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representations of those blessed and ancient saints; who, having become manly in similar circumstances, were adorned with the unfading crown of righteousness, dancing for eternity. Such are you, and your praise is greater than my insignificant tongue, singing only this much, so as to consecrate the moment and to satisfy my longing and to rekindle the spirit for unceasing prayer that God be invoked to make the good of peace shine forth perfectly for us. For you see, O venerable ones, how our affairs are still shaken? But He is able to make a favorable end appear along with the beginning. Be so kind as to pray for my lowliness, ever-venerable ones. 59 {1To the abbess of Gordina}1 Our beloved brother Antony has requested this letter from us, saying that I long ago promised to do this. And so for this reason and because of your missions, behold, I address you and greet you as mothers, as sisters in the Lord, remembering your welcome and the labor of love which you showed in His name, having escaped the communion of the heretics and having kept yourselves unspotted from the world. See to the future, therefore, holy ones. Since impiety still prevails, keep the deposit of faith inviolate, so that, if it were necessary even to die, you would give yourselves up with joy rather than partake of the leaven of the heterodox. And indeed, I also urge you to live your life in a holy manner. Do not become thieves of slavish pleasure, but in the virginity to which Christ betrothed you, purify your hearts and bodies, fleeing from seeing the faces of men, as much as possible; for from seeing, a fire is kindled and sin burns. Let the abbess be as an abbess, set forth as a model of good works, the disciples as disciples, having one will, one heart, not being quarrelsome, not babbling, not possessing private property, but breathing their teacher, keeping what is approved by her in the law of the Lord. But if these things belong to the disciples, how much more to the superior, whose reward for leadership is as great as the danger of her error. Let the saying of 'mine' and 'yours' in a common life be gone, as it is the cause of countless wars; let living idiosyncratically and acting individually be banished, as it is destructive of good order; let wrangling and making a disturbance be driven away, as unholy for nuns. But if there is anything silent, if anything prayerful, if anything psalmic, if anything industrious, do these things, and the God of peace and love will be with you. Pray for us sinners, that we too may be saved. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. 