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a bishop, whom the Holy Spirit will appoint, you will have done a good work, and what indeed could be more worthy of paternal blessings?

121. TO THEODORE 121.1 We rejoice in symbols of love, and especially of a time

like this and from one like this, at once newly established and perfect, and, that I might greet you with words from Scripture, 20established in youth20; for so it calls that which is greater in wisdom than in age. 121.2 The fathers of old, then, used to pray for their children for 20the dew of heaven and the fatness of the earth20 among other things (unless someone prefers to understand these things in a higher sense), but we will give you the whole in return spiritually: 121.3 20May the Lord fulfill all your requests20, and may you become the father of such children (if I must pray for you briefly and fittingly) as you show yourself to be to your own fathers, so that we, among others, may be glorified in you. 122. To the Same 122.1 You owe us care as we are sick, if indeed one of the commandments is the visitation of the sick; and you also owe the holy martyrs their yearly honor, which we celebrate in your Arianzus on the twenty-second day of our month Dathousa. And at the same time, not a few ecclesiastical matters require common deliberation. 122.2 For all these reasons, then, deign to come without delay; for even if the labor is great, the reward is a worthy equivalent. 123. To the Same 123.1 I was delighted by your presence and I cherish your company, although I had otherwise admonished myself to stay at home and practice philosophy in quiet; for I found this to be more profitable for myself than all things. 123.2 But since the weather is still turbulent and my illness has not abated, I ask you, be patient a little while longer, and pray with me for health; and when the time is right, we shall come, with your prayers. 124. To the Same 124.1 You call? And we hasten; but we hasten to approach you alone and by ourselves. For we greet synods and gatherings from afar, ever since we have had experience of many wicked ones, to put it mildly. What then still remains? Assist a righteous desire through your prayers, that we may obtain what we are zealous for. 125. To Olympius 125.1 Even gray hair is taught a lesson, and old age, it seems, is not entirely trustworthy for wisdom. I, at any rate, knowing better than anyone the thought and impiety of the Apollinarians, but seeing their unendurable folly, thought that by long-suffering I would make them gentle and soften them little by little, which I indeed stretched my hopes for. 125.2 But I was unaware, as it seems, that I was making them worse and harming the Church by my ill-timed philosophy; for gentleness does not shame the wicked. 125.3 And now, if it were possible for me to explain these things myself, I would not have hesitated, know this well, even exerting myself beyond my strength, to fall before your honor. 125.4 But since my illness has advanced further and it became necessary to use the hot springs of Xanxaris, on the advice of the physicians, I am writing this letter in place of myself. 125.5 The wicked men—and may they perish wickedly—have dared, in addition to all their other deeds, to summon bishops deposed by every synod of the East and West, or to misuse them as they were passing by (for I cannot say this precisely), and rising up against all imperial decrees and your commands, to bestow the name of bishop on one of the impious and counterfeit men among them, emboldened, I think, by nothing so much as by my decrepitude (for so I must call it). 125.6 If these things are tolerable, let your firmness bear them; and we too will bear them, just as we have often borne them. But if they are grievous and not to be borne even by the most pious emperors themselves, deign to proceed against what has been done, even if it is less than their folly deserves. 126. To the Same 126.1 I took courage from a dream. For having been carried as far as the monastery so as to receive some comfort from the bath, then hoping for your visit and, as it were, already holding the good thing in my hands, and for some days

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ἐπίσκοπον, ὃν ἀναδείξει τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον, ἔργον ἔσεσθε ἀγαθὸν εἰργασμένοι, καὶ τί ἂν γὰρ ἢ πατρικῶν εὐλογιῶν ἄξιον;

