248

of his gifts, and he received from him the authority to bind and loose sins, set on fire by the Holy Spirit, to whom is due all glory, honor, and worship with the Father and the only-begotten Son unto the ages. Amen.

Letter

To Stephen of Nicomedia (440) "To my all-holy and holy master, the most glorious syncellus, your Symeon, exiled and persecuted through you. Behold, all-holy master, what fruits the seeds of your struggles and words according to God have produced, what glory and joy they have caused me, of how many crowns they have become the cause for me, with how much gladness they have filled me and have led me up to a height of spiritual knowledge and have firmly planted the feet of my mind upon a rock and have prepared me to be clothed with the rock itself, from which I have the living water gushing forth hypostatically within me, moving and speaking and urging me to write to you, and filling me with all delight and not allowing me to feel the death-bearing temptations at all, but as he guarded the three youths unburnt in the furnace, so he keeps me also, hiding me as in his tabernacle, without grief and unharmed. For which I also thank you, and thanking and praying I shall never cease. Therefore, if you have any other things to add to the gladness and glory of those who love you, do not shrink from doing them, so that your reward may be multiplied and the recompense from God who ordained these things may become more abundant for you. Farewell."

Another Letter

To Stephen of Nicomedia. (441) "My good Stephen and master has again added good crowns for me to my crowns. But what shall we give you in return for what you, moved by a good disposition, have done for us the humble, and are doing, and I know that you will do again, benefiting us each day for seven years now? What answer then shall we give to you who are zealous in such matters and who knows how to treat friends more honorably with your sweet medicines? But we beseech you, do not cease from your purpose, do not stop from your works; add, if you please, to these things those which make my labors even sweeter by their intensity. You have increased for me the light, the joy, the sweetness, which may you by all means increase still more, continuing to do what is fitting and may you unite us more quickly to the beloved God, for whom I bear all things eagerly and for whom you see me wearing this chain of exile from you. Farewell. To my all-holy and holy master, your Symeon, who has been exiled through you and stripped of his possessions."

Letter

To Niketas Stethatos. (442)

248

τῶν δωρεῶν αὐτοῦ, καί τήν ἐξουσίαν τοῦ δεσμεῖν καί λύειν τά ἁμαρτήματα παρ᾿ αὐτοῦ ἔλαβε τῷ Ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι πυρωθείς, ᾧ πρέπει πᾶσα δόξα, τιμή κάι προσκύνησις σύν τῷ Πατρί καί τῷ μονογενεῖ Υἱῷ εἰς τούς αἰῶνας. Ἀμήν.

Ἐπιστολή

Πρός Στέφανον Νικομηδείας (440) «Τῷ πανιέρῳ καί ἁγίῳ δεσπότῃ μου, τῷ ἐνδοξοτάτῳ συγκέλλῳ, ὁ διά σοῦ

ἐξόριστος καί δεδιωγμένος Συμεών ὁ σός. Ἰδού, πανίερε δέσποτα, τῶν κατά Θεόν σου ἀγώνων καί λόγων τά σπέρματα οἶα πεποιήκασι τά γεώργια, οἴαν μοι δόξαν καί χαράν προεξένησαν, ὅσων μοι στεφάνων γεγόνασιν αἴτια, ὅσης με τῆς εὐφροσύνης ἐνέπλησαν εἰς ὕψος τε πνευματικῆς ἀνήγαγον γνώσεως καί ἐπί πέτραν τούς πόδας μου τοῦ νοός καλῶς προσερείσαντο καί αὐτήν με τήν πέτραν ἐνδύσασθαι παρεσκευάσαν, ἐξ ἧς ἔχω τό ὕδωρ τό ζῶν ἐνυποστάτως βλύζον ἐν ἐμοί, κινούμενον καί λαλοῦν καί γράφειν μέν πρός σέ προτρεπόμενον, πάσης τε θυμηδίας ἐμπιπλῶν καί μή ἐῶν ὅλως με τῶν θανατηφόρων πειρασμῶν ἐπαισθάνεσθαι, ἀλλ᾿ ὡς τούς τρεῖς παῖδας ἀφλέκτους ἐν τῇ καμίνῳ ἐφύλαξεν, οὕτω κἀμέ, ὡς ἐν σκηνῇ αὐτοῦ κρύπτον, ἄλυπον διατηρεῖ καί ἀπήμαντον. Ὑπέρ ὧν καί εὐχαριστῶ σοι, εὐχαριστῶν τε καί προσευχόμενος οὐδέποτε παύσομαι, Λοιπόν εἴ τινα καί ἕτερα ἔχεις εἰς προσθήκην εὐφροσύνης καί δόξης τῶν ἀγαπώντων σε, μή ἀποκνήσῃς ποιήσασθαι, ὅπως ὁ μισθός σοι πολλαπλασιασθῇ καί ἡ ἀντάμειψις παρά Θεοῦ τοῦ ταῦτα νομοθετήσαντος δαψιλεστέρα σοι γένηται, Ἔρρωσο».

Ἐπιστολή ἑτέρα

Πρός Στέφανον Νικομηδείας. (441) «Καλούς μοι στεφάνους ὁ καλός Στέφανος καί δεσπότης μου ἐπί τοῖς ἐμοῖς

στεφάνοις πάλιν προσέθετο. Ἀλλά τί σοι ἀνταποδώσομεν ὑπέρ ὧν ἡμᾶς τούς ταπεινούς ἀγαθῇ κινούμενος διαθέσει πεποίηκας καί ποιεῖς καί οἶδ᾿ ὅτι πάλιν ποιήσεις, εὐεργετῶν καθ᾿ ἑκάστην ἡμᾶς ἐπί χρόνοις ἤδη ἑπτά; Τί οὖν σοι ἀπολογησόμεθα τῷ περί τά τοιαῦτα σπουδαίῳ καί φιλοτιμότερον εἰδότι δεξιοῦσθαι τοῖς γλυκέσι σου φαρμάκοις τούς φίλους; Ἀλλά δεόμεθά σου μή στῇς τῆς προθέσεως, μή καταπαύσῃς ἀπό τῶν ἔργων σου˙ πρόσθες εἰ δοκεῖ τούτοις τά ἔτι γλυκυτέρους τῇ ἐπιτάσει ποιοῦντα τούς πόνους μοι. Ηὔξησάς μοι τό φῶς, τήν χαράν, τήν ἡδύτητα, ἅ καί αὐξήσαις ἔτι πάντως καί ἔτι ποιῶν τά οἰκεῖα καί τῷ φιλουμένῳ τάχιον ἑνώσαις ἡμᾶς Θεῷ, ὑπέρ οὗ φέρω πάντα προθύμως καί δι᾿ ὄν ὁρᾷς τήν ἅλυσιν ταύτην παρά σοῦ τῆς ἐξορίας περίκειμαι. Ἔρρωσο. Τῷ πανιέρῳ καί ἁγίῳ δεσπότῃ μου, ὁ διά σοῦ ἐξόριστος καί τῶν προσόντων γυμνός γεγονώς Συμεών ὁ σός».

Επιστολή

Πρός Νικήτα Σταθᾶτον. (442)