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grievous, to have lost an approved monk, an honored brother, who was established as head of your spiritual guidance. But nevertheless the grief was turned into joy for both, because he who was snatched from you is an elect of God by the command of the good God in holiness and righteousness. Therefore I, the humble one, rejoice and rejoice with you, that we have sent such a great vessel to the Lord. For Laurentios was truly a vessel of election, first through his sincere renunciation and submission, second through his virtue-loving zeal and progress; from which things he was also deemed worthy of the priesthood and undertook the dignity of the supervision of many brethren, useful for shepherding the flock in a loving manner, living truly for God and for the abbot, but not for the world and worldly affairs. His were also the exiles for the Lord's sake and the persecutions, both earlier and later, his were also the beautiful feet, to speak scripturally, as he went about here and there and evangelized the saving promises to the brothers. His spiritual sweat was myrrh, a sacred dew his struggling course of virtue. Who, having been taken up in this present persecution, what else did he win but the blessing from the Lord? And now he is in heaven, marching with those of the same rank, while we are still standing in the contest and are subject to the fear of a turn; for there is no perfect blessing of a man until his death because of the uncertainty of the outcome. Therefore I exhort you, brothers, to be watchful and sober, to be men and be strong in the present contest of both the spiritual and the perceptible persecution; for he who lives according to God is always persecuted by the unseen persecutor for the seizure of sin. Let us flee from him, noble soldiers of Christ. And how is it possible to flee? By coming under the mighty hand of God through pleasing him in everything. And this will be so, if you live not by your own will, but in community, that is, having brother Ephraim as your leader, just as he allowed and we consent and time and manner may require. Let all things be in common, let 'mine' and 'yours' be banished, let love characterize, let obedience guard; and, if you know these things, you are blessed, he says, if you do them. 69 {1To Procopius the monk}1 I am just now writing to your honor, when I found the bearer of the letter, who is both mine and yours, and who indeed even urged me to this very thing, since your piety so seeks and loves it. But rejoice, O man of God, rejoice, best of friends and very much one of the old ones, rejoice, you who are renowned for piety and celebrated for knowledge. Where on earth have you left