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with heights of praises, from which we are so far short, as to almost not even dare to think that these things have been said by you about us, but that the encomia are for some other of the manly ones, that is, for our most divine chief-pastor, upon whom every word of praise from everyone would rightly be kindled. But how else could your God-imitating and compassionate nature have been shown, if not being triumphed in by paternal dispositions, as a leap of the sun, being sown with rays? and how else could your like-mindedness and unanimity with us have been made known, if not being distinguished from those who deserted to the opponents, of whatever sort they were? concerning which things, even if it is rather bold of us, nevertheless it is just to say (what is this?) that, when the heresy was raging persecutingly, it was necessary for the eminent ones of the high thrones, as allies of the Spirit and full of the apostolic precepts, to be moved with brotherly love, to extend a hand in a fittingly compassionate manner to those toiling for the truth; for if, he says, one member suffers, all the members suffer with it, or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it, the head of the whole ecclesiastical body being, of course, Christ our true Lord and God. Which the Apostolic one of the West having done, how much he helped, what need is there even to say? strengthening indeed as much as possible the morale of those who were resisting (since even a small impulse is accustomed to produce strength in one who is wearying), and striking with Spirit-moved refutation the insolence of the impious; than which what could be more salutary? But for those for whom it was possible to do this, and who did not do so at all, but the opposite, I, wretched one, cannot say out of respect for the messenger of your blessedness how great the accusation would be. But those things have come to an end, as has been heard by all, the good God having removed the accursed dragon, and indeed by a dreadful death and one just for his apostasy, yet the present things are not as one had supposed. How? Because the winter has passed, but the longed-for spring is not at all here, or only so much as to let some clear sky shine through, and this, on account of the cloud from the east. For it is enough, I think, to leave the discourse at the level of an image, with neither your great-mindedness needing to learn nor again the time permitting to speak more clearly. For this reason also your sacred letters are undelivered; for how could they have been delivered, with us humble ones having been cast aside somewhere here, farther from the city, just as other of the persecuted ones are elsewhere? And