17

an imitation of Christ, to whom his followers, paying attention, characterize their own life according to the Gospel, an ever-shining luminary made known to those who battle by night out of ignorance and sin, showering down the word of teaching upon those who thirst for salvation, a very great steward, who is about to take an account of the life of each person at the time of retribution. And so, nothing is greater than nearness and love toward God, nor more greatly rewarded than such great leadership (as Christ himself says to the chief apostle, if you love me, Peter, more than these, feed my sheep), nor more dangerous and destructive for those who embrace it unworthily. But I myself know well, best of fathers, that as a good shepherd you have always laid down your life for your sheep, facing danger for each one, not fearing human threats, not shrinking from the word of truth in the face of opponents, fulfilling the will of the only King; in addition to these things, reproving with boldness, rebuking with compassion, making peace and reconciling those who are divided, separating with good judgment the profane from the holy, the healthy from the diseased, so that the one nearby might not transmit its own sickness, turning back the one who strays, strengthening the one who is weak, binding up the one who is broken. How great indeed is your work; visitation of leaders, judgment of cenobites, ordination of presbyters and deacons and supervision of the life of all these, protection of widows, aid for orphans, vindication for the oppressed, defense for the wronged and indeed also maintenance of authority. since whenever there is nothing that harms or hinders reverence for God, it is fitting for us also to be subject to every rule and authority and to be friendly, if possible, toward all through generous and kind reception and benevolence. For far be it from me to speak about your beatitude the things of the opposite portion, of the evil shepherds, such as those who shepherd the flock for shameful gain, those who consider such a dignity as an opportunity for livelihood and for the repose of the flesh and for the enjoyment of desires, for the possession of fleeting wealth and for the acquisition of so and so many acres of land, and a herd of slaves and a multitude of cattle, and for this reason leaping in a human and not a divine way to the height of leadership so as to raise the eyebrow against their inferiors and to sit in state arrogantly before the most honored. And I omit to speak of those who contend just like tax-collectors for perishing things and do not resist for the sake of the doctrines of piety or, what is much worse than these things, of those who extort and vex the things of their subordinates and from this gather power and abundance. For not hesitating to crush little by little those to whom they ought rather to extend a hand in their poverty, to whom will they be compared? To Peter and John, then, and to their followers? to whom, it says, there was no silver and gold, but the grace of the divine Spirit? Or to Simon the magician and Judas the betrayer and Gehazi the lover of money and the rest of the rich of this age? But I speak of those, who only consider how the present will be well for them and serve the flesh and set their heart on gold and perhaps lend it at interest or distribute it to the needy for a greater return and hold on to it for their own desires and deal with favoritism with the unworthy or with their relatives. who perhaps have their whole care on sowing much and reaping and on planting so much and gathering fruit and on adding to and increasing herds or flocks, just like some farmers watching for opportunities and taking advantage of shortages in order to sell and buy these things and those, behaving, as it were, like merchants and traders, but not like bishops and priests, for the sole purpose of giving wings to the soul and snatching it from the world and giving it to God and

