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a dwelling place. Truly you have contended, you have suffered hardship, you have been spent, you have been beaten with fists, you have been sought out, and indeed you have been overcome, even if not completely, your reward is great, equal to that of those who are guarded, and indeed even greater. You are our brother, of one soul, a fellow-sharer, if indeed we also might have some good thing even in bodily matters likewise. May God save you, pray for us. And from now on and from afar, as you are able, help those who are imprisoned for God's sake, if there should be any, men and women; for all are brothers in Christ. 85 {1To Anna the Abbess}1 What could I have heard about your honor that I would have received with such great joy as to learn that she is now enclosed for the sake of our Lord and God? O wise among women! O blood of Theoktiste the blessed, both carnal and spiritual. This is for you the diadem of your previously accomplished ascetic struggles, this is the fruit of your proven obedience. How very great is your glory! How exceedingly brilliant is your achievement! From noble stock you are noble, according to the flesh and according to the spirit. What word for you is not worthy of praise? What tongue for you is not a debtor of encomiums? But what is sought? That you should complete your struggle. Even if you are enclosed alone, yet you are with Christ and the angels; even if it is physically painful, yet it is spiritually joyful, as you look not to the things that are seen and are temporary, but to the things that are unseen and heavenly. If your work should be completed, what a thing for you to dance with the confessors of Christ. Stand fast, I beseech you, my lady, be strengthened from above. Do not be terrified of the emperor, if you must come face to face with him, just as the women martyrs were not terrified, nor of the stripping of your body and of blows, if this too should come; for Christ is your covering, a help to make you strong in all things, like Febronia and those who emulated her. These things are from me to you out of great concern and love in the Lord, so that you might not become a denier of Christ. 86 {1To Leo the Patrician}1 If you yourself do not grow weary of doing good to my lowliness out of a pity born of love for mankind, shall I somehow endure not to make a defense to your good soul even through a word? O your sympathetic disposition! O merciful heart! O compassionate soul! You seem to me, O master, like an ever-flowing spring refreshing me from a thirst both tangible and spiritual, or rather like a paradise filled with all sorts of beautiful fruits, from which I can enjoy the things I desire. And truly, there