Ep. VI.

What I wrote before about our stay in Pontus was in joke, not in earnest; what I write now is very much in earnest.  O that one would place me as in the month of those former days,1    Job xxix. 2.    Vitalius or Vitalis was one of the principal followers of Apollinarius, and by him was consecrated schismatical Bishop of Antioch, where, while yet orthodox, he had been ordained a priest by Meletius.  But he quarrelled with his Bishop through jealousy of another priest, and then fell under the influence of Apollinarius.  He was summoned to Rome to clear himself of the charge of heresy; and by a clever manipulation of language he produced a confession which the Pope, Damasus, accepted as orthodox; but the Pope remitted the whole case to Paulinus, who was at that time recognized by the Western Church as rightful Bishop.  Vitalius, however, was unable to accept the test required, and seceded.  On his return from Rome he had visited Nazianzus, where S. Gregory received him as a brother in the faith, though further acquaintance compelled him to withdraw from this position.  Vitalius, while admitting that our Lord had both a human body and a human soul, denied Him a human mind; whose place, according to his teaching, was supplied by Divinity. in which I luxuriated with you in hard living; since voluntary pain is more valuable than involuntary delight.  O that one would give me back those psalmodies and vigils and those sojournings with God in prayer, and that immaterial, so to speak, and unbodied life.  O for the intimacy and one-souledness of the brethren who were by you divinized and exalted:  O for the contest and incitement of virtue which we secured by written Rules and Canons; O for the loving labour in the Divine Oracles, and the light we found in them by the guidance of the Holy Ghost.  Or, if I may speak of lesser and slighter matters, O for the daily courses and experiences; O for the gatherings of wood, and the cutting of stone; O for the golden plane-tree, more precious than that of Xerxes, under which sat, not a King enfeebled by luxury, but a Monk worn out by hard life, which I planted and Apollos (I mean your honourable self) watered;2    1 Cor. iii. 6.    1 Cor. ii. 16. but God gave the increase to our honour, that a memorial might remain among you of my diligence, as in the Ark we read and believe, did Aaron’s rod that budded.3    Num. xvii. 8, 10.    1 Cor. xv. 49.  To long for all this is very easy, but it is not easy to attain it.  But do you come to me, and conspire with me in virtue, and co-operate with me, and aid me by your prayers to keep the profit which we used to get together, that I may not perish by little and little, like a shadow as the day draws to its close.  I would rather breathe you than the air, and only live while I am with you, either actually in your presence, or virtually by your likeness in your absence.

[6] ΤΩΙ ΑΥΤΩΙ

Ἃ μὲν πρότερον ἐπεστέλλομεν περὶ τῆς ποντικῆς διατριβῆς παιζόντων ἦν, οὐ σπουδαζόντων: ἃ δὲ νῦν γράφω, καὶ λίαν σπουδαζόντων. « Τίς ἄν με θείη κατὰ μῆνα ἡμερῶν τῶν ἔμπροσθεν ἐκείνων », ἐν αἷς συνετρύφων σοι τῷ κακοπαθεῖν; ἐπειδὴ τὸ ἑκούσιον λυπηρὸν τοῦ ἀκουσίου τερπνοῦ τιμιώτερον. Τίς δώσει τὰς ψαλμῳδίας ἐκείνας καὶ τὰς ἀγρυπνίας καὶ τὰς δι' εὐχῆς πρὸς Θεὸν ἐκδημίας καὶ τὴν οἱονεὶ ἄϋλον ζωὴν καὶ ἀσώματον; Τίς ἀδελφῶν συμφυΐαν καὶ συμψυχίαν τῶν ὑπὸ σοῦ θεουμένων καὶ ὑψουμένων; Τίς ἅμιλλαν ἀρετῆς καὶ παράθηξιν, ἣν ὅροις γραπτοῖς καὶ κανόσιν ἠσφαλισάμεθα; Τίς θείων λογίων φιλοπονίαν καὶ τὸ ἐν αὐτοῖς φῶς εὑρισκόμενον σὺν ὁδηγίᾳ τοῦ Πνεύματος;

Ἤ, ἵνα τὰ μικρότερα λέγω καὶ εὐτελέστερα, τίς ἐφημερίας καὶ αὐτουργίας; τίς ξυληγίας καὶ λατομίας; τίς δὲ φυτοκομίας καὶ ὀχετηγίας; τίς δὲ τὴν πλάτανον τὴν χρυσῆν καὶ τῆς Ξέρξου τιμιωτέραν, ὑφ' ᾗ μὴ βασιλεὺς ἐκαθέζετο τεθρυμμένος, ἀλλὰ μοναστὴς τετρυχωμένος, ἣν ἐγὼ ἐφύτευσα, Ἀπολλὼς ἐπότισεν, ἡ σὴ τιμιότης, ἀλλ' ὁ Θεὸς ηὔξησεν εἰς τιμὴν ἡμετέραν, ἵνα ὑπόμνημα σῴζηται παρ' ὑμῖν τῆς ἡμετέρας φιλοπονίας, ὥσπερ ἐν τῇ κιβωτῷ λέγεται καὶ πιστεύεται ἡ ῥάβδος Ἀαρὼν ἡ βλαστήσασα. Ταῦτα εὔξασθαι μὲν ῥᾴστον, λαβεῖν δὲ οὐ ῥᾴδιον. Ἀλλά μοι καὶ πάρεσο καὶ σύμπνει καὶ συνεργάζου τὴν ἀρετήν, καὶ ἥν ποτε συνελέξαμεν ὠφέλειαν συντήρει διὰ τῶν προσευχῶν, ἵνα μὴ κατὰ μικρὸν ὥσπερ σκιὰ λυθῶμεν, κλινούσης ἡμέρας. Ὡς ἔγωγέ σε πνέω μᾶλλον ἢ τὸν ἀέρα: καὶ τοῦτο ζῶ μόνον, ὃ μετὰ σοῦ γίνομαι, ἢ παρών, ἢ ἀπὼν τοῖς ἰνδάλμασι.