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of icons, holy churches have lost their beauty, almost every soul has given way, having given written professions to the impious; few are those who hold fast, and these are tested by afflictions as if in a fire. The Smyrnean among the bishops has stumbled, and the one of Cherson, among the hegumens, the one of Chrysopolis, the one of Dios, the one of Chora, and almost all those in the city. Those of Bithynia are resisting by the grace of Christ. Pray, father, that they be strengthened with us the humble until the end. No one from the lay order is standing firm, except for Peximenites, who was beaten and exiled; among the clergy, the admirable Gregory, surnamed Kentrokoukouros, and among the abbesses, up to six, guarded in monasteries. May I come to the necessary matter of your command. What, O father, have you commanded that is beyond me both in rank and in the present necessity? For me to address the faithful ones is somehow furtive. There is fear upon all, and especially upon me the sinner, lest anything become known to the ruler. For I was exiled to the Anatolics and the Caesar's anger against me the wretched one is not small, inflamed rather by denunciations, since he commanded me to be silent and not to teach, and I, the unfortunate one, refused and responded rather defiantly. For these things, there were beatings, although I escaped them through the respect and piety of the one who was to strike, seizures of those who served me, of the little books they had. How then in these circumstances could I undertake any of the things commanded, I am at a loss; pardon my lowliness, even if the matter is blessed. And I am not yet speaking of how the crushing affliction of famine there is equal to here. However, trusting in one person, I have written; whether the letter accomplishes anything, the sending of it will show. For the rest, pray for your child to walk in the footsteps of your holiness. 113 {1To Patricius}1 Considering myself a debtor to your all-glorious magnanimity, I have decided now not with a mere voice, but with a letter to greet you, the longed-for one. For if the time does not permit speaking a mystery openly to others, yet to you who are my own it has no power to prevent it; for you are my masters and also of my blood, whence also comes the affection, and not so much from kinship, as from a virtuous spirit. Since there are also other relatives, but not so beloved, that I should write the same to them. I pray for you, though a sinner, for things of salvation, and indeed for the health of soul and body. I say this because of the present heresy and soul-destroying error, so that you, my God-fearing