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the word calls us and demands the debt; if we die, we shall also live with Christ, if we endure, we shall also reign with him. Such are the promises of the one who does not lie; but you, O good brother and desired father, do not ever forget to remember me, asking that I may attain God who has called me, along with you. 307 {1To Timothy, my child}1 What have I heard? And you, child Timothy, among the martyrs loved God? With zeal you have been zealous for the Lord; having said farewell to exile you have given yourself over to martyrdom. How blessed is your resolution, how divinely inspired the fire of your heart, by which you were also known of old, gleaming in many accomplishments. But now you have shone forth more perfectly, having been revealed as a martyr in truth; it is possible for you also to say with joy, my back I gave to the whips, and my face I did not turn away from the shame of spittings, as Christ for the sake of Christ, even if it does not seem so to the persecutors of Christ. Blessed is God who strengthened you to be lacerated by one hundred and fifty lashes and not to cast away salvation, but on the contrary to convict the most impious deviser, whose lashes will remain for eternity, if he does not repent, it is clear. In a single moment, good brother, being torn, what eternal glory you have won; you were fitted like a holy stone into the structure of the confession of Christ, to the joy of your brothers and fellow contestants, as a boast for me the sinner and indeed for the most God-beloved archbishop, but in fact also for all the pious. Who having heard of your contest will not sing? Who of those who know you will not call you blessed? Christ has crowned you from heaven, the choir of the saints has embraced you. But since it is not only to begin well that is blessed, but to finish the contest is what is sought, let us stand, beloved child, being courageous for what is next, bearing the difficulties of prison nobly. Christ is present with us, not allowing us to be tempted beyond what we can bear, but giving you endurance until death and bestowing upon you the crowns of the contest at the end of the struggles. O good Timothy, pray also for me, the unworthy one, that I may be saved in the Lord with you the saints. 308 {1To Ignatius, my child}1 What you have written, beloved child, I have learned, and I rejoice hearing your voice, but not indeed as you suppose are the things concerning me; for they are stale and worthless. However, if you say you are helped by my words, write and receive, and there is no envy. I understand that you are leading a constrained life in the present persecution, just as those of like manner who are in hiding, but let hope lighten it; keep your affairs