so the collections, as we were longing for, have not yet happened, except for the one that took place as has been shown in the intercalated tablet, with those who delivered it confessing to have received rather than to have given a favor, because they were deemed worthy to have some communion in the most holy places, in which the great mystery of piety was accomplished, God having appeared in our form (O the wholly ineffable wonder); whom, being depicted also in an image according to the tradition of the fathers, that is, as proclaimed by God, we, or rather the whole world under heaven, confess and venerate from the very starting-line of the proclamation (for Christ could not otherwise be confessed, as you most blessed ones teach, but the ill-named iconoclasts have denied him in a Jewish manner, as being energized by an evil spirit) and whom may you make propitious by your God-inclined prayers, O divine and sacred head, to turn aside the people-deceiving heresy, to light up the sun of orthodoxy, then also to preserve us, the least who are numbered among your children, following our most blessed father and high priest. So be it. Our fathers and renowned brothers who minister to you, both I and my brother, the most God-loving archbishop of Thessalonica, greet most warmly; for in your holy presence, or rather at your feet, it is more fitting to say, may both we and as many as are with us be blessed. 470 {1To Theodore the host}1 Behold, master, the letter for you, since you demand it, and release us from the accusation. "But why," you might say, "not sooner?" Because we were reluctant to offer our discourse to your honor in an admonishing and didactic way. Since you desire it, receive it, most beloved. Therefore, the true is nothing else

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ἐπαίνων ὑψώμασιν, ὧν ἡμεῖς τοσοῦτον ἀποδέομεν, ὡς μικροῦ δεῖν μηδὲ τολμᾶν οἴεσθαι περὶ ἡμῶν ὑφ' ὑμῶν ταῦτα λελέχθαι, ἄλλου δέ τινος τῶν ἀνδρικῶν εἶναι τὰ ἐγκώμια, ἤγουν τοῦ θεσπεσιωτάτου ἡμῶν ἀρχιποίμενος, ἐφ' ᾧ πᾶς καὶ παντὸς ὁ τῆς εὐφημίας εἰκότως ἀνάπτοιτο λόγος. Ἀλλὰ πῶς ἂν ἄλλως τὸ θεομίμητον ὑμῶν καὶ εὐσυμπάθητον ὑπεδείχθη, μὴ οὐχὶ ταῖς πατρικαῖς διαθέσεσι θριαμβευόμενον ὡς καὶ ἡλίου ἔξαλμα, ἀκτῖσι κατασπειρόμενον; πῶς δ' ἂν ἑτέρως τὸ σύμψυχον ἡμῖν καὶ ὁμόγνωμον ἐγνωρίσθη, μὴ οὐχὶ πρὸς τοὺς τοῖς ἐναντίοις, ὁποῖοί ποτε ἦσαν, αὐτομολήσαντας διακρινόμενον; ἐφ' οἷς, εἰ καὶ τολμηρότερον πρὸς ἡμῶν, ὅμως ἔνδικόν ἐστι φάναι (τί τοῦτο;) ὅτι, τῆς αἱρέσεως διωκτικῶς ἀναπαφλασάσης, ἐχρῆν τοὺς τῶν ὑψηλῶν θρόνων ἐξόχους, ὡς τοῦ πνεύματος συμμάχους καὶ τῶν ἀποστολικῶν ὑποθηκῶν ἐμπλέους, συγκινηθῆναι φιλαδέλφως, χεῖρα ὀρέξαι τοῖς ὑπὲρ ἀληθείας κάμνουσι συμπαθοπρεπῶς· εἴτε γάρ, φησί, πάσχει ἓν μέλος, συμπάσχει πάντα τὰ μέλη, εἴτε δοξάζεται