Letter 56: Theodore Studite, Letter 56; Greek heading: Ἀντωνίῳ ἡγουμένῳ τοῦ Ἁγίου Πέτρου καὶ τοῖς σὺν αὐτῷ.

Having received the letters written to us out of the great anguish and affliction of your heart by your fatherly holiness, how greatly did we groan in return-what need is there even to say it?-being moved with brotherly compassion, even if we happen to be unworthy, and out of fellow-feeling both surmising and sharing in your suffering. For it is not possible for the pain to be known to others than to those who, in like suffering, are caught up in the same griefs. But our sins have so multiplied lawlessness in the present generation, love having grown cold according to the word of the Lord, that those who ought to be removing the stumbling-blocks and obstacles may be seen doing the same things as, or perhaps even more dreadful than, those in the secular authorities. You speak of prisons, deportations, reproaches, persecutions, and hardships that you have undergone and still undergo at the hands of those who hold power over the churches of God-and not merely because you stand firm for the commandment of God; for even if you had been caught in human transgressions, it would by no means have been permissible for you to suffer such things at the hands of God's shepherds, much less when you are contending for the truth, you to whom praise and blessing are owed, and this when you are adorned with the monastic profession. "By their works you shall know them," said the Lord. Surely no such thing was known among the saints; on the contrary, they were shown rather to be the ones who suffered, being taught by the apostolic voice which says concerning the Lord: "who, when he was reviled, did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten," but kindly offered even his divine cheek to the one who struck him. By this the shepherds of Christ are recognized, and by the opposite the false-overseers [allotrioepiskopoi, those who usurp another's oversight]. But what must one suffer at the wickedness of men that has descended upon our lowly generation, a wickedness which they even make a boast of and pride themselves in, reckoning the lawless to be lawful, exercising their authority in opposition to the divine commandments? As for those men, then, may they find what they have done and are doing-or rather, may they be pardoned by the impartial Judge, who will overlook nothing unexamined and unaccountable on the day of judgment. But you, O most honored brothers and most reverend fathers, rejoice and be glad, because you have carried off the glory of the divine blessing and have honorably received the dishonor of Christ, being repaid the greatest and eternal things in exchange for small toils and struggles. And since, as we have also written before, by the good pleasure of the supremely good God, he through whom the discord in our church had come about has been removed, peace has been awarded by the nods and inclinations and favors-I would add also the exhortations-of our victorious and Christ-loving emperors, with the cooperation and advocacy of our most holy patriarch; for from now on we must so call him. Let your holiness also receive what comes from us, the lowly, with much consideration and inquiry and review of the fatherly precedents, and of the things that have been approved and brought to completion concerning the ecclesiastical scandals that have sometimes arisen, so that thus in your church of Christ also the peace of God may award the victory in the hearts of all. For if we do not do this, it will not be reckoned holy before God, nor will it become a victory for us; rather, we perhaps destroy as well, by seeking too much what is favorable [advantageous], even the good which we have accomplished by our former labors. Receive therefore, we beg you, and welcome our most holy patriarch, and be in communion-in matters where the transgression is not manifest-also with your bishop, yielding the intervening matters to the Lord, the examiner and recompenser of things to be done and of things to be said. For with regard to this very thing we, making use of entreaty, have urged our most holy patriarch also to send a letter, that you yourselves too may be released from the prisons, and that, having made a covenant of peace with one another, even if there be anything in dispute, it may either at once be resolved or, if it be incurable, the maladies may be healed through your coming here-yours and that of the most honored bishop-in the presence of the same ecumenical patriarch, and that all things may run together toward the gladness of peace and the sincerity of concord.