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But I, even if I have written before to your Holiness, I did not write with a view to an exchange of letters, because I do not judge myself worthy to be written to by such men and from so great a distance, but wishing to make known how great my own disposition is, I have done this and I do it, since spiritual longing not unreasonably compels me. But you, O divine and revered head to me, and ornament and summit of holy monks, have deigned to write in return to the unworthy one in a God-imitating manner, but also from the very address you have shown us so great a divine height of your humility, that our mind was astonished. O, the wonder! For if one so great and of such stature in the brilliance of his soul and having his virtue shining forth, comparable to this, as the facts themselves bear witness, places himself as inferior to me, who am nothing, what should I, who am altogether negligent and sluggish, call myself? And if the lamp of virtue should describe himself as a sinner, where will the sinner appear, as the sacred oracles say, or what will he answer? Therefore, even if nothing else had been written in your letter, this alone would have been sufficient both to astound the mind of the one receiving it and to proclaim the unsurpassable virtue of the one who sent it. But since this is an ancient custom for those who live piously and as dear to God, to continually despise and blame themselves, just as the patriarch Abraham, and Job the righteous, and Moses the God-seer, and the divine Jeremiah, David the forefather of God, and apostles and martyrs and all the rest of the list of saints from the ages, let us cease from wondering and give thanks to the Lord Jesus, who works until now with his own Father, both helping and leading pious souls to the summit of virtues, and refashioning and changing them with that beautiful Davidic change, which the unchangeable right hand of the Most High alone knows how to fashion; of which pray earnestly that we too may be deemed worthy, I beseech you, most holy father, even if what is asked is great and beyond us, or at least for now to find release from our failings from the man-loving God. May He be this to you, if it is at all right for us who are sinners to pray for the holy, granting you spiritual strength and abundant grace in all good things, goodness of manners, seemliness of character, participation in the enduring good things, the attainment of imperishable life, the illumination of the divine sun, and the partaking of all good things, and the enjoyment of the kingdom of heaven. 