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so-called. For the doctrine of one and the same energy or will or nature in the same and one Lord our God is not Patristic, but rather heretical.
Such, then, was the manner of our acclamation toward that very man, that is, Pyrrhus, being eager to gently separate him from the opposing opinion, and to lead him back to the right doctrine of the faith. But if anyone, missing our purpose, is still displeased with the acclamation, not accepting the reason for our economy in this particular matter, let this be disregarded, and let the acclamation be cast aside as seems fit, being no longer lovely to us, but rather offensive after the man's complete deviation; but let the force of the orthodox dogmas defined against him be confirmed with us.
You have, holy Fathers, the explanation for your assurance through our apology; but be strong and be strengthened in spirit, not turning aside to the right or to the left, towards contrary men and dogmas; but being established and guided in the royal way 15Α_176 by Him who said, "I am the way, and the life, and the truth," being of one soul, thinking the same thing, and the God of peace shall be with you all, always piously proclaimed, and holily worshiped by you; and at the end of the blessed life and confession here, granting you there a more blessed inheritance and rest; with whom to the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, be glory, honor, power, worship, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
A COPY OF A LETTER TO THE LORD MARINUS THE PRESBYTER OF
CYPRUS 0193 A copy of a letter to the lord Marinus the presbyter of
Cyprus. 15Α_178 Being directed by divine law according to God, God-honored father, a law
you have overlooked the human, having exalted the moderate by emptying, and having magnified the perfect by poverty of my inexperience in both thought and speech, or rather rashness, to speak more properly; for I am not ashamed to duly declare my own passions and those of my weakness, and to reveal them with all the more eagerness, than you have been zealous to cover them with philanthropy. For who would ever have so accepted the word of one without words, and received the mind of a frenzied intellect, not to say at all, revered it, as you have mine, God-honored father, not only having overlooked the uneducated part for love's sake, you honored it in the highest degree; which is the greatest thing for the unadorned towards good repute, but also having, for grace's sake, bestowed upon it the reverence with which you are accustomed to beautifully adorn your own intellect, you have brightened it exceedingly; from which the word and manner of true nobility, or kinship with God, to speak more truly and more properly, is constituted; not knowing how to exalt more; for it is not its nature, or to cause moderation; for it is accustomed somehow to be immutably established towards humility, by the excess of things not belonging to it revealing more its lack, and making known its nakedness; and by the exhibition of things beyond my worth, imparting a more severe 15Α_180 sense of things according to my worth, when, having mastered the depth of the soul, it might cause one to see unveiled the magnitude of what is unseemly; having especially experienced this, by the elucidation of your prayers, I have grasped divine statutes, which the word of the economy beyond comprehension saw fit to providentially preserve and set forth to those like me who need and require guidance.
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λεγομένην. Οὐ γάρ Πατρικός, αἱρετικός δέ μᾶλλον ὁ περί μιᾶς καί τῆς αὐτῆς ἐνεργείας ἤ θελήσεως ἤ φύσεως λόγος, ἐπί τοῦ αὐτοῦ καί ἑνός Κυρίου ἡμῶν καί Θεοῦ.
Τῆς μέν οὖν πρός αὐτόν ἐκεῖνον, ἤγουν τόν Πύῤῥον, ἡμετέρας εὐφημίας τοιοῦτος ὁ τρόπος καθέστηκε, τῆς ἀντιῤῥόπου δόξης αὐτόν ἠρέμα διϊστᾷν ἐπειγόμενος, καί πρός τόν ὀρθόν ἐπαναβιβάζειν λόγον τῆς πίστεως. Εἰ δέ τις τοῦ καθ᾿ ἡμᾶς, διαμαρτάνων σκοποῦ, πρός τήν εὐφημίαν ἔτι δυσφορεῖ, τήν τῆς ἡμετέρας οἰκονομίας ἐν τούτῳ δή μάλιστα λόγον οὐκ ἀποδεχόμενος, παρείσθω δή τούτω, καί διαῤῥιπτέσθω κατά τό δοκοῦν ἡ εὐφημία, μηδέ ἡμῖν λοιπόν ἐπέραστος οὖσα, προσάντης δέ μᾶλλον μετά τήν τελείαν τἀνδρός ἐκτροπήν· κυρούσθω δέ σύν ἡμῖν τῶν πρός αὐτόν ὀρθοδόξως δογματισθέντων ἡ δύναμις.
