John Chrysostom, Letter to the Abbot

Epistula ad abbatem

A letter of our father among the saints, John Chrysostom, to a certain abbot who asked from him that a rule of spiritual teaching be sent to him for the benefit of both himself and the brothers with him.

Since you wrote to me, my most longed-for brother, that I should deliver to you an ascetic rule, I do not know what I should write to you. But the Lord of glory, Jesus Christ, is able to become a guide for you, if you genuinely offer yourself with the brothers to the Lord your God, if you are willing to strip off like an athlete your fatherland, family, property, and the whole world together—for he who does not renounce all his possessions and die to the whole world cannot be a disciple of the Lord—if you love the Lord your God with all your soul and your neighbor as yourself, if you keep your virginity blamelessly in body and soul until the end, if each one of you acquires mercy and compassion in the vessels of the heart and prepares himself with bright lamps to meet the heavenly bridegroom, so that in that hour the lamp of each, having no oil, may not be extinguished. For what will it profit a man, if he keeps his body pure, but the inside of the dish, that is, the heart, is full of wickedness, hatred, remembrance of wrongs, anger, jealousy, envy, pride? For he who is angry with his brother still walks in darkness and is a murderer, for so says the Scripture. But if anyone thinks that I write unseasonably, let him look to the parable of the ten virgins. The divine Scripture called five of them wise, and five foolish, not prostitutes, but their outward virginity did not profit them at all. For instead of mercy and brotherly love, their heart was filled with venom and wickedness, and for this reason they were cast out from that heavenly and ineffable bridal chamber, crying out: Lord, Lord, open to us. And they were no longer profited at all by the Lord of glory, but only heard, ‘I do not know you’; for after death there is no confession of repentance, but inexorable punishment. For here there is supplication, here release from evils; and whatever burden each one binds, this he will also carry. I exhort you therefore, my children and brothers, be subject to the Lord and to one another in the fear of Christ. And let each of you prefer his brother; for he who glorifies his brother glorifies Jesus, but he who dishonors his brother rejects the Lord who said: inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me. I exhort you therefore, children, be subject to the abbot, as to Christ himself, and to one another, so that none of you may be found to be like Judas, but like the apostles, being subject to the Lord; for those who resist will receive judgment for themselves. I do not say these things to condemn, but I exhort you, admonishing. I exhort you therefore, children, let none of you be argumentative or insolent or a trifler or an idle talker or a slanderer or a grumbler. For all these things and things like them are the fruits of the devil, and out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. For virginity did not benefit the sister of Moses and Aaron, but she became a leper, because she sinned against her elder brother, as the Scripture of Moses teaches. I exhort you therefore, children, acquire obedience without contradiction. For obedience is the mother of eternal life, but disobedience is the mother of destruction. I exhort you therefore, children, love one another for the sake of the Lord who said that: if you love me, keep my commandments, and by this, he says, all will know that

Epistula ad abbatem

Τοῦ ἐν ἁγίοις πατρὸς ἡμῶν Ἰωάννου τοῦ Χρυσοστόμου ἐπιστολὴ πρός τινα ἡγούμενον αἰτήσαντα παρ' αὐτοῦ πεμφθῆναι αὐτῷ κανόνα πνευματικῆς διδασκαλίας εἰς ὠφέλειαν αὐτοῦ τε καὶ τῶν μετ' αὐτοῦ ἀδελφῶν.