558 {1To Neophytus}1 Pleasant and longed-for syllables for us of your most beautiful love in Christ, O good Neophytus, O most thrice-beloved of friends and brothers, we received with upturned hands, this very proverbial saying, and having received them we read them, and having read them we gave thanks to the great providence of God, which most wisely and as no man could say steers and directs our affairs toward what is expedient, from which we learned that you were saved in good circumstances during your rest and enjoy pure health. For what is sweeter for us, or what is more delightful, than to hear such good news from you and about you, you who love us as your own eyes? And at the same time also, as through a kind of mirror of your most pleasant letter, having beheld with the spiritual eyes of the soul your longing for us, we were attached to you still more sincerely and more firmly and spiritually bound together, and we are held fast, clinging more to your friendly connection and relation than the ivy to the oak, or the nails to the flesh, or the octopuses to the rocks. And neither place nor time nor anything else at all will be able to separate us from your love, having as a helper for this Christ, the lawgiver of love, the cornerstone, the ruler and father of peace and concord, and the unifying and binding gift and grace of the Spirit. For even if place has separated us from one another physically, yet the pure and guileless manner of our friendship has spiritually joined us yet more, and

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Ἐγὼ δέ, εἰ καὶ προέγραψα πρὸς τὴν σὴν ἁγιωσύνην, ἀλλ' οὐ πρὸς ἀντίδοσιν γραμμάτων ἀποσκοπῶν ἔγραψα, ὅτι μηδὲ ἄξιον ἐμαυτὸν κρίνω παρὰ τοιούτων ἀνδρῶν καὶ ἐκ τοσούτου διαστήματος ἐπιστέλλεσθαι, ἀλλὰ τὴν ἐμαυτοῦ διάθεσιν ὅση βουλόμενος ἐκφᾶναι τοῦτο πεποίηκα καὶ ποιῶ, οὕτω με τοῦ πνευματικοῦ πόθου οὐκ ἀπεικότως βιαζομένου. αὐτὸς δέ, ὦ θεία μοι καὶ αἰδέσιμε κεφαλὴ καὶ μοναχῶν ὁσίων ἀγλάισμα καὶ ἀκρότης, ἀντεπιστεῖλαι ἠξίωσας τῷ ἀναξίῳ θεομιμήτως, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀπ' αὐτῆς τῆς προγραφῆς τοσοῦτον ἡμῖν τῆς ταπεινοφροσύνης σου τὸ θεῖον ὕψος ὑπέδειξας, ὡς καταπλαγῆναι ἡμῶν τὴν διάνοιαν. ὢ τοῦ θαύματος· εἰ γὰρ ὁ τοσοῦτος καὶ τηλικοῦτος τῇ τῆς ψυχῆς λαμπρότητι καὶ τῇδε συνισουμένην ἔχων τὴν ἀρετὴν ἀπαστράπτουσαν, ὡς αὐτὰ μαρτυρεῖ τὰ πράγματα, ἐμοῦ τοῦ οὐθενοῦς ὑποδεέστερον ἑαυτὸν τίθησι, ὁ παντάπασιν ἀμελὴς ἐγὼ καὶ νωθρὸς τί ἐμαυτὸν ὀνομάσαιμι; καὶ εἰ ὁ τῆς ἀρετῆς λαμπτὴρ ἁμαρτωλὸν ἑαυτὸν ὑπογράφοιεν, ὁ ἁμαρτωλὸς ποῦ φανεῖται, ὥς φησι τὰ ἱερὰ λόγια, ἢ τί ἀποκριθήσεται; ἄρα, εἰ καὶ μηδὲν ἕτερον ἐγέγραπτο τῇ σῇ ἐπιστολῇ, ἤρκει τοῦτο μόνον τοῦ τε δεχομένου τὸν νοῦν ἐκθαμβῆσαι καὶ τοῦ πεπομφότος τὸ ἀνυπέρβλητον ἐν ἀρετῇ θριαμ βεῦσαι. ἀλλ' ἐπειδήπερ ἔθος ἐστὶ τοῦτο ἀρχαῖον τοῖς εὐσεβῶς βιοῦσι καὶ ὡς θεῷ φίλον, τὸ διηνεκῶς ἑαυτοὺς ἐξουθενεῖν τε καὶ μέμφεσθαι, καθάπερ ὁ πατριάρχης Ἀβραάμ, Ἰώβ τε ὁ δίκαιος, ὁ θεόπτης τε Μωσῆς, Ἱερεμίας τε ὁ θεῖος, ∆αυὶδ ὁ θεοπάτωρ, ἀπόστολοί τε καὶ μάρτυρες καὶ πᾶς ὁ λοιπὸς τῶν ἀπ' αἰῶνος ἁγίων κατάλογος, ἀφέμενοι τοῦ θαυμάζειν εὐχαριστήσωμεν τῷ Κυρίῳ Ἰησοῦ, τῷ ἕως ἄρτι ἐργαζομένῳ σὺν ἰδίῳ γεννήτορι, βοηθοῦντί τε καὶ ἀνάγοντι ψυχὰς εὐσεβεῖς εἰς ἀρετῶν ἀκρώρειαν, ἀναπλάττοντί τε καὶ ἀλλοιοῦντι ταύτας τὴν καλὴν ἐκείνην ∆αυιτικὴν ἀλλοίωσιν, ἣν μόνην πλάττειν οἶδεν ἡ δεξιὰ τοῦ ὑψίστου ἡ ἀναλλοίωτος· ἧς καὶ ἡμᾶς ἀξιωθῆναι ὑπερεύχου, δυσωπῶ, ἁγιώτατε πάτερ, κἂν μέγα καὶ ὑπὲρ ἡμᾶς ἐστι τὸ αἰτούμενον, ἢ τέως κἂν γοῦν ἀμπλακημάτων λύσιν εὑρεῖν παρὰ τοῦ φιλανθρώπου θεοῦ. ὃς καὶ γένοιτό σοι, εἰ ὅλως χρὴ καὶ ἡμᾶς ἁμαρτωλοὺς ὄντας ὑπὲρ ὁσίων εὔχεσθαι, παρέχων σοι ἰσχὺν πνευματικὴν καὶ χάριν πλουσίαν ἐν πᾶσιν καλοῖς, χρηστότητα τρόπων, ἠθῶν εὐκοσμίαν, μενόντων ἀγαθῶν τὴν μέθεξιν, ἀνωλέθρου ζωῆς τὴν ἐπίτευξιν, ἡλίου θείου τὴν ἔλλαμψιν, πάντων τε καλῶν τὴν μετάληψιν καὶ βασιλείας οὐρανῶν τὴν ἀπόλαυσιν. 558 {1Νεοφύτῳ}1 Ἡδείας καὶ ποθεινὰς ἡμῖν συλλαβὰς τῆς ἐν Χριστῷ σου καλλίστης ἀγάπης, ὦ καλὲ Νεόφυτε, ὦ τρισερασμιώτατε φίλων καὶ ἀδελφῶν, ἐδεξάμεθα χερσὶν ὑπτίαις, τοῦτο δὴ τὸ παροιμιῳδούμενον, καὶ δεξάμενοι ἀνεγνώκαμεν καὶ ἀναγνόντες χάριν ἔσχομεν τῇ μεγάλῃ θεοῦ προνοίᾳ, τῇ σοφώτατα καὶ ὡς οὐκ ἄν τις εἴποι ἀνθρώπων τὰ ἡμέτερα πρὸς τὸ συμφέρον πηδαλιουχούσῃ καὶ διεξαγούσῃ, ἐν καλοῖς κατὰ τὴν ἄνεσιν ἀποσωθέντας καὶ οἷς ὅτι καθαρᾶς ὑγείας ἀπολαύοντας ἀνεμάθομεν. τί γὰρ ἡδύτερον ἡμῖν, τί δὲ χαριέστερον τοῦ τοιαῦτα εὐαγγελισθῆναι ἀφ' ὑμῶν καὶ περὶ ὑμῶν, τῶν ἴσα καὶ ὀφθαλμοῖς φιλούντων ἡμᾶς; ἅμα δὲ καὶ ὥσπερ διά τινος κατόπτρου τῆς ἡδίστης σου γραφῆς τοῖς νοεροῖς τῆς ψυχῆς ὄμμασι κατοπτεύσαντές σου τὸν πρὸς ἡμᾶς πόθον εἰλικρινέστερον καὶ βεβαιότερον ἔτι μᾶλλόν σοι προσετέθημεν καὶ πνευματικῶς συνεδέθημεν καὶ μᾶλλον σου τῆς φιλικῆς συναφείας καὶ σχέσεως ἐξεχόμενοι περιεχόμεθα ἡμεῖς ἢ τῆς δρυὸς ὁ κισσὸς ἢ οἱ ὄνυχες τῶν σαρκῶν ἢ τῶν πετρῶν οἱ πολύποδες. καὶ οὔτε τόπος οὔτε χρόνος οὔτ' ἄλλο τι τῶν ἁπάντων ὅλως δυνήσεται διαστῆσαι ἡμᾶς τῆς σῆς ἀγαπήσεως, συνέριθον κεκτημένοι πρὸς τοῦτο τὸν νομοθέτην τῆς ἀγάπης Χριστόν, τὸν ἀκρογωνιαῖον λίθον, τὸν τῆς εἰρήνης καὶ ὁμονοίας πρύτανιν καὶ πατέρα, τήν τε ἑνοποιὸν καὶ συνδετικὴν δωρεὰν καὶ χάριν τοῦ Πνεύματος. εἰ γὰρ καὶ ὁ τόπος σωματικῶς ἡμᾶς ἀπ' ἀλλήλων διέστησεν, ἀλλ' ὁ καθαρὸς τῆς φιλίας τρόπος καὶ ἄδολος πνευματικῶς ἐπὶ πλέον συνῆψέ τε καὶ