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to venerate and to kiss and with eyes and lips and heart to greet as an image of the incarnate God or of His mother or of the saints who were partakers of His sufferings and of the glory of Christ and victors and destroyers of the devil and the demons and their error, but if anyone should dare to make an image of the immaterial and bodiless divinity, we reject it as false; and if any [image is made] for the glory and honor and veneration of the devil or of demons, we spit upon it and consume it with fire. And if anyone deifies an image of men or of beasts or of birds or of reptiles or of any other creature, we anathematize him. For just as the holy fathers tore down the shrines and temples of the demons and in their places raised up temples in the name of God and the saints, and we revere these, so also they tore down the images of the demons and in their place raised up images of Christ and of His mother and of the saints, and we revere these. And indeed in the old [covenant] Israel neither raised temples in the name of men nor was a memorial celebrated—for the nature of men was still under a curse and death was a condemnation, for which reason it was also mourned, and he who touched the body of the dead was considered unclean—, but now, since the divinity has been unconfusedly mingled with our nature like some life-giving and saving medicine, our nature has truly been glorified and has been transformed toward incorruptibility. Therefore temples are raised to them and images are painted. Let every man know, therefore, that he who, out of divine longing and zeal, attempts to destroy the image made for the glory and remembrance of Christ or of His mother, the holy Theotokos, or of any of the saints, and also for the shame of the devil and his defeat and that of his demons, and does not venerate and honor and greet it with the longing of the one depicted, as an honorable image and not as God, is an enemy of Christ and of the holy Theotokos and of the saints, but an avenger of the devil and his demons, showing by his action his grief that God and His saints are honored and glorified, but the devil is put to shame; for the icon is a triumph and a manifestation and a monument for the memory of the victory of those who have fought valiantly and excelled, and of the shame of those who have been defeated and cast down. I have often seen those who are longing, having seen the garment of the one longed for, greet the garment with eyes and lips as if it were the one longed for himself. It is necessary "to render to all their dues" according to the holy apostle Paul, "to whom honor, honor" and "to the king as supreme," but to the rulers as sent through them, to each according to the measure of his dignity. 2,12 It is not for kings to legislate for the Church. For see what the divine apostle says: "And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third pastors and teachers, for the perfecting of the church," — he did not say kings—and again "obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls as those who will have to give an account." and again "remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word, whose faith you follow, considering the outcome of their way of life." Kings did not speak the word to us, but apostles and prophets, pastors and teachers. When God commanded David to build a house for Him, he said to him, "you shall not build me a house, because you are a man of blood." "Render to all their dues," the apostle Paul cries out, "to whom honor, honor; to whom fear, fear; to whom tribute, tribute; to whom custom, custom." The good order of the state belongs to kings, but the constitution of the church to pastors and teachers. This is a piratical attack, brothers. Saul the garment

