Part I
WORKS ISSUED BY THE TEXT AND TRANSLATION SOCIETY
THE SIXTH BOOK
OF THE
SELECT LETTERS OF SEVERUS
PATRIARCH OF ANTIOCH
IN THE SYRIAC VERSION OF ATHANASIUS
OF NISIBIS
EDITED AND TRANSLATED BY
E. W. BROOKS, M.A.
VOL. II. (TRANSLx^TION) PART I.
PUBLISHED FOR
THE TEXT AND TRANSLATION SOCIETY
BY
WILLIAMS & NORGATE
14 Henrietta Street, Covent Garden, London, W.C.
AND 7 Broad Street, Oxford
I 903
INTRODUCTION
Our knowledge of the early life of Severus is mainly drawn from the biography of him by his friend Zacharias the Scholastic of Gaza,^ existing in a Syriac version published by Dr Spanuth ^ and translated into French by M. Nau.^ From this we learn that he was a native of Sozopolis in Pisidia and was said to be descended from a Severus who was bishop of that city in 431.* Beyond this the life tells us nothing about his family except that he was the third son ^ ; but in ep. i. 49 he mentions his brother Peter, a presbyter of Antioch, who was dead when that letter was written.^ His enemies accused him of having in his youth followed heathen practices,' and it was in order to refute this charge that Zacharias wrote his life : but, whether there was any truth in the accusation or not, it must be admitted that the answer is a very lame one. After his father's death he was sent to Alexandria with his elder brothers to study Greek and Latin grammar
1 Used by Evagrius (iii. ^^). - Gottingen, 1893.
2 Opuscules Maronites (Rev. de I'Or. Chret. iv, v).
■* Cf. Land Anec. Syr. i. 14 (113). '' P. 2 1 10.
^ According to the most obvious interpretation of this passage Peter was his brother's apokrisiarios at Constantinople. "^ Cf. Mansi viii. 999.
and rhetoric. Thence about 486 ^ he proceeded to Berytus to study law with the intention of becoming an advocate ; but, while there, he iound time for theological reading also, and published his first work, an Encomium of the Apostle Paul. It was not until after this that he was baptized, the ceremony taking place at Tripolis (circ. 488).'-^ About 490^ however, while on a visit to Jerusalem, he came under the influence of the disciples of Peter the Iberian, and became a monk in Peter's monastery between Gaza and Majuma.* After a sojourn in the wilderness of Eleutheropolis, where he nearly died from the severity of his ascetic practices, he was entertained and restored to health by the monks of Romanus, returning later to the lattra of Majuma.^ Afterwards however he founded a monastery of his own "^ and was ordained presbyter by Epiphanius the confessor.^ About 508 disturbances were caused in Palestine by a certain Nephalius, who, having been one of the extreme Monophysite party, ^
^ Kugener in Rev. de I'Or. Chr. v. 205.
2 According to Zach. it was said not to be the custom of the Pisidians to baptize infants (p. 2 1. 11).
3 After the death of Peter t^ie Iberian (Dec. i, 488) : see Kugener in Byz. Zeitschr. ix. 466.
■* Called by the so-called Zacharias Rhetor (vii. 10) the monastery of Theodore, i.e. Peter's successor (vit. Pet. 134, 144; Vailhe in Rev. de I'Or. Chr. v. 45) ; so ' Dion.' ap. Nau Rev. de I'Or. Chr. ii. 466.
^ P. 26 1. 4 (^ ep. i. 35). It is not clear whether this was Peter's monastery. *^ Cf. ep. ii. 3 (p. 248 text).
" Hardly Epiphanius of Magydum (ep. i. i ), whose date was earlier ; but probably the Epiphanius of ep. ii. 3. ^ Cf. Zach. Rh. vi. 2-4.
had turned Chalcedonian, and, probably in conjunction with the patriarch of Jerusalem, expelled many monks from their monasteries. To counteract this movement Severus went to Constantinople, where he wrote a treatise addressed to the patricians Apion and Paul against a charge of Eutychianism, the Philalethes against those who found the Chalcedonian doctrine in Cyril, the Answers to the questions of Eupraxius the chamberlain, and the Refutation of the Testament of Lampetius the Adelphian.^ Here he remained three years" until after the ordination of Timothy to the see of Constantinople (Aug.-Sept. 511); after which he returned to Majuma, and immediately set himself to abolish the Henotikon-compromise, whereby all mention of the Synod of Chalcedon had been avoided, and to procure the deposition of the patriarchs Flavian of Antioch and Elijah of Jerusalem. At the Synod of Sidon Flavian was strongly supported, and the attempt failed ; but, further compulsory powers having been obtained from the Emperor, the patriarch was deposed at the Synod of Antioch,^ and Severus was ordained his successor (Nov. 6, 512),^ being according to Zacharias accepted by all the bishops of the patriarchate except Epiphanius of Tyre,^ Flavian's brother, and Julian of Bostra. At this point the work of Zactiarias ends, and
^ Cf. ep. 1. 13. For other works of Sev. see Zach. Rh. vu 10. 2 P. 29 1. 5. 3 2ach. Rh. 1. c. ; Asseni. B. O. li. 18.
■* Jo. Mai. p. 400; Anec. Syr. i. 14 (113); Evagr. iii. 34. ■' Cf. ep. L 31.
from the later life by John archimandrite of Kenneshre, the concluding portion of which has been published in a French translation by M. Nau,^ but scanty information is to be obtained ; so that for the events of his patriarchate we have outside the letters little evidence beyond the assertions of his enemies produced at the synod of 536." On the death of Anastasius in July 518 the influence of Vitalian procured from the new Emperor Justin an order for the expulsion of Severus, who on Sept. 29 fled from Antioch,^ and for the rest of his life lived for the most part in hiding in Egypt, though he continued to be recognised as patriarch by his own party. Here during the earlier part of his exile he wrote the controversial works against Julian the deposed bishop of Halicarnassus, who maintained the incorruptibility of Christ's body.^ In 531 Justinian recalled the banished monks, and invited the bishops to a conference at Constantinople ; but the invitation which he afterwards sent to Severus was declined.^ In the winter of 534-5, how-
^ Rev. de I'Or. Chr. v. 293 ff. - Mansi viii. 979 ff.
^ Zach. Rh. viii. 2 ; Anec. Syr. I.e. ; Mich. Syr. ap. Chabot Rev. de rOr. Chr. iv. 446. Evagr. (iv. 3) seems to place his flight in 519; and so Theophanes, who gives him 7 years: but the homihes in Brit. Mus. Add. MS. 12,159, which are arranged chronologically, and end with Lent 518, are decisive for the earlier date (Wright C.B.M. 534 ff.); cf. also the letter of Dioscorus the deacon in Migne P.L. Ixiii. 448. The Copts observe Sept. 29 as the day of his arrival in Egypt (Gutschmid Kleine Schriften, ii. 458).
^ Add. MS. 17,200 ; Cod. Syr. Vat. 140 ; Zach. Rh. ix. 9-13. These works were translated into Syriac in Apr. 528 (Assem. B.O. ii. 46).
'-' Zach. Rh. viii. 5 \ ix. 15, 16 ; Evagr. iv. 10, 11 ; Mansi viii. 817,
ever, the Monophysite tendencies at court naving probably under Theodora's influence become more pronounced, he consented to come ; ^ and the accession of Anthimus to the see of Constantinople in June 535 seemed to make his position a strong one. But with the arrival of Pope Agapetus came a reaction ; and in Mar. 536 Anthimus was deposed, and he and Severus expelled from the city," while at the synod held in May their final condemnation was decreed." On Feb. 8, 538 Severus died in Egypt/
Of the voluminous works of Severus, almost entirely lost in Greek, many exist in Syriac versions, of which not the least interesting are the letters. These letters were divided into three classes, those before episcopacy, those during episcopacy, and those after expulsion, containing 4, 10, and 9 books respectively; besides which there were also letters described as "outside the 23 books." ^ If we take the highest number in each book mentioned in the present collection, and add one for the 6th book of those after expulsion, of which no letters are here preserved, we shall find that the total cannot have been less than 3759- Of these the version of Athanasius comprises 123 only ;^ but, as it is described as the 6th book only of the Select Letters, the whole collection probably
^ Zach. Rh. ix. 15 ; Jo. vit. Sev. p. 299 ; Evagr. iv. 11.
- Zach. Rh. ix. 19. ^ Mansi viii. 874 ff.
4 Ass. B.O. ii. 54; Anec. Syr. /.c. : Mich. ap. Chabot /.c
^ iv. 7, 10.
^ Unless there are some lost in sect. x. between B f. 144 and A f.99.
contained not less than 700, It is almost certain from the translator's preface that he translated the 6th book only, and that he therefore found the collection existing in Greek and did not make it for himself, as might also be inferred from the fact that it is called by the Greek name e/cXoya/. This translation was made in the year A.S. 980 (669) by the presbyter Athanasius of Nisibis at the instigation of the bishops Matthew of Berrhoea and Daniel of Edessa,^ and the letters contained in it are arranged in 1 1 sections according to subjects, while to each letter a note is appended stating the place which it occupies in the original collection. The order of letters in each section generally, but not always, follows the original order : but on what principle they were primarily arranged it is hard to say ; certainly not chronologically, for vi. 178 during episcopacy (v. 5 Ath.) is mentioned in vi. 161 (v. 4) and v. 52 (i. 59) clearly preceded iv. 81 (v. 15), while v. 52 after expulsion (i. 59) preceded iv. 81 (v. 15) and i. 53 or 55 (i. 49) preceded i. 16 (i. 50). In some cases a double reference is given, which may be explained by supposing either that in the original the same letter was sometimes accidentally given twice, or that the order was not the same in all copies.
Besides the version of Athanasius at least two other
* Af. 102 ra. Wright (p. 564) would idcntiiy the translator with Athanasius B:iladaya, afterwards patriarch, who was a Greek scholar (Barh. H.E. i. 287) and translated the Eisagoge of Porphyry in 645 (Ass. B.O. i. 493) ; but this Athanasius was a monk at Kenneshre and Beth Malkhe, not a presbyter of Nisibis.
Syriac versions of the letters were in existence, as we see in the case of v. 6 of our collection, where we find all three versions co-existino- ; but the other versions survive only in isolated letters and frai^- ments. Both seem to have been in much commoner use than the Athanasian version, and in both, so far as we can judge, the translation was less literal and contained fewer Hellenisms : thus we often find Athanasius giving a Greek word followed by a Syriac interpretation introduced by aukhith (or), where the other versions have a Syriac word only.
The letters translated by Athanasius treat only of ecclesiastical matters ; but whether the dogmatic letters were excluded from the collection or contained in the other books we have no means of knowing.
In my notes the references to the O.T. are to the LXX (ed. Swete) ; and the rendering of all Biblical and patristic quotations of which the original exists is made as literal as possible, in order that it may be used as an authority for the text. To avoid misunderstanding, I may explain that in the rendering of theological terms I have invariably translated oiWa by " essence," kniinia (lnz6<jTa(ri<i) by " substance," and TrpocrcoTToi' by " person." The practice of using " person" for both the two latter (distinguished by the ancient writers) is indefensible. Questions as to the meaning of rare or difficult words and phrases are reserved for the Vocabulary, which will be given at the end of the text. An index will be appended to the translation of Part II. E. W. BROOKS.
April 1903.
CONTENTS OF PART I.
Introduction .... Syriac translator's Preface and Headings
, SECTION I.
1 To bp. Constantine
2 To Solon bp. of Seleucia in Isauria
3 To the same
4 To the same
5 To Peter bp. of Apamea
6 To bp. Nicias
7 To Castor bp. of Perga
8 To duke Timostratus
9 To Stephen bp. of Tripolis
10 To bp. Eucharius .
1 1 To the archimandrite of the monastery of Bassus
12 To Cosmos Polyeuctus and Zeno the presbyters
13 To Entrechius bp of Anazarba
14 To Antoninus bp. of Berrhoea
15 To the same
16 To the same
1 7 To Misael the chamberlain
18 To Entrechius bp. of Anazarba
19 To Solon bp. of Seleucia .
20 In the name of a synod to the suffragans of Apam
21 To the Master of the Offices
22 To the fathers
23 To Solon bp. of Seleucia .
24 To Theotecnus the mxhiatros
25 To Dionysius bp. of Tarsus
26 To Solon bp. of Seleucia .
27 To Musonius and Alexander vindices of .Anazarba
28 To Philoxenus bp. of Doliche
29 To the monks of the monastery of Isaac
30 To the clergy of Apamea .
31 To the bishops of Phoenice
XIV^
CONTENTS.
32 To John bp. of Alexandria the less ... . g8
33 To Dionysius bp. of Tarsus . .... 100
34 To the suffragans of Apamea . . . .101
35 To Eustace the presbyter . . . . ... 102
36 To Eusebius deacon of Apamea . .103
37 To Simeon bp. of Chalcis . . . 104 ;^S To the same .... . . 106
39 To the clergy and notables of Apamea . . . . .110
40 To Hypatius Master of the Soldiers . . . . .113
41 To bp. Solon . . . . . . . .116
42 To the fathers ....... 119
43 To the archimandrite of the monastery of Simeon . . . 1 20
44 To Eutychian governor of Apamea . . . . .123
45 To Conon the brigand-chaser . . . . . • '25
46 To the clergy of Antaradus . . . . . .126
47 To Cassian bp. of Bostra , . . . . . .129
\ 48 To Philoxenus bp. of Hierapolis . . . . . .130
49 To John and John presbyters and archimandrites . . .132
50 To the same ........ 140
51 To Phihp the presbyter ....... 145
52 To John and John the presbyters ...... 14S
V 53 "^^ '■^^ Syrian bishops at Alexandria . . . . .151
54 (Heading lost) ........ 162
55 To Theodore archimandrite of the monastery of Romanus . . 164
56 To bp. Froclus . . . . . . . .167
57 To bp. Didymus . . . . . . . .171
58 To the same . . . . , . . .176
59 To Julian archimandrite of the monastery of Bassus . . .178
60 To Photius and Andrew archimandrites of monasteries in Caria . -179
61 (Heading lost) ........ 191
62 (do.) . . . . . . . . .193
63 To Misael the deacon . . . . . . • 195
SECTION n.
1 To the patricians .
2 To John and John the presbyters J To the orthodox at Emesa
The Sixth Book of the Select ?•'• Letters of the Holy Severus.
He that meets with this book must know that it is not only the topics ^ mentioned in the sectional titles " that are included in the letters arranged under these, but that most of them also contain or set forth matter relating to various other subjects. However, they have been arranged under each of the sections"-^ in accordance with the larger part of the matter expressed in them.
The sections- of the sixth book of the select^ or chosen letters, taken from the letters of the blessed Severus, patriarch of Antioch in Syria, on doctrines and the words of Scripture.