121.Τ ΘΕΟ∆ΩΡΩΙ 121.1 Ἀγάπης συμβόλοις ἡδόμεθα, καὶ μάλιστα καιροῦ

τοιούτου καὶ παρὰ τοιούτου νεοπαγοῦς τε ὁμοῦ καὶ τελείου, καί, ἵνα σε τοῖς ἀπὸ τῆς Γραφῆς δεξιώσωμαι, 20ἱδρυμένου ἐν τῇ νεότητι20· οὕτω γὰρ ἐκείνη καλεῖ τὸ πλεῖον ἐν συνέσει τῆς ἡλικίας. 121.2 Οἱ μὲν οὖν παλαιοὶ πατέρες 20δρόσον οὐρανοῦ καὶ πιότητα γῆς20 μετὰ τῶν ἄλλων ἐπηύχοντο τοῖς παισὶν (εἰ μή τῳ φίλον καὶ ταῦτα νοεῖν ὑψηλότερον), ἡμεῖς δέ σοι τὸ πᾶν πνευματικῶς ἀντιδώσομεν· 121.3 20Πληρώσαι Κύριος πάντα τὰ αἰτή ματά σου20, καὶ γένοιο τοιούτων τέκνων πατὴρ (εἰ δεῖ σοι συντόμως καὶ οἰκείως ἐπεύξασθαι) οἷον σεαυτὸν ὑποφαίνεις τοῖς σοῖς πατράσιν, ὡς ἂν τά τε ἄλλα καὶ ἡμεῖς ἐπὶ σοὶ δοξαζοίμεθα. 122.Τ ΤΩΙ ΑΥΤΩΙ 122.1 Χρεωστεῖς μὲν ἡμῖν καὶ ὡς νοσεροῖς θεραπείας, εἴπερ μία τῶν ἐντολῶν ἀσθενούντων ἐπίσκεψις· χρεωστεῖς δὲ καὶ τοῖς ἁγίοις μάρτυσι τὴν δι' ἔτους τιμήν, ἣν ἐν Ἀριανζοῖς τοῖς σοῖς ἑορτάζομεν τῇ εἰκάδι δευτέρᾳ τοῦ καθ' ἡμᾶς μηνὸς ∆αθοῦσα. Καὶ ἅμα οὐκ ὀλίγα τῶν ἐκκλησιαστικῶν δεῖται κοινῆς διασκέψεως. 122.2 Πάντων οὖν ἕνεκεν ἀόκνως παραγενέσθαι καταξίωσον· καὶ γάρ, εἰ πολὺς ὁ κάματος, ἀλλ' ἀντίρροπος ὁ μισθός. 123.Τ ΤΩΙ ΑΥΤΩΙ 123.1 Ἡδέσθην σου τὴν παρουσίαν καὶ στέργω τὴν συνουσίαν, καίτοι γε ἄλλως ἐμαυτὸν νουθετήσας οἴκοι μένειν καὶ καθ' ἡσυχίαν φιλοσοφεῖν· τοῦτο γὰρ εὗρον ἐμαυτῷ ἐκ πάντων λυσιτελέστερον. 123.2 Ἐπεὶ δὲ οἵ τε ἀέρες ἔτι ταραχώδεις καὶ οὐκ ἀνῆκεν ἡ ἀρρωστία, παρα καλῶ, μικρὸν μακροθύμησον, συνεύχου δὲ τὴν ὑγίειαν· καὶ ἡνίκα ἂν ᾖ καιρός, ἐπιστησόμεθα σαῖς εὐχαῖς. 124.Τ ΤΩΙ ΑΥΤΩΙ 124.1 Καλεῖς; Ἡμεῖς δὲ σπεύδομεν· σπεύδομεν δὲ μόνῳ πλησιάσαι καὶ μόνοι. Συνόδους γὰρ καὶ συλλόγους πόρρωθεν ἀσπαζόμεθα, ἐξ οὗ μοχθηρῶν πεπειράμεθα τῶν πολλῶν, οὕτω γὰρ εἰπεῖν μέτριον. Τί οὖν ἔτι λείπεται; Πόθῳ δικαίῳ βοήθησον διὰ τῶν εὐχῶν, ἵνα τύχωμεν ὧν σπουδάζομεν. 