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He declared with a great and loud voice those who were in communion. And if your steadfastness does not make things secure, who then shall be saved? And if he who spoke boldly by the power of God as a saint, short of a complete heresy, should now after the heresy draw back, how will another dare to mutter? And if the monastic order does not consider all things refuse—I mean monasteries and all things concerning them—how will a layman despise wife, children and the rest? Therefore, as the least brother and child, I remind you: let us not be silent, lest we become the cry of Sodom, let us not spare the things below, lest we lose the things above, let us not place a stumbling block for the church of God, which is defined even by three orthodox persons according to the saints, lest we be condemned by the sentence of the Lord. And I, wretched one, do not say these things for my own sake (for to me, though it is bold to say, to die for the truth is gain and joy and life, if indeed I might be strengthened by your holy prayers), but because of the ancient and spiritual love between us and for the common good; for if the Son of God, the Lord and Master of all, offered himself up for all as a sacrifice to God the Father, what do we owe, and how much are we not indebted to suffer and endure for his sake, especially we who are monks and have been crucified by our renunciation, we who have renounced truly and not unprofitably? since it is not possible to judge matters from the outward habit alone (for many are they who put on masks and are not what they seem), but it is clear from the works that the habits are genuine. If therefore there are any monks in the present times, let them show it by their works; and the work of a monk is not to tolerate even the slightest innovation in the gospel, lest, by setting forth an example of heresy and heretical communion to the laity, they will have to give an account for their perdition. The extreme humility of your holiness, in being so receptive, has made me prattle on at length about the matter. But you, O father, pray and pray fervently for one who is corrupt and sinful, but nonetheless your most ardent lover. He who is imprisoned with me likewise both greets you and begs for your supplications. 