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let us become partakers of the eternal goods. 514 {1To the Empress Maria}1 What sort of men are we, and who, we the humble, to be deemed worthy of making a defense for the painful events, and moreover to be devoted with excessive praises by your most honorable majesty? Yet we have accepted the gracious condescension of your piety, which has taught the truth of the matter (since it was indeed necessary) and has delivered many from the false opinion which is accustomed to creep in on such occasions. And it is not surprising; for a flowing account is scattered among many, not having the complete truth in each case. But what words shall we use, attempting to heal the pain of your much-afflicted heart? Or with what gentler touches might we be able to smooth the roughness of your soul? You have borne, therefore, so that our account may proceed from the beginning, an unjust separation from your spouse, you who were also broken together with the empire, at which the world has been shaken. A pitiful sight: the adulteress wearing the purple and the empress wearing black, the slave-girl ruling and the mistress serving. And, to pass over the rest—since you who have suffered know it better than we who do not—you have borne exile for the sake of truth, cut off from your own true offspring. And in this both the pain is great and the praise for you very great from God and all the pious. The third blow is the present one, concerning which we have been commanded to show what is proper. Others, then, will say other things, that a mother should follow her daughter, because this, they say, one might see happening even to wild beasts by a natural attraction, but we sinners say the things of the Lord: Who is my mother and who are my brothers? And again: If anyone comes to me and does not hate his daughter, he is not worthy of me. What is the conclusion? That your God-fearing self should remain at home, while the Augusta holds the palace; whereby the sword of the Gospel has been shown to bring division. These things, forgive me, my lady, with much attention and anguish of heart we have dared to write, as if speaking into your ear, praying for better things for both of you and for what pertains to salvation both now and for the future. 515 {1To Basil the monk}1 We do not decline to write our humble word, as often as your honor might reasonably request, if indeed it be profitable for you; for we noted this very thing in our previous letter. Therefore, we now too offer it, being at once consoling and reminding. And what is the consolation? That since the abbess passed away in the Lord along with ten of the sisterhood, as you say, the event