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that you were spending your time in the mountains and serving God, and I rejoiced. But when I now heard nothing of the sort, but that you were living in a village, supposedly as a dispensation so as not to be caught by the heresy, and wearing white clothes, and being alone and serving the abbess in a grander, or rather, curatorial way, and buying animals and carrying burdens from inside to out, going out and coming in, I was beside myself, I was paralyzed, I became as if dead. Woe to me, the wretched one; brother, what have you done, how did you dare to do all this? The former confessor both against the Moicheians and now the Iconoclasts is now a Christ-merchant, considering divine things a trade; he who was once scrupulous even in his gaze is now a slave to a woman, that I might not say something worse; he who was once a great fugitive from his own has now turned back and lives together with brothers of flesh and blood; the exile from his fatherland is now a deserter. The divine Basil says somewhere, "you have lost the senator and not become a monk," and this because he did not live scrupulously, but kept back some of his own money. But you, forgive me, have not lost the monk, but denied him; what shall we call you? A monk? But you are a villager. But, he says, you say that you wear black underneath and have not denied in your heart. This is what all those who now commune with the heresy also say. It would have been better for you, man, to commune with the heresy and to repent than to have cast off the holy habit and be unrepentant; for in casting it off you have trampled upon the son of God, you have considered the blood of the covenant as common, you have insulted the spirit of grace. Therefore you are not worthy to partake of the holy things. Oh, oh, what have you done, and this while being a bosom friend? You have brought me down to the chambers of Hades, you have mixed for me a cup of death; the devil has taken you in the way he wished. But come to your senses, my good child, Euprepianus; you were tricked by Satan, thinking to trick him, by wearing white for a few days according to circumstance in paternal obedience and service and covering your head, just as you did, coming to me in prison by night through the roof tiles. yes, it is possible, and again to go home and to cast off the head covering and the outer garment and to apply oneself to the divine work. But thus, as you were, is a casting off of the habit. Have mercy on yourself, brother, and on me, your unworthy father, and, as soon as you receive the letters, cut your hair and cast off the white garment and be bound together with a brother and settle down like the rest of your brothers, writing back to me immediately, so that I may respond to you again. I know that you did this thinking to do good. But undo it, it is a drama of the evil one. 330 {1To the spatharia of Flavius}1 In time of trial true friends are tested just as also harbors, appearing as a refuge to those battered by a storm; for you are truly the most noble and most pious of women, from the beginning and from of old both a harbor and a shelter for many homeless and unfed souls. and there is almost no one among the monks who does not magnify your name and recount your hospitality, even if he himself has not experienced it, but having heard from those who have experienced it, as have I myself, not only while still being there, but also being far away. And who were the ones who reported it? Those whom you received and cared for in the present shipwreck of the impious heresy; which I pray to my God you may sail beyond, being steered by the prudent reasoning of piety, with which you have lived and which you acquired from above as an excellent consort and which will present you to God at His revelation from heaven favorably inheriting eternal life. I, the sinner, pray these things for you because of our brothers with Ignatius, most honored lady. 331 {1To Maria the nun}1 A good name of your honor has been heard by me, and a right action and a virtuous life, from our brothers whom your God-loving nature chose to receive and to care for from the hunt of the persecutors. and thanks be to God, who has many in worldly obscurity who have divine eminence; for Christ also, having rejected the glorious things in the world in his sojourn in the flesh, chose the weak and despised, so that he might shame the rich and arrogant according to the flesh.