40 {1To Naucratius, my child}1 Again another imprisonment for you, beloved child, but again it is a monument to the ill-named heretics, and for you an addition of contests and heavenly praises. For this reason, it is for me to groan and weep for them, but for you to rejoice and give thanks. Or are you not being made more proven by the change of prison, like gold refined twice by the crucible? May you be well-rooted, then, O holy child, and be seen by the Lord and Master as pure and unadulterated in all things, truly a useful vessel, prepared for every good work. Bear, therefore, with long-suffering the harshness of your second guard (for I would not call him a hegumen or a priest; for no minister of God, and especially a monk, would serve in military duties, nor indeed would he have communion with one so serving), nevertheless, let me know how he treats you; for I think he is different from the first. But whether it is this way or otherwise, you nevertheless, my child, stand nobly, making your sorrows easy by the exceeding joy of your hopes and acquiring for yourself in your isolation the discovery of dispassion through gazing upon and relating to the only God who sees you, counting as refuse and winnowing away the chaff-like thoughts introduced each time by the sower of tares. As for what you sought me to answer you word for word concerning heresies and baptisms, it exceeds the measure of a letter; and again, it is superfluous to relate these things, which the God-bearing Epiphanius discovered and described as no other of the fathers has. Read, therefore, his sacred book about them, and there you will learn what you desire to know. May the good Euprepianus place it in your hands. But concerning those who are baptized, I will answer more briefly. The theory is divided into three. For the Marcionites, the Tascodrugites, the Manichaeans and those aligned with them, down to the Melchizedekites, twenty-five heresies, are baptized; but are anointed with the holy

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κοινωνοῦντας μεγάλῃ καὶ πολλῇ τῇ φωνῇ ἀπεφήνατο. καὶ ἐὰν ἡ σὴ στερρότης οὐκ ἀσφαλίσηται, τίς λοιπὸν σωθήσεται; καὶ ἐὰν ὁ παρρησιασάμενος δυνάμει θεοῦ ὡς ἅγιος πλὴν τελείας αἱρέσεως ἄρτι μετὰ τὴν αἵρεσιν ὑποστείληται, πῶς ἕτερος τολμήσει γρύξαι; καὶ ἐὰν τὸ μοναδικὸν τάγμα οὐχ ἡγήσηται πάντα σκύβαλα, μοναστήρια λέγω καὶ πάντα τὰ περὶ αὐτά, πῶς λαϊκὸς καταφρονήσει γυναικός, τέκνων καὶ τῶν ἄλλων; ∆ιὸ ὑπομιμνήσκω ὡς ἐλάχιστος ἀδελφὸς καὶ τέκνον μὴ σιγήσωμεν, ἵνα μὴ κραυγὴ Σοδόμων γενώμεθα, μὴ φεισώμεθα τῶν κάτω, ἵνα μὴ ἀπολέσωμεν τὰ ἄνω, μὴ θῶμεν σκάνδαλον τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ τοῦ θεοῦ, ἥτις ἐστὶ καὶ ἐν τρισὶν ὀρθοδόξοις ὁριζομένη κατὰ τοὺς ἁγίους, ἵνα μὴ τῇ ἀποφάσει τοῦ Κυρίου καταδικασθῶμεν. καὶ οὐ δι' ἑαυτὸν ταῦτά φημι ὁ τάλας (ἐμοὶ γάρ, εἰ καὶ τολμηρὸν εἰπεῖν, καὶ τὸ ἀποθανεῖν ὑπὲρ τῆς ἀληθείας κέρδος καὶ χαρὰ καὶ ζωή, εἴ γε δυναμωθείην ταῖς ἱεραῖς προσευχαῖς ὑμῶν), ἀλλὰ διὰ τὴν ἐν ἡμῖν ἀγάπην ἀρχαίαν καὶ πνευματικὴν καὶ τὸ κοινῆ συμφέρον· εἰ γὰρ ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ, ὁ κύριος