125.Τ ΟΛΥΜΠΙΩΙ 125.1 Παιδεύεταί τι καὶ πολιά, καὶ οὐ πάντη τὸ γῆρας, ὡς ἔοικεν, εἰς σύνεσιν ἀξιόπιστον. Ἐγὼ γοῦν πάντων μὲν μάλιστα τῶν Ἀπολλιναριστῶν εἰδὼς τὴν ἐνθύμησιν καὶ ἀσέβειαν, ὁρῶν δὲ οὐκ ἀνεκτὴν τὴν ἀπόνοιαν, ἐνόμιζον τῇ μακροθυμίᾳ πρᾴους ποιήσειν καὶ μαλάξειν κατὰ μικρόν, ὅπερ οὖν καὶ ταῖς ἐλπίσιν ὑπέτεινον. 125.2 Ἔλαθον δέ, ὡς ἔοικε, κἀκείνους χείρους ποιήσας καὶ τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν βλάψας τῇ ἀκαίρῳ φιλοσοφίᾳ· οὐ γὰρ δυσωπεῖ τοὺς πονηροὺς ἐπιείκεια. 125.3 Καὶ νῦν, εἰ μὲν αὐτό μοι δυνατὸν ἦν δι' ἐμαυτοῦ ταῦτα διδάξαι, οὐκ ἂν ὤκνησα, εὖ ἴσθι, καὶ παρὰ δύναμιν κινηθεὶς προσπεσεῖν τῇ σῇ τιμιότητι. 125.4 Ἐπειδὴ δὲ περαιτέρω προήγαγεν ἡμᾶς ἡ ἀρρωστία καὶ τοῖς Ξανξαρίδος θερμοῖς χρήσασθαι ἀναγκαῖον ἐγένετο, τῶν ἰατρῶν τοῦτο συμβουλευσάντων, ἀντ' ἐμαυτοῦ ποιοῦμαι τὰ γράμματα. 125.5 Ἐτόλμησαν οἱ κακοὶ καὶ κακῶς ἀπολούμενοι πρὸς πᾶσι τοῖς ἄλλοις καὶ καθῃρη μένους ἐπισκόπους ὑπὸ πάσης ἀνατολικῆς καὶ δυτικῆς συνόδου καλέσαντες, ἢ παριοῦσι καταχρησάμενοι (οὐ γὰρ ἔχω τοῦτο εἰπεῖν ἀκριβῶς), καὶ πασῶν κατεξαναστάντες βασιλικῶν διατάξεων καὶ ὑμετέρων προσταγμάτων, ἐπισκό που ὄνομα περιθεῖναί τινι τῶν παρ' αὐτοῖς ἀσεβῶν καὶ κιβδήλων, οὐδενὶ τοσοῦτον, ὡς οἶμαι, ὅσον τῇ ἐμῇ νεκρώσει (τοῦτο γὰρ δεῖ λέγειν) θαρρήσαντες. 125.6 Ταῦτα εἰ μὲν ἀνεκτά, ἐνεγκάτω μὲν ἡ σὴ στερρότης· οἴσομεν δὲ καὶ ἡμεῖς, ὥσπερ οὖν καὶ πολλάκις ἠνέγκαμεν. Εἰ δὲ βαρέα καὶ οὐδὲ τοῖς εὐλαβεστάτοις βασιλεῦσιν αὐτοῖς φορητά, ἐπεξελθεῖν τοῖς γεγενημένοις, εἰ καὶ τῆς ἀπονοίας ἔλαττον, καταξίωσον. 126.Τ ΤΩΙ ΑΥΤΩΙ 126.1 Ὄναρ ηὐθύμησα. Καὶ γὰρ μέχρι τῆς μονῆς ἐνεχθεὶς ὥστε τινὸς ἐκ τοῦ λουτροῦ παραμυθίας τυχεῖν, εἶτα τὴν σὴν συντυχίαν ἐλπίσας καὶ ὥσπερ ἐν χεροῖν ἔχων ἤδη τὸ ἀγαθὸν καί τινας ἡμέρας