60 {1To Basil the abbot}1 In what your honor has written, brother, you have shown yourself to be pleased with the penances and hastening toward better things, as not only the letter-bearer has taught, but also before him our most honorable brother Peter, who is also beloved by you; at which I, the humble one, was pleased and gave thanks. For it is not some small and contemptible thing that we have suffered, my good man, having communed in the denial of the icon of Christ, but rather something very monstrous and a clear denial of the faith, because the denial of the icon ascends to the prototype; and in this same denial of Christ all who have in any way communed have communed. But since you have confessed again and, out of fear of the persecutor, permitted icons to be destroyed, the transgression is more grievous; and since you said you even signed, the sin and the denial are complete. What then must be done, since you both seek the medicine of health, and say again that you cannot bear its gradual application, putting forward weakness as an excuse and preferring to accept this or that instead? I am in a strait on both sides, both in yielding because of brotherly love and in diminishing the medicine because of the greatness of the sin. Nevertheless, being constrained more by love, I decree with fear and trembling these things: Abstain for another year, brother, from the holy gifts, for both falls, I mean the destruction of the holy icons and the impious signature (for a signature, even if only

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ἀπεικονίσματα τῶν μακαρίων ἐκείνων καὶ πάλαι ἁγίων· οἳ ἐν τοῖς ὁμοίοις ἀνδρικοὶ γεγονότες τῷ ἀμαράντῳ τῆς δικαιοσύνης στεφάνῳ κατεκοσμήθησαν, χορεύοντες αἰώνια. Τοιοῦτοι ὑμεῖς, καὶ ὑμῶν ὁ ἔπαινος ὑπέρτερος τῆς ἐμῆς οὐδαμινῆς γλώττης, τοσοῦτον δὲ μόνον ᾀδούσης, ὅσον τὸν καιρὸν ἀφοσιώσα σθαι καὶ τὸν πόθον θεραπεῦσαι καὶ τὸ πνεῦμα ἀναζωπυρῆσαι εἰς ἄληκτον δέησιν τοῦ ἐπικληθῆναι θεὸν τέλειον ἡμῖν τὸ τῆς εἰρήνης ἀγαθὸν ἐξανατεῖλαι. ὁρᾶτε γάρ, ὦ σεβάσμιοι, ὅπως ἔτι κραδαίνει τὰ πράγματα; δυνατὸς δὲ ἐστὶ τῇ ἀρχῇ καὶ τὸ τέλος δεξιὸν συναναφάναι. Εὔχεσθαι παρακλήθητε περὶ τῆς ταπεινώσεώς μου, ἀεισέβαστοι. 59 {1Τῇ ἡγουμένῃ τῶν Γόρδινα}1 Ἀπῄτησεν ἡμᾶς ὁ ἀγαπητὸς ἡμῶν ἀδελφὸς Ἀντώνιος τὸ παρὸν γραμματεῖον, λέγων ὅτι τοῦτο ὑπεσχόμην πάλαι ποιῆσαι. καὶ δι' αὐτὸ οὖν τοῦτο καὶ διὰ τὰς ἀποστολὰς ὑμῶν ἰδοὺ προσφθέγγομαι καὶ προσαγορεύω ὑμᾶς ὡς μητέρας, ὡς ἀδελφὰς ἐν Κυρίῳ, μεμνημένος τῆς ὑπαντῆς ὑμῶν καὶ τοῦ κόπου τῆς ἀγάπης, ἧς ἐνεδείξασθε εἰς τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ, διαφυγοῦσαι τὴν κοινωνίαν τῶν αἱρετικῶν καὶ διατηρήσασαι ἀσπίλους ἑαυτὰς ἀπὸ τοῦ κόσμου. Βλέπετε οὖν καὶ πρὸς