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kindling sparks and much loving disposition. Such a thing the letter of your grace has wrought also in us humble ones, multiplying its spiritual friendship and making the embers of memory sit more keenly. Use, therefore, most God-revering lady, this medicine of love and make known to us the matters of your well-being and success (for we know your evergreen virtue and how it provides for piety from what we have heard and still hear, and from what we ourselves have experienced well and learn), whether borrowing a voice or speaking from your own tongue; for we perceive it with a more pleasant disposition, not attending to a mere sound, and at the same time knowing that nothing could so depict a soul as the word proceeding from it, of whatever sort it may be. Concerning your daughter, the lady, learning that it happened thus, we were grieved; but what prayer or fragrance can we give, being sinners? But be persuaded of this, that such meddlings have no power, unless we give place to some inattention; for just as it is not possible for a place illumined by the sun to receive the opposite, darkness, so too it is not possible for a person supported by divine light, that is, by understanding and virtue, to suffer any of the sinister and demonic sorceries. May the child therefore be healed in the name of the Lord, who heals every disease and every infirmity, and may the hand of God be hovering over and overshadowing her head, and driving away every harmful influence, so that, being in good health, with her God-fearing mother, she may render her prayers with thanksgiving to the Lord. 56 {1To Antony, abbot of Saint Peter's, and those with him}1 Having received the letters written to us from your fatherly holiness out of great anguish and affliction of heart, how much we lamented, what need is there even to say, being moved with brotherly compassion, even if we happen to be unworthy, and from fellow-feeling considering and enduring your distress? For the painful thing cannot be known by others than by those who are similarly involved in the same sorrows. But our sins have so multiplied iniquity in the present generation, with love having grown cold according to the Lord's word, that those who ought to remove scandals and stumbling blocks, these one can see are doing the same things or perhaps even worse things than those in the secular authorities. Imprisonments, you say, abductions, reproaches, persecutions and tribulations you endure and are still enduring from those who rule the churches of God. And not because you are resisting for the sake of