^ K€(fidXaia. - tltXol. ^ eKXayaL
[i.] About [bishops and clergymen and their ordination.
2. About his ordination before episcopacy ; and about the precedence of bishops and another doubtful point regarding them ; and about men who give themselves out as bishops and ordain ; and about the proper ordination of bishops, p. 2. 3. That one ought not to hesitate on account of the politeia or character of priests, but only ask whether they are orthodox or of the right opinions.
4. That one must not communicate indiscriminately or without investigation with heretics ; and how one ought to avoid being with them while they pray.
5. About clergymen or laymen] who are converted from heresies.
6. That one must not take account of anathemas or excommunications that are pronounced by heretics.
7. About monks and nuns.
8. About men who cut off their genital members, and about men who have them cut off through necessity, and about men who killed themselves in time of martyrdom, and that it is the custom in many churches for the glories and praises of the saints to be read.
9. About baptisms performed in time of necessity by deacons or by laymen, and about men as to whom there is doubt [whether they have been baptized or not.
10. About a man who has a wife and children and wishes to become a monk : and the same
also about women, and about the marriage of these.
II. That a man who can help or assist the right confession while eno;aa;ed in state affairs must not become a monk].
The sixth book of the select ^ or chosen letters p- 3- taken from the letters of the holy Severus, patriarch of Antioch in Syria.
I. First section'-^; about bishops and clergymen and their ordination.
I. To Constantine the bishop. {From those be/ore 508-II. episcopacy, from the 2nd book the 12th letter.)
The contents of your sanctity's former epistle to me are as far from applying to my vileness as the heaven is far from the earth, to use the words of the prophet.^ For you thought fit to recite to me the passage of the Song of Songs, I mean, " Thou art all fair, my neighbour, and there is no spot [in thee."*
• . • ■ ■ . . ■ . -• ]■
I [am turned] into another man, as it is written " and prophesy, and that not one of all your words shall fall
^ (.KKoyaL. - titAo?.
^ Ps. cii. II. . ^ Ca. iv. 7.
5 I R. X. 6.
to the ground. For he is faithful who said to you high priests, " Ye shall call my name upon the sons of Israel, and I the Lord will hallow them."^ However, let these things be so. But know, father ours, that, after the holy Asterius the bishop and those with him came here, many various ....
will cast those that are deceived into a pit of destruction. But all, so to speak, have the one object only, to bring to naught the typos or formula p- 4- of satisfaction '" which seemed good to the pious king, which he also sent to Flavian, the prelate of the city of Antiochus, and either altogether to remove and abolish it, or to cut away some of its exactitude, because they do not intend to drink the still water, as says Ezekiel, but strive to foul it with their own feet,^ in order that the sheep which have learned to hear the voice of the Good Shepherd, and to drink "the water of Shiloah that goeth softly,"* may not be able to avoid the pollution of the drink. Which John of Claudiupolis also tried to do when he came here. When he received me in the house of the glorious Patrick, the Master of the Soldiers,^ and conversed with me by order of our pious king, he said, " There ouofht to be introduced into the formula of satisfaction ^
^ Nu. vi. 27. '" irXTqpoffiOpia,
3 Eze. xxxiv. 18. ■• Is. viii. 6,
^ <TTpaTr]XaTrj<;,
this Statement, * We receive the synod at Chalcedon, not as a definition of faith, but as a rejection of Nestorius and of Eutyches.'^ Thus both those that are pleased with the Synod will not be angry, and you will receive contentment in that the doctrines which offend you are rejected." But I said, " This argument is silly, and the offspring of a drunken mind. Who is there among right-minded persons who will accept and praise us on account of this disturbance and confusion? If the Synod of Chalcedon introduced the doctrine of Nestorius into the churches, thouofh it called Nestorius 'of small intellig'ence ' "^ in order to entice and deceive those that are more simple, how can we say that it rejected the opinion p 5. of Nestorius? But, if the formula of satisfaction^ in so many words rejects the doctrines of the Synod and of the impious Tome of Leo, which are the life blood of the abomination of Nestorius, how can we honestly say that we accept this synod as against Nestorius ? . . . rather we shall be tripped up as by ..." " What then ? Were not those at Chalcedon rightly moved against Eutyches ? why, [if] you accept them on this point, do you think them fit ... an anathema?" [But] I said, "What I am about to say is strange, but nevertheless true. It is especially for this reason that we say that they are men that deserve anathema, because they unnecessarily extended the
^ Cf. Zach. Rh. ix. 20 ad fin.; Evag. iii. 31. '" Mansi vii. 113. ^ TrXrjporfyopia.
heresy of Eutyches. Owing to the fact that they wished to heal the disorder in an unintelHgent way by means of an opposite infection, I mean by the evil impiety of Nestorius, thenceforward those who were infected with the belief in a phantasy, seeing that they were inviting them to man-worship, recoiled from this vicious remedy, and thought themselves all the more pious, and carried their own corruption further. But, if they had been cured and healed by means of right doctrines, they would perhaps have abandoned their p. 6. infection. [If] we accept those [who] met together [at] Chalcedon as being adversaries [of] the heresy of Eutyches, and praise them on the ground that they spoke well up to a certain point, and do not rather blame them, it is time for us to accept also the Arian heresy, which contends against the evil opinion of Sabellius, and agrees up to a certain point with the rioht doctrines of the Church, in that it grlorifies God the unbegotten Father, and in that it does not confound the three substances, but confines them within their own attributes or persons. But we do not extol it on this account, nor do we judge it to deserve a partial anathema. But, because it calls the Son and the Holy Spirit creatures, and degrades them to a servile position, on this account it is utterly repudiated by the orthodox doctors of the Church. This same trick we find practised by the other heresies also. By displaying a certain part of the sound faith as a decoy and mixing ^ with this the vanity of their
^ This is the meaning needed, though I cannot sujiply the word.
own profane words they thus appear plausible to those that are more innocent and simple ; but we do not, on account of the sound part, hold back and shrink from repudiating them, but we anathematize them with all our power." When the good and excellent John had heard these things, he betook himself to another topic.^ He asked me p- 7- whether Epiphanius the bishop," who is among the saints, performed our ordinations fitly and in accordance with the canon. But I said, " Very well and most properly," and "after the pattern of the doctors and stablishers of the word of the orthodox faith. For he in his boyhood was brought up in monasteries, and practised a virginity modelled on the angelic and unembodied life, being a citizen of Perga : a man of no ignoble city, as it is written,^ yes, and a man of noble birth also, if these things are not small to the citizens of Jerusalem above. Having been advanced to the bishopric of Magydum (this also is a city in Pamphylia) at the time of the Encyclical which repudiated the impiety that was confirmed at Chalcedon, under which Timothy, who was sent into exile for piety's sake, returned to Alexander's city, and received back the presidency of the flock of Mark the Evangelist, which before was unrighteously tended by wolves and torn, when he saw that the bishops had changed, and that they had overthrown the Encyclical by a contrary
^ KeffidXaiov. - C/. Zach. Rh. V. 5.
^ Ac. xxi. 39.
document, and had gone back to the Synod of Chalcedon and its hateful doctrines, he left his throne and
p- 8. Pamphylia, the land of his fathers, and the blessed man came as a fugitive to Alexander's city, and embraced communion with the saintly Timothy, the champion of the right faith, having taken joyfully upon him the spoiling of his goods, and knowing that he had in heaven a better and enduring inheritance, as the wise Paul says.^ But, when Timothy of holy memory had finished his course and kept his faith " and departed to God, the zealots of the orthodox faith were asfain persecuted in Alexander's city, and the correct word was perturbed by certain men's mixture. Then therefore the blessed Epiphanius withdrew to Palestine, the stranger on the earth, who did not know any city of his own, or rather knew that only as his own in which God over all is purely worshipped. And, having associated with Peter of Iberia of holy memory, the God-clad man, who was bishop of one of the cities in Palestine, and with the other holy fathers and orthodox peoples, he was persuaded by them and ordained priests, not going beyond the meaning of the sacred canons (far be it !) The canon that forbids a bishop to perform an ordination in provinces^ or parishes which do not belong to him * comes into play
P- 9 in cases where he forces himself upon other men's countries in a disorderly fashion and without an invita-
1 He. X. 34. ■' 2 Ti. iv, 7.
3 eVapxtas. ■* Mansi ii. 1313, 1317.
tion from anyone, not when he is persuaded to ordain by the bishop of the country or city and by the orthodox clergymen, especially in time of persecution. We may find such instances also if we study church histories. In the times of the Arians, when the servants of piety were persecuted and suffered every kind of evil, Eusebius the bishop of Samosata (this is one of the cities of Mesopotamia) went about the cities and deserts and villages, and travelled to countries outside the boundaries, wearing a soldier's dress and having his head covered by a hood, and applied his sacred hand and confirmed priests for places that were in need ; who also put on a crown of martyrdom, having his head crushed by a stone by the heterodox, and migrated in saintly fashion to Jesus who longed for him, and was admitted to the heavenly mansions. These things are clearly stated by Theodoret in his church history.^ The great light of the Cappadocians also, or rather of the whole world, Basil the bishop, the pillar of the church, the ' sure foundation ' "- (for these words of the apostle fit him more than any man, as fine raiment a bride), was raised to the throne of the bishopric, receiving ordination to the episcopacy, by bishops outside the boundaries. This Gregforv the Theolog-ian p- i°- says in the funeral discourse on Basil himself, writing thus : ' He is raised to the high throne of the bishopric, not without toil nor without envy and contention on
1 Theod. H.E. v. 4. ''-2 Ti. ii. 19.
the part of the prelates of the country, and of the worst men of the city who ranged themselves with these ; however, the Holy Spirit was bound to conquer : yes, and it does conquer, gaining an easy victory. For from outside the boundaries it stirs up men to anoint, men distinguished and zealous in the matter of piety.' ^ But, if Basil, the teacher of orthodoxy and rule and law of all church discipline, was anointed and received ordination (for this is the anointing of a high-priest) from those outside the boundaries, because the people of the country or province^ were jealous of him, on account of the Arian heresy or for other human reasons, which is a very small thing, how can we say that the ordinations that were performed among us by a man outside the boundaries, when the transoression of Chalcedon and the Nestorian heresy bare rule and prevailed, are not to be approved ? and we have such great and wonderful instances of holy men and such as these, whose zeal is resembled by ours. But what shall we for our part say of the ordinations that are now performed in the churches ? What canon rep- "• specting these is not trampled upon ? Are not highpriesthoods now everywhere for sale, as we see in the case of civil governorship of cities (the other things I pass over, lest by falling into evil speaking or backbiting and saying things suited to other men I be thought to be choosing for myself matters that do not concern me) ? " While I was saying these things, the
^ Or. xliii. 37. - i-n-apx^a.
gentle John covered his face. But since perhaps, even after he has returned to you, he will again circulate the same suggestions (for this is the habit of those who cause confusion), I have thought it right to make known to your sanctity the details of our honest and lawful discussion of this matter in this royal city. As to the state of our affairs, I think the religious presbyter Peter has once already given you information by letter upon each several point. Still it is a matter for your saintly prayers that the Lord, as is said in the Psalms, after we have "passed through fire and water" may " bring us out into a place of refreshment." ^ But you as watchful shepherds and strict disciples of the chief shepherd Jesus, who brought us up with Him from among the dead by the blood of the everlasting covenant, "stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, and be strong. Let all your things be done with " ^ orthodoxy or the right opinions. For you have " chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from " ^ you. And we believe that the whole lump also will coalesce with your holy first fruit ^ and be kneaded : for through your prayers we have in all our troubles gained experience of the help of God, and the comfort of hopes of success has not departed from us. The end.
Letters like this, of the same tenour, were written to the patricians also, and to Q^cumenius.
1 Ps. Ixv. 12. - I Co. xvi. 13.
3 Lu. X. 42. ■* Ro. xi. 16.
508-11. 2. Of the sa77te to Solon, bishop and 7netropolitan. i^Froni those before episcopacy, frojn the ^th book the lO^th, \o6th letter.)
If anyone who knows how to discern spiritually the dispensations of the Lord, who does all things with wisdom, will recall to mind your struggles on behalf of the orthodox faith, — And after other things. Henceforth clothe yourself in the immaterial dress of the priesthood, and stand firm. Instead of the ephod take upon your shoulders the Lord's cross ; and instead of the tunic woven of fine linen and blue stuff put on the many-coloured tunic of virtues ; and strengthen yourself by the struggles of the martyrs which extended p* 13- to blood. But assuredly the honourable in virginity and first of female martyrs, and skilled maker of these things, I mean the holy Thecla, will clothe you in such raiment to do honour to her vote concerning you. But the crown of the orthodox faith, and purity and good character, and sincerity and vehemence of preaching, by which others also will be stirred up to the same zeal, will be to you the mitre and the crown of gold and the fair-sounding bells. And you are girt with a girdle and a breastpiece, a solitary and unwedded walk in life. Wherefore also Christ shall lie upon your breast, the Word of God, who took flesh for us, who was typified beforehand by the robe and knowledge and truth.^ When therefore things are thus
' Ex. xxviii. 4-35 ; Le. viii. 7-9.
with you, who will dare to find fault with the innovation in the matter of your institution, when so many bishops with one accord canonically performed the ordination ? That a patriarch or a metropolitan or the synod of the province ^ should according to custom ordain such and such a man is not a matter of the strictness of the canons, but rather of church discipline. But this discipline we see to have been often neglected in times of persecution. Take the holy Basil. Because the bishops of the province ^ were adversely disposed towards him, partly from envy, partly because they were attached to the madness of Arius, Gregory p. 14. the Theologian says that he was ordained by bishops outside the boundaries, writing thus in the funeral discourse on him : [Here follows the citation given above, p. 9]. However, Flavian may be caught by his own wings. If he himself, and that when accused of heresy, formerly ordained someone in Germanicupolis, and snatched away an ordination that belonged to the metropolitan, let him not be annoyed when he has been treated in the same way, when on our side we have an advocate in defence of a similar act in the orthodox faith ; and what can a man think could be a better advocate than this ? This has the approval of the holy Gregory the Theologian also when he writes in this manner in the first of the conciliatory discourses, I mean that on the union of the monks, when certain men, perhaps like these, were thought to have intro-
rapxi
duced an innovation contrary to the law of the Church : " For for our part we received the heads also who were given to the severed part with joy, inasmuch as they introduced an innovation on behalf of piety and to help the right teaching which was in distress, and we did not turn away our faces as from enemies, but welcomed them as our brothers, who for a short time were at discord respecting the paternal inheritance, in a brotherly but not a wicked manner. And we did not praise them on account of the enmity : but we received them on account of the zeal. For separation for piety's p- 15- sake is better than vicious concord. And for this reason we made the loss our gain, silently removing by love the supposition that there was against us : and to this extent we changed the order of things, that the ofift should not follow the election, but the election the gift ; and we made use of other men's hands in this matter, having been a little anticipated by the Spirit."^ From the citation it is possible to discern clearly that the innovation which was thought to have been introduced at that time was one similar to the present position, and that, while the election and the right of ordaining belonged to one set of men, others ordained, especially from his expression, "and we made use of other men's hands in this matter " ; and above again, "who for a short time were at discord respecting the paternal inheritance." But he shows that those who had the right to elect and ordain, one among whom in
^ Or. vi. II.
particular was the holy Gregory himself, concurred in the election with those who on account of zeal for the orthodox faith had once made an innovation, by uniting with those who separated and made the innovation, and accepting what had been done by them, in that they said, "and for this reason we made the loss our gain, silently removing by love the supposition that there was acrainst us ; and to this extent we changed the order of things, that the grift should not follow the election, but the election the gift."
