288

in a few syllables, in exchange for the long and most blessed letter. And what is from us in defense of the accusation concerning the brother Erastos, is as follows. We, most holy one, even if we are otherwise insignificant, are surely not so ignorant or despisers of the divine ordinances, as to have commanded our disciple, who is outside the priesthood, to dare to undertake the things of the priesthood and thence to baptize children; for this is the accusation. But if a matter of necessity demanded it in these days, in which there is a people-deceiving heresy, and especially in the preceding plunderings, during which it was not even possible for one in hiding to emerge from his secret chamber, I am not able, according to the small understanding in me, to condemn either this monk or another, since out of necessity there is also a change of the law. And indeed we see such things happening in ancient times, and one who in the desert, since death was at hand, baptized and was baptized with a pouring of sand, and another in another way. And the matters concerning Saint Athanasius are not outside the knowledge of your perfection, how the childhood act, when seen by the most blessed Alexander, was approved as done by God, and he who performed it was considered as a priest and he who received it as reborn, although the occasion was not out of necessity. And the sixth council also allows in the divine canons, if a priest is not present, for a layman out of necessity to give himself a share of the holy things; which is not lawful without a circumstantial reason. So if it happened thus, we, forgive me, all-honorable one, do not dare to say or rebuke anything contrary to what has been divinely declared by the fathers. And he who compelled him recommends the brother for having acted thus and with great struggle: first, he himself who compelled him (and the man is one of the very pious and prudent and indeed distinguished, Thomas the consul and chartoularios), then Jacob the most devout monk and having no part in the heresy, then also Euthymius, another venerable and persecuted monk. On the testimony of two and three witnesses, it says, every word will be established. You say, my lord, that it is not so, and you are clearly more eminent than all. What then shall I do, being hemmed in in the midst of so many witnesses? If it is as you yourself say, that in the presence of priests, through ambition, seeking the priesthood for himself, he did this, may he by us never advance to the dignity of the priesthood, along with other penances; for it is just. But if, as the witnesses and he himself recounts, being compelled and with two things set before him, either