καὶ δεσπότης ἁπάντων, ἑαυτὸν ἀνήνεγκεν ὑπὲρ πάντων τῷ θεῷ καὶ πατρὶ θυσίαν, τί ὀφείλομεν ἡμεῖς καὶ πόσον οὐ χρεωστοῦμεν δι' αὐτὸν παθεῖν καὶ ὑπομεῖναι, καί γε οἱ μονάζοντες καὶ τῇ ἀποταγῇ σταυρωθέντες, οἵ γε ἀληθῶς καὶ οὐκ ἀνονήτως ἀποταξάμενοι; ἐπεὶ μὴ ἀπὸ τοῦ ἔξωθεν σχήματος μόνον ἔστι κρίνειν τὰ πράγματα (πολλοὶ γὰρ οἱ προσωπεῖα ὑποδυόμενοι καὶ οὐκ ὄντες ὅπερ φαίνονται), ἀλλ' ἐκ τῶν ἔργων δῆλον ὅτι τὰ σχήματα. εἰ οὖν μοναχοί εἰσί τινες ἐν τοῖς νῦν καιροῖς, δειξάτωσαν ἐπὶ τῶν ἔργων· ἔργον δὲ μοναχοῦ μηδὲ τὸ τυχὸν ἀνέχεσθαι καινοτομεῖσθαι τὸ εὐαγγέλιον, ἵνα μὴ ὑπόδειγμα τοῖς λαϊκοῖς προτιθέμενοι αἱρέσεως καὶ αἱρετικῆς συγκοινωνίας τῆς ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν ἀπωλείας λόγον ὑφέξουσι. Πολύ με ληρολογῆσαι τὴν ὑπόθεσιν ἡ ἄκρα ταπεινοφροσύνη τῆς ἁγιωσύνης σου ὡς δεχομένη πεποίηκε. σὺ δέ, ὦ πάτερ, εὔχου καὶ ὑπερεύχου ὑπὲρ σαθροῦ καὶ ἁμαρτωλοῦ ἀλλ' οὖν ἐραστοῦ σου ὅτι μάλιστα. ὁ συμφρουρούμενός μοι ὡσαύτως καὶ προσαγορεύει καὶ δέεταί σου τῶν ἱκεσιῶν. 40 {1Ναυκρατίῳ τέκνῳ}1 Πάλιν ἑτέρα σοι φυλακή, τέκνον ἠγαπημένον, ἀλλὰ καὶ πάλιν στήλη μὲν τῶν δυσωνύμων αἱρετικῶν, σοὶ δὲ προσθήκη ἄθλων τε καὶ ἐπαίνων οὐρανίων. διὰ τοῦτο ὑπὲρ μὲν ἐκείνων τὸ στένειν μοι καὶ δακρύειν, ὑπὲρ δὲ σοῦ τὸ χαίρειν καὶ εὐχαριστεῖν. ἢ οὐχὶ δοκιμώτερον ἔστι σε γίγνεσθαι τῇ μεταφρουρήσει, καθάπερ χρυσὸν διπυρούμενον ὑπὸ χωνείας; εὐριζωθείης οὖν, ὦ ἱερὲ παῖ, καὶ ὀφθείης τῷ δεσπότῃ Κυρίῳ ἐν πᾶσι καθαρὸς καὶ ἀκίβδηλος, σκεῦος ὄντως εὔχρηστον, κατηρτισμένος πρὸς πᾶν ἔργον ἀγαθόν. φέρε οὖν μακροθυμίᾳ τὸ ἄηθες τοῦ δευτέρου φύλακός σου (οὐ γὰρ ἡγουμένου οὐδὲ ἱερέως λέγοιμι· οὐδεὶς γὰρ θεοῦ λειτουργὸς καί γε μοναστὴς στρατιωτικοῖς ἔργοις ὑπουργήσειεν, ἀλλὰ μὴν οὐδὲ τῷ οὕτω ὑπουργοῦντι κοινωνήσειε), πλὴν δήλωσόν μοι ὅπως σε κρατεῖ· δοκῶ γὰρ διαφορώτερον εἶναι τοῦ προτέρου. ἀλλ' εἴ γε οὕτως ἢ ἑτέρως, σὺ δὲ ὅμως, τέκνον μου, στῆθι γενναίως, εὐμαρίζων τὰ λυπηρὰ τῇ τῶν ἐλπίδων περιχαρείᾳ καὶ κατακτώμενος ἑαυτῷ τὴν μόνωσιν ἀπαθείας εὕρεσιν διὰ τῆς ἐπὶ μόνον τὸν ὁρῶντά σε θεὸν ἀποβλέψεώς τε καὶ σχέσεως, σκυβαλίζων καὶ λικμίζων τοὺς ἐπεισαγομένους ἀχυρώδεις λογισμοὺς παρὰ τοῦ τῶν ζιζανίων σπορέως ἑκάστοτε. Ἃ δὲ ἐπεζήτησας ἀποκριθῆναί με περί τε τῶν αἱρέσεων καὶ βαπτισμάτων κατ' ἔπος, ἐπιστολῆς ὑπερβαίνει μέτρον· καὶ πάλιν περιττολογεῖν ἐστι ταῦτα ἀφηγεῖσθαι, ἃ ὁ θεοφόρος Ἐπιφάνιος ἐξεῦρε καὶ διέγραψεν ὡς οὐδεὶς τῶν πατέρων. ἔντυχε οὖν τῇ περὶ αὐτῶν ἱερᾷ αὐτοῦ βίβλῳ, κἀκεῖσε διαγνώσειας ἃ μαθεῖν ἐφίεσαι. παράσχοι δὲ αὐτὴν ἐν χερσί σου ὁ καλὸς Εὐπρεπιανός. Τὸ δὲ τῶν βαπτιζομένων συντομώτερον ἀποκριθήσομαι. τριχῇ διῄρηται τὸ θεώρημα. βαπτίζονται μὲν γὰρ Μαρκιωνισταί, Τασκορδιουργοί, Μανιχαῖοι καὶ οἱ σύστοιχοι αὐτῶν ὁμοῦ ἕως τῶν Μελχισεδεκιτῶν, αἱρέσεις εἰκοσιπέντε· χρίονται δὲ τῷ ἁγίῳ