us, hiding your precious face for so many years? And what is the manner of your confinement at home, not yet going out and appearing in public? And thirdly, that I may speak more frankly, or rather more lovingly (for it is a property of love not to shrink back from helpful reminders to the one loved), what is this work of yours, having fled the world through monastic perfection and then having returned home again, having been loosed from the bonds of attachment (for this is renunciation) and then bound again by living with your lady spouse and your God-guarded children? And, what is still stranger, having been tonsured in the manner of the solitary life and perfected by the divine initiation, and then again letting your hair grow long in the manner of a hermit's way of life? Each one, says the apostle, should remain in the calling in which he was called; and again elsewhere, Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God; and in another place again he says about himself, I will never eat meat, lest I cause my brother to stumble. And each person makes himself known by his own habit, a soldier by wearing a sword, a city-dweller by wearing a cloak. And simply, almost everyone in authority or crafts or professions carries about the implements appropriate to him; for neither would a doctor choose to carry a shepherd's staff nor would a shepherd have a doctor's instrument in his hand. If these things are so, how much more so in the case of spiritual and greatest matters

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λυπηρόν, ἀπολέσασι δόκιμον μοναστήν, τίμιον ἀδελφόν, εἰς κεφαλὴν καθιστάμενον τῆς κατὰ ψυχὴν ὁδηγίας. ἀλλ' ὅμως τὸ λυπηρὸν εἰς χαρὰν ἀμφοτέροις περιετράπη, διότι ἐκλεκτὸς θεοῦ ὁ ἁρπασθεὶς ἀφ' ὑμῶν κελεύσει θεοῦ τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ ἐν ὁσιότητι καὶ δικαιοσύνῃ. διὸ κἀγὼ ὁ ταπεινὸς χαίρω καὶ συγχαίρω ὑμῖν, ὅτι παρεπέμψαμεν πρὸς τὸν Κύριον τηλικοῦτον σκεῦος. ἐκλογῆς γὰρ σκεῦος ὁ ἀληθῶς Λαυρέντιος, πρῶτον μὲν διὰ τῆς ἀψευδοῦς ἀποταγῆς καὶ ὑποταγῆς, δεύτερον διὰ τῆς φιλαρέτου σπουδῆς τε καὶ προκοπῆς· ἐξ ὧν καὶ ἱερωσύνης ἠξίωται καὶ πολλῶν ἀδελφῶν ἐπιστασίας ἀνεδέξατο ἀξίωμα, φιλητῶς ποιμαίνειν χρήσιμος τῇ ποίμνῃ, ζῶν θεῷ καὶ τῷ καθηγουμένῳ ὡς ἀληθῶς, ἀλλ' οὐ κόσμῳ καὶ τοῖς κατὰ κόσμον πράγμασιν. οὗ καὶ ἐξορίαι διὰ Κύριον καὶ διωγμοί, καὶ πρότερον καὶ ὕστερον, οὗ καὶ οἱ πόδες ὡραῖοι, γραφικῶς εἰπεῖν, ὧδέ τε κἀκεῖ περιιόντος καὶ εὐαγγελιζομένου τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς τὰ σωτήρια ἐπαγγέλματα. μύρον ὁ πνευματικὸς αὐτοῦ ἱδρώς, δρόσος ἱερὸς ὁ ἐναγώνιος αὐτοῦ δρόμος τῆς ἀρετῆς. ὃς προσληφθεὶς ἐν αὐτῷ τῷ παρόντι διωγμῷ, τί ἄλλο ἢ τὸν ὑπὸ Κυρίου μακαρισμὸν ἀνεδήσατο; καὶ νῦν ἐκεῖνος μέν ἐστιν ἐν οὐρανῷ, συμπολεύων