John Chrysostom, Letters

died in them. For that wolf in sheep's clothing, having the appearance of a bishop, but being an adulterer; for as a woman is called an adulteress, who while her husband is alive is joined to another man; so also is he an adulterer, not of the flesh, but of the spirit; for while I am alive he has seized my throne of the Church. And these things I have written to you from Cucusus, where the empress ordered us to be exiled. Many afflictions befell us on the way, but we cared for none of them. But when we came to the country of the Cappadocians, and in Tauro-Cilicia, many choirs of holy fathers met us, and not only so, but also multitudes of monks and virgins, pouring out immortal springs of tears. And they wept seeing us departing into exile, and said to themselves, It were better for the sun to have withheld its rays, than for the mouth of John to have fallen silent. These things troubled and afflicted me, since I saw everyone weeping on my account. For of all the other things that happened to me, I took no thought. But the bishop of this city received us very warmly, and showed great love towards us; so that, if possible, he would even have given over his throne to us, had we not kept to the rule. I beseech you therefore and implore, and I clasp your knees, cast away the grief of your despondency, keeping remembrance of us to God, and be pleased to write back to us. 120. To Rufinus the presbyter. News has come to us, that the evils in Phoenicia have been kindled again, and the madness of the Greeks has increased, and of the monks many were beaten, and some even died. For this reason I urge you more greatly to set out on the road with all speed, and to stand in the line of battle. For I know well that by merely appearing you will rout the adversaries, using prayer, and gentleness, and endurance, and your customary courage; and you will put down their madness, and you will win back 52.686 those who are with us, and you will work many good things. Do not, therefore, delay, nor put it off, but use greater speed, and let these things that have been reported make you work more eagerly. For not even if you saw a house on fire would you have withdrawn, but then you would have applied yourself even more, so as to get ahead of the flame, and through yourself, and through others you would have done everything to extinguish the evil. And now, therefore, since such a fire has been kindled, hasten to reach that place without delay, and there will surely be some good result, and a great correction of these things. For to catechize someone in quiet and calm, with no one making war, is something even the ordinary can do; but when the devil is so