If Gregory the Theologian, and that being orthodox, r ^^■ or rather a guide and teacher of orthodoxy, bore with and endured those who seceded from him out of superfluous zeal, and accepted the things done by them by way of innovation, let Flavian, who is infected with heresy, either change his evil belief under teaching, and rejoice with us in the things done by us ; or if he remains such as he is let him justly suffer annoyance, and put up with it, enwrapped as he is in the bonds of impiety. But. since there was also contained in your letter the question on what conditions it is right to adopt a union with those of the same opinions, it is • necessary to say this much. It is right to unite with those of the same opinions, when they are of the same opinions in everything. Putting aside the complete | union of the holy churches, since that needs a lawful \ concession on certain points, the man who privately wishes to be united with you must in everything seek the same ends ; as Constantine also of God-lovinof memory proclaimed to the people before the church ;
the mention of the Henotikon only being passed over as superfluous : for, if it does not touch the stumbHngblocks that sprang up at Chalcedon and separated the churches, what is the use of mentioning it ? To the pious king this was necessary for the general union of the churches, since he was desirous of showing that the p- 17- king who preceded him also had before him the object of bringing into union those who separated on account of the synod at Chalcedon, and that he is not now the first to introduce this question into the churches, as if making an innovation. We for our part therefore have written these things out of our poverty, because you bade us do this also, giving us an example of a modest or humble disposition. But you will of yourself add things greater and better than these, inasmuch as you have already received from the Spirit together with the pastorate ability also to feed the flock with understandinof. The end.
513-7. 3. Of the same to the same Solon, bishop and metropolitan of Selettcia in Isauria. {Brom those during episcopacy, from the Ind book the 2Ath letter. )
The letter of your religiousness was enough to bring
even those who are not easily roused to wrath into a
state of anger and indignation. But for our part,
because we are accustomed to endure such things
p. 18. philosophically, especially when they are done and
said by honoured and beloved men like you, we have thought it right in this instance also not to strive with contentious words, but rather, as far as possible, in consonance with the actual truth to write such things as are in accord with the judgments of God, and to show that we are free from all cause of blame on your part, Callistus was not dragged before us by anyone upon any new charges being made against him by you. Then he would have had ground for complaint, inasmuch as discipline would, as you say, have been violated, and a judgment and cause ^ that belonged to the holy throne of the metropolitan would have been forcibly removed before examination or pardon by being called up, as one may say, to the exaltation and height of the patriarchal and apostolic throne. But, if the matters upon which the party of Hilarian and Musonius made charoes aoainst Callistus were examined and investigated while your holiness was in this great city, how comes it that the transaction does not lie beyond the reach of your objections ? Nay, how can you avoid praising us if you again recall to your memory how I turned benevolent ears to such faults, and to the bitter attacks of the accusers, and that with much p. 19. wise moderation we tempered the vehemence of those men, and the gravity of the accusations in which he was involved ; and that after this we further in some sort sent a request, which otherwise would not have beseemed us, to each of the bishops, asking them,
o^ccris.
inasmuch as he had repented, to vote unanimously for the forgiveness which was to be granted him ; and, upon our showing such solicitude, he received letters from each of the bishops, and we received these with joy, and immediately the things written were read, and the decree of pardon followed ? But, as for the matter which is now thought by Hilarian to be connected with the same subject,^ how will it be suited for the hearing of your love of God, and that when the sin was directed against me, I mean that of the forged letter ? For I do not know if anyone else among men, or an angel from heaven, will come and disprove its spuriousness, seeing that its prejudice is so manifest, and that Hilarian's handwriting also, when compared with his other signatures, utters, so to speak, a voice and proclaims the fiction. Therefore look into these things with carefulness and sincere God-l6ving thought, and p. 20. consider whether you are not making a preposterous request, viz., that the patriarch should receive judgment from your love of God in a case of insults or sins that were directed against him, and that in the words sung by everyone you may turn things upside down ; and whether we ourselves have not now the right to use your words, " I am insulted and contemned." I forbear to mention that, even after the conviction from the letter, Paul, the God-loving bishop of the city of the Olbians, came here, and bore witness and said that Hilarian said in the presence of his love of God that
^ V7r6d€(n<s.
with Musonius' assent he wrote that the diaconate ought to be restored to Callistus, but that he should not in addition be archdeacon also, and hold the first place.^ But what is the modest defence to these things, which is given even by your sanctity (for this is the wonderful thing)? "Callistus is not subject to reproof for saying of himself that he does not communicate with us in the matter of the mention of Peter and Palladius, who are by a violation of strict accuracy named in the sacred tablets, and in the matter of communion with the God-loving bishop of the city of the Hierapolitans, Philoxenus, who names a man who signed the things unlawfully done at Chalcedon." May the all-holy soul of Constantine hear these words, against whom that wicked man p. 21. armed himself, both by writing to those on the other side and by creeping into the archive-house, and arming and inciting the governor^ of the province^ to do everything that could bow down his venerable old age and subvert the orthodox faith ! For so much did he infuriate him, I mean the governor of Isauria at that time, that death alone put a stop to his fury against piety. May Solon also, who succeeded to Constantine's see, hear these words ! and let him hold Callistus as a teacher of zeal for strict accuracy, because after intolerable impieties he has of his own accord come forth as an unlawful champion on behalf of the laws of the church, one who sprang suddenly from the ground
1 C/. p. 31. ^ rjy/xwv. 3 i-n-apxia.
like the giants fabled in legends. However let Callistus stand upon this peak, there is no objection, and let Solon go up with him. Only let them stay in this citadel, and not immediately come down and say, "All the cities of Isauria have also introduced into the sacred tablets the names of those who unlawfully signed at Chalcedon " ; for it is time for me also to say what the well-disposed robber, who was crucified with our Lord and Saviour Christ, said to the blasphemous robber, " Dost not even thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same judgment ? " ^ These things we for our part say out of an abundant choice. But anyone who makes a careful investigation will find that your love of God has not maintained the order of things ^ which you took over from Constantine the metropolitan who is among the saints, but that your feathers have gradually tallen off after the manner of a bird, while our meanness has carried out a gradual progress, and has in no way fallen short of the beginning previously made. Indeed every one of those who were ordained by us, whether he incurred dangers or was free from danger, removed the names under suspicion. For neither is the statement made by your religiousness true, I mean that the God-loving Mammian bishop of the city of the Damascenes mentions the name of one who signed. Immediately upon his setting foot in the city and sacrificing the first sacrifice and at the same time with it he offered to God the legal omission of his
^ Lu. xxiii. 40. ^ Karao-Tacrt?.
name. But the omission of the mention of such men as Peter and Palladius we for our part have for the present not promised to any man. The things that must be yielded to junctions or general unions of God's holy churches are both regulated and defined, and we p- 23. never stretch ourselves to things outside the bounds of moderation, " being vainly puffed up," ^ as the apostle says, and wandering outside the royal road. If we had in the beginning yielded this difficulty in these other names to you who did this, but had stopped at this one only, that of those who signed as you say several times, how could 1 on my own authority have laid either upon myself or upon those who have in no way attained to this strictness " heavy burdens and grievous to be borne," ^ according to the Gospel saying, which injure the right teaching of the faith and upset everything owing to the stress and difficulty of the present time ? The things done in the case of Callistus are therefore as stated above. But your love of God ought also to reflect upon the accusations that Musonius and Hilarian brought in the case of the devout Eustace, and how we for our part dealt with the affair in a proper way and in a seemly fashion ; and to see with your eyes how honourable is the place that you hold before us, though you show an appearance of forgetting. Indeed I know clearly that in the matters in which it is my duty to trouble my mind I have not relaxed at all. But, if any man seeks to be burdened
^ Col. ii. 18. - Mt. xxiii. 4.
by God's laws, "we have no such custom, neither the p- 24. churches of God."^ But may the Lord be witness for me of my words and of the feehngs of my heart, that I am still even now praying that Callistus may be found upon manifest proofs to be innocent of the charges made against him, as the previous proceedings also and the various measures taken by me in his case showed ! But, if he shall neglect the rieht road of defence and take refuge in an accuracy of names that does not exist, and in the fact that he does not communicate with us, it is time for me to say to him appropriately the words of Jeremiah, " ' If thou whiten thyself with natron and take thee much soap, thy sins have scarred thee before me' saith the Lord."^ But neither will the religious Hilarian escape from the strict execution of the canons, if he be proved to be lying. A certain term of days has been fixed for him, and this has been set down in writing ; and, if he fail to appear and make no defence to the accusation against him, Callistus will be released from the interdict, and tne position of a man under a charge will rightly pass to him, as disturbing the discipline of the Church. A}id after other things. But you must believe that, after I had given the letter to the devout Stephen, something that had been omitted came into my mind, I mean, to tell you the time within which the religious bishop Hilarian is to come, or else the things stated in the letter about Callistus and about him will be carried
^ I Co. xi. 16. 2 Ter. ii. 22.
out. The time is reckoned from to-day, and extends P- 25- to the end of the month of September. The end.
4. Of the same to the same So/on the bishop. [Frojn 516-17. those during episcopacy, fi'om the 2nd book the \2nd, $oth lettc}'.)
That there are limits even to long-suffering the sacred scripture clearly teaches us, in that it speaks thus in the person of God over all, " All the day I have spread out my hands unto a gainsaying and disobedient people" :^ and again : "Thus saith the Lord, ' Have I become a wilderness to them of the house of Israel, or a desert land } Because my people said, " We will not be brought into subjection, and we will come no more unto thee."' "" What therefore is one to say about Musonius. who was known to us for impudence and rustic denseness, and for love of money which is greater than all evil things, which Paul who had Christ speaking in him said is "the root of all evil ? " ^ Being excited by these same passions, he did not notice that he was blinded by beams and searching for other men's motes through love of fault-finding and not in order to guard the salvation of the brethren ; insomuch as to upset the whole province * as far as his power extends, disturbing both bishops and laity, and on his own authority adding burdens to burdens, and p. 26.
1 Is. Ixv. 2 ; Ro. X. 21. - Jer. ii. 31.
^ I Ti. vi. 10. * iTTapYia,
not allowing them to arrive at excellence by gradual advance, but by his arrogance to cause those who were standing rightly to go over to the adversaries : insomuch that yet another prophecy is adapted for quoting against him which says, "My sheep fed upon the trampling of your feet, and drank the water that was fouled by your feet ; and ye thrust them with your sides and with your shoulders, and ye pushed them with your horns ; everyone that was sick ye oppressed, till ye had driven them out, and my sheep were scattered upon every crossway " ; ^ and again, " That which was weak ye did not strengthen, and that which was sick ye did not heal, and that which was broken ye did not bind up, and that which was in evil plight ye did not comfort, and that which was wandering ye did not bring again, and that which was lost ye did not seek, and that which was sound ye subjected by force." ^ Of all these things he has been guilty, and as far as in him lies he has made havoc of the province.^ To the orthodox he is burdensome and hostile, and is always kicking his neighbours and pushing them with his horns and gnashing his teeth, like unbroken asses or bulls or wild boars which feed in bestial fashion ; but against the adversaries he has never dared to speak so much as a word, but sits inside his house and lives in fear ; for such is the boldness which in face of those against whom it is right to be p. 27 bold shrinks and draws back, but in committing illegal
^ Eze. xxxiv. 19, 21. ~ Ibid. 4.
fTrap)^La,
deeds is precipitous and easily moved to action, and turns everything upside down. Finally, saying that he had become a man according to the saying of the prophet,^ because he loved strange men and went after them, he went away and found those who could satisfy his avarice and fill his hand. And he did not even think it wrong to exact interest : but, when the Godloving bishops were assembled here, he piteously alleged poverty and want, and openly confessed that for this reason he followed the avaricious practice of taking interest. And, though we gave him many admonitions, he did not even promise to withhold his hand from the unconsecrated means of gain for the future, and that though we ourselves gave him twelve gold pieces and promised to pay him that sum every year, and to relieve the needs of the church that had been entrusted to him ; for this he used, so to speak, to bewail every day, going so far as to speak to one of our religious presbyters, whose name is Hesychius, in so many words thus, with the rusticity that is natural to him, " By God! what do you care, you who receive the stipend" of the clergy of Antioch, while I possess nothing in my city, not so much as six denarii ? " When I wrote to you before also, I quoted in the letter his abominable, unholy words, full of sacrilege, which p. 28. he dared to write in an epistle to our religious presbyter Longinus ; and they also are word for word as follows:^ — "But you remember that I said to you,
^ Job xxxiii. 25 (?). - Sidpia, ^ Cf. p. 80.
