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while they were being imprisoned and starved, we were living in security. How then should we not consider these things and lament because of them? How shall I be, says Basil the Great, with Job, I who have not accepted even the slightest affliction with thanksgiving? How shall I be with each of the saints, I who have not walked in their footsteps? Do you see, brethren, what sort of terrors, what sort of distances? What, he says, will it profit a man, if he gains the whole world, but forfeits his soul? Is this not the voice of the Lord? Therefore let us fear and tremble, and for our former deeds let us still pray for forgiveness, and let us walk uprightly towards the things that are to come, not being tripped up at all nor limping on both knees according to what is written, but journeying straight in the commandments of God, keeping the faith pure, the way of life unadulterated, so that we may inherit not fields and vineyards and fig trees and all the things of this mortal and corruptible life, but the good things in the promises, eternal life, the kingdom of heaven; for may the opposite outcome from opposite deeds be far from both our thoughts and our words. Peace to you, brethren in the Lord; be at peace with one another, be pleased to pray for us sinners. 544 {1To Joseph, abbot of the Keramenoi}1 Even before the arrival of the good Sergius, we were informed of your grief for the blessed metropolitan, O most honored brethren, and how much we groaned, and we might add even wept, the knower of secrets knows, since the father was common to both you and us and a faithful friend, that which is sought by all and rarely found. Oh, how has an unshakable pillar of the church fallen, how has a light for those in darkness and your own special radiance been extinguished? A sweet-speaking tongue has fallen silent, a most prudent mind has departed, a bulwark of faith has been withdrawn, a champion of churches, a gentle word, a persuasive voice, everything that is good and is sung and known about the man. And we have become (I do not speak of you alone, but also the whole body of the orthodox) orphans upon previous orphanhoods; this blessed father has been taken first, another followed, another flew away with them, almost all the luminaries of the faithful have set completely, with few remaining. And heaven is gloomy, enveloped in cloud, and the church is now especially gloomy, having lost its stars. Nevertheless, the sun of righteousness has taken the stars, who departed this life with a blessed end, and he himself promised to be with us until the end of the age; so that, even if