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of a synod, but to bless or even to pray as a common monk, not as one ordained, and this too after the completion of a penance; and not to enter churches held by heretics, nor, if a church is permitted to be held by an Orthodox person after heretical offerings have been made there, for the Orthodox person to serve without the absolution of an Orthodox bishop. Since, therefore, by the good pleasure of God we were released from prison and were joined to the most holy patriarch and the holy bishops, and also to the holy abbots, we submitted our words and were not blamed by anyone in anything, except only by one for giving a blessing; to whom we replied that, "4if it is blameworthy, let a decree be issued from the head and we shall be silent"5. so let those who accuse, accuse not us, but the lord bishops; whom we, humble and subordinate, following and being compulsorily urged by them until today, both have given and do give penances according to the aforementioned sequence whenever it may happen. But let the accusers consider lest, while straining out a gnat, they have unawares swallowed a camel, and while groping for specks, they do not perceive the beam they are carrying around. We then, God-honored brother, have thus acted in the presence of God as witness, with sympathy and brotherly love, not according to an invitation or any other human circumstance; but he who troubles you, says the apostle, shall bear his judgment, whoever he may be. 447 {1To Anthimus, my child}1 The law of God, both His fear and His trembling, as it says: I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; and the purpose of the message has compelled me, brother, to announce to you again by letter the coming sword of God upon you, a fearful sword, a fiery sword, a sword that casts not the body but the soul into the Gehenna of fire for endless ages. And I weep as I write, wretched man that I am, and I groan bitterly, because the word is against my own son and disciple. But what am I to do? If I do not announce it, God has said He will require your blood from my hands, nothing other than that I should share in the same judgment of punishment. O brother, why have you so closed the eye of your heart? Why have you despised God, at whose gaze all things are shaken and cannot bear to stand? You long ago jumped away from the ascetic wrestling ground, you went to places which the Lord does not watch over, you broke the seal of chastity, you corrupted your soul and your body, you became a slave of sin; then, at long last, you came back to us at the beginning of the persecution, confessing, receiving penance, promising to return after the persecution ceased. For this reason you were also instructed by the oikonomos and taken in by brother Dionysius and you chose the good exile, living in good places instead of evil ones, over which are the eyes of the Lord and the blessing for persecution encircling you over your head. And well done for your recall, your purification, your angelic assistance. What then has happened again? What is it that has driven you from God and delivered you to the devil? Alas for my wretchedness; you have returned again to the mire of sin, corrupting and being corrupted by a woman, or rather, by women. Lord, have mercy, spare him, O God; your guardian angel has left you, Satan has taken you. Are you alive, then, wretched one? And how is it possible to live when being devoured by the murderer of men? Do you see the light, then? And how is it possible to see when one is darkened by sin? Do you pray to God, then? And how is it possible to approach the Lord when one has enslaved himself to the devil? Where is your good beginning, your fervor, your compunction, your obedience, your tear, your God-winged prayer, your heavenly way of life? They are all gone, they have perished. Oh, my bitter groans over your irrationality; would that you were an irrational animal, which does not come to judgment; but because you are God-fashioned, destined to rise and be judged, this is pitiable. Come now, my lost son, come, return to the Lord, because being exceedingly philanthropic He again receives, again makes whole, again adorns as a bride, again sacrifices the calf the

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συνόδου, εὐλογεῖν δὲ ἢ καὶ εὔχεσθαι ὡς κοινὸν μοναχόν, οὐχ ὡς ἱερωμένον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῦτο μετὰ συμπλήρωσιν ἐπιτιμητικήν· εἴς τε τὰς ὑπὸ αἱρετικῶν κατεχομένας ἐκκλησίας μὴ εἰσιέναι μήτε, ἐὰν ἐαθῇ ναὸς κρατεῖσθαι ὑπὸ ὀρθοδόξου μετὰ τὸ ἐκεῖσε αἱρετικὰς ἀναφορὰς γενέσθαι, λειτουργεῖν τὸν ὀρθόδοξον ἄνευ λύσεως ὀρθοδοξοῦντος ἐπισκόπου. Ἐπεὶ οὖν εὐδοκίᾳ θεοῦ ἀφείθημεν τῶν φυλακῶν καὶ συνήφθημεν τῷ τε ἁγιωτάτῳ πατριάρχῃ καὶ τοῖς ἁγίοις ἐπισκόποις, πρὸς δὲ καὶ ὁσίοις ἡγουμένοις, ἀνεθέμεθα τοὺς λόγους καὶ οὐκ ἐμέμφθημεν παρά τινος ἐν οὐδενὶ ἢ μόνον πρὸς ἑνὸς ἐπὶ τῷ εὐλογεῖν· ὧτινι ἀπεκρινάμεθα ὅτι, "4εἰ μεμπτέον, ἐξενεχθῇ ὅρος παρὰ τῆς κεφαλῆς καὶ ἡμεῖς σιωπῶμεν"5. ὥστε οἱ ἐγκαλοῦντες μὴ ἡμῖν, ἀλλὰ τοῖς κυρίοις ἐπισκόποις ἐγκαλείτωσαν· οἷς ἡμεῖς οἱ εὐτελεῖς καὶ ὑφειμένοι ἑπόμενοι καὶ παρ' αὐτῶν ἀναγκαστικῶς προτρεπόμενοι μέχρι σήμερον καὶ ἐδώκαμεν ἐπιτίμια κατὰ τὸν εἰρημένον εἱρμὸν καὶ ἐπιδιδοῦμεν ὁπότε τύχοι. σκοπείτωσαν δὲ οἱ φιλεγκλήμονες μήπως τὸν κώνωπα διυλίζοντες λελήθασι τὴν κάμηλον καταπίνοντες καὶ τὰ κάρφη ψηλαφῶντες οὐκ αἰσθάνονται τὴν δοκὸν περιφέροντες. Ἡμεῖς οὖν οὕτω, θεοτίμητε ἀδελφέ, ὡς ὑπὸ θεῷ μάρτυρι διεγενόμεθα συμπαθείᾳ καὶ φιλαδελφίᾳ, οὐ κατὰ πρόσκλησιν ἤ τινα ἄλλην περιπέτειαν ἀνθρωπίνην· ὁ δὲ ταράσσων ὑμᾶς, φησὶν ὁ ἀπόστολος, βαστάσει τὸ κρίμα, ὅστις ἂν ᾖ. 447 {1Ἀνθίμῳ τέκνῳ}1 Ὁ νόμος τοῦ θεοῦ, ὁ φόβος τε καὶ ὁ τρόμος αὐτοῦ ὥς φησι· σκοπόν σε τέθεικα τῷ οἴκῳ Ἰσραήλ· ὁ δὲ σκοπὸς τῆς ἀγγελίας ἠνάγκασέ με, ἀδελφέ, διὰ γράμματος πάλιν ἀναγγεῖλαί σοι τὴν ἐρχομένην ῥομφαίαν τοῦ θεοῦ ἐπὶ σέ, ῥομφαίαν φοβεράν, ῥομφαίαν πύρινον, ῥομφαίαν οὐ σῶμα, ἀλλὰ ψυχὴν ἐμβάλλουσαν εἰς γέενναν πυρὸς εἰς ἀπεράντους αἰῶνας. καὶ δακρύω γράφων, ὁ τάλας, καὶ στένω πικρόν, ὅτι ἐπὶ τὸν ἐμὸν υἱὸν καὶ μαθητὴν ὁ λόγος. ἀλλὰ τί πάθω; ἐὰν μὴ ἀναγγείλω, τὸ αἷμά σου ἐκ τῶν χειρῶν μου ἐκζητεῖν ἔφη θεός, οὐδὲν ἕτερον ἢ τὸ αὐτό με τῆς τιμωρίας συναπολαῦσαι κρίμα. ὦ ἀδελφέ, τί ἔμυσας τὸ ὄμμα σου οὕτω τῆς καρδίας; τί κατεφρόνησας θεοῦ, οὗ τῷ βλέμματι τὰ σύμπαντα σείεται καὶ οὐ φέρει στήκειν; ἀπεπήδησας πάλαι τῆς ἀσκητικῆς παλαίστρας, ἐπορεύθης εἰς τόπους, οὓς οὐκ ἐπισκοπεῖ Κύριος, ἔλυσας τὴν σφραγῖδα τῆς ἁγνείας, ἔφθειρας τὴν ψυχὴν καὶ τὸ σῶμα, ἐγένου δοῦλος τῆς ἁμαρτίας· εἶτα ὀψέ ποτε ἐπανῆκες πρὸς ἡμᾶς ἐν τῇ ἀπαρχῇ τοῦ διωγμοῦ, ἐξομολογούμενος, ἐπιτιμώμενος, ἐπαγγελλόμενος τὴν ἀναδρομὴν μετὰ τὴν παῦλαν τοῦ διωγμοῦ. ἐπὶ τούτῳ καὶ πρὸς τοῦ οἰκονόμου ἐστοιχειώθης καὶ παρὰ τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ ∆ιονυσίου προσελήφθης καὶ τὴν καλὴν φυγαδείαν εἵλου, ἐκ τόπων πονηρῶν εἰς τόπους ἀγαθοὺς διαιτώμενος, ἐφ' οὓς ὀφθαλμοὶ Κυρίου καὶ ὁ μακαρισμὸς τοῦ διωγμοῦ ὑπὲρ κεφαλῆς σου περικυκλούμενος. καὶ εὗ γε τῆς ἀνακλήσεως, τῆς καθάρσεως, τῆς ἀγγελικῆς ἐπικουρήσεως. τί οὖν πάλιν τὸ γεγονός; τί τὸ ἐκστῆσάν σε θεοῦ καὶ παραδῶσαν τῷ διαβόλῳ; φεῦ τῆς ἐμῆς ἀθλιότητος· ἐπέστρεψας πάλιν εἰς τὸν βόρβορον τῆς ἁμαρτίας, φθείρων καὶ φθειρόμενος ὑπὸ γυναικός, μᾶλλον δὲ γυναικῶν. Κύριε, ἐλέησον, φεῖσαι, ὁ θεός· ἀφῆκέν σε ὁ φύλαξ σου ἄγγελος, προσελάβετο ὁ σατανᾶς. ζῇς ἆρα, ἄθλιε; καὶ πῶς ἔστι ζῆν τὸν ὑπὸ ἀνθρωποκτόνου κατεσθιόμενον; ὁρᾷς ἆρα τὸ φῶς; καὶ πῶς ἔστι βλέπειν τὸν ἐσκοτισμένον τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ; προσεύχῃ ἆρα τῷ θεῷ; καὶ πῶς ἔστι προσιέναι Κυρίῳ τὸν ἑαυτὸν δουλώσαντα τῷ διαβόλῳ; ποῦ ἐστιν ἡ καλή σου ἀρχή, ἡ θέρμη, ἡ κατάνυξις, ἡ ὑποταγή, τὸ δάκρυον, ἡ θεοπτέρωτος προσευχή, ἡ οὐράνιος πολιτεία; ᾤχοντο πάντα, ἀπολώλασιν. ὢ στεναγμῶν μοι πικρῶν ἐπὶ τῇ σῇ ἀλογίᾳ· εἴθε ζῷον ἄλογον ἦς, ὅπερ εἰς κρίσιν οὐκ ἔρχεται· ἀλλ' ὅτι θεόπλαστον, ἀνιστάμενον καὶ κρίνεσθαι μέλλον, τοῦτο ἐλεεινόν. ∆εῦρο δή, ὁ ἀπολωλώς μου υἱός, δεῦρο, ἐπίστρεψον πρὸς Κύριον, ὅτι σφόδρα φιλάνθρωπος ὢν πάλιν δέχεται, πάλιν ὑγιάζει, πάλιν νυμφοστολεῖ, πάλιν θύει τὸν μόσχον τὸν