τοῖς ὁμοταγέσιν, ἡμεῖς δὲ ἔτι ἐπὶ τοῦ ἀγῶνος ἱστάμενοι καὶ ἐπὶ φόβον τροπῆς κείμενοι· οὐ γάρ ἐστι μακαρισμὸς τέλειος ἀνθρώπου ἕως ἀποβιώσεως διὰ τὸ ἄδηλον τῆς ἐκβάσεως. ∆ιὸ παρακαλῶ ὑμᾶς, ἀδελφοί, γρηγορεῖν καὶ νήφειν, ἀνδρίζεσθαι καὶ κραταιοῦσθαι ἐν τῷ προκειμένῳ ἀγῶνι τοῦ τε νοητοῦ καὶ αἰσθη τοῦ διωγμοῦ· δεδίωκται γὰρ ἀεὶ ὁ κατὰ θεὸν ζῶν ὑπὸ τοῦ ἀοράτου διώκτου εἰς κατάληψιν ἁμαρτίας. ὃν φύγωμεν, γενναῖοι στρατιῶται Χριστοῦ. πῶς δὲ ἔστι φυγεῖν; τῷ ὑπὸ τὴν κραταιὰν χεῖρα τοῦ θεοῦ γενέσθαι διὰ τῆς εἰς ἅπαν εὐαρεστήσεως αὐτοῦ. ἔσται δὲ τοῦτο, ἐὰν μὴ ἰδιοβούλως, ἀλλὰ κοινοβιακῶς ζήσητε, δηλονότι ἔχοντες τὸν ἀδελφὸν Ἐφραὶμ προκαθηγούμενον, καθὼς κἀκεῖνος εἴασεν καὶ ἡμεῖς συνευδοκοῦμεν καὶ ὁ χρόνος καὶ ὁ τρόπος ἀπαιτοίη. ἔστωσαν πάντα κοινά, τὸ ἐμὸν καὶ τὸ σὸν ἐξοριζέσθω, ἡ ἀγάπη χαρακτηριζέτω, ἡ ὑπακοὴ φυλαττέτω· καί, εἰ ταῦτα οἴδατε, μακάριοί ἐστε, φησίν, ἐὰν ποιῆτε αὐτά. 69 {1Προκοπίῳ μονάζοντι}1 Ἄρτι ἐπιστέλλω τῇ τιμιότητί σου, ὁπότε τὸν διάκονον τοῦ γράμματος ἐμόν τε καὶ σὸν εὗρον, οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ παρορμήσαντά με εἰς αὐτὸ τοῦτο, ὡς καὶ τῆς εὐσεβείας σου οὕτως ἐπιζητούσης καὶ φιλούσης. ἀλλὰ χαῖρε, ὦ ἄνθρωπε τοῦ θεοῦ, χαῖρε, φίλων ἄριστε καὶ μάλα τῶν ἀρχαίων, χαῖρε, ὁ εὐλαβείᾳ περιβόητος καὶ ἐν γνώσει ἐξακουτιζόμενος. ποῦ ποτε ἀπολέλοιπας ἡμᾶς, τοσούτοις χρόνοις ὑποκρύψας σου τὸ τίμιον πρόσωπον; τίς δὲ ὁ τρόπος τῆς κατὰ τὴν ἑστίαν περιορίσεώς σου, μήπω προϊόντος καὶ ἐμφανιζομένου δημοσίᾳ; καὶ τρίτον, ἵνα παρρησιαστικώτερον φήσω, μᾶλλον μὲν οὖν ἀγαπητικώτερον (ἀγάπης γὰρ ἴδιον τὸ μὴ ὑποστέλλεσθαι ἐν ταῖς ὠφελίμοις πρὸς τὸν ἀγαπώμενον ὑπομνήσεσιν), τίς ἡ ἐργασία σου αὕτη, πεφευγότος κόσμον διὰ τῆς μοναχικῆς τελειώσεως καὶ οἴκαδε πάλιν ἀναστρέψαντος, λυθέντος δεσμῶν προσπαθείας (τοῦτο γὰρ ἡ ἀποταγὴ) καὶ αὖθις δεθέντος τῇ συνοικήσει τῆς κυρίας τῆς ὁμοζύγου καὶ τῶν θεοφυλάκτων τέκνων; καί, ὃ ἔτι ξενικώτερον, ἀποκαρθέντος τῷ τῆς ἑνιαίας ζωῆς ἰδιώματι καὶ τελειωθέντος τῷ θείῳ μυσταγωγήματι, καὶ αὖθις καρηκομῶντος ἐρημικοειδεῖ πολιτεύματι; ἕκαστος, φησὶν ὁ ἀπόστολος, ἐν τῇ κλήσει ᾗ ἐκλήθη μενέτω· καὶ πάλιν ἑτέρωθι, ἀπρόσκοποι γίνεσθε καὶ Ἰουδαίοις καὶ Ἕλλησι καὶ τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ τοῦ θεοῦ· καὶ ἀλλαχοῦ πάλιν αὐτὸς περὶ ἑαυτοῦ, οὐ μὴ φάγω κρέα εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα, ἵνα μὴ τὸν ἀδελφόν μου σκανδαλίσω. καὶ ἕκαστος ἐκ τοῦ ἰδίου σχήματος γνώριμον ἑαυτὸν καθίστησιν, στρατιώτης ἐκ τοῦ φορεῖν μάχαιραν, ἀστικὸς ἀπὸ τοῦ φορεῖν περιβόλαιον. καὶ ἁπλῶς ἕκαστος σχεδὸν τῶν ἐν ἀρχαῖς ἢ τέχναις ἢ μεθόδοις τὰ προσήκοντα αὐτῷ σκεύη ἐπιφέρεται· οὔτε γὰρ ἰατρὸς ποιμαντικὴν ῥάβδον ἕλοιτο βαστάζειν οὔτε ποιμὴν ἰατρικὸν ὄργανον ἐπὶ χεῖρα ἔχοι. εἰ δὲ ταῦτα οὕτως, πολλῷ γε μᾶλλον ἐπὶ τῶν πνευματικῶν καὶ μεγίστων