* He Quofht to have sent somethinor to our church as treasures.^ By this means not only do the men themselves become more enthusiastic, but the other cities also which are in error, as if they were jealous of us, would have come over and entered into accord with us. In this way Flavian also acted to the bishop of Germanicupolis, when he gave both robes and treasures^ to the unholy Bisula, and he drew the inhabitants of his country to him.' And your holiness also reported these words to the same holy patriarch, and you told me that you told him and he did not help you at all." What are we to say of a man who from such passions left his flock and would not submit to be poor with Christ, who, while as God He was rich, became poor of His own accord for our sake? This I say, because the money-lover called moderate means poverty, and because, now that he has reached this incurable depth of wickedness, it is absolutely necessary to strip him of the priestly functions, and to subject him to the punishment prescribed by the holy canons.^ For p. 29. the seventeenth canon runs thus : — " Since many, while enrolled in the canon, by pursuing after covetousness and base ofains have forg-otten the divine text that says, ' He hath not put out his money upon interest,' and exact hekatostai or one per cent, when they lend, the holy synod has decided, that, if after this ordinance anyone be found receiving interest, contrivinof the matter bv commerce or otherwise, and
^ Ketfxtjkta. - Cf, i. 23.
exacting hemioliai or half the whole, or contriving' anything else for the sake of filthy lucre, his deposition from the clergy shall follow, and that he shall be an alien to the canon." ^ The hundred and seventh law also, laying down the same principles, says plainly as follows : — " Priests must not lend and receive interest, and what are called Jiemioliaiy^
But as to Paul, who I would had never become bishop of the city of the Olbians, who because of a provocation that deserves to be treated with contempt left his flock, and was often admonished by me and calmed his savaofeness, and said that he would be calm and remain at peace and stay in his church, and "returned again to his vomit," ^ it is necessary for us to use the prophetic words and say, "We healed Babylon, and she was not healed. Let us leave her." * Having a dispute with the religious Hilarian, bishop of Diocaesarea, about a certain monastery,^ an unhallowed and unseemly dispute, but still a dispute, he closed his ears to the apostolic statutes, and would not give them any admission, the statutes that say, " Behold ! already ye are utterly in fault that ye go to law with one another ; why do ye not rather take wrong ? why do ye not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded ? but ye wrong and defraud and that your brethren ; or know ye not that unrighteous persons shall not inherit the kingdom of God ? " *^ ; and often, when he argued in a childish and rustic manner about this, I persuaded
1 Mansi ii. 676. - Ibid. 563. '^ Pr. xxvi. ir.
4 Jer. xxviii. 9. ^ Cf. pp. 69, 86. '^ i Co. vi. 7-9.
him and restored him to a proper state of mind. For he used always to swear and say that he had great faith in me, and that he revered my labours and struggles on behalf of the orthodox faith (I am even compelled to become a fool ^ by quoting words in my own praise in order to show his disposition). And he would depart from our presence, as if he had been delivered from thoughts that wallow on the earth. But, being bound up in earthly things and infected with the perversity of strife, he would again abandon himp. 31- self to the same contentiousness. And, being wholly swayed by anger, and swelling with contentious strifes, he would at one time go up to the royal city, and at another hasten to other countries. And at last, out of love of base gains, he went over to the schism of Musonius, the same Musonius who in his letter to the religious presbyter Longinus, which I mentioned a short time aero, with reofard to the same Paul made, sentence for sentence and word for word, such statements as these : " But I will make yet another small addition to the letter. In everything I blame myself. I caused him to be made bishop of Olba, because I thought that there was some good in him, since he displayed an appearance of undergoing a struggle for the faith. And it turned out contrary to my expectations. For he had a mad and wicked strife about a place which was subject to pay tribute to the lord Hilarian the bishop, while he wished to make this
^ 2 Co. xii. II.
subject to himself; and the afore-mentioned saintlybishop Hilarian bore with him as long as possible, but, not finding- in him any advance towards settling the affair/ at last appropriated the place to himself by setting up an altar there. For it was a monastery. But Paul p. 32- went out of his mind and became like a demon and wroucrht every kind of disorder, reviling" me also. He says he will come there to you. If this happens, write to me and I will come with the lord Hilarian also, and expose all his conduct. God forgive me and be merciful to me ! he is not worthy to set foot even on the doorway of the church owing to the deeds done by him. I tremble and am afraid to repeat in the letter the facts regarding him, lest I pollute your ears which are benevolent and God-loving. May the holy God himself grant your holiness to me ! For you are always our refreshment and consolation, whenever we remember your name." What mercy therefore can one admit in the case of men who are so foolish, and have unreasonably abandoned their flock on account of base and unhallowed passions, while the sacred canons do not give them any forgiveness, but the eighty-first canon plainly says : "If any presbyter or deacon or generally anyone of the sacred order should leave his own parish and pass to another, and afterwards, completely removing, try to live in another parish for a long time, he shall not minister any more ; and especially if when his own bishop calls him and
^ KaTaorao-t?.
admonishes him to return to his own parish he should P- 33- not obey ; and, if he should continue in the same disorderly conduct, his complete deposition from the ministry shall follow, so that he shall not again have a chance of returning to his place ; but, if when his deposition takes place for this reason, another bishop should receive him, he also shall receive punishment from a general synod, as breaking the church laws." ^ And moreover the purport of the eighty-seventh canon also is the same, and it says thus: "The bishops in each of the provinces must know that the bishop who stands at their head in the metropolis is himself entrusted with the care of the whole province, because those who have business meet in the metropolis from every place ; wherefore it has seemed o-ood that he shall also be the first in honour, and the other bishops shall do nothing outside the ordinary course without him, in accordance with the canon that has prevailed from the beginning from the time of the fathers, but only those things which belong to each man's province" and to the districts under this; for each of the bishops has authority to administer his own parish, in proportion to the devoutness that has fallen to the lot of each, and to undertake the care of all the district that is under his city, in so far as to ordain presbyters and deacons, and to administer each matter p- 34- with judgment or examination, but not to do anything outside the course, or even try to do so, without the
1 Mansi ii. 1309. - eVapx'a (Gk. irapoLKLa).
bishop of the metropolis. Neither shall he again do this without the consent of the other bishops."^ It is a long task to quote the things that are laid down in various places by the holy canons. However it is manifest from the citations made that, since Musonius and Paul have offended against the intention of all church discipline by leaving their country, they have made themselves aliens to the high-priestly office, since they have run counter to Him who said, "The good shepherd layeth down his life for his sheep : but he ■ that is an hireling and is not the shepherd, and whose own the sheep are not, when he hath seen the wolf coming, leaveth the sheep and fleeth, and the wolt seizeth and scattereth them : but the hireling fleeth because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep."" I had nearly omitted yet another fact which also affords a manifest proof of the madness and of the foolish impulses of Musonius. When he was making a charge against the devout archdeacon Callistus on the ground that he had bought the priestly order and status, thereby satisfying his wrathful inclination, and not actuated in any way by religious motives, he wrote to us to the effect that such a man as that ought to retire from the archidiaconate, but minister in the order of deacons.^ And he heard me quote, and with p 35- great justice, the passage of holy scripture that says, " May thine own mouth convict thee and not I ! ","* and that also which was spoken by the divine Daniel to the
^ Mansi ii. 1311. - John x. 11-13. ^ Cf. p. 19. "* Job xv. 6.
presumptuous elders, on one occasion, " Rightly hast thou also lied against thine head," and on another, " O thou that hast grown old in evil days, now have thy sins come near which thou usedst to commit aforetime, in judging unjust judgments, and in condemning the innocent, and in acquitting the guilty, when the Lord saith, ' The innocent and righteous thou shalt not slay,' " ^ " For, if, as you say, he bought for money the grace that may not be bousfht, such a man ouoht to be removed not only from the archidiaconate, but also from the diaconate itself." What then is his ignorant and very rustic defence to this? " Callistus, while archdeacon, puts a stumbling-block in the others' way by carrying the holy gospel on his breast." " What does he " say then, madman, to the ignorant person who is near him ? Do you think that the cup of salvation of the divine blood has less virtue than the book of the holy gospels, and that the onlookers will not strike upon a greater stumbling-block, when a man who has bouofht the ministry carries this?" It seems to me that I am doing a superfluous thing in insisting on speaking words without eloquence to men who have contracted this unholy infection. These words your p. 36. sanctity ought to speak to those who have remained sound, and to call to you the saintly bishops of your province,^ who confess the orthodox faith, and hold the same communion with us, but strip those men of the priesthood, inasmuch as they did not spare the rational
1 Su. 59, 52, 53. ■^ A 'What shall I.' ' i-n-apxta.
sheep, but reckoned the salvation of these secondary to their own passions, and left these as in a night in which is no brightness, and tried to submerge them so deeply in the turbid drink that they should not even have power to rise. However we believe that they will find such efforts vain. For by the mandate of the divine Spirit, and the lawful vote of the citizens through the mediation of your sancity, bishops and highpriest will be ordained for the cities who will feed their flocks with understanding. For he that speaks through Ezekiel says, " Behold ! I will seek out my sheep, and will visit them. As the shepherd visiteth his flock on a day of storm and darkness when his sheep are scattered, so will I seek my sheep, and I will deliver them from every place wherein they have been scattered on the day of storm and darkness."^ Therefore visit these sheep with the help of God, and do not show negligence or give any occasion for delay, lest you bring yourself under the condemnation of these men, and draw upon your head the sentence hanging over them. For we may hear yet another sacred utterance p 37- of the prophet which says, " Cursed is he that shall do the works of the Lord negligently, and cursed is he that shall keep back his sword from blood." ^ As there is a time for mercy, so also there is a time for cuttinooff: for we hear the same Spirit saying in Koheleth, " There is a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted : a time to kill, and a time to heal : a
^ Eze. xxxiv. ii, 12. - Jer. xxxi. 10.
time to break down and a time to build," ^ and the other passages through which we understand how that it is with judgment that we must handle the divine words and fulfil the ministry of these. The end.
514-8. 5. Of the same to Peter, bishop of Apamea. i^From those during episcopacy, from the ^rd book the ^th letter.)
When the letters of your love of God came before me, not that only which was written to me, but that also which was written to the religious presbyter Thomas, I thought it right not to judge words which were put forward, as you yourself also say, under a feeling of wrath and anger, but only to declare my mind as if God himself were listening, and to say to Him like Jeremiah, " The things which came forth from my lips are before Thy face." " In the first p. 3^- place you bring a charge against us, which is not known to the canons, nor to the church laws or precepts. For what law of the God-inspired scripture, or precept of the holy fathers, encloses and confines the laity in cities and in countries, and prevents these from going to receive ordination from anyone willing to orive it ? And how is it that this new charge, which has hitherto escaped the notice of many, has found such a strict prosecutor in you alone ? It
^ Ec. iii. 2, 3. - Jer. xvii. 16.
is time for the God-loving bishop JuHan of the city of the Emesenes also to make the same accusation against us in the case of the devout deacon Irenaeus, because he registers his fathers' house at Emesa. The saintly Dionysius also, who has reached extreme old aoe, and is crowned with honourable white hairs, who is venerable for the length of his life, will perhaps more justly put forth a complaint against us, in the case of the religious deacon Anatolius. For in fact he too was previously thought to be a citizen of the city of the Tarsians. And I am sure that the purpose which we had as to the magnificent count Qicumenius is also not unknown to you. Have I therefore up to this day been interfering with all these shepherds of metropolitan sees and causing them annoyance, and been infected with such greed, and been coveting other men's property without it being known ? or is it rather, as the truth is, because I have given no handle for a lawful charge against me, nor caused annoyance to anyone soever ? As to the devout p. 39. Leontius, it was not out of need as you think that we raised him to the honour of the presbyters' seat, but because we wished to honour the man. And this is not the first time (I speak with God himself as witness), but long before this was in my mind, even before your love of God was raised to the high-priesthood. We had in fact made the acquaintance of the man and he was known to us by letters, even while we were practising the philosophic life in Palestine. However, I did not even know that the said
Leontius himself is amono- those that are in such high esteem with you. Neither had you ever bestowed upon him such laudatory expressions as you now do in your letter, nor had we ever learned that the stability of the holy church of the Apamenes was shaken by him. However, if the man is of such a character, and is among your friends and counsellors as you say, even one letter from your love of God is enouofh to win him over : and if he desires to live in the city of the Apamenes we will in no way prevent him, nor will we detain his devoutness, even thouoh it was thougrht that we needed him for something. But that we should commit the unholy and uncanonical action of driving him out against his will, p. 40. and turn the honour into a shame, neither you nor any other intelligent man like you will judge to be right. If you wished to raise the man to the priesthood as you say, the time past would have suited you equally well for this purpose. I consider that the grace of ordination receives no difference in similitude from the fishing-net, which is thrown into the sea of the world or into worldly matter by the Spirit itself: and that it is one, though divided among the nets of many fishers ; among whom are Peter and James and John and Andrew, and all who fed the churches after them. All did not catch the same persons, but one caught one, and another another : but the grace of the fisher was one, because the faith also is one, and the church under the whole heaven of those who hold the same things is one. That therefore which
was done in the case of the devout Leontius is the action of the Holy Spirit, not of us. For it " bloweth where it Hsteth,"^ as is said by our God and Saviour. If therefore you also catch one of the Antiochenes in your net, we shall find no fault at all with your fishing, but we shall praise the Holy Spirit which distributes to each man individually its own grace, and does everything in an ineffable manner and as it lists. Indeed in this frame of mind we pray that John also, the eloquent scholastic, the son of Matronian of illustrious memory, and the eloquent and Christ-loving p- 4ischolastic Sergius may be enrolled in the order of those who minister to the Lord, and that they may adorn the church and be adorned by it and praise Christ. This I remember to have told your love of God also many times. And it was and is in my mind to raise the eloquent scholastics Peter and Maximin also to the priestly order ; and I do not know through what reasons, known as they are to the wisdom that passes understanding, I have not yet been able to carry out what I intended. But for this also I am waiting for sanction from above, and divine inspiration. However I shall not dispute whether they are to be drawn in by my hand or yours : but so far am I from being jealous of you in respect of the fishing, that I will even help you and catch hold of the net with you above. Every matter whatever that is not contrary to the canons surely urges us to give help and to act
1 John iii. 8.
in unison with one another. How is it anything but shameful that, while those who hunt birds reckon the air common property, and fishers, as I have said, the sea, we should dispute about things that lie not in our power but in God's? However, not to use many words and interfere with the moderate length of the letter (I think that even what has been written has gone beyond a moderate length), if the devout Leontius acquiesce in your wish as you say, we will consent, and will not retain him ao-ainst his will : and this as p. 42. a concession to you, and in order to show that, in thing's such as these, it is not our endeavour to subserve to the best of our power human purposes, but to walk according to the divine laws only.
513-8.
6. Of the same to N'icias the bishop. {^From those during episcopacy, fToni the yd book the lyist /etter.)
A wicked and unlawful action, one that conflicts with the laws of the catholic and apostolic church, has come to our ears. We hear that some ot the inhabitants of the hamlet of Minidus and Uaris have presumed to sail westwards, and to receive an unhallowed ordination from those who hold the opinions of Nestorius and cut our one Lord and God Jesus Christ into a duality of natures after the ineffable union, an ordination which is invalid not in one way only but in many, and is reckoned as if it had never taken place : since, even if those who laid the presumptuous hand upon these men had
been orthodox, they ought not to have ordained in another parish or rather in one outside their boundary, in violation of discipline ; and that while we by the grace p 43. of God are not charged with any heresy. This the holy canons plainly declare both in intention and in words. Therefore let your love of God make the purport of the sacred canons known to all in the neighbourhood of their parish, and proclaim them stripped of all the honour and rank of the priesthood and diaconate, and prohibit those who are in communion with us or rather with the ri^ht faith from associating- with these men, that they may not communicate in the impiety, and call down upon themselves the wrath from God.
