34
helping, either pointing out a reef, or indicating a hidden rock, or receiving and pulling a rope. And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly, and will gladden our ears with your calm, saying to the raging sea: Be silent, be still . But you, offer your prayers for us to him. For you have greater boldness, as ones who have undertaken dangers for his sake. 79 TO ANATOLIUS THE PATRICIAN. The Lord God has given us the greatest comfort in the present time, your magnificence, and has provided a suitable harbor for the storm. For this reason, taking courage, we inform your greatness of the things that grieve us. Formerly, then, we made known to your eminence how the party of the most magnificent Count Rufus showed us a memorandum written by the imperial hand, ordering the most valiant general to arrange with prudence and care for us to live in Cyrrhus, and not to go to another city, on the grounds that we were constantly convening synods in Antioch and disturbing the orthodox. But at the present time I make known that, having obeyed the imperial letter, I have taken up residence in Cyrrhus; and when six or seven days had passed, they sent to me the devoted Euphronius, the stratelatianus, with letters demanding that I acknowledge in writing that the imperial letter had been shown to me; and I have done this, and promised to remain in Cyrrhus and its territory, and to shepherd the souls entrusted to me. I beseech your eminence, therefore, to learn precisely both if these things have truly been ordered, and for what reason. For I am conscious of many other sins in myself, but I do not know that I have done anything wrong either against the Church of God or against the public order. And I write these things, not as being displeased with my life in Cyrrhus; for in truth, I consider it more desirable than any most splendid city, because this lot has been given to me by God. But to be bound by necessity, and not by choice, seems somehow to be grievous, and in addition to this it gives a pretext to wrongdoers to be insolent and not to obey our exhortations. For which reason I beseech your greatness, if nothing of the sort has been ordered, to make this clear to me; but if the letters are truly from the victorious emperor, to teach his piety not to be readily persuaded by slanders, nor to give ear to the accusers alone, but to demand an accounting from the accused. And the testimony of the facts themselves would have been sufficient to persuade his piety that the things said against us are false. For when did we trouble his serenity about any matter, or the great officials, or become burdensome to the property-owners here, who are many and distinguished? And that we have also spent much of the ecclesiastical revenue on public buildings, erecting porticoes and baths, and constructing bridges, and taking care of the other common needs, your eminence knows. But if some are displeased for this reason, that we lament the destruction of the Churches of Phoenicia, let your greatness be persuaded that it is not possible for us not to grieve, seeing the horn of the Jews raised on high, and Christians in lamentations and wailings, even if they send us to the very ends of the world. And we cannot but fight for the apostolic doctrines; for we remember the apostolic voice which says: We must obey God rather than men . And of the griefs here the judgment seat of the Lord Christ to us
34
