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he came, he initiated such conversations, and, what he had not done even once in the prison, he offered a drink. Bitten, I took it; I drank, having sealed it three times (I feared the plot; alas, little by little, it imperceptibly drags one down), I engaged in a discussion about truth. He too was spurred on, we shot scriptural texts at each other, he trying to silence me mockingly and I proceeding submissively in some things because the arguments were being directed towards the emperor and so that we might not be separated from each other in confusion, since he was also at a loss when I proposed a proposition. And I said: "4What blasphemy is this? Did the Father and the Spirit share in those things which Christ did in his humanity, yes or no?"5 And he nodded and insisted it was so. For this reason, then, there was the yielding and the separation as in a battle. And going out he says: "4I thought that he knew something; not at all, but I also silenced him"5. But I knew him to be most irrational along with his impiety, but I sought one thing, that I put aside hypocrisy and show another face, as is necessary towards an arch-heretic; since it is not right to cast pearls before swine. From this came the great security and the order that we should see no one, even if God should arrange otherwise. These things, although rather digressively, have nevertheless been said of necessity so that you might fervently ask that we be rescued from the snare of the impious one. Your brother greets you. 408 {1Theodore, a sinner and monk, to my spiritual fathers and brothers, who have confessed and are contending in prisons, whose names are in the book of life}1 Having heard, O thrice-longed for, the testimony of your good confession for Christ, I sang praises, I glorified God who called you from a foreign land into the queen of cities as rational lambs to pour out blood as a fragrance of sweet smell to him, a light to those in the darkness of the heretical night-battle; then with desire I, the humble one, desired to see you, the athletes, and to embrace you one by one, being drawn by a fiery longing. But since this is physically impossible, being carried away by this letter and standing in your midst I both kiss your holy footsteps and with a holy kiss love your sacred faces. O noble soldiers of Christ, as if called from a heavenly enlistment; O bright stars, shining forth orthodoxy in the night of impiety, more precious than gold, more brilliant than emeralds and pearls. Desiring to crown you worthily with many names I am not permitted, being constrained by the measure of the letter, but in one word encompassing the whole I would say that your testimony is of equal weight with the testimonies of old, since he who confesses to accept the icon of Christ clearly confesses Christ, just as holds for the denial; for the honor of the icon ascends to the prototype, as Basil the Great said, and the archetype is revealed in the icon, as again Dionysius the all-wise said. And since Christ is a perfect man, lacking nothing of those things observed in man, he possesses the quality of being depicted like every man, just as he possesses the quality of not being circumscribed, inasmuch as the same one is also perfect God. But if he were not to be inscribed with a bodily form, he would not be a man at all; for it is a first and true sign that he is a man, if he has been depicted. And I do not yet speak of the lady of all, the Theotokos, and of all the saints taken together, the rejection of whom is the abolition of their venerable icons; but he who understands understands, and he who rejects rejects destructively, speaking against the scriptures, and authority always acts with authority. And the people of God are few, even if all are creatures, and finally against the divinely-called rock from above and from the beginning the gates of Hades are dashed, but they have in no way prevailed nor will they prevail against it, as is the promise of the one who does not lie. Therefore, my fathers and brothers, stand firm in the faith, be courageous, be strong in the Lord. The choirs of martyrs summon you to themselves, as do those of the confessors. These things in brief, we the least, though absent, join ourselves to you in the spirit, so that you might know that you have a last member confined somewhere here for the same confession and asking you to assist in the holy

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ἧκεν, ἐκίνησεν τὰς τοιαύτας ὁμιλίας, ἔτι, ὃ οὐδ' ἅπαξ ἐποίησεν ἐν τῇ φυλακῇ, ἐπέδωκεν πιεῖν. ἔλαβον δαχθείς, ἔπιον κατασφραγίσας τρὶς (ἐφοβήθην τὸ δρᾶμα· οὐά, κατὰ βραχύ, ἀνεπαισθήτως κατασπᾷ), συνῆρα λόγον περὶ ἀληθείας. ὠτρύνθη κἀκεῖνος, ἀντετοξεύσαμεν χρήσεσιν ἀλλήλους, αὐτοῦ μὲν ἀποστομίζοντος χλευαστικῶς κἀμοῦ ὑφειμένως ἐρχομένου ἔν τισιν διὰ τὸ ἀποτείνεσθαι τοὺς λόγους πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα καὶ τὸ μὴ ταραχῇ καταδιαστῆναι ἀλλήλων, ἐπειδὴ καὶ πρότασίν μου προτείναντος ἠπόρησεν. καὶ εἶπον· "4βλασφημία τίς αὕτη; ὁ πατὴρ καὶ τὸ πνεῦμα κεκοινώνηκεν ἐν οἷς ἔδρασεν ἀνθρωπίνως ὁ Χριστός, ναὶ ἢ οὔ;"5 ὁ δὲ κατένευσεν καὶ διισχυρίζετο οὕτως ἔχειν. διά τοι ταῦτα ἡ ὕφεσις καὶ ἡ ὡς ἐν μάχῃ διάστασις. ὁ δὲ ἐξελθών φησιν· "4ἐδόκουν ὅτι ᾔδει τι· οὐδόλως, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀπεστομάτισα αὐτόν"5. ἐγὼ δὲ ἔγνων μὲν αὐτὸν ἄλογον ὅτι μάλιστα σὺν ἀσεβείᾳ, ἓν δὲ ἐζήτησα, τὴν ὑπόκρισιν ἀποθέσθαι με καὶ ἄλλο πρόσωπον ἐπιδεῖξαι, ὡς δεῖ πρὸς ἀσεβάρχην· ἐπεὶ οὐ θεμιτὸν εἰς ὕας βάλλειν τοὺς μαργαρίτας. ἐντεῦθεν ἡ πολλὴ ἀσφάλεια καὶ παραγγελία τοῦ μὴ ἰδεῖν ἡμᾶς ἄνθρωπον, κἂν ἄλλως οἰκονομῇ θεός. Ταῦτα, εἰ καὶ παρεκβατικώτερον, ὅμως ἀναγκαίως εἴρηται πρὸς τὸ θερμῶς αἰτεῖσθαί σε ῥυσθῆναι ἡμᾶς ἀπὸ τῆς ἐνέδρας τοῦ ἀσεβοῦς. ὁ ἀδελφός σου προσαγορεύει σε. 408 {1Θεόδωρος ἁμαρτωλὸς μοναχὸς τοῖς πνευματικοῖς μου πατράσι καὶ ἀδελφοῖς, ὁμολογήσασι καὶ ἐναθλοῦσιν ἐν εἱρκταῖς, ὧν τὰ ὀνόματα ἐν βίβλῳ ζωῆσ}1 Ἀκηκοώς, ὦ τριπόθητοι, τὸ μαρτύριον τῆς καλῆς ὑμῶν ὁμολογίας ὑπὲρ Χριστοῦ ὕμνησα, ἐδόξασα θεὸν τὸν καλέσαντα ὑμᾶς ἐκ τῆς ἀλλοδαπῆς ἐν τῇ βασιλίδι τῶν πόλεων οἱονεὶ ἄρνας λογικοὺς αἷμα κενῶσαι εἰς ὀσμὴν εὐωδίας αὐτῷ, φῶς τῶν ἐν σκότει τῆς αἱρετικῆς νυκτομαχίας· εἶτα ἐπιθυμίᾳ ἐπεθύμησα ὁ ταπεινὸς ἰδεῖν ὑμᾶς τοὺς ἀθλητὰς καὶ περιπτύξασθαι ἕνα καθ' ἕνα, πόθῳ διαπύρῳ ἑλκόμενος. ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ τοῦτο σωματικῶς ἀδύνατον, διὰ τοῦ γράμματος ἁρπαγεὶς καὶ μέσος ἑστὼς καὶ ἀσπάζομαι τὰ ἅγια ὑμῶν ἴχνη καὶ φιλῶ φιλήματι ἁγίῳ τὰ ἱερὰ ὑμῶν πρόσωπα. ὦ καλοὶ στρατιῶται Χριστοῦ, ὡς ἀπ' οὐρανίου στρατολογίας κεκλημένοι· ὦ ἀστέρες φαεινοί, ἐν νυκτὶ ἀσεβείας διαυγάζοντες ὀρθοδοξίαν, ὑπὲρ χρυσίον τιμαλφέστεροι, ὑπὲρ σμαράγδων καὶ μαργάρων ἐκλαμπρότεροι. πολλοῖς ὑμᾶς ὀνόμασι καταστέφειν ἀξιολόγως ἐφιέμενος οὐ παραχωροῦμαι, τῷ μέτρῳ τῆς ἐπιστολῆς στενοχωρούμενος, ἑνὶ δὲ λόγῳ τὸ πᾶν περιλαβὼν λέγοιμι ὅτι τὸ μαρτύριον ὑμῶν ἰσοστάσιον τοῖς ἄνω μαρτυρίοις, ἐπείπερ τηλαυγῶς Χριστὸν ὁμολογεῖ ὁ τὴν εἰκόνα Χριστοῦ ὁμολογῶν δέχεσθαι, ὡς καὶ τὸ τῆς ἀρνήσεως ἔχει· ἡ γὰρ τῆς εἰκόνος τιμὴ ἐπὶ τὸ πρωτότυπον ἀναβαίνει, ὡς ὁ Μέγας Βασίλειος ἔφη, καὶ τὸ ἀρχέτυπον ἐν τῇ εἰκόνι ἐκφαίνεται, ὡς αὖθις ∆ιονύσιος ὁ πάνσοφος εἶπεν. καὶ ἐπεὶ Χριστὸς ἄνθρωπος τέλειος, μηδὲν ἐλλελοιπὼς τῶν ἐν ἀνθρώπῳ θεωρουμένων, ἔχει τὸ ἐξεικονίζεσθαι ὡς πᾶς ἄνθρωπος, ὥσπερ ἔχει τὸ μὴ περιγράφεσθαι, καθὸ καὶ θεὸς ὁ αὐτὸς τέλειος. εἰ δ' οὐκ ἐγγράφοιτο σωματικῷ χαρακτῆρι, οὔ τί που ἄνθρωπος· σημεῖον γὰρ πρῶτον καὶ ἄληθες ὅτι ἄνθρωπος, εἰ ἐξεικόνισται. καὶ οὔπω λέγω περὶ τῆς δεσποίνης τοῦ παντὸς Θεοτόκου καὶ ὅλων συλλήβδην τῶν ἁγίων, ὧν ἀθέτησις ἡ τῶν σεπτῶν αὐτῶν εἰκόνων ἀναίρεσις· ἀλλ' ὁ συνιῶν συνιεῖ καὶ ὁ ἀθετῶν ἀθετεῖ ὀλεθρίως, τοῖς λογίοις ἀντιφθεγγόμενος, καὶ ἡ ἐξουσία δρᾷ ἀεὶ ἐξουσιαστικῶς. καὶ οἱ τοῦ θεοῦ ὀλίγοι, εἰ καὶ πάντες πλάσματα, καὶ τέλος τῇ θεοκλήτῳ πέτρᾳ ἄνωθεν καὶ ἐξ ἀρχῆς πύλαι ᾅδου προσρήγνυνται, ἀλλ' οὐδαμῶς κατίσχυσαν οὐδ' ἂν κατισχύσωσιν αὐτῆς, ὡς ἡ τοῦ ἀψευδοῦς ὑπόσχεσις. ∆ιό, πατέρες μου καὶ ἀδελφοί, στήκετε ἐν τῇ πίστει, ἀνδρίζεσθε, κραταιοῦσθε ἐν Κυρίῳ. οἱ χοροὶ τῶν μαρτύρων πρὸς ἑαυτοὺς ὑμᾶς ἐκκαλοῦνται, τῶν ὁμολογητῶν ὡσαύτως. ταῦτα ὡς ἐν ὀλίγοις, συνάπτοντες ὑμῖν ἑαυτοὺς οἱ ἐλάχιστοι καὶ ἀπόντες τῷ πνεύματι, ὡς ἂν γνοίητε ὅτι ἔχετε μέλος ἔσχατον ὧδέ που περιωρισμένον ἐπὶ τῇ αὐτῇ ὁμολογίᾳ καὶ αἰτοῦν ὑμᾶς συλλαμβάνειν ἐν ταῖς ἁγίαις