7. Of the same to Castor, bishop of Perga. {^Frovi 513-8. those during episcopacy, from the yd book the 2^2nd letter.)
The order of devout subdeacons in your see has asked a certain petition of us, which does not pass beyond the holy canons, but is contained within the fathers' landmarks as the sacred scripture says. For your sanctity well knows that there is a legal commandment in Moses, or rather a commandment of Christ who spoke through him, " Thou shalt not remove the landmarks that are from of old, which thy fathers set up." ^ What this is it is necessary for
^ De. xix. 14.
40 SELECT LETTERS OF THE HOLY SEVERUS. I. T
US to say clearly. Those of the said order of subp 44- deacons who presented the petition to us say that they are greatly contemned and insulted by the readers and psaltai or singers of the holy church that is under you, inasmuch as they are trying to seize their place by violence, and seek to grasp for themselves the first rank, contrary to every consideration of justice and the law that prevails in the holy churches. Everywhere under the sun the order of subdeacons ranks before that of readers : both when named in the sacred tablets, and in the reception of the divine body and blood of Christ : and no one will anywhere see a reader mentioned before a subdeacon by the sacred voice of those that proclaim. Therefore your love of God also must preserve the same order, and not be so negligent as to place discipline second to the covetousness of individuals. You, who are a teacher and expounder of the divine words, are not unaware that even in the hosts that are in heaven there are certain ranks and degrees which are ranked before one another, those which are hio-h as well as those which are low, those which ascend as well as those which descend. For Paul who was caught up to the third heaven shows this, when he writes to the Colossians and says, " Whether they be thrones or dominions, whether they be principalities or powers,"^ and by such names shows that there is some order which bestows fair adornment " even upon the heavenly and invisible spirits, and thence descends to
^ Col. i. t6. " Misunderstanding of erKoo-^ua.
the church also, which was founded by God the Word p- 45- who became incarnate and made the thing-s that are seen and the things that are not seen, but differs in no way in its simiHtude from heaven, by reason of the great mystery of rehgion that is every day administered in it Wherefore also the same wise Paul in his epistle to the Ephesians writes thus about it : " And he himself gave : some apostles : and some prophets : and some preachers : and some pastors, and teachers :" ^ and in another place, "For God" (he says) "set first in his church apostles : next prophets : next teachers ; " " and all that follow. By all these things we are taught to honour order, and to shun disorder and confusion : which principle we urge your sanctity also to observe in this present matter^ also, which gave occasion for this letter.
8. Of the same to Tifnostratiis the duke} i^Froui those 513-8. during episcopacy, from the ^rd book the 2^6th 258M letter.)
To me it appears something to be prayed for and desirable to communicate with your greatness by letter : and to return the greeting that is owed to you as if it were some necessary debt, and not make this p. 46- the accidental result of causes about which I am even
1 Eph. iv. II. ■ I Co. xii. 28. ' Ke^aXatov.
* Cf. Zach. Rh. ix. i (Eng. transl., p. 222 note 2).
ashamed to write. Thoucrh I was orlad to see vour magnificence's recent episde, it was in sorrow that I ceased the reading of it. For I found the cause or subject ^ of the letter to be grievous when tested by the divine purpose, and difficuh and impossible and ''after the flesh" - to speak in the language of scripture, and one that is sensually judged.^ Whereas the divine apostle, or rather Christ who speaks in him, limits and restricts the gift of ordination under a certain threat, and says, " Lay thine hand suddenly on no man. neither be partaker of other men's sins ; keep thyself in purity," * by many the thing is considered as one of the ordinary trades, that of a smith let us say or a carpenter, or as some office that brings with it the gift of sustenance, and an occasion of dapane or expense and a relief for need ; as if it were not permissible for us to acquire the means of life from any other source than this. And the good men do not know that a man must pass through all the degrees of the church, and obtain some kind of previous training for priestly functions, and thus be admitted to ordination as presbyter or as deacon : and this because the thing is a matter of difficulty and rarely to be undertaken in accordance with the previously cited statute which says, " Lay a hand suddenly P- 47- on no man, neither be partaker of other men's sins," and yet further enacts, " Keep thyself in purity" ; and each of the additions declares the awfulness of the statute, and shows that the hand should in some way
1 vTToQf.cri'i. - 2 Co. i. 17 (?). ^ I Co. ii. 14. ^ I Ti. v. 22, 23.
be drawn to the head of those who are ordained under great necessity and unwilHngly. In order to explain the first reason for which ordination is a formidable matter, these few words are enough for us. But I will add also a second reason, which is concerned with material considerations. This is that our holy church is very poor and needy, and that it is so much distressed and laden by the weight of interest, that it is hardly able even to hold up its head, but debts upon debts are added to its account, and interest upon interest is piled up against it. Of this all who live in the great city of Antiochus are witnesses : and I think there are not many even among those beyond its bounds who have not heard of the fact. And nevertheless certain persons in the royal city, and others in its neighbourhood, being worried by certain persons. do not cease every day so to speak writing to our meanness and asking for ordinations ; and they think that this is not a matter to excite ano-er. And so foolish did this desire make some men, that they even made a show of desiring the dress of the priesthood p- 48. only, and not seeking further to receive sustenance also : and, having once obtained their object, when the time of distribution came, they so to speak held out their hands before all the others : so that not only were those who made a mockery of divine things laughed at for the guile and treachery, but we also who were fraudulently deceived. These things I have been compelled to write to your magnificence, because I suffer in myself, and because I know that my
letter is addressed to a Christian, and to one who is capable of sympathizing with me and is perhaps also able to hold out a hand to me who am wearied and stupefied like a man who is being strangled by creditors, and am compelled to find sustenance for need without sufficient incomes and revenues, considering the immoderate extent of a demand that is pious indeed, but still difficult to satisfy on account of its frequency. The end.
513-8. 9. Of the same to Stephen, bishop of Tripolis. [From those during episcopacy, from the Sth book the 2'j6th, 277M letter.)
Sinful and vile man though we are, nothing pleases us so much as to try to do everything that we wish to p- 49- do with reason. Wherefore also we accept and praise your love of God for having been in doubt with regard to one of the paragraphs ^ that were written by us : regfardinof which we must bv all means make a canonical answer ; for it is written, '' The lips of a priest shall keep knowledge, and they shall ask for law from his mouth." -^ What is the question which you ask because you were in doubt } Whether the devout presbyter Stephen ought to be reckoned among the holy clergy of the holy church in Tripolis, when he does not bring with him a dimissory letter from him who ordained him.
^ Ki(f)uXaiov. ' Mai ii. 7.
Now in the first place we hear that the man was ordained by force, and that he recoiled from or objected to an ordination outside the bounds, because he cannot Hve in a strange city which is not his own. And in the second place, even if this which we have stated is not the fact, we ought to know that those who do not hold to the orthodox faith, and therefore to the pure communion of our apostolic throne, have no share in strict canonical form, and we ought not to seek a di- ( missory letter from these, as if it were something I necessary and required by law, or any other canonical j requisite, when men flee from association with these, '■ 1 and come over to the sound teachino^. This we mav learn easily and without trouble from the epistle of the holy Cyril (every utterance of whom one would say is a law of the church) to Nestorius, in which he asserted himself to be in communion with all who had P- 50. been separated by him, and had received from him either a ban of excommunication or a decree of deprivation, in these w^ords : " But we are all in communion with all who have been separated by your devoutness and deprived on account of the faith, laymen and clergymen." ^ Do therefore the things which have been decided by us to be right without any doubt or hesitation, and know clearly that, if we had not taken much account of the saintly memory of Severus the presbyter whose is the lot of the saints, we should not perhaps have written to you any such thing. For your love of
^ P.G. Ixxvii. 108.
God must be assured that it is our earnest endeavour and desire not to write anything at all to the Godloving bishops under the apostolic throne about ordination, or about the enrollino- of individuals in the order of the clergy, unless perhaps some just cause somewhere arise, as we see to be the case in the present instance also to which we are now referring. As to the venerable cross remaining fixed before the house of Theodore the illustrious ofovernor and vindex after the former fashion, let your sanctity make it your earnest concern that it do so. It is the duty of bishops like you to cut short and to restrain any unregulated p- 51. movements of the mob, if they should indeed occur, and to set themselves to maintain all grood order in the cities, and to keep watch over the peaceful manners and customs of those who are fed by them. The e7id.
513-8. 10. Of the same to Eiicharius the bishop. {From those
cxuring episcopacy, from hook the i^ind,
1437'^/ /etter.)
The transactions in the Christ-loving, believing city of the Paltians concerning Firminus have come to my notice, and I have agreed to them. Otherwise you would not have written, as may with most probability be inferred. It is however impossible to pass sentence upon a guilty man before he has had an opportunity of defence, having his accusers also face to face as is written.^ Therefore, as form requires, our judgment
1 Ac. XXV. 16.
I. II. SELECT LETTERS OF TIIK HOLY SEVERUS. 47
is that the man who has sinned be sent here, and the actual men who are able to convict him, and to confirm the transactions regarding him, so that in this way we may cause him to be subjected to canonical sentences. For it is written, as your love of God who teach others p. 52. also knows, " The innocent and righteous thou shalt not slay, and thou shalt not acquit the wicked." ^ The end.
I r. Of the same to the archimandrite of the monaste7y 514-8. of Bassus. [From those during episcopacy, from the 2,1'd book the 345/// letter.)
The letter of your love of God which has just been brought to me I have taken into my hands, and received as yours. For I rejoice and exult when I read your name even on the mere outside address, and I am brought to a more lively memory of your holy monastery, and draw away my thoughts from the worry of affairs, and in this way am refreshed and comforted. But, when the things written met my eye, I was astonished, and wondered how it could have come into your mind to make a profitless and impossible request. The devout Cosmas, who has just died, I instituted bishop of the city of the Apamenes, because I trusted to the report of others concerning him and their partiality on his behalf. For I confess to your holiness
^ Ex. xxiii. 7.
that I never had any confidence in him. Accordingly during all the time previous to my coming to this city p- 53- of Antiochus it can in no case be shown that I addressed a letter to him ; but it was the religious presbyter Theodore who used to write to him. But for what reason I would not consent to write to him it is not proper to the present time to say. However, as I said, I instituted him bishop, thus adding yet another to my sins. For what blasphemous utterances he vomited forth, and what darts he hurled against heaven God who heard knows. In plain language, not to make a long story, after many roundabout methods and entreaties on my part, and tears unsuited to the Holy Spirit, after alleging one reason and another, and at last bringing in his bodily infirmity also, he resigned the bishopric. Thenceforward the whole position was an insoluble difficulty to us, and full of doubt. For it was not only on account of the mistake made in his case and the words blasphemously put forward by him that there was cause for weeping, but also owing to the question in what way the affairs of the Apamenes would have to be administered : for in such a state of confusion all counsel was helpless. The God-loving bishops who in accordance with the statutes of the church were residing at that time in the city of the Antiochenes, being present, exhorted me to receive him as wishing to resign. And, since it was impossible for one church to be united to two men at the same time, he drew up petitions of resignation, saying of himself that he was no bishop and no clergy-
man, nor did he hold any other degree in the ministry. And, after this had taken place, the God-loving bishop Peter was thereupon instituted. How then is it possible to undo, as you ask, a thing that was carried out with so much caution and without anger? x'\ssuredly, if the transaction which renders Cosmas not a bishop is not maintained, it results that the God-loving Peter was uncanonically instituted, and was given to a church that had already received a bishop. Accordingly it is plain that the resignation of the often-mentioned Cosmas tends to establish the ordination of the God-loving bishop Peter. But I for my part am wondering who advised your sanctity to ask this. Does anyone intend to clothe the dead man in that of which in accordance with the ordinances of the Holy Spirit that cannot be rejected he voluntarily stripped himself? or does anyone wish to mention him as a bishop ? What therefore the wisdom of such a request is I am unable to understand. And what a time was it for a man's resignation to be recalled after his decease ! Again, as to the fact that I went out to the devout Cosmas after he had fallen ill, I wish the sequence of events not to be unknown to your sanctity. Some of the zealous brethren came up to me and beafoed me to cro to him, p- 55- on the orround that he himself was askino- for this. But I said, " This cannot be. With a man who is not in communion with the holy church, I do not consider that I myself have any communion." And, though those who made the entreaty persevered, I would not consent : and I was so firm that for three whole days they urged the point, and I did not yield. But at last one of those who were with us, the religious deacon father Elijah, began to say that perhaps he wished to repent, and to receive the oblation from my sinful hands. When this was said, I considered that I should bring myself under the judgment of God, if I did not on this consideration consent to the request itself: and in this hope I went to visit the afore-mentioned man. However, knowing as I did his unyielding character, I said to those who were with me : " Believe me when I say that I am going out against my will and without any confidence." ^ And, when I had gone, I made a prayer in the expectation that he would repent : but to crive him a orreetino- or to ask a orreetino- from him I would not consent, far be it ! For with what reason could I have given a greeting of peace to a man who refused the mystical peace before the holy altars and communion with us ? Woe is me if I give a bodily greeting to any man when my soul does not agree to the orreetinor. When therefore we had sat down and p. 56. none of the things that were expected was said by him, but, though he could not articulate, he kept urging and inviting us to enter upon a long conversation, while 1 for my part considered it a sin for us to enter upon a contentious and profitless conversation while the man was on the point of giving up the ghost, I rose, and prayed to God in private to forgive me the inconsiderate visit. To a man who was so disposed I
' TrXrjf}0(f>npia.
ought not to have gone out at all. Even when he was dead and many thought I should go there, I did not go ; considering that " everything that is not of faith is sin,''^ according to the words of the Apostle. For I for my part consider a man who separated himself without reason from our orthodox communion an enemy not a brother, even if he is deceived by the devil, who "is transformed into an angel of light,"- by considerations that are rather upon the right side. For 1 hear the Lord say, "He that is not with me is against me: and he that gathereth not with me scattereth." ' Indeed by the prayers of the saints and of your holiness, when church histories and the labours of the holy fathers from the coming of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ down to this time come before me, -
I find that this present condition * of the holy churches in the East and in Egypt is purer than the condition ^ p- 57- in former times, when the facts are examined side by side. They therefore that trouble the simple " shall themselves bear the judgment whosoever"^ they are, and shall themselves " give account in the day of judgment," ^ when " he shall come who knoweth the hidden things of darkness and revealeth the counsels of the hearts."^ As for me, may I have no part with such men, either in this world or in that which is to come ! For, shunning as I do harshness of speech, I do not wish to declare in detail what is the judgment
^ Ro. xiv. 23. - 2 Cor. xi. 14. ^ Mt. xii. 30.
^ /caraorao-ts. ° Karaarttcrfts. ^ Ga. V. lo.
'^ Mt. xii. 36. ^ I Co. iv. 5.
of those who turn aside. Wherefore also I am urgent in entreating" every one of those who have been inv^olved in the error not to continue in the plausible strangulation of this righteousness, and hold aloof from the life-giving communion of the holy mysteries. And so forth. The end.
