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the strictness of the profession and we be defiled by the heterodox communion, looking around at the crooked examples on every side. These things will not come to our aid in the time of death, in the hour of judgment, but a good conscience and an irreproachable way of life will. And we urge these things not as wishing you to suffer anything terrible, but as brothers choosing to help brothers according to the commandment which orders it. Since we both pity and have compassion on the lord Gregory, our spiritual brother, as one who has already grown splendidly old and is such a man as you know both from his worldly duties and from his spiritual achievements, even though with Christ-imitating humility he has preferred to bear all things rather than to do anything contrary to the patristic definitions. May the peace of God be granted to you, which he uttered to his holy apostles as he was departing into the heavens, and indeed also love for one another; for by this, he says, all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. Be of good cheer, my lord the hegumen, the lord Gregory himself, then each one of the rest, all of you recovering from grief and making as it were a new way for your spiritual struggle, praying also for us the humble for better things and things that pertain to salvation. 545 {1To Euthymius of Sardis}1 You indeed, O blessed one, employing your customary humility, do not cease to dignify us the unhonored; but we know you as truly both a foundation of the word and a buttress of the church, and especially now, when so-and-so and so-and-so have left us, the illustrious fathers, the glory of the orthodox, and as almost a single torch you shine out beyond the subdued spirits in the city, on the one hand enlightening many who are short-sighted from a lack of light, and on the other hand bringing more to God through your honey-dropping teaching which floods like some stream. But may you be preserved for us still, O thrice-longed-for one, and not only for us but also for the whole church for a support and a divine exultation. But concerning the presbyter about whom you commanded us to report in such and such a way, we know that he is both alive and has been ransomed from barbarian captivity, having learned everything from the man himself. But the man is not willing, or rather does not endure to be regulated by our rule; for you know, God-honored one, that by a common vote of the confessors both those still on earth and those who have recently departed to the Lord, it has been determined that ordained men who have once been captured by the heretical communion are to be excluded from sacred ministry, until, clearly, the time of a visitation from providence above. And how could we