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reciprocating. And since, as we have written before, by the good pleasure of the all-good God, he through whom the discord was stirred up in our church has been removed, peace has been awarded by the nods and inclinations and goodwill, and I would add also by the entreaties, of our gloriously victorious and Christ-loving emperors, and by the cooperation and defense of our most holy patriarch; for from now on it is right to call him so. Let your holiness also accept what has been approved and concluded by us, the humble ones, with much consideration and investigation and review of the patristic ways, and of the ecclesiastical scandals that have sometimes occurred, so that in this way also in your church of Christ the peace of God may rule the hearts of all; for if we do not do this, it will not be considered holy to God, nor will it be a victory for us, but perhaps, seeking what is more advantageous, we will also lose what good we have accomplished by our previous labors? Receive therefore, we beseech you, and accept our most holy patriarch, and you shall be in communion, in those things where the transgression is not manifest, also with your bishop, conceding the matters in between to the Lord, the examiner and rewarder of things done and said. For to this very end, making use of prayer, we have also urged our most holy patriarch to write, so that you too might be released from your prisons, and having made a pact of peace with one another, if there should be anything in dispute, it might be resolved immediately or, if it is incurable, the infirmities might be healed by your and the most honorable bishop's coming here into the presence of the same ecumenical patriarch and all things might come together for the joy of peace and the sincerity of concord. 57 {1Letter of the same to Plato his own father concerning the veneration of the holy icons}1 We comfort ourselves, addressing our holy head; for what could be more consoling for a child than to converse with a father, and indeed such a great one, whose virtue many cities, and lands, and islands sing of. This is my beloved father, even if the fruit is not like the tree on account of the worthlessness of my humility, but still we have you set before us as a rule of piety, not only we, but also whoever might choose to be godly, to be winged for courage and to rise up for a good course. And since your holiness long ago sought that I give an account of how one must venerate the holy icon of Christ (not being ignorant, but wishing thereby to stir my irrational reason), at that time it was not possible