for the infant to die uninitiated, which happened when he was not persuaded before in the case of two children, or to hand over to the heretics those who were guarding their piety, I the humble one dare to enjoin nothing, until our most blessed hierarch, having reviewed the case, will bring forth a judgment. And do not, dearest of fathers, groan over my humility, but rather pray that we may stand in our own measures and correct our erring life. And concerning the other faults, which your God-revering self has indicated, he has also confessed to us and we did not at all consider that he acted unlawfully, but rather as worthy of praise, if, hearing of adulterers, he did not shrink from reporting to those able to prevent the licentiousness, or from seeing the countess choosing to use a noose and from doing the appropriate things. For he knows that he is liable for these things and nothing else, and the brother Erastos has already been crowned with praises of much acclaim from the men declared above, as I became an ear-witness. Not then, holy one, because he created a stumbling block among those there, but because of the incorrigible scandals did I prevent the brother from returning, so that from this the one accused of the charges might be acquitted, and the lovers of accusation and perpetrators of passion might be at peace, and our most blessed father, having been obeyed, may grant us your God-inclined prayers, since also forgiveness for the brother. 463 {1To John the Spatharios}1 The good news of the salvation of my blessed lord and spiritual brother, announced even before the letter, sweetened our humble hearts; and when it was also read, completely

288

βραχέσι συλλαβαῖς ἀμειψαμένων τὴν πολύστιχον καὶ πολύολβον ἐπιστολήν. ἃ δὲ πρὸς ἡμῶν εἰς ἀπολογίαν τῆς περὶ τὸν ἀδελφὸν Ἔραστον ἐγκλήσεως, ἐν τούτοις. ἡμεῖς, ἱερώτατε, εἰ καὶ ἄλλως εὐτελεῖς ἐσμεν, οὐ μὴν οὕτως ἀμαθεῖς ἢ τῶν θείων διαταγῶν καταφρονηταί, ὡς ἐντείλασθαι μαθητῇ ἡμῶν, ἔξω ἱερωσύνης τελοῦντι, κατατολμᾶν ἐγχειρεῖν τὰ τῆς ἱερωσύνης κἀντεῦθεν βαπτίζειν παιδία· τοῦτο γὰρ τὸ ἔγκλημα. εἰ δὲ λόγος ἀνάγκης ἀπῄτησεν ἐν ταύταις ταῖς ἡμέραις, ἐν αἷς αἵρεσις λαοπλάνος, καὶ μάλιστα ἐν ταῖς προλαβούσαις λεηλασίαις, ἐφ' αἷς οὐδὲ προκύπτειν ἦν τὸν φυλαττόμενον τοῦ κρυπτικοῦ δωματίου, οὐκ ἔχω ἀποκρίνειν κατὰ τὴν ἐνοῦσάν μοι βραχεῖαν σύνεσιν οὔτε τόνδε τὸν μονάζοντα οὔτ' αὖ ἕτερον, ἐπειδὴ ἐξ ἀνάγκης καὶ νόμου μετάθεσις. καί γε ὁρῶμεν ἐν τοῖς πάλαι χρόνοις τοιαῦτα γιγνόμενα, καὶ ὃν μὲν ἀμμώδει ἐπιχύσει κατ' ἐρημίαν, ἐπειδὴ θάνατος παρῆν, βαπτίσαντα καὶ βαπτισθέντα καὶ ἄλλον ἄλλως. οὐκ ἔξω δὲ γνώσεως τῇ τελειότητί σου τὰ κατὰ τὸν Ἅγιον Ἀθανάσιον, ὅπως ἡ παιδικὴ πρᾶξις ὁραθεῖσα πρὸς τοῦ μακαριωτάτου