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in which the souls of the parents were suspended; and alas for the disaster (for passion interrupts even speaking), this one too is gone from your eyes and, what is more pitiable, not even in the sight of his father's presence. And why must I dramatize the disaster? Your heart is cut, that of the father, of the mother, of the lady patricia, and a sword has passed through the midst of both. And no word will heal the pain, no consolation, not from man, not from an angel, but from God alone, who has so disposed the boundaries of our life; for it is he, my lord, who has taken your thrice-longed-for child, just as he took those who went before. Your situation is indeed grievous, but not so in every way for those who have been taken, since, undefiled and stainless from sins on account of their recent birth, having departed from this world for the blessed and impassible life, they dance in the bosom of Abraham, they are gathered with holy infants, they sing praises with Christ-bearing children. Therefore the most beautiful children have not perished, but have been saved for you and abide; and you will see them a little later, when this temporal life receives its end, rejoicing and exulting not in a short lifespan, but in the perfection of the fullness of Christ, as it is written. Therefore we beseech and entreat you to soothe yourselves with these thoughts according to the truth and from there to remove the immeasurable grief of your soul. For the Lord has given us measures, so that we may both show our natural affection and not transgress the limits of self-sufficiency; for the one moves the divine to pity, while the other makes one oppose the decrees of providence. And the one gladdens those who have departed, while the other is accustomed to grieve the very ones who have obtained rest; for everyone wishes to rejoice in his own joy, and not that those who profess to love him be grieved. But we believe that the lady chartoularia will again conceive and bear a son, no longer short-lived, but long-lived for the succession of the family, only if we moderate our passion and render grateful offerings in deed and word to the Lord Christ on behalf of the child. 