Ἔχετε, Πατέρες ἅγιοι, τῆς πληροφορίας διά τῆς ἡμετέρας ἀπολογίας τόν λόγον· ἀλλ᾿ ἀνδρίζεσθε, καί κραταιοῦσθε πνεύματι, μή παρακλινόμενοι δεξιά ἤ ἀριστερά, πρός τῶν ἐναντίων ἀνδρῶν καί δογμάτων· ἀλλ᾿ ὁδῷ βασιλικῇ στηριζόμενοί τε καί ποδηγούμενοι 15Α_176 παρ᾿ αὐτοῦ τοῦ εἰπόντος, Ἐγώ εἰμί ἡ ὁδός, καί ἡ ζωή, καί ἀλήθεια,σύμψυχοι, τό αὐτό φρονοῦντες,καί ὁ Θεός τῆς εἰρήνης ἔσται μετά πάντων ὑμῶν, εὐσεβῶς ἀεί κηρυττόμενος, καί ὁσίως παρ᾿ ὑμῶν λατρευόμενος· καί πέρας τῆς ἐνταῦθα μακαρίας πολιτείας τε καί ὁμολογίας, ἑαυτόν ἐκεῖσε μακαριωτέραν παρεχόμενος ὑμῖν κληροδοσίαν τε καί ἀνάπαυσιν· μεθ᾿ οὗ τῷ Πατρί σύν τῷ ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι, δόξα, τιμή, κράτος, προσκύνησις, νῦν καί ἀεί, καί εἰς τούς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν.
ΙΣΟΝ ΕΠΙΣΤΟΛΗΣ ΠΡΟΣ ΤΟΝ ΚΥΡΙΟΝ ΜΑΡΙΝΟΝ ΤΟΝ ΠΡΕΣΒΥΤΕΡΟΝ ΤΗΣ
ΚΥΠΡΟΥ 0193 Ἴσον ἐπιστολῆς πρός τόν κύριον Μαρῖνον τόν πρεσβύτερον τῆς
Κύπρου. 15Α_178 Νόμῳ θείῳ κατά Θεόν εὐθυνόμενος, θεοτίμητε πάτερ, νόμον
ὑπερεῖδες ἀνθρώπινον, κενώσει τό μέτριον ὑπεράρας, καί πτωχείᾳ τό ἐντελές μεγαλύνας τῆς ἐμῆς περί τε τό νοεῖν καί λέγειν ἀπειρίας, ἤ προπετείας, εἰπεῖν οἰκειότερον· οὐ γάρ αἰσχύνομαι τά ἐμά καί τῆς ἐμῆς ἀσθενείας, πάθη δεόντως ἐξαγορεύειν, καί τόσῳ προθυμίᾳ μᾶλλον ἀποκαλύπτειν, ἤ ὅσον φιλανθρωπίᾳ ἐπικαλύπτειν ἐσπούδασας. Τίς γάρ ποτ᾿ ἄν ἀλόγου λόγον οὕτω προσήκατο, καί φρενίτιδος νοῦν διανοίας ἐδέξατο, μή τί γε παντελῶς εἰπεῖν, ἀπεσέμνυνεν ὡς σύ τό ἐμόν, θεοτίμητε πάτερ, οὐχ ὅσον μόνον δι᾿ ἀγάπην παραδραμών τό ἀπαίδευτον, κατ᾿ ἄκρον ἐτίμησας· ὅ δή μέγιστον τῷ ἀκόσμῳ πρός εὐδοξίαν, ἀλλά καί ὅσον διά χάριν ἐπιβαλών τό αἰδέσιμον, ᾧ τήν οἰκείαν παγκαλῶς εἴωθας ὡραΐζειν διάνοιαν, ὑπερβολῇ κατεφαίδρυνας· ἐξ ὧν ὅ τε λόγος καί τρόπος συνίσταται τῆς ἀληθοῦς εὐγενείας, ἤ Θεοῦ συγγενείας, εἰπεῖν ἀληθέστερον ἤ καί οἰκειότερον· οὐ μᾶλλον μετεωρίζειν εἰδώς· οὐ γάρ πέφυκεν ἤ μετριάζειν ποιῶν· καί γάρ εἴωθέ πως ἀμεταβόλως ἑδράζειν πρός ὕφεσιν, τῇ ὑπερβολῇ τῶν οὐ προσόντων πλεῖον ἀποκαλύπτων τήν ἔνδειαν, καί γνωρίζων τήν γύμνωσιν· καί τῆ παραδείξει τῶν ὑπέρ ἀξίαν, αὐστηρότεραν 15Α_180 ἐνιείς τῶν κατ' ἀξίαν τήν αἴσθησιν, ἡνίκα τοῦ τῆς ψυχῆς βάθους κατακρατήσας, τό μέγεθος τοῦ ἀπεμφαίνοντος ἰδεῖν, ἀπαρακαλύπτως ποιήσειεν· ὅ δή μάλιστα πεπονθώς, τῇ τῶν ὑμετέρων εὐχῶν διατρανώσει, θείων ἡψάμην θεσμῶν, οὕς λόγος οἰκονομίας τῆς ὑπέρ ἔννοιαν εἶδε προνοητικῶς συντηρεῖν καί προβάλλεσθαι τοῖς κατ᾿ ἐμέ χειραγωγίας προσδεομένοις καί χρήζουσιν.