273

has brought mourning to me, your sinful father, and shame to your angelic brotherhood, and arrogance and boasting to the devil. Oh, what has happened? Alas, how the dragon overcame you, and into what a depth of stench he has cast you? You who were light have become darkness; the fragrance of Christ, a stench; the sacred, defiled; the honored, dishonored; the glorious, inglorious; the one unrestrained by the demon, now shackled; the beloved, hated; the sheep of Jesus, devoured by beasts (I will add greater things), the one persecuted for the sake of righteousness, now seized by sin; the confessor, a denier; the one bearing the beatitude on his head like a diadem, now deprived of the wondrous name of monk. Woe is me, who hearing this would not groan, and who understanding it would not shudder? You have shamed the monastic state, you have frightened those who stand firm, you have shaken those who are wavering, you have drunk a cup of lawlessness, you have drawn your fellow ranks, as far as it depended on you, to taste of death. Oh, I say again, what have you suffered, you wretched one? How have you, the morning star, been darkened? How have you, the useful vessel, been shattered? Are you not ashamed even of your name, that, being called Euarestos [Well-pleasing], you have proven yourself Dysarestos [Ill-pleasing]? Did you not come to me last year, and also to the lord archbishop, completely healthy, cheerful, eager, an advocate and restorer for another of your brothers? How have you suddenly failed? How were you blinded? How have you forgotten both God and us, and your previously accomplished ascetic labors and toils? Since you were also among the useful ones, and among those appointed to the preeminent ministries. Then what? A small attack of the enemy, a desire having the appearance of sweetness, but entwined with a two-edged sword, whose bitterness is more bitter than gall, seizing you, brought you down as from heaven, from the lofty way of life, and shows you as one wounded, sleeping in a tomb. For what else is it to be in sin than in corruption? There is no spiritual light, no hope, no sweetness of soul, no sacred thought, but deep night, a closing of the mind, a biting of the heart, fear even of what is ordinary, wallowing daily in the mire like some beast covered in mud. Ah, ah, what has the demon wrought? What has all-accursed desire made of you? Through which from the beginning of time the deceived have not gained even the things here, but have also lost the things of heaven, inheriting only one thing, the eternal fire. But come, my son, be recalled; I call you from the depths of my heart, from my burning entrails, since your glory is mine, as conversely is the shame. Come, arise, the Lord has commanded: "I will not remember your iniquities," he says, and, "Does not he who falls rise again?" And, "I saw that you go gloomy," and, "I will heal your brokenness." Behold a good God, behold a merciful physician. Yes, I beg you, child (for you are my child, even if you are dead), do not remain any longer in sin; tearing, quickly tear apart the cords woven for you by the devil and, rising as from a pit, leap over into the wondrous light of your former way of life. And I will receive you with open arms, not reproaching but pitying, not making heavy the medicines of repentance, but making them as gentle and light as possible. And hasten, hasten, before the abrupt angel comes suddenly, pitiably separating you from the body and carrying you away to eternal judgment. 445 {1To Severianus my spiritual son}1 As much as the short letter gladdened us, child, so much did the longer one sadden us; for though you had not yet raised a word concerning the propositions contained in it, nor heard from us what was needful, you were led now to propose these statements, ostensibly fighting against another person, but in fact rather setting yourself against the truth, although you ought not to teach, I do not say this so much because of your subordinate position (and bear this with long-suffering), but because those who have been caught in heretical communion, of whom you are one, do not have the boldness to open their mouths, but ought to remain in fitting silence and ask for forgiveness for their entire lives. Furthermore, you do not have such skill in dogmatic science as to know how to speak precisely, nor

273

ἔθετο εἰς πένθος μὲν ἐμοὶ τῷ ἁμαρτωλῷ σου πατρὶ εἴς τε αἰσχύνην τῆς ἀγγελικῆς σου ἀδελφότητος καὶ εἰς ἔπαρσιν καὶ αὔχημα τῷ διαβόλῳ. ὤ, τί γέγονεν; φεῦ, πῶς σε ἐχειρώσατο ὁ δράκων, εἰς οἷον δέ σε ἀπέρριψε βάθος δυσωδίας; τὸ φῶς γέγονας σκότος, ἡ Χριστοῦ εὐωδία δυσωδία, ὁ ἱερὸς μιαρός, ὁ τίμιος ἄτιμος, ὁ ἔνδοξος ἄδοξος, ὁ ἄσχετος τῷ δαίμονι χειροδέσμιος, ὁ φιλητὸς μισητός, τὸ πρόβατον Ἰησοῦ θηριάλωτον (προσθήσω τὰ μείζω), ὁ δεδιωγμένος ἕνεκεν τῆς δικαιοσύνης κατειλημμένος ὑπὸ τῆς ἁμαρτίας, ὁ ὁμολογητὴς ἀρνητής, ὁ τὸν μακαρισμὸν ἐπὶ κορυφῆς ὡς διάδημα φέρων ἀφῃρημένος τὸ θαυμαστὸν ὄνομα τοῦ μοναχοῦ. Οἴμοι, τίς ἀκούσας οὐ στενάξειεν, τίς δὲ κατανοῶν οὐ φρίξειεν; ᾔσχυνας τὸ μοναχικόν, ἐφόβησας τοὺς ἑστηκότας, ἐσάλευσας τοὺς ὀκλάζοντας, ἔπιες ποτήριον ἀνομίας, εἵλκυσας τὸ καθ' ἑαυτὸν τοὺς ὁμοταγεῖς ἀπογεύσασθαι τοῦ θανάτου. ὤ, καὶ αὖθις λέγω, τί πέπονθας ἐλεεινέ; πῶς ὁ ἑωσφόρος ἐσκοτίσθης; πῶς τὸ χρησιμεῦον σκεῦος συνετρίβης; οὐκ αἰδῇ κἂν τὸ ὄνομά σου, ὅτι, Εὐάρεστος καλούμενος, ∆υσάρεστος ἐχρημάτισας; οὐ πέρυσι ἧκες πρός με, ἐπεὶ καὶ πρὸς τὸν κῦριν τὸν ἀρχιεπίσκοπον, ὅλος ὑγιής, εὔθυμος, πρόθυμος, ὑπὲρ ἑτέρου μᾶλλον ἀδελφοῦ σου παρακλήτωρ καὶ ἀνορθωτής; πῶς ἐξάπινα ἐξέλιπες; πῶς ἀπετυφλώθης; πῶς ἠμνημόνησας καὶ θεοῦ καὶ ἡμῶν τῶν τε προηνυσμένων ἀσκητικῶν σου πόνων καὶ ἱδρώτων; ἐπεὶ ἦς καὶ τῶν χρησίμων, καὶ τῶν ἐν ταῖς ὑπερεχούσαις διακονίαις τεταγμένων. εἶτα τί; μικρὰ προσβολὴ τοῦ ἐχθροῦ, ἐπιθυμία ἔχουσα μὲν τὸ δοκεῖν γλυκύ, συνειλιγμένη δὲ διστόμῳ μαχαίρᾳ, ἧς τῆς πικρίας οὐδὲν χολωδέστερον, δραξαμένη σε κατήγαγεν ὡς ἀπ' οὐρανοῦ τῆς ὑψηλῆς πολιτείας, δείκνυσι δὲ ὡσεὶ τραυματίαν, καθεύδοντα ἐν τάφῳ. τί γὰρ ἄλλο ἐστὶν εἶναι τὸν ἐν τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ ἢ ἐν φθορᾷ; οὐ τί που φῶς νοερόν, οὐδεμία ἐλπίς, οὐδεμία γλυκύτης ψυχῆς, οὐδεμία διανόησις ἱερά, ἀλλὰ νὺξ βαθεῖα, μύσις τοῦ διανοητικοῦ, δαγμὸς καρδιακός, φόβος καὶ τοῦ τυχόντος, ἐν τῷ βορβόρῳ κυλιν δεῖσθαι καθ' ἑκάστην ὡσεί τι ἰλυσπώμενον κνώδαλον. ἔ, ἔ, τί εἰργάσατο ὁ δαίμων; τί σε ἀπετέλεσεν ἡ παγκατάρατος ἐπιθυμία; δι' ἧς ἀπὸ τοῦ αἰῶνος οἱ ἠπατημένοι οὐδὲ τὰ ἐνταῦθα κεκερδήκασιν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰ οὐράνια ἀπώλεσαν, ἓν κληρονομήσαντες μόνον, τὸ πῦρ τὸ αἰώνιον. Ἀλλὰ δεῦρο, υἱέ μου, ἀνακλήθητι, καλῶ σε ἀπὸ βαθέων καρδίας μου, ἀπὸ σπλάγχνων ἐμπυριζόντων με, ἐπειδὴ ἡ σὴ δόξα ἐμή, ὡς καὶ ἔμπαλιν ἡ αἰσχύνη. δεῦρο, ἐξεγέρθητι, ὁ Κύριος κεκέλευκεν· οὐ μὴ μνησθῶ, φησί, τῶν ἀνομιῶν σου καί, μὴ ὁ πίπτων οὐκ ἀνίσταται; καί, εἶδον ὅτι πορεύῃ στυγνὸς καί, ἴαμαι τὸ σύντριμμά σου. ἴδε θεὸς ἀγαθός, ἴδε ἰατρὸς ἐλεήμων. ναί, δέομαί σου, τέκνον (τέκνον γάρ μου εἶ, κἂν ἀποτέθνηκας), μὴ ἀναμείνῃς ἔτι τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ· διαρρήσσων διάρρηξον τάχει τὰ συμπλακέντα σοι ὑπὸ τοῦ διαβόλου σχοινία καί, ὡς ἀπὸ βόθρου ἀναστάς, μεταπήδησον εἰς τὸ θαυμαστόν σου τῆς προτέρας ἀγωγῆς φῶς. κἀγώ σε ὑπτίαις χερσὶν ὑποδέξομαι, οὐκ ὀνειδίζων, ἀλλὰ οἰκτείρων, οὐ βαρύνων τὰ φάρμακα τῆς μετανοίας, ἀλλ' ἠπιῶν αὐτὰ καὶ κουφίζων ὅσον οἷόν τε. καί γε σπεῦσον, σπεῦσον, πρὶν ἢ αἰφνίδιον ἐπελεύσεται ὁ ἀπότομος ἄγγελος, ἐλεεινῶς σε χωρίζων τοῦ σώματος καὶ εἰς κρίσιν αἰώνιον ἀποφέρων. 445 {1Σευηριανῷ υἱῷ πνευματικῷ}1 Ὅσον εὔφρανεν ἡμᾶς ἡ μικρὰ ἐπιστολή, τέκνον, τοσοῦτον ἐλύπησεν ἡ μείζω· ὡς γὰρ μήπω κινήσαντός σου λόγον περὶ τῶν ἐν αὐτῇ ἐμφερομένων προτάσεων μήτε ἀκηκοότος πρὸς ἡμῶν τὸ δέον, ἤχθης νῦν προτεῖναι τὰς φωνάς, δῆθεν μὲν ἄλλῳ προσώπῳ μαχόμενος, μᾶλλον μὲν οὖν τῇ ἀληθείᾳ ἀντικαθιστάμενος, καίτοι μὴ ὀφείλων διδάσκειν, οὐ λέγω τοσοῦτον διὰ τὸ ὑφειμένον σε εἶναι (καί γε φέρε μακροθύμως), ἀλλὰ γὰρ καὶ διὰ τὸ τοὺς ἁλόντας τῇ αἱρετικῇ κοινωνίᾳ, ἐξ ὧν εἷς σύ, μὴ ἔχειν παρρησίαν ἀνοίγειν τὸ στόμα, μένειν δὲ ἐν ἡσυχίᾳ καθηκούσῃ καὶ αἰτεῖσθαι συγγνώμην μέχρι βίου παντός. ἔπειτα οὐδὲ τοσαύτη σοι εὐτεχνίας δογματικῆς ἐπιστήμη, ὡς εἰδέναι ἀκριβῶς φθέγγεσθαι, μήτε