118

having learned of your pious zeal, my lord, and your love of learning concerning the truth, and indeed your hospitality towards the monks. But even if the fruits of the tree are beautiful to behold, yet the cause is from the root; and who could this be but the most holy metropolitan and our spiritual father? By his prayers may we both be saved with our entire households. Farewell in the Lord, my most desired and all-glorious in all things. 149 {1To Monks}1 In this time, in which Christ is persecuted through his icon, not only must one who is preeminent in rank and knowledge contend, speaking and teaching the word of orthodoxy, but even if one holds the rank of a disciple, one ought to speak the truth boldly and with a free tongue. The word is not mine, a sinner's, but that of the divine Chrysostom, and of other fathers as well. But for the lord abbots, arrested by the emperor, not to have done the aforesaid things, despite being preeminent in both rank and knowledge above all the abbots of this land, but rather on the contrary to have kept silent, and not only this, though it is a terrible thing, but also to have made a written pledge neither to assemble with one another nor to teach, this is a betrayal of the truth and a denial of their leadership and a destruction of their subordinates, and indeed of their peers. The apostles, when ordered by the Jews not to teach in the name of Christ, said this: You judge whether it is right to obey you or our God. And again, one must obey God rather than men. Such and similar things they should have said, so that God might have been glorified through them, so that they might have edified the orthodox, so that they might have strengthened the monasteries, so that they might have empowered those suffering in exile. But what? That we prefer the monasteries more than God and the comfort from here more than suffering for the good. Where is the saying, I spoke before kings and was not ashamed? Where is the saying, behold my lips I will not restrain, Lord, you know? Where is the glory and the strength of our order? How did Sabas and Theodosius the blessed, when at that time the emperor Anastasius chose to be impious, stand apart, fervently championing the faith, on the one hand by anathematizing the heterodox in the church, on the other by writing to the emperor, protesting that they would choose death rather than change any of the established traditions? And the lord abbots say, so they claim: "4Who are we?"5 First, Christians, who must absolutely speak now; then, monks, who are not even snatched away by chance as ones unbound to the world and unconstrained; then, abbots, who