1

 2

 3

 4

 5

 6

 7

 8

 9

 10

 11

 12

 13

 14

 15

 16

 17

 18

 19

 20

 21

 22

 23

 24

 25

 26

 27

 28

 29

 30

 31

 32

 33

 34

 35

 36

 37

 38

 39

 40

 41

 42

 43

 44

 45

 46

 47

 48

 49

 50

 51

 52

 53

 54

 55

 56

 57

 58

 59

 60

 61

 62

 63

 64

 65

 66

 67

 68

 69

 70

 71

 72

 73

 74

 75

 76

 77

 78

 79

 80

 81

 82

 83

 84

 85

 86

 87

 88

 89

 90

 91

 92

 93

 94

 95

 96

 97

 98

 99

 100

 101

 102

 103

 104

 105

 106

 107

 108

 109

 110

 111

 112

 113

 114

 115

 116

 117

 118

 119

 120

 121

 122

 123

 124

 125

 126

 127

 128

 129

 130

 131

 132

 133

 134

 135

 136

 137

 138

 139

 140

 141

 142

 143

 144

 145

 146

 147

 148

 149

 150

 151

 152

 153

 154

 155

 156

 157

 158

 159

 160

 161

 162

 163

 164

 165

 166

 167

 168

 169

 170

 171

 172

 173

 174

 175

 176

 177

 178

 179

 180

 181

 182

 183

 184

 185

 186

 187

 188

 189

 190

 191

 192

 193

 194

 195

 196

 197

 198

 199

 200

 201

 202

 203

 204

 205

 206

 207

 208

 209

 210

 211

 212

 213

 214

 215

 216

 217

 218

 219

 220

 221

 222

 223

 224

 225

 226

 227

 228

 229

 230

 231

 232

 233

 234

 235

 236

 237

 238

 239

 240

 241

 242

 243

 244

 245

 246

 247

 248

 249

 250

 251

 252

 253

 254

 255

 256

 257

 258

 259

 260

 261

 262

 263

 264

 265

 266

 267

 268

 269

 270

 271

 272

 273

 274

 275

 276

 277

 278

 279

 280

 281

 282

 283

 284

 285

 286

 287

 288

 289

 290

 291

 292

 293

 294

 295

 296

 297

 298

 299

 300

 301

 302

 303

 304

 305

 306

 307

 308

 309

 310

 311

 312

 313

 314

 315

 316

 317

 318

 319

 320

 321

 322

 323

 324

 325

 326

 327

 328

 329

 330

 331

 332

 333

 334

 335

 336

 337

 338

 339

 340

 341

 342

 343

 344

 345

 346

 347

 348

 349

 350

 351

 352

 353

 354

 355

 356

 357

 358

 359

 360

 361

 362

 363

 364

 365

 366

 367

 368

 369

 370

 371

 372

 373

 374

 375

 376

 377

 378

319

different from the inferior or superior person. 492 {1To John the Grammarian}1 Your honor has shown the sincerity of your genuine love in the corrective notes on the treatise composed by us unlearned men. and those things are indeed composed in the treatise in this way or that. But since she was at a loss as to how the "subject" has been understood by us and that it is to be understood otherwise by her, as she indicated, we too were at a loss that the one who is wise in all things was at a loss; for the "subject," O admirable one, according to the blessed Leontius, whose commentaries are exceedingly beautiful, he says is substance with hypostasis. And does not Basil the Great also say "one in subject" concerning the Holy Trinity? But indeed also the all-wise Dionysius says somewhere thus, "many in accidents, one in subject;" and accidents are observed not in the universal substance, but in the hypostasis, as you know. Therefore, in saying, "many in accidents, one in subject," he has taken the "subject" as substance with hypostasis; and not without reason, as I think, for it to be posited in the treatise. For how could that which is not "one in subject" not be theologized as three in both names and realities, so that the "subject" is nothing other than substance with hypostasis? But if something more insightful should be discovered by your holiness, may she not refuse to teach the gift praised by her. 493 {1To an Abbot}1 God has given a very great gift in our province, most honored brother, the most renowned curator and most excellent in piety, because, having become an avenger of Christ, he brought under his hand the one living like a brigand among the Christians, although he was formerly a votive offering to God through monastic perfection, I mean Ammon, once our brother, but now placed under your hand through the mediation of the admirable man by the good pleasure of Christ himself, who rejoices in the salvation of the one who was lost. What a wondrous work has been accomplished by the God-loving curator and one worthy of his virtue, and not only so, but also by you, the spiritual father who like Christ took the lost one upon your shoulders. Therefore I, the humble one, rejoiced and was filled with gladness, because the lost has been found and the cast-out has been brought home. And thanks be to the power and mercy of the glory of God, who had mercy on him and delivered me, the humble one, from despondency; for I had been despondent for many years over the loss of my son. You, therefore, have now been named his father by the mercy of God with the help of the good mediator, and may you bring him to God for the future; for behold, I hand him over into your hands as if from the sight of my own eyes, and let him be called your disciple and he will be a disciple to you until the end, and you will inherit his reward unto the ages. And you will read this letter to him, so that he may have security, as I have also written to him himself. And let the word of the apostle be fulfilled, "Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ;" may he guard you with all your God-chosen brotherhood, as you pray also for better things for us sinners. 494 {1To Basil the abbot}1 Your fraternal honor is always accustomed to write things beyond our worth, dignifying our nothingness with honors and praises; but we have been taught not to depart from our own measure, but to consider ourselves nothing, which is what we are. And of these things, enough; but the tardiness of your honored letters has certainly not grieved us. For why and for what reason is the compulsion? But what has grieved us (for it is necessary to reveal what is at hand) is the stay in the city and the assertion and counter-assertion before the emperor and the departure under command, with our affairs being again the same under the subject possession of the heterodox, and we might add also the mission from the oikonomos in the presence of the emperor himself, the banqueting together and the being led astray. All these things have grieved us, O most honored one, and hinder us, forgive me, from communion with you henceforth and mingling and fellowship, taking and giving and if anything

319

διάφορον τοῦ ὑφειμένου ἤ προύχοντος προσώπου. 492 {1Ἰωάννῃ Γραμματικῷ}1 Τὸ ἀνυπόκριτόν σου τῆς εἰλικρινοῦς ἀγάπης δέδειχεν ἡ τιμιότης σου ἐν τοῖς ἐπανορθωτικοῖς σημειώμασι τοῦ πρὸς ἡμῶν τῶν ἀμαθῶν συνταχθέντος λόγου. καὶ ἔχει μὲν ἐκεῖνα οὕτως ἢ οὕτως συγκεκρίσθαι τῷ λόγῳ. ἐπειδὴ δὲ ἠπόρησεν πῶς ἡμῖν νενόηται τὸ ὑποκείμενον καὶ ὡς ἄλλως ἐκλαμβάνεσθαι παρ' αὐτῆς, καθὰ ὑπεσημήνατο, συνηπορήσαμεν καὶ ἡμεῖς ὅτι ἠπόρησεν ὁ περὶ πάντα σοφός· τὸ γὰρ ὑποκείμενον, ὦ θαυμάσιε, κατὰ Λεόντιον τὸν μακάριον, οὗ τὰ σχόλια ὑπερκαλλῆ, οὐσίαν εἶναι λέγει μετὰ ὑποστάσεως. λέγει δὲ καὶ ὁ Μέγας Βασίλειος οὐχ ἓν τῷ ὑποκειμένῳ ἐπὶ τῆς Ἁγίας Τριάδος; ἀλλὰ γὰρ καὶ ὁ πάνσοφος ∆ιονύσιος ὧδέ πού φησιν τό, πολλὰ τοῖς συμβεβηκόσιν, ἓν τῷ ὑποκειμένῳ· συμβεβηκότα δὲ οὐκ ἐν τῇ καθόλου οὐσίᾳ, ἀλλ' ἐν τῇ ὑποστάσει τεθεώρηται, ὡς οἶσθα. ὥστε, εἰπὼν τό, πολλὰ τοῖς συμβεβηκόσιν, ἓν τῷ ὑποκειμένῳ, τὸ ὑποκείμενον οὐσίαν μετὰ ὑποστάσεως εἴληφεν· καὶ οὐκ ἔξω τοῦ εἰκότος, ὡς οἶμαι, τῷ κεῖσθαι ἐν τῷ λόγῳ. πῶς γὰρ ἂν τὸ μὴ ἓν τῷ ὑποκειμένῳ μὴ οὐχὶ τρισὶ καὶ ὀνόμασι καὶ πράγμασι θεολογηθήσεται, ὡς εἶναι τὸ ὑποκείμενον οὐδὲν ἄλλο ἢ οὐσίαν μετὰ ὑποστάσεως; Εἰ δέ τι ὀπτικώτερον ἐξευρεθείη τῇ ἁγιωσύνῃ σου, μὴ παραιτήσηται διδάξαι τὸν δῶρον πρὸς αὐτῆς ἐγκωμιαζόμενον. 493 {1Ἡγουμένῳ}1 Μέγιστον δῶρον δέδωκεν ὁ θεὸς ἐν τῇ καθ' ἡμᾶς ἐπαρχίᾳ, τιμιώτατε ἀδελφέ, τὸν εὐκλεέστατον κουράτωρα καὶ κράτιστον ἐν εὐσεβείᾳ, ὅτι, Χριστοῦ ἔκδικος γεγονώς, εἷλκεν ὑπὸ χεῖρα τὸν λῃστρικῶς πολιτευόμενον ἐν τοῖς χριστιανοῖς, καίπερ ὄντα τὸ πρότερον ἀνάθημα θεοῦ διὰ τῆς μοναδικῆς τελειώσεως, Ἀμμοῦν λέγω, τόν ποτε ἡμέτερον ἀδελφόν, νῦν δὲ ὑπὸ χεῖρά σου τελοῦντα διὰ μεσιτείας τοῦ ἀξιαγάστου ἀνδρὸς τῇ εὐδοκίᾳ αὐτοῦ Χριστοῦ, τοῦ χαίροντος ἐπὶ σωτηρίᾳ τοῦ ἀπολωλότος. ὡς θαυμαστὸν ἔργον τετέλεσται πρὸς τοῦ θεοφιλοῦς κουράτωρος καὶ ἄξιον τῆς κατ' αὐτὸν ἀρετῆς, οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ σοῦ, τοῦ πνευματικοῦ πατρὸς καὶ τὸν ἀπολωλότα ὡς Χριστὸς ἐπὶ τῶν ὤμων ἀναλαβόντος. Εὐφράνθην οὖν ὁ ταπεινὸς ἐγὼ καὶ ἠγαλλιασάμην, ὅτι τὸ ἀπολωλὸς εὑρέθη καὶ τὸ ἀπωσμένον εἰσῳκίσθη. καὶ χάρις τῷ κράτει καὶ ἐλέει τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ δόξης, τοῦ κἀκεῖνον ἐλεήσαντος κἀμὲ τὸν ταπεινὸν ἐκ τῆς ἀθυμίας ἀνακομίσαντος· ἠθύμουν γὰρ ἀπὸ πολλῶν ἐτῶν ἐπὶ τῇ ἀπωλείᾳ τοῦ υἱοῦ μου. σὺ οὖν ἄρτι πατὴρ αὐτοῦ ἐλέει θεοῦ κεχρημάτικας τῇ ἐπικουρίᾳ τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ μεσίτου καὶ σὺ αὐτὸν προσάξειας θεῷ πρὸς τὸ ἑξῆς· ἰδοὺ γὰρ παραδίδωμι αὐτὸν εἰς χεῖράς σου ὡς ἀπὸ αὐτοψίας ὀφθαλμῶν, καὶ καλείσθω σου μαθητὴς καὶ μαθητεύσει σοι ἕως τέλους καὶ κληρονομήσεις τὸν μισθὸν αὐτοῦ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας. καὶ τήνδε τὴν ἐπιστολὴν ἐπαναγνώσεις αὐτῷ, ὡς ἂν ἔχοι τὸ ἀσφαλές, καθὰ κἀκείνῳ αὐτῷ γέγραφα. καὶ πληρούσθω τὸ τοῦ ἀποστόλου, ἀλλήλων τὰ βάρη βαστάζετε καὶ οὕτως ἀναπληρώσατε τὸν νόμον τοῦ Χριστοῦ· ὃς φυλάξειέ σε μετὰ πάσης τῆς θεολέκτου σου συνοδίας, προσευχόμενον καὶ περὶ ἡμῶν τῶν ἁμαρτωλῶν τὰ κρείττονα. 494 {1Βασιλείῳ ἡγουμένῳ}1 Τὰ ὑπὲρ τὴν ἀξίαν ἡμῶν πάντοτε ἡ ἀδελφική σου τιμιότης ἐπιστέλλειν εἴωθεν, τιμαῖς καὶ εὐφημίαις ἀποσεμνύνουσα τὴν οὐθενίαν ἡμῶν· ἡμεῖς δὲ τῶν οἰκείων μέτρων μὴ ἐξίστασθαι δεδιδάγμεθα, ἀλλ' ἡγεῖσθαι ἑαυτοὺς οὐθέν, ὅπερ ἐσμέν. καὶ τούτων μὲν ἅλις· ἡ δὲ βραδυτὴς τῶν τιμίων σου γραμμάτων οὐ δήπου λελύπηκεν ἡμᾶς. διατί γὰρ καὶ ἐφ' ᾧτινι τὸ ἀναγκάζον; λελύπηκεν δὲ (δεῖν γὰρ ἐκκαλύψαι τὰ παριστάμενα) ἡ ἐν τῇ ἐν ἄστει διατριβὴ καὶ ἡ πρὸς τὸν κρατοῦντα φάσις καὶ ἀντίφασις καὶ ἡ ὑπὸ κέλευσιν ἔξοδος, ἐπὶ τῶν αὐτῶν πάλιν ὄντων ἡμῶν πρακτικευμάτων τῆς ὑποχειρίου τῶν ἑτεροδόξων κατοχῆς, προσθείημεν δ' ἂν καὶ ἡ πρὸς τοῦ οἰκονόμου ἐπ' αὐτοῦ τοῦ κράτους ἀποστολή, συνεστίασίς τε καὶ συναπαγωγή. Ταῦτα πάντα λελύπηκεν ἡμᾶς, ὦ τιμιώτατε, καὶ εἴργει ἡμᾶς, σύγγνωθι, ἡ πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἀπάρτι καὶ συνανάκρασις καὶ συναναστροφή, λῆψίς τε καὶ δόσις καὶ εἴ τι