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let him act with drunken insolence, insulting the holy virgin. For may it not be, she was not joined to flesh after the childbearing, nor before the childbearing of the savior. 24. And having considered these few things among ourselves we have written for those who wish to learn the truth of the scripture and not to act with drunken insolence in their words in vain and to arm themselves with a blasphemous tongue. But if some wish to cling to and not accept what is beneficial, but rather the opposite, then even from us, the humble, will be said, "Let the one who hears, hear, and the one who disobeys, disobey," lest someone "give trouble to the apostles," nor to us any longer. For what we knew to be more venerable and beneficial for the church, these things we have said about the holy virgin, advocating for her who is in all things full of grace, as Gabriel said, "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you." And if the Lord is with her, how will she be in another union? And how will she be, approaching flesh, who is guarded by the Lord? The saints are in honor, their rest in glory, their departure from here in perfection, their lot in blessedness, in holy mansions, their chorus with angels, their way of life in heaven, their citizenship in the divine scriptures, their fame in incomparable 3.475 and everlasting honor, their prizes in Christ Jesus our Lord, through whom and with whom be glory to the Father with the Holy Spirit for ever. Amen. All the brothers greet you, and you also greet all the faithful orthodox brothers among you, who detest arrogance, who hate the communion and idle talk of Arians and Sabellians, but who honor consubstantially the Trinity, Father and Son and Holy Spirit, three hypostases, one substance and one divinity and simply one doxology, and who are not mistaken concerning the salvific economy and incarnate presence of our savior, but who believe completely in the incarnation of Christ, perfect God, the same perfect man without sin, having taken the body itself from Mary and having taken a soul and a mind and everything that a man is, without sin, not being two, but one Lord, one God, one king, one high priest, God and man, man and God, not two, but one, united not into a confusion, nor into non-existence, but into a great economy of grace. Farewell. And being satisfied with the well-composed copy of the letter, judging it sufficient thus far against their opposition, and having overcome this in God as a serpent emerging from its hole, through the wise teaching and power of God, which like storax breathes