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προσκυνεῖν καὶ καταφιλεῖν καὶ ὀφθαλμοῖς καὶ χείλεσι καὶ καρδίᾳ ἀσπάζεσθαι ὡς σεσαρκωμένου θεοῦ ὁμοίωμα ἢ τῆς τούτου μητρὸς ἢ τῶν ἁγίων τῶν κοινωνῶν τῶν παθημάτων αὐτοῦ καὶ τῆς δόξης τοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ νικητῶν καὶ καθαιρετῶν τοῦ διαβόλου καὶ τῶν δαιμόνων καὶ τῆς πλάνης αὐτῶν, εἰ δὲ θεότητος τῆς ἀύλου καὶ ἀσωμάτου εἰκόνα τις τολμήσει ποιῆσαι, ὡς ψευδῆ ἀποβαλλόμεθα· καὶ ἐάν τις ἐπὶ δόξῃ καὶ τιμῇ καὶ προσκυνήσει τοῦ διαβόλου ἢ τῶν δαιμόνων, καταπτύομεν καὶ πυρὶ ἀναλίσκομεν. Καὶ ἐάν τις ἀνθρώπων ἢ κτηνῶν ἢ πετεινῶν ἢ ἑρπετῶν ἢ ἄλλης τινὸς κτίσεως θεοποιήσῃ εἰκόνα, ἀναθεματίζομεν τοῦτον. Ὥσπερ γὰρ τὰ ἱερὰ καὶ τοὺς ναοὺς τῶν δαιμόνων καθεῖλον οἱ ἅγιοι πατέρες καὶ ἐν τοῖς αὐτῶν τόποις ναοὺς ἐπ' ὀνόματι θεοῦ καὶ ἁγίων ἤγειραν, καὶ τούτους σέβομεν, οὕτω καὶ τὰς εἰκόνας τῶν δαιμόνων καθεῖλον καὶ ἀντ' ἐκείνων ἤγειραν εἰκόνας Χριστοῦ καὶ τῆς τούτου μητρὸς καὶ τῶν ἁγίων, καὶ ταύτας σέβομεν. Καὶ ἐπὶ μὲν τῆς παλαιᾶς οὔτε ναοὺς ἐπ' ὀνόματι ἀνθρώπων ἤγειρεν ὁ Ἰσραὴλ οὔτε μνημόσυνον ἑωρτάζετο-ἔτι γὰρ ὑπὸ κατάραν ἦν ἡ τῶν ἀνθρώπων φύσις καὶ ὁ θάνατος κατάκρισις ἦν, διὸ καὶ ἐπενθεῖτο, καὶ ὁ ἁπτόμενος τοῦ σώματος τοῦ τεθνηκότος ἀκάθαρτος ἐλογίζετο-, νῦν δέ, ἀφ' οὗ ἡ θεότης τῇ ἡμετέρᾳ φύσει ἀσυγχύτως συνεκράθη οἷόν τι ζωοποιὸν καὶ σωτήριον φάρμακον, ὄντως ἐδοξάσθη ἡ φύσις ἡμῶν καὶ πρὸς ἀφθαρσίαν μετεστοιχειώθη. ∆ιὸ καὶ ναοὶ αὐτοῖς ἐγείρονται καὶ εἰκόνες ἀναγράφονται. Γινωσκέτω οὖν πᾶς ἄνθρωπος, ὡς ὁ τὴν εἰκόνα τὴν πρὸς δόξαν καὶ ὑπόμνησιν τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἢ τῆς τούτου μητρὸς τῆς ἁγίας θεοτόκου ἤ τινος τῶν ἁγίων, ἔτι δὲ πρὸς αἰσχύνην τοῦ διαβόλου καὶ τῆς ἥττης αὐτοῦ καὶ τῶν δαιμόνων αὐτοῦ ἐκ θείου πόθου καὶ ζήλου γενομένην καταλύειν ἐπιχειρῶν καὶ μὴ προσκυνῶν καὶ τιμῶν καὶ ἀσπαζόμενος πόθῳ τοῦ εἰκονιζομένου ὡς εἰκόνα τιμίαν καὶ οὐχ ὡς θεὸν ἐχθρός ἐστι Χριστοῦ καὶ τῆς ἁγίας θεοτόκου καὶ τῶν ἁγίων, ἐκδικητὴς δὲ τοῦ διαβόλου καὶ τῶν δαιμόνων αὐτοῦ, ἔργῳ ἐπιδεικνύμενος τὴν λύπην, ὅτι ὁ θεὸς καὶ οἱ ἅγιοι αὐτοῦ τιμῶνται καὶ δοξάζονται, ὁ δὲ διάβολος καταισχύνεται· ἡ γὰρ εἰκὼν θρίαμβός ἐστι καὶ φανέρωσις καὶ στηλογραφία εἰς μνήμην τῆς νίκης τῶν ἀριστευσάντων καὶ διαπρεψάντων καὶ τῆς αἰσχύνης τῶν ἡττηθέντων καὶ καταβληθέντων. Εἶδον πολλάκις ποθοῦντας, ἱμάτιον τοῦ ποθουμένου θεασαμένους, ὡς αὐτὸν τὸν ποθούμενον ἀσπασαμένους τὸ ἱμάτιον ὀφθαλμοῖς τε καὶ χείλεσι. Χρὴ «ἀποδιδόναι πᾶσι τὰς ὀφειλὰς» κατὰ τὸν ἅγιον Παῦλον τὸν ἀπόστολον «τῷ τὴν τιμὴν τὴν τιμὴν» καὶ «βασιλεῖ μὲν ὡς ὑπερέχοντι», τοῖς δὲ ἄρχουσιν ὡς δι' αὐτῶν ἀποστελλομένοις, ἑκάστῳ κατὰ τὸ μέτρον τοῦ ἀξιώματος. 2,12 Οὐ βασιλέων ἐστὶ νομοθετεῖν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ. Ὅρα γάρ, τί φησιν ὁ θεῖος ἀπόστολος· «Καὶ οὓς μὲν ἔθετο ὁ θεὸς ἐν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ πρῶτον ἀποστόλους, δεύτερον προφήτας, τρίτον ποιμένας καὶ διδασκάλους, πρὸς τὸν καταρτισμὸν τῆς ἐκκλησίας», - οὐκ εἶπε βασιλεῖς-καὶ πάλιν «πείθεσθε τοῖς ἡγουμένοις ὑμῶν καὶ ὑπείκετε· αὐτοὶ γὰρ ἀγρυπνοῦσιν ὑπὲρ τῶν ψυχῶν ὑμῶν ὡς λόγον ἀποδώσαντες.» καὶ αὖθις «μνη μονεύετε τῶν ἡγουμένων ὑμῶν, οἵτινες ἐλάλησαν ὑμῖν τὸν λόγον, ὧν ἀναθεωροῦντες τὴν ἀναστροφὴν ζηλοῦτε τὴν πίστιν.» Οὐκ ἐλάλησαν ἡμῖν τὸν λόγον βασιλεῖς, ἀλλὰ ἀπόστολοι καὶ προφῆται ποιμένες τε καὶ διδάσκαλοι. Τῷ ∆αυὶδ ἐντειλάμενος ὁ θεὸς οἰκοδομῆσαι αὑτῷ οἶκον ἔφη πρὸς αὐτόν, ὅτι «οὐκ οἰκοδομήσεις μοι σὺ οἶκον, ἐπειδὴ ἀνὴρ αἱμάτων εἶ σύ». «Ἀπόδοτε πᾶσι τὰς ὀφειλάς», ὁ ἀπόστολος ἀνακέκραγε Παῦλος, «τῷ τὴν τιμὴν τὴν τιμήν, τῷ τὸν φόβον τὸν φόβον, τῷ τὸν φόρον τὸν φόρον, τῷ τὸ τέλος τὸ τέλος.» Βασιλέων ἐστὶν ἡ πολιτικὴ εὐταξία, ἡ δὲ ἐκκλησιαστικὴ κατάστασις ποιμένων καὶ διδασκάλων. Λῃστρικὴ ἔφοδός ἐστιν αὕτη, ἀδελφοί. Ὁ Σαοὺλ τὸ ἱμάτιον