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of splendid or delightful and pleasant things from here, for one departing to the dwellings there, or only the works, whether base or good, done by you in this life. And knowing that which is perishable and in every way mortal, (422) leaving the things below, come up hither, I call you to me, the God and Savior of all, so that you may truly live for ages of ages and may delight in my good things, which I have prepared for those who love me, both always and now, amen for the ages.

LETTERS.

LETTER I. Concerning confession. (423) 1. You commanded our lowliness, father and brother, to tell you in the form of a question, “if

it is permissible for certain monastics who do not have the priesthood to declare their sins,” adding also this: “since we hear that the authority to bind and to loose is given to priests alone.” And these are the words and soul-profiting questions of your God-loving soul and of your fervent longing and fear. And we, for our part, have accepted your intention for good things, that you seek to learn about divine and sacred matters, but we are not able to discern and write such things, and for this reason we wished to be silent; for to compare spiritual things with spiritual is for men who are dispassionate and holy, from whom we are far removed in life and word and virtues.

2. But since, as it is written, “the Lord is near to all who call upon him in truth,” having called upon Him in truth, I, the unworthy one, will tell you these things not in my own words, but from the divine and God-inspired Scripture itself, (424) not teaching but bringing to you from it the testimonies concerning the things about which I was asked, so that by the grace of God I might preserve myself and my listeners from both precipices, both that of the one who hid the talent and that of the one who unworthily and vaingloriously, or rather, in a darkened manner, sets forth divine dogmas.

From where then shall we make the beginning of our discourse, if not from the beginningless beginning of all things? For this is better, so that the things said may also be certain. For we were not created by angels, nor did we learn from men, but we were mystically taught from the wisdom from above, or rather, by the grace of the Spirit, and are always taught hour by hour, which having now also invoked, let us speak thus, having first set forth the manner and the power of confession.

3. Confession, then, is nothing other than an admission of debts, or an acknowledgment of one’s own errors and foolishness, that is, a condemnation of one’s poverty; as the Lord said parabolically in the Gospels: “A certain creditor,” he says, “had two debtors; and the one owed him fifty denarii, and the other five hundred; since they did not have the means to repay, he forgave them both.” Therefore, every believer is a debtor to his own Master and God, and what he has received from him, this indeed he will be required to repay

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λαμπρῶν ἤ τερπνῶν καί ἡδέων ἐντεῦθεν' πρός τάς ἐκεῖθεν ἀπαίροντι σκηνώσεις ἤ τά τῶν ἔργων μόνων τῶν ἐν τῷ βίῳ φαύλων παρά σοῦ ἤ καλῶν ἐργασθέντων. Καί γνούς τό φθαρτόν καί ἐπίκηρον πάντως, (422) λιπών τά κάτω, ἄνω δεῦρο, καλῶ σε πρός με τόν Θεόν τοῦ παντός καί Σωτῆρα, ἵν᾿ εἰς αἰῶνας αἰώνων ζήσῃς ὄντως καί τῶν ἀγαθῶν τῶν ἐμῶν ἐντρυφήσῃς, ὧν ἡτοίμασα τοῖς ἐμέ ἀγαπῶσιν ἀεί τε καί νῦν, ἀμήν εἰς τούς αἰῶνας.

ΕΠΙΣΤΟΛΕΣ.

ΕΠΙΣΤΟΛΗ Α'.Περί ἐξομολογήσεως. (423) 1. Ἐπέταξας τῇ εὐτελείᾳ ἡμῶν, πάτερ καί ἀδελφέ, ἐρωτηματικῶς εἰπεῖν σοι, «εἰ