514-8. I 2. Of the same to Cosnias and Polyeuctus and Zeno the presbyters. i^Froni those during episcopacy, Jroni the 2)'>'d book the 354/'// letter }j
Even in the case of thino-s that are acknowledged and manifest we are not justified either by the form of p- 58. human laws or by the ordinances of the Holy Spirit in judging on the statement of one side. Wherefore neither did we consent to agree to the things that were written by your devoutness ; not because we do not believe you, but to preserve the appearance that befits those who have been entrusted with the task of judging such matters. The right and proper course would have been for your love of God to come as far as here : and then we would have summoned the other side also to come to us, and the truth would have been determined. Or, if they remained away and did not come when summoned, then the provisions laid down in the laws regarding those who remain away would have been plain and would have followed upon the act. For our own desire is not to leave the matter unheeded and unsettled. If the saintly Isidore, bishop of
the city of the men of Chalcis, had been present, we would have yielded to him the duty of giving judgment concerning places and persons in his jurisdiction. But, as he is absent, it is therefore absolutely necessary that we should ourselves, as I have said, lay down a just conclusion of the questions that have been stirred. The end.
p- 59-
13. Of the same to Entrechiiis, bishop of Anazarba. 513-8.
{F'roni those during episcopacy, from the ^7'd book the 39///', 398/// letter.)
I do not know whether I should lay the blame of the events that are happening upon my sins, or upon the operation of an evil demon. Though there is nothinfj else that I have had so much at heart or for which I have prayed so much as rhat every Christian should conduct himself blamelessly, but especially those who are high-priests, giving no cause for reproach or blame against themselves, but being " in everything a pattern of good works, in gravity and in holiness," as the A^postle says, " in order that he that is of the contrary part may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say of us, "^ I see that not once only but twice also 1 am worried about the same matters. Indeed, though some of the devout clergymen of the holy church of Flavias had presented to us certain accusations upon
. ■ 1 Tit. ii. 7, 8.
certain subjects ^ against their God-loving bishop, and we managed the affair ourselves, and brought things that else would have been troublesome to a peaceful p. 60. typos or conclusion and so settled them, now again old men bowed down with age have risen up to make more serious charges, men who, if one may so say, struggle against life itself, and live in utter poverty and need : if one were to call them a pitiable sight, the expression would not be amiss. The statements made by them are many and various. Still for my part, again following the same practice, I wished to stop their accusation if it were possible : but, as they went on saying the same things, I proposed to commit the hearing of the case ^ to your holiness. But, since they objected, and said that their life would be no life for them, if the religious Procopius their bishop did not come here, I have adopted a middle course (I do not think that others either will think the coming to us an easy thing) and resolved to send the religious Theodosius a presbyter of our apostolic see that he may examine the facts in conjunction with your love of God, and a decision consonant to the canons may be given by you, and a conclusion reached upon each of the subjects^ with the greatest possible accuracy. But at the same time we have resolved to say this much, that the said religious bishop Procopius should not, after the first warninp-, have received a oift at ordinations p. 61. on the pretext of making a profit for the church, as he
used to say, and again been detected in the same practices, as those who make the accusation against him say : nor should he have named Lampetius ' at the divine sacrifice, a man who was infected with the heresy of Adelphius, and for this reason was condemned at Commanus in Armenia, as the minutes' of the records^ of that synod also show. Indeed, to pass over old matters, it is easy for your love of God to learn what canonical discussion the abominable flock of the Adelphians received in Second Cappadocia, seeing that the saintly Soteric bishop of the city of the men of Caesarea and the holy bishops who sat with him, from Cappadocia and from Pontus and from Galatia, then put forth a decision worthy of the priesthood against it. Of this same heresy the outward token* is greed and immodesty and a mad desire of vain glory, owing to which they pride themselves in attracting admiration and receivino- in secret the evil spirit : and, what is most important, the fact that, infected as they are with extreme godlessness, and wearing as they do a deceitful mask of hypocrisy in all things, they put forward this deception also, that their heresy is not a heresy : for they count up all the p- 62. heretics in order and anathematize them, but Adelphius they honour by silence. The celebrated freedom from passions of which they boast they do not display at all : and concerning- matters on which charges are made against them they give no satisfaction,* but from
^ Cf. vit. Sev. p. 28. 1. 24. " Trpafts. ^ VTrofj.vrjiJ.aTa. ■* TrXrjpocfiopLa.
matters on which they are not accused they gather the reputation of not being godless. It lies therefore with your love of God in conjunction with the religious Theodosius the presbyter of our apostolic see to see that the whole matter is as I have said carefully examined, and to make known the result of the examination to us also, in order that on all sides the appearance of the church may be preserved blameless. And another thing seems to me to be urgently demanded by piety, I mean that these unhappy men be not vexed by a long and useless session, who from necessity, as I believe, have made the accusation ; and that they should not support themselves at their own expense, but that they should receive double the necessary daily sustenance from the holy church of which they are members. Another matter too vou must set rig-ht without dispute before the trial itself, a thing which appeared to me absolutely incredible and still even now appears so : I mean that the said men themselves should be enrolled in the sacred number of the clergy, their names having been expunged, as they say, for this reason and no other, because they were able to have recourse to the apostolic throne on account of the things which they suffered and the wounds that have been p. 63. inflicted on them. That this, if it is true, surpassing as it does all presumptuous audacity, needs canonical punishment. I leave to your love of God to reflect. The end.
14, Of the same to Antoninus, bishop of Berrhoea. 514-8. i^From those during episcopacy, from the \th book the 6^th letter.)
We were Sfla-d to see even the illustrious tribune Antiochus inasmuch as he came from you. and we encouraoed him to converse constantlv with us, and to ask for everything that is in our power, and is for the spiritual assistance of your love of God. And we praised him to the God-loving" bishop Thomas, and, although we are sinful and vile, we repaid him by prayers. We have come to believe that the man who made the happy mistake in the address of the letters did not fall into the error without some divine providence. For this showed clearly that the two of us are wrapped up in one another, being joined together by the love that is in Christ, and that we have all things common according to the commandment,^ and have nothino- of- our own. Know however that the letter which properly belonged to you but was addressed to us we have not yet received. As to the ordination at Chalcis (I call the truth to bear witness to my words) no letter has come to us, or any information or indica- p- ^4- tion. But, if you have in a philosophic manner been brought to a state of exasperation on account of the things that have happened among you, there is no cause for wonder : since this also is proper to the orderliness of your habits and to your discretion, which allots all
^ Ac. iv. 32 (?).
thing-s to the times suited for them. But, since we know that your holiness delights in words of admonition, and that you are eager to amass all things that conduce to the salvation of the soul and the acquisition of divine wisdom (for it is written, " The ear that heareth the reproof of life shall dwell among the wise,"^ and, "He that keepeth reproof loveth his soul " ^), we say with boldness the things that seem to us to be riofht. You also were not iornorant that those who managed Simeon whose soul is at rest (for he did not rule himself but was ruled by others) performed no sacred or ecclesiastical action except for money or under the influence of passion. For, if one may so speak, they were not known for virtue to any one of all the men who live in the East. To men such as •these therefore you should never have lent your undefiled and sacred right hand, when they were making a division and presenting men for the sacred order of priests, especially when the ordination, performed as p. 65. it was just before death, contained in itself a great fraud. For how was it possible that a man who in time of health never did anything sound in such matters should in time of disease be in any but a diseased condition for examining the question of propriety ? For that he was awake when he gave you permission neither do I dispute : I consider your testimony more trustworthy than all oaths and every ground of confidence. Still, since you thirst to hear things that
' Pr. XV. 31 (Hex.). " Id. xvi.
0-
profit, there is a further point which I will not omit, that it would have been a thing in accord and very consonant with the devoutness of the rest of your life to tremble and hesitate to undertake ordinations that belong to others, and by actual deeds to show that it is with order and in all fear and only from actual necessity that you minister and serve even in those that belong to yourself. As to the question whether the ordination performed on the said persons ought to hold ofood or not, we believe that, after we have learned the whole character of the action and of the persons, we shall give a decision that agrees with the judgments of God, and shall urge that this hold oood : not because we do not think the fruit of your blameless hand perfect (this is beyond doubt), but because we are examining the question whether those who received the grace are worthy or not. In any case we think your love of God will be contented, since you do not even desire to be contented with thinofs other than those with which God is contented. If our wretched discourses be copied out, we will send P- 66. them to you. For we have ordered them to be copied out, though we have not in plain fact even a man to copy. Before this present letter was closed, the Godloving Isidore bishop of the men of Chalcis arrived in our city : and this has been added to the things written, because we honour the truth before all things. And now it will be our endeavour to learn from him also what his disposition is with regard to the same aforesaid ordination. The end.
513-8. 15. Of the same to the same Antonimis, bishop of Berrhcea. i^Frovt those during episcopacy , from the ^th book the "jifid letter}j
That the presumptuous deeds of the impious Jews are beyond all forgiveness, and such as to stir and excite any soul to just wrath, even one that is not easily roused, if only it has been initiated in the doctrines of piety, is plain and manifest. But that those who like you are lovers of God and at the same time intelligent persons ought to handle such things in a wise way you have already shown in your epistles, p. 67. the epistles to us and to the glorious patrician and lieutenant of the general of the East excellent in all good qualities, your uncle. ^ Hence also we met together, and discussed the whole matter in conjunction, and endeavoured as far as possible to remove beforehand and prevent the evils that were about to spring up, and we set down what as the outcome of our deliberations appeared to us to be expedient and made this known to your sanctity. The indication given by their excellencies and by us who discussed the matter in common with them is therefore complete : but it will be a matter for your consideration to arrano-e the action to be taken on a proper footing. No punishment is severe enough for the arrogance of the Jews : but still men who stand at the head of the teachinof of
1 ^etos. There is nothing in the words to show whether this refers to the lieutenant or to the general ; but, as the Mag. Mil. was probably Hypatius (i. 40), the uncle of Antoninus would be the lieutenant. Cf. p. 125.
piety ou^ht not to look at what they ought to suffer, but at what we ouoht to refrain from doino-. This I say, not in order that we may take no account of the divine laws, but that, while singing- with David, " I have hated them that hate thee. Lord, and against thine enemies have I been wroth," ^ we may also have in our mind at the same time the commandment of Moses that says, " Fathers shall not die for children, neither shall children die for fathers : every man shall die in his own sin,"^ and not ^ as is said by one of the wise men without, "The thing that so-and-so is so-andso is not." The end.
].. 68.
1 6. Of the same to the same Antoninus, bishop of 513-8. Berrhcva. {^Froni those during episcopacy, from the A^th book the \o\st letter.)
As for the accusation in the matter of the silence after the feast of salvation, which you attack as if it had been a violation of justice, I shall be acquitted by the experience of fact. For indeed before the charge itself was made at all I had already sent a letter to your sanctity by John the eloquent scholastic. Nevertheless you must know that the greeting which is given at the festival of the saving Resurrection should always begin by a letter from you, as is the established rule with regard to the other God-loving bishops also. How is it then that, when you had not yet cast the
^ Ps. cxxxviii. 2 1. - De. xxiv. i6.
^ This clause is perliaps corrupt : the negative seems superfluous.
seed, you were thinking- about the things that spring from that ? With a clever jest at our poverty or our need you said that the devout Mark came to us in order to give presents, not in order to receive anything, and therefore we thanked your sacred soul in this matter also, and readily showed towards him too all the duties of love without expense, making the intercourse with him to consist of a cheerful face, a serene p. 69. aspect, and gentle speech, and repaying the presents brought by him with torches and spices. Also on the subject^ of the estates that are near the hamlet called Beth Remsha but of right belong to your holy church, we are exerting all our ability, and will cause measures to be taken that will accord with justice and also satisfy you. As to the Jews, as soon as I received your letter and found a convenient time, I thouo-ht orood to prescribe a course to you in a few words. You must apply the distinction made by the apostolic laws of the wise Paul, who in speaking of matters relating to us cries, " Avenge not yourselves, my beloved, but give place unto wrath,"' and " 'Mine is vengeance and I will repay,' saith the Lord," -^ but in speaking of presumptuous deeds against God says, " If a man despise Moses' law, he dieth without mercy at the mouth of two or three witnesses ; of how much sorer punishment think ye that he will be worthy who hath trampled on the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant whereby he was sanctified a
1 vTTo^co-ts - Ro. xii. 19.
common thing", and hath done des])itc unto the Spirit of grace ? " ^ All who took part in the sin should, in my opinion, be subjected to a penalty, in order that even in future time the action taken may be a lawful example to those who dare to do the same things. Knowing therefore that this is our mind on this matter, p. 70. carry out what ought to be done with the help of God, even though hereafter we appear to write something that goes farther in the way of concession or is more ambiguous, avoiding however the appearance of contradicting ourselves. This I say on account of certain men who show, as they think, philosophy and clemency in the case of presumptuous deeds done against Christ. But I bring my words back like some ship to the prelude"" or beginning" of the letter, and again pray on behalf of your love of God with a disposition that is at the same time fervent and humble, one that exacts from us the debts of love and stirs our coldness to spiritual affection. For who is there, even though he be a man of no feeling, who would not be put to shame by such modest words as are written by you ? The end.
1 7. Of the same to Misael the cJiauiberlain. [Frcwi 513-8. those dmnng episcopacy, from the ^th book the 10377Z' letter.)
