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against him, not abstaining from insults; (15Γ_312> finally, when they saw themselves defeated in all things, and, as the saying goes, caught with their own felt caps [feathers]; having dissolved the council, they themselves went in haste to the emperor, reporting the man's resistance and invincibility in arguments, and that no one could persuade Maximus to agree with our positions, even if one should try to punish him.

24. A short time after that, and others came to him,

who was already a prisoner; thinking perhaps that by attacking him frequently and terrifying him with words, they would find him softer. And those who had arrived said they had been sent by the patriarch; who proposed these things, just as they were, to the saint:

"Of what Church," they say, "are you?;" for I shall use their very words; "Of Byzantium, Rome, Antioch, Alexandria, Jerusalem? Behold, all of them, together with the provinces under them, have been united. If, therefore, you too are of the Catholic Church, be united, lest by innovating a strange path in your life, you suffer things you do not expect."

To them the blessed one—how can one say it?—replied opportunely and with understanding: "The Lord, having said that the Catholic Church is the right and saving confession of faith, for this also blessed Peter for having confessed well; upon which also the God of all declared that He would build such a Church. However, I wish to learn the confession upon which the whole union of the Churches has taken place; and if this has been done well, I myself will not be estranged."

(15Γ_314> 25. (96) To whom the envoys said, "Although we do not have an order concerning this, nevertheless we will speak, so that you may be entirely without excuse. We speak of two energies on account of the difference, and one on account of the union."

But he says: "Do you say that the two have become one on account of the union, or another besides these?

"No," they say, "but the two are one on account of the union." "We are rid of the matter," he said, "having fashioned for ourselves a faith without substance, and a nonexistent God. For if we confuse the two into one on account of the union, and again divide the one into two on account of the difference, there will be neither a monad nor a dyad of energies; since they are always being cancelled out by each other, rendering inactive and entirely nonexistent Him to whom they belong. For that which does not possess even one inalienable motion by nature, which is not altered and changed by any reason of change, is deprived of all substance, according to the Fathers; not having an energy that essentially characterizes it. This, therefore, I cannot say, nor was I taught by the holy Fathers to confess; therefore, do what seems good to you, who have the authority."

26. But they, having nothing to say in reply to these things, added to this what had been decided by the rulers; saying that if he did not obey he would be subjected to anathema, and the appointed death would be inflicted upon him.

But he, thus gently and humbly, says, "May what has been determined for me by God now receive its end, bringing to Him the glory known before every age." (15Γ_316> But for the time being they put off what had been brought forth; but after holding a council, the emperor and the patriarch together, no less than Pilate and the Jews against my Jesus, condemn the just man to exile; leading him away quickly to a certain small town, so-called Bizye; and at the same time also the disciple Anastasius, having carried him away alone to a certain place exceedingly wretched, and at the edge of the Roman dominion (the place somehow called Perberis in a barbarian tongue

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κατ' αὐτοῦ, μήτε ὕβρεων ἀποσχόμενοι· (15Γ_312> τέλος ὡς εἶδον ἑαυτούς ἡττωμένους ἐν ἅπασι, καί οἰκείοις, τό τοῦ λόγου, πίλοις [πτίλοις] ἁλισκομένους· τό συνέδριον λύσαντες, αὐτοί σπουδῇ πρός τόν βασιλέα εἰσῄεσαν, τήν τοῦ ἀνδρός ἔνστασιν, καί τό ἐν λόγοις ἀήττητον προσαγγέλοντες, καί ὅτι Μάξιμον οὐδείς ἄν πείσοι συνθέσθαι τοῖς ἡμετέροις, κἄν κολάζειν ἐπιχειροίη.

Κ∆´. Χρόνος τό ἀπ' ἐκείνου βραχύς, καί ἀφικνοῦνται πρός αὐτόν ἕτεροι,

ἔμφρουρον ἤδη τυγχάνοντα· οἰόμενοι τάχα τῷ συχνά προσβάλλειν, καί λόγοις δεδίττειν μαλακωτέρῳ ἐντεύξεσθαι. Ἔφασκον δ' οἱ ἀφιγμένοι πρός τοῦ πατριάρχου ἐστάλθαι· οἵ καί ταῦτα, ὡς εἶχον, προὔτειναν τῷ ἁγίῳ·

"Ποίας εἶ, φασίν, ὦ οὗτος, Ἐκκλησίας;" αὐτοῖς γάρ τοῖς ἐκείνων χρήσομαι ῥήμασι· "Βυζαντίου,Ῥώμης, Ἀντιοχείας, Ἀλεξανδρείας, Ἱεροσολύμων; Ἰδού πᾶσαι μετά τῶν ὑπ' αὐτάς ἐπαρχιῶν ἡνώθησαν. Εἰ τοίνυν εἶ τῆς Καθολικῆς καί αὐτός Ἐκκλησίας, ἑνώθητι, μήπως ξένην ὁδόν τῷ βίῳ καινοτομῶν, πάθῃς ἅπερ οὐ προσδοκᾷς."