Ἐπειδὴ ἔγραψάς μοι, ποθεινότατέ μου ἀδελφέ, ἵνα κανόνα σοι παραδώσω ἀσκητικόν, τί σοι γράψω οὐκ οἶδα. ∆υνατὸς δέ ἐστιν ὁ Κύριος τῆς δόξης Χριστὸς Ἰησοῦς γενέσθαι σοι ὁδηγός, ἐὰν γνησίως προσενέγκῃς ἑαυτὸν μετὰ τῶν ἀδελφῶν Κυρίῳ τῷ Θεῷ σου, ἐὰν θέλῃς πατρίδα, γένος, ὕπαρξιν καὶ ὅλον ὁμοῦ τὸν κόσμον ἀθλητικῶς ἀποδύσασθαι-ὁ γὰρ μὴ ἀποτασσόμενος πᾶσι τοῖς ὑπάρχουσιν αὑτοῦ καὶ ἀποθνῄσκων ὅλῳ τῷ κόσμῳ οὐ δύναται τοῦ Κυρίου γενέσθαι μαθητής-, ἐὰν ἀγαπήσῃς Κύριον τὸν Θεόν σου ἐξ ὅλης τῆς ψυχῆς σου καὶ τὸν πλησίον σου ὡς ἑαυτόν, ἐὰν τὴν παρθενίαν σου ἀμέμπτως φυλάξῃς σώματι καὶ ψυχῇ ἕως τέλους, ἐὰν ἔλεον καὶ συμπάθειαν κτήσηται ἕκαστος ὑμῶν ἐν τοῖς τῆς καρδίας ἀγγείοις καὶ ἑτοιμάσῃ ἑαυτὸν μετὰ λαμπάδων φαιδρῶν εἰς ἀπάντησιν τοῦ ἐπουρανίου νυμφίου, ἵνα μὴ ἐν τῇ ὥρᾳ ἐκείνῃ σβεσθῇ ἡ λαμπὰς ἑκάστου μὴ ἔχουσα ἔλαιον. Τί γὰρ ὠφελήσει ἄνθρωπος, ἐὰν ἁγνὸν φυλάξῃ τὸ σῶμα, τὸ δὲ ἔσωθεν τῆς παροψίδος, τουτέστιν ἡ καρδία, γέμει πονηρίας, μίσους, μνησικακίας, θυμοῦ, ζήλου, φθόνου, ὑπερηφανείας; Ὁ γὰρ ὀργιζόμενος τῷ ἀδελφῷ ἔτι ἐν τῇ σκοτίᾳ περιπατεῖ καὶ ἀνθρωποκτόνος ἐστί, λέγει γὰρ ἡ Γραφή. Εἰ δέ τις νομίζει ὅτι ἀκαίρως γράφω, ἀποβλέψῃ εἰς τὴν παραβολὴν τῶν δέκα παρθένων. Τὰς μὲν πέντε φρονίμους, τὰς δὲ πέντε μωρὰς ὠνόμασεν ἡ θεία Γραφή, οὐχὶ πόρνας, ἀλλ' οὐδὲν αὐτὰς ὠφέλησεν ἡ ἔξωθεν παρθενία. Ἀντὶ γὰρ ἐλέου καὶ φιλαδελφίας, ἰοῦ καὶ πονηρίας ἐπεπλήρωτο ἡ καρδία αὐτῶν καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἐξεβλήθησαν ἀπὸ τοῦ ἐπουρανίου ἐκείνου καὶ ἀρρήτου νυμφῶνος κράζουσαι· Κύριε, Κύριε, ἄνοιξον ἡμῖν. Καὶ οὐκέτι οὐδὲν ὠφελήθησαν παρὰ τοῦ Κυρίου τῆς δόξης, ἀλλὰ μόνον τὸ οὐκ οἶδα ὑμᾶς ἤκουσαν· οὐκ ἔστι γὰρ μετὰ θάνατον ἐξομολόγησις μετανοίας, ἀλλὰ ἀπαραίτητος κόλασις. Ὧδε γὰρ δέησις, ὧδε λύσις κακῶν· καὶ ὃ ἐὰν δήσῃ ἕκαστος φορτίον, τοῦτο καὶ βαστάσει. Παρακαλῶ οὖν ὑμᾶς, τέκνα μου καὶ ἀδελφοί, ὑποτάγητε τῷ Κυρίῳ καὶ ἀλλήλοις ἐν φόβῳ Χριστοῦ. Καὶ ἕκαστος ὑμῶν προτιμησάτω τὸν ἀδελφόν· ὁ γὰρ δοξάζων τὸν ἀδελφὸν Ἰησοῦν δοξάζει, ὁ δὲ ἀτιμάζων τὸν ἀδελφὸν τὸν Κύριον ἀθετεῖ τὸν εἰπόντα· ἐφ' ὅσον οὐκ ἐποιήσατε ἑνὶ τούτων τῶν ἐλαχίστων οὐδὲ ἐμοὶ ἐποιήσατε. Παρακαλῶ οὖν ὑμᾶς, τέκνα, ὑποτάγητε τῷ ἡγουμένῳ, ὡς αὐτῷ τῷ Χριστῷ, καὶ ἀλλήλοις, ἵνα μή τις ἐξ ὑμῶν ὡς Ἰούδας εὑρεθῇ, ἀλλ' ὡς οἱ ἀπόστολοι ὑποτασσόμενοι τῷ Κυρίῳ· οἱ γὰρ ἀνθεστηκότες κρῖμα ἑαυτοῖς λήψονται. Οὐ κατακρίνων δὲ ταῦτα λέγω, ἀλλὰ νουθετῶν παρακαλῶ. Παρακαλῶ οὖν ὑμᾶς, τέκνα, μή τις ἐξ ὑμῶν ἀντίλογος ἢ ὑβριστὴς ἢ φλύαρος ἢ ἀργολόγος ἢ κατάλαλος ἢ γογγυστής. Ταῦ τα γὰρ πάντα καὶ τὰ τούτοις ὅμοια τοῦ διαβόλου εἰσὶ καρποὶ καὶ ἐκ τοῦ περισσεύματος τῆς καρδίας λαλεῖ τὸ στόμα. Οὔτε γὰρ τὴν ἀδελφὴν Μωσέως καὶ Ἀαρὼν ἡ παρθενία εὐηργέτησεν, ἀλλ' ἐλεπρώθη, ἐπειδὴ ἐξήμαρτεν εἰς τὸν μείζονα ἀδελφὸν αὑτῆς, ὡς ἡ Γραφὴ Μωϋσέως διδάσκει. Παρακαλῶ οὖν ὑμᾶς, τέκνα, ὑπακοὴν κτήσασθε χωρὶς ἀντιλογίας. Ἡ γὰρ ὑπακοὴ μήτηρ ἐστὶ τῆς αἰωνίου ζωῆς, ἡ δὲ παρακοὴ μήτηρ ἐστὶ τῆς ἀπωλείας. Παρακαλῶ οὖν ὑμᾶς, τέκνα, ἀγαπήσατε ἀλλήλους διὰ τὸν Κύριον τὸν εἰπόντα ὅτι· ἐὰν ἀγαπᾶτέ με τὰς ἐντολάς μου τηρήσατε καὶ ἐν τούτῳ, φησί, γνώσονται πάντες οἱ