For my part, when I was raised to this bishopric, unworthily indeed, but still by the judgment or per-
^ He. X. 28, 29. " Trpoot'/xtoi'.
mission of God, I intended to manage my affairs in p. 71, a spiritual manner, and I had regard to the commandments of the gospel and the apostolic statutes and commands. And in the matter of ordinations I thought of nothing but the awful text, the cause of great fear, that says, " Lay a hand suddenly on no man ; neither be partaker of other men's sins ; keep thyself in purity : " ^ and as to interest or the avaricious system of loans it was my desire not to know even the very name of them. For I listened to the singing prophet, who at one time says, "He giveth not his money upon interest," - and at another time again cries, " Interest and guile have not departed from her streets,"^ things which, if one may so say, are known even to those who are not versed in the sacred writings. But, when I had had experience of the distressful state of affairs, and had seen in what a pitiable and wretched condition the fortunes of our holy church were, and that a great load of debts and of interest was hanging over it and threatening to overwhelm it, I forgot the spiritual laws : and it now seems to me a great thing to find men to lend ; and meanwhile I make use of the term ' interest ' as if it were some lawful name. But, as to ordinations, I no longer stand in awe of the strictness of the divine laws, nor will I in future allege this in excuse to those who beg or seek to ask for these : but, when I see the poverty on all sides, and that every year we are obliged to have some kind of
1 I Ti. V. 22, 23. ^ Ps. xiv. 5. 3 /^. liv. 12.
collection in order to distribute among the devout clergymen whom we have the money for their support, p. 72. I am afraid of the cecononii or stewards on account of the scantiness of our resources, and I publish the need up and down : though I should have alleged the strictness of the spiritual commandments. For those who worry me about this are very many : and each of them looks at his own request only, and does not know how many there are who desire to obtain the same things. And, as soon as one of them has been disappointed of his request or desire, he immediately becomes an enemy : there is no middle position. And hence springs implacable war : so that I should now, if it were possible, revolt even against this vain life itself. For all these men do not allow us to choose the good, and to carry out with circumspection the things that we wish, and content those who like you often give such commands in a pious spirit. Hence I have been compelled to cause annoyance to the glorious sacellar Eleutherius also, who has often thought fit to write to me about a certain person, sometimes personally, sometimes through those who manage my apokriseis. For I see that these presumptuous dogs seek a thing of this kind as if it were some quarry : so that, if they found a means of beginning, they would bark at me : while they do not consider the need that encompasses us, nor do they wait for the help of God, who Himself p- izalone is able to heal our church that is groaning under many wounds, and to change need into abundance. For it is He who says by the prophet, " Behold ! it is
I who bring it healing and cure and I will cure it."^ Seeing that you know these things, you who are able to share our distress and are in character a lover of God, I beg you to offer a defence on our behalf based upon the facts themselves to those who are concerning themselves about anything of this kind. Especially satisfy the aforesaid glorious sacellar the lord Eleutherius, and inform his excellency that what is being done is not due to haughtiness, but to necessity, and to distress. Out of shame I have never dared to communicate with him by letter on this subject : but through your mediation I have now made my defence to him. Nevertheless I will to the best of my power use any convenient opportunity, and will perform as far as possible what he has commanded. The ejtd.
513-8. 1 8. Of the same to Entrechms the bishop. [From those du7^ing episcopacy, frovi the ^th book the 1237"^/ letter?)
The devout clergymen of the holy church in the city of Rhosus and the other inhabitants of it - have p. 74. presented a petition to us in which they beg that that man may be instituted their bishop by grace from above and the ministration of your sanctity, in whose favour they shall themselves according to the legal custom make a pscphisnia. These were the
1 Jer. xl. 6. " So B. Correct the text.
contents of their petition : but their vote applied to one man : and they received from us a notice that they were to include three men well-known for virtue in the vote, and so present the psephisma to you, and hold your judgment in this matter final. This is in other ways pleasing to God, and is also the proper course. In fact we argued with them and said that on no other terms but these would your piety, whose endeavour it is in everything to follow after blamelessness as it is written,^ be ready to comply. Wherefore also we immediately determined to draw up this letter of reminder to you. The end.
19. Of tJie same to Solon, bishop of Scleucia in Isau7'ia. 514-7. [From those during episcopacy, from the ^th book the i^gth letter.)
The constant evil thino-s that are bein^' done in close succession and in various ways in Isauria counsel us to silence. But still, when we turn over in our p. 75. mind the judgments of God, we are again distressed, and cannot keep within us the cause of the distress, and we are brought round to the necessity of speaking. We have been in the same state as Jeremiah, who said, " I said, ' I will not name the name of the Lord nor speak in his name ' " ; and afterwards he was confounded and broke through the restraint that was
^ I Ti. iii. 2, vi. 11 (?).
upon his mind, and he changed his mind and said, " And it became in my heart as fire burning and blazing and flaming in my bones, and I am dissolved on all sides and cannot endure."^ What indeed am I to do ? Last year I compelled the God-loving bishop Paul of Olba to return to the flock which it has fallen to his lot to feed ; and now again I see him being disturbed in the same way by certain men who are not rightly disposed, and in old age and bodily weakness visiting now one country now another and wanderinof about : and, althouo-h the man acquiesces in our counsel, he carries out none of the things that we determined to be right. Now the things that we so determined are these, points which upon their coming a short time ago the party of the God-loving bishop Epiphanius and Symbatius also promised in common to observe with all their might and to their best endeavour, I mean that each should remove from the sacred tablets the names of p- 76. those who signed the impious deeds of Chalcedon, but, as to the others, should remain silent and wait for a fitting season for progress to excellence. For there is no objection to ascent, as Gregory the Theologian also somewhere says.^ But, as the old man, I mean the God-loving bishop Paul whom I mentioned before, is of a more than ordinarily simple disposition, I do not know how it is that you have been frightening him like a child with the signatures of documents, and
1 Jer. XX. 9. '' Or. xix. 7 (?).
have thus thrown him again into perturbation, when you should have treated each man according- to his own condition and character, seeing that satisfactory professions have been made in common, and there is no doubt about them. So long therefore as the man remains of the same mind, receive him readily and honour him, on account of his venerable old age. Again as to the dispute that he had with the Godloving bishop Hilarian about a monastery,^ when we heard of it, we should perhaps have given a proper solution and decision, had it not been that he flew to the royal city, as we have heard, separating himself from communion with you, on account of the presumptuous and illegral deed of Callistus. For he charges him with interpolating or forging or garbling the letter that was sent by him'^ (I do not know what expression p- 77- to use on account of the many methods of committing g\i the crime). For, on comparing the signature of the \ letter that was produced with the other signatures of ' the aforesaid God-loving bishop Hilarian that are preserved here in synodal documents, we found them to be as far removed and as different from one another as sheep differ in appearance from elephants. And, to say nothing of the strictness of the canons, it is manifest to everyone that the laws of the Romans also, which contain excellent enactments upon these matters, fix beheading as the punishment ; ^ and this is an offence against public law. We wish therefore that
1 Cf. p. 27. -^ Cf. p. 18. 3 cj. IX. xxii. 22 (?).
the man who has acted so impiously in this affair should for the present abstain from all sacred ministration : and, as soon as he comes back, we will submit the matter to examination ; since even in thinors that are thouorht to be acknowledored we like examination : and then we will pronounce for the facts of which the truth is established, placing before everything the just judgments of the balance-scales of God, p- 78. and trembling lest by sparing others we make ourselves liable to these. For we are not io-norant what punishments Eli the priest received because, when his sons outraged the divine sacrifice, he only reproved them as a father and did not as an instructor and a ruler punish them according to the law. We have heard that the clergymen in the same monastery, while under inhibition from the God-loving bishop Paul, made light of his inhibition, and took part in the ministration with the God-loving bishop Hilarian. Therefore we have determined it to be right that they also hold aloof for the present from the sacred ministration, until he comes and a thorough investigation of the matter is held. The end.
514-8. 20. A letter of siuiiuions in the name of a synod to the bishops 2mder the metropolis of Apamea. if^rom those dtiring episcopacy , f'om the >\th book the \Sjth letter.)
Having been summoned by the grace of God and by the behest of our pious king, we assembled before
the evangelical throne of the great Christ-loving' city of Antiochus for the purpose of carrying into act whatever seemed good to his ^ serenity's God-loving p. 79- sovereignty : and one among those who assembled with us was Peter the saintly bishop of the illustrious metropolis of the Apamenes ; and, being moved by an affectionate disposition," we were induced to ask his love of God how it was that not one of you was with him, as was in fact the case with the other bishops of the resplendent metropolitan cities. But he said that he wondered whether it was in iofnorance of what had happened that we were putting such a question. He was sighing, but still he related how you separated yourselves from the common communion of us all (for it was not from his),^ and that he left no method of invitino- you to concord untried. And, havino- included a few of the things that were done as he said in a petition, he presented it to the saintly patriarch of the God-loving bishops of the East, asking his beatitude to take canonical steps against the offences committed against him by you, or rather against the common union of the holy churches. For we were in fact all met together in accordance with fair adornment ^ and ecclesiastical order. And, when we had heard the petition, the serious character of the things that have been done called for a decision suited to the circumstances to be put forth : for the above-mentioned
1 Syr. "their." '' SidOeo-t^.
^ Cf. Evag. iii. 34. * Misunderstanding of ewKoo-pa.
God-loving bishop of the metropolis of the Apamenes 80. made certain of the charges themselves almost stand before every man's eyes without needing testimony from without. But we, considering that we are ministers of peace, and that, as we are one body, it is our duty to travel along every path that does not tend towards schism, but summons those who have fallen away to sin to repent, believed it to be right that we should summon you canonically, and should urge you to make a defence for the sins that have been committed, and should give time for repentance, and to say farewell to thoughts that lead to division, and with fitness to cry out to you also the words of the prophet which say, " Stand upon the ways and see and ask for the paths of the Lord that have been from everlasting, and see which is the good way and walk therein, and ye shall find holiness for your souls." ^ For a man to sin is human. But after he has once sinned not to listen to the admonition of friends, who summon him to them in a manner befitting priests, gives occasion for the apostolic distinction that says, " Behold therefore the mildness and severity of God, on them which fell severity, but on thee the mildness of God, if thou continue in mildness : and if not then shalt thou also be cut off" " For it is in fact not obscure, especially to those to whose lot it has fallen to feed churches, that the authority of the holy canons cannot remain a dead letter in such things, seeing that
' Jer. vi. 16. ' Ro. xi. 22.
"the catholic and apostolic church requires blamelessness." ^ The end.
p. 8i.
2 I . Of the same to the Master of the Offices. {^From 514-8. those diuHng episcopacy, from the /\th book the 189M letter.)
The illustrious Rufinus, the well-tried servant of your high eminence, when he brought to our meanness your revered and pious letter, which summoned us to the city of the men of Heraclea, was unable to receive our mean answer, because he was detained by a disease of the eyes ; which answer was a short time ago brought to your glory by the resplendent Leontius, who is also one of your slaves. But, now that he is about to go up to the royal city, in payment of my debt I greet your highness. And I report and announce to you that the God-loving bishops residing in this city thought it a right thing to warn those who were bishops in Second Syria, of Epiphania I mean and of Arethusa and of Rhaphania, by a letter of summons, and summon them to them, in order that they might be detached from the disorderliness of those who are heads of the monasteries in those parts, and have unreasonably broken away from communion with us, and that they might either convince the others or be willing to yield to what is right. And some of those who rejoice in schisms and divisions, p. 82.
^ Mansi ii. 672.
and have often conspired and plotted against my mean self also, and do not escape the knowledge of anyone, though they themselves desire to do so, persuaded them not only to pay no attention to their summonses, but even to compose an insulting and unlawful document against the holy synod of God -loving bishops, a document that contains blasphemous expressions against God and against the dress of the priesthood. These things the afore-mentioned saintly bishops discussed with the sacred and venerable book of the gospels laid before them, as well as the other sins committed by them at different times, and they found them to be madly excited (?) against the holy canons and church discipline and against our pious kine, as the transactions in their case in fact show ; and they laid them under sentence of deprivation : knowing clearly that, if such offences were to be left without reproof, the ordinances of the Spirit would be trampled upon, and any man who is a hearer would rise in opposition to those to whose lot it has fallen to be heads of churches : and, as in the case censured by the divine Paul, disorder would prevail, and the foot would say, " Because I am not the hand I am not of the body," and the ear, " Because I am not the eye I am not of the body,"^ and each of the limbs would renounce its proper place. For there is a canon which says thus ; " Bishops who are summoned to a synod should not treat the summons with contempt,
^ I Co. xii. 15, 16.
but should go and teach or be taught for the purpose of reforming the church and the rest. But, if they treat it with contempt, such a man will be bringing an accusation against himself, unless perhaps he stay away on account of illness." ^ But these gentle persons under consideration not only set this statute at naught, but also insulted with unlawful expressions the Godloving bishops who are assembled in the great city of Antiochus which after God is yours. They thought fit to call them " no bishops at all," and in unmeasured arrogance they uttered yet other fatuous words which I shrink even from taking upon my tongue. It rests therefore with your excellency not by negligence to allow us to be trampled upon by such men, and be calumniated by men who are seeking their own interests, but to report the truth to the pious Christloving ears of our pious king, and extend to us sinners, who pray for your salvation, the just help that you extend to all who suffer wrong. The end.
p. 84. 22. Of the same to the fathers. [From those during 516-7. episcopacy, from the i\th book the 2^ist letter.)
Since all the holy fathers, if we may so say, have written us many various letters, we considered it necessary to write in a common epistle to you what we have to say concerning the common state, ^ and to stir you all up to one harmonious petition and earnest
1 Mansi ii. 571. - KaTaorao-t?.
prayer. But the matters which ought to be conveyed in writing to your sanctities in particular are these. You did not do well or worthily of yourselves in not sending the devout deacon Stephen. The proof that he was confined to bed, by which you tried to prove his infirmity, we as a mean and sinful man will perhaps accept : but I have no means of saying whether Christ has also accepted it. For he is in fact even now still the same who ordered the man who was paralyzed and had for the greater part of his life been confined to bed to take up his bed and walk. However we will say with Paul, "All forsook me." And we will readily add, " May it not be laid to their charge." ^ But it is a matter for your prayers that the other thing also which he says may be granted us, "The Lord stood by me and strengthened me." For to say the words which follow these is too great a thing for me, I mean, "In order that by me the preaching might be completed and all the peoples might hear."^ But, since we have in fact come to P- 85- mention that matter, we will say a few words about it also ; since, when writing a common epistle to all of you, we forgot it owing to the multitude of subjects of discussion. Musonius, the uninstructed and presumptuous man, who takes no account of the judgments of God, after disturbing and upsetting Isauria has orone as we have learned to Alexandria. For, being infected with two very serious diseases,
^ 2 Ti. iv. i6, 17.
with avarice I mean and with pride, he wished to be a legislator for the men of the whole province/ And he despised like a carnal man the smallness of his city (for to spiritual men the privile^^es of the priesthood are matters that cannot be balanced, and are not weighed by the size of the cities, but judged by the dignity of the sacred office), and, making the Godloving Solon bishop of his metropolis, a man unversed in affairs and otherwise peacefully disposed, his ally, he caused constant disturbances, requiring from each of the bishops Jioniologiai or professions in writing concerning principles approved by him. He even \ went so far as to draw up a minute ' in which it is stated that all the names of those who ministered in f any capacity whatever, presbyters and deacons and _^ monks and laymen, ought to be expunged from the sacred tablets : so that everyone thereupon shrank from this burdensome and endless statute, and thenceforward they talked to one another and said, " We are p- 86. progressing by degrees ; we shall also be required to be re-baptized and re-ordained as it is said." And all in the province,^ being goaded by this idea as by some sting, rose against their bishops, and they upset things that had been rightly done before : insomuch as to name all who had been left out, and associate in communion with those who hold the opposite opinions : and, to put it plainly, to go over to the opposite party, and drive the bishops out of their own churches.
