Maximus the Confessor, Life

being destroyed and corrupted along with this present age, I do it willingly. And Troilus, rising immediately, said: Pray for me, I am leaving; for this man does nothing. And when a very great uproar had occurred, and much turmoil and confusion, Theodosius the bishop said to them: Give him the answer, and learn what he says; since to depart thus, having said nothing and heard nothing, is not reasonable. Then Epiphanius the patriarch said: The emperor declares this to you through us, saying: Since the entire West, and those in the East who are causing trouble, look to you; and all are in dissension because of you, not wanting to be reconciled to us on account of the faith; may God move you to commune with us according to the Typos set forth by us, and we will come out ourselves to the Chalke, and we will greet you, and we will place our hand under yours, and with all honor and glory we will lead you into the Great Church, and we will stand you with us in the place where the emperors customarily stand, and we will hold the synaxis together, and we will commune together of the immaculate and (164) life-giving mysteries of the life-giving body and blood of Christ; and we will proclaim you our Father; and there will be joy not only in our Christ-loving and imperial city, but also in the whole inhabited world. For we know for certain that when you commune with the holy throne here, all will be united with us, those who on account of you and your teaching have separated themselves from our communion.

26. And turning to the bishop, Abba Maximus said to him with tears:

My great lord, we all await the day of judgment. You know what was formulated and approved upon the holy Gospels and the life-giving cross, and the icon of our God and Savior, and of the all-holy ever-virgin Mother who bore him. And the bishop, casting his face down, says to him in a sadder voice: And what can I do, when something else has been presented to the most pious emperor? And Maximus says to him: And why did you touch the holy Gospels, you and those with you, when the outcome of what was spoken was not in your power? Truly all the power of the heavens would not persuade me to do this. For what defense shall I make, I say not to God, but to my own conscience, that for the sake of human glory, which in itself has no existence, I have renounced the faith that saves those who love it?

27. And at this word they rose up, as rage took command of them all,

with pluckings, and shovings, and blows they disabled him, covering him with spittle from head to toe; the stench of which was pervasive until the garments which had been soiled were washed. And the bishop, rising, said: This should not have happened, but we should have only heard the response from him, and gone in to report it to our good master. For canonical matters are administered in another way. And having with difficulty persuaded them to be quiet, the bishop sat down again, and after they had assailed him with countless insults and unthought-of curses, Epiphanius said with anger and harshness: Tell me, you utter wretch, you glutton, did you say these words because you consider us, and our city, and the emperor to be heretics? Truly we are more Christian and orthodox than you; and we confess that our Lord and God has both a divine will and a human will, and a rational soul; and that every rational nature certainly has by nature the capacity to will and to act, since motion is proper to life, and will is proper to the mind. And we know him to have a will, not only in his divinity, but also in his humanity. But neither do we deny his two wills and energies.

αἰῶνι τούτῳ συγκαταλυομένου καί συμφθειρομένου, προθύμως ποιῶ. Καί εὐθέως ἀναστάς Τρώϊλος, εἶπεν· Εὔξασθέ μοι, ἐγώ ὑπάγω· οὗτος γάρ οὐδέν ποιεῖ. Καί πολλοῦ πάνυ γενομένου θορύβου, καί πολλῆς ταραχῆς καί συγχύσεως, εἶπεν αὐτοῖς Θεοδόσιος ὁ ἐπίσκοπος· Εἴπατε αὐτῷ τήν ἀπόκρισιν, καί γνῶτε τί λέγει· ἐπεί τό οὕτως ἐξελθεῖν μηδέν εἰρηκότας καί μηδέν ἀκούσαντας, οὐκ ἔστιν εὔλογον. Τότε Ἐπιφάνιος ὁ πατριάρχης εἶπε· Τοῦτό σοι δηλοῖ δι᾿ ἡμῶν ὁ βασιλεύς, λέγων· Ἐπειδή πᾶσα ἡ ∆ύσις, καί οἱ ἐν τῇ Ἀνατολῇ διαστρέφοντες εἰς σέ θεωροῦσι· καί ἅπαντες διά σέ στασιάζουσι, μή θέλοντες συμβιβασθῆναι ἡμῖν διά τήν πίστιν· κατανύξοι σε ὁ Θεός κοινωνῆσαι ἡμῖν ἐπί τῷ παρ᾿ ἡμῖν ἐκτεθέντι Τύπῳ, καί ἐξερχόμεθα ἡμεῖς δι᾿ ἑαυτῶν εἰς τήν Χαλκῆν, καί ἀσπαζόμεθά σε, καί ὑποτιθέμεθα ὑμῖν τήν χεῖρα ἡμῶν, καί μετά πάσης τιμῆς καί δόξης εἰσάγομεν ὑμᾶς εἰς τήν μεγάλην Ἐκκλησίαν, καί μεθ᾿ ἑαυτῶν ἱστῶμεν ἐν ᾧ κατά συνήθειαν οἱ βασιλεῖς ἵστανται, καί ποιοῦμεν ἅμα τήν σύναξιν, καί κοινωνοῦμεν ἅμα τῶν ἀχράντων καί (164) ζωοποιῶν μυστηρίων τοῦ ζωοποιοῦ σώματος καί αἵματος τοῦ Χριστοῦ· καί ἀνακηρύττομέν σε Πατέρα ἡμῶν· καί γίνεται χαρά οὐ μόνον τῇ φιλοχρίστῳ καί βασιλίδι ἡμῶν πόλει, ἀλλά καί πάσῃ τῇ οἰκουμένῃ. Οἴδαμεν γάρ ἀσφαλῶς, ὅτι σοῦ κοινωνοῦντος τῷ ἁγίῳ τῶν ἐνταῦθα θρόνῳ, πάντες ἑνοῦνται ἡμῖν, οἱ διά σέ καί τήν σήν διδακαλίαν ἀποσχίσαντες τῆς κοινωνίας ἡμῶν.