God's commandment, but even if you had been caught in human transgressions, it would in no way have been permitted for you to suffer such things from the shepherds of God, let alone when you are contending for the truth, for whom praise and blessing are due, and this, being adorned with the monastic profession. By their fruits you will know them, said the Lord. Surely such was not known among the saints; on the contrary, they themselves were shown to have suffered more, being taught by the apostolic voice, which says concerning the Lord: who, when he was reviled, did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but kindly offered also his divine cheek to the one who struck him. From this the shepherds of Christ are known, and from that the bishops who are strangers. But what must one suffer from the wickedness of men that has burst upon our humble generation, which they even take pride in as a boast, considering the lawless to be lawful, pursuing their leadership in opposition to the divine commands? May they, then, find what they have done and are doing, or rather may they be forgiven by the incorruptible judge, who will not overlook anything unexamined and without accountability on the day of judgment. But you, O most honored brothers and most revered fathers, rejoice and be glad, because you have won the glory of the divine beatitude and have honorably received the dishonors of Christ, by small toils and struggles greatest and eternal

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σπινθῆρας καὶ πολλὴν τὴν ἀγαπητικὴν διάθεσιν ἀνακαίουσα. τοιοῦτόν τι καὶ ἐν ἡμῖν τοῖς ταπεινοῖς ἀπειργάσατο ἡ ἐπιστολὴ τῆς ἐμμελείας σου, πολυπλασιάσασα τὴν πνευματικὴν φιλίαν αὐτῆς καὶ τὰ τῆς μνήμης ἐμπυρεύματα ἀκμαιότερα ἐνιζάνουσα. χρῶ τοιγαροῦν, θεοσεβεστάτη κυρία, τῷ ἀγαπητικῷ τῷδε φαρμάκῳ καὶ γνώριζε ἡμῖν τὰ τῆς εὐεξίας καὶ εὐπραξίας σου (ἴσμεν γὰρ τὸ κατ' ἀρετήν σου ἀειθαλὲς καὶ ποριστικὸν εἰς εὐσέβειαν ἐξ ὧν τε ἀκηκόαμεν καὶ εἰσέτι ἀκούομεν καὶ ἀφ' ὧν ἡμεῖς αὐτοὶ εὖ πεπόνθαμεν καὶ πανθάνομεν), εἴτε δανειζομένη τὴν φωνὴν εἴτε καὶ ἐξ οἰκείας γλώττης φθεγγομένη· ὡς ἡμεῖς γε ἡδείᾳ ταύτην μᾶλλον ἐπαΐομεν διαθέσει, οὐ ψιλῷ ἤχῳ προσέχοντες καὶ ἅμα ἐκεῖνο γινώσκοντες, ὡς οὐδεὶς οὕτως εἰκονίσειε ψυχὴν ὡς ὁ παρ' αὐτῆς προϊὼν λόγος κἂν ὁποῖός ποτ' ἂν εἴη. Περὶ τῆς κυρίας τῆς θυγατρός σου, ὅτι γέγονεν οὕτω μαθόντες, ἠνιάθημεν· εὐχὴν δὲ ἢ ἀπομύρισμα ποίαν ἢ οἷον δῶμεν, ἁμαρτωλοὶ τυγχάνοντες; πλὴν ἐκεῖνο πέπεισο, ὅτι οὐδὲν ἰσχύουσιν αἱ τοιαῦται περιεργίαι, εἰ μή γε ἡμεῖς δῶμεν χώραν ἀπροσεξίᾳ τινί· ὡς γὰρ οὐχ οἷόν τε τόπον τινὰ ἡλίῳ περιλαμπόμενον τὸ ἀντίθετον σκότος εἰσδέξασθαι, οὕτως οὐδὲ ἄνθρωπον θείῳ φωτί, ἤγουν συνέσει καὶ ἀρετῇ ἐπερειδόμενον, παθεῖν τι τῶν σκαιῶν καὶ δαιμονικῶν μαγγανευμάτων. ἰαθείη τοίνυν ἡ παῖς ἐν ὀνόματι Κυρίου, τοῦ θεραπεύοντος πᾶσαν νόσον καὶ πᾶσαν μαλακίαν, καὶ ἔστω χεὶρ θεοῦ περιιπταμένη καὶ ἐπισκιάζουσα τὴν αὐτῆς κεφαλὴν καὶ ἀποσοβοῦσα πᾶσαν ἐνέργειαν βλαπτικήν, ὡς ἂν εὐεκτοῦσα σὺν μητρὶ θεοφόβῳ ἀποδοίη τὰς εὐχὰς αὐτῆς χαριστηρίως τῷ Κυρίῳ. 