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of destruction, with the greatest part of the senate and the synod and the patriarch himself being held by the heresy. But only Manuel dared this, moved by divine action. For previously, as has been said, he was in doubt about the veneration of the holy icons, but later he embraced it for the following reason. He was seized by a most grievous illness, and his life was despaired of, all medical art having failed. So some came to him, having heard that he had died, pious monks from the Stoudios monastery; and approaching his bed, and realizing he was still living and breathing, they announced to him life and recovery and restoration to his former health. But he at first disbelieved; however, as the divine men insisted, and told him not to doubt the gift and glory of God that had been revealed to them, recovering a little from his illness, he spoke thus to them with a faint and weak breath: "And how will this be for me, O divine fathers? The powers of my soul have left me, my body is completely weakened and has stiffened. I lie here 2.141 embalmed and a skeleton, differing in nothing from the other dead except only in breathing. What hope then or what word will there be that will persuade me to recover and come to my former good health?" Then the most holy men, taking him up, said to him, "All things are possible and nothing is impossible for God. If, then, you endeavor upon recovering to extinguish the conflagration of the iconoclasts and to restore the holy icons according to the ancient and patristic ordinances, we announce life to you." They spoke and withdrew.

And immediately the illness grew milder and his natural functions were carried out without hindrance, and in a short time he had a complete deliverance from the sickness. And having recovered from the illness, immediately mounting a horse he went away to the palace and went in to the empress, and in every way he urged her to restore the divine icons, she herself also having long been eager to seize an opportunity, being continually incited to this both by her own mother and by her maternal uncles, the patricians. Nevertheless, Theodora objected to the words of Manuel, either revering the oaths to her husband, or, as we said, also fearing the multitude of those possessed by the heresy. But as Manuel insisted, Theodora said, "My husband and emperor, O magistros, was a lover of precision, and never did anything without due consideration, and this doctrine, if it were not forbidden by the sacred laws and the holy scriptures, 2.142 he would not have expelled it from the church. But when she said these things, he threatened her with a swift destruction of her life and the loss of her imperial power, and not only for her but also for her son, if she did not restore the divine adornment of the holy icons to the churches. By his words, whether terrified, or otherwise pleased, as we said, the empress became wholly devoted to the task. And immediately she ordered all those adorned with intelligence and reason from both the synod and the senate to be gathered in the apartments of Theoktistos, and to initiate and put forward discussions about orthodoxy. When nearly all had been gathered and many words had flowed, and not a few testimonies from the divine scripture had been brought forward, the pious side prevailed and it became a decree that the divine icons be restored at once, with the bishops and monks and senators, as many as were previously held by the affliction, the majority having learned what was better and been converted to the truth, but as for those for whom the dye of piety had set fast and who remained unchangeable, they were driven from the city and sent into exile. And the impious patriarch John was also deposed, and was driven from the patriarchal throne by sending notable men of those assigned to the palace guard. To whom at first he was not persuaded to step down, nor at least willingly

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καταστροφῆς, τοῦ πλείστου μέρους τῆς συγκλήτου καὶ τῆς συνόδου καὶ αὐτοῦ τοῦ πατριάρχου τῇ αἱρέσει κατεσχημένων. μόνος δὲ τοῦτο ἐτόλμησε κινηθεὶς ἐκ θείας ἐνεργείας ὁ Μανουήλ. πρότερον μὲν γάρ, ὡς εἴρηται, ἐνδοιάζων ἦν περὶ τὴν τῶν σεπτῶν εἰκόνων προσκύνησιν, ὕστερον δὲ ταύτην ἠσπάσατο ἐκ τοιαύτης αἰτίας. νόσῳ κατεσχέθη χαλεπωτάτῃ, καὶ ἀπέγνωστο αὐτῷ ἡ ζωή, πάσης ἰατρικῆς τέχνης ἀποκαμούσης. ἦλθον οὖν τινὲς εἰς αὐτόν, ἀκηκοότες τοῦτον τεθνάναι, εὐλαβεῖς μοναχοὶ ἀπὸ τῆς τοῦ Στουδίου μονῆς· προσεγγίσαντες δὲ τῇ κλίνῃ, καὶ γνόντες αὐτὸν ἔτι ζῆν τε καὶ ἐμπνεῖν, εὐαγγελίζονται ζωὴν αὐτῷ καὶ ἀνάρ ρωσιν καὶ πρὸς τὴν ἔμπροσθεν ὑγίειαν ἀποκατάστασιν. ὁ δὲ πρότερον μὲν διηπίστει· ὅμως ἐνισταμένων τῶν θείων ἀνδρῶν, καὶ μὴ ἐνδοιάζειν λεγόντων πρὸς τὴν δωρεὰν καὶ δόξαν τοῦ θεοῦ τὴν ἀποκαλυφθεῖσαν αὐτοῖς, μικρὸν ἀνενεγκὼν τῆς νόσου οὕτως φησὶ πρὸς αὐτοὺς λεπτῷ καὶ ἀδρανεῖ τῷ ἄσθματι "καὶ πῶς ἔσται μοι τοῦτο, ὦ θεῖοι πατέρες; αἱ ψυχικαὶ δυνάμεις ἀπολελοίπασι, τὸ σῶμα τέλεον ἐξησθένηκε καὶ κατέσκληκεν. ἐγὼ δὲ κεῖμαι τετα 2.141 ριχευμένος καὶ σκελετός, ἐν οὐδενὶ διαφέρων ἑτέρῳ τῶν τεθνηκό των ἢ μόνῳ τῷ ἀναπνεῖν. τίς οὖν ἐλπὶς ἢ ποῖος λόγος ἔσεται ὁ πείσων με ἀναρρωσθῆναι καὶ εἰς τὴν προτέραν εὐεξίαν ἐλθεῖν;" ὑπολαβόντες οὖν οἱ ὁσιώτατοι ἔφησαν πρὸς αὐτόν "πάντα δυνατὰ καὶ οὐδὲν ἀδυνατεῖ τῷ θεῷ. εἰ γοῦν σπουδάσεις ἀναρρωσθεὶς τὴν τῶν εἰκονομάχων ἀποσβέσαι πυρκαϊὰν καὶ τὰς ἱερὰς εἰκόνας κατὰ τοὺς παλαιοὺς καὶ πατρικοὺς θεσμοὺς ἀναστηλῶσαι, εὐαγγελιζόμεθά σοι τὴν ζωήν." eἶπον καὶ ὑπεχώρησαν.