Κστ΄. Καί στραφείς πρός τόν ἐπίσκοπον ὁ ἀββᾶς Μάξιμος, μετά δακρύων εἶπεν αὐτῷ·

Κύριε ὁ μέγας, ἡμέραν κρίσεως ἐκδεχόμεθα πάντες. Οἶδας τά τυπωθέντα, καί δόξαντα ἐπί τῶν ἁγίων Εὐαγγελίων καί τοῦ ζωοποιοῦ σταυροῦ, καί τῆς εἰκόνος τοῦ Θεοῦ καί Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν, καί τῆς αὐτόν τεκούσης παναγίας ἀειπαρθένου Μητρός. Καί βαλών κάτω τό πρόσωπον ὁ ἐπίσκοπος, στυγνοτέρᾳ τῇ φωνῇ λέγει πρός αὐτόν· Καί τί ἔχω ποιῆσαι ἐγώ, ἐπάν ἕτερόν τι παρέστη τῷ εὐσεβεστάτῳ βασιλεῖ; Καί φησι πρός αὐτόν Μάξιμος· Καί διά τί ἥψω τῶν ἁγίων Εὐαγγελίων, καί οἱ μετά σοῦ, οὐκ οὔσης ἐφ᾿ ὑμῖν τῆς τῶν λαληθέτων ἐκβάσεως; Ὄντως πᾶσα ἡ δύναμις τῶν οὐρανῶν τοῦτο οὐ πείθει με ποιῆσαι. Τί γάρ ἀπολογήσομαι, οὐ λέγω τῷ Θεῷ, ἀλλά τῷ ἐμῷ συνειδότι, ὅτι διά δόξαν ἀνθρώπων, τῷ κατ᾿ αὐτήν λόγῳ μηδεμίαν ἔχουσαν ὕπαρξιν, τήν σώζουσαν τούς στέργοντας αὐτήν πίστιν ἐξωμοσάμην;

ΚΖ΄. Καί ἐπί τῷ λόγῳ τούτῳ ἀναστάντες, θυμοῦ στρατηγήσαντος πᾶσιν αὐτοῖς,

τιλμοῖς, καί ὠθισμοῖς, καί σφαιρισμοῖς παρέλυσαν αὐτόν, ἀπό κεφαλῆς ἕως ὀνύχων κατακλύσαντες αὐτόν πτύσμασιν· ὧνπερ, μέχρις ἄν ἐπλύνθησαν ἅπερ ἐβέβλητο ἱμάτια, διεπνέετο ὁ βρόμος. Καί ἀναστάς ὁ ἐπίσκοπος εἶπεν· Οὕτως οὐκ ἔδει γενέσθαι, ἀλλ᾿ ἀκοῦσαι μόνον παρ᾿ αὐτοῦ τήν ἀπόκρισιν, καί εἰσελθεῖν ἀναγγεῖλαι τῷ δεσπότῃ ἡμῶν τῷ ἀγαθῷ. Τά γάρ κανονικά πράγματα, ἑτέρῳ διοικοῦνται τρόπῳ. Καί μόλις πείσας αὐτούς ὁ ἐπίσκοπος ἡσυχάσαι, πάλιν ἐκάθισαν, καί μυρίαις ὕβρεσι καί ἀραῖς ἀνεπινοήτοις μωμώσαντες αὐτόν, μετά θυμοῦ καί τραχύτητος εἶπεν Ἐπιφάνιος· Εἰπέ, κακέσχατε φαγοπόλιε, ὡς αἱρετικούς ἔχων ἡμᾶς, καί τήν πόλιν ἡμῶν, καί τόν βασιλέα, τούτους εἶπας τούς λόγους; Ὄντως πλεῖόν σου Χριστιανοί ἐσμεν καί ὀρθόδοξοι· καί τόν Κύριον ἡμῶν καί Θεόν ὁμολογοῦμεν ἔχειν καί θεϊκήν θέλησιν καί ἀνθρωπίνην θέλησιν, καί νοεράν ψυχήν· καί ὅτι πᾶσα νοερά φύσις, πάντως ἔχει τό θέλειν ἐκ φύσεως καί τό ἐνεργεῖν, ἐπειδή ζωῆς ἴδιον ἡ κίνησις, καί νοός ἴδιον ἡ θέλησις. Καί θελητικόν αὐτόν οἴδαμεν, οὐ θεότητι μόνον, ἀλλά καί ἀνθρωπότητι. Ἀλλά καί τά δύο θελήσεις αὐτοῦ καί ἐνεργείας οὐκ ἀρνούμεθα.