is not without pain, but is also very distressing, since when the head is gone the whole body is dead, and when the most precious members have been cut off, the remaining ones are unsightly. Such, then, is the event in so far as it concerns the flesh. But since spiritual things are compared with spiritual, the event is at once grievous and joyful, the one because of the loss, the other because of the hope. You have sent on a most holy abbess and, as you recount, venerable sisters. It is a cause for joy, on the one hand for those who have been taken up, preparing for you a place of rest through their intercessory prayer, just as those who go ahead on a journey secure the lodgings, and on the other hand for you who have remained—that is, the women—being zealous to emulate their good life and venerable conduct and always looking there, where a little later we will meet our mother in God and the sisters. See how your suffering is one of good hope and great joy, and not like that for those who have died according to the flesh, who, being struck by irrational wailings and lamentations, are filled with grief, just like the gentiles who have no hope. For this reason, their departure is not desirable to them, but even to be greatly avoided. But for us, for whom to live is Christ and to die is gain, the falling asleep of our spiritual fathers is a joyful turn of events, as they are living in the Lord and what is more, their life is higher and more immortal than the one here. Therefore, casting off—both men and women—all irrational grief and ignoble tears, as you have been established by the grace of Christ, the one upon the

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γενώμεθα τῶν αἰωνίων ἀγαθῶν. 514 {1Μαρίᾳ βασιλίσσῃ}1 Ὁποῖοι ἡμεῖς καὶ τίνες, οἱ εὐτελεῖς, ἀπολογίας ἠξιωμένοι ἐπὶ τοῖς συμβᾶσιν ἀνιαροῖς, πρὸς δὲ καὶ ἐπαίνοις ὑπεράγαν ἀφοσιωθέντες παρὰ τῆς ὑπερτίμου σου κυριότητος; ὅμως ὅτι ἀποδεδέγμεθα τὸ εὐσυγκατάβατόν σου τῆς εὐσεβείας, διδαξάσης τὸ ἀληθὲς τῶν πραγμάτων (ἐπεί τοι καὶ ἀναγκαῖον) ἀπαλλαξάσης τε τοὺς πολλοὺς ψευδοεποῦς ὑπολήψεως, εἰωθυίας ἐν ταῖς τοιαύταις ὑποθέσεσι παρεισκρίνεσθαι. καὶ οὐ θαυμαστόν· ῥυϊσκόμενος γὰρ ὁ λόγος σκιδνᾶται ἐπὶ πολλοῖς, οὐκ ἔχων ἐφ' ἑκάστῳ τἀληθὲς ἐντελῶς. Ἡμεῖς δὲ ποίοις λόγοις χρησόμεθα, πειρώμενοί σου θεραπεύειν τὸ ἄλγος τῆς πολυωδύνου καρδίας; ἢ τίσι πραοτέραις ἐπαφαῖς λεᾶναί σου δυνηθείημεν τὸ τραχύνον τῆς ψυχῆς; ἤνεγκας τοιγαροῦν, ἵν' ἐξ ὑπαρχῆς ἡμῖν προΐοι ὁ λόγος, ἄδικον χωρισμὸν ὁμοζύγου, συνεκρα γεῖσα καὶ τοῦ κράτους, ἐφ' ᾧ δεδόνηται ὁ κόσμος. ἐλεεινὸν θέαμα· ἡ μοιχαλὶς πορφυροφοροῦσα καὶ ἡ βασιλὶς μελανειμονοῦσα, ἡ δούλη δεσπόζουσα καὶ ἡ δέσποινα θητεύουσα. καί, ἵνα τἆλλα παραδράμοιμεν, σοῦ τῆς παθούσης μᾶλλον