Letter 73: Theodore Studite, Letter 73; Greek heading: Τῷ αὐτῷ.

This is now the second time I have written since Your Holiness departed from Byzantium [Constantinople]. For my part, I wished to do this every single day, if it were at all possible; nevertheless thanks must be rendered to God, that across so great a distance the Good One has granted us, within a short time, to converse with one another through the mediation of a letter, beloved. Our anxiety over your sea-voyage has therefore been laid to rest; for we trust in God that you have been brought safely through, without danger, all the way to the place to which you have been confined for the sake of the truth, O pillar of orthodoxy and bulwark of the Church. But what manner of place it is, and what kind of dwelling and household has received you, and who its owners are, keeps turning over within us in the contemplation of our mind, depicted there in manifold forms, lest they be hard to bear. Yet whatever they may be, I know that your God-loving self will endure them, accustomed as you are to suffer hardship in the witnessings [martyria] borne for Christ. Concerning us sinners there is nothing newer than the things already known to you, except that a report has gone round that we too are to be banished elsewhere once again. But the earth is the Lord's entirely, onto whatever part of it we may be cast off, provided only that you do not cease to pray that we may conduct ourselves amid good things, in mind and heart and soul; for we confess that we lie subject to countless faults. The affairs of the heresy [hairesis; here, iconoclasm] grow worse with each day, in keeping with our sins, and seethe, as it were, with the fire of the tortures and exiles, while by the grace of Christ very many take their stand against it, most of all the superiors [hegoumenoi, abbots], not to mention the subordinate monks. And indeed, he who was once a persecutor of Christ now suffers for him, Joseph the most devout abbot. See then, brother, the loving-kindness of God, how He wills to save all. But behold once again the treacherous enemy: he has raised up the one who was never faithful, but a traitor in many ways, Nectarius, once one of ours, but now with the impious. And what is more grievous still, he is one of those who demand the written documents of impiety [the signed iconoclast declarations] from the superiors of the outer region. Do not be astonished, therefore, O man of God, nor let it grieve you greatly, since indeed it is not altogether free of grief that the lawless one has gone out from our own bosom; for from among the apostles, too, came Judas. But may they find mercy, those faithful brethren of ours who are dying together with you, whom also I greet most warmly, and especially my good Anthus, if he is with you, and my well-named Athanasius [the name means "immortal"]. Those who are with me embrace your footsteps with reverence.

Δὶς ἄρτι ἐπιστέλλω μετὰ τὴν ἀπὸ τοῦ Βυζαντίου ἄφιξιν τῆς ἁγιωσύνης σου. ἐγὼ δὲ καθ' ἑκάστην ἐβουλόμην τοῦτο ποιεῖν, εἰ οἷόν τε ἦν· ὅμως χάριν τῷ θεῷ ἀναθετέον, ὅτι ἐν τοσούτῳ διαστήματι ἔδωκεν ὁ ἀγαθὸς ἐντὸς ὀλίγου χρόνου τῇ τοῦ γράμματος μεσιτείᾳ ὁμιλῆσαι ἡμᾶς ἀλλήλοις, ἠγαπημένε. Ἡ μὲν οὖν τῆς ποντοπορίας μέριμνα κατέληξεν ἡμῖν· πιστεύομεν γὰρ τῷ θεῷ ἀποσεσῶσθαί σε ἀκινδύνως μέχρις οὗ περιωρίσθης τόπου ὑπὲρ ἀληθείας, ὁ τῆς ὀρθοδοξίας στῦλος καὶ τὸ τῆς ἐκκλησίας ἑδραίωμα. ὁποῖος δὲ ὁ χῶρος καὶ ἡ ὑποδεξαμένη σε ἑστία, οἵ τε κτήτορες, ἐνστρέφεται ἡμῶν ἐν τῇ κατὰ νοῦν θεωρίᾳ ποικίλαις μορφαῖς διαζωγραφούμενα, μήπως δύσχρηστα· ὅλως ὁποῖά ποτ' ἂν εἶεν, οἶδ' ὅτι ἐνέγκοι ἡ θεοφιλία σου, ἐνειθισμένη ταλαιπωρεῖσθαι ἐν τοῖς ὑπὲρ Χριστοῦ μαρτυρίοις. Περὶ γὰρ ἡμῶν τῶν ἁμαρτωλῶν οὐδέν τι καινότερον τῶν προεγνωσμένων σοι ἢ ὅτι λόγος ἐρρύη μεθορίζεσθαι ἡμᾶς ἀλλαχοῦ πάλιν. τοῦ Κυρίου δὲ ἡ γῆ πάντως, ἐφ' ἣν ἂν παραρριφῶμεν, εἴπερ μὴ διαλείποις προσεύχεσθαι ἐν ἀγαθοῖς ἡμᾶς ἀναστρέφεσθαι διανοίᾳ καὶ καρδίᾳ καὶ ψυχῇ· ὁμολογοῦμεν γὰρ μυρίοις σφάλμασιν ὑποκεῖσθαι. τὰ δὲ τῆς αἱρέσεως αὔξει καθ' ἑκάστην κατὰ τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶν καὶ οἱονεὶ παφλάζει τῇ πυρᾷ τῶν βασάνων καὶ ἐξοριῶν, ἐνισταμένων χάριτι Χριστοῦ πλείστων ὅτι μάλιστα ἡγουμένων, ἐῶ λέγειν ὑποτακτιτῶν. καί γε ὁ ποτὲ διώκτης Χριστοῦ νῦν ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ πάσχων, Ἰωσὴφ ὁ εὐλαβέστατος ἡγούμενος. ἴδε οὖν θεοῦ φιλανθρωπίαν, ἀδελφέ, πῶς σῴζειν ἐθέλει πάντας. ἀλλὰ ἄθρει πάλιν τὸν δόλιον ἐχθρόν· ἦρεν τὸν οὐδέποτε πιστόν, ἀλλὰ πολλαχῶς προδότην, Νεκτάριον τὸν ποτὲ ἡμέτερον, νῦν δὲ μετὰ τῶν ἀσεβῶν. καὶ τό γε σχετλιώτερον, ὅτι εἷς ἐστι τῶν τὰ τῆς ἀσεβείας χειρόγραφα ἀπαιτούντων παρὰ τῶν καθηγουμένων τῆς ἔξω χώρας. μὴ οὖν θαυμάσῃς, ὦ ἄνθρωπε τοῦ θεοῦ, μηδὲ λυπήσῃ σε πολύ, ἐπεὶ οὐδὲ ἄλυπον πάντως τὸ ἐκ τοῦ κόλπου ἡμῶν ἐξελθεῖν τὸν ἄνομον· ἐπεὶ καὶ ἐξ ἀποστόλων Ἰούδας. εὕροιεν δὲ ἔλεος οἱ συναποθνῄσκοντές σοι πιστοὶ ἀδελφοὶ ἡμῶν, οὓς καὶ προσαγορεύω πλεῖστα, ἐξαιρέτως τὸν καλόν μου Ἄνθον, εἰ σύνεστι, καὶ τὸν φερώνυμον Ἀθανάσιόν μου. Οἱ σὺν ἐμοὶ μετ' αἰδοῦς κατασπάζονταί σου τὰ ἴχνη.