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Give him thanks in deed, child, and pray for us. The brother greets you. May you be saved always. 375 {1To the Canonesses}1 Since you do not love to give in when it comes to doing good, neither do we the humble when it comes to writing letters. But the exchange is paltry: words for a deed; yet I am persuaded that there are deeds also, and much more precious than the deeds here. When and from whom? From God and in the age to come; for nothing is unrecorded by God. And especially the offering of your magnanimity, which we have received and for which we have now offered fitting prayers for you, being content and not seeking anything else; for the trouble is sufficient. But you, mothers and sisters in the Lord, who are fighting the good fight of the monastic life, rejoice, be strong, hastening toward the better things, since there is no standing still for one who travels the road that leads to virtue; for it is unattainable and yet attained. Blessed therefore are you, having chosen the life of virginity, the life that is truly angelic and heavenly, which involves labor and violence of no ordinary kind, but is also exceedingly strenuous, yet has as its reward the kingdom of heaven. Yet one must not be discouraged nor grow slack in the toils; for if he who desires to obtain perishable things does not shrink back or give in, until he should possess what he seeks, although it is not inalienable but transient and perishable, and perhaps even a provision for eternal punishment, how much more must we not be hesitant, but be inflamed to serve the living God and to await his Son from heaven in a form befitting a man, whom the present heretics deny in his depiction? Flee, ladies, the destruction; he will come in this way, in the manner in which he was seen being taken up. And how was he seen? As a man depicted, to judge all things together with those who denied him as depictable. Your life, I beseech you, keep in strict harmony with the faith. Those under the yoke, he says, give something also to God; the virgins give everything to God. Do not become like some who are mired in unseemly habits, hankering after superfluities. Life is for a day, our lifetime passes through our hands. Be detached from relationships, being fellow-slaves with Christ, since it is not possible to be bound in two directions. Discipline your flesh, enslaving it to the spirit; purify your heart, so that you may be virgins in both respects; for this is the extraordinary and sought-after thing. Loving you in the Lord, I have admonished you as I would my mother or sister, but you yourselves pray that I may become a doer of those things of which I am a teacher to others. May you be saved. 376 {1To Naucratius, my child}1 What could be more joyous than this, for me, a sinner, to hear that you, my beloved son, along with seven other of your brothers, whose names are in the book of life, were scourged for Christ, our good God? Glory to him who called you to the confession of his truth; glory to him who strengthened your precious souls to face danger before others, so as not to cower or retreat from the face of the wicked one, but to make your good confession and for its sake, with Christ, to give your back to the whips. You have been added as another chorus of confession to the church of God, you have increased the renown of the brotherhood in Christ. Truly blessed are you, my longed-for ones, and thrice-blessed, and blessed are the wombs that brought you into the light. And if anything can be said of me, blessed am I too, the unblessed and wretched, that I hear that I am the father of such children, sons of God and heirs of Christ. What is this joy? Is it not more gladdening than all joy? What is this glory? Is it not more wondrous than that of those who wear diadems, to bear the marks of Christ, his life-giving sufferings as crowns? So then are your affairs, which heaven has praised and earth has heard. But our affairs are insignificant and sinful, except as the brother Adrian reported; for he has surely been saved. If there is anything to add, we will make this known. After the flogging, they shut the two of us in an upper room, having blocked the door and taken away the ladder. Guards are all around, lest anyone should touch or approach the little room; but also meeting everyone who enters the fortress are the

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ἀντίδος αὐτῷ εὐχαριστίαν ἔμπρακτον, τέκνον, καὶ προσεύχου περὶ ἡμῶν. ὁ ἀδελφὸς προσαγορεύει σε. σωθείης ἀεί. 375 {1Κανονικαῖσ}1 Ἐπειδὴ ὑμεῖς οὐκ ἐνδιδεῖν φιλεῖτε εἰς τὸ εὖ ποιεῖν, οὐδὲ ἡμεῖς οἱ ταπεινοὶ εἰς τὸ ἐπιστέλλειν. ἀλλὰ μικροπρεπὴς ἡ ἀντάμειψις, ἔργῳ λόγοι, πείθομαι δὲ καὶ ἔργα, καὶ πολὺ τῶν τῇδε ἔργων τιμαλφέστερα. πηνίκα καὶ πρὸς τίνος; παρὰ θεοῦ καὶ ἐν τῷ μέλλοντι αἰῶνι· οὐδὲν γὰρ θεῷ ἀλόγιστον. καὶ μάλιστα τῆς ὑμετέρας μεγαλοψυχίας ἡ προσφορά, ἣν δεξάμενοι καὶ νῦν τὰ εἰκότα ὑμῖν ὑπερηυξάμεθα, ἀρκούμενοι καὶ μὴ ἐπιζητοῦντές τι ἕτερον· ἀρκετὸς γὰρ ὁ κόπος. Ὑμεῖς δέ, μητέρες καὶ ἀδελφαὶ ἐν Κυρίῳ, τὸν καλὸν ἀγῶνα τῆς μοναδικῆς πολιτείας ἀγωνιζόμεναι, χαίρετε, εὐσθενεῖτε ἐπειγόμεναι πρὸς τὰ κρείττονα, ἐπειδὴ οὐ στάσις τῷ πορευομένῳ τὴν εἰς ἀρετὴν φέρουσαν ὁδόν· ἄφθαστος γὰρ καὶ καταλαμβανομένη. μακάριαι οὖν ἐστε, προελόμεναι τὸν ἐν παρθενίᾳ βίον, τὸν ὄντως ἀγγελικὸν καὶ οὐράνιον, ὃς κοπῶδες μὲν καὶ βίαιον οὐ τὸ τυχόν, ἀλλὰ καὶ μάλα ἱδρωτικὸν ἔχει, ἀνταπόδομα δὲ βασιλείαν οὐρανῶν. οὐ μὴν ἀθυμητέον καὶ ὑποχαυνωτέον ἐν τοῖς πόνοις· εἰ γὰρ ὁ τῶν ἐπικήρων ἐφιέμενος τυχεῖν οὐχ ὑποκλάζει οὐδὲ ἐνδίδωσιν, ἕως ἂν κατάσχοι τὸ ζητούμενον, καίπερ ὂν οὐκ ἀναφαίρετον ἀλλὰ μεταπῖπτον καὶ ἀπολλύμενον, τυχὸν δὲ καὶ ἐφόδιον αἰωνίου κολάσεως, πόσῳ μᾶλλον ἡμῖν οὐκ ἀποκνητέον, ἀλλ' ἐμπυριστέον εἰς τὸ δουλεύειν θεῷ ζῶντι καὶ ἀναμένειν τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ ἐκ τῶν οὐρανῶν ἀνθρωποπρεπεῖ θέᾳ, ὃν ἀρνοῦνται ἐγγεγραμμένον οἱ νῦν αἱρετίζοντες; φεύγοιτε, κυρίαι, τὸν ὄλεθρον, οὕτως ἐλεύσεται, ὃν τρόπον ὤφθη ἀναλαμβανόμενος. πῶς δὲ ὦπται; ὡς ἄνθρωπος εἰκονιζόμενος κρῖναι τὰ σύμπαντα σὺν τοῖς ἠρνημένοις αὐτὸν γραφόμενον. τὸν βίον, παρακαλῶ, σύνδρομον τῇ πίστει ἀκριβεύεσθε· αἱ ὑπὸ ζυγόν, φησίν, δότε τι καὶ θεῷ, αἱ παρθένοι τὸ πᾶν θεῷ. μὴ γίνοισθε ὥς τινες τῇ ἀκαλλεῖ συνηθείᾳ ἐμφυρόμεναι, ὑλάζουσαι τὰ περιττά· ἐφήμερος ἡ ζωή, διὰ χειρῶν ὁ βίος. τῶν σχέσεων ἀπορράγητε, τῷ Χριστῷ συνδουλούμεναι, ἐπείπερ διχοδεσμεῖσθαι οὐχ οἷόν τε· τὴν σάρκα ὑπωπιάζοιτε, δουλαγωγοῦσαι τῷ πνεύματι, τὴν καρδίαν καθαίρετε, ἵνα κατ' ἀμφότερα παρθενεύητε· τοῦτο γὰρ τὸ ὑπερφυὲς καὶ ζητούμενον. Ἀγαπῶν ἐν Κυρίῳ ὡς ἂν ἐπὶ μητρός μου ἢ ἀδελφῆς ὑπέμνησα, αὐταὶ δὲ προσεύχεσθε ἵνα ὧν ἄλλοις καθίσταμαι διδάσκαλος, τούτων πληρωτὴς γένοιμι. σωθείητε. 376 {1Ναυκρατίῳ τέκνῳ}1 Τί τούτου χαριέστερον, τοῦ ἀκοῦσαί με τὸν ἁμαρτωλὸν ὅτιπερ σύ, ὁ ἀγαπητός μου υἱός, μεθ' ἑτέρων ἑπτὰ ἀδελφῶν σου, ὧν τὰ ὀνόματα ἐν βίβλῳ ζωῆς, ἐμαστίχθητε ὑπὲρ Χριστοῦ, τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ ἡμῶν θεοῦ; δόξα τῷ καλέσαντι ὑμᾶς εἰς τὴν ὁμολογίαν τῆς ἀληθείας αὐτοῦ· δόξα τῷ σταθερώσαντι τὰς τιμίας ὑμῶν ψυχὰς τῶν ἄλλων προκινδυνεῦσαι εἰς τὸ μὴ πτῆξαι μηδὲ ὑποχωρῆσαι ἀπὸ προσώπου τοῦ ἀλάστορος, ἀλλὰ τὴν καλὴν ὑμῶν ὁμολογίαν ὁμολογῆσαι καὶ διὰ ταύτην σὺν Χριστῷ δοῦναι τὸν νῶτον εἰς μάστιγας. προσετέθητε χορὸς ἄλλος ὁμολογίας τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ τοῦ θεοῦ, ηὐξήσατε τὸ κλέος τῆς ἐν Χριστῷ ἀδελφότητος. μακάριοι ὄντως, ποθητοί μου, καὶ τρισμακάριοι, μακάριαι καὶ αἱ κοιλίαι, αἳ εἰς φῶς ὑμᾶς ἤγαγον· εἰ δέ τι καὶ περὶ ἐμοῦ, μακάριος κἀγὼ ὁ ἀμακάριστος καὶ ἄθλιος, ὅτι τηλικούτων ἀκούω πατὴρ τέκνων, θεοῦ υἱῶν καὶ κληρονόμων Χριστοῦ. τίς ἡ χαρὰ αὕτη; ἀλλ' οὐχὶ πάσης χαρᾶς θυμηρεστέρα; τίς ἡ δόξα αὕτη; ἀλλ' οὐχὶ τῶν τὰ διαδήματα φορούντων θαυμασιωτέρα, στίγματα φέρειν τοῦ Χριστοῦ, τὰ ζωοποιὰ αὐτοῦ πάθη ὡς στέφη; Οὕτως μὲν οὖν τὰ καθ' ὑμᾶς, ἃ καὶ οὐρανὸς ᾔνεσεν καὶ γῆ ἠκουτίσθη. τὰ δὲ ἡμέτερα μηδαμινὰ καὶ ἁμαρτωλά, πλὴν ὡς ἀπήγγειλεν ὁ ἀδελφὸς Ἀδριανός· πάντως γὰρ ἀποσέσωσται. εἰ δέ τι δέοι προσθεῖναι, ταῦτα καὶ δηλώσομεν. μετὰ τὸν δαρμὸν ἔκλεισαν ἡμᾶς τοὺς δύο εἰς ἀνώγαιον, ἀναφράξαντες τὴν θύραν καὶ ἄραντες τὴν κλίμακα. κυκλόθεν φύλακες, μή πού τις θίγῃ μηδὲ ἅψηται τοῦ δωματίου· ἀλλὰ καὶ πάντα τὸν εἰσερχόμενον εἰς τὸ κάστρον προϋπαντῶντες οἱ