131

who wage war invisibly, those who are more bitter than bodily tyrants, so that you may receive the reward of your crowning. The contest still lies ahead, do not lose heart in whatever God may permit or be pleased to be brought upon you, do not be persuaded by anyone, not even an angel, to think anything other than what you have received from God, to venerate the icons of the saints along with that of Christ and the all-holy Theotokos; and may the peace of God rule your heart in all patience and consolation. Pray for me, the humble one, that I may be saved; the brothers with me greet you. Grace be with you; amen. 175 {1To Theophylact of Nicomedia}1 For two years I have been anxious and wearying my thoughts about writing to your holy head, and only just now have I, the humble one, fulfilled my desire. But it is well that I am deemed worthy through this letter to greet you, my father, the pillar of truth, the foundation of orthodoxy, the guardian of piety, the support of the church, the victorious man, the Christ-bearing high priest, the martyr by confession of God; for is it not a crown of martyrdom for you that for Christ's sake you are an exile, a sojourner, much-suffering, and this in a body delicate by nature, but worn out, I know, from an ascetic, God-ward course? The choir of the orthodox boasts in you, the region of Nicomedia rejoices and is glorified, presenting you as a gift to the world, having shaken off the reproaches long rumoured from those who presided there. And if one must say something more personal, Tarasios, among the saints, is gladdened, seeing one who was once a sheep from his own court and hand, now a renowned shepherd, struggling and risking all for orthodoxy, to which he himself contributed synodically by the grace of God in the days of a reign peace-named and peace-giving, so that events ran together eponymously with the names. But those things were of such a kind; the present things are bitter and painful (for how could they not be?), with altars being destroyed, churches being ravaged, heresy stirring things up high and low and persecuting Christ with his mother and servants. For are they not persecuted, when their holy icons are being ravaged? Unless perhaps one might say, when the type of the life-giving wood is destroyed, that the cross has not been done away with; but if on this point it must not be granted so, how can it not be conceded also in the case of the icon? For the type is also an icon, as the argument reverses in turn. But who am I, the wretched and uninitiated, to be reasoning these things to a divine father and teacher? You should teach us, O most holy one, the more perfect things as one initiated by God and instruct us by your deed to bear steadfastly the present chastisement or trial, the first upon us because of our sins, the second upon you because of the divine love of Christ; to whom may you not fail to pray to turn away the shadow of impiety into a morning of peaceful orthodoxy most swiftly. 