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Epistulae

OF OUR HOLY FATHER AND CONFESSOR THEODORE THE ABBOT OF THE STOUDIOS FROM HIS VARIOUS LETTERS

A SELECTION OF THE FIRST AND SECOND EXILE

1 To Plato, spiritual father

What shall we say to you, O our sweetest father, we who have been orphaned for God's sake from your holy heart? And what pleasing or joyful thing shall we say? For not lamentable and mournful things, being distressed by the apparent exile, which we have been taught by you not to recognize, since we are sojourners over all the earth, but only the fall from God through the transgression of any of his commandments and the long casting away. Wherefore we rejoice and are glad, that though we are unworthy of heaven and earth, yet with you our holy father we have been deemed worthy to suffer these things for his commandment and to be deprived of your company in the flesh; for otherwise you are always with us, father, being seen and spoken with. For how else shall we live, if we are not kept safe from the evil one by the protection of your holy prayers, each one of us having been appointed to be alone? Nevertheless, we have all been protected and saved and established. And though we suffered some little hardship on the way, with some even falling ill, yet he who said, look at the birds of the air and at the lilies of the field, and is truthful in his promises, saved us as we did not expect, setting us here and inclining to sympathy the hearts of the men here for our hardship, and especially that of the archbishop. But one care remains for us, and unceasing talk with earnest and unworthy prayer, that you, our much-longed-for father, be strengthened and remain in the decisions of the confession for the truth of God, unbending and unmoved, in nothing terrified or double-minded by the attempts of those who attack with a view to overturning the struggles for piety built up for you by the grace of God; for the word has resounded everywhere and has shamed almost every soul and has raised a horn of salvation among Christians and has taken away reproach from the monks. And I know that every right-minded person would say that Christ lives in us and reigns and is obeyed rather than the men whom he formed, not to be disobeyed, but to be glorified by them. You therefore know everything, you know what is necessary, you do not need our reminder; yet you commanded us to write thus. Therefore do not be afraid, father, of man or the oppressions of men. You know that the saints, considering these things a dream and a shadow, were glorified in heaven and on earth. Let us toil a little, I pray, let us endure yet a little, and the good race will have been run by us. And the crown is woven and the eternal reward is prepared and you will be called a friend of the heavenly king and a partaker of the saints and a confessor before men. Yes, yes, I pray and beseech my paternal heart, become for us a fortress, endurance, perseverance; for if you, father, stand firm, we your useless children are strengthened, we are courageous, we will bear all that happens nobly by the power of God and your prayers; for the concession is from God, who thus in every way approves our affairs and himself gives power. Do not be terrified, O father, by the contrivances of those who try to make you bow from the truth. The word is simple; for Saint Epiphanius says somewhere in his sermon on Easter,

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Epistulae

ΤΟΥ ΟΣΙΟΥ ΠΑΤΡΟΣ ΗΜΩΝ ΚΑΙ ΟΜΟΛΟΓΗΤΟΥ ΘΕΟ∆ΩΡΟΥ ΗΓΟΥΜΕΝΟΥ ΤΩΝ ΣΤΟΥ∆ΙΟΥ ΕΚ ΤΩΝ ∆ΙΑΦΟΡΩΝ ΑΥΤΟΥ ΕΠΙΣΤΟΛΩΝ

ΕΚΛΟΓΗΣ ΠΡΩΤΗΣ ΚΑΙ ∆ΕΥΤΕΡΑΣ ΕΞΟΡΙΑΣ

1 Πλάτωνι πνευματικῷ πατρί

Τί σοι, ὦ πάτερ γλυκύτατε ἡμῶν, προσφθεγξόμεθα, οἱ ἀπορφανισθέντες διὰ θεὸν ἀπὸ τῶν σῶν ἁγίων σπλάγχνων; ποῖον δὲ προσηνὲς ἢ περιχαρὲς λέξομεν; οὐδὲ γὰρ ὀδυρτικὰ καὶ θλιβερά, δυσχεραίνοντες τὴν δοκουμένην ἐξορίαν, ἣν ἡμεῖς οὐ γινώσκειν δεδιδάγμεθα ὑπὸ σοῦ κατὰ τὸ παροίκους ἡμᾶς εἶναι πάσης τῆς γῆς ἢ μόνην τὴν ἀπὸ θεοῦ διὰ τῆς παραβάσεως τῆς ὁποιασοῦν ἐντολῆς αὐτοῦ ἔκπτωσιν καὶ μακρὰν ἀπορριφήν. διὸ δὴ χαίρομεν καὶ εὐφραινόμεθα, ὅτι κἂν ἀνάξιοί ἐσμεν τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ τῆς γῆς, πλὴν σὺν σοὶ τῷ ἁγίῳ ἡμῶν πατρὶ κατηξιώθημεν ὑπὲρ τῆς ἐντολῆς αὐτοῦ ταῦτα παθεῖν καὶ στερηθῆναί σου τῆς κατὰ σάρκα συναφείας· ἄλλως γὰρ μεθ' ἡμῶν εἶ ἀεί, πάτερ, ὁρώμενος καὶ συλλαλούμενος. καὶ πῶς γὰρ ἑτέρως ζήσομεν, εἰ μὴ σοῦ τῇ τῶν ἁγίων εὐχῶν σκέπῃ περιφυλαχθείημεν ἀβλαβεῖς ἀπὸ τοῦ πονηροῦ, κατὰ μόνας εἷς ἕκαστος ἡμῶν διορισθείς; πλὴν διεφυλάχθημεν καὶ διεσώσμεθα καὶ ἡδράσμεθα πάντες. καὶ εἰ καὶ μικρόν τι ἐταλαιπωρήσαμεν ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ, τινῶν καὶ ἀσθενησάντων, ὅμως ὁ εἰπὼν ἐμβλέψατε εἰς τὰ πετεινὰ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ εἰς τὰ κρίνα τοῦ ἀγροῦ καὶ ἀψευδὴς ἐν ταῖς ἐπαγγελίαις αὐτοῦ ἀπεσώσατο ἡμᾶς ὡς οὐκ ἠλπίζομεν, παραθέμενος ἡμᾶς ἐνταῦθα κλίνας τε εἰς συμπάθειαν τὰς καρδίας τῶν ὄντων ἀνδρῶν τῆς ταλαιπωρίας ἡμῶν καὶ μάλιστά γε τοῦ ἀρχιεπισκόπου. μία δὲ λοιπὸν μέριμνά ἐστιν ἡμῖν καὶ ἀδιάπαυστος ἀδολεσχία μετὰ δεήσεως ἐκτενοῦς καὶ ἀναξίας, τὸ σὲ κραταιοῦσθαι, πάτερ ἡμῶν πολυπόθητε, καὶ μένειν ἐν τοῖς δεδογμένοις τῆς ὑπὲρ ἀληθείας θεοῦ ὁμολογίας ἀκλινῆ καὶ ἀκίνητον, ἐν μηδενὶ πτυρόμενον ἢ διψυχοῦντα ταῖς τῶν προσβαλλόντων κατ' ἐκστροφὴν τῶν οἰκοδομηθέντων σοι χάριτι θεοῦ ὑπὲρ εὐσεβείας ἀγωνισμάτων ἐγχειρήσεσιν· ἐξήχηται γὰρ ὁ λόγος πανταχοῦ καὶ δεδυσώπηκεν σχεδὸν πᾶσαν ψυχὴν καὶ ἤγειρεν κέρας σωτηρίας ἐν τοῖς χριστιανοῖς καὶ ἀφεῖλεν ὄνειδος ἐκ τῶν μοναστῶν. καὶ οἶδ' ὅτι φήσειεν ἕκαστος εὖ φρονῶν ὅτι ζῇ Χριστὸς ἐν ἡμῖν καὶ βασιλεύει καὶ πειθαρχεῖται μᾶλλον ὑπὲρ ἀνθρώπους οὓς ἔπλασεν, οὐχ ἵν' ἀπειθῆται, δοξάζηται δὲ ὑπ' αὐτῶν. Πάντα οὖν γινώσκεις, οἶδας τὰ δέοντα, οὐ τῆς ἡμετέρας ὑπομνήσεως δέῃ· πλὴν προεκέλευσας οὕτως ἡμᾶς γράφειν. διὸ δὴ μὴ φοβηθῇς, πάτερ, ἄνθρωπον ἢ ἀνθρώπων ἐκθλίψεις. γνωρίζεις ὅτι οἱ ἅγιοι, ὄναρ καὶ σκιὰν ταῦτα λογισάμενοι, ἐθαυμαστώθησαν ἐν οὐρανῷ καὶ ἐπὶ γῆς. μικρόν, δέομαι, πονήσωμεν, ἔτι μικρὸν ὑπομείνωμεν, καὶ ἤνυσται ἡμῖν ὁ δρόμος ὁ καλός. καὶ ὁ στέφανος ἔπλεκται καὶ ὁ μισθὸς ἑτοιμάζεται αἰώνιος καὶ φίλος κληθήσῃ τοῦ ἐπουρανίου βασιλέως καὶ τῶν ἁγίων κοινωνὸς καὶ ὁμολογητὴς παρὰ ἀνθρώποις. ναί, ναί, δέομαι καὶ ἀντιβολῶ τὰ πατρικά μου σπλάγχνα, γενοῦ ἡμῖν ὀχύρωμα, ὑπομονή, καρτερία· ἐὰν γὰρ σύ, πάτερ, στήκῃς, ἡμεῖς τὰ ἀχρεῖά σου τέκνα εὐτονούμεθα, ἀνδρειούμεθα, πάντα οἴσομεν γενναίως τὰ συμβαίνοντα δυνάμει θεοῦ καὶ εὐχαῖς σου· ἐκ γὰρ θεοῦ ἡ παραχώρησις, οὕτως εὐδοκοῦντος πάντως τὰ ἡμέτερα καὶ αὐτοῦ διδοῦντος δύναμιν. τὰς τεχνολογίας τῶν ὑποκλίνειν σε τῆς ἀληθείας πειρωμένων μὴ δὴ πτοοῦ, ὦ πάτερ. ἁπλοῦς ὁ λόγος· φησὶ γάρ που ὁ Ἅγιος Ἐπιφάνιος ἐν τῷ περὶ τοῦ Πάσχα αὐτοῦ λόγῳ,