be able to abrogate the canon and, through the reception of this one man, establish a law for all those previously excluded, and in this on the one hand act contrary to our divine and founding guide, because he does not even endure simply to bless a common meal for such men, much less to perform anything more in a priestly capacity, and on the other hand scandalize the other confessors and introduce discord among those who hold to strictness? And if some perhaps have already by their own judgment, due to the straits of the time and the compulsion of those seeking it, released some of the presbyters after their penance, for us it is in no way possible to accomplish this without our superior, because the reason for the exclusion must be considered to be sound. For where would the difference appear between those who betrayed the truth and those who did not, between those who contended nobly and those who in no way chose to suffer for the good? And where is Christ and Belial, the light and the darkness, if all things are mixed together and there is a judgment before a synodical judgment and peace before peace? This is to be abjured, O most excellent of fathers, as it seems to us at least, and we might say, and to the truth; Sufficient for such a one is this punishment by the majority, as the apostle says, so that such a one may not be swallowed up by excessive grief. Nevertheless, he is not to be promoted to the rank from which he was excluded because of his transgression until the proper time, so that both the nature of the offense may be punished still more strikingly and the manner of his restoration may be indicated, having what is sufficient through the anticipation, even if

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τὴν ἀκρίβειαν τοῦ ἐπαγγέλματος καὶ χρανθῶμεν τῇ ἑτεροδόξῳ κοινωνίᾳ, τὰ σκαμβὰ ὑποδείγματα κυκλόθεν περιβλέποντες. οὐ προστήσεται ἡμῖν ἐν καιρῷ θανάτου, ἐν ὥρᾳ κρίσεως εἰς βοήθειαν ταῦτα, ἀλλὰ τὸ χρηστὸν συνειδὸς καὶ ἡ ἀκατάγνωστος πολιτεία. καὶ ταῦτα οὐχ ὡς βουλόμενοι ὑμᾶς πάσχειν τι δεινὸν προτρεπόμεθα, ἀλλ' ὡς ἀδελφοὶ ἀδελφοῖς βοηθεῖν προαιρούμενοι κατὰ τὴν κελεύουσαν ἐντολήν. ἐπεὶ καὶ κατελεοῦμεν καὶ οἰκτείρομεν τὸν κύριον Γρηγόριον, τὸν πνευματικὸν ἡμῶν ἀδελφόν, ὡς ἤδη λιπαρῶς γεγηρακότα καὶ τοιοῦτον ὄντα οἷον ἴστε ἀπό τε τῶν σαρκικῶν καθηκόντων καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν πνευματικῶν κατορθωμάτων, εἰ καὶ ὅτι χριστομιμήτῳ ταπεινώσει οἴσειν πάντα προέκρινεν ἤ τι ἐναντίον τῶν πατρικῶν ὁρισμῶν διαπράξασθαι. Χαρισθείη ὑμῖν ἡ εἰρήνη τοῦ θεοῦ, ἥνπερ ἐπεφθέγξατο τοῖς ἁγίοις αὐτοῦ ἀποστόλοις ἀπαίρων ἐν οὐρανοῖς, ἀλλὰ μὴν καὶ ἡ εἰς ἀλλήλους ἀγάπη· ἐν τούτῳ γάρ, φησί, γνώσονται πάντες ὅτι ἐμοὶ μαθηταί ἐστε, ἐὰν ἀγάπην ἔχητε ἐν ἀλλήλοις. εὐθύμει, ὁ κύριος ὁ ἡγούμενος, αὐτὸς ὁ κύριος Γρηγόριος, εἶτα εἷς ἕκαστος τῶν ἑξῆς, ἀνανεύοντες ἅπαντες ἀπὸ τῆς λύπης καὶ ὁδοποιοῦντες ὥσπερ νέαν τινὰ ὁδὸν τὸν πνευματικὸν ὑμῶν ἀγῶνα, προσευχόμενοι καὶ περὶ ἡμῶν τῶν ταπεινῶν τὰ κρείττονα καὶ ἐχόμενα σωτηρίας. 