Kαὶ εὐθὺς ἥ τε νόσος ἐρράϊσε καὶ αἱ φυσικαὶ ἐνέργειαι ἀκωλύτως ἐπετελοῦντο, καὶ ἐν βραχεῖ τῷ χρόνῳ τελείαν τοῦ ἀρρωστήματος ἐσχήκει ἀπαλ λαγήν. ῥᾴων δὲ τῆς νόσου γενόμενος, ἐξιππασάμενος εὐθὺς ἄπεισι πρὸς τὸ παλάτιον καὶ εἴσεισι πρὸς τὴν βασιλίδα, καὶ πάντα τρόπον αὐτὴν παρεκίνει τὰς θείας ἀναστηλῶσαι εἰκόνας, πάλαι καὶ αὐτὴν ἀφορμῆς δράξασθαι γλιχομένην, διὰ παντὸς ἐρεθιζομένην καὶ παρὰ τῆς οἰκείας μητρὸς εἰς τοῦτο καὶ τῶν μη τραδέλφων τῶν πατρικίων. ὅμως δὲ ἀντέπιπτεν ἡ Θεοδώρα τοῖς λόγοις τοῦ Μανουήλ, εἴτε τοὺς πρὸς τὸν ἄνδρα ὅρκους εὐλαβου μένη, εἴτε, ὡς ἔφαμεν, καὶ τὸ πλῆθος δεδοικυῖα τῶν τῇ αἱρέσει κατειλημμένων. ἐγκειμένου δὲ τοῦ Μανουὴλ ἔφη ἡ Θεοδώρα ὡς ὁ ἐμός, ὦ μάγιστρε, ἀνήρ τε καὶ βασιλεὺς ἀκριβείας ἦν ἐραστής, καὶ οὐδὲν ἀπερισκέπτως ἔπραξε πώποτε, καὶ τοῦτο τὸ δόγμα, εἰ μὴ ἀπηγορευμένον ἦν τοῖς ἱεροῖς νόμοις καὶ ταῖς ἁγίαις γραφαῖς, 2.142 οὐκ ἂν ἐξῶσε τῆς ἐκκλησίας. ταῦτα δὲ ἐκείνης εἰπούσης, ταχεῖαν ἠπείλησεν αὐτῇ καταστροφὴν τῆς ζωῆς καὶ τῆς βασιλείας ἔκπτωσιν, καὶ οὐκ αὐτῇ μόνον ἀλλὰ καὶ τῷ ταύτης υἱῷ, εἰ μὴ τὸν θεῖον κόσμον τῶν ἱερῶν εἰκόνων ἀποδοίη ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις. τούτου τοῖς λόγοις εἴτε ἐκδειματωθεῖσα, εἴτε καὶ ἄλλως ἀρεσκομένη, ὡς εἴ πομεν, ἡ βασιλὶς ὅλη τοῦ ἔργου γίνεται. καὶ εὐθὺς ἀγείρεσθαι ἐν τοῖς σκηνώμασι τοῦ Θεοκτίστου προσέταττε πάντας τοὺς ἐπὶ συνέσει καὶ λόγῳ κεκοσμημένους ἔκ τε τῆς συνόδου καὶ τῆς συγ κλήτου, καὶ λόγους κινεῖν καὶ προβάλλεσθαι περὶ ὀρθοδοξίας. πάντων δὲ ὡς ἔπος εἰπεῖν συναθροισθέντων καὶ λόγων πολλῶν ῥυέντων, καὶ μαρτυριῶν ἀπὸ τῆς θείας γραφῆς παραχθεισῶν οὐκ ὀλίγων, τὸ εὐσεβὲς ὑπερίσχυσε μέρος καὶ δόγμα γέγονε τὰς θείας παραχρῆμα ἀναστηλοῦσθαι εἰκόνας, τῶν ἀρχιερέων καὶ μοναχῶν καὶ συγκλητικῶν, ὅσοι τῷ πάθει κατείχοντο πρότερον, τῶν πλειό νων τὸ κρεῖττον μεταμαθόντων καὶ μεταστοιχειωθέντων πρὸς τὴν ἀλήθειαν, ὅσοις δὲ δευσοποιὰ καθίκετο ἡ τῆς εὐσεβείας βαφὴ καὶ ἀμεταθέτως εἶχον, ἀπεληλαμένων τῆς πόλεως καὶ ὑπερορίαις παραπεμφθέντων. καθῃρέθη δὲ καὶ ὁ δυσσεβὴς πατριάρχης Ἰαννῆς, καὶ τοῦ ἀρχιερατικοῦ θρόνου ἀπηλάθη δι' ἀποστολῆς ἀξιολόγων ἀνδρῶν τῶν εἰς φυλακὴν τεταγμένων τοῦ παλατίου. οἷς πρότερον μὲν κατελθεῖν οὐκ ἐπείθετο, οὐδ' ἑκών γε