ἐπικουροῦντας, καὶ ἢ πρόβολον ἐπι δεικνύντας, ἢ βράχος κεκρυμμένον μηνύοντας, ἢ σχοῖνον δεχομένους καὶ ἕλκοντας. Ὁ δὲ θεὸς τῆς εἰρήνης συντρίψει τὸν Σατανᾶν ὑπὸ τοὺς πόδας ὑμῶν ἐν τάχει, καὶ εὐφρανεῖ τὰς ἡμετέρας ἀκοὰς τῇ ὑμετέρᾳ γαλήνῃ, εἰπὼν τῇ μαινομένῃ θαλάττῃ· Σιώπα, πεφίμωσο . Ὑμεῖς δὲ τὰς ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν προσευχὰς αὐτῷ προσενέγκατε. Πλείονα γὰρ ἔχετε παρρησίαν, ὡς τοὺς ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ κινδύνους ἀναδεξάμενοι. 79 ΑΝΑΤΟΛΙΩ ΠΑΤΡΙΚΙΩ. ∆έδωκεν ἡμῖν ὁ ∆εσπότης Θεὸς μεγίστην παραψυχὴν ἐν τῷ παρόντι καιρῷ τὴν ὑμετέραν μεγαλοπρέπειαν καὶ τῷ κλύ δωνι τὸν λιμένα παρέσχε κατάλληλον. ∆ιά τοι τοῦτο θαρ ροῦντες τὰ λυποῦντα διδάσκομεν τὸ ὑμέτερον μέγεθος. Πρώην μὲν οὖν ἐγνωρίσαμεν ὑμῶν τῇ μεγαλοφυΐᾳ, ὡς ὑπέδειξαν ἡμῖν οἱ περὶ τὸν μεγαλοπρεπέστατον κόμητα Ῥοῦφον ὑπομνηστικὸν τῇ βασιλικῇ γεγραμμένον χειρί, παρακελευόμενον τῷ ἀνδρειο τάτῳ στρατηγῷ, μετὰ φρονήσεως καὶ ἐμμελείας παρασκευάσαι ἡμᾶς ἐν τῇ Κύρρῳ διάγειν, καὶ εἰς ἑτέραν μὴ ἀπιέναι πόλιν, ὡς συνόδους συνεχῶς εἰς τὴν Ἀντιόχειαν συνάγοντας, καὶ τοὺς ὀρθοδόξους ταράττοντας. Ἐπὶ δὲ τοῦ παρόντος γνωρίζω, ὡς τῷ βασιλικῷ πεισθεὶς γράμματι τὴν Κύρρον κατέλαβον· καὶ ἓξ ἢ ἑπτὰ διελθουσῶν ἡμερῶν, ἀπέστειλαν πρός με τὸν καθωσιωμένον Εὐφρόνιον, τὸν στρατηλατιανόν, μετὰ γραμμά των ἀπαιτοῦντές με καθομολογῆσαι ἐγγράφως, ὡς ἐνεφανίσθη μοι τὸ βασιλικὸν γράμμα· ἐγὼ δὲ καὶ τοῦτο πεποίηκα, καὶ ὑπεσχόμην τῇ Κύρρῳ καὶ τῇ ταύτης προσεδρεύειν χώρᾳ, καὶ τὰς ἐγχειρισθείσας μοι ποιμαίνειν ψυχάς. Παρακαλῶ τοίνυν τὴν ὑμετέραν μεγαλοφυΐαν, μαθεῖν ἀκρι βῶς, καὶ εἰ ἀληθῶς ταῦτα προστέτακται, καὶ διὰ ποίαν αἰτίαν. Ἐγὼ γὰρ ἄλλας μὲν ἁμαρτίας ἐμαυτῷ πολλὰς σύνοιδα, οὐ μὴν ἢ εἰς τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἢ εἰς τὴν κοινὴν εὐταξίαν οἶδά τι πλημμελήσας. Καὶ ταῦτα γράφω, οὐχ ὡς δυσχεραίνων τὴν ἐν Κύρρῳ διαγωγήν· ὡς γὰρ ἐπὶ τῆς ἀληθείας, πάσης πόλεως λαμπροτάτης αἱρετωτέραν ταύτην ἡγοῦμαι, διὰ τὸ παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ μοι τοῦτον δεδόσθαι τὸν κλῆρον. Τὸ δὲ ἀνάγκῃ προσδεδέσθαι, καὶ μὴ γνώμῃ, δοκεῖ πως εἶναι ἀνιαρόν, καὶ πρὸς τούτοις πρόφασιν δίδωσι τοῖς ἀδικοῦσι θρασύνεσθαι καὶ ταῖς ἡμετέραις μὴ πείθεσθαι παραινέσεσιν. Οὗ δὴ χάριν παρακαλῶ τὸ ὑμέτερον μέγεθος, εἰ μὲν οὐδὲν τοιοῦτο προστέτακται, δῆλόν μοι τοῦτο ποιῆσαι· εἰ δὲ ἀληθῶς τοῦ καλλινίκου βασιλέως ἐστὶ τὰ γράμματα, διδάξαι αὐτοῦ τὴν εὐσέβειαν, μὴ πείθεσθαι ῥᾳδίως διαβολαῖς, μηδὲ μόνοις τοῖς κατηγόροις διδόναι τὰς ἀκοάς, ἀλλ' ἀπαιτεῖν εὐθύνας τὸν κατηγορούμενον. Ἤρκει δὲ καὶ αὐτὴ τῶν πραγμάτων ἡ μαρτυ ρία πεῖσαι αὐτοῦ τὴν εὐσέβειαν, ὡς ψευδῆ τὰ καθ' ἡμῶν εἰρημένα. Πότε γὰρ ἡμεῖς τὴν αὐτοῦ γαληνότητα περὶ πράγ ματος ἠνωχλήσαμεν, ἢ τοὺς μεγάλους ἄρχοντας, ἢ τοῖς ἐν ταῦθα κεκτημένοις, πολλοῖς οὖσιν καὶ λαμπροῖς, βαρεῖς ἐγε νόμεθα; Ὅτι δὲ καὶ πολλὰ τῆς ἐκκλησιαστικῆς προσόδου εἰς τὰ δημόσια ἀνηλώσαμεν οἰκοδομήματα, στοὰς ἐγείροντες καὶ λουτρά, καὶ γεφύρας κατασκευάζοντες, καὶ τῶν κοινῶν τῶν ἄλλων ἐπιμελούμενοι, οἶδεν ἡ ὑμετέρα μεγαλοφυΐα. Εἰ δὲ διὰ τοῦτό τινες δυσχεραίνουσιν, ὅτι τῶν τῆς Φοινίκης Ἐκκλησιῶν θρηνοῦμεν τὴν κατάλυσιν, πεπείσθω ὑμῶν τὸ μέγεθος, ὡς οὐχ οἷόν τε ἡμᾶς μὴ ἀλγεῖν, ὁρῶντας τῶν Ἰουδαίων τὸ κέρας εἰς ὕψος αἰρόμενον, καὶ τοὺς Χριστιανοὺς ἐν ὀδυρμοῖς καὶ θρή νοις, κἂν εἰς αὐτὰς πέμψωσι τὰς τῆς οἰκουμένης ἐσχατιάς. Καὶ τῶν ἀποστολικῶν δὲ δογμάτων μὴ ὑπερμαχεῖν οὐ δυνά μεθα· μεμνήμεθα γὰρ τῆς ἀποστολικῆς λεγούσης φωνῆς· Πειθαρχεῖν δεῖ Θεῷ μᾶλλον ἢ ἀνθρώποις . Καὶ τῶν ἐνταῦθα δὲ λυπηρῶν τὸ τοῦ ∆εσπότου Χριστοῦ δικαστήριον ἡμῖν