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the father of the man who had become logothete of the drome) declares to the patriarch that many devout people and monks, having gathered from all quarters, made a petition to our imperial majesty to order that the all-venerable icons be restored. If, then, you are in agreement with these things and of one mind, then let the church of God receive back its ancient adornment; but if you are doubtful and not of an upright mind, get you out of the throne and the city, and pass a little time in your suburban estate, until a synod of the holy fathers can be held with you; for they are ready to dispute and to discuss and to persuade you who speak wrongly concerning these things." (3) At that time, in the Thessalian [hall] in the patriarchate (a triclinium so named), he was reclining on a couch, receiving the imperial messages; as soon as he heard the words, he was struck in his soul and immediately sent away the messenger, saying nothing else than that it was well to deliberate on these things, and quicker than a word, taking some small dagger, he cut the veins in his stomach, which he knew would produce cowardice and pity among the many from the copious effusion of blood, but by no means death or any danger. A rumor, therefore, and a shout immediately resounded through the church, and indeed also reached the imperial ears, outstripping the drungarius, that the empress by her command had murdered the patriarch. The patrician Bardas was therefore sent as an exact investigator of the reports, and he gently discovered that the wounds had been inflicted with premeditation, and the drama did not escape refutation, as his own servants denounced him, and the instruments of the incision (they were lancets) were produced in their midst. From that time, therefore, with no one .., as he was caught in such a charge and with a suicidal intent, the sinner was driven away and expelled from the church, confined to his suburban estate called Psicha, and he who had preserved the things of virtue inviolate through many toils and labors was brought in, he who had inherited from his long imprisonment, a foul one it seems, the falling out of his hair, and from God and the empress Theodora the governance and pilotage of the church; this was Methodios the great and invincible champion of the church. 152 4 Consider also how the noble woman, who had truly become a helper to her husband and not an adversary, having gathered together in the same place the orthodox from wherever on earth they were, and having decreed that they should recover their freedom of speech, said: "Come now, O clergy of God and fathers, since I am granting and giving to you with all my good will the restoration of the holy and all-venerable icons, wish to bestow upon me in return a just favor, being myself an empress; not some humble and small one, lest it not be considered a favor, nor one unsuitable and unprofitable for those who give it to you or for me who asks, but one that is fitting and permanent and well-pleasing in the sight of God and so considered. And this is the pardon and forgiveness and amnesty from God passing to my husband and emperor for such an error; for if this does not happen, you will have me neither following you, nor the veneration and proclamation of the venerable icons, nor indeed the restoration of the church." (5) And with this she ceased her speech. "That you ask for just things," the orthodox church and its exarch Methodios said, "O empress, we too cannot refuse; for it is just to bestow fitting thanks lavishly upon benefactors and rulers, when the ruling hand is not a tyranny, but the disposition is God-loving. But we are not yet able to absolve from God's judgment one who has passed on to the other life, imagining things beyond our power. We are able, having been entrusted by God with the keys of the heavens, to open them for all who wish; but for those still living this life, before they pass elsewhere; and sometimes also for those who have passed on, when their faults are small and

