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to serve two masters? For either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. What then is being said? That he who has the fear of men does not have the fear of God; if therefore he is prompted by the enemy, just as also in the case of the other passions, and it certainly happens, yet let him who has conquered the world conquer. We must be eager, therefore, to prepare beforehand the provisions for human fearlessness, which are faith, hope, love; love, it says, is kind, is patient; love is not envious, love is not puffed up, is not boastful, does not act unbecomingly, does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, endures all things, hopes all things. Love never fails. In these things may you be preserved with me and all the brethren. 185 {1To Sergius the Notary}1 Hearing that your God-loving person keeps herself without part in the communion of heretics and that she is zealous for the Lord, accepting those who are orthodox and manly unto blood, but refusing those who are unballasted and traitors to the truth, I, the humble one, rejoice, giving thanks to God that my old and own friend longs for and cares for the things dear and proper to God. For you see how the persecution is reaching its peak yet more and more, already producing even martyrs; one of whom is our Thaddaeus, who shares a tent with the saints. That you love us who are cast off on account of our sins, we know; for we also love you, and it is not possible for one who loves not to be loved in return by the one who is loved. But we ask that you also pray for us to complete the contest set before us by the mercy of God. 186 {1To Naucratius, my child}1 Tidings upon tidings, word upon word; what shall I say and what shall I speak? How shall I, wretched one, be disposed towards what has happened? joy for me and sorrow, praise and lamentation. I have been caught in the space between two emotions and I do not know which I shall choose to speak. Nevertheless, he who conquered Satan and the rulers and tormentors of this age conquers. The lamb of Christ was put to death for Christ by scourging, Thaddaeus my sapling, my inward parts, the son of obedience, the stock of piety, the namesake of the apostle. Unbearable is the joy, insurmountable the gladness, not for me, the humble one, alone, but also for angels and men. How magnified are your works, O Lord, for even now in this humble generation you have shown forth an indisputable martyr of your truth, and this one not from the wise and noble of this world, but from those of the opposite condition, so that the word of the apostle might be fulfilled, that He has chosen the base and despised things, and the things that are not, to bring to nothing the things that are. Where have you departed from me, O blessed child? Where have you been so quickly exalted, having become numbered with the martyrs? Oh, your success! Oh, your nobility! Oh, your good counsel! In one day you gained infinite ages; in grievous tortures you acquired unspeakable joys; in one hundred and thirty blows you received the perfect wage for your labor with the martyrs from the Holy Trinity, if indeed the one number corresponds to perfection, and the other to the Trinity, so that even from your very punishment God might show your greatness of soul. Your blood is myrrh, your relic imparts sanctification to those who touch it. I pray you, holy Thaddaeus of God, intercede for me, your unworthy servant; for I do not dare to call you child. See, my brothers, what has happened, what a treasure and member we have acquired? Sufficient for the glory of God and for our boasting and at the same time for the joy of the whole church is the martyr of Christ, Thaddaeus. What else? The first, he says, will be last and the last first; this I say concerning Jacob and Lucian, the one having contended (and may he contend to the end) with Dorotheus and Bessarion, but the other, according to my sins, having been shipwrecked with those of like mind. Oh, how the most pitiful ones have fallen in the midst of luminaries! They forgot him who said, then, do not be afraid of those who kill the body. For did he not measure what is possible, he who

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δυσὶ κυρίοις δουλεύειν; ἢ γὰρ τὸν ἕνα μισήσει καὶ τὸν ἕτερον ἀγαπήσει ἢ τοῦ ἑνὸς ἀνθέξεται καὶ τοῦ ἑτέρου καταφρονήσει. τί οὖν τὸ λεγόμενον; ὅτι ὁ τὸν τῶν ἀνθρώπων φόβον ἔχων τὸν τοῦ θεοῦ οὐκ ἔχει· εἰ οὖν ὑποβάλλεται ὑπὸ τοῦ ἐχθροῦ, ὥσπερ καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ἄλλων παθῶν καὶ πάντως γίνεται, ἀλλ' οὖν νικάτω ὁ νενικηκὼς τὸν κόσμον. Σπουδαστέον τοίνυν τὰ ἐφόδια προπαρασκευάζειν τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης ἀφοβίας, ἅτινά ἐστι πίστις, ἐλπίς, ἀγάπη· ἡ ἀγάπη, φησί, χρηστεύεται, μακροθυμεῖ· ἡ ἀγάπη οὐ ζηλοῖ, ἡ ἀγάπη οὐ φυσιοῦται, οὐ περπερεύεται, οὐκ ἀσχημονεῖ, οὐ ζητεῖ τὰ ἑαυτῆς, οὐ παροξύνεται, οὐ λογίζεται τὸ κακόν, οὐ χαίρει ἐπὶ τῇ ἀδικίᾳ, συγχαίρει δὲ τῇ ἀληθείᾳ· πάντα στέγει, πάντα πιστεύει, πάντα ὑπομένει, πάντα ἐλπίζει. ἡ ἀγάπη οὐδέποτε ἐκπίπτει. ἐν τούτοις διατηρηθείης σὺν ἐμοὶ καὶ πᾶσιν ἀδελφοῖς. 185 {1Σεργίῳ νοταρίῳ}1 Ἀκούων ὅτι φυλάττει ἑαυτὴν ἡ θεοφιλία σου ἀμέτοχον τῆς τῶν αἱρετικῶν κοινωνίας καὶ ὅτι ζηλοῦσά ἐστι τῷ Κυρίῳ, ἀποδεχομένη τοὺς ὀρθόφρονας καὶ ἀνδρικοὺς μέχρις αἵματος, ἀπαναινομένη δὲ ἐν τοῖς ἀνερματίστοις καὶ προδόταις τῆς ἀληθείας, χαίρω ὁ ταπεινός, εὐχαριστῶν τῷ θεῷ ὅτι ὁ ἀρχαῖος φίλος καὶ ἴδιος τὰ τῷ θεῷ φίλα τε καὶ ἴδια ὀρέγεται καὶ περιέπει. βλέπεις γὰρ ὡς κορυφοῦται ἔτι μᾶλλον καὶ μᾶλλον ὁ διωγμός, ἀποτελῶν ἤδη καὶ μάρτυρας· ὧν εἷς ὁ ἡμέτερος Θαδδαῖος καὶ τῶν ἁγίων σύσκηνος. Ὅτι δὲ φιλεῖς ἡμᾶς τοὺς ἀποθήτους διὰ τὰς ἁμαρτίας, ἴσμεν· στέργομεν γάρ σε καὶ ἡμεῖς, οὐκ ἔστι δὲ φιλοῦντα μὴ ὑπὸ τοῦ φιλουμένου ἀντιστέργεσθαι. ἀλλ' ἵνα καὶ προσεύχῃ παρακαλῶμεν τελειῶσαι ἡμᾶς τὸν προκείμενον ἀγῶνα ἐλέει θεοῦ. 186 {1Ναυκρατίῳ τέκνῳ}1 Ἀγγελία ἐπὶ ἀγγελίᾳ, λόγος ἐπὶ λόγῳ· τί εἴπω καὶ τί λαλήσω; πῶς διατεθῶ ὁ τάλας ἐπὶ τοῖς γεγενημένοις; χαρά μοι καὶ λύπη, αἴνεσις καὶ ἀπόκλαυσις. ἐν μεταιχμίῳ δύο παθῶν ἀπειλημμένος γέγονα καὶ οὐκ ἔχω πότερον αἱρήσομαι λέγειν. ὅμως νικᾷ ὁ νικήσας τὸν σατανᾶν καὶ τοὺς ἄρχοντας καὶ κολαστὰς τοῦ αἰῶνος τοῦδε. ἐθανατώθη ὑπὲρ Χριστοῦ τὸ ἀρνίον τοῦ Χριστοῦ μαστιγούμενον, Θαδδαῖος ὁ ἐμὸς ὅρπηξ, τὸ ἐμὸν σπλάγχνον, ὁ υἱὸς τῆς ὑπακοῆς, τὸ στέλεχος τῆς εὐσεβείας, ὁ τοῦ ἀποστόλου συνώνυμος. ἀβάστακτος ἡ χαρά, ἀνυπέρβλητος ἡ εὐφροσύνη, οὐκ ἐμοὶ τῷ ταπεινῷ μόνῳ, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀγγέλοις καὶ ἀνθρώποις. ὡς ἐμεγαλύνθη τὰ ἔργα σου, Κύριε, ὅτι καὶ νῦν ἐν τῇ ταπεινῇ γενεᾷ ταύτῃ μάρτυρα τῆς ἀληθείας σου ἀπαράγραπτον ἀνέδειξας, καὶ τοῦτον οὐκ ἐκ τῶν σοφῶν καὶ εὐγενῶν τοῦ τῇδε κόσμου, ἀλλ' ἐκ τῶν ἐναντίως ἐχόντων, ἵνα πληρωθῇ ὁ λόγος τοῦ ἀποστόλου, ὅτι τὰ ἀγενῆ καὶ ἐξουθενημένα ἐξελέξατο καὶ τὰ μὴ ὄντα, ἵνα τὰ ὄντα καταργήσῃ. ποῦ μοι ἀπέστης, ὦ μακάριον τέκνον; ποῦ θᾶττον ὑπερυψώθης, μάρτυσι συναρίθμιος γεγονώς; ὢ τῆς ἐπιτυχίας σου· ὢ τῆς εὐγενείας σου· ὢ τῆς εὐβουλίας σου. ἐν ἡμέρᾳ μίᾳ ἐκέρδησας ἀπείρους αἰῶνας· ἐν ἀνίαις βασανιστικαῖς ἐκτήσω τὰς ἀνεκλαλήτους εὐφροσύνας· ἐν πληγαῖς ἑκατὸν πρὸς τριάκοντα εἴληφας τὸν τέλειον τῆς ἐργασίας μισθὸν σὺν μάρτυσι παρὰ τῆς Ἁγίας Τριάδος, εἴπερ ὁ μὲν τῆς τελειότητος, ὁ δὲ τῆς Τριάδος ἀναλογῶν ἐστιν ἀριθμός, ἵνα κἀξ αὐτοῦ τοῦ κολασμοῦ σου παραδείξειεν θεὸς τὸ μεγαλοφυές σου. τὸ αἷμά σου μύρον, τὸ λείψανόν σου ἁγιασμοῦ μεταδοτικὸν τοῖς ψαύουσι. ∆έομαί σου, ἅγιε τοῦ θεοῦ Θαδδαῖε, πρέσβευε ὑπὲρ ἐμοῦ τοῦ ἀναξίου δούλου σου· οὐ γὰρ τολμῶ σε καλέσαι τέκνον. ὁρᾶτε, ἀδελφοί μου, τί γέγονε, ποῖον θησαυρὸν καὶ μέλος ἐκεκτήμεθα; ἀρκεῖ εἴς τε θεοῦ δόξαν καὶ ἡμέτερον καύχημα ὁμοῦ τε καὶ τῆς ὅλης ἐκκλησίας χαρμόσυνον ὁ μάρτυς Χριστοῦ Θαδδαῖος. τί τἆλλα; ἔσονται, φησίν, οἱ πρῶτοι ἔσχατοι καὶ οἱ ἔσχατοι πρῶτοι· τοῦτο ἐπὶ τοῦ Ἰακώβου φημὶ καὶ Λουκιανοῦ, τοῦ μὲν ἐναθλήσαντος (εἴη καὶ ἐναθλήσοντος μέχρι τέλους) σὺν ∆ωροθέῳ καὶ Βησσαρίωνι, τοῦ δὲ κατὰ τὰς ἁμαρτίας μου ναυαγήσαντος σὺν τοῖς ὁμοτρόποις. ὤ, πῶς ἔπεσον ἐν μέσῳ φωστήρων οἱ οἴκτιστοι· ἐπελάθοντο τοῦ εἰρηκότος ἄρα, μὴ φοβηθῆτε ἀπὸ τῶν ἀποκτενόντων τὸ σῶμα. μὴ γὰρ οὐ κατεμέτρησε τὸ δυνατὸν ὁ