εἰδυίας ὑπὲρ ἡμᾶς τοὺς ἀγνῶτας, ἤνεγκας ἐξορίαν ὑπὲρ ἀληθείας, ἐκτμηθεῖσα τοῦ γνησίου σπάγχνου. κἀνταῦθα καὶ ὁ πόνος μέγας καὶ ὁ ὕμνος σοι μάλα παρά τε θεῷ καὶ πᾶσι τοῖς εὐσεβέσιν. τρίτη πληγὴ ἡ παροῦσα, ἐφ' ᾗ τὸ δέον παραδεῖξαι κεκελεύσμεθα. ἄλλα μὲν οὖν ἄλλοι φθέγξονται, συνέπεσθαι μητέρα θυγατρί, ὅτι τοῦτο καὶ θηρίοις, φασί, φυσικῇ ὁλκῇ συμβαῖνον ἴδοι τις ἄν, ἡμεῖς δὲ οἱ ἁμαρτωλοὶ τὰ τοῦ δεσπότου· τίς ἐστιν ἡ μήτηρ μου καὶ τίνες εἰσὶν οἱ ἀδελφοί μου; καὶ αὖθις· εἴ τις ἔρχεται πρός με καὶ οὐ μισεῖ τὴν θυγατέρα, οὐκ ἔστι μου ἄξιος. τί τὸ συναγόμενον; τὸ τὴν σὴν θεοσέβειαν οἴκοι μένειν, τῆς αὐγούστης ἐχούσης τὰ βασίλεια· ἐφ' ᾧ δέδεικται ἡ εὐαγγελικὴ μάχαιρα τὴν τομὴν ἐπάγουσα. Ταῦτα, σύγγνωθι, δέσποινα, σὺν πολλῇ προσοχῇ καὶ συνοχῇ καρδίας τεθαρρήκαμεν, ὡς ἂν εἰς οὖς ὁμιλοῦντες, ἐπιστεῖλαι, ὑπὲρ ἀμφοτέρων προσευχόμενοι τὰ κρείττονα καὶ ἐχόμενα σωτηρίας νῦν τε καὶ πρὸς τὸ ἑξῆς. 515 {1Βασιλείῳ μονάζοντι}1 Οὐ παραιτούμεθα γράφειν τὸν ταπεινὸν ἡμῶν λόγον, ὁσάκις ἂν εὐλόγως ἐπιζητῇ ἡ τιμιότης ὑμῶν, εἴπερ καὶ εἴη λυσιτελῶν ὑμῖν· αὐτὸ γὰρ τοῦτο καὶ ἐν τῇ προλαβούσῃ ἐπιστολῇ ἐπεσημηνάμεθα. οὐκοῦν καὶ νῦν προσιέμεθα αὐτόν, ὁμοῦ μὲν παρακλητικόν, ὁμοῦ δὲ καὶ ὑπομνηστικόν. τίς δὲ ὁ παρακλητικός; ὅτι ἐπειδὴ ἀπεβίωσεν ἐν Κυρίῳ ἡ καθηγουμένη σὺν δεκαδικῷ ἀριθμῷ ἀδελφότητος, ὥς φατε, οὐκ ἀπαθὲς τὸ δρᾶμα, ἀλλὰ καὶ λίαν ἐκστατικόν, ἐπείπερ κεφαλῆς ἀπούσης ὅλον τὸ σῶμα νεκρὸν καὶ μελῶν τῶν τιμιωτάτων ἐκκοπέντων τὰ ἐναπολειφθέντα εἰδεχθῆ. Τοιοῦτον οὖν ὅσον τὸ κατὰ σάρκα τὸ γεγονός. ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ πνευματικὰ πνευματικοῖς συγκρίνονται, ὁμοῦ μὲν λυπηρόν, ὁμοῦ δὲ καὶ περιχαρὲς τὸ συμβάν, τὸ μὲν διὰ τὴν στέρησιν, τὸ δὲ διὰ τὴν ἐλπίδα. παρεπέμψατε καθηγουμένην ἱερὰν ὅτι μάλιστα, καθὼς διηγεῖσθε, ἀδελφὰς σεβασμίας. χαρᾶς ὑπόθεσις, ἐκείνων μὲν τῶν προσληφθεισῶν ἑτοιμαζουσῶν ὑμῖν τόπον ἀναπαύσεως διὰ πρεσβευτικῆς ἐντεύξεως, ὡς ἂν οἱ προκαταλαμβάνοντες καθ' ὁδὸν τὰ καταλύματα, ὑμῶν δὲ τῶν ἀπομεινάντων ἤγουν ἀπομεινασῶν, ζηλούντων καὶ ζηλουσῶν προκαταλαβέσθαι τὸν ἀγαθὸν βίον καὶ τὴν σεμνὴν πολιτείαν καὶ ἀεὶ ἐκεῖ βλεπόντων καὶ βλεπουσῶν, ὅπου μικρὸν ὕστερον συντευξόμεθα τῇ κατὰ θεὸν μητρὶ καὶ ταῖς ἀδελφαῖς. ἴδε τοιοῦτον τὸ καθ' ὑμᾶς πάθημα εὔελπες καὶ περιχαρὲς καὶ οὐχ ὡς τῶν κατὰ σάρκα τεθνηκότων, οἵ, θρήνοις καὶ κοπετοῖς ἀλόγοις βαλλόμενοι, ἴσα τοῖς μὴ ἔχουσιν ἐλπίδα ἔθνεσι λύπης πεπλήρωνται. διὰ τοῦτο οὐδὲ ἐπιθυμητὴ αὐτοῖς ἡ μετάστασις, ἀλλὰ καὶ λίαν φευκτέα. ἡμῖν δέ, οἷς τὸ ζῆν Χριστὸς καὶ τὸ ἀποθανεῖν κέρδος, χαρᾶς περιπέτεια ἡ κοίμησις τῶν πνευματικῶν πατέρων, ὡς ἐν Κυρίῳ ζώντων καὶ μᾶλλον τῆς ἐνθάδε ζωῆς ὑψηλότερον καὶ ἀθανατώτερον. Ἀπορρίψαντες οὖν καὶ ἀπορρίψασαι πᾶσαν ἄλογον λύπην καὶ ἀγεννὲς δάκρυον, καθὸ κατέστητε χάριτι Χριστοῦ, ὁ μὲν ἐπὶ τῇ