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we are mortal. While fishing, you were fished by the Lord into the holy habit; so may your catch always be in your being caught by God for good things. Seeing the deep, marvel at your maker, God; catching the fish, glorify your provider, the Lord; selling for need in a monastic way, but not in a worldly way; weaving the fishing-line, may you weave good thoughts. You have a psalm, you have a song, you have a melody. In eating, what is without offense; in drinking, what is moderate; in sleeping, what is sufficient; let all things be done decently and in order, so that the Lord may be glorified by those who see you. Watch out for temptation, lest you also be caught; therefore one must not be without care nor live indifferently, but with fear and watchfulness and hope in God to endure all things for Christ. Yes, my child, I beseech you to walk in this way. Strengthen those with you, remind them to fear and tremble before God and to do no evil, as if we were always present before his eyes, which is true. I received your fish from the works of your blessed hands. May the Lord bless your catch. Greet the brother Theophylactus and any other faithful one; those with me greet you with longing. 209 {1To Nilus, my child}1 I greet you, O my beloved child Nilus; I have received your blessing, the fish. What shall I give you in return, for you have again remembered me from the labor of your hands? Nothing else but my sinful prayer; and may the Lord grant his fear more abundantly in your heart, so that whether on land or on sea you may breathe him, you may serve him. For you know, child, that we are all mortal, a little later departing from this flesh, about to give an account for our whole life, down to a word and a transgression, down to a thought; and what am I saying? It has been proclaimed by the Lord that we will give an account even for involuntary things and things done in ignorance. What sort of people, then, ought we to be? Full of fear and trembling, ready to make a defense; for the tribunal of discernment is fearful. On the one hand, unquenchable fire, and on the other, the kingdom of heaven, the one for sinners and those who have transgressed the Lord's commandments, the other for the keepers of the law. For this reason I beseech you to live holily, purely; you are in the presence of God; whether you clean a net, or cast a hook, or pull up a fish, all things for the glory of God, child. Let us who are adorned with the cross not be like the laity, neither in catching nor in selling, but in an apostolic manner, whose craft it also was. I have reminded you out of pain, out of fear; for if I do not give instruction, woe is me. yes, my beloved son, remember your benefactor God, where you once were and how, and now who you are and in what glory; glorify God in your life, so that God may also glorify you for ever. These things are from me to you, but to your company, be you yourself in my place, strengthening and admonishing the same things, and may the peace of the Lord preside over you in harmony. Pray you also for my lowliness; your brothers greet you. 210 {1Untitled}1 I learn that you, O my most blessed father, are imprisoned and, as it were, tested in a furnace of fire by the impious. And would that it were possible for me to reach the garrison that holds you, so that I might have kissed the head that is holy and venerable to me, singing to you words of praise, because for Christ you are tormented, you hunger, you thirst, being straitened, being buffeted, being afflicted, perhaps not even having freedom to breathe the air; I omit to mention reproaches, sneers, threats, and whatever else a prison brings and evil-doers are accustomed to do. For all these things I, the humble one, am grieved for your holiness, I am in agony, I am convulsed, I groan, praying as a sinner for your endurance, for your relief, for the completion of your contest; and I believe that he who began in you the witness of his confession will also bring it to completion for the glory of his might, for the praise of his church, for the boast of us the least and weakest. We all look to you,

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θανάτου ἐσμέν. ἁλιεύων ἡλιεύθης ὑπὸ Κυρίου εἰς τὸ ἅγιον σχῆμα· οὕτως εἰσαεὶ ἔστω σου ἡ ἄγρα ἐν τῷ ἀγρεύεσθαί σε ὑπὸ θεοῦ εἰς τὰ καλά. ὁρῶν τὸν βυθὸν θαύμαζε τὸν ποιητήν σου θεόν, ἀγρεύων τὸν ἰχθὺν δόξαζέ σου τὸν τροφοδότην Κύριον, πιπράσκων διὰ χρείαν μοναχικῶς, ἀλλ' οὐ κοσμικῶς· πλέκων τὴν ὁρμαίαν συμπλέκοις μου ἀγαθοὺς λογισμούς. ψαλμὸν ἔχεις, ᾠδὴν ἔχεις, μελῳδίαν ἔχεις. ἐν τῷ ἐσθίειν τὸ ἀπρόσκοπον, ἐν τῷ πίνειν τὸ σύμμετρον, ἐν τῷ κοιμᾶσθαι τὸ αὔταρκες· πάντα εὐσχημόνως καὶ κατὰ τάξιν γινέσθω, ἵνα δοξάζηται ὁ Κύριος ὑπὸ τῶν ὁρώντων ὑμᾶς. σκοπεῖτε καὶ τὸν πειρασμόν, μήπως καὶ συλληφθῆτε· διὸ οὐκ ἀμεριμνεῖν χρὴ οὐδὲ ἀδιαφόρως ζῆν, ἀλλὰ σὺν φόβῳ καὶ ἐγρηγορήσει ἐλπίδι τε θεοῦ εἰς τὸ ἐνεγκεῖν πάντα ὑπὲρ Χριστοῦ. Ναί, τέκνον μου, παρακαλῶ σε οὕτω πορεύεσθαι. στήριζε τοὺς μετὰ σοῦ, ὑπομίμνησκε φοβεῖσθαι καὶ τρέμειν θεὸν καὶ μηδὲν ποιεῖν κακόν, ὡς κατ' ὀφθαλμοὺς αὐτοῦ παρόντων ἡμῶν ἀεί, ὅπερ ἀληθές. ἀπεδεξάμην σου τοὺς ἰχθῦς ἐξ ἔργων τῶν εὐλογημένων χειρῶν σου. εὐλογήσειεν Κύριος τὴν ἄγραν σου. προσειπὲ τὸν ἀδελφὸν Θεοφύλακτον καὶ εἴ τινα ἄλλον πιστόν· οἱ σὺν ἐμοὶ ἀσπάζονταί σε πεποθημένως. 209 {1Νείλῳ τέκνῳ}1 Προσαγορεύω σε, ὦ τέκνον μου ἀγαπητὸν Νεῖλε· ἀπεδεξάμην σου τὴν εὐλογίαν, τοὺς ἰχθύας. τί σοι ἀνταποδοίην, ὅτι καὶ πάλιν μου ἐμνήσθης ἐκ τοῦ κόπου τῶν χειρῶν σου; οὐδὲν ἄλλο ἢ εὐχήν μου ἁμαρτωλήν· καί γε παράσχοι ὁ Κύριος τὸν φόβον αὐτοῦ πλειοτέρως ἐν καρδίᾳ σου, ἵνα κἄν τε ἐν γῇ κἄν τε ἐν θαλάσσῃ αὐτὸν ἀναπνῇς, αὐτῷ δουλεύῃς. οἶδας γάρ, τέκνον, ὅτι θνητοί ἐσμεν πάντες, μικρὸν ὕστερον ἐκβαίνοντες τοῦδε τοῦ σαρκίου, λόγον ὑφέξοντες περὶ ὅλου τοῦ βίου ἡμῶν μέχρι καὶ λόγου καὶ παροράματος, μέχρι ἐνθυμήσεως· καὶ τί λέγω; καὶ ἀκουσίων καὶ τῶν ἐν ἀγνοίᾳ δώσειν ἡμᾶς λόγον ἐπήγγελται τῷ Κυρίῳ. ποταποὺς δεῖ ἡμᾶς λοιπὸν εἶναι; ἐμφόβους καὶ ἐντρόμους, εὐαπολογήτους· φοβερὸν γὰρ τὸ κριτήριον τῆς διαγνώσεως. πῦρ ἄσβεστον ἔνθεν, κἀκεῖθεν βασιλεία οὐρανῶν, τὸ μὲν τοῖς ἁμαρτωλοῖς καὶ παρακρούσασι τὰς ἐντολὰς τοῦ Κυρίου, ἡ δὲ τοῖς νομοφύλαξι. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο παρακαλῶ ὁσίως σε βιοῦν, καθαρῶς, ἐνώπιον εἶ θεοῦ· κἂν δίκτυον ἀνακαθαίρῃς, κἂν ἄγκιστρον βάλλῃς, κἂν ἰχθὺν ἀνέλκῃς, πάντα εἰς δόξαν θεοῦ, τέκνον. μὴ ὡς οἱ λαϊκοὶ ἡμεῖς οἱ σταυρόκοσμοι μήτε ἀγρεύοντες μήτε πιπράσκοντες, ἀλλὰ ἀποστολικῶς, ὧν καὶ τὸ χειροτέχνημα. ὑπέμνησα ἐκ πόνου, ἐκ φόβου· ἐὰν γὰρ μὴ διαστείλωμαι, οὐαί μοι. ναί, υἱέ μου ἠγαπημένε, μνήσθητι τοῦ εὐεργέτου σου θεοῦ, ποῦ ἦς ποτε καὶ πῶς, καὶ νῦν τίς εἶ καὶ ἐν ποίᾳ δόξῃ· δόξασον τὸν θεὸν ἐν τῷ βίῳ σου, ἵνα καὶ ὁ θεός σε δοξάσῃ εἰς αἰῶνας. Σοὶ μὲν παρ' ἐμοὶ ταῦτα, πρὸς δὲ τὴν συνοδίαν σου αὐτὸς ἀντὶ ἐμοῦ γενοῦ, στηρίζων καὶ νουθετῶν τὰ αὐτά, καὶ ἡ εἰρήνη τοῦ Κυρίου βραβεύσειεν ὑμᾶς ἐν ὁμονοίᾳ. προσεύχου καὶ αὐτὸς περὶ τῆς ταπεινώσεώς μου· προσαγορεύουσίν σε οἱ ἀδελφοί σου. 210 {1Ἀνεπίγραφοσ}1 Μανθάνω σε, ὦ μακαριώτατέ μου πάτερ, εἱργμένον εἶναι καὶ οἷον ὡς καμίνῳ πυρὸς δοκιμαζόμενον ὑπὸ τῶν ἀσεβούντων. καὶ εἴθε μοι ἦν δυνατὸν καταλαβεῖν τὸ κατέχον σε φρουρεῖον, ὡς ἂν ἠσπασάμην τὴν ἐμοὶ ἱερὰν καὶ σεβασμίαν κεφαλήν, ᾄσας σοι αἰνέσεως ῥήματα, ὅτι διὰ Χριστὸν βασανίζῃ, λιμώττεις, διψεῖς, στενοχωρούμενος, ὑπωπιαζόμενος, ταλαιπωρούμενος, τάχα καὶ τὸν ἀέρα ἀναπνεῖν οὐκ ἐλευθερίως ἔχων· ἐῶ λέγειν ὀνειδισμούς, μυκτηρισμούς, ἀπειλάς, ὅσα ἄλλα καὶ φυλακὴ φέρει καὶ οἱ κακοῦντες εἰώθασι πράττειν. διὰ ταῦτα πάντα ἀλγύνομαι ὁ ταπεινὸς ἐπὶ τῇ σῇ ἁγιωσύνῃ, ἀγωνιῶ, σφαδάζω, στοναχίζω, τὴν καρτερίαν σοι προσευχόμενος ὡς ἁμαρτωλός, τὴν ἀναψυχήν, τὴν τοῦ ἀγῶνος τελείωσιν· καί γε πιστεύω ὅτι ὁ ἐναρξάμενος ἐν ὑμῖν τὸ μαρτύριον τῆς ὁμολογίας αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐπιτελέσειεν εἰς δόξαν τοῦ κράτους αὐτοῦ, εἰς ἔπαινον τῆς ἐκκλησίας αὐτοῦ, εἰς καύχημα ἡμῶν τῶν ἐλαχίστων καὶ ἀδρανῶν. πάντες ἡμῶν εἰς ὑμᾶς ἀποβλέπομεν,