forth fragrance in the world for the virtue * and of the holy children of virginity, beginning from the holy Mary through the one from her who caused light to dawn on the world, having refuted them and exposed the evil venom of their serpentine wickedness, let us proceed again to the others for the completion of the whole treatise in God. - - - Against the Collyridians who make offerings to Mary, 59th, and of the sequel, 79th. 1. Next after this, another heresy has come into repute, about which we have already mentioned a few things in the one before this, through the letter written to Arabia concerning Mary. And this heresy again was manifested in Arabia, from Thrace and the upper parts of Scythia, 3.476 and was brought to our hearing; which is also itself ridiculous and found to be full of mockery by the discerning. Let us begin, then, to speak about it and to relate the matters concerning it; for this will be judged as foolishness rather than of understanding, just as others similar to it were. For just as above, those who thought to suspect these things greatly sowed harmful suspicions in the reasonings of men through their insolence toward Mary, so also these, leaning to the other side, are caught in an extremity of harm, so that that saying, sung by some of the pagan philosophers, will also be fulfilled in them, namely, "extremes are equalities." For the harm in both these heresies is equal, of the one side

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ἐμπαροινείτω ἐξυβρίζων τὴν ἁγίαν παρθένον. μὴ γὰρ γένοιτο, οὐ συνήφθη σαρκὶ μετὰ τὴν κύησιν, οὐδὲ πρὸ τῆς κυήσεως τοῦ σωτῆρος. 24. Καὶ ταῦτα μὲν τὰ ὀλίγα εἰς ἑαυτοὺς διασκοπήσαντες ἐγράψαμεν τοῖς βουλομένοις καταμαθεῖν τῆς γραφῆς τὴν ἀλήθειαν καὶ μὴ μάτην παροινεῖν τοῖς λόγοις καὶ βλάσφημόν τινα ἑαυτοῖς ἐξοπλίζεσθαι γλῶτταν. εἰ δὲ βούλονταί τινες ἀντέχεσθαι οὐδὲ καταδέχεσθαι τὰ ἐπωφελῆ, ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον τἀναντία, καὶ ἀφ' ἡμῶν τῶν εὐτελῶν ἔσται ῥητέον τὸ «ὁ ἀκούων ἀκουέτω, καὶ ὁ ἀπειθῶν ἀπειθείτω», μή τις τοῖς ἀποστόλοις «κόπον παρεχέτω», μήτε ἡμῖν μηκέτι. ἃ γὰρ ᾔδειμεν σεμνότερα καὶ ἐπωφελῆ τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ, ταῦτα περὶ τῆς ἁγίας παρθένου εἰρήκαμεν, συνηγοροῦντες τῇ κατὰ πάντα κεχαριτωμένῃ, ὡς εἶπεν ὁ Γαβριήλ «χαῖρε κεχαριτωμένη, ὁ κύριος μετὰ σοῦ». εἰ δὲ ὁ κύριος μετ' αὐτῆς, πῶς ἔσται ἐν συζυγίᾳ ἑτέρᾳ; πῶς δὲ σαρκὶ πλησιάζουσα ἔσται, ὑπὸ κυρίου φυλαττομένη; οἱ ἅγιοι ἐν τιμῇ, ἡ ἀνάπαυσις αὐτῶν ἐν δόξῃ, ἡ ἀπεντεῦθεν αὐτῶν ἐκδημία ἐν τελειότητι, ὁ κλῆρος αὐτῶν ἐν μακαριότητι, ἐν μοναῖς ἁγίαις, ὁ χορὸς μετ' ἀγγέλων, ἡ δίαιτα ἐν οὐρανῷ, τὸ πολίτευμα ἐν θείαις