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the disciple being prepared to lead other sisters, already sought after by a sisterhood, such a thing is an economy, as Saint Basil says, and not a division, perish the thought; and indeed from being ruled well one ascends to ruling lawfully, and from this comes a good zeal for those of like mind to go on to perfection and to do the same in a manner befitting God, since our Lord and God, showing the chief of the apostles an indication of love for him, said: If you love me, feed my lambs; and again: Shepherd my sheep. So that one who has gone out with such a purpose to shepherd would be blessed, imitating Christ the true and first chief shepherd. There is indeed also another economy observed among our fathers, whenever a troublesome soul after much and long care chooses to move to another sisterhood, as if she were going to be useful there, in imitation of trees transplanted from this place to that place. If, then, you were to do this, it has some reason, provided that both, clearly, the one giving and the one receiving, agree with one another, fulfilling the apostolic command, Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. But the word of truth does not admit another separation, first because the compact of the Holy Spirit is torn asunder, the one confessed before God and men at the monastic profession; what could be more destructive than this? And indeed the word of the Lord is fitting here too, what God has joined together, let man not separate; for if there, although it is a carnal joining, separation is forbidden, how much more so in a spiritual union, unless divine things are being trifled with? But perish the thought, faithful is the word of the mystery both for the remission of sins and for the unbreakable bond of the union. Then, how will the sisterhood from which she is torn away be built up, if the one released by the superior is without accountability, and will it not rather be led into division, being cut by a similar zeal, now this one, and next another, and after not long another (and so the complete body of Christ will be gone and completely destroyed), having started from the first starting-post? And an inheritor of woe, as Saint Basil cries, is she who works this entire evil; for neither your monastery nor another which acts thus will have either standing or foundation. Therefore let the one who disobeys, disobey, and the one who is lawless, be lawless, according to what is written. But you, saving, save your own soul, not forsaking the laws of God, but established in the teachings of the saints, of whom the first in these matters is Basil the Great, even if you happen to live with two or three virgins; for where there are two or three in my name, says the Lord, there I am in their midst, but not with lawbreakers, even if there are ten thousand. 