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γεγονότος λογοθέτου τοῦ δρόμου πατήρ) δηλοῖ τῷ πατριάρχῃ ὡς πολλοὶ πολλαχόθεν συνε- ληλυθότες εὐλαβεῖς τε καὶ μοναχοὶ δέησιν ἐποιήσαντο πρὸς τὴν βασιλείαν ἡμῶν τοῦ τὰς πανσέπτους κελεῦσαι ἀναστηλωθῆναι εἰ- κόνας. εἰ μὲν ουν ὁμόλογος ει τούτοις καὶ σύμφωνος, καὶ δὴ τὸν παλαιὸν κόσμον ἡ τοῦ θεοῦ ἐκκλησία ἀπολαμβανέτω· εἰ δ' ἀμφί- βολος καὶ τὴν γνώμην οὐκ εχων εὐθῆ, τοῦ μὲν θρόνου εξω γενοῦ καὶ τῆς πόλεως, κατὰ δὲ τὸ προάστειόν σου μικρὸν διάβηθι, μέχρις αν σύλλογος τῶν ἁγίων πατέρων γένηται μετὰ σοῦ· οιε γὰρ ετοι- μοι διαδικάζεσθαί τε καὶ διαλέγεσθαι καὶ πείθειν σε περὶ τούτων κακῶς λέγοντα." (3) κατὰ τὸν ἐν τῷ πατριαρχείῳ Θετταλὸν (τρίκλινος δὲ ουτω κατονομαζόμενος) τηνικαῦτα ἀνέκειτο ἐπὶ σκίμ- ποδος, τὰς βασιλικὰς ἀγγελίας δεχόμενος· ος αμα τῇ ἀκοῇ τῶν 151 λόγων βληθεὶς τὴν ψυχὴν τὸν μὲν ἀποκομιστὴν τούτων, οὐδὲν ετερον φήσας η  βουλεύεσθαι περὶ τούτων καλῶς, αμα τῷ λόγῳ ἀπέσταλκεν, καὶ θᾶττον η  λόγος ἐγχειρίδιόν τι λαβὼν τὰς κατὰ γαστέρα φλέβας ἀπέτεμεν, ας ῃδει δειλίαν μὲν καὶ οικτον ἐκ τῆς τοῦ αιματος δαψιλοῦς ἐκχύσεως ἀποτεκεῖν τοῖς πολλοῖς, θάνατον δὲ η τινα κίνδυνον οὐδαμῶς. θροῦς ουν καὶ βοὴ εὐθύς τις περιή- χει τὴν ἐκκλησίαν, οὐ μὴν δὲ ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰς βασιλικὰς ἀκοάς, προφθάνουσα τὸν δρουγγάριον, ὡς ἡ δέσποινα ἐκ κελεύσεως τὸν πατριάρχην κατέσφαξεν. τῶν γοῦν λεγομένων ἐταστὴς ἀκριβὴς ὁ πατρίκιος Βάρδας ἀποσταλεὶς αὐτάς τε τὰς πληγὰς ἐκ προνοίας γενομένας ἠρέμα πως κατεφώρασεν, καὶ τὸ δρᾶμα τὸν ελεγχον οὐ διέφυγεν, αὐτῶν τῶν θεραπόντων κατειπόντων αὐτοῦ, καὶ τὰ τῆς τομῆς οργανα (φλεβοτόμα δὲ ην) εἰς μέσον καθυποβαλλόμενα. εκτοτε ουν οὐδενὸς .., ὡς ἐπὶ τοιαύτῃ αἰτίᾳ καὶ γνώμῃ αὐτοφόνῳ ἐπειλημμένος, ἀπηλαύνετο μὲν καὶ τῆς ἐκκλησίας ἐξωθεῖτο ὁ ἀλι- τήριος, κατὰ τὸ προάστειον αὐτοῦ τὸ ουτω λεγόμενον περιορισθεὶς τὰ Ψιχά, εἰσήγετο δὲ ὁ πολλοῖς πόνοις καὶ κόποις τὰ τῆς ἀρετῆς σώσας ἀδιαλώβητα, καὶ τῆς ἐγχρονίου μὲν καθείρξεως, καὶ ταύ- της σαπρώσης, ὡς εοικεν, τὴν τῶν τριχῶν ἀπόρροιαν κληρωσά- μενος, παρὰ θεοῦ δὲ καὶ τῆς βασιλίδος Θεοδώρας τὴν τῆς ἐκκλη- σίας κυβέρνησίν τε καὶ πηδαλιούχησιν· Μεθόδιος ουτος ην ὁ μέγας καὶ τῆς ἐκκλησίας ἀήττητος πρόμαχος. 152 4 Σκόπει δὲ καὶ οπως ἐν ταὐτῷ συναγαγούσης τῆς γενναίας καὶ τῷ οντι βοηθοῦ γεγονυίας τῷ ἀνδρί, ἀλλ' οὐκ ἐναντίας, τοὺς οποι ποτὲ γῆς οντας ὀρθοδόξους, καὶ τὴν παρρησίαν ἀναλαβέσθαι θεσπίσασα "αγε δὴ" εφησεν, "ω κλῆρος θεοῦ καὶ πατέρες, ἐμοῦ τὴν τῶν ἱερῶν καὶ πανσέπτων ἀναστήλωσιν εἰκόνων ὑμῖν χορηγού- σης καὶ διδούσης οτι μάλιστά μου μετ' εὐμενείας, ἀντεπιθεῖναί μοι δικαίαν χάριν καὶ αὐτῇ δεσποίνῃ ουσῃ βουλήθητε, οὐ ταπει- νήν τινα καὶ μικράν, ινα μηδὲ χάρις νομίζοιτο, οὐδὲ τοῖς διδοῦσιν ὑμῖν η  ἐμοὶ αἰτουμένῃ ἀνάρμοστόν τε καὶ ἀσύμφορον, ἐπιτηδείου δὲ καὶ μονίμου καὶ παρὰ θεῷ εὐαποδέκτου καθεστώσης καὶ νομι- ζομένης. ἡ δέ ἐστιν ἡ εἰς τὸν ἐμὸν ανδρα τε καὶ βασιλέα περὶ τούτων διαβαίνουσα συγγνώμη τε καὶ συγχώρησις καὶ ἀμνηστία παρὰ θεοῦ τῆς τοιαύτης διαμαρτίας· ὡς εἰ μὴ τοῦτο γένηται, ουτ' ἐμὲ σχοίητε ἐπακολουθοῦσαν ὑμῖν ουτε τὴν τῶν σεπτῶν εἰκό- νων προσκύνησιν καὶ ἀνάρρησιν, ἀλλ' οὐδὲ τὴν τῆς ἐκκλησίας ἀνάληψιν." (5) καὶ αμα τὸν λόγον κατέπαυσεν. "οτι μὲν ουν δίκαια," ἡ ὀρθόδοξος ἐκκλησία καὶ ὁ ταύτης ἐξάρχων Μεθόδιος εφασαν, "δέσποινα, ἐξαιτῇ, οὐδ' ἡμεῖς εχομεν ἀπαναίνεσθαι· δίκαιον γὰρ τοῖς εὐεργέταις καὶ αρχουσι τὰς προσηκούσας χάριτας ἀντεπιτίθεσθαι δαψιλῶς, οταν μὴ τυραννὶς αρχῃ χείρ, ἀλλ' εστι γνώμη θεοφιλής. ἀλλ' ουπω θεοῦ δίκην ἡμεῖς τὸν πρὸς αλλον 153 βίον διαβεβηκότα δυνατοὶ ἐξαιρεῖσθαι, τὰ ὑπὲρ ἡμᾶς φανταζόμε- νοι. δυνατοὶ μὲν ἡμεῖς, καὶ κλεῖς οὐρανῶν πιστευθέντες παρὰ θεοῦ, τοῖς βουλομένοις πᾶσιν ἀνοιγνύναι αὐτάς· ἀλλὰ τοῖς κατὰ βίον τοῦτον ετι οἰκονομουμένοις, πρὶν ἀλλαχοῦ μεταστῶσιν· εστιν δ' οτε καὶ τοῖς μεθισταμένοις, οταν τε μικρὰ τὰ σφάλματα ῃ καὶ