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I was in prison, and you came to me. For even if we are humble and small, and bear a great burden of sins, yet the Lord is generous and magnanimous. For this very reason He remembers not the great, but the small, and says: Inasmuch as you did it to one of the small, the least of those who believe in me, you did it to me. Since, therefore, you excel in right doctrines, and shine with a praiseworthy life, and from this have great confidence before God, aid me with your prayers, that I may be able to withstand, according to the apostolic voice, the wiles of error, and escape the snares of the wicked one, and with a little confidence on the day of the manifestation stand before the just Judge. 133 TO IBAS, BISHOP OF EDESSA. The Lord has commanded those who are wronged not to be disheartened, but to rejoice, and to draw the occasions for their encouragement from ancient examples. For from the first men who were born until the present time, it is possible to find those who have been eager to worship the God of all being wronged by the people who lived with them, and having fallen into very many troubles. And I would have gone through the entire list of these, if I were writing to a man not accurately acquainted with the divine Scripture. But since from childhood you were nurtured in the divine oracles, most God-beloved, I think it superfluous to do this. But I ask you to look only to them, and of the most benevolent priests to mourn for those who have wronged them, to pity those who have neglected them, and to lament the storm of the Church; but because we have shared in the sufferings for piety, to rejoice and be glad, and to praise unceasingly the one who has made us part of this portion. Let us yield to our destroyers honor, and luxury, and precedence, and wretched glory. But let us alone hold fast to the evangelical doctrines, and with them, if need be, let us endure anything painful whatsoever, and let us prefer worthy poverty to wealth full of cares. I write these things, not offering exhortation—for I know the confidence of your holiness in painful things—, but making my own mind clear to your love of God, and teaching you that you have, my lord, fellow-combatants who gladly face danger for the truth. Having wished to write this long ago, I did not find one to carry the letter. But now, having met the most honorable and most devout presbyter Ozeas, a man who both champions godliness and is attached to your piety, I both write, and I embrace your holiness, and I ask you to support us with prayers, and to strengthen us with your letters. 134 TO JOHN, BISHOP OF GERMANICIA. That you are not unmindful, my lord, of our friendship, I both knew and know clearly. Nevertheless, I both wished and prayed that your piety would take care for exactness, and flee the communion of those who have betrayed piety, and to commit the care for us and for you to the Guardian of all. For even while we were silent and keeping quiet, He dissolved the most bitter and cruel punishments, and instead of the harsh tempest, He provided this bright calm. And since this has been provided to us by the philanthropic Lord, we consider the tranquility most worthy of love. For we suppose it necessary to persuade those who have been led astray by the slanders against us, and to show the truth of the evangelical doctrines, and to refute the falsehood that has warred against them. However, after the refutations, and the victory of the truth,