ought to remove the stumbling blocks of others and to give no offense in anything, so that, it says, the ministry may not be blamed. But what an offense and blame, or rather a compromise, they have given through their own signature, what can one even say? For if silence is a part of consent, how terrible it is to ratify it in writing before the whole church? And you say that "4in secret while celebrating the liturgy he commemorates Nikephoros"5? In secret even all the patricians, to leave aside the others, are orthodox. But what does Christ say? If anyone acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge him before my Father who is in heaven. Just as the opposite is true of denial. Even if they made the written pledge only not to assemble with one another, it is the same thing. For how will they keep what Christ says, the one who comes to me I will by no means cast out? Someone comes asking, seeking to learn the truth, whether an abbot or someone else; what will the abbot answer? Clearly, "4I received an order not to speak"5. If only it were just that; but "4not even to receive you into the monastery and to associate with you"5. Christ says, "4receive and teach"5; for if he shrinks back, it says, my soul has no pleasure in him. They have therefore made a written pledge in order to obey the emperor in opposition to Christ. These are the things, O brothers and fathers, that I know in truth they have done. And since

118

μαθὼν τόν τε εὐσεβῆ ζῆλόν σου, δέσποτα, καὶ τὸ περὶ τὴν ἀλήθειαν φιλομαθές σου, καὶ μὴν καὶ τὸ περὶ τοὺς μονάζοντας φιλόξενόν σου. Ἀλλ' εἰ καὶ οἱ καρποὶ ὡραῖοι εἰς ὅρασιν τοῦ δένδρου, ὅμως ἐκ τῆς ῥίζης ἡ αἰτία· τίς δ' ἂν εἴη αὕτη ἢ ὁ ἁγιώτατος μητροπολίτης καὶ πατὴρ ἡμῶν πνευματικός; οὗ ταῖς εὐχαῖς σωθείημεν ἀμφότεροι πανέστιοι. ἔρρωσο ἐν Κυρίῳ, τὰ πάντα μοι ποθεινότατε καὶ πανευκλεέστατε. 149 {1Μονάζουσι}1 Ἐν τῷ καιρῷ τούτῳ, ἐν ᾧ ὁ Χριστὸς διώκεται διὰ τῆς εἰκόνος αὐτοῦ, οὐ μόνον εἰ βαθμῷ τις καὶ γνώσει προέχων ἐστὶν ὀφείλει διαγωνίζεσθαι, λαλῶν καὶ διδάσκων τὸν τῆς ὀρθοδοξίας λόγον, ἀλλὰ γὰρ καὶ εἰ μαθητοῦ τάξιν ἐπέχων εἴη, χρεωστεῖ παρρησιάζεσθαι τὴν ἀλήθειαν καὶ ἐλευθεροστομεῖν. οὐκ ἐμὸς ὁ λόγος τοῦ ἁμαρτωλοῦ, ἀλλὰ τοῦ θείου Χρυσοστόμου, ἐπεὶ καὶ ἄλλων πατέρων. τὸ δὲ τοὺς κυρίους τοὺς ἡγουμένους, κρατηθέντας ὑπὸ τοῦ βασιλέως, μὴ τὰ προειρημένα πρᾶξαι, καίπερ ὄντας καὶ ἐν βαθμῷ καὶ ἐν γνώσει παρὰ πάντας τοὺς καθηγουμένους τῆς γῆς ταύτης, τοὐναντίον δὲ μᾶλλον σιωπῆσαι, καὶ οὐ τοῦτο μόνον, καίπερ ὂν δεινόν, ἀλλὰ καὶ χειρόγραφον ποιῆσαι μήτε εἰς ἀλλήλους συνέρχεσθαι μήτε διδάσκειν, τοῦτό ἐστι προδοσία τῆς ἀληθείας καὶ ἄρνησις τῆς προστασίας καὶ κατάλυσις τῶν ὑποτακτικῶν, ἐπεὶ καὶ τῶν ὁμοταγῶν. οἱ ἀπόστολοι παραγγελθέντες ὑπὸ τῶν Ἰουδαίων μὴ διδάσκειν ἐπὶ τῷ ὀνόματι τοῦ Χριστοῦ τάδε φησίν· ὑμεῖς κρίνατε, εἰ δίκαιόν ἐστιν ὑμῶν ἀκούειν ἢ τοῦ θεοῦ ἡμῶν. καὶ πάλιν, πειθαρχεῖν δεῖ θεῷ μᾶλλον ἢ ἀνθρώποις. Τοιαῦτα καὶ παρόμοια ἐχρῆν λαλῆσαι αὐτοὺς ἵνα ἐδοξάσθη ὁ θεὸς δι' αὐτῶν, ἵνα ᾠκοδόμησαν τοὺς ὀρθοδόξους, ἵνα ἐστήριξαν τὰ μοναστήρια, ἵνα ἐνεδυνάμωσαν τοὺς πάσχοντας ἐν ἐξορίαις. ἀλλὰ τί; ὅτι προτιμώμεθα μᾶλλον θεοῦ τὰ μοναστήρια καὶ τῆς ὑπὲρ τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ κακοπαθείας τὴν ἐντεῦθεν εὐπάθειαν. ποῦ ἐστι τό, ἐλάλουν ἐναντίον βασιλέων καὶ οὐκ ᾐσχυνόμην; ποῦ ἐστι τό, ἰδοὺ τὰ χείλη μου οὐ μὴ κωλύσω, Κύριε σὺ ἔγνως; ποῦ ἐστι τὸ κλέος καὶ ἡ ἰσχὺς τοῦ καθ' ἡμᾶς τάγματος; πῶς Σάβας καὶ Θεοδόσιος οἱ μακάριοι, τὸ τηνικαῦτα Ἀναστασίου τοῦ βασιλέως δυσσεβεῖν ἑλομένου, διέστησαν, θερμῶς προμαχοῦντες τῆς πίστεως, τοῦτο μὲν μεθ' ὧν ἀνεθεμάτισαν τοὺς κακοδόξους ἐν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ, τοῦτο δὲ ἐν οἷς ἐπέστειλαν τῷ βασιλεῖ, διαμαρτυρόμενοι θάνατον ἑλέσθαι ἤ τι μετακινῆσαι τῶν καθεστώτων; Καὶ λέγουσιν, ὥς φασιν, οἱ κύριοι ἡγούμενοι· "4ἡμεῖς τίνες ἐσμέν;"5 πρῶτον χριστιανοί, οἳ ὀφείλουσιν ἄρτι λαλεῖν πάντως, ἔπειτα μο νάζοντες, οἱ μηδὲ τὸ τυχὸν ὑφαρπαζόμενοι ὡς ἄδετοι τῷ κόσμῳ καὶ ἀκράτητοι, ἔπειτα ἡγούμενοι, οἱ καὶ τὰ τῶν ἄλλων προσκόμματα ἐκβάλλοντες καὶ ἐν μηδενὶ προσκοπὴν διδόναι χρεωστοῦντες, ἵνα μή, φησί, μωμηθῇ ἡ διακονία. οἵαν δὲ προσκοπὴν καὶ μώμησιν, μᾶλλον δὲ συγκατάβασιν, διὰ τοῦ ἰδιοχείρου αὐτῶν δέδωκαν, τί χρὴ καὶ λέγειν; εἰ γὰρ ἡ σιωπὴ μέρος συγκαταθέσεως, τὸ καὶ ἐγγράφως αὐτὴν κυρῶσαι ἐπὶ τῆς ὅλης ἐκκλησίας πόσον τὸ χαλεπόν; Καὶ λέγετε ὅτι "4κρυπτῶς ἱερουργῶν Νικηφόρον ἀναφέρει"5; τὸ λάθρα καὶ πάντες οἱ πατρίκιοι, ἵνα τοὺς ἄλλους ἐάσω, ὀρθοδοξοῦσιν. ἀλλὰ τί λέγει ὁ Χριστός; εἴ τις ὁμολογήσει ἐν ἐμοὶ ἔμπροσθεν τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ὁμολογήσω κἀγὼ αὐτὸν ἔμπροσθεν τοῦ πατρός μου τοῦ ἐν οὐρανοῖς. ὥσπερ καὶ τὸ ἐναντίον ἐπὶ τῆς ἀρνήσεως· κἂν μόνον τὸ μὴ συνέρχεσθαι εἰς ἀλλήλους ἐποίησαν τὸ χειρόγραφον, τὸ αὐτό ἐστιν. πῶς γὰρ φυλάξουσιν ὅ φησιν ὁ Χριστός, τὸν ἐρχόμενον πρός με οὐ μὴ ἐκβάλω ἔξω; ἔρχεταί τις διερωτῶν, ζητῶν μαθεῖν τὴν ἀλήθειαν, εἴτε ἡγούμενος εἴτε τις ἄλλος· τί ἀποκριθήσεται ὁ ἡγούμενος; δῆλον ὅτι "4παραγγελίαν ἔλαβον μὴ λαλεῖν"5. εἴθε οὕτω μόνον· ἀλλὰ "4μηδὲ εἰσδέξασθαί σε εἰς τὸ μοναστήριον καὶ συναλισθῆναι"5. ὁ Χριστὸς λέγει, "4δέξαι καὶ δίδαξον"5· ἐὰν γὰρ ὑποστείλῃ, φησίν, οὐκ εὐδοκεῖ ἡ ψυχή μου ἐν αὐτῷ. ἐγγράφως οὖν ἐποίησαν ἵνα τῷ βασιλεῖ πειθαρχοῦσιν ἀπεναντίας τοῦ Χριστοῦ. Τοσαῦτά εἰσιν, ὦ ἀδελφοὶ καὶ πατέρες, ἃ συνεπίσταμαι ἐξ ἀληθείας πεποιηκέναι αὐτούς. καὶ ἐπειδὴ