56 {1Ἀντωνίῳ ἡγουμένῳ τοῦ Ἁγίου Πέτρου καὶ τοῖς σὺν αὐτῷ}1 Τὰς ἐκ πολλῆς συνοχῆς καὶ θλίψεως καρδίας γραφείσας ἡμῖν ἐπιστολὰς παρὰ τῆς πατρικῆς ὑμῶν ἁγιωσύνης δεξάμενοι, ὅσον κατεστενάξαμεν, τί δεῖ καὶ λέγειν, ἀδελφικοῖς σπλάγχνοις κινούμενοι, εἰ καὶ ἀνάξιοι τυγχάνομεν, καὶ ἐκ ταὐτοπαθείας τὴν περιπόνησιν ὑμῶν στοχαζόμενοί τε καὶ συνυφιστάμενοι; οὐδὲ γὰρ ἄλλοις ἔστι γνωρίζεσθαι τὸ ὀδυνηρὸν ἢ τοῖς ὁμοιοπαθῶς τοῖς αὐτοῖς ἐνεχομένοις λυπηροῖς. ἀλλ' αἱ ἁμαρτίαι ἡμῶν τοσοῦτον ἐπλήθυναν ἐν τῇ παρούσῃ γενεᾷ τὴν ἀνομίαν, ψυγείσης τῆς ἀγάπης κατὰ τὸν τοῦ Κυρίου λόγον, ὥστε, τοὺς ὀφείλοντας διαλύειν τὰ σκῶλα καὶ προσκόμματα, τούτους τὰ ἴσα ἢ τάχα καὶ δεινότερα τοῖς ἐν ταῖς ἔξωθεν ἀρχαῖς ἔστιν ὁρᾶν πράττουσι. ∆εσμωτήριά φατε, ἀπαγωγάς, ὀνειδισμούς, διωγμοὺς καὶ περιστάσεις ὑφιστάναι καὶ ἔτι ὑφίστασθαι παρὰ τῶν κρατούντων τὰς ἐκκλησίας τοῦ θεοῦ. καὶ οὐχ ὅτι ὑπὲρ ἐντολῆς θεοῦ ἐνιστάμενοι, ἀλλὰ καὶ εἰ ἑαλωκότες ἦτε ἐν παραπτώμασιν ἀνθρωπίνοις, οὐδαμῶς τὰ τοιαῦτα πανθάνειν ἐξὸν ἦν ὑμῖν παρὰ ποιμένων θεοῦ, μὴ ὅτι γε ὑπὲρ ἀληθείας διαθλοῦσιν, οἷς τὸ ἐπαινεῖσθαι καὶ μακαρίζεσθαι κεχρεώστηται, καὶ ταῦτα τῷ μοναδικῷ κατακεκοσμημένοις ἐπαγγέλματι. ἐκ τῶν ἔργων αὐτῶν ἐπιγνώσεσθε αὐτούς, ἔφη ὁ Κύριος. οὐ δήπου τοιοῦτον παρὰ τοῖς ἁγίοις ἐγνωρίσθη, τοὐναντίον δὲ αὐτοὶ μᾶλλον πεπονθότες ἐδείκνυντο, διδασκόμενοι παρὰ τῆς ἀποστολικῆς φωνῆς, ἥ φησι περὶ τοῦ Κυρίου· ὃς λοιδορούμενος οὐκ ἀντελοιδόρει, πάσχων οὐκ ἠπείλει, παρεῖχεν δὲ εὐμενῶς τῷ παίοντι καὶ τὴν θείαν σιαγόνα. ἐντεῦθεν οἱ ποιμένες Χριστοῦ γνώριμοι κἀκεῖθεν οἱ ἀλλοτριοεπίσκοποι. Ἀλλὰ τί δεῖ παθεῖν κατὰ τὴν ἐνσκήψασαν ἐν τῇ ταπεινῇ ἡμῶν γενεᾷ μοχθηρίαν τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ἣν καὶ ὡς αὔχημα ποιούμενοι σεμνύνονται, τὸ παράνομον ἔννομον λογιζόμενοι, κατ' ἐναντιότητα τῶν θείων προσταγμάτων τὴν προστασίαν μετερχόμενοι; ἐκεῖνοι μὲν οὖν ἃ δεδράκασι καὶ δρῶσιν εὕροιεν, μᾶλλον δὲ συγχωρηθεῖεν παρὰ τοῦ ἀδεκάστου κριτοῦ, τοῦ μὴ ὁτιοῦν ἀνεξέταστον καὶ ἀνεύθυνον παραβλέπειν μέλλοντος ἐν ἡμέρᾳ κρίσεως. ὑμεῖς δέ, ὦ ἀδελφοὶ τιμιώτατοι καὶ πατέρες σεβασμιώτατοι, χαίρετε καὶ εὐφραίνεσθε, ὅτι τοῦ θείου μακαρισμοῦ τὸ κλέος ἀπηνέγκασθε καὶ τὰ τῆς ἀτιμίας τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐντίμως ὑπεδέξασθε, μικροῖς κόποις καὶ ἀγῶσιν μέγιστα καὶ αἰώνια