raging, and the demons are arming themselves, to stand nobly, and to snatch away the men who are arrayed with him, and to prevent others from falling into his hands, this belongs to a noble man, this to a sober soul, this to your lofty and wakeful mind, this is worthy of countless crowns, this of unspeakable prizes, this is an apostolic achievement. Considering, therefore, that this time is for you a time of good reputation, and an occasion for countless ventures and enterprises, seize so great a wealth, and be pleased to use great speed; and write to us quickly, when you arrive there. For if we only learn that you have set foot on the borders of Phoenicia, we are henceforth without anxiety, we are at rest, we live in security. For we know what follows, that just as a noble champion, who knows how to act valiantly, so you will go through everything, raising up the fallen, establishing and strengthening those who stand, bringing back those who wander, and seeking and finding the lost, cutting to pieces the whole phalanx of the devil. For I know, I know clearly the watchfulness of your soul, the carefulness of your mind, the prudent, the harmonious, the gentle, the brave, the vigorous, the enduring. Write to us therefore continually, and before you see Phoenicia, sending letters frequently from the road, since even now I was amazed how, when those around my lord the most honorable and most reverend presbyter Theodotus arrived, you had not written. That therefore not again

ἐναπέθανον. Ὁ γὰρ προβατόσχημος ἐκεῖνος λύκος, ὁ σχῆμα μὲν ἔχων ἐπισκόπου, μοιχὸς δὲ ὑπάρχων· ὡς γὰρ ἡ γυνὴ μοιχαλὶς χρηματίζει, ἡ ζῶντος τοῦ ἀνδρὸς ἑτέρῳ συναφθεῖσα· οὕτω καὶ οὗτος μοιχός ἐστιν, οὐ σαρκὸς, ἀλλὰ πνεύματος· ζῶντος γὰρ ἐμοῦ ἥρπασέ μου τὸν θρόνον τῆς Ἐκκλησίας. Καὶ ταῦτά σοι ἐπέστειλα ἀπὸ Κουκουσοῦ, ὅπου ἐκέλευσεν ἡμᾶς ἡ βασίλισσα ἐξορισθῆναι. Πολλαὶ δὲ θλίψεις κατὰ τὴν ὁδὸν συνέβησαν ἡμῖν, ἀλλ' οὐδενὸς ἐφροντίσαμεν. Ὅτε δὲ ἤλθομεν πρὸς τὴν χώραν τῶν Καππαδόκων, καὶ ἐν τῇ Ταυροκιλικίᾳ, πολλοὶ χοροὶ ἡμῖν ὑπήντων πατέρων ἁγίων ἀνδρῶν, οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ πλήθη μοναχῶν καὶ παρθένων, τὰς ἀθανάτους πηγὰς τῶν δακρύων ἐκχέοντες. Καὶ ἔκλαιον θεωροῦντες ἡμᾶς ἐν τῇ ἐξορίᾳ ἀπερχομένους, καὶ ἔλεγον πρὸς ἐαυτοὺς, Συνέφερεν ἵνα ὁ ἥλιος συνέστειλε τὰς ἀκτῖνας αὐτοῦ, ἢ ἵνα τὸ στόμα Ἰωάννου ἐσιώπησε. Ταῦτά με ἐθορύβησε καὶ ἔθλιψεν, ἐπειδὴ ἔβλεπον πάντας κλαίοντας περὶ ἐμοῦ. Ἐπεὶ τῶν ἄλλων πάντων, ὅσα συνέβη μοι, φροντίδα οὐκ ἐποίησα. Πάνυ δὲ ἡμᾶς ἐδεξιώσατο ὁ ἐπίσκοπος τῆς πόλεως ταύτης, καὶ πολλὴν ἀγάπην ἔδειξεν εἰς ἡμᾶς· ὥστε, εἰ δυνατὸν, καὶ τὸν θρόνον αὑτοῦ παρεχώρησεν ἡμῖν, εἰ μὴ τὸν ὅρον ἐφυλάττομεν. ∆έομαι οὖν καὶ ἀντιβολῶ, καὶ τῶν γονάτων ἅπτομαι τῶν σῶν, ἀπόῤῥιψον τὸ πένθος τῆς ἀθυμίας σου, ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν μνείαν ἔχων πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν, καὶ ἀντιγράψαι ἡμῖν παρακλήθητι. ΡΚʹ. Ῥουφίνῳ πρεσβυτέρῳ. Ἦλθεν εἰς ἡμᾶς, ὅτι πάλιν ἀνήφθη τὰ ἐν Φοινίκῃ κακὰ, καὶ ἡ τῶν Ἑλλήνων ηὐξήθη μανία, καὶ πολλοὶ τῶν μοναχῶν οἱ μὲν ἐπλήγησαν, οἱ δὲ καὶ ἀπέθανον. ∆ιὰ τοῦτό σε μειζόνως ἐπείγω μετὰ πλείονος τοῦ τάχους ἅψασθαι τῆς ὁδοῦ, καὶ στῆναι ἐπὶ τῆς παρατάξεως. Εὖ γὰρ οἶδα, ὅτι φανεὶς μόνον τροπώσῃ τοὺς ὑπεναντίους, καὶ εὐχῇ, καὶ ἐπιεικείᾳ, καὶ καρτερίᾳ, καὶ τῇ συνήθει κεχρημένος ἀνδρείᾳ· καὶ καταλύσεις αὐτῶν τὴν μανίαν, καὶ τοὺς μεθ' ἡμῶν ὄντας ἀνακτή52.686 σῃ, καὶ πολλὰ ἐργάσῃ τὰ ἀγαθά. Μὴ τοίνυν μέλλε, μηδὲ ἀναβάλλου, ἀλλὰ πλείονι κέχρησο τῷ τάχει, καὶ ταῦτα τὰ ἀπαγγελθέντα προθυμότερόν σε ἐργαζέσθω. Οὐδὲ γὰρ εἰ οἰκίαν εἶδες ἀναπτομένην, ἀνεχώρησας ἂν, ἀλλὰ τότε καὶ μειζόνως ἐπέθου, ὥστε καὶ προκαταλαβεῖν τὴν φλόγα, καὶ διὰ σαυτοῦ, καὶ δι' ἑτέρων πάντα ἂν ἐποίησας ὑπὲρ τοῦ σβέσαι τὸ κακόν. Καὶ νῦν τοίνυν ἐπειδὴ τοιαύτη ἀνήφθη πυρὰ, ἀμελλητὶ τὰ αὐτόθι καταλαβεῖν σπούδασον, καὶ πάντως ἔσται τι χρηστὸν, καὶ πολλὴ τούτων διόρθωσις. Τὸ μὲν γὰρ ἐν ἡσυχίᾳ καὶ γαλήνῃ, καὶ μηδενὸς πολεμοῦντος, κατηχεῖν τινας καὶ τῶν τυχόντων ἐστίν· τὸ δὲ οὕτω τοῦ διαβόλου μαινομένου, καὶ τῶν δαιμόνων ὁπλιζομένων, στῆναι γενναίως, καὶ ἐξαρπάσαι τοὺς μετ' ἐκείνου τεταγμένους τῶν ἀνθρώπων, καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους κωλῦσαι εἰς τὰς ἐκείνου χεῖρας ἐμπεσεῖν, τοῦτο ἀνδρὸς γενναίου, τοῦτο νηφούσης ψυχῆς, τοῦτο τῆς σῆς διανοίας τῆς ὑψηλῆς, καὶ διεγηγερμένης, τοῦτο μυρίων στεφάνων ἄξιον, τοῦτο βραβείων ἀφάτων, τοῦτο ἀποστολικὸν κατόρθωμα. Ἐννοήσας τοίνυν ὅτι ὁ καιρὸς οὗτος εὐδοκιμήσεώς σοι καιρός ἐστι, καὶ μυρίας ἐμπορίας, καὶ πραγματείας ὑπόθεσις, ἅρπασον τοσοῦτον πλοῦτον, καὶ πολλῇ ταχύτητι χρήσασθαι παρακλήθητι· καὶ διὰ τάχους ἡμῖν ἐπίστειλον, ἐπειδὰν ἀπαντήσῃς αὐτόθι. Ἂν γὰρ πυθώμεθα μόνον, ὅτι τῶν ὅρων ἐπέβης τῆς Φοινίκης, ἀμέριμνοι λοιπόν ἐσμεν, ἀναπαυόμεθα, ἐν ἀδείᾳ διάγομεν. Τὰ γὰρ ἑξῆς ἴσμεν, ὅτι καθάπερ ἀριστεὺς γενναῖος, καὶ ἀνδραγαθεῖν εἰδὼς, οὕτως ἅπαντα ἐπελεύσῃ, τοὺς μὲν κειμένους ἀνεγείρων, τοὺς δὲ ἑστῶτας ἑδράζων καὶ πηγνὺς, τοὺς δὲ πλανωμένους ἐπανάγων, καὶ τοὺς ἀπολωλότας ἀναζητῶν καὶ εὑρίσκων, ἅπασαν τοῦ διαβόλου συγκόπτων τὴν φάλαγγα. Οἶδα γὰρ, οἶδα σαφῶς τὸ ἄγρυπνόν σου τῆς ψυχῆς, τὸ μεμεριμνημένον τῆς διανοίας, τὸ συνετὸν, τὸ ἐμμελὲς, τὸ προσηνὲς, τὸ ἀνδρεῖον, τὸ εὔτονον, τὸ καρτερικόν. Γράφε τοίνυν ἡμῖν συνεχῶς, καὶ πρὶν ἢ τὴν Φοινίκην ἰδεῖν, ἀπὸ τῆς ὁδοῦ πυκνὰ πέμπων τὰ γράμματα, ἐπεὶ καὶ νῦν ἐθαύμασα πῶς τῶν περὶ τὸν κύριόν μου τὸν τιμιώτατον καὶ εὐλαβέστατον Θεόδοτον τὸν πρεσβύτερον παραγινομένων, οὐκ ἐπέσταλκας. Ἵν' οὖν μὴ πάλιν