the present circumstances are sorrowful, yet they are again full of joy because of the hope that we have our fathers as defenders before God, watching over us mercifully from above and inclining His goodness to compassion for us. Now the discourse must be turned to you. You are not a flock at a loss, O brethren; for your good chief shepherd, the namesake of the blessed apostle Peter, has already formed and instructed you, and while still living appointed a leader for you and arranged everything that was needed; and for a whole year, as if already departing, each day uttering valedictory words, he prepared each one. And it is a matter for prayer that affairs might not turn out otherwise according to the difficulty of the time, but that both you and they might remain as he arranged. However, if it should go the opposite way, you are not for this reason to abandon the truth, but, as he also commanded in writing, to consider all things as refuse for Christ’s sake and not to betray the principles of faith and truth. These things must be said to all of you, but chiefly to you, the lord abbot, since as is the ruler, so the ruled are wont to become. And indeed we have once been caught in heretical communion out of regard for visible things; let us not again, we beg and remind you, for the sake of monasteries, and vineyards and olive groves and fig trees, which a little later we too like our fathers will leave behind (and we will leave them behind for ages), betray

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φυλακιζομένων καὶ λιμοκτονουμένων ἡμεῖς ἐν ἀδείᾳ διήγομεν. πῶς οὖν οὐκ ἐνθυμητέον ταῦτα καὶ διὰ τάδε ὀδυρτέον; πῶς ἔσομαι, φησὶν ὁ Μέγας Βασίλειος, μετὰ Ἰώβ, ὁ μηδὲ τὴν τυχοῦσαν θλῖψιν μετ' εὐχαιστίας δεξάμενος; πῶς δὲ μεθ' ἑκάστου τῶν ἁγίων, ὁ μὴ τοῖς ἴχνεσιν αὐτῶν ἐμπολιτευσάμενος; Ὁρᾶτε, ἀδελφοί, οἷοι οἱ φοβερισμοί, οἷα τὰ διαστήματα; τί, φησίν, ὠφελήσει ἄνθρωπος, ἐὰν ὅλον τὸν κόσμον κερδήσῃ, τὴν δὲ ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ ζημιωθῇ; οὐχὶ τοῦ Κυρίου φωνὴ αὕτη; οὐκοῦν φοβηθῶμεν καὶ τρομάξωμεν, καὶ περὶ μέντοι τῶν προτέρων δεηθῶμεν ἔτι τὴν συγχώρησιν, πρός τε τὰ ἑξῆς βαδιούμεθα ὀρθοποδοῦντες, μηδόλως σκελιζόμενοι μηδὲ ἐπ' ἀμφοτέραις ταῖς ἰγνύαις χωλανοῦντες κατὰ τὸ γεγραμμένον, ἀλλ' εὐθυποροῦντες ἐν ταῖς ἐντολαῖς τοῦ θεοῦ, τὴν πίστιν ἀκραιφνῆ, τὴν πολιτείαν ἀκίβδηλον συντηροῦντες, ἵνα κληρονομήσωμεν οὐκ ἀγροὺς καὶ ἀμπελῶνας καὶ συκᾶς καὶ ὅσα τῆς ἐπικήρου καὶ φθειρομένης ζωῆς, ἀλλὰ τὰ ἐν ἐπαγγελίαις ἀγαθά, τὴν ζωὴν τὴν αἰώνιον, τὴν βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν· τὸ γὰρ ἐναντίον ἐκ τῶν ἐναντίων πράξεων ἀπάντημα ἀπείη καὶ ἐννοεῖν καὶ λέγειν. Εἰρήνη ὑμῖν, ἀδελφοὶ ἐν Κυρίῳ· εἰρηνεύετε ἐν ἀλλήλοις, εὔχεσθαι ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν τῶν ἁμαρτωλῶν παρακλήθητε. 544 {1Ἰωσὴφ καθηγουμένῳ τῶν Κεραμένων}1 Καὶ πρὸ τῆς ἐλεύσεως τοῦ καλοῦ Σεργίου ἠκουτίσθη ἡμῖν τὸ περὶ τὸν μακάριον μητροπολίτην πένθος ὑμῶν, ὦ ἀδελφοὶ τιμιώτατοι, καὶ ὅσον ἐστενάξαμεν, προσθείημεν δ' ἂν καὶ ἐδακρύσαμεν, οἶδεν ὁ τῶν ἀφανῶν γνώστης, ἐπειδὴ κοινὸς ὁ πατὴρ καὶ ὑμῶν καὶ ἡμῶν φίλος τε πιστός, τὸ παρὰ πᾶσι ζητούμενον καὶ σπάνιον εὑρισκόμενον. ὤ, πῶς κατέπεσε στῦλος τῆς ἐκκλησίας ἀκράδαντος, πῶς δὲ ἀπεσβέσθη φῶς τῶν ἐν σκότει καὶ τὸ ὑμέτερον ἰδιαίτατον αὔγασμα; σεσίγηκε γλῶσσα ἡδυεπής, ᾤχετο νοῦς ἐμφρονέστατος, ὑπεσπάσθη ἔρεισμα πίστεως, πρόμαχος ἐκκλησιῶν, μειλίχιος λόγος, πειθήνιος φωνή, πᾶν ὅσον καλὸν καὶ ᾄδεται περὶ τοῦ ἀνδρὸς καὶ γνωρίζεται. καὶ γεγόναμεν (οὐ λέγω τὸ ὑμῶν μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ κατὰ τὸ τῶν ὀρθοδόξων πλήρωμα) ὀρφανοὶ ἐπὶ προλαβούσαις ὀρφανίαις· προύλαβεν ὅσδε ὁ μακάριος πατήρ, ἐπηκολούθησεν ἕτερος, συναπέπτη ἄλλος, σχεδὸν πάντες οἱ φωστῆρες τῶν πιστῶν ἔδυσαν κομιδῇ ὀλίγων ἐναπολειφθέντων. καὶ στυγνάζει μὲν ὁ οὐρανός, νέφει περιεχόμενος, στυγνάζει δὲ ὅτι μάλιστα ἡ ἐκκλησία νῦν, τοὺς ἀστέρας αὐτῆς ἀποβεβληκυῖα. πλὴν ὅμως ὁ τῆς δικαιοσύνης ἥλιος εἴληφε τοὺς ἀστέρας, μακαρίῳ τέλει ἀποβιώσαντας, καὶ αὐτὸς ὑπέσχετο ἕως συντελείας τοῦ αἰῶνος ἔσεσθαι μεθ' ἡμῶν· ὥστε, εἰ καὶ λυπηρὰ τὰ παρόντα, ἀλλὰ πάλιν περιχαρῆ διὰ τὴν ἐλπίδα ὅτι ἔχομεν εἰς θεὸν τοὺς πατέρας ἡμῶν ὑπερασπιστάς, ἄνωθεν ἐποπτεύοντας ἡμᾶς ἵλεως καὶ κάμπτοντας εἰς τὸν περὶ ἡμᾶς οἶκτον τὴν αὐτοῦ ἀγαθότητα. Λοιπὸν ἐφ' ὑμῖν ἐπιστρετέος ὁ λόγος. οὐ ποίμνιόν ἐστε ἠπορημένον, ὦ ἀδελφοί· ὁ γὰρ καλὸς ἀρχιποιμὴν ὑμῶν, ὁ τοῦ μακαρίου Πέτρου τοῦ ἀποστόλου ὁμώνυμος, ἤδη καὶ ἐτύπωσεν καὶ ἐστοιχείωσεν, ἔτι τε ζῶν ἡγούμενον ὑμῖν προεστήσατο καὶ πᾶν ὁτιοῦν ὀφειλόμενον διετάξατο· καὶ ὅλον ἐνιαυτὸν ὡς ἤδη ἀπαίρων καθ' ἑκάστην ἡμέραν τοὺς συντακτηρίους λόγους ἐπιφωνῶν κατήρτισεν ἕνα ἕκαστον. καὶ εὐχῆς μὲν ἔργον μὴ κατὰ τὴν δυσκολίαν τοῦ χρόνου ἄλλως ἀπαντήσοι τὰ πράγματα, ἀλλ' ὡς διετάξατο διαμεῖναι καὶ ὑμᾶς καὶ αὐτά. οὐ μήν, εἰ δι' ἐναντίας ἔλθοι, τούτου χάριν προέσθαι ὑμᾶς τὴν ἀλήθειαν, ἀλλά, καθὼς κἀκεῖνος διετάξατο ἐγγράφως, πάντα σκύβαλα ἡγήσασθαι διὰ Χριστὸν καὶ μὴ προδοῦναι τοὺς περὶ πίστεως καὶ ἀληθείας λόγους. Ταῦτα μὲν πᾶσιν ὑμῖν λεκτέον, προηγουμένως δὲ σοί, τῷ κυρίῳ καθηγεμόνι, ἐπειδὴ οἷον τὸ ἄρχον καὶ τὸ ἀρχόμενον πέφυκε γίνεσθαι. καί γε ἅπαξ ἑαλώκαμεν ἐπὶ τῇ αἱρετικῇ κοινωνίᾳ φειδοῖ τῶν ὁρω μένων, μὴ πάλιν, δεόμεθα καὶ ὑπομνήσκομεν, διὰ μοναστήρια, ἀμπελῶνάς τε καὶ ἐλαιῶνας καὶ συκῶνας, ἃ μικρὸν ὕστερον καὶ ἡμεῖς ὡς οἱ πατέρες ἡμῶν καταλείψομεν (καὶ καταλείψομεν εἰς αἰῶνας), προδῶμεν