17

μίμημα Χριστοῦ, εἰς ὃν οἱ ἑπόμενοι προσέχοντες τὴν ἑαυτῶν ζωὴν εὐαγγελικῶς χαρακτηρίζουσιν, φωστῆρα ἀειλαμπῆ τοῖς ἐξ ἀγνοίας καὶ ἁμαρτίας νυκτομαχοῦσιν γνωριζόμενον, τὸν λόγον τῆς διδασκαλίας ἐπομβρίζοντα τοῖς διψῶσι τὰ σωτήρια, οἰκονόμον μέγιστον, τὸν ἑκάστου βίον λογοθετεῖσθαι μέλλοντα ἐν καιρῷ ἀνταποδόσεως. οὔτε οὖν μεῖζόν τι τῆς πρὸς θεὸν ἐγγύτητος καὶ ἀγάπης οὔτ' ἂν εὐμισθότερον ὡς ἡ τηλικαύτη ἐπιστασία (καθώς φησιν αὐτὸς ὁ Χριστὸς πρὸς τὸν κορυφαῖον ἀπόστολον, εἰ φιλεῖς με, Πέτρε, πλεῖον τούτων, ποίμαινε τὰ πρόβατά μου) οὔτε ἐπικινδυνότερον καὶ ὀλεθριώτερον τοῖς ἀναξίως ταύτην ἀσπαζομένοις. Ἀλλ' αὐτὸς εὖ οἶδα, πατέρων ἄριστε, ὅτι ὡς ἀγαθὸς ποιμὴν τὴν ψυχήν σου ἀεὶ τεθεικὼς εἶ ὑπὲρ τῶν σῶν προβάτων, προκινδυνεύων ὑπὲρ ἑνὸς ἑκάστου, μὴ πτοούμενος ἀπειλὰς ἀνθρωπίνας, μὴ ὑποστελλόμενος τὸν τῆς ἀληθείας λόγον ἐξ ἐναντίας τῶν ἀντιδιατιθεμένων, τὸ τοῦ μόνου βασιλέως θέλημα ἀποθεραπεύων· πρὸς τούτοις ἐλέγχων μετὰ παρρησίας, ἐπιτιμῶν μετὰ συμπαθείας, εἰρηνεύων καὶ καταλλάσσων τοὺς διισταμένους, ἀφορίζων μετὰ εὐκρισίας τὸ βέβηλον ἀπὸ τοῦ ὁσίου, τὸ ὑγιὲς ἀπὸ τοῦ νενοσηκότος, ὡς ἂν μὴ μεταδοίη τῆς οἰκείας ἀρρωστίας τὸ πλησιάζον, τὸ πλανώμενον ἐπιστρέφων, τὸ ἠσθενηκὸς ἐνισχύων, τὸ συντετριμμένον καταδεσμεύων. Ὡς πολύ σου ὄντως τὸ ἔργον· ἡγουμένων ἐπίσκεψις, κελλιωτῶν ἐπίκρισις, πρεσβυτέρων καὶ διακόνων χειροτόνησις καὶ βίου τούτων πάντων ἐπιτήρησις, χηρῶν προστασία, ὀρφανῶν ἐπικουρία, καταπονουμένων ἐκδίκησις, ἀδικουμένων ὑπερμάχησις καὶ μέντοι καὶ ὑπεροχῆς διατήρησις. ἐπειδὴ ὅταν μηδὲν ᾖ τὸ βλάπτον καὶ κωλῦον εἰς θεοσέβειαν, ὑποτάσσεσθαι καὶ ἡμᾶς πάσῃ ἀρχῇ καὶ ἐξουσίᾳ προσήκει καὶ φιλιάζειν, εἰ δυνατόν, πρὸς ἅπαντας διὰ τῆς εὐμεταδότου καὶ φιλοφρόνου δεξιώσεως καὶ προεπιδόσεως. ἀπείη γὰρ περὶ τῆς μακαριότητός σου τὰ τῆς ἐναντίας μερίδος τῶν κακῶν ποιμένων διαγορεύειν, οἷον τῶν αἰσχροκερδῶς ποιμαινόντων τὸ ποίμνιον, τῶν εἰς ἀφορμὴν βίου λογιζομένων τοιαύτην ἀξίαν καὶ εἰς σαρκὸς ἀνάπαυσιν καὶ εἰς ἐπιθυμίας ἀπόλαυσιν, εἰς κατάσχεσίν τε πλούτου τοῦ ῥέοντος καὶ εἰς κτῆσιν πλέθρων γῆς τόσων καὶ τόσων, ἀγέλης τε ἀνδραπόδων καὶ βοσκημάτων πληθύος, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἀνθρωπίνως καὶ οὐ θεϊκῶς ἐπιπηδώντων τῷ ὕψει τῆς προστασίας εἰς τὸ αἴρειν τὴν ὀφρῦν κατὰ τῶν ὑποδεεστέρων καὶ προκαθέζεσθαι σοβαρῶς κατὰ τῶν ὑπερτίμων. καὶ ἐῶ λέγειν περὶ τῶν διαμαχομένων ἴσα καὶ τῶν δεκανικῶν ὑπὲρ τῶν ἀπολλυμένων πραγμάτων καὶ οὐκ ἀνθισταμένων ὑπὲρ τῶν τῆς εὐσεβείας δογμάτων ἤ, τὸ πολὺ χεῖρον τούτων, περὶ τῶν ὑποσπώντων καὶ ὑπωπιαζόντων τὰ τῶν ὑποχειρίων κἀκ τούτου συναθροιζόντων δύναμιν καὶ περιουσιασμόν. οἷς γὰρ μᾶλλον ἔδει χεῖρα ὀρέγειν πενομένοις, τούτους κατὰ μικρὸν ἐκθλίβειν οὐ παραιτούμενοι, τίνι ὁμοιωθήσονται; Πέτρῳ καὶ Ἰωάννῃ ἆρα καὶ τοῖς ὀπαδοῖς αὐτῶν; οἷς, φησίν, ἀργύριον καὶ χρυσίον οὐχ ὑπῆρχεν, ἀλλ' ἡ τοῦ θείου πνεύματος χάρις; ἢ Σίμωνι τῷ μάγῳ καὶ Ἰούδᾳ τῷ προδότῃ καὶ Γιεζῇ τῷ φιλαργύρῳ καὶ τοῖς λοιποῖς πλουσίοις τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου; ἐκείνων δὲ λέγω, τῶν τὸ παρὸν μόνον ὅπως αὐτοῖς εὖ ἕξει σκοπούντων καὶ σάρκα θεραπευόντων καὶ τῷ χρυσῷ τῇ καρδίᾳ προστιθεμένων καὶ τοῦτον ἴσως τοκιζόντων ἢ ἐπὶ πλεονασμῷ διανειμόντων τοῖς ἐνδεέσιν καὶ πρὸς τὰ οἰκεῖα θελήματα κατακρατούντων καὶ προσπαθῶς τοῖς οὐκ ἀξίοις ἢ τοῖς ἀγχιστεύουσι χρωμένων. οἵτινες ὅλην φροντίδα κέκτηνται τάχα ἐπὶ τοῦ σπεῖραι πολλὰ καὶ ἀμήσασθαι καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ φυτεῦσαι τοσαῦτα καὶ καρπώσασθαι καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ προσθεῖναι καὶ πληθύναι βουκόλια ἢ ποίμνια, ὥσπερ τινὲς γεωργοὶ καιροσκοποῦντες καὶ καταπραγματευόμενοι τὰς ἐνδείας πρὸς τὸ πωλεῖν καὶ ἀγοράζειν ταῦτα καὶ ἐκεῖνα, πραγματευτικῶς καὶ ἐμπορικῶς οἱονεὶ πολιτευόμενοι, ἀλλ' οὐκ ἐπισκοπικῶς καὶ ἱερατικῶς, πρὸς τὸ μόνον πτερῶσαι ψυχὴν καὶ ἁρπάσαι κόσμου καὶ δοῦναι θεῷ καὶ