176 {1To Epiphanius, abbot of Eukairia}1 From the time I was taught that your holiness was transferred from the prison for the Lord's sake, in which you are now held, it has not been possible for me to write until now, although I had the desire; but since I have learned for certain that you are victorious both in place and in manner, this letter comes to you with speed and longing. Through which I both kiss your sacred head and greet you and rejoice and rejoice with you; for how are our affairs not of joy, that for the joy which the Theotokos bore, each one of us is in exile and in prisons? For I, the unworthy one, dare to count myself among the confessors of Christ, for whose sake and because of whom we have been deemed worthy to suffer. Our affairs are of gladness, O man, of longings, of delight, of boasting; do you not hear Paul saying, "Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church"? For her sake now are the sufferings, the affliction, the distress, the persecution, the beating, whatever else, as a sign of destruction for those who Judaize, but as a reward of salvation for those who with you endure the marks of Christ. But these things are so. But how and of what sort is the guard and the commander of the guard? If indeed

131

ἀοράτως πολεμοῦντας, τοὺς πικροτέρους τῶν σωματικῶν τυράννων, ἵνα κομίσῃ τὸν μισθὸν τῆς στεφανώσεώς σου. ἔτι ἀγὼν κεῖται, μὴ ἀτονήσῃς ὅσα ἂν καὶ παραχωρῇ θεὸς ἢ εὐδοκῇ ἐπαχθῆναι, μὴ παραπεισθῇς ὑπό τινος μέχρις ἀγγέλου ἕτερόν τι φρονῆσαι ἢ ὃ παρελάβετε ἐκ θεοῦ, προσκυνεῖν τὰς τῶν ἁγίων εἰκόνας σὺν Χριστοῦ καὶ τῆς παναγίας Θεοτόκου· καὶ ἡ εἰρήνη τοῦ θεοῦ βραβευέτω τὴν καρδίαν σου ἐν πάσῃ ὑπομονῇ καὶ παρακλήσει. Προσεύχου περὶ ἐμοῦ τοῦ ταπεινοῦ ἵνα περισῴζωμαι· οἱ μετ' ἐμοῦ ἀδελφοὶ προσαγορεύουσίν σε. ἡ χάρις μετὰ σοῦ· ἀμήν. 175 {1Θεοφυλάκτῳ Νικομηδείασ}1 ∆ιετίαν ἄγω μεριμνῶν καὶ κάμνων τοῖς λογισμοῖς εἰς τὸ ἐπιστεῖλαί με τῇ ἱερᾷ σου κορυφῇ καὶ μόλις μέχρι τοῦ νῦν ἐξεπλήρωσά μου ὁ ταπεινὸς τὸν πόθον. ἀλλ' εὖγε ὅτι ἀξιοῦμαι διὰ τοῦ γράμματος ἀσπάσασθαί σε, τὸν ἐμὸν πατέρα, τὸν στῦλον τῆς ἀληθείας, τὸ ἑδραίωμα τῆς ὀρθοδοξίας, τὸν φύλακα τῆς εὐσεβείας, τὸ στήριγμα τῆς ἐκκλησίας, τὸν νικηφόρον ἄνδρα, τὸν χριστοφόρον ἀρχιερέα, τὸν ὁμολογίᾳ θεοῦ μάρτυρα· μὴ γὰρ οὐ μαρτυρίου στέφανός σοι ὅτι διὰ Χριστὸν ἐξόριστος, ἄποικος, πολύτλας, καὶ ταῦτα ἐν ἁπαλῷ τῷ σώματι ὅσον ἐκ φύσεως, προτετρυχωμένῳ δὲ ἐξ ἀσκητικῆς οἶδ' ὅτι θεοδρομίας; αὐχεῖ ἐν σοὶ τῶν