531 {1To Dorotheus, my child}1 I have recognized, beloved child, also from your recently written letter your faithfulness and love toward us the humble, which is a mark of true submission, even if we are sinners and nobodies; in which may you be preserved for the future, pleasing the Lord and shining with virtue in your brotherhood, and not only there but also among many others. For it is not in the nature of the good to be hidden, but rather, even when seeming to be concealed, it reveals the worker to be called a city of God, according to what is written. But enough of this. Concerning the matter which you indicated, that is, of making remembrance of so-and-so, you ought to understand for yourself that, if at his death, having previously communed with the heresy through human fear, he stood confessing and as it were being penanced by someone, and then in this way partook of the orthodox communion and in this departed, it is natural for him to be placed in the memorials of the orthodox, since our good God, through his great love for mankind, at the very last hour receives the one who repents and judges him here. Therefore, if it happened thus, one must not decline to perform liturgies to God on his behalf. But if

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κατηρτισμένη ἡ μαθήτρια πρὸς τὸ ἄλλων ἀδελφῶν καθηγεῖσθαι, ἤδη ἐπιζητουμένης ὑπ' ἀδελφότητος, οἰκονομία τὸ τοιοῦτον, καθώς φησιν ὁ Ἅγιος Βασίλειος, καὶ οὐ διάστασις, ἄπαγε· καὶ γοῦν ἀπὸ τοῦ ἄρχεσθαι καλῶς ἄνεισί τις ἐπὶ τὸ ἄρχειν ἐννόμως, κἀντεῦθεν ζῆλος ἀγαθὸς ταῖς ὁμοτρόποις ἰέναι ἐπὶ τελειότητα καὶ ταὐτοπραγῆσαι θεοπρεπῶς, ἐπειδὴ ἔνδειξιν τῆς εἰς αὐτὸν ἀγάπης ὁ Κύριος καὶ θεὸς ἡμῶν τῷ κορυφαίῳ τῶν ἀποστόλων ὑποδεικνὺς ἔφη· εἰ ἀγαπᾷς με, βόσκε τὰ ἀρνία μου· καὶ πάλιν· ποίμαινε τὰ πρόβατά μου. ὡς ὅ γε, ὁ τοιαύτῃ προθέσει ἐκβεβηκὼς εἰς τὸ ποιμαίνειν, μακάριος ἂν εἴη, Χριστὸν μιμούμενος τὸν ἀληθινὸν καὶ πρῶτον ἀρχιποίμενα. Ἔστι γοῦν καὶ ἑτέρα οἰκονομία ἐν τοῖς πατράσιν ἡμῶν τεθεωρημένη, ὁπόταν ψυχὴ δυστροπεύουσα μετὰ πολλὴν καὶ μακρὰν ἐπιμέλειαν αἱρῆται μεταπεσεῖν εἰς ἄλλην ἀδελφότητα, ὡς ἐκεῖσε χρησιμεύσειν μέλλουσα κατὰ μίμησιν τῶν μεταφυτευομένων δένδρων ἐκ τοῦδε εἰς τόνδε τὸν τόπον. ἐὰν οὖν καὶ τοῦτο ποιήσειας, ἔχει τινὰ λόγον, ἀμφοτέρων δῆλον ὅτι, τῆς τε ἐπιδιδούσης καὶ τῆς ἐπιδεχομένης, συναιρουμένων ἀλλήλαις, πληρουμένου τοῦ ἀποστολικοῦ παραγγέλματος, ἀλλήλων τὰ βάρη βαστάζετε καὶ οὕτως ἀναπληρώσατε τὸν νόμον τοῦ Χριστοῦ. ἄλλον δὲ χωρισμὸν οὐκ ἐπιδέχεται ὁ λόγος τῆς ἀληθείας, πρῶτον μὲν ὅτι ἡ σύμβασις τοῦ Ἁγίου Πνεύματος διασπᾶται, ἡ καθομολογηθεῖσα ἐνώπιον θεοῦ καὶ ἀνθρώπων ἐπὶ τῇ μοναχικῇ τελειώσει· οὗ τί ἂν εἴη ὀλεθριώτερον; καί γε ἁρμόζει κἀνταῦθα ὁ λόγος τοῦ Κυρίου, οὓς ὁ θεὸς ἔζευξεν, ἄνθρωπος μὴ χωριζέτω· εἰ γὰρ ἐκεῖ, καίτοι ἐπὶ σαρκικῇ ζεύξει, ἀπηγόρευται ὁ χωρισμός, πόσῳ γε μᾶλλον ἐπὶ πνευματικῇ συναφείᾳ, εἰ μή τι ἆρα παίζεται τὰ θεῖα; ἀλλ' ἄπαγε, πιστὸς ὁ λόγος τοῦ μυστηρίου ἐπί τε ἀφέσει τῶν ἡμαρτημένων ἐπί τε δεσμῷ ἀλύτῳ τῆς συναφείας. ἔπειτα, πῶς οἰκοδομηθήσεται ἡ ἀδελφότης ἐξ ἧς ἀπορρήγνυται, εἴπερ ἀνεύθυνος ᾖ ἡ ἀπολελυμένη παρὰ τῆς καθηγουμένης, καὶ οὐχὶ μᾶλλον ὑπαχθήσεται εἰς διάστασιν, τῷ ὁμοίῳ ζήλῳ τεμνομένη νῦν μὲν αὕτη, πρὸς δὲ τὸ ἑξῆς ἑτέρα καὶ μετ' οὐ πολὺ ἄλλη (καὶ οὕτω τὸ ἄρτιον σῶμα τοῦ Χριστοῦ οἰχήσεται καὶ διαφθαρήσεται πάμπαν), ἐκ τῆς πρώτης βαλβῖδος ἀφορμηθεῖσα; καὶ τοῦ οὐαὶ κληρονόμος, ὡς βοᾷ ὁ Ἅγιος Βασίλειος, ἡ τοῦτο ὅλον τὸ κακὸν ἀπεργαζομένη· οὔτε γὰρ στάσιν οὔτε βάσιν ἕξει οὔτε ἡ σὴ μονὴ οὔτε ἑτέρα ἡ οὕτως πράττουσα. Ὥστε ὁ ἀπειθῶν ἀπειθείτω καὶ ὁ ἀνομῶν ἀνομείτω κατὰ τὸ γεγραμμένον. σὺ δὲ σῴζουσα σῷζε τὴν σεαυτῆς ψυχήν, μὴ προϊεμένη τοὺς νόμους τοῦ θεοῦ, ἀλλ' ἐρηρεισμένη ἐν ταῖς διδασκαλίαις τῶν ἁγίων, ὧν πρῶτος ἐν τούτοις ὁ Μέγας Βασίλειος, κἂν μετὰ δυοῖν ἢ τριῶν παρθένων φθάζῃς συζῆν· ὅπου γάρ εἰσι δύο ἢ τρεῖς ἐν τῷ ὀνόματί μου, φησὶν ὁ Κύριος, ἐκεῖ εἰμι ἐν μέσῳ αὐτῶν, οὐ μὴν μετὰ παρανομούντων, κἂν μυρίοι ὦσιν. 531 {1∆ωροθέῳ τέκνῳ}1 Ἔγνων, τέκνον ἠγαπημένον, καὶ ἐκ τῆς ἀρτίως γραφείσης σου ἐπιστολῆς τὸ πρὸς ἡμᾶς τοὺς ταπεινοὺς πιστόν τε καὶ ἀγαπητόν σου, ὅπερ ἐστὶ γνώρισμα ἀληθινῆς ὑποταγῆς, εἰ καὶ ἡμεῖς ἁμαρτωλοὶ καὶ οὐδαμινοί· ἐφ' ᾧ καὶ συντηρηθείης πρὸς τὸ ἑξῆς, εὐαρεστῶν Κυρίῳ καὶ διαλάμπων τῇ ἀρετῇ ἐν τῇ ἀδελφότητί σου, οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν ἄλλοις πολλοῖς. φύσιν γὰρ οὐκ ἔχει κρύπτεσθαι τὸ ἀγαθόν, ἀλλὰ καὶ μᾶλλον λανθάνειν δοκοῦν εὔδηλον τὸν ἐργάτην ἀποκαθίστησιν ὡς πόλιν θεοῦ χρηματίζειν κατὰ τὸ γεγραμμένον. Ἀλλὰ τοῦτο μὲν ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον. περὶ δὲ ἧς ἐσήμανας ὑποθέσεως, ἤγουν τοῦ ποιεῖν μνήμην τοῦ δεῖνος, ὀφείλεις ἐξ ἑαυτοῦ συνορᾶν ὅτι, εἰ μὲν ἐν τῷ θανάτῳ, προκοινωνῶν τῇ αἱρέσει διὰ φόβον ἀνθρώ πινον, ἔστη ἐξαγορεύων καὶ οἱονεὶ ἐπιτιμώμενος πρός τινος, εἶθ' οὕτως μετέλαβεν τῆς ὀρθοδόξου κοινωνίας καὶ ταύτῃ συναπέπτη, ἔχει φύσιν ἐν μνημοσύνοις τάττεσθαι ὀρθοδόξων, τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ ἡμῶν θεοῦ διὰ πολλὴν φιλανθρωπίαν ἐπ' αὐτῆς τῆς τελευταίας ὥρας δεχομένου τὸν μεταμελούμενον καὶ ὦδε αὐτὸν κρίνοντος. ὥστε, εἰ οὕτως ἐγένετο, ποιεῖσθαι λειτουργίας ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ πρὸς θεὸν οὐ παραιτητέον. εἰ δὲ