545 {1Εὐθυμίῳ Σάρδησ}1 Σὺ μέν, ὦ μακάριε, τῇ συνήθει ταπεινοφροσύνῃ χρώμενος, οὐ διαλιμπάνεις ἀποσεμνύνειν ἡμᾶς τοὺς ἀγεράστους· ἡμεῖς δέ σε ἴσμεν ὡς ἀληθῶς καὶ κρηπῖδα τοῦ λόγου καὶ ἔρεισμα τῆς ἐκκλησίας, καὶ μάλιστά γε ἄρτι, ὁπηνίκα ἀπολελοίπασιν ἡμᾶς ὁ δεῖνα καὶ ὁ δεῖνα, οἱ διαφανεῖς πατέρες, τὸ κλέος τῶν ὀρθοδόξων, καὶ ὡς εἷς σχεδὸν πυρσὸς ὑπερλάμπων τῶν ὑφειμένων διαθέεις τῶν ἐν ἄστει, πολλοὺς μὲν φωτίζων μυωπάζοντας ἐκ φωτολειψίας, πλείους δὲ προσάγων τῷ θεῷ διὰ τῆς ἐπικλυζούσης οἷον ῥεύματί τινι μελισταγοῦς διδαχῆς σου. Ἀλλὰ φυλαχθείης ἡμῖν ἔτι, ὦ τριπόθητε, οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ πάσῃ τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ εἰς στηριγμόν τε καὶ θεῖον ἀγαλλίαμα. περὶ οὗ δὲ πρεσβυτέρου ἐκέλευσας σημᾶναι οὕτως καὶ οὕτως, εἶναί τε καὶ ἐκλελυτρῶσθαι τῆς βαρβαρικῆς αἰχμαλωσίας συνίσμεν, πρὸς αὐτοῦ τούτου ἕκαστα ἐκμεμαθηκότες. ἀλλ' ὁ ἀνὴρ οὐ βούλεται εἴτουν οὐκ ἀνέχεται τῷ καθ' ἡμᾶς τύπῳ κεκανονίσθαι· οἶσθα γάρ, θεοτίμητε, ὅτι κοινῇ ψήφῳ τῶν τε ἔτι ὑπὲρ γῆν ὄντων καὶ τῶν ἔναγχος ἐκδημησάντων πρὸς Κύριον ὁμολογητῶν τοὺς ἅπαξ ἑαλωκότας τῇ αἱρετικῇ κοινωνίᾳ ἱερωμένους εἶρχθαι τῆς ἱερουργίας διώρισται, ἕως δῆλον ὅτι καιροῦ ἐπισκοπῆς τῆς ἄνωθεν προνοίας. καὶ πῶς ἂν δυνηθείημεν λῦσαι τὸν κανόνα καὶ διὰ τῆς τοῦ ἑνὸς παραδοχῆς νόμον ἐπὶ ἅπαντας τοὺς προειργομένους ἀποῖσαι κἀν τούτῳ ὑπεναντία μὲν δρᾶσαι τῷ θείῳ ἡμῶν καὶ πρωτάρχῳ καθηγεμόνι, ὅτι μηδὲ ἁπλῶς αὐτὸς τοὺς τοιούτους εὐλογεῖν κοινὴν βρῶσιν ἀνέχεται, μὴ ὅτι γε πλέον τι ἐνεργεῖν ἱερατικῶς, τοὺς ἄλλους τε τῶν ὁμολογητῶν σκανδαλίσαι καὶ ὑποῖσαι διχόνοιαν τοὺς ἀκριβείας ἀντεχομένους; κἄν τινες ἴσως ἔφθασαν τῇ κατ' αὐτοὺς διακρίσει διὰ τὸ στενὸν τοῦ χρόνου καὶ τὸ τῶν ἐπιζητούντων ἀναγκαστικὸν τινὰς τῶν πρεσβυτέρων μετὰ τὴν ἐπιτιμίαν ἀπολελυκέναι, ἡμῖν δὲ οὐδαμῶς τοῦτο κατεργάσασθαι ἄτερ τοῦ προέδρου, ὅτι καὶ νομιστέον εὖ ἔχειν τὸν λόγον τῆς καθείρξεως. ποῦ γὰρ φανείη τὸ διάφορον τῶν προδωσάντων τὴν ἀλήθειαν καὶ μή, τῶν γενναίως ἐνηθληκότων καὶ μηδαμῶς ἑλομένων ὑπὲρ τοῦ καλοῦ τληπαθεῖν; καὶ ποῦ ὁ Χριστὸς καὶ ὁ Βελίαρ, τὸ φῶς καὶ τὸ σκότος, εἴπερ ἀναμὶξ τὰ πάντα καὶ πρὸ κρίσεως συνοδικῆς κρίσις καὶ πρὸ εἰρήνης εἰρήνη; ἀπώμοτον τοῦτο, ὦ πατέρων κράτιστε, ὡς ἡμῖν γε δοκεῖ, εἴποιμεν δ'ἄν, καὶ τῇ ἀληθείᾳ· ἀρκετόν γε τῷ τοιούτῳ ἡ ἐπιτιμία αὕτη ἡ ὑπὸ τῶν πλειόνων, ὥς φησιν ὁ ἀπόστολος, ὡς ἂν μὴ τῇ περισσοτέρᾳ λύπῃ καταποθῇ ὁ τοιοῦτος. οὐ μὴν προακτέον εἰς τὸν ἀφ' οὗ εἴρχθη διὰ τὴν παράβασιν βαθμὸν ἕως τοῦ δέοντος καιροῦ, ἵνα καὶ τὸ τοῦ πλημμεληθέντος εἶδος ἔτι κολάζοιτο παραπληκτικώτερον καὶ ὁ τῆς ὑγιώσεως τρόπος ὑποφαίνοιτο, διὰ τῆς προλήψεως τὸ ἱκανὸν ἔχων, εἰ καὶ ὅτι