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Therefore one must not help heretics in any way whatsoever, as heretics, even if it were permitted for all to pursue all things fearlessly; both for the reasons mentioned, lest we might unwittingly offend God; and because it is not good to give them license to parade in their own falsehood and to rise up against piety; lest, having been made prominent through us, like a serpent, they might be able, with the bite of deceit, to shake some of the more simple ones from the secure foundation according to the faith; and we too be found, though we do not wish it, partaking in the judgment hanging over them for this. For thus at first, the all-laudable prefect, having employed his usual sympathy also toward them, even bestowed on them wine worth much gold for their stay, along with a lavish provision of other necessities; when he found them blinded by the conceit of arrogance, he turned away. For immediately, as if by command, they began to assemble and to entice the daughters of the faithful; and to hide them and to deny them to their parents, who were searching for them for a considerable time; and to dare to perform propitiations and counterfeit baptisms; and having learned these things, after going to them many times with much entreaty, and having for a long time exhorted them to cease from such activities and to be united to the holy Church of God, and having accomplished nothing; 15Β_162 finally, when he saw the evil becoming great and unbearable, and the communities of the faithful murmuring about the things that were happening, fearing lest some disorder might befall them, as the faithful multitude of the Romans, who could not endure even the mere name of heretics, was boiling with anger against them, and having considered it proper and lawful that there should be an imperial counsel and decision about this, he reported everything through a petition, together with the most holy archbishop and the most glorious local magistrates, to our most pious emperor, and to the most holy patriarchs of both Rome and Constantinople. And so having received a serene letter from our most faithful emperor and a sacred one from the most blessed patriarchs, commanding that all heretics who persist in their own evil doctrine be driven from the country; and that the aforesaid women, if they were willing to come over to the holy, undefiled, and life-giving catholic Church, should have their own monasteries unmolested; but those who refused and were not persuaded to yield to the truth and to the imperial decree should be permanently distributed one by one in the monasteries of the orthodox, and that their property, according to the law, in which they especially 0465 trusted while lavishly supporting those who led them astray, should be added to the public treasury; he did everything zealously as he was commanded. Having persuaded, by the grace of Christ, all the heretics from Syria, and Egypt and Alexandria and Libya, to come over to the holy Church of God; and as for the aforesaid women, those from the monastery of Sacerdos, who had acted foolishly toward the command of the pious master on account of their ingrained arrogance, he distributed to the holy monasteries of the orthodox for the sake of fulfilling what had been piously commanded, dealing with some by entreaty, and with others by deference, and having become all things to all of them for God's sake; he persuaded them, having at last learned what was right, to be united to the catholic Church of God, along with many other monasteries; but those of Amma Joannia, who very prudently and reasonably, on account of the resplendent 15Β_164 truth of the ecclesiastical dogmas, came over with all joy, he restored to them all their own monasteries; having found a worthy reward for his genius in divine matters, namely, to be adorned as well with apostolic gifts, and to be named a genuine mouth of the Lord, according to the divine oracle that says, "If you bring forth the precious from the worthless, you shall be as my mouth." Or rather, having accomplished this great and wonderful work as a prelude of the divine recompense that awaits him, and a most faithful pledge of the glory with Christ.

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Οὐ δεῖ οὖν αἱρετικοῖς καθ᾿ οἷόν δήποτε τρόπον, ὡς αἱρετικοῖς, βοηθεῖν, εἰ καί πᾶσι πάντα μετελθεῖν ἀδεῶς ἐπετέτραπτο· διά τε τάς εἰρημένας αἰτίας, ἵνα μή τῷ Θεῷ προσκρούοντες λάθωμεν· καί μή καλόν εἶναι διδόναι αὐτοῖς ἄδειαν ἐμπομπεύειν τῷ οἰκείῳ ψεύδει, καί ἀνασείεσθαι κατά τῆς εὐσεβείας· ἵνα μή δι᾿ ἡμῶν ἐμφανισθέντες, ὄφεως δίκην, τῶν ἀφελεστέρων τινάς ἀπάτης δήγματι δυνηθῶσι τῆς κατά τήν πίστιν ἀσφαλοῦς βάσεως κατασεῖσαι· καί εὑρεθῶμεν καί ἡμεῖς, ὡς οὐ θέλομεν, τῆς ὑπέρ τούτου ἐπηρτημένης αὐτοῖς συμμετέχοντες δίκης. Οὕτω γάρ καταρχάς τῇ συνήθει χρησάμενος καί περί αὐτάς συμπαθείᾳ ὁ πανεύφημος ἔπαρχος, ὡς καί πολλοῦ χρυσίου ἄξιον οἶνον αὐταῖς δωρήσασθαι πρός καταμονήν μετά τῆς λοιπῆς τῶν χρειῶν δαψιλοῦς ἐπιδόσεως· ὥς ηὗρε τῇ οἰήσει τῆς ὑπερηφανίας τυφωθείσας αὐτάς, ἀπετράπη. Εὐθύς γάρ, ὥσπερ ἐξ ἐπιτάγματος, τοῦ συνάγειν ἤρξαντο, καί ὑποσείρειν πιστῶν θυγατέρας· κρύπτειν τε καί ἀρνεῖσθαι τούς γονέας, ἐφ᾿ ἱκανόν αὐτάς ἐπιζητοῦντας χρόνον· καί ἱλασμούς, καί παραβαπτίσματα ποιεῖν τολμᾷν· καί διά πολλῆς πολλάκις ἐλθών πρός αὐτάς παρακλήσεως ταῦτα μαθών, καί τῶν μέν τοιούτων παύσασθαι πραγμάτων, ἑνωθῆναι δέ τῇ ἁγίᾳ τοῦ Θεοῦ Ἐκκλησίᾳ ἐπί πολύ παραινέσας, καί μηδέν 15Β_162 ἀνύσας· τέλος, ὡς μέγα εἶδε καί ἄσχετον ἤδη γινόμενον τό κακόν, καί τούς δήμους τῶν πιστῶν ὑπολαλοῦντας τά γινόμενα, φοβηθείς μή τι εἰς αὐτάς ἄτακτον προέλθοι, θυμῷ ζέσαντος ἐπ᾿ αὐταῖς τοῦ πιστοῦ πλήθους τῶνῬωμαίων, μηδ᾿ αὐτῆς ψιλῆς ὀνομασίας τῶν αἱρετικῶν ἀνεχομένου, βουλῆς καί γνώμης περί τούτου γενέσθαι βασιλικῆς πρέπον καί ἔννομον ἡγησάμενος, πάντα δι᾿ ἀναφορᾶς, ἅμα τῷ ἁγιωτάτῳ ἀρχιεπισκόπῳ, καί τοῖς ἐνδοξοτάτοις τῶν ἐνταῦθα λογάσι, τῷ εὐσεβεστάτῳ ἡμῶν βασιλεῖ, καί τοῖς ἁγιωτάτοις πατριάρχαις τῷ τεῬώμης καί τῷ Κωσταντινουπόλεως ἀνήγαγε. Καί δή γαληνόν τοῦ πιστοτάτου ἡμῶν βασιλέως, καί ἱερόν τῶν μακαριωτάτων πατριαρχῶν δεξάμενος γράμμα, παρακελευόμενον πάντας μέν αἱρετικούς τῆς χώρας ἐλαύνεσθαι, τούς τῇ ἰδίᾳ κακοδοξίᾳ ἐμμένοντας· τάς δέ εἰρημένας γυναῖκας βουλομένας μέν τῇ ἁγίᾳ καί ἀχράντῳ καί ζωοποιῷ τῆς καθολικῆς Ἐκκλησίας προσελθεῖν, ἔχειν τά ἴδια κοινόβια ἀπαρεγχείρητα· ἀνανευούσας δέ τῇ τε ἀληθείᾳ, καί τῷ βασιλικῷ εἴκειν μή πειθομένας θεσπίσματι, διηνεκῶς ἐν τοῖς τῶν ὀρθοδόξων ἀσκητηρίοις κατά μίαν διῃρῆσθαι, καί τά πράγματα αὐτῶν κατά τόν νόμον, οἷς μάλιστα 0465 θαῤῥοῦσαι τούς αὐτάς πλανῶντας δαψιλῶς παρέτρεφον, τῷ δημοσίῳ προσχωρηθῆναι ταμείῳ· ἐποίησε πάντα σπουδαίως καθώς ἐκελεύσθη. Πάντας μέν χάριτι Χριστοῦ πείσας τούς ἀπό Συρίας αἱρετικούς, Αἰγύπτου τε καί Ἀλεξανδρείας καί Λιβύης, προσελθεῖν τῇ ἁγίᾳ τοῦ Θεοῦ Ἐκκλησίᾳ· τῶν δέ εἰρημένων γυναικῶν, τάς μέν ἀπό τῆς μονῆς τῶν Σακερδῶτος, ἀφρόνως πρός τήν κέλευσιν τοῦ εὐσεβοῦς δεσπότου διά τήν σύντροφον ὑπερηφανίαν ἐνεχθείσας, διανείμας εἰς τά εὐαγῆ τῶν ὀρθοδόξων ἀσκητήρια, πληρώσεως ἕνεκεν τῶν εὐσεβῶς κεκελευσμένων, καί τάς μέν παρακλήσει, τάς δέ καί ὑποπτώσει, καί πάντα πάσαις διά τόν Θεόν γενόμενος· ὀψέ ποτε τό δέον μεταμαθούσας, ἑνωθῆναι τῇ τοῦ Θεοῦ καθολικῇ Ἐκκλησίᾳ πείσας, σύν ἄλλοις πολλοῖς κοινοβίοις· τάς δέ τῆς ἀμμᾶς Ἰωαννίας, ἐμφρόνως μάλα γε εἰκότως, διά τήν προλάμπουσαν 15Β_164 τῶν ἐκκλησιαστικῶν δογμάτων ἀλήθειαν, μετά πάσης χαρᾶς προσελθούσας, ἀποκατέστησεν πᾶσί τε καί πάσαις τά ἴδια μοναστήρια· μισθόν ἐπάξιον τῆς αὐτοῦ περί τά θεῖα μεγαλοφυΐας εὑράμενος, τό καί ἀποστολικοῖς κοσμηθῆναι χαρίσμασι, καί στόμα Κυρίου γνήσιον χρηματίσαι, κατά τό φάσκον θεῖον λόγιον, Ἐάν ἐξαγάγῃς τίμιον ἐξ ἀναξίου, ὡς στόμα μου ἔσῃ. Μᾶλλον δέ τῆς μενούσης αὐτόν θείας ἀμοιβῆς προοίμιον, καί τῆς σύν Χριστῷ δόξης ἀῤῤαβῶνα πιστότατον, τοῦτο τό μέγα καί θαυμαστόν ἔργον κομισάμενος.