Ἀλεξάνδρου ἐνεκρίθη ὡς θεοτελὴς καὶ ἐλογίσθη ὁ τελέσας ὡς ἱερεὺς καὶ ὁ τελεσθεὶς ὡς ἀναγεννηθείς, καίπερ οὐκ ἐξ ἀνάγκης ὁ καιρός. παραχωρεῖ δὲ καὶ ἡ ἕκτη σύνοδος ἐν τοῖς θείοις κανόσιν, εἰ μὴ πάρεστιν ἱερωμένος, ἐξ ἀνάγκης λαϊκὸν ἑαυτῷ μεταδοῦναι τῶν ἁγιασμάτων· ὅπερ οὐ θεμιτὸν ἄνευ περιστατικοῦ λόγου. Οὕτως οὖν εἰ γέγονεν, ἡμεῖς, σύγγνωθι πάντιμε, οὐ τολμῶμεν παρὰ τὰ θειωδῶς τοῖς πατράσιν ἐκπεφασμένα εἰπεῖν τι ἢ ἐπιτιμῆσαι. συνίστησι δὲ τὸν ἀδελφὸν οὕτω πράξαντα καὶ μετὰ πολλῆς ἀγωνίας πρῶτον μὲν αὐτὸς ὁ ἀναγκάσας (καὶ ἔστιν ὁ ἀνὴρ τῶν λίαν καὶ εὐσεβῶν καὶ ἐμφρόνων καί γε περιφανῶν, Θωμᾶς ὁ ὕπατός τε καὶ χαρτουλάριος), ἔπειτα Ἰάκωβος ὁ εὐλαβέστατος μονάζων καὶ τῆς αἱρέσεως ἀμέτοχος, εἶτα καὶ Εὐθύμιος, ἕτερος αἰδέσιμος μονάζων καὶ δεδιωγμένος. ἐπὶ δύο καὶ τριῶν μαρτύρων σταθήσεται, φησίν, πᾶν ῥῆμα. λέγεις, ὁ δεσπότης μου, οὐχ οὕτως ἔχειν, καὶ προφερέστερος δῆλον ὅτι τῶν πάντων. τί γοῦν ποιήσω ἐγώ, ἀπειλημμένος ἐν μέσῳ τοσούτων μαρτύρων; ἐὰν ὡς αὐτὸς φῆς ἔχῃ, ὅτι παρόντων ἱερέων φιλαχρίᾳ προμνηστευόμενος ἑαυτῷ ἱερωσύνην τοῦθ' εἰργάσατο, εἴη πρὸς ἡμῶν μήποτε εἰς τὸ τῆς ἱερωσύνης ἀξίωμα προβαίνων μετὰ καὶ ἑτέρων ἐπιτιμίων· δίκαιον γάρ. εἰ δέ, ὡς οἱ μάρτυρες καὶ αὐτὸς διηγεῖται, ἀναγκασθεὶς καὶ δυοῖν προκειμένων, ἢ ἀμύητον τὸ βρέφος ἀποτεθνάναι, ὅπερ ἔπαθεν οὐ πεισθεὶς πρότερον ἐν δυσὶ παισίν, ἢ προέσθαι τοῖς αἱρετικοῖς τοὺς φυλαττομένους τὴν εὐσέβειαν, οὐδὲν ἐγὼ ὁ ταπεινὸς τολμῶ ἐπισκῆψαι, ἕως ἂν ὁ μακαριώτατος ἡμῶν ἱεροτελεστὴς ἐπιθεωρήσας ἐξοίσει κρίσιν. καὶ μή μου τῆς ταπεινώσεως, πατέρων φίλτατε, καταστενάξειας, ἀλλ' ἢ μᾶλλον προσεύχου ἐν τοῖς ἰδίοις μέτροις ἑστάναι καὶ τὸν ἐσφαλμένον βίον διορθώσασθαι ἡμᾶς. περὶ δὲ ἑτέρων σφαλμάτων, ὧν ἔδωκεν ἔμφασιν ἡ θεοσέβειά σου, καὶ ἐξηγόρευκεν ἡμῖν καὶ οὐδόλως ἐπενοήσαμεν ἐκθέσμως αὐτὸν πρᾶξαι, ἀλλ' ἢ καὶ ἐπαίνου ἄξιον, εἰ, μοιχεύοντας ἀκούων, οὐχ ὑπεστείλατο μὴ οὐχὶ ἀναγγεῖλαι τοῖς δυναμένοις ἀπεῖρξαι τὸ ἀσέλγημα, ἢ τὸ τῇ κομητίσσῃ ἀγχόνῃ αἱρουμένῃ χρήσασθαι ἰδεῖν καὶ τὰ προσήκοντα ἐπιπράξασθαι. τάδε γὰρ οἶδεν ὠφληκέναι καὶ οὐκ ἄλλο καὶ πολλῆς εὐφημίας πρὸς τῶν ἀνωτέρω δηλωθέντων ἀνδρῶν, ὡς αὐτήκοος ἐγενόμην, προανεδήσατο ὁ ἀδελφὸς Ἔραστος ἐπαίνους. Οὐ τοίνυν, ἅγιε, διὰ τὸ σκινδαλμὸν αὐτὸν ἐμποιῆσαι ἐν τοῖς αὐτόθι, ἀλλὰ διὰ τὰ ἀδιόρθωτα σκάνδαλα εἶρξα τὸν ἀδελφὸν τῆς παλινοδίας, ὡς ἂν ἐντεῦθεν ἀθωωθῇ μὲν ὁ κατηγορούμενος τῶν ἐγκλημάτων, εἰρηνεύσειεν δὲ οἱ φιλεγκλήμονες καὶ παθοπράται, ὅ τε μακαριώτατος ἡμῶν πατὴρ ὑπακουσθεὶς χαρίσῃ ἡμῖν τὰς θεοκλινεῖς σου προσευχάς, ἐπεὶ καὶ τῷ ἀδελφῷ συγχώρησιν. 463 {1Ἰωάννῃ σπαθαρίῳ}1 Τὸ εὐαγγέλιον τῆς σωτηρίας τοῦ εὐλογημένου μου δεσπότου καὶ πνευματικοῦ ἀδελφοῦ, καὶ πρὸ τοῦ γράμματος ἀπαγγελθέν, ἥδυνεν ἡμῶν τὰς ταπεινὰς καρδίας· ἐπεὶ δὲ καὶ ἀνεγνώσθη, τελείως