While these things were going on, the gallant Musonius was sitting inside his house ; for, though he is bishop of another citv, he registers his fathers' house at Olba ; and he resides for the most part either there or in the metropolis of the men of Seleucia ; and he only creates disturbances and in tyrannical fashion lays down heavy and unendurable laws. This man we have now already for three years borne with all meekness, though we often whispered of his madness, and many times we reconciled him when he was lightly breaking away and turning backwards. Wherefore also, when the bishops were assembled here, the same Musonius accused some of them of behaving in p. 87. an undiscriminating or unlawful manner. And, when these also turned round upon him and accused him in their turn of lending his money on interest contrary to the canons, he was convicted, and was silenced. And, whereas he ought to have repented of this, with great shamelessness he proclaimed the sin a virtue, saying that his church possessed nothing, and lamenting about poverty and need : in consequence of which we ourselves assigned to him from here a sum of twelve darics a year.^ Having received this he went away, after communicating with us and making a promise to the bishop of his metropolis to go up also to the cities of Isauria that had gone astray, and to undertake labour for a good end. And, when he reached the province," he again lay hid (?) in his usual
^ C/. p. 25. '■ i-n-apxia.
haunts, and did not stir his foot anywhere, and never once opened his presumptuous mouth that has no door as the proverb says,^ and is learned only in arousing uncanonical contentions. Thinking" this an occasion that provided him with a means of amassing base gains, he composed a letter to the devout presbyter Longinus who is with us, fishing for yet another sum of gold, and a contribution of sacred property. And, failino- in this, he turned to men in Alexandria who are infected with an uncanonical disease like his and a madness of no ordinary kind : who themselves received him as a priest, like Micah whose story is p. recorded in the Tribes, ""^ him I mean of the hill-country of Ephraim : who, having made a molten image out of his mother's silver and set this up as a god, found a young man, a Levite, and, filling his hand, took this man as a priest, saying to him, "Abide with me and be unto me a father and a priest, and I will give thee ten pieces of silver by the day, and a pair of garments, and the necessaries of thy life."^ Whence also we believe that both Musonius and those who shall receive him or have received him will suffer the same end as those who oppose the judgments of the Holy Spirit and pervert the right ways of the Lord. But, to establish what has been said, we have thought good to quote also out of his fatuity some words taken
1 Pr. xxvi. 28.
- The Syriac name for Judges, from a confusion of shafte and shabte. ^ Judg. xvii. 10.
from his actual letter that he wrote to the religious presbyter Longinus, words which prove the passions that lurk in him. They are as follows:^ "But you remember that I said to you, ' The patriarch ought to have sent something to our church as treasures." By this means the men themselves also become more enthusiastic. In this way Flavian also acted to the bishop of Germanicupolis, when he gave both robes and treasures'- to the unholy Bisula, and he drew the inhabitants of his countrv to 'him.'" And aeain : " For, although we do not ourselves know it, we ought to take an example from the adversaries, how p- 89- they show all energy and watchfulness in making presents to those who are in opposition to them and endeavouring to bring them over to them by a gift. For you are not unaware that nothing persuades unlearned persons'' so efTectually as a present and a gift." You see how, involved as he is in the passion of avarice, he puts forward the specious name of the church and the simpleness of unlearned persons,^ decorating the passion with mild words as with colours. I have also many other letters of his that he wrote to me, from which it is clearly apparent how I sought to change his haughtiness by mildness, and after many toils and labours did no good. And at last, becoming weary, I handed him over to the judgments of God, because he wrought such disturbance, and gave to those who were standinor in the right wav turbid upheaval to drink. The end.
' Cf~ p. 26. - KeifirjXia. ^ iSiwraL.
23. Of the same to Solon, bishop of Seleucia in Ismuna. 516-7. i^Froni those during episcopacy, f'om the ^th book the lyoth letter.)
Your sanctity has acted rightly and has shown a disposition consonant to the divine canons in thinking it right to ask me about Musonius and Paul. But, p. goseeing that they have left their own flock, and played the part of hirelings and not of shepherds, whatever else can one say except that it is necessary that these men should be stripped of all priestly authority, and that they should be cut off from the number of the shepherds ? We know that our Saviour also says these words in the Gospel : "He that is an hireling and is not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, when he hath seen the wolf coming, leaveth the sheep and fleeth. And the wolf catcheth the sheep, and scattereth them. But the hireling fleeth because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep." ^ You therefore, in order that you may not be found liable to the very same punishments, are bound quickly to appoint shepherds for the rational sheep : for those that are at Meloe immediately and without delay, since, as I said, Musonius took to flight like a hirelino-, and made this excuse for his absence as you write (and we have heard others also who know state the same), though the canons do not allow a man to absent him-
^ John X. 12, 13.
self from his flock on his own authority and without the consent of patriarchs or metropolitans : but for those at Olba after the winter season has passed, since it was for another reason that Paul set out for the
p- 91- royal city, and it has not yet been made manifest to what city or country he went when he returned thence. But it is known to everyone that, when the deprivation of men who have utterly neglected their own cities is lawfully effected and in accordance with the precepts of the holy canons, others are appointed in the places of those who have been deprived. But, if you resolve to ask our pious king about this, I mean whether the God-loving bishops in Isauria ought to assemble and discuss the matter, and to compose a clear epistle and to report to his hearing that the men who have departed have tied to those who are eager to support their schism,^ you will be doing very rightly, and, as far as one can guess, not contrary to the intention of his"^ Godloving sovereignty. In my judgment this is a necessary and very advantageous step, and one which may show his - piety that we avoid the rocks on all sides, and keep to the royal road and to the unity of the holy churches. While writing these things we weep and groan, and do not rejoice at our brothers' fall, and we consider how, while Musonius was extending his eyebrows upwards and puffing out his cheeks, and devoting- his attention onlv to iudgino- others, we were
p. 92. unaware of the fact that he was feeding his belly, and
^ Cf. p. 79. ^ Syr. 'their.'
I. 24. SELECT LETTERS OE THE HOLY SEVERUS. 83
that he was inflamed with the passion of avarice. We have also letters of his which lay bare his passions that are so shameful/ As to the question I have thought it best to refer to the magnificent Qilcumenius, since I have great confidence in your perfection, and because you love the man just as we do. Moreover by referring the matter to a man who has already discussed this with us we shall escape the necessity ,of using many words ; for we have no leisure, and we are not even able to take recreation owing to the multitude of subjects of concern. The cud.
24. Of the same to Theotecmis the archiatros or chief 514-8. ■physician. {^F^^oiii those during episcopacy, from the Afth book the 2g2)^'d letter.)
The thino-s that have been indicated or announced to us from the royal city are many and various. But the sum of them is this. The bishops who assembled there have separated without coming to an agreement, since the majority of them or, if one may so say, all p- 93- except the Romans, were found to be orthodox, but were obliged to associate themselves with the state of affairs ^ prevailing in the royal city, the saintly bishops Eleusinius and Proclus having for the time run away. Some said that the object of their endeavours was not to accept the impious synod that assembled at
^ Cf. pp. 25, 80. " KaTacrracri?.
Chalcedon in respect of the definition of faith but " in respect of the rejection of Eutyches and of his doctrines."^ But that this endeavour or trick is the action of heretics your Christ-loving eloquence also is not unaware. But there is yet another thing which it is right that you should know : that is that our pious kin^ and the o-lorious Master of the Offices wrote to my meanness by Leontius the illustrious magistrian ^ who is called Tapitoleon to ask that the deprivation of those no-bishops and wicked men in Second Syria might be annulled. And I wrote in answer to this, " Since this is your pleasure, if they lawfully repent, the intention of the canons receives them, provided all the bishops who deposed them assemble together and canonically receive them." It is enough to say p- 94 this much as in a letter and in a few words. For I forbear to say that a certain defence of the definition of the men who assembled at Chalcedon was also contained in the pious letter : against which again we further argued without any harsh speech, advancing the words of truth in opposition to the plausible pretexts there put together. Regarding the name of Nestorius, which has been included among the commemorations of the martyrs in the metropolis of the Tarsians, and has rightly scandalized you, we have written to the God-loving bishop Dionysius such things as are fitting and proper, and our words have no doubt come to the knowledge of your God-loving
' Cf. p. 5- ^ Cf. p. 73-
intelligence. The present of a shoe woven of wool I have received, and as a sinner I have prayed that a reward for it may be given you from above, you who do well in mingling spiritual healing with material. For the gift is material : but the fact of the affectionate thought is spiritual, and therefore a thing that contains in it comfort for soul and body. The end.
P-95-
25. Of the same to Dionysins, bishop of Tarsus. 513-8. iyFroni those during episcopacy, from the \th book the 2,^\st letter.^
It has come to our ears that a presbyter in the village called Pessinus (?) has contracted a human affliction ; and that, being harassed by the possession of a demon, he is wanderinor about and beingr driven to and fro throuoh the land. And we have thought it right to warn your holiness to behave in a sympathetic and fatherly manner towards the man, but not to sfo on to allow the bloodless sacrifice also to be performed by his hands, seeing that the canons do not even allow communion in the divine mysteries to those that are possessed,^ still less do they allow such to have any communion in priestly functions. For it may be that through this those who approach to receive also will hereby find occasion for some stumbling, and will approach the
* Mansi i. 45.
divine mysteries with doubt and hesitating thoughts. But we must be " without offence " towards every man in accordance with the apostolic statute/ The end.
p. 96.
515-7. 26. Of the same to Solon, bishop of Seleticia in Isauria.
[From those during episcopacy, from the \th book
the ^'^Zth letter.)
Paul the bishop of Olba, as may be inferred from his so long and protracted absence, has done the work of a hireling and not of a shepherd, one who, when he sees the wolf coming, as the sacred book of the gospels says, " leaveth the sheep and fleeth : and the wolf catcheth and scattereth them ; and he careth not for the sheep because he is an hireling and not the shepherd,"- Henceforth therefore we also ought no longer to wait for a man of such unstable character as his (it is right for us to speak in this gentle language), but to settle the thinos that lie before us on a Q-ood basis, and in accordance with the purpose of the laws of the Spirit. The same Paul charged the God -loving Hilarian bishop of Diocaesarea with having performed an ordination, contrary to the holy canons, in a monastery which is not in his jurisdiction ; and we thought it right to prohibit those who were ordained from exercising the sacred ministry until the details of the case" should be examined ;"* for the matter was not p. 97 clear but in fact much involved and in need of ex-
^ I Co. X. 32. - John X. 12, 13. ^ vTTo^ccrts. * Cf. p. 70.
I. 27. SELECT LETTERS OK THE HOLY SEVERUS. 87
amination and a correct decision. But now we have determined it to be right to release the said men from the inhibition and to allow them to exercise the ministry, since it is not possible to wait any longer for a man who has been absent so unreasonably and in a manner unknown to the church ordinances. Therefore your sanctity also, in accordance with the conclusion at which we have arrived, must now allow the men to perform priestly functions, reserving the examination into the doubt as to the monastery, and as to the ordination itself and those to whom the jurisdiction over this belongs for a future season, if the time should invite us to this. The end.
27. Of the same to MiiSiVtUis and A /exajtder wmdiccs 513-6. of Anazarba. [From those during episcopacy, ^roiu the ^th book the j^th letter.)
It would have been best if you had both come to us and also gladdened our eyes by the bodily sight of you, and by this sight comforted me more. But, since you have public ^ business on your hands, and are thereby prevented from so doing, I support the sorrow thus caused by feeding on the spiritual sight only, and so lighten the loss. Wherefore also, as a token of p- 98. undivided affection towards you, I have composed this one letter to both of you : in which I make known to
^ StJfJiOCTLUyi'.
you that the whole synod of the God-loving bishops of the East is united in the right doctrines and anathematizes all the heresies : amono- which are included those who divide our one Lord and God Jesus Christ after the union into a duality of natures, and the vain concourse of those who assembled at Chalcedon, the stronghold of this evil heresy, and the impious Tome of Leo (if one called him a cleaver of peace, the expression would be a fitting one). These things having thus passed in order (to speak with the permission of God), we have now drawn up a synodal letter addressed to the God-loving archbishop of the city of the Alexandrines John, inviting him to unanimity and pure communion. And we will write epistles in the same way to the others also, keeping everywhere to ■ the royal road, and not turning aside to the right or to the left,'^ guided as we are by the great love of Him who is the guide and leader along this road. Concerning the faith and communion with the others, as far as it was possible to give information in a letter, p. 99- let this much suffice. If we ever meet together, you will know everything in greater detail and with greater clearness from actual experience. As to Martyrius the poet, whom you made the occasion " of the letter, I wish you to know that he is a trouble to me, and a nuisance. Indeed in the case of the others also who follow the same profession, and were enrolled in the holy clergy of the church that is with us, I have
1 Nu. XX. 17. - Marg. ' skin ' ; B, ' whom you sent with the letter.'
I. 28. SELECT LETTERS OF THE HOLY SEVEKUS. 89
debarred them from practising- sucii poetry : and I am talvino;" much trouble to sever this theatrical pursuit from ecclesiastical gravity and modesty, a pursuit that is the mother of laxity, and is also capable of causing youthful souls to relax and casting them into the mire of fornication, and carrying them away to bestial passions. But because of his repentance I rejoice with him, and because of the fact that he is a lover of the orthodox faith : especially since you who are careful scrutinizers bear witness in his favour. Let him therefore stay where he is, and not desire to return to this city. It is not possible for him to do so in my judgment : not from anger against him (far be it !), but because of the evil pursuit and the desire of avoiding the aforesaid injury. The end.
p. 100. 28. Of the same to Philoxenus, bishop of Do lie he. 513.8. {^Froni those during episcopacy^ from the ^th book the 66th letter.)
After your love of God had departed hence, and had left this great Christ-loving city, in the venerated days of the holy fast, many of the prominent men came up to my meanness, and presented to me a petition and a unanimous entreaty on behalf of the devout Romulus, asking that he might be allowed to conduct prayers without fear of punishment so long as he resides here. These were the actual words that they said, wishing to dispose me more to the side of mercy. But I said.
"On no account will I permit this, until his bishop" (meaning your love of God) "shall free him from his inhibition. For we must in all things observe the rules and ordinances of the church." I beg you therefore to do me this favour, and pronounce to me by letter the words of forgiveness, in order that I also may thus lawfully give him permission, and may fulfil the will of those who asked ; who are every day, if I may so say, worrying me, and entreating me to assent to this easy and humane request. The position in which we stand I have described in writino- to the saintly metropolitan the lord Philoxenus ; and he will p. loi. no doubt inform you of it, and will stir you up to offer prayers concerning the general state of things.^ The end.
513-8. 29. Of the same to the devout monks of the blessed lo7'd Isaac. [From those during episcopacy^ from the ^th book the gjth letter.)
The trial concerning the