γραφαῖς, τὸ κλέος ἐν τιμῇ ἀσυνεικάστῳ 3.475 καὶ διηνεκεῖ, τὰ βραβεῖα ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ τῷ κυρίῳ ἡμῶν, δι' οὗ καὶ μεθ' οὗ δόξα τῷ πατρὶ σὺν ἁγίῳ πνεύματι εἰς αἰῶνας. ἀμήν. Προσαγορεύουσιν ὑμᾶς πάντες οἱ ἀδελφοί, προσείπατε δὲ καὶ αὐτοὶ πάντας τοὺς παρ' ὑμῖν ἀδελφοὺς πιστοὺς ὀρθοδόξους, στυγοῦντας ὑπερηφανίαν, μισοῦντας κοινωνίαν Ἀρειανῶν καὶ Σαβελλιανῶν ἐρεσχελίαν, τιμῶντας δὲ ὁμοουσίως τὴν τριάδα, πατέρα καὶ υἱὸν καὶ ἅγιον πνεῦμα, τρεῖς ὑποστάσεις, μίαν οὐσίαν καὶ θεότητα μίαν καὶ ἁπαξαπλῶς μίαν δοξολογίαν, καὶ μὴ σφαλλομένους περὶ τὴν τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν σωτήριον οἰκονομίαν καὶ ἔνσαρκον παρουσίαν, ἀλλὰ πιστεύοντας τελείως τὴν Χριστοῦ ἐνανθρώπησιν, τέλειον θεόν, τέλειον τὸν αὐτὸν ἄνθρωπον χωρὶς ἁμαρτίας, λαβόντα αὐτὸ τὸ σῶμα ἀπὸ Μαρίας καὶ ψυχὴν λαβόντα καὶ νοῦν καὶ πάντα εἴ τί ἐστιν ἄνθρωπος χωρὶς ἁμαρτίας, οὐ δύο ὄντα, ἀλλ' ἕνα κύριον, ἕνα θεόν, ἕνα βασιλέα, ἕνα ἀρχιερέα, θεὸν καὶ ἄνθρωπον, ἄνθρωπον καὶ θεόν, οὐ δύο, ἀλλ' ἕνα, συνενωθέντα οὐκ εἰς σύγχυσιν, οὐδ' εἰς ἀνυπαρξίαν, ἀλλ' εἰς μεγάλην χάριτος οἰκονομίαν. ἔρρωσθε. Τῷ δὲ τῆς ἐπιστολῆς ἀντιγράφῳ ἀρκεσθέντες καλῶς ἔχοντι, πρὸς τὴν τούτων ἀντίθεσιν ἕως ὧδε ἱκανῶς ἔχειν δοκιμάζοντες καὶ ταύτην ἐν θεῷ ὑπερβεβηκότες ὡς ἑρπετὸν ἀπὸ ὀπῆς προκῦψαν, διὰ συνετῆς θεοῦ διδασκαλίας τε καὶ δυνάμεως, τῆς ὡς στύρακος πνεούσης εὐοδμίαν ἐν κόσμῳ ἐπ' ἀρετῇ * καὶ ἁγίων παίδων τῆς παρθενίας, ἀπὸ Μαρίας ἀρξαμένης τῆς ἁγίας διὰ τοῦ ἐξ αὐτῆς φῶς τῷ κόσμῳ ἀνατείλαντος, διελέγξαντες καὶ τὸν κακὸν ἰὸν τῆς ἑρπετώδους μοχθηρίας αὐτῶν ἐπιδείξαντες, ἐπὶ τὰς ἑτέρας πάλιν βαδίσωμεν εἰς τελείωσιν τῆς πάσης ἐν θεῷ πραγματείας. - - - Κατὰ Κολλυριδιανῶν τῶν τῇ Μαρίᾳ προσφερόντων ˉνˉθ, τῆς δὲ ἀκολουθίας ˉοˉθ. 1. Ἑξῆς δὲ ταύτῃ ἄλλη εἰς φήμην πέφηνεν αἵρεσις, περὶ ἧς ἤδη ὑπεμνήσαμεν ὀλίγα ἐν τῇ πρὸ ταύτης, διὰ τῆς εἰς Ἀραβίαν γραφείσης ἐπιστολῆς τῆς περὶ τῆς Μαρίας ἐχούσης. καὶ αὐτὴ δὲ ἡ αἵρεσις πάλιν ἐν τῇ Ἀραβίᾳ ἀπὸ τῆς Θρᾴκης καὶ τῶν ἄνω μερῶν τῆς Σκυθίας ἀνεδείχθη 3.476 καὶ εἰς ἡμῶν ἀκοὰς ἀνηνέχθη· ἥτις ἐστὶ καὶ αὐτὴ γελοῖος καὶ χλεύης ἔμπλεως παρὰ τοῖς συνετοῖς εὑρισκομένη. ἀρξώμεθα γοῦν περὶ αὐτῆς φρᾶσαι καὶ τὰ κατ' αὐτὴν διηγήσασθαι· εὐηθείας γὰρ μᾶλλον κριθήσεται ἤπερ συνέσεως αὕτη, καθὼς καὶ ἄλλαι ὅμοιαι ταύτῃ ἦσαν. ὡς γὰρ ἄνω πολὺ διὰ τῆς πρὸς Μαρίαν ὕβρεως οἱ δόξαντες ταῦτα ὑπονοεῖν βλαβερὰς ὑπονοίας ἐνσπείρουσι λογισμοῖς ἀνθρώπων, οὕτω καὶ οὗτοι ἐπὶ τὸ ἕτερον μέρος κλίναντες ἐν ἀκρότητι βλάβης καταλαμβάνονται, ὅπως κἀκεῖνο τὸ παρά τισι τῶν ἔξωθεν φιλοσόφων ᾀδόμενον καὶ ἐν αὐτοῖς πληρωθήσεται ἐν τῷ λέγειν, αἱ ἀκρότητες ἰσότητες. ἴση γὰρ ἐπ' ἀμφοτέραις ταύταις ταῖς αἱρέσεσιν ἡ βλάβη, τῶν μὲν