Πρός οὕς ὁ μακάριος πῶς ἄν εἴποις ἐπικαίρως καί συνετῶν ἀποκρίνεται· "Καθολικήν Ἐκκλησίαν, τήν ὀρθήν καί σωτήριον τῆς πίστεως ὁμολογίαν, ὁ

Κύριος εἶναι εἰπών, ἐπί τούτῳ καί Πέτρον καλῶς ὁμολογήσαντα, ἐμακάρισεν· ἐφ' ᾧ καί τήν τοιαύτην οἰκοδομήσειν Ἐκκλησίαν, ὁ τῶν ὅλων Θεός ἀπεφήνατο. Πλήν βούλομαι μαθεῖν τήν ὁμολογίαν, ἐφ' ᾗ πᾶσα ἡ τῶνἘκκλησιῶν γέγονεν ἕνωσις· καί εἰ καλῶς τοῦτο γέγονεν, οὐδ' αὐτός ἀλλοτριοῦμαι."

(15Γ_314> ΚΕ´. (96) Πρός ὅν οἱ ἀπεσταλμένοι, "Κἄν οὐκ ἔχωμεν, εἶπον, περί τούτου

κέλευσιν, ὅμως ἐροῦμεν, διά τό εἶναί σε παντελῶς ἀπροφάσιστον. ∆ύο λέγομεν ἐνεργείας διά τήν διαφοράν, καί μίαν διά τήν ἕνωσιν."

Ὁ δέ φησι· "Τάς δύο, διά τήν ἕνωσιν μίαν φατέ γεγενῆσθαι, ἤ παρά ταύτας ἑτέραν;

Οὔ, φασίν οὗτοι, ἀλλά τάς δύο μίαν διά τήν ἕνωσιν. Ἀπηλλάγημεν, ἔφη, πραγμάτων, ἑαυτοῖς ἀνυπόστατον πίστιν, καί Θεόν

ἀνύπαρκτον πλάσαντες. Εἰ γάρ εἰς μίαν συγχέομεν τάς δύο διά τήν ἕνωσιν, καί πάλιν εἰς δύο διαιροῦμεν τήν μίαν διά τήν διαφοράν, οὐκ ἔσται μονάς οὔτε δυάς ἐνεργειῶν· ὑπ' ἀλλήλων ἀναιρουμένων ἀεί, καί ποιουσῶν ἀνενέργητον, τόν ᾧ προσπεφύκασι, καί παντελῶς ἀνύπαρκτον. Τό γάρ μηδέ μίαν ἔχων ἐκ φύσεως ἀναφαίρετον, καί μηδενί λόγῳ τροπῆς ἀλλοιουμένην καί μεταπίπτουσαν κίνησιν, πάσης οὐσίας ἐστέρηται, κατά τούς Πατέρας· οὐκ ἔχον ἐνέργειαν οὐσιωδῶς αὐτό χαρακτηρίζουσαν. Τοῦτο τοίνυν λέγειν οὐ δύναμαι, οὐδέ ἐδιδάχθην ἐκ τῶν ἁγίων Πατέρων ὁμολογεῖν· δοκοῦν οὖν ὑμῖν οὖσιν ἐξουσιασταῖς, ποιήσατε."

Κστ´. Οἱ δέ μή ἔχοντες πρός ταῦτα ἀντειπεῖν, τό δόξαν τοῖς κρατοῦσι τούτῳ

προσεπιφέρουσιν· ὡς εἴη, φάσκοντες αὐτόν ἀναθέματι μή πειθόμενοι ὑποβληθῆναι, καί θάνατον αὐτῷ τόν ὁρισθέντα προσαπενέγκασθαι. Ὁ δέ πράως οὕτω καί ταπεινῶς, "Τό τῷ Θεῷ, φησίν, ὁρισθέν ἐπ' ἐμοί, νῦν δέξοιτο πέρας, φέρον αὐτῷ δόξαν πρό παντός ἐγνωσμένην αἰῶνος." (15Γ_316> Ἀλλά τέως μέν ἀναβάλλονται τά ἐξενηνεγμένα· συμβούλιον δέ ποιησάμενοι βασιλεύς ἅμα καί πατριάρχης, οὐδέν ἧττον ἤ Πιλάτος καί Ἰουδαῖοι ἐπί τῷ ἐμῷ Ἰησοῦ, κατακρίνουσιν ἐξορίᾳ τόν δίκαιον· ἐπί τι πολίχνιον, Βυζύη οὕτω καλούμενον, θᾶττον ἀπαγόμενοι· ἐν ταυτῷ δέ καί τόν μαθητήν Ἀναστάσιον, εἴς τινα τόπον ἐκτόπως φαῦλον, καί τῆςῬωμαίων ἀρχῆς ἔσχατον, μόνον ἀπενεγκάμενοι (Πέρβερις οὕτω πως γλώσσῃ βαρβάρῳ ὁ τόπος