for me to answer, but now, having been reminded, I thought it necessary to fulfill what was commanded me as far as is possible with the cooperation of your holy prayers, even though I have perhaps spoken sufficiently about this very thing elsewhere. Every artificial icon, therefore, is a likeness of that of which it is an icon and mimetically shows in itself the character of the archetype, as Dionysius, great in divine things, says: the truth in the likeness, the archetype in the icon, each in the other, apart from the difference of substance; so that the one who venerates the icon has surely venerated that which the icon represents. For he venerated not the substance of the icon, but the one depicted in it, nor did he separate the icon from the archetype in the identity of the veneration; for the icon is the same as the archetype in likeness. Thus, therefore, also Basil the Great says that the king is so called and also the king's icon, and not two kings; for neither is the power divided nor is the glory partitioned. For as the ruling principle and authority over us is one, so also the doxology from us is one and not many, because the honor of the icon passes over to the prototype. But if it passes over to the prototype, it is not one and another, but one and the same honorific veneration, just as the prototype venerated even in the icon is one and the same. But a natural icon is one thing and a mimetic one is another, the one having no natural difference from its cause, but

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ἀνταμειβόμενοι. καὶ ἐπειδή, καθὰ καὶ προγεγράφαμεν, εὐδοκίᾳ τοῦ ὑπεραγάθου θεοῦ ἐκποδὼν γέγονε, δι' οὗ ἡ διχόνοια ἐν τῇ καθ' ἡμᾶς ἐκκλησίᾳ ὑπήρχθη, βεβράβευται ἡ εἰρήνη νεύμασι καὶ ῥοπαῖς καὶ εὐμενείαις, προσθείην δ' ἂν καὶ παρακλήσεσι, τῶν καλλινίκων καὶ φιλοχρίστων ἡμῶν βασιλέων, συνεργίᾳ τε καὶ ἀπολογίᾳ τοῦ ἁγιωτάτου ἡμῶν πατριάρχου· δεῖ γὰρ ἀπὸ τοῦ νῦν οὕτω καλεῖν. δεξάσθω καὶ ἡ ὑμετέρα ὁσιότης τὰ παρ' ἡμῶν τῶν ταπεινῶν σὺν πολλῇ σκέψει τε καὶ διερευνήσει ἀναθεωρήσει τε τῶν πατρικῶν ἀναστροφῶν, τῶν τε ἔσθ' ὅτε ὑποπεπτωκότων σκανδάλων ἐκκλησιαστικῶν ἐγκριθέντα καὶ περαιωθέντα, ἵνα οὕτω καὶ ἐν τῇ καθ' ὑμᾶς ἐκκλησίᾳ τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἡ εἰρήνη τοῦ θεοῦ βραβεύσῃ τὰς καρδίας τῶν ἁπάντων· οὐδὲ γάρ, εἰ μὴ τοῦτο πράξοιμεν, ὅσιον τῷ θεῷ λογισθήσεται, οὔτε ἡμῖν νῖκος γενήσεται, προσαπόλλυμεν δὲ τάχα, ζητοῦντες περισσότερον τὸ δεξιόν, καὶ ὃ τοῖς προλαβοῦσι κόποις διηνύκαμεν ἀγαθόν; ∆έξασθε τοιγαροῦν, παρακαλοῦμεν, καὶ ἀποδέξασθε τὸν ἁγιώτατον ἡμῶν πατριάρχην, κοινωνοί τε ἔσεσθε, ἐν οἷς οὐ πρόδηλος ἡ παρανομία, καὶ τῷ καθ' ὑμᾶς ἐπισκόπῳ, τὰ διὰ μέσου παραχωροῦντες τῷ Κυρίῳ, τῷ ἐξεταστῇ καὶ ἀποδότῃ τῶν πρακτέων, τῶν ῥητέων. πρὸς τοῦτο γὰρ αὐτὸ δεήσει χρησάμενοι, παρωρμήσαμεν καὶ τὸν ἁγιώτατον ἡμῶν πατριάρχην ἐπιστεῖλαι, ὡς ἂν ἀφεθῆτε καὶ αὐτοὶ τῶν φυλακῶν, εἰρήνης τε σύνθημα πρὸς ἀλλήλους ποιησάμενοι, κἂν τι ἀμφιβαλλόμενον ᾖ, αὐτίκα διαλυθείη ἤ, ἀνιάτως ἔχον, διὰ τῆς ἐνταῦθα ὑμῶν τε καὶ τοῦ τιμιωτάτου ἐπισκόπου εἰσελεύσεως ἐπὶ παρουσίᾳ τοῦ αὐτοῦ οἰκουμενικοῦ πατριάρχου θεραπευθείη τὰ ἀρρωστήματα καὶ συνδράμοιεν τὰ πάντα πρὸς θυμηδίαν εἰρήνης καὶ ὁμονοίας εἰλικρινότητα. 57 {1Τοῦ αὐτοῦ ἐπιστολὴ πρὸς Πλάτωνα τὸν ἑαυτοῦ πατέρα περὶ προσκυνήσεως τῶν σεπτῶν εἰκόνων}1 Ἑαυτοὺς παραμυθούμεθα, προσλαλοῦντες τῇ ἱερᾷ κεφαλῇ ἡμῶν· τί γὰρ ἂν καὶ εἴη παρακλητικώτερον παιδὶ ἤ πατρὶ διαλέγεσθαι, καί γε τοιούτῳ καὶ τηλικούτῳ, οὗ τὴν ἀρετὴν ᾄδουσι πολλαὶ πόλεις, χῶραί τε καὶ νῆσοι. οὗτος ὁ ἐμὸς ποθεινὸς πατήρ, κἂν ὁ καρπὸς τῷ δένδρῳ οὐκ ἐοικὼς διὰ τὸ ἄχρηστον τῆς ταπεινώσεώς μου, ἀλλ' ὅμως τῷ προκεῖσθαί σε κανόνα εὐσεβείας ἔχομεν οὐχ ἡμεῖς μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ οἵπερ ἂν ἕλοιντο θεοσεβεῖν, πτεροῦσθαι εἰς ἀνδρείαν καὶ διανίστασθαι πρὸς εὐδρομίαν. ἐπειδὴ δὲ ἀπὸ χρόνου πολλοῦ ἐπεζήτησέ σου ἡ ἁγιωσύνη δοῦναί με λόγον, πῶς δεῖ τὴν σεπτὴν Χριστοῦ εἰκόνα προσκυνεῖν (οὐκ ἀγνοοῦσα, ἀλλὰ βουλομένη κἀντεῦθεν τὸν ἄλογόν μου λόγον κινεῖν), τηνικαῦτα μὲν οὐκ ἐξεγένετό μοι ἀποκριθῆναι, νυνὶ δὲ ἐπιμνησθεὶς δέον ἡγησάμην τὸ ἐνταλθέν μοι ἐφ' ὅσον οἷόν τέ ἐστι τῇ συνεργίᾳ τῶν ἱερῶν σου προσευχῶν ἀποπληρῶσαι, εἰ καὶ ὅτι ἄλλοθί που περὶ τοῦδε αὐτοῦ τάχα ἱκανῶς ἐξεῖπον. Πᾶσα τοίνυν τεχνητὴ εἰκὼν ὁμοίωσίς ἐστιν οὗ ἂν ᾖ εἰκὼν καὶ ἐν ἑαυτῇ τὸν χαρακτῆρα τοῦ ἀρχετύπου μιμητικῶς δείκνυσι, καθώς φησιν ὁ πολὺς τὰ θεῖα ∆ιονύσιος, τὸ ἀληθὲς ἐν τῷ ὁμοιώματι, τὸ ἀρχέτυπον ἐν τῇ εἰκόνι, τὸ ἑκάτερον ἐν ἑκατέρῳ, παρὰ τὸ τῆς οὐσίας διάφορον· ὥστε ὁ προσκυνῶν τὴν εἰκόνα προσεκύνησε τὸν ὅπερ ἐμφαίνει ἡ εἰκὼν ἀσφαλῶς. οὔτε γὰρ τὴν τῆς εἰκόνος οὐσίαν, ἀλλὰ τὸν ἐν αὐτῇ γεγραμμένον προσεκύνησεν, οὔτε μὴν τοῦ ἀρχετύπου τὴν εἰκόνα διέσχισε κατὰ τὸ ταὐτὸν τῆς προσκυνήσεως· ταὐτὸν γὰρ ἡ εἰκὼν τῷ ἀρχετύπῳ τῇ ὁμοιώσει. οὕτω τοιγαροῦν καὶ ὁ Μέγας Βασίλειος, ὅτι βασιλεὺς λέγεται καὶ ἡ τοῦ βασιλέως εἰκὼν καὶ οὐ δύο βασιλεῖς· οὔτε γὰρ τὸ κράτος σχίζεται οὔτε ἡ δόξα μερίζεται. ὡς γὰρ ἡ κρατοῦσα ἡμῶν ἀρχὴ καὶ ἐξουσία μία, οὕτω καὶ ἡ παρ' ἡμῶν δοξολογία μία καὶ οὐ πολλαί, διότι ἡ τῆς εἰκόνος τιμὴ ἐπὶ τὸ πρωτότυπον διαβαίνει. εἰ δὲ ἐπὶ τὸ πρωτότυπον διαβαίνει, οὐκ ἄλλη καὶ ἄλλη, ἀλλὰ μία καὶ ἡ αὐτὴ τιμητικὴ προσκύνησις, ὥσπερ ἓν καὶ ταὐτὸν τὸ προσκυνούμενον κἀν τῇ εἰκόνι πρωτότυπον. Ἄλλο δὲ φυσικὴ εἰκὼν καὶ ἄλλο μιμητική, ἡ μὲν οὐ φυσικὴν διαφορὰν ἔχουσα πρὸς τὸ αἴτιον, ἀλλ'