master, might be kept unharmed, and indeed your whole household; for the wrath from the Lord has begun from Byzantium the insolent, inasmuch as it has been accustomed since long ago to reject the things of the Lord. And already the fire is consuming things everywhere. Blessed is the one who understands and remains unburnt. For if Christ is poor and a pauper for our sake, how are the properties of poverty not in him, that is, color, touch, body, from which and in which is circumscription. Therefore, O man of God, those who do not confess him to be circumscribed are dismantling the saving economy of the Word, and the present events are preludes to the coming of the Antichrist. But woe to you, Byzantium, because from you the judgment has begun and in you may the evils end, when your sins are filled up. These things I write out of longing and pain to your great-mindedness, which knows greater things. 114 {1To Athanasius, my child}1 I write to you now, my child, as I did not wish, and you know the manner. Alas for me the wretched, woe to me the miserable, for what has happened to our two brothers. To me, though both are longed for (for they are true children), yet yours is more beloved. Why? Because he is a man of God, full of faith and truth, a son of obedience, a child of light, a man of desires, a true subordinate, a tamer of passions, and zealous, and a willing wayfarer of the commandments, loving his spiritual father greatly and being loved equally, unrestrained by the flesh and joined to God, useful to all and chosen by all. Do you think I am showing favor to the man? And he has more of the truth. The suffering concerning him has touched me greatly,

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εἰκόνων, ναοὶ ἱεροὶ τὴν εὐπρέπειαν ἀπόλωλαν, πᾶσα ψυχὴ σχεδὸν ὤκλασε, χειρόγραφα τοῖς ἀσεβέσι δώσασα· ὀλίγοι οἱ ἀντεχόμενοι, καὶ οὗτοι ὡς ἐν πυρὶ δοκιμαζόμενοι ταῖς κακώσεσιν. ὠλίσθησεν ὁ Σμυρναῖος ἐν ἐπισκόποις καὶ ὁ Χερσῶνος, ἐν ἡγουμένοις ὁ Χρυσοπολίτης, ὁ τῆς ∆ίου, ὁ τῆς Χώρας καὶ μικροῦ δεῖν πάντες οἱ ἐν ἄστει. ἐνίστανται οἱ τῆς Βιθυνίας χάριτι Χριστοῦ. προσεύχου, πάτερ, κραταιοῦσθαι αὐτοὺς σὺν ἡμῖν τοῖς ταπεινοῖς ἕως τέλους. οὐδεὶς ἐκ τοῦ λαϊκοῦ τάγματος στήκων, πλὴν τοῦ Πηξιμηνίτου, ὃς καὶ δαρεὶς ἐξώρισται· ἐν κληρικοῖς ὁ θαυμαστὸς Γρηγόριος, οὗ ἐπίκλην Κεντροκούκουρος, καί γε ἐν ἡγουμέναις μέχρι τῶν ἕξ, ἐν μοναστηρίοις φρουρούμεναι. Ἔλθοιμι ἐπὶ τὸ ἀναγκαῖον τῆς ἐντολῆς σου. τί, ὦ πάτερ, ἐπιτέταχας τὰ ὑπὲρ ἐμὲ καὶ κατὰ βαθμὸν καὶ κατὰ τὴν ἐνεστῶσαν ἀνάγκην; κρύβδην πως καὶ τὸ εἰς τοὺς γνησίους προσαγορεύειν με. δέος ἐπὶ πάντας, καί γε μάλιστα ἐπ' ἐμοὶ τῷ ἁμαρτωλῷ, μή πού τι διάδηλον γίνοιτο τῷ κρατοῦντι. καὶ γὰρ μετεξωρίσθην ἐν Ἀνατολικοῖς καὶ θυμὸς περὶ ἐμὲ τὸν