30 {1To Patriarch Nikephoros}1 It is not necessary to signify by letter to the angel of Your Beatitude what was previously announced by mouth, even if not by both of us humble ones; but lest yesterday's assembly of bishops at your command, having taught something different from what was said in it by us, should trouble your sacred ears, we thought it fitting to report in summary the entire substance of our defense. We, therefore, O most blessed one, are orthodox in all things, rejecting every heresy and accepting every approved ecumenical and local synod, and moreover we also hold fast to the sacred and canonical formulations pronounced by them; for it is not possible for one who thinks he holds the right faith but is not guided by the divine canons to handle aright the word of truth completely. And indeed we also accept the lawful economies applied by the saints from time to time, since even for us humble ones to now greet Your Holiness on account of the expulsion of the oikonomos is not a matter of strictness, but of those who greatly apply economy and come together. And on this account we received the most holy patriarch who preceded Your Holiness in the present matter, when we returned from exile, the adulterous union having been broken and the oikonomos having been barred from sacred ministry, because "4let us have no part, because you indifferently give communion to the adulterer, neither in this age nor in the one to come"5. when he had already said that "4I was using economy even in giving him communion for a time"5, and then had declared thus, that "4my hands would have been cut off for the adulterous crowning, rather than that I crowned at all"5, on these terms, therefore, we have been in communion with him until

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ἐν ᾧ αἱ ψυχαὶ ἀπεκρέμαντο τῶν τεκόντων· καὶ φεῦ τῆς συμφορᾶς (ἐγκόπτει γὰρ τὸ πάθος καὶ τὸ φθέγγεσθαι), ᾤχετο καὶ τοῦτο ἐξ ὀφθαλμῶν ὑμῶν καί, τό γε ἐλεεινότερον, μηδὲ ἐπ' ὄψεως τῆς πατρικῆς παρουσίας. καὶ τί δεῖ ἐκτραγῳδεῖν τὴν συμφοράν; τέτμηται ὑμῶν ἡ καρδία, τοῦ πατρός, τῆς μητρός, τῆς κυρίας τῆς πατρικίας, καὶ ῥομφαία διὰ μέσου ἀμφοτέρων διελήλυθεν. καὶ τὸ ἄλγος θεραπεύσει οὐ λόγος, οὐ παραμύθιον, οὐκ ἐξ ἀνθρώπου, οὐκ ἐξ ἀγγέλου, ἀλλ' ἐκ μόνου θεοῦ, τοῦ οὕτως διαθεμένου τοὺς τῆς ζωῆς ἡμῶν ὅρους· αὐτὸς γάρ ἐστι, δέσποτά μου, ὁ τὸ τριπόθητον ὑμῶν τέκνον προσλαβόμενος, ὥσπερ καὶ τὰ προλαβόντα προσληψάμενος. Λυπηρὸν μὲν καὶ λίαν τὸ καθ' ὑμᾶς, οὐ πάντως δὲ καὶ τοῖς προσληφθεῖσιν, ἐπειδὴ ἄχραντοι καὶ ἀκηλίδωτοι ἐξ ἁμαρτιῶν διὰ τῆς ἀρτιγενείας ἐκχωρήσαντες τῶν ἐνθένδε πρὸς τὸν μακάριον καὶ ἀπαθῆ βίον ἐν κόλποις Ἀβραὰμ χορεύουσιν, μετὰ ἁγίων νηπίων συναλίζονται, μετὰ παίδων χριστοφόρων ἀναμέλπουσιν. ὥστε οὐκ ἀπόλωλεν τὰ κάλλιστα τέκνα, ἀλλὰ σέσωσται ὑμῖν καὶ διαμένει· καὶ ἐπόψεσθε αὐτὰ μικρὸν ὕστερον, ἡνίκα τέλος δέξηται ἡ χρονικὴ ζωὴ αὕτη, χαίροντα καὶ ἀγαλλιώμενα οὐκ ἐν