τὸ ἑξῆς, ἅγιαι. ἐπειδὴ ἔτι ἐνίσταται ἡ ἀσέβεια, τηρήσατε τὴν παρακαταθήκην τῆς πίστεως ἄσυλον, ὡς, εἰ δέοι καὶ ἀποθανεῖν, μετὰ χαρᾶς προέσθαι ἑαυτὰς ἢ τῆς ζύμης μετασχεῖν τῶν ἑτεροδόξων. καὶ μὴν καὶ κατὰ τὸν βίον παρακαλῶ ὑμᾶς ὁσίως πολιτεύσασθαι. μὴ γίνεσθε κλέπτριαι δούλης ἡδονῆς, ἀλλὰ τῇ παρθενίᾳ, ᾗ Χριστὸς ὑμᾶς ἐνυμφεύσατο, ἁγνίζετε καρδίας καὶ σώματα, φεύγουσαι ἀρρένων ὄψεις ὁρᾶν, ὅσον δυνατόν· ἐκ γὰρ τοῦ βλέπειν πῦρ ἀνάπτεται καὶ φλέγει ἁμαρτία. ἡ ἡγουμένη ὡς ἡγουμένη ἔστω, ὑποτύπωσις ἀγαθοεργίας προκειμένη, αἱ μαθήτριαι ὡς μαθήτριαι, ἓν θέλημα ἔχουσαι, μίαν καρδίαν, μὴ ἐρεσχελοῦσαι, μὴ βαττολογοῦσαι, μὴ ἰδιοκτημονοῦσαι, ἀλλὰ τὴν διδάσκαλον ἀναπνέουσαι, τὰ παρ' αὐτῆς ἐγκεκριμένα φυλάττουσαι ἐν νόμῳ Κυρίου. εἰ δὲ ταῖς μαθητρίαις ταῦτα ἀνήκει, πόσῳ μᾶλλον τῇ καθηγουμένῃ, ἧς ὅσος ὁ μισθὸς τῆς προστασίας, τοσοῦτος καὶ ὁ κίνδυνος τῆς διαμαρτησίας. τὸ ἐμὸν καὶ τὸ σὸν λέγειν ἐν κοινοβίῳ οἰχέσθω, ὡς μυρίων πολέμων αἴτιον· τὸ ἰδιορρυθμεῖν καὶ ἰδιοπραγεῖν ἐξοριζέσθω, ὡς διαλυτικὸν εὐταξίας· τὸ γλωσσομαχεῖν καὶ θορυβοποιεῖν ἀπεληλάσθω, ὡς ἀνόσιον μοναζούσαις. ἀλλ' εἴ τι σιωπηλόν, εἴ τι εὐκτικόν, εἴ τι ψαλμικόν, εἴ τι ἐργαστικόν, ταῦτα πράσσετε, καὶ ὁ θεὸς τῆς εἰρήνης καὶ τῆς ἀγάπης ἔσται μεθ' ὑμῶν. Προσεύχεσθε περὶ ἡμῶν τῶν ἁμαρτωλῶν, ἵνα καὶ ἡμεῖς σῳζοίμεθα. ἡ χάρις τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ μετὰ πάντων ὑμῶν. ἀμήν. 60 {1Βασιλείῳ ἡγουμένῳ}1 Ἐν οἷς γέγραφεν ἡ τιμιότης σου, ἀδελφέ, ὑπέδειξεν ἑαυτὴν εὐδοκοῦσαν ἐν τοῖς ἐπιτιμίοις καὶ ἐπειγομένην πρὸς τὰ κρείττονα, καθὰ ἐξεδίδαξεν οὐ μόνον ὁ γραμματηφόρος, ἀλλὰ γὰρ καὶ πρὸ αὐτοῦ ὁ τιμιώτατος ἀδελφὸς ἡμῶν Πέτρος, ὁ καὶ σοὶ φιλούμενος· ἐφ' οἷς ἥσθην ὁ ταπεινὸς καὶ εὐχαρίστησα. οὐ γάρ τοι μικρόν τι καὶ εὐκαταφρόνητον ὃ πεπόνθαμεν, ὦ τᾶν, ἐπὶ τῇ ἀρνήσει τῆς εἰκόνος Χριστοῦ κεκοινωνηκότες, ἀλλὰ καὶ λίαν ἔκτοπον καὶ ἀρνητικὸν ἀριδήλως τῆς πίστεως, διότι ἡ τῆς εἰκόνος ἄρνησις ἐπὶ τὸ πρωτότυπον ἀναβαίνει· καὶ ταὐτῇ τῇ ἀρνήσει Χριστοῦ πάντες οἱ ὁπωσοῦν κεκοινωνηκότες κεκοινωνήκασιν. ἐπεὶ δὲ πάλιν ἐξηγόρευκας καὶ ἐπιτρέψαι δέει τοῦ διώκοντος ἀφανίσαι εἰκόνας, χαλεπώτερον τὸ ἀνόμημα· ὅτι δὲ καὶ ὑπογράψαι ἔφης, ὁλόσωμος ἡ ἁμαρτία καὶ ἡ ἄρνησις. Τί οὖν δεῖ ποιεῖν, ὅτι καὶ ἐπιζητοίης τὸ τῆς ὑγείας φάρμακον, καὶ οὐ φέρειν πάλιν φῂς τὴν κατ' ὀλίγον ἐπίθεσιν, ἀσθένειαν προβαλλόμενος καὶ τοῦτο κἀκεῖνο μᾶλλον εἰσδέξασθαι προαιρούμενος; στενά μοι ἑκατέρωθεν, καὶ ἐῶντι διὰ τὸ φιλάδελφον καὶ σμικρύνοντι τὸ φάρμακον διὰ τὸ τῆς ἁμαρτίας μέγεθος. ὅμως συμπιεζόμενος μᾶλλον τῇ ἀγάπῃ ὁρίζω σὺν φόβῳ καὶ τρόμῳ τάδε· ἓν ἔτος ἄλλο ἀπόσχου, ἀδελφέ, τῶν ἁγιασμάτων, ἐφ' ἑκατέροις τοῖς συμπτώμασι, τῆς τῶν ἁγίων εἰκόνων κατενέξεως λέγω καὶ ἀσεβοῦς ὑπογραφῆς (ὑπογραφὴ γὰρ κἂν ὅτι μόνον