ὀρθοφρόνων ὁ χορός, ὁ τῆς Νικομηδείας χῶρος χαίρει καὶ εὐδοξεῖ, προῖκα προβαλλόμενός σε τῇ ὑπ' οὐρανόν, ἀποσεισάμενος τὰ πάλαι θρυλλούμενα ἐκ τῶν ἐκεῖσε προεδρευσάντων ὀνείδη. εἰ δέ τι οἰκειότερον δεῖ φάναι, θυμηδιᾷ Ταράσιος ὁ ἐν ἁγίοις, ἐκ τῆς αὐτοῦ αὐλῆς καὶ χειρὸς πρόβατον πρίν, ἔπειτα ποιμένα περιβόητον ὁρῶν τανῦν ἀγωνιζόμενον καὶ προκινδυνεύοντα ὑπὲρ ὀρθοδοξίας, ᾗ συνεισήνεγκεν τὰ παρ' ἑαυτοῦ συνοδικῶς χάριτι θεοῦ ἐν ἡμέραις βασιλείας εἰρηνωνύμου καὶ εἰρηνοδώρου, ὡς συνδραμεῖν φερωνύμως τοῖς ὀνόμασι τὰ πράγματα. Ἀλλ' ἐκεῖνα μὲν τοιαῦτα· τὰ δὲ νῦν πικρά τε καὶ ἐπώδυνα (πῶς γὰρ οὔ;), θυσιαστηρίων ἀφανιζομένων, ἐκκλησιῶν πορθουμένων, ἄνω καὶ κάτω κυκώσης τῆς αἱρέσεως καὶ Χριστὸν διωκούσης σὺν μητρὶ καὶ θεράπουσιν. ἢ γὰρ οὐχ οὗτοι δεδιωγμένοι, τῶν ἁγίων εἰκόνων αὐτῶν πορθουμένων; εἰ μὴ ἄρα καὶ τοῦ τύπου τοῦ ζωοποιοῦ ξύλου ἀφανιζομένου λέγοι τις τὸν σταυρὸν μὴ ἐκποδὼν γενέσθαι· εἰ δὲ ἐπὶ τοῦδε οὐχ οὕτως δοτέον, πῶς οὐχὶ καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς εἰκόνος συγκαταθετέον; εἰκὼν γὰρ καὶ ὁ τύπος, ὡς ἀνάπαλιν ἀντιστρέφει ὁ λόγος. Ἀλλὰ τίς εἰμι ἐγὼ ὁ τάλας καὶ ἀμύητος θείῳ πατρί τε καὶ διδασκάλῳ αἰτιολογῶν ταῦτα; σὺ ἡμᾶς διδάσκοις, ὦ ἱερώτατε, τὰ τελεώ τερα ὡς θεομύητος καὶ ἔργῳ παιδεύοις φέρειν καρτερῶς τὴν νῦν εἴτε παιδείαν εἴτε δοκιμασίαν, τὸ πρῶτον ἐφ' ἡμῖν διὰ τὰς ἁμαρτίας, τὸ δεύτερον ἐπὶ σοὶ διὰ τὴν θείαν ἀγάπην Χριστοῦ· ᾧ λιτανεύειν μὴ ἐλλείποις ἐκτρέψαι τὴν τῆς ἀσεβείας σκιὰν εἰς πρωΐαν εἰρηνικῆς ὀρθοδοξίας τάχιστα. 176 {1Ἐπιφανίῳ ἡγουμένῳ Εὐκαιρίασ}1 Παρὰ τὸ διδαχθῆναί με μεθορισθῆναί σου τὴν ἁγιωσύνην τῆς διὰ Κύριον φυλακῆς, ἐν ᾗ τανῦν κατέχῃ, οὐκ ἐξεγένετό μοι μέχρι τοῦ δεῦρο ἐπιστεῖλαι, καίπερ ἔχων πόθον· ἐπεὶ δὲ ἔμαθον ἀσφαλῶς ὅτι νικαΐζεις καὶ τόπῳ καὶ τρόπῳ, σὺν τάχει καὶ πόθῳ μοι τὸ γράμμα. δι' οὗ καὶ φιλῶ σε τὴν ἱερὰν κεφαλὴν καὶ ἀσπάζομαι καὶ χαίρω καὶ συγχαίρω· πῶς γὰρ οὐ χαρᾶς τὰ καθ' ἡμᾶς, ὅτι διὰ τὴν χαράν, ἣν ἐγέννησεν ἡ Θεοτόκος, ἐν ἐξορίαις καὶ φυλακαῖς εἷς ἕκαστος ἡμῶν; συναριθμεῖν γὰρ τολμῶ ἑαυτὸν ὁ ἀνάξιος τοῖς ὁμολογηταῖς Χριστοῦ, ὑπὲρ οὗ καὶ δι' ὃν κακοπαθεῖν ἠξιώμεθα. εὐφροσύνης τὰ ἡμέτερα, ὦ ἄνερ, ἐπιθυμιῶν, θυμηδίας, αὐχήσεως· οὐκ ἀκούεις Παύλου φάσκοντος, νῦν χαίρω ἐν τοῖς παθήμασιν ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν καὶ ἀνταναπληρῶ τὰ ὑστερήματα τῶν θλίψεων τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐν τῇ σαρκί μου ὑπὲρ τοῦ σώματος αὐτοῦ, ὅ ἐστιν ἡ ἐκκλησία; ὑπὲρ ταύτης καὶ νῦν τὰ παθήματα, ὁ θλιμμός, ἡ στενοχωρία, ὁ διωγμός, ὁ δαρμός, ὁτιοῦν ἄλλο, εἰς ἔνδειξιν μὲν ἀπωλείας τοῖς ἰουδαΐζουσιν, εἰς ἀμοιβὴν δὲ σωτηρίας τοῖς σὺν σοὶ ὑπομένουσι τὰ τοῦ Χριστοῦ στίγματα. Ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν οὕτως. πῶς δὲ καὶ οἵα ἡ φρουρὰ καὶ ὁ φρούραρχος; εἰ ἆρά