Ep. CXXXIX.

(This letter is written at a somewhat earlier date in reference to the consent he had been induced to give to remaining for some time longer as administrator of the See of Nazianzus.  It is certainly not addressed to Theodore of Tyana, and it is not known who this Theodore is.)

He Who raised David His servant from the Shepherd’s work to the Throne, and Your Reverence from the flock to the Work of the Shepherd:  He that orders our affairs and those of all who hope in Him according to His own Will:  may He now put it into the mind of Your Reverence to know the dishonour which I have suffered at the hands of my Lords the Bishops in the matter of their votes, in that they have agreed to the Election,73    See Introd. to Ep. 157. but have excluded us.  I will not lay the blame on Your Reverence, because you have but recently come to preside over our affairs, and are, as is to be expected, for the most part unacquainted with our history.  This is quite enough:  for I have no mind to trouble you further, that I may not seem burdensome at the very beginning of our friendship.  But I will tell you what suggests itself to me in taking counsel with God.  I retired from the Church at Nazianzus, not as either despising God, or looking down on the littleness of the flock (God forbid that a philosophic74    Probably equivalent to A Monk. soul should be so disposed); but first because I am not bound by any such appointment:  and secondly because I am broken down by my ill health, and do not think myself equal to such anxieties.  And since you too have been heavy on me, in reproaching me with my resignation, and I myself could not endure the clamours against me, and since the times are hard, threatening us with an inroad of enemies to the injury of the commonwealth of the whole Church, I finally made up my mind to suffer a defeat which is painful to my body, but perhaps not bad for my soul.  I make over this miserable body to the Church for as long as it may be possible, thinking it better to suffer any distress to the flesh rather than to incur a spiritual injury myself or to inflict it upon others, who have thought the worst of us, judging from their own experience.  Knowing this, do pray for me, and approve my resolution:  and perhaps it is not out of place to say, mould yourself to piety.

[139] ΘΕΟΔΩΡΩΙ

Ὁ ἀναλαβὼν Δαυῒδ μὲν τὸν ἑαυτοῦ δοῦλον ἐκ ποιμαντικῆς εἰς βασιλείαν, τὴν δὲ σὴν εὐλάβειαν εἰς ποιμαντικὴν ἀπὸ ποίμνης, ὁ οἰκονομῶν κατὰ τὸ ἑαυτοῦ θέλημα τὰ ἡμέτερα καὶ πάντων τῶν ἐλπιζόντων ἐπ' αὐτόν, αὐτὸς καὶ νῦν ἐπὶ νοῦν ἀγάγοι τῇ σῇ τελειότητι γνῶναι τὴν ἀτιμίαν ἣν ἠτιμάσμεθα παρὰ τῶν κυρίων τῶν ἐπισκόπων περὶ τὰς ψήφους, τῇ μὲν καταστάσει συντιθεμένων, ἡμᾶς δὲ παρωθουμένων. Οὐ γὰρ δὴ τὴν σὴν εὐλάβειαν αἰτιάσομαι, νεωστί τε ἐπιστᾶσαν τοῖς πράγμασι καὶ ἀγνοοῦσαν τὰ πλεῖστα, ὡς εἰκός, τῆς καθ' ἡμᾶς ἱστορίας. Ταῦτα μὲν οὖν ἱκανῶς: οὐδὲ γὰρ βούλομαι διοχλεῖν σοι μακρότερα, ἵνα μὴ φαίνωμαι φορτικός, ἄρτι τῆς φιλίας ἀρχόμενος. Ἃ δὲ πάρεστι μετὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ βουλευομένοις ἡμῖν, ταῦτα γνωρίζομεν. Ἐγὼ γὰρ ὑπεχώρησα μὲν τῆς κατὰ Ναζιανζὸν Ἐκκλησίας οὔτε ὡς καταφρονῶν τοῦ Θεοῦ, οὔτε ὡς περιορῶν τοῦ μικροῦ ποιμνίου (μηδὲ γὰρ πάθοι τοῦτο ψυχὴ φιλόσοφος), ἀλλὰ πρῶτον μὲν ὡς οὐδενὶ κηρύγματι τοιούτῳ κρατούμενος, δεύτερον δὲ διὰ τὸ συντετρίφθαι τῇ ἀρρωστίᾳ καὶ νομίζειν μὴ ἐξαρκεῖν πρὸς τὰς τοιαύτας φροντίδας. Ἐπειδὴ καὶ ὑμεῖς ἐβαρεῖτε, τὴν ἀναχώρησιν ὀνειδίζοντες, καὶ αὐτὸς οὐκ ἔφερον τὰς παρὰ πάντων μοι γινομένας καταβοήσεις, ὅ τε καιρὸς χαλεπός, ἀπειλῶν ἡμῖν ἐχθρῶν ἔφοδον ἐπὶ βλάβῃ τοῦ κοινοῦ πάσης τῆς Ἐκκλησίας, τέλος ἡττήθην ἧτταν τῷ σώματι μὲν ὀδυνηράν, τῇ δὲ ψυχῇ ἴσως οὐ πονηράν. Ἐπιδίδωμι τὸ ταπεινὸν τοῦτο σῶμα τῇ Ἐκκλησίᾳ, μέχρις ἂν ᾖ δυνατόν, αἱρετώτερον εἶναι νομίζων ὁτιοῦν παθεῖν σαρκικῶς μᾶλλον ἢ πνευματικῶς πλήσσεσθαι καὶ πλήσσειν τοὺς πολλοὺς τὰ χείρω περὶ ἡμῶν ὑπειληφότας, ἐξ ὧν αὐτοὶ πάσχουσι. Ταῦτ' οὖν εἰδώς, καὶ συνεύχου καὶ τὴν γνώμην ἡμῶν ἀπόδεξαι: οὐ χεῖρον δ' ἴσως εἰπεῖν, καὶ τυποῦ πρὸς εὐλάβειαν.