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ὄρη ἐνδιατρίβειν σε καὶ δουλεύειν τῷ θεῷ, καὶ ἔχαιρον. ὡς δὲ νῦν ἤκουσα οὐδὲν τοιοῦτον, ἀλλὰ κωμάσαντα δῆθεν οἰκονομίας τοῦ μὴ ἁλῶναι τῇ αἱρέσει καὶ ἀσπροφοροῦντα, μόνον τε ὄντα καὶ μειζοτερικῶς ἤγουν κουρατορικῶς τῇ ἡγουμένῃ δουλεύοντα ζῷά τε ἐπαγοράζοντα καὶ φορτοκομεῖν ἐκ τῶν ἔσω ἔξω, ἐξιόντα τε καὶ εἰσιόντα, ἐξέστην, παρείθην, ἐγενόμην ὡσεὶ νεκρός. οὐαί μοι, τῷ ἀθλίῳ· ἀδελφέ, τί πεποίηκας, πῶς ἐτόλμησας τοῦτο ὅλον πρᾶξαι; ὁ πρὶν ὁμολογητὴς ἐπί τε τῶν μοιχειανῶν καὶ νῦν τῶν εἰκονομάχων ἄρτι χριστέμπορος, ἐμπορίαν ἡγούμενος τὰ θεῖα· ὁ πάλαι ἀκριβὴς μέχρι βλέμματος νῦν γυναικόδουλος, ἵνα μή τι χεῖρον εἴπω· ὁ λίαν φυγὰς τῶν ἰδίων ἄρτι ὀπισθόρμητος καὶ σὰρξ καὶ αἷμα ἀδελφοῖς συζῶν· ὁ φυγόπατρις ἄρτι λωποδύτης. φησί που ὁ θεῖος Βασίλειος, καὶ τὸν συγκλητικὸν ἀπώλεσας καὶ μοναχὸν οὐκ ἐποίησας, καὶ ταῦτα διὰ τὸ μὴ ἀκριβῶς αὐτὸν ζῆν, ἀλλὰ παρακατασχεῖν τινα τῶν αὐτοῦ χρημάτων. σὺ δέ, συγχώρησον, οὐκ ἀπώλεσας τὸν μοναχόν, ἀλλ' ἤρνησαι· τί σε καλέσωμεν; μοναχόν; ἀλλὰ κωμαστὴς σύ. ἀλλά, φησί, λέγεις ἔνδον φορεῖν μαῦρον καὶ ἐν καρδίᾳ μὴ ἐξαρνήσασθαι. τοῦτο καὶ νῦν πάντες καὶ οἱ κοινωνοῦντες τῇ αἱρέσει λέγουσι. κρεῖττόν σοι, ἄνθρωπε, ἦν κοινωνῆσαι τῇ αἱρέσει καὶ μετανοεῖν ἢ ῥίψαντα τὸ ἅγιον σχῆμα ἀμετανόητον εἶναι· ῥίψας γὰρ αὐτὸ τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ θεοῦ κατεπάτησας, τὸ αἷμα τῆς διαθήκης κοινὸν ἡγήσω, τὸ πνεῦμα τῆς χάριτος ἐνύβρισας. διὸ οὐδὲ τῶν ἁγιασμάτων μετασχεῖν ἄξιος εἶ. ὤ, ὤ, τί ἔπραξας, καὶ ταῦτα ἐπιστήθιος ὤν; κατήγαγές με εἰς τὰ ᾅδου ταμιεῖα, ἐκέρασάς μοι ποτήριον θανάτου· ἔλαβέν σε ὁ διάβολος διὰ τρόπου ὅπου ἐβούλετο. Ἀλλὰ ἀνάνηψον, τέκνον μου καλόν, Εὐπρεπιανέ· ἐπαίχθης ὑπὸ τοῦ σατανᾶ, δοκήσας παῖξαι αὐτόν, πρὸς ἡμέρας τινὰς κατὰ περίστασιν ὑπακοῇ πατρικῇ καὶ διακονίᾳ ὑποφορῆσαι ἄσπρα καὶ κατακαλῦψαι τὴν κεφαλήν, ὥσπερ ἐποίησας σύ, ἐν ἐμοὶ ἐν τῇ φυλακῇ νύκτωρ ἐλθὼν διὰ τῶν κεραμιδίων. ναί, ἐνδέχεται, καὶ αὖθις ἀπιέναι οἴκοι καὶ ἀπορρῖψαι τὸ κάλυμμα τῆς κεφαλῆς καὶ τὸ ἐπανωφόριον καὶ ἔχεσθαι τῆς θείας ἐργασίας. οὕτως δέ, ὡς σὺ ἦς, ῥιψοσχημία ἐστίν. ἐλέησον σεαυτόν, ἀδελφέ, κἀμέ, τὸν ἀνάξιόν σου πατέρα καί, ἅμα δέξῃ τὰ γράμματα, καὶ τὴν κόμην κεῖρον καὶ τὸ λευκοφόρον ἀπόρριψον καὶ μετὰ ἀδελφοῦ συνδέθητι καὶ ὡς οἱ λοιποί σου ἀδελφοὶ καθέσθητι, ἀντιγράφων μοι εὐθύς, ἵνα πάλιν ἀνταποκριθῶ σοι. οἶδα ὅτι δοκῶν καλὸν ποιεῖν τοῦτο ἔπραξας. ἀλλὰ ἀνάλυσον, τοῦ πονηροῦ ἐστι δρᾶμα. 330 {1Σπαθαρίᾳ τοῦ Φλαβίου}1 Ἐν καιρῷ πειρασμοῦ οἱ ἀληθινοὶ φίλοι δοκιμάζονται ὥσπερ καὶ οἱ λιμένες, τοῖς χειμαζομένοις ἐκ καταιγίδος εἰς ὑποδρομὴν φαινόμενοι· καὶ γὰρ εἶ ὡς ἀληθῶς γυναικῶν εὐγενεστάτη καὶ εὐσεβεστάτη, ἄνωθεν καὶ ἐξ ἀρχῆς λιμὴν ὁμοῦ καὶ περιοχὴ πολλῶν ψυχῶν ἀστέγων καὶ ἀτρόφων. καὶ οὐκ ἔστι σχεδόν τις ἐν τοῖς μονασταῖς ὁ μὴ μεγαλύνων σου τὸ ὄνομα καὶ διηγούμενος τὸ φιλόξενον, κἂν αὐτὸς οὐ πέπονθεν, ἀλλ' ἐκ τῶν πεπονθότων ἀκροασάμενος, ὡς καὐτὸς ἐγώ, οὐ μόνον ἔτι ὢν ἐν τοῖς αὐτόθι, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀπὼν μακροτέρως. τίνες δὲ οἱ ἀπαγγείλαντες; οὓς ὑπεδέξω καὶ ἐτροποφόρησας ἐν τῷ παρόντι καταποντισμῷ τῆς δυσσεβοῦς αἱρέσεως· ἧς ὑπερπλέειν σε εὔχομαι τῷ θεῷ μου, πηδαλιουχουμένην τῷ ἔμφρονι λογισμῷ τῆς εὐσεβείας, ᾗ συνέζησας καὶ ἣν ἐκτήσω ἄνωθεν ὑπερσύμβιον καὶ ἥ σε παραστήσει τῷ θεῷ ἐν τῇ ἐξ οὐρανῶν ἀποκαλύψει αὐτοῦ εὐμενῶς κληρονομοῦσαν τὴν αἰώνιον ζωήν. Ταῦτά σοι εὔχομαι ὁ ἁμαρτωλὸς διὰ τοὺς περὶ Ἰγνάτιον ἀδελφοὺς ἡμῶν, τιμιωτάτη κυρία. 331 {1Μαρίᾳ μοναζούσῃ}1 Ἀγαθὸν ὄνομα ἠκουτίσθη μοι τῆς τιμιότητός σου καὶ πρᾶξις δεξιὰ καὶ βίος ἐνάρετος παρ' ὧν ἀδελφῶν ἡμῶν ξενίζειν καὶ περιέπειν ἀπὸ θήρας τῶν διωκόντων εἵλετο ἡ θεοφιλία σου. καὶ χάρις τῷ θεῷ, ἔχοντι πολλοὺς ἐν ἀφανείᾳ βιωτικῇ περιφάνειαν ἔχοντας θεϊκήν· καὶ γὰρ ὁ Χριστός, παρωσάμενος τὰ ἐν κόσμῳ ἔνδοξα ἐν τῇ διὰ σαρκὸς ἐπιδημίᾳ αὐτοῦ, τὰ ἀσθενῆ καὶ ἐξουθενημένα ἐξελέξατο, ἵνα καταισχύνῃ τὰ πλούσια καὶ ὑψαυχοῦντα κατὰ σάρκα.