is no exchange for a faithful friend among all existing things. But I deem it right to call you father, you who have shown to me the marks of paternal love from ages past up to the present. And it is worthy of wonder that neither time nor the manner of affliction, nor the occasion of temptation, nor the removal of possessions through malice, nor anything else, small or great, has blunted the fullness of your goodness. And yet we see in the case of parents that natural affection is not entirely preserved, but at times it diminishes or even changes into enmity according to some circumstance. But in the case of your greatness and piety it is not so; for you are ever the same and unchangeable, since you possess the love of God who is unchangeable and always the same. Such then is your glory, O man of God, but I fear lest the abundance of your goodness might ever be a judgment against me; for what shall I, a poor man, give in return, except my neglected prayer? I ask, therefore, my good God to keep watch over you in place of my lowliness for all salvation, and especially against the raging Christ-fighting heresy. 87 {1To Irene the Patricia}1 I, even if I do not receive letters from your honor, O lady, will not cease whenever I might find a faithful letter-carrier to write to you as to my spiritual mother; for how could I not call you thus, you who are suffering for Christ, torn from your head, cast out of your house, city, kinsmen, friends and confined in some remote place? And I do not yet speak of the notable marks of your other good works, accomplished long ago, since also those done and still being done for me the sinner. these things of a most manly woman in spirit, these things

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κατοικητήριον. τῷ ὄντι ἐνήθλησας, ἐταλαιπώρησας, ἐδαπανήθης, ἐκονδυλίσθης, ἐξεζητήθης, καὶ μέντοι καὶ κατεκρατήθης, κἂν οὐ τέλεον, ὁ μισθός σοι μέγας ἐφίσον τῶν φρουρουμένων, ἐπεὶ καὶ μείζων. ἀδελφὸς ἡμῶν εἶ, σύμψυχος, συγκοινωνός, εἴ γε καὶ ἔχοιμέν τι ἀγαθὸν κἀν τοῖς σωματικοῖς ὡσαύτως. ὁ θεός σε σώσειεν, προσεύχου περὶ ἡμῶν. καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ νῦν δὲ καὶ πόρρωθεν, ὡς ἂν δύνῃ, τοῖς ὑπὲρ θεοῦ φρουρουμένοις βοήθει, εἴ τινες ἂν εἶεν, ἄνδρες καὶ γυναῖκες· πάντες γὰρ ἐν Χριστῷ ἀδελφοί. 85 {1Ἄννῃ ἡγουμένῃ}1 Τί ἂν ἀκούσας περὶ τῆς τιμιότητός σου περιχαρῶς ἐδεξάμην ὡς ἐπὶ τῷ μαθεῖν με ἐγκεκλεῖσθαι αὐτὴν νῦν διὰ τὸν Κύριον ἡμῶν καὶ θεόν; ὦ σοφὴ γυναικῶν· ὦ αἷμα Θεοκτίστης τῆς μεμακαρισμένης σαρκικὸν ὁμοῦ καὶ πνευματικόν. τοῦτό σοι τῶν προηνυσμένων ἀσκητικῶν ἀγώνων τὸ διάδημα, τοῦτο τῆς δεδοκιμασμένης σου ὑποταγῆς τὸ ἀναβλάστημα. ὡς μέγιστόν σου τὸ κλέος· ὡς ὑπέρλαμπρόν σου τὸ κατόρθωμα. ἐξ εὐγενῶν εὐγενὴς τὸ κατὰ σάρκα καὶ τὸ κατὰ πνεῦμα. ποῖός σοι λόγος οὐκ ἄξιος ἐπαίνου; ποία σοι γλῶσσα οὐκ ἐγκωμίων χρεῶστις; ἀλλὰ τί τὸ ζητούμενον; ἵνα σου τελειώσῃς τὸν ἀγῶνα. εἰ καὶ μόνη εἶ ἐγκεκλεισμένη, ἀλλὰ μετὰ Χριστοῦ καὶ τῶν ἀγγέλων· εἰ καὶ σωματικῶς ὀδυνηρόν, ἀλλὰ πνευματικῶς ἀγαλλιαστόν, μὴ ὁρώσης σου πρὸς τὰ βλεπόμενα πρόσκαιρα, ἀλλὰ πρὸς τὰ ἀόρατα καὶ οὐράνια. ἐάν σου τελειωθείη τὸ ἔργον, οἷόν σοι χορεῦσαι μετὰ ὁμολογητῶν Χριστοῦ. Στῆθι, παρακαλῶ, κυρία, δυναμώθητι ἄνωθεν. μὴ πτοηθῇς βασιλέα, ἐὰν δεῖ σε κατ' ὄψιν ἐλθεῖν, ὡς οὐκ ἐπτοήθησαν αἱ μάρτυρες, μὴ γύμνωσιν σώματος καὶ πληγάς, ἐὰν καὶ τοῦτο ἔλθῃ· ὁ Χριστὸς γὰρ περιστολή σου, βοήθεια ἰσχύσαι σε πάντα, ὡς Φεβρωνία καὶ αἱ ἐφάμιλλοι αὐτῆς. ταῦτά σοι παρ' ἐμοῦ ἐκ πολλῆς φροντίδος καὶ τῆς κατὰ Κύριον ἀγάπης, ἵνα μὴ ἔξαρνος γίνῃ Χριστοῦ. 86 {1Λέοντι πατρικίῳ}1 Εἰ αὐτὸς οὐκ ἀτονεῖς εὖ ποιεῖν τῇ ἐμῇ ταπεινώσει δι' οἶκτον φιλανθρωπίας, μή τι ἆρα ἐγὼ ὑποίσω τοῦ μὴ ἀπολογεῖσθαι τῇ ἀγαθῇ σου ψυχῇ κἂν διὰ λόγου; ὢ τῆς συμπαθοῦς σου διαθέσεως· ὢ καρδίας φιλελεήμονος· ὢ ψυχῆς φιλοοικτίρμονος. ἔοικάς μοι, ὦ δέσποτα, πηγῇ ἀειρρύτῳ ἀναψυχούσῃ με ἐκ δίψους αἰσθητοῦ τε καὶ νοητοῦ, ἢ μᾶλλον παραδείσῳ παντοίων ὡραίων καρπῶν πεπληρωμένῳ, ἐξ οὗ πάρεστίν μοι ἀπολαύειν τῶν ἐπιθυμουμένων. καὶ ὄντως φίλου πιστοῦ οὐκ ἔστιν ἀντάλλαγμα τῶν ὄντων οὐδέν. ἐγὼ δὲ πατέρα σε προσαγορεύειν ἀξιῶ, φιλοτεκνίας ἰδιώματα ἐπιδεδειγμένῳ μοι ἔκπαλαι τῶν χρόνων μέχρι τοῦ δεῦρο· ὃ καὶ θαυμάζειν ἄξιον, ὅτι οὔτε χρόνος οὔτε τρόπος θλίψεως, οὐ πειρασμοῦ ὑπόθεσις, οὐχ ὑπαρχόντων ἐξ ἐπηρείας ἀφαίρεσις, οὐκ ἄλλο τι, οὐ μικρόν, οὐ μέγα, ἤμβλυνέν σου τὸ πλῆρες τῆς ἀγαθοσύνης. καίτοι γε ὁρῶμεν ἐπὶ γονέων οὐ πάντῃ διασεσωσμένον τὸ φυσικὸν φίλτρον, ἀλλ' ἔστιν ὅτε ὑπολῆγον ἢ καὶ εἰς ἔχθραν μεθιστάμενον καθ' ἡντιναοῦν σύμβασιν. ἐπὶ δὲ τῆς σῆς μεγαλοφυΐας καὶ θεοσεβείας οὐχ οὕτως· ὁ αὐτὸς γὰρ εἶ ἀεὶ καὶ ἀναλλοίωτος, ἐπειδὴ θεοῦ τοῦ ἀναλλοιώτου καὶ ὡσαύτως ἔχοντος τὸν ἔρωτα κέκτησαι. Σοὶ μὲν οὖν τοιοῦτον, ἄνθρωπε τοῦ θεοῦ, τὸ κλέος, ἐγὼ δὲ δέδοικα μή ποτε εἰς κρίμα μοι εἴη ἡ τῆς ἀγαθότητός σου περιουσία· τί γὰρ καὶ ἀποδώσοιμι ὁ πτωχὸς ἢ παραρρεριμμένην μου προσευχήν; αἰτῶ οὖν τὸν ἀγαθόν μου θεὸν ἐπισκοπὴν ἀντὶ τῆς ἐμῆς ταπεινώσεως ποιεῖσθαί σοι πρὸς πᾶσαν μὲν σωτηρίαν, μάλιστα δὲ κατὰ τὴν λυττῶσαν χριστομάχον αἵρεσιν. 87 {1Εἰρήνῃ πατρικίᾳ}1 Ἐγώ, κἂν οὐ δέχωμαι γράμματα παρὰ τῆς τιμιότητός σου, ὦ κυρία, οὐ διαλείψω ὁπόταν τύχοιμι ἐπιστοληφόρου πιστοῦ ἐπιστέλλειν σοι ὡς μητρί μου πνευματικῇ· πῶς γὰρ καὶ μὴ καλέσαιμί σε οὕτως διὰ Χριστὸν πάσχουσαν, διασπασθεῖσαν τῆς κεφαλῆς, ἐκβληθεῖσαν οἰκίας, πόλεως, συγγενῶν, φίλων καὶ ἐν ἐσχατιᾷ τινι περιωρισμένην; καὶ οὔπω λέγω τῶν ἄλλων σου ἀγαθοεργιῶν τὰ ἐπίσημα, ἔκπαλαι τῶν χρόνων διηνυσμένα, ἐπεὶ καὶ τὰ εἰς ἐμὲ τὸν ἁμαρτωλὸν γεγενημένα καὶ ἔτι γιγνόμενα. ταῦτα γυναικὸς ἀνδρικωτάτης τῷ πνεύματι, ταῦτα