ἓν μέλος, συγχαίρει πάντα τὰ μέλη, κεφαλῆς δηλαδὴ οὔσης τοῦ ἐκκλησιαστικοῦ ὅλου σώματος Χριστοῦ τοῦ ἀληθινοῦ Κυρίου καὶ θεοῦ ἡμῶν. ὅπερ ὁ τῆς ∆ύσεως ἀποστολικὸς πεπραχὼς ὅσον ὤνησεν, τί δεῖ καὶ λέγειν; ἐπιρρώσας μὲν τὰ τῶν ἐνισταμένων ὅτι μάλιστα φρονήματα (εἴπερ καὶ σμικρὰ ῥοπὴ σθένος ἐμποιεῖν εἴωθεν τῷ κάμνοντι), ἐπιρραπίσας δὲ τῷ πνευματοκινήτῳ ἐλεγμῷ τῶν ἀσεβούντων τὰ φρυάγματα· οὗ τί ἂν γένοιτο σωτηριωδέστερον; οἷς δὲ τοῦτο ποιεῖν ἐξόν, οὔ τί που ποιήσασιν, τοὐναντίον δέ, οὐκ ἔχω λέγειν ὁ τάλας αἰδοῖ τοῦ τῆς μακαριότητος ὑμῶν ἀγγέλου ὅσον εἴη ἂν τὸ κατηγόρημα. Ἀλλ' ἐκεῖνα μὲν πέρας εἴληφεν, οἷον καὶ ἐξήκουσται ἅπασι, τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ θεοῦ ἐκποδὼν ποιήσαντος τὸν ἀλιτήριον δράκοντα καί γε θανάτῳ ἐξαισίῳ καὶ τῆς ἀποστασίας ἐνδίκῳ, οὐ μὴν τὰ παρόντα καθὼς ὑπετόπασεν· πῶς; ὅτι ὁ μὲν χειμὼν παρῆλθεν, οὔ τί που δὲ τὸ ποθούμενον ἔαρ ἢ ὅσον αἰθρίαν τινὰ ὑπαυγάσαι, καὶ τήνδε διὰ τὸ ἀπ' ἠοῦς νέφος. ἀρκεῖ γάρ, ἡγοῦμαι, ἐπὶ τῆς εἰκόνος ἐᾶσαι τὸν λόγον, μήτε τῆς ὑμῶν μεγαλονοίας ἐνδεομένης μαθήσεως μήτ' αὖ τοῦ καιροῦ ἐπιτρέποντος φαίειν ἐκδηλότερα. οὗ χάριν καὶ αἱ ἱεραὶ ὑμῶν κεραῖαι ἀνεπίδοτοι· πῶς γὰρ ἂν καὶ ἐπεδόθησαν, ἡμῶν τῶν εὐτελῶν ὧδέ που πορρωτέρω τοῦ ἄστεος παραρρεριμμένων, ὥσπερ καὶ ἄλλων ἀλλαχῇ τῶν δεδιωγμένων; καὶ γοῦν καὶ λογίαι, ὥσπερ ἐποθοῦμεν, οὔπω ἐγένοντο, πλὴν ἡ γεναμένη ὡς ἐν τῷ ἐμβολιμαίῳ πιττακίῳ δεδήλωται, τῶν ἐπιδωσάντων εἰληφέναι μᾶλλον ἢ προέσθαι χάριν ὁμολογούντων, ὅτι ἠξίωνται κοινωνίαν τινὰ σχεῖν ἐν τοῖς ἁγιωτάτοις τόποις, ἐφ' οἷς τὸ μέγα τῆς εὐσεβείας ἀπετελέσθη μυστήριον, θεὸς ἐν τῷ καθ' ἡμᾶς ὀφθεὶς εἴδει (ὢ τοῦ παναρρήτου θαύματος)· ὅνπερ ἐγγεγραμμένον κἀν τῇ γραφῇ πατροπαραδότως, ἤτοι θεοκηρύκτως, ἡμεῖς, μᾶλλον δὲ ἡ ὑπ' οὐρανόν, ὁμολογοῦμέν τε καὶ προσκυνοῦμεν ἐξ αὐτῆς τοῦ κηρύγματος βαλβῖδος (οὐ γὰρ ἂν ἄλλως ὁμολογηθεῖεν Χριστός, ὡς οἱ μακαριώτατοι διδάσκοιτε, ἤρνηνται δὲ ἰουδαϊκῶς οἱ δυσώνυμοι εἰκονομάχοι, ὡς ὑπὸ πνεύματος πονηροῦ ἐνεργούμενοι) καὶ ὃν ταῖς θεοκλινέσι προσευχαῖς ἵλεω ποιήσειας, ὦ θεία καὶ ἱερὰ κεφαλή, ἐκτρέψαι τὴν λαοπλάνον αἵρεσιν, ἀνάψαι ὀρθοδοξίας ἥλιον, εἶτα καὶ ἡμᾶς τοὺς ἐν τέκνοις σου τελοῦντας ἐλαχίστους περιποιήσασθαι, ἑπομένους τῷ μακαριωτάτῳ πατρὶ καὶ ἀρχιερεῖ ἡμῶν. Εἶεν. τοὺς ἐξυπηρετουμένους ὑμῖν πατέρας τε καὶ κλεινοὺς ἀδελφοὺς ἡμῶν ἐγώ τε καὶ ὁ ἐμὸς ἀδελφός, Θεσσαλονίκης ὁ θεοφιλέστατος ἀρχιεπίσκοπος, πλεῖστα προσαγορεύομεν· ἐπὶ γὰρ τῷ ἁγιῴ σου προσώπῳ, πρὸ τῶν ποδῶν σου μᾶλλον εὐλογηθῆναι ἄμφω καὶ ὅσοι τῶν σὺν ἡμῖν εἰπεῖν πρεπωδέστερον. 470 {1Θεοδώρῳ ξενοδόχῳ}1 Ἰδού σοι, δέσποτα, τὸ γράμμα, ἀπαιτοῦντι, καὶ ἀπόλυσον ἡμᾶς τῆς ἐγκλήσεως. διατί δέ, φαίης, μὴ τάχιον; ὅτι αἰδουμένως εἴχομεν νουθετικῶς καὶ διδακτικῶς τῇ τιμιότητί σου προσφέρειν τὸν λόγον. ἐπεὶ ποθοίης, δέξαιο, προσφιλέστατε. οὐδὲν οὖν ἄλλο ἐστὶν ὁ ἀλη θινὸς