δείλαιον οὐκ ὀλίγος τῷ Καίσαρι, ἐκ δηλωμάτων μᾶλλον ἀναφθείς, τοῦ μὲν σιγᾶν μοι καὶ μὴ διδάσκειν προστάττοντος, κἀμοῦ τοῦ δυστήνου ἀναινομένου καὶ προσαντέστερα ἀντιφωνοῦντος. διὰ ταῦτα πληγαί, κἂν ἔλαθον ταύτας αἰδοῖ καὶ εὐσεβείᾳ τοῦ πλήκτορος, ἁρπαγαὶ τῶν ὑπηρετούντων μοι, βιβλιδίων αὐτῶν ὧν εἶχον. πῶς οὖν ἐν τούτοις δυναίμην τι τῶν ἐνταλθέντων ἐγχειρῆσαι, ἀπορῶ· σύγγνωθι τῇ ταπεινώσει μου, εἰ καὶ μακάριον τὸ πρᾶγμα. καὶ οὔπω λέγω ὅτι ἐφίσον τῶν αὐτόθι κἀνταῦθα ἡ τοῦ λιμοῦ συντριβή. πλὴν ἐφ' ἑνὶ προσώπῳ θαρρήσας ἐπέστειλα· εἰ ἀνύσειέν τι τὸ γράμμα, δηλώσει ἡ ἀποστολή. Τὸ λοιπὸν προσεύχου ὑπὲρ τοῦ τέκνου σου κατόπιν βαδίζειν τῆς ἁγιωσύνης σου. 113 {1Πατρικίῳ}1 Ὀφειλέτην ἐμαυτὸν λογιζόμενος τῆς περιδόξου μεγαλοφυΐας σου κέκρικα νῦν μὴ ψιλῇ φωνῇ, ἀλλὰ γράμμασι προσαγορεῦσαί σε τὸν ποθούμενον. εἰ γὰρ καὶ ἄλλοις οὐκ ἐκφερομυθεῖν μυστήριον παραχωρεῖ ὁ καιρός, ἀλλά γε ὑμῖν τοῖς ἐμοῖς οὐ κωλύειν ἔχει· ἐμοῦ γὰρ ὑμεῖς καὶ δεσπόται καὶ ἀφ' αἵματος, διὸ καὶ τὸ φίλτρον, καὶ οὐ τοσοῦτον ἐκ γένους, ὅσον ἐκ πνεύματος ἐναρέτου. ἐπεὶ καὶ ἄλλοι ἀγχιστεῖς, ἀλλ' οὐχ οὕτως ἐραστοί, ὥστε με τὰ ἴσα ἐπιστέλλειν. ἐπεύχομαι ὑμῖν κἂν ἁμαρτωλὸς τὰ σωτήρια, καί γε τὰ ὑγιαστήρια ψυχῆς καὶ σώματος. τοῦτο δέ φημι διὰ τὴν ἐνεστῶσαν αἵρεσιν καὶ ψυχοφθόρον πλάνησιν, ὡς ἂν ἀπήμαντος διαφυλαχθείης ὁ θεόφοβός μου δεσπότης, καί γε πανέστιος· ἦρκται γὰρ ἡ ὀργὴ παρὰ Κυρίου ἀπὸ Βυζαντίδος τῆς ὑβριστρίας, καθ' ὅσον ἀποδοκιμάζειν εἴωθεν τὰ πρὸς Κύριον ἔκπαλαι. καὶ ἤδη κατέδεται τὸ πῦρ τὰ ἑκασταχοῦ. μακάριος ὁ συνιῶν καὶ μένων ἄφλεκτος. Εἰ γὰρ πτωχὸς καὶ πένης Χριστὸς δι' ἡμᾶς, πῶς οὐ τὰ τῆς πτωχείας ἰδιώματα ἐν αὐτῷ, ἤτοι χροιά, ἁφή, σῶμα, ἐξ ὧν καὶ ἐν οἷς ἡ περιγραφή. ἀποσκευάζουσι τοίνυν, ὦ ἄνθρωπε τοῦ θεοῦ, τὴν σωτήριον οἰκονομίαν τοῦ λόγου οἱ μὴ ὁμολογοῦντες αὐτὸν περιγεγράφθαι, καὶ τῆς τοῦ Ἀντιχρίστου παρουσίας προεισόδια τὰ παρόντα. ἀλλ' οὐαί σοι, Βυζαντίς, ὅτι καὶ ἀπὸ σοῦ τὸ κρίμα ἦρκται καὶ ἐν σοὶ τελευτήσειεν τὰ κακά, ὅταν ἀναπληρωθῶσιν αἱ ἁμαρτίαι σου. Ταῦτά μοι ἐκ πόθου καὶ πόνου τῇ μεγαλονοίᾳ σου, εἰδυίᾳ τὰ μείζονα. 114 {1Ἀθανασίῳ τέκνῳ}1 Γράφω σοι τανῦν, τέκνον μου, ὡς οὐκ ἐβουλόμην, καὶ τὸν τρόπον οἶδας. φεῦ μοι τῷ ἀθλίῳ, οἴμοι τῷ ταλαιπώρῳ, οἷον συμβέβηκε τοῖς δυσὶν ἀδελφοῖς ἡμῶν. ἐμοὶ δέ, εἰ καὶ ἄμφω ποθητοὶ (τέκνα γὰρ ἀληθινά), ἀλλ' ὅμως ὁ σφέτερος ἐρασμιώτερος. διατί; ὅτι ἄνθρωπος θεοῦ, πλήρης πίστεως καὶ ἀληθείας, υἱὸς ὑπακοῆς, τέκνον φωτός, ἀνὴρ ἐπιθυμιῶν, ὑποτακτίτης ἀψευδής, δαμαστὴς παθῶν, καί γε ζηλωτής, καί γε πρόθυμος ὁδοιπόρος τῶν κατ' ἐντολήν, φιλῶν σφόδρα τὸν ἐν πνεύματι πατέρα καὶ φιλούμενος ἴσα, ἄσχετος σαρκὸς καὶ θεῷ συνημμένος, χρήσιμος πᾶσιν καὶ ὑπὸ πάντων αἱρετιζόμενος. δοκεῖς με χαρίζεσθαι τῷ ἀνδρί; καὶ πλέον ἔχει τὰ τῆς ἀληθείας. ἥψατό μου τὸ περὶ αὐτὸν πάθος κραταιῶς,