βραχείᾳ ἡλικίᾳ, ἀλλ' ἐν τελειότητι τοῦ πληρώματος τοῦ Χριστοῦ, καθὼς γέγραπται. διὸ παρακαλοῦμεν καὶ ἀντιβολοῦμεν τοῖς λογισμοῖς τούτοις κατεπᾴδειν ἑαυτοῖς κατὰ τὸ ἀληθὲς καὶ ἐντεῦθεν ἐξαίρειν τὸ ἄμετρον λυπηρὸν τῆς ψυχῆς. μέτρα γὰρ ἔδωκεν ἡμῖν ὁ Κύριος, ἵνα καὶ τὰ φυσικὰ σπλάγχνα ἐνδεικνύμεθα καὶ τοὺς τῆς αὐταρκείας ὅρους μὴ ὑπερβαίνωμεν· τὸ μὲν γὰρ εἰς ἔλεον κινεῖ τὸ θεῖον, τὸ δὲ ἀντιφέρεσθαι ποιεῖ τοῖς τῆς προνοίας διατάγμασιν. καὶ τὸ μὲν εὐφραίνει τοὺς ἀπελθόντας, τὸ δὲ λυπεῖν εἴωθεν αὐτοὺς τοὺς ἀναπαύσεως λαχόντας· πᾶς γάρ τις βούλεται χαίρειν ἐπὶ τῇ οἰκείᾳ χαρᾷ, ἀλλ' οὐχὶ λυπεῖσθαι τοὺς φιλεῖν ὁμολογοῦντας. Ἡμεῖς δὲ πιστεύομεν καὶ πάλιν ἐν γαστρὶ ἕξειν τὴν κυρίαν τὴν χαρτουλαρέαν καὶ τέξεσθαι υἱὸν οὐκέτι ταχύμορον, ἀλλὰ μακροημερεύοντα εἰς διαδοχὴν γένους, μόνον ἐὰν μετριώσωμεν τὸ πάθος καὶ τὰς ὑπὲρ τοῦ παιδὸς ἀποδῶμεν ἔργῳ καὶ λόγῳ προσφορὰς εὐχαρίστους τῷ δεσπότῃ Χριστῷ. 30 {1Νικηφόρῳ πατριάρχῃ}1 Οὐκ ἀναγκαῖον διὰ γράμματος σημᾶναι τῷ ἀγγέλῳ τῆς μακαριότητός σου ἃ διὰ στόματος προανηγγέλθη, εἰ καὶ μὴ δι' ἀμφοτέρων ἡμῶν τῶν ταπεινῶν· ἀλλ' ἵνα μὴ ἡ χθὲς κατὰ τὴν κέλευσίν σου συνέλευσις τῶν ἐπισκόπων, ἕτερόν τι διδάξασα παρὰ τὰ ἐν αὐτῇ ὑφ' ἡμῶν ῥηθέντα, ἐπιθολώσῃ τὰς ἱεράς σου ἀκοάς, ἁρμόζον ἡγησάμεθα ἀνενεγκεῖν ἐν κεφαλαίῳ τὴν ὅλην τῆς ἀπολογίας ἡμῶν σύστασιν. ἡμεῖς τοίνυν, ὦ μακαριώτατε, ὀρθόδοξοί ἐσμεν κατὰ πάντα, πᾶσαν αἵρεσιν ἀποβαλλόμενοι καὶ πᾶσαν σύνοδον οἰκουμενικήν τε καὶ τοπικὴν ἐγκεκριμένην ἀποδεχόμενοι, οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰς παρ' αὐτῶν ἐκφωνηθείσας ἱερὰς καὶ κανονικὰς διατυπώσεις ἀσφαλῶς κατέχομεν· μηδὲ γὰρ ὀρθοτομεῖν ἔστι τελείως τὸν λόγον τῆς ἀληθείας τὸν τὴν πίστιν ὀρθὴν οἰόμενον ἔχειν, τοῖς δὲ θείοις κανόσι μὴ ἀπευθυνόμενον. καὶ μὴν καὶ τὰς ἐνθέσμους ὑπὸ τῶν ἁγίων κατὰ καιρὸν οἰκονομίας προσιέμεθα, ἐπεὶ καὶ ἡμῶν τῶν ταπεινῶν νῦν τὸ τὴν ἁγιωσύνην σου διὰ τὴν ἐκβολὴν τοῦ οἰκονόμου ἀσπάζεσθαι οὐ τῶν ἀκριβευομένων ἐστίν, τῶν δὲ λίαν οἰκονομούντων καὶ συνερχομένων. καὶ τὸν προηγησάμενον τὴν ἁγιωσύνην σου ὁσιώτατον πατριάρχην τῷ λόγῳ τούτῳ ἐδεξάμεθα εἰς τὴν προκειμένην ὑπόθεσιν, ἡνίκα ἐπανήλθομεν τῆς ἐξορίας, διαρραγείσης μὲν τῆς μοιχικῆς συναφείας, εἰρχθέντος δὲ τοῦ οἰκονόμου τῆς ἱερουργίας, ὅτι "4μὴ ἔστω ἡμῖν μέρος ἕνεκεν τοῦ ἀδιαφόρως ὑπὸ τῆς ὁσιότητός σου μεταλαμβάνειν τὸν μοιχεύσαντα, μήτε ἐν τῷ νῦν αἰῶνι μήτε ἐν τῷ μέλλοντι"5. ἤδη εἰπόντος αὐτοῦ ὅτι "4οἰκονομίᾳ ἐχρώμην καὶ αὐτῷ τῷ μεταδιδεῖν ἕως καιροῦ"5, εἶτα καὶ οὕτως δηλώσαντος, ὅτι "4αἱ χεῖρές μου κεκομμέναι ἂν ὑπῆρχον εἰς τὸ μοιχικὸν στεφάνωμα ἢ ἐγὼ ὅλως ἐστεφάνουν"5, ἐπὶ τούτοις τοίνυν κεκοινωνήκαμεν αὐτῷ μέχρι