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φυλακῇ ἤμην, καὶ ἤλθετε πρός με . Εἰ γὰρ καὶ ἡμεῖς εὐτελεῖς καὶ σμικροί, καὶ πολὺν ἁμαρτημάτων φόρτον περικείμενοι, ἀλλ' ὁ ∆εσπότης φιλότιμός τε καὶ μεγαλόδωρος. ∆ιά τοι τοῦτο οὐ τῶν μεγάλων, ἀλλὰ τῶν σμικρῶν μέμνηται, καί φησιν· Ἐφ' ὅσον ἐποιήσατε ἑνὶ τῶν σμικρῶν τῶν ἐλαχίστων τῶν πιστευόντων εἰς ἐμέ, ἐμοὶ ἐποιήσατε . Ἐπειδὴ τοίνυν καὶ ἐν τοῖς ὀρθοῖς διαπρέπετε δόγμασι, καὶ τῷ ἀξι επαίνῳ λάμπετε βίῳ, καὶ πολλὴν ἐντεῦθεν πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν ἔχετε παρρησίαν, ἐπαμύνατέ μοι ταῖς προσευχαῖς, ἵνα ἀντισχεῖν δυνηθῶ, κατὰ τὴν ἀποστολικὴν φωνήν, πρὸς τὰς μεθοδείας τῆς πλάνης, καὶ διαφύγω τὰς τοῦ ἀλάστορος πάγας, καὶ μετὰ σμικρᾶς παρρησίας ἐν τῇ τῆς ἐπιφανείας ἡμέρᾳ παραστῶ τῷ δικαίῳ Κριτῇ. 133 ΙΒΑ ΕΠΙΣΚΟΠΩ Ε∆ΕΣΗΣ. Τοὺς ἀδικουμένους οὐκ ἀθυμεῖν, ἀλλὰ χαίρειν ὁ ∆εσπότης προσέταξεν, καὶ ἐκ τῶν παλαιῶν ἕλκειν παραδειγμάτων τῆς ψυχαγωγίας τὰς ἀφορμάς. Ἐκ γὰρ τῶν πρῶτον φύντων ἀνθρώ πων μέχρι τοῦ παρόντος καιροῦ, τοὺς τὸν ὅλων ἐσπουδακότας σέβειν Θεὸν ἔστιν εὑρεῖν παρὰ τῶν συμβεβιωκότων ἀνθρώπων ἠδικημένους, καὶ πλείστοις ἄγαν περιπεπτωκότας ἀνιαροῖς. Καὶ τούτων ἂν τὸν κατάλογον ἅπαντα διεξῆλθον, εἴπερ ἐπ έστελλον ἀνδρὶ τὴν θείαν ἀκριβῶς οὐκ ἐπισταμένῳ Γραφήν. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ παιδόθεν τοῖς θείοις ἐνετράφης λογίοις, θεοφι λέστατε, παρέλκον οἶμαι τοῦτο ποιεῖν. Εἰς ἐκείνους δὲ μόνον ἀφορᾶν ἀξιῶ, καὶ τῶν φιλανθρωποτάτων ἱερέων τοὺς μὲν ἠδι κηκότας θρηνεῖν, τοὺς δὲ παρορῶντας ἐλεεῖν, καὶ τὸν μὲν τῆς Ἐκκλησίας ὀδύρεσθαι κλύδωνα· ὅτι δὲ τῶν ὑπὲρ τῆς εὐσεβείας παθημάτων μετέσχομεν, χαίρειν καὶ γάννυσθαι, καὶ τὸν ταύ της ἡμᾶς τῆς μερίδος πεποιηκότα διηνεκῶς ἀνυμνεῖν. Παρα χωρήσωμεν τοῖς ἀπεκτονόσι καὶ τιμῆς, καὶ τρυφῆς, καὶ προεδρίας, καὶ τῆς δυστήνου δόξης. Μόνον δὲ ἡμεῖς τῶν εὐαγγελικῶν δογμάτων ἐχώμεθα, καὶ μετ' ἐκείνων ἂν δέῃ πᾶν ὁτιοῦν ἀλγεινὸν ὑπομένωμεν, καὶ τὴν ἀξιόκτητον πενίαν τοῦ πολυφρόντιδος προτιμήσωμεν πλούτου. Ταῦτα δὲ γράφω, οὐ παραίνεσιν εἰσφέρων-ἔγνων γάρ σου τῆς ὁσιότητος τὴν ἐν τοῖς ἀλγεινοῖς παρρησίαν-, ἀλλὰ τὴν ἐμαυτοῦ γνώμην δήλην τῇ σῇ φιλοθεΐᾳ ποιῶν, καὶ διδάσκων ὡς ἔχεις, δεσπότα, συν αγωνιστὰς ἀσμένως τῆς ἀληθείας προκινδυνεύοντας. Τοῦτο πάλαι βουληθεὶς ἐπιστεῖλαι, οὐχ εὗρον τὸν κομιοῦντα τὰ γράμματα. Ἐπιτυχὼν δὲ νῦν τοῦ τιμιωτάτου καὶ εὐλαβεστάτου πρεσβυτέρου Ὀζέου, ἀνδρὸς καὶ τῆς θεοσεβείας ὑπερμαχοῦν τος καὶ τῆς σῆς ἐξηρτημένου εὐσεβείας, καὶ γράφω, καὶ περι πτύσσομαί σου τὴν ὁσιότητα, καὶ παρακαλῶ ταῖς προσευχαῖς ἡμᾶς ὑπερείδειν, καὶ στηρίζειν τοῖς γράμμασιν. 134 ΙΩΑΝΝΗ ΕΠΙΣΚΟΠΩ ΓΕΡΜΑΝΙΚΕΙΑΣ. Ὅτι μὲν οὐκ ἀμνημονεῖς, δέσποτα, τῆς ἡμετέρας φιλίας, καὶ ᾔδειν, καὶ οἶδα σαφῶς. Ἐβουλόμην δὲ ὅμως καὶ ηὐχόμην, τὴν μὲν σὴν θεοσέβειαν τῆς ἀκριβείας φροντίσαι, καὶ φυγεῖν τῶν τὴν εὐσέβειαν προδεδωκότων τὴν κοινωνίαν, ἀναθεῖναι δὲ τῷ Κηδεμόνι τῶν ὅλων τὴν ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν καὶ ὑμῶν φροντίδα. Καὶ γὰρ σιγώντων ἡμῶν καὶ ἡσυχίαν ἀγόντων τάς τε πικροτά τας καὶ ὠμοτάτας διέλυσε τιμωρίας, καὶ ἀντὶ τοῦ χαλεποῦ κλύδωνος τὴν λευκὴν ταύτην παρέσχεν γαλήνην. Καὶ ταύτης δὲ ἡμῖν παρὰ τοῦ φιλανθρώπου παρασχεθείσης ∆εσπότου, τὴν ἡσυχίαν ἀξιεραστοτάτην νομίζομεν. Πεῖσαι μὲν γὰρ τοὺς ταῖς καθ' ἡμῶν ὑπαχθέντας συκοφαντίαις ἀναγκαῖον ὑπολαμ βάνομεν, καὶ δεῖξαι μὲν τὴν τῶν εὐαγγελικῶν δογμάτων ἀλή θειαν, διελέγξαι δὲ τὸ κατ' αὐτῶν στρατευσάμενον ψεῦδος. Μετὰ μέντοι τοὺς ἐλέγχους, καὶ τῆς ἀληθείας τὸ κράτος,