ἐπαυξάνονται, τοσοῦτον καὶ τὰ ἔπαθλα καὶ τὰ ἀμάραντα βραβεῖα πληθύνονται. καθ' ὅσον ἐκ τῶν παρόντων ἀγαθῶν διώκεσθε καὶ στενοχωρεῖσθε, κατὰ τοσοῦτον ἄρα πρὸς θεόν, τὸ κυρίως καλόν, ἀνατατικῶς ἀνυψοῦσθε καὶ τοῖς μέλλουσιν ἀγαθοῖς πλησιάζοντες ἐμπληροφορεῖσθε καὶ ἐμπλατύνεσθε. Καθ' ὅσον τὴν ψευδώνυμον καὶ πατουμένην δόξαν καταπατεῖτε καὶ παρ' οὐδὲν ταύτην λογίζεσθε, κατὰ τοσοῦτον πρὸς ἑαυτοὺς τὴν ἀληθινὴν ἐφέλκεσθε καὶ οὐράνιον. Καθ' ὅσον ἡ διὰ τὸν θεὸν πτωχεία καὶ ἡ ἔνδεια τῶν χρησίμων ὑμᾶς κατατρύχουσι καὶ ταπεινοῦσιν, κατὰ τοσοῦτον καὶ οἱ ἐν οὐρανοῖς θησαυροὶ καὶ τὰ μεγάλα καὶ ἀνεννόητα τῶν ἐπηγγελμένων ταμεῖα δοξάσουσι καὶ πλουτίσουσι καὶ κορέσουσι ἄνεσιν καὶ τρυφήν, καὶ ἀπόλαυσιν οὐδ' ὅσην εἰπεῖν ἐμπαρέξουσι. Τοιγαροῦν εὐθυμεῖν ὑμᾶς χρή, γάννυσθαι, χαίρειν, χορεύειν, σκιρτᾶν, ἀγάλλεσθαι, παντοδαπῶς διαχέεσθαι, θεσπέσιε δέσποτα, ὅτι καὶ χαρᾶς καὶ ἀγαλλιάσεως καὶ εὐφροσύνης καὶ θυμηδίας τερψιθύμου τὰ παρόντα τυγχάνουσι διαχύσεως· προξενεῖ γὰρ τὴν οὐράνιον βασιλείαν, τὴν ἄλυπον ζωὴν καὶ ἀπέραντον καὶ τὸ θεοὺς γενέσθαι, τὸ μεῖζον καὶ τὸ κεφάλαιον ἵν' εἴποιμι τῶν τοῦ θεοῦ δωρεῶν, κατὰ χάριν καὶ μέθεξιν. εἰ γὰρ συμπάσχομεν, ὁ ἐν Χριστῷ λαλῶν Παῦλός φησιν, καὶ συνδοξασθῶμεν, εἰ ὑπομένομεν, καὶ συμβασιλεύσομεν. τί δὲ ὁ τὰ ἀπόρρητα καὶ οὐράνια μυστήρια βροντήσας Ἰωάννης ὁ πάνυ φησί; νῦν, ἀγαπητοί, τέκνα ἐσμὲν τοῦ θεοῦ, καὶ οὔπω ἐφανερώθη τί ἐσόμεθα. οἴδαμεν δὲ ὅτι ἐὰν φανερωθῇ, ὅμοιοι αὐτῷ ἐσόμεθα, ὅτι ὀψόμεθα αὐτὸν καθώς ἐστιν. ὀλίγα πάσχομεν νῦν, μεγάλης δὲ δόξης καὶ ἀνεκφράστου κατά γε τὸ μέλλον κληρονομήσομεν. καὶ γὰρ οὐδὲ ἄξια τὰ παθήματα τοῦ νῦν καιροῦ πρὸς τὴν μέλλουσαν ἀποκαλυφθῆναι εἰς ἡμᾶς δόξαν, ὡς ἠκούσαμεν. ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸ παραυτίκα, φησί, τῆς θλίψεως ἐλαφρὸν καθ' ὑπερβολὴν εἰς ὑπερβολὴν αἰώνιον δόξης βάρος ἡμῖν κατεργάζεται, μὴ σκοπούντων ἡμῶν τὰ βλεπόμενα, ἀλλὰ τὰ μὴ βλεπόμενα· ἐκεῖνα μὲν γὰρ πρόσκαιρα, ταῦτα δέ γε αἰώνια καὶ ἀσάλευτα. ἐγγὺς οἱ στέφανοι καὶ τὰ γέρα, ἐγγὺς ἡ δόξα, ἐγγὺς ἡ προσδοκωμένη ἀνάπαυλα τῶν οὐ πεπερασμένων καλῶν. μὴ ἀποκάμητε μηδὲ βραχὺ γοῦν ἀναπεσόντες ὑπνώσητε· ἡ γὰρ τῶν ἀντιπάλων ἡμῶν ἐχθρῶν σπουδή, ἕως ἂν περιγένωνται, κυκλόθεν ἡμᾶς ἀγρύπνως περιστοιχίζουσι. μείνατε καὶ ἔτι μικρόν· ὅσον γὰρ ὅσον καὶ ὁ ἐρχόμενος ἥξει καὶ οὐ χρονιεῖ. ἥξει, καὶ τῶν δικαίων μισθῶν τῶν συχνῶν ἱδρώτων ὑμῶν λίαν ἱλαρῶς ὑμᾶς ἀξιώσειεν· ἥξει, καὶ τῶν ἀκηράτων ἀγαθῶν τὴν κληρονομίαν, ἃ ὀφθαλμὸς οὐκ εἶδε καὶ ἐπὶ καρδίαν ἀνθρώπου οὐκ ἀνέβη, ἃ καὶ ἡτοίμασεν τοῖς ὁλοψύχως αὐτὸν ἀγαπήσασιν, εὐμενέστατα ὑμῖν χορηγήσειεν. ὑπομείνατε (θεράποντες γὰρ τοῦ Χριστοῦ) τὰ παρόντα δεινά. ναί, ἀντιβολῶ, μείνατε, καὶ πατριαρχῶν προεδρεῖαι, χορὸς προφητῶν, ἀποστόλων θρόνοι, ἱεραρχῶν τάξεις, στρατὸς μαρτύρων, ὁσίων δῆμοι, ἀσκητῶν ἀγέλαι καὶ πᾶς ὁ λοιπὸς τῶν ἀπ' αἰῶνος δικαίων κατάλογος εἰς τὰς ἑαυτῶν ἀκαταλύτους σκηνὰς ὑμᾶς ἀναμφιβόλως ἐκδέξονται ὡς τὰ αὐτὰ ἐκείνοις παθόντας, ὡς τοὺς αὐτοὺς διαγωνισαμένους ἀγῶνας, ὡς τοῖς αὐτοῖς παλαίσμασι νεανικῶς ἐνιδρώσαντας, διότι καὶ τοῦ μέχρι τέλους τοῖς ἄθλοις ἐγκαρτεροῦντος ἐμάθομεν εἶναι τὸ σῴζεσθαι. Οὐ μικρᾶς ἡμᾶς ἀθυμίας ἐνέπλησε, τιμιωτάτη μοι κορυφή, ἡ ὑμῶν ἀπ' ἀλλήλων διάζευξις καὶ διάστασις, βάλλοντας εἰς ψυχὴν ἐκ τούτου τὸ δολερὸν καὶ πολυμήχανον τοῦ σατάν· ἐκείνου γὰρ τοῦ πανούργου τρόπος τὸ τοιοῦτον καὶ ἔνεδρα.