ἄρα ἐνδέχεται εἰς μονάζοντας τινας ἐξαγγέλειν τάς ἁμαρτίας αὐτῶν ἱερωσύνην μή ἔχοντας», προσθείς καί τοῦτο˙ «ἐπειδή ἀκούομεν τήν τοῦ δεσμεῖν καί λύειν ἐξουσίαν τοῖς ἱερεῦσι δίδοσθαι μόνοις». Καί ταῦτα μέν τῆς σῆς φιλοθέου ψυχῆς καί τοῦ διαπύρου πόθου καί φόβου τά ῥήματα καί ψυχωφελῆ ἐρωτήματα. Ἡμεῖς δέ ἀπεδεξάμεθά σου μέν τήν πρός τά καλά πρόθεσιν ὅτι ζητεῖς μανθάνειν περί θείων καί ἱερῶν πραγμάτων, ἡμεῖς δέ οὐχ οἷοί τε τοιαῦτα διακρίνειν καί γράφειν ἐσμέν καί διά τοῦτο σιωπᾶν ἐβουλόμεθα˙ τό γάρ πενυματικοῖς πνευματικά συγκρίνειν τῶν ἀπαθῶν καί ἁγίων ἐστίν ἀνδρῶν, ὧν ἡμεῖς κατά πολύ βίῳ καί λόγῳ καί ἀρεταῖς διεστήκαμεν.

2. Ἀλλ᾿ ἐπεί «ἐγγύς» ὡς γέγραπται «Κύριος πᾶσι τοῖς ἐπικαλουμένοις αὐτόν ἐν ἀληθείᾳ» τοῦτον κἀγώ ὁ ἀνάξιος ἐπικαλεσάμενος ἐν ἀληθείᾳ ταῦτά σοι οὐ δι᾿ ἐμῶν λόγων, ἀλλ᾿ ἐξ αὐτῆς τῆς θείας καί θεοπνεύστου γραφῆς (424) λέξω, οὐ διδάσκων ἀλλά τάς μαρτυρίας περί τῶν ἐπερωτηθέντων μοι φέρων ἐξ αὐτῆς σοι, ἵνα ἐξ ἀμφοτέρων τῶν κρημνῶν τῇ τοῦ Θεοῦ χάριτι ἐμαυτόν καί τούς ἀκούοντάς μου διατηρήσω, τοῦ τε τοῦ τό τάλαντον κατακρύψαντος καί τοῦ ἀναξίως τά θεῖα καί κενοδόξως μᾶλλον δέ ἐσκοτισμένως ἐκτιθέντος δόγματα.

Πόθεν οὖν τήν ἀρχήν τοῦ λόγου ποιήσωμεν ἤ ἐκ τῆς ἀνάρχου τῶν πάντων ἀρχῆς; Τοῦτο γάρ ἄμεινον, ἵν᾿ ᾗ καί τά λεγόμενα βέβαια. Οὐ γάρ παρ᾿ἀγγέλων ἐκτίσθημεν, οὐδέ παρά ἀνθρώπων ἐμάθομεν, ἀλλ᾿ ἐκ τῆς ἄνωθεν σοφίας εἴτ᾿ οὖν τῆς διά τοῦ πνεύματος χάριτος μυστικῶς ἐδιδάχθημεν καί καθ᾿ ὥραν ἀεί διδασκόμεθα, ἥντινα καί νῦν ἐπικαλεσάμενοι λέξωμεν ὧδε, τόν τρόπον πρότερον τῆς ἐξαγορεύσεως καί τήν δύναμιν ἐξειπόντες.

3. Ἐξαγόρευσις τοίνυν οὐδέν ἄλλο ἐστίν ἤ χρεῶν ὁμολογία εἴτ᾿ οὖν ἐπίγνωσις σφαλμάτων καί ἀφροσύνης ἰδίας ἤγουν πτωχείας κατάγνωσις˙ καθώς ἐν εὐαγγελίοις παραβολικῶς εἶπεν ὁ Κύριος˙ «δανειστῇ τινι», φησίν, «ἦσαν δύο χρεωφειλέται καί ὁ μέν εἷς ὤφειλεν αὐτῷ δηνάρια πεντήκοντα, ὁ δέ ἕτερος πεντακόσια˙ μή ἐχόντων οὖν ἀποδοῦναι ἀμφοτέροις ἐχαρίσατο». Τοιγαροῦν ἅπας πιστός χρεώστης ὑπάρχει τοῦ ἰδίου ∆εσπότου καί Θεοῦ καί ὅ παρ᾿ αὐτοῦ ἔλαβε, τοῦτο δή καί ἀπαιτηθῆναι μέλλει