securely with the good Eusebius, whom I also greet. Communion from the heretics is not common bread, but a poison, not harming the body, but blackening and darkening the soul. But to cast it away even secretly is not for me to say, but for those who do it out of fear, about whom it is possible to say that thing, that many of the rulers believed in him, but did not confess it because of the Pharisees, lest they be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the glory of men more than the glory of God; because the prayers of the sacred rite are orthodox. What does this contribute, if they were to come from heretics? For they do not think as the one who made them, nor do they believe as the words themselves signify, since the whole mystery rite glorifies Christ as having truly become man. But they deny it, even if they say it, because they think he cannot be depicted in an icon, as if someone saying "4I believe in the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit"5, while thinking that the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit are one hypostasis with three names, which is the dogma of Sabellius the foolish-minded. What then? Should we say that such a person believes in the Trinity? Not at all, even if he says so. Thus, therefore, not even here does he believe as he says, even if the mystery rite is orthodox, but each one speaks idly, or rather behaves insolently, making a game of the liturgy; since even sorcerers and enchanters use divine odes in their demonic practices. It is expedient for the unbaptized, if an orthodox baptizer cannot be found, to be baptized by a monk, or if there is not one, by a layman, saying "4So-and-so is baptized in the name of the Father and of the

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καλεῖ ἡμᾶς ὁ λόγος καὶ ἀπαιτοίη τὸ χρέος· εἰ ἀποθάνωμεν, καὶ συζήσομεν Χριστῷ, εἰ ὑπομένωμεν, καὶ συμβασιλεύσομεν. Τοιαῦται αἱ ἐπαγγελίαι τοῦ ἀψευδοῦς· σὺ δέ μοι, ὦ καλὲ ἀδελφὲ καὶ πατὴρ ποθητέ, μεμνῆσθαι διὰ παντὸς μὴ ἐπιλήσῃ, τυχεῖν με αἰτούμενος σὺν σοὶ θεοῦ τοῦ κεκληκότος. 307 {1Τιμοθέῳ τέκνῳ}1 Τί ἀκήκοα; καὶ σύ, τέκνον Τιμόθεε, μετὰ μαρτύρων ἠράσθης θεοῦ; ζηλῶν ἐζήλωκας τῷ Κυρίῳ· χαίρειν εἰπὼν τῇ φυγαδείᾳ παραδέδωκας σεαυτὸν εἰς μαρτύριον. ὡς μακάριόν σου τὸ βούλευμα, ὡς θεόληπτόν σου τὸ τῆς καρδίας διάπυρον, ὧ καὶ πάλαι ὑπαστράπτων ἐν πολλοῖς κατορθώμασιν ἐγνωρίζου. νῦν δὲ ἀνέλαμψας τελεώτερον, μάρτυς ἀναδειχθεὶς ὡς ἀληθῶς· λέγειν ἔστιν καὶ σοὶ ἐν χαρᾷ, τὸν νῶτόν μου ἔδωκα εἰς μάστιγας καὶ τὸ πρόσωπόν μου οὐκ ἀπέστρεψα ἀπὸ αἰσχύνης ἐμπτυσμάτων, ὡς Χριστὸς διὰ Χριστόν, εἰ καὶ οὐχ οὕτως δοκεῖ τοῖς χριστοδιώκταις. εὐλογητὸς ὁ θεὸς ὁ ἐνισχύσας σε καταξανθῆναι ἐν ἑκατὸν καὶ πεντήκοντα μάστιξι καὶ μὴ πρόεσθαι τὴν σωτηρίαν, ἀλλὰ τοὐναντίον ἐλέγξαι τὸν τεκταίνοντα δυσσεβέστατον, οὗ αἱ μάστιγες μενοῦσιν αἰωνίζουσαι, μὴ μεταμελομένου δῆλον ὅτι. μιᾷ ῥοπῇ, ἀδελφὲ καλέ, δριμυχθεὶς οἷον αἰώνιον κλέος ἦρας· συνεβλήθης ὡς λίθος ἅγιος τῇ ἐνδομήσει τῆς ὁμολογίας Χριστοῦ, εἰς χαρὰν τῶν ἀδελφῶν καὶ συνάθλων σου, εἰς καύχημα ἐμοὶ τῷ ἁμαρτωλῷ καί γε τῷ θεοφιλεστάτῳ ἀρχιεπισκόπῳ, ἀλλὰ γὰρ καὶ πάντων τῶν εὐσεβούντων. τίς ἀκούσας σου τὸν ἀγῶνα οὐκ ᾄσεται; τίς τῶν γνωριζόντων οὐ μακαρίσει σε; ἐστεφάνωσέν σε Χριστὸς οὐρανόθεν, ἠσπάσατό σε ὁ χορὸς τῶν ἁγίων. Ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ οὐ τὸ καλῶς ἄρξασθαι μόνον μακαριστόν, τὸ δὲ τελειῶσαι τὸν ἀγῶνα τὸ ζητούμενον, στῶμεν, τέκνον ἀγαπητόν, πρὸς τὸ ἑξῆς ἀνδρειούμενοι, φέροντες τὰ κατὰ τὴν φυλακὴν δυσχερῆ γενναίως. Χριστὸς ὁ συμπαρών, ὁ μὴ ἐῶν ὑπὲρ ὃ δυνάμεθα ὑπενεγκεῖν πειρασθῆναι, ἀλλὰ διδούς σοι καρτερίαν μέχρι θανάτου καὶ τοὺς τῆς ἀθλήσεως στεφάνους ἐπὶ τέλει τῶν ἀγώνων χορηγῶν σοι. ὦ καλὲ Τιμόθεε, προσεύχου καὶ περὶ ἐμοῦ τοῦ ἀναξίου ἵνα σῴζοιμι ἐν Κυρίῳ σὺν ὑμῖν τοῖς ἁγίοις. 308 {1Ἰγνατίῳ τέκνῳ}1 Ἃ γέγραφας, τέκνον ἠγαπημένον, ἔγνων, καὶ χαίρω ἀκούων σου τῆς φωνῆς, οὐ μὴν ὡς σὺ ὑπολαμβάνεις τὰ κατ' ἐμέ· ἕωλα γὰρ καὶ μηδαμινά. πλὴν εἰ λέγοις ὠφελεῖσθαι ἐν τοῖς λόγοις μου, γράφε καὶ δέχου, καὶ φθόνος οὐδείς. Συνίημι βίον ἕλκειν σε στενοχωρητικὸν ἐν τῷ παρόντι διωγμῷ ὥσπερ καὶ οἱ ὁμότροποί σοι κρυπτόμενοι, ἀλλ' ἡ ἐλπὶς κουφιζέτω· ἔχε τὰ κατὰ σὲ ἀσφαλῶς μετὰ τοῦ καλοῦ Εὐσεβίου, ὃν καὶ προσαγορεύω. ἡ παρὰ τῶν αἱρετικῶν κοινωνία οὐ κοινὸς ἄρτος, ἀλλὰ φάρμακον, οὐ σῶμα βλάπτον, ἀλλὰ ψυχὴν μελαῖνον καὶ σκοτίζον. ῥίπτειν δὲ καὶ κρύβδην οὐκ ἐμοὶ τὸ λέγειν, ἀλλὰ τῶν ποιούντων φόβῳ, περὶ ὧν ἐκεῖνο λέγειν ἔστιν, ὅτι πολλοὶ τῶν ἀρχόντων ἐπίστευον εἰς αὐτόν, ἀλλ' οὐχ ὡμολόγουν διὰ τοὺς Φαρισαίους, ἵνα μὴ ἀποσυνάγωγοι γένωνται· ἠγάπησαν γὰρ τὴν δόξαν τῶν ἀνθρώπων μᾶλλον ἢ τὴν δόξαν τοῦ θεοῦ· ὅτι ὀρθοδόξῳ αἱ εὐχαὶ τῆς ἱερουργίας. τί τοῦτο, εἰ παρὰ αἱρετικῶν γίνοιντο, συμβάλλεται; οὐ γὰρ ὡς ὁ ποιήσας αὐτὰς φρονοῦσιν οὐδὲ ὡς αὐταὶ αἱ φωναὶ σημαίνουσι πιστεύουσιν, ἐπείπερ πᾶσα ἡ μυσταγωγία Χριστὸν ἄνθρωπον ἀληθῶς γεγενῆσθαι δοξάζει. οἱ δὲ ἀρνοῦνται, κἂν λέγωσι, διὰ τὸ φρονεῖν μὴ ἐξεικονίζεσθαι αὐτόν, ὡς ἂν εἰ καὶ λέγων τις "4πιστεύω εἰς πατέρα καὶ υἱὸν καὶ Ἅγιον Πνεῦμα"5, φρονῶν δὲ ὅτι ὁ πατὴρ καὶ ὁ υἱὸς καὶ τὸ Ἅγιον Πνεῦμα μία ὑπόστασίς ἐστι τριώνυμος, ὅπερ ὑπάρχει δόγμα Σαβελλίου τοῦ ματαιόφρονος. τί οὖν; εἴπωμεν τὸν τοιοῦτον πιστεύειν εἰς Τριάδα; οὐδαμῶς, κἂν λέγῃ. οὕτως οὖν οὐδὲ ἐνταῦθα πιστεύει ὡς λέγει, κἂν ὀρθόδοξος ἡ μυσταγωγία, ἀλλ' εἰκαιολογεῖ ἑκάτερος, μᾶλλον δὲ ἐνυβρίζει, παίζων τὴν λειτουργίαν· ἐπεὶ καὶ γόητες καὶ ἐπαοιδοὶ χρῶνται θείαις ᾠδαῖς ἐν τοῖς δαιμονιώδεσι. Συμφέρει τὸν ἀβάπτιστον, εἰ μὴ εὑρίσκοιτο ὀρθόδοξος ὁ βαπτίσων, ὑπὸ μοναχοῦ, ἢ καὶ τούτου μὴ ὄντος, ὑπὸ λαϊκοῦ βαπτισθῆναι, λέγοντος "4βαπτίζεται ὁ δεῖνα εἰς τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ πατρὸς καὶ τοῦ