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of providence and care. And this, after God and with God, might be granted by you through the pleasing and lawful election of the one who is to be high priest. But since you also sought to learn from us, sinful and unworthy as we are, what is present to us as in the sight of the Lord who will call us to account, concerning which we are to speak on the day of judgment, it is thus. We do not know nor are we acquainted with anyone, not because those who shine in life and word have ceased to exist (for they exist and are manifest to God and to men, even if not in equal measure, and especially to your enlightened soul), but since the discourse and the desire of your majesty seek such a one, one who is able with a perfect heart to seek out the ordinances of God, one who has been gradually raised by degree and rank to a higher state, one who has been tried in all things, who indeed from what he has suffered would be able to help those who are being tried. And what need is there to say much to you, who knows well and from your own condition and progress who describes such a person? He ought to outshine the many as the sun among the stars. Therefore, when we do not see such a one, we do not dare to cast a vote. And this we suggest as a reminder with restraint and reverence, which is certainly not hidden from your much-experienced and divine magnanimity, so that from the bishops, from the abbots, from the stylites, and from the recluses, then accepting an election from the clergy, having taken from among those who have been presented the ones preeminent over the others in understanding, prudence, and life (for let the stylites come down and the recluses come out, since what is sought is for the common good), you may judge and compare and with them declare the more worthy one. And he would be blessed, or rather thrice-blessed, if you accomplish this whole thing, our Christ-imitating masters. And in this your kingdom will be strengthened yet more, and your name will be magnified from generation to generation, and the years of your rule will be increased. Since God has given these two gifts to Christians, priesthood and kingship, through which earthly things are cared for, through which they are ordered as in heaven; if either one, therefore, is in an unworthy state, the whole is necessarily in peril. So if you wish to accomplish the greatest things for your kingdom and, through your kingdom, for all Christians, let the Church also receive a president for herself who is of equal weight, as far as possible, to the virtue of your kingship, so that the heavens may rejoice and the earth may sing. May the hand of God, in which your heart also is, be for guidance and revelation of the better one; and you will receive from it for the toils, cares, and concerns you lay down for this work, the kingdom that has no successor.

17 {1To John the spatharios}1

Having heard that your lordship has performed a divine act, we have marveled at

your truly great faith, O man of God. For they say that the one who taught you used the holy icon of the great martyr Demetrios in place of a sponsor and thus performed the illumination of your God-protected child. And O, what trust! "Not even in Israel have I found such faith," Christ, I think, seems to have proclaimed not only then to the centurion, but also just now to you who are his equal in faith. He, therefore, found what he sought, and you too have obtained what you trust in. There, the divine command was in place of the bodily presence, and here the bodily icon is in place of the prototype; there, the great Word was present with the word, invisibly in his divinity working the miracle of healing, and here the great martyr was present in spirit with his own icon the

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προμηθείας καὶ θεραπείας. τοῦτο δ' ἂν εἴη μετὰ θεὸν καὶ σὺν θεῷ πρὸς ὑμῶν δωρηθῆναι διὰ τῆς κατ' εὐαρέστησιν νομίμου ἐκλογῆς τοῦ μέλλοντος ἀρχιερατεύειν. Ἐπεὶ δὲ καὶ παρ' ἡμῶν ἐπεζήτησας μαθεῖν, τῶν ἁμαρτωλῶν καὶ ἀναξίων, τὸ παριστάμενον ἡμῖν ὡς ἐνώπιον Κυρίου τοῦ μέλλοντος εὐθύνειν ἡμᾶς, περὶ οὗ μέλλομεν λέγειν ἐν ἡμέρᾳ κρίσεως, οὕτως ἔχει. οὐ γινώσκομεν οὐδὲ ἐπιστάμεθά τινα, οὐχ ὅτι ἀπέλιπον οἱ διαλάμποντες ἐν βίῳ καὶ λόγῳ (εἰσὶ γὰρ καὶ θεῷ φαινόμενοι καὶ ἀνθρώποις, εἰ καὶ οὐκ ἴσῳ λόγῳ, καὶ μάλιστα τῇ σῇ φωτεινῇ ψυχῇ), ἐπεὶ δὲ τοιοῦτον ζητεῖ ὁ λόγος καὶ ὁ πόθος τῆς ὑμῶν βασιλείας, τὸν ἐν τελείᾳ καρδίᾳ δυνάμενον ἐκζητῆσαι τὰ τοῦ θεοῦ δικαιώματα, τὸν βαθμῷ καὶ τάξει ἐκ τοῦ κατὰ μικρὸν εἰς τὸ ὑψηλότερον προανηγμένον, τὸν πεπειραμένον κατὰ πάντα, ὅς γε ἐξ ὧν πέπονθεν τοῖς πειραζομένοις δύναιτ' ἂν βοηθήσειν. καὶ τί δεῖ πολλὰ λέγειν πρὸς σὲ τὸν εὖ εἰδότα καὶ ἐκ τῆς οἰκείας καταστάσεως καὶ προκοπῆς τὸν τηλικοῦτον ἀνιστοροῦντα; τῶν πολλῶν ὀφείλει προλάμπειν ὡς ἐν ἄστρασιν ἥλιος. Ἡνίκα τοίνυν οὐχ ὁρῶμεν τοιοῦτον, οὐδὲ ἀποτολμῶμεν ψηφίσασθαι. τοῦτο δὲ ὡς ἐν ὑπομνήσει μετὰ συστολῆς καὶ αἰδοῦς ὑποτιθέμεθα, ὅπερ ἀλάθητόν ἐστι πάντως τῇ πολυπείρῳ καὶ θείᾳ μεγαλονοίᾳ σου, ἵνα ἀπό τε τῶν ἐπισκόπων ἀπό τε τῶν ἡγουμένων ἀπό τε τῶν στυλιτῶν ἀπό τε τῶν ἐγκλειστῶν, εἶτα τοῦ κλήρου ὑποδεχόμενος ἐκλογὴν ἐξ αὐτῶν τε τῶν ἐπιδεδωκότων λαβὼν τοὺς ἐν συνέσει καὶ φρονήσει καὶ βίῳ τῶν ἄλλων προέχοντας (καταβάτωσαν γὰρ καὶ στυλῖται ἐκβαινέτωσάν τε καὶ ἐγκλειστοί, ἐπείπερ κοινῇ καὶ συμφέρον τὸ ζητούμενον) ἐπικρίνῃ καὶ συγκρίνῃ καὶ σὺν αὐτοῖς ἀποδείξῃ τὸν ἀξιώτερον. καὶ μακάριος εἴη, μᾶλλον δὲ καὶ τρισμακάριοι, ἐὰν τοῦτο ὅλον ἀπεργάσησθε, χριστομίμητοι ἡμῶν δεσπόται. καὶ ἐν τούτῳ ἔτι μᾶλλον κρατυνθήσεται ὑμῶν ἡ βασιλεία μεγαλυνθήσεταί τε τὸ ὄνομα ὑμῶν ἀπὸ γενεῶν εἰς γενεάς, αὐξηθήσεται δὲ καὶ τὰ τοῦ κράτους ὑμῶν ἔτη. ἐπειδὴ δύο ταῦτα δέδωκεν ὁ θεὸς τοῖς Χριστιανοῖς δωρήματα, ἱερωσύνην καὶ βασιλείαν, δι' ὧν θεραπεύεται, δι' ὧν κοσμεῖται ὡς ἐν οὐρανῷ τὰ ἐπίγεια· ὁποτέρως οὖν ἀναξίως ἔχει, καὶ τὸ ὅλον ἀνάγκη συγκινδυνεύειν. Ὥστε εἰ βούλοισθε τῇ βασιλείᾳ ὑμῶν συγκροτεῖν τὰ μέγιστα καὶ διὰ τῆς βασιλείας ὑμῶν πᾶσι τοῖς Χριστιανοῖς, ἰσόρροπον τὸ ὅσον εἰς δύναμιν τῆς κατὰ τὴν βασιλείαν ἀρετῆς ὑμῶν δέξηται καὶ ἡ ἐκκλησία τὸν ἑαυτῆς πρόεδρον, ἵνα ἀγαλλιάσηται τὰ οὐράνια καὶ ᾄσῃ τὰ ἐπίγεια. εἴη ἡ χεὶρ τοῦ θεοῦ, ἐν ᾗ καὶ ἡ καρδία ὑμῶν ἐστιν, εἰς ὁδηγίαν καὶ ἀποκάλυψιν τοῦ κρείττονος· καὶ ἀπολήψεσθε παρ' αὐτῆς τοὺς ὑπὲρ τοῦ ἔργου τούτου καταβαλλομένους ὑμῖν πόνους καὶ μερίμνας καὶ φροντίδας, τὴν βασιλείαν τὴν ἀδιάδοχον.

17 {1Ἰωάννῃ σπαθαρίῳ}1

Θεῖόν τι δρᾶμα ἀκηκοότες πεπρακέναι σου τὴν κυριότητα τεθαυμάκαμεν ἐπὶ

τῇ μεγάλῃ σου ὡς ἀληθῶς πίστει, ἄνθρωπε τοῦ θεοῦ. φασὶ γὰρ ὁ διδάξας χρήσασθαί σε τῇ ἱερᾷ εἰκόνι τοῦ μεγαλομάρτυρος ∆ημητρίου ἀντὶ ἀναδόχου τινὸς καὶ οὕτως ἐπιτελέσαι τὸ φώτισμα τοῦ θεοφυλάκτου σου τέκνου. καὶ ὢ τῆς πεποιθήσεως· οὐδὲ ἐν τῷ Ἰσραὴλ εὗρον τοσαύτην πίστιν ὁ Χριστὸς οὐ μόνον τότε τῷ ἑκατοντάρχῃ δοκῶ ἐπιφθέγξασθαι, ἀλλὰ καὶ σοὶ ἄρτι τῷ ἐφαμίλλῳ τῇ πίστει. εὕρατο τοίνυν ἐκεῖνος ὃ ἐπεζήτησεν, ἐπέτυχες καὐτὸς οὗ πέποιθας. ἐκεῖ τὸ θεῖον πρόσταγμα ἀντὶ τῆς σωματικῆς παρουσίας, κἀνταῦθα ἡ σωματικὴ εἰκὼν ἀντὶ τοῦ πρωτοτύπου· ἐκεῖ συμπαρῆν τῷ λόγῳ ὁ μέγας λόγος ἀοράτως τῇ θεότητι τὸ παράδοξον τῆς ἰάσεως ἐργασάμενος, κἀνταῦθα δὲ συνῆν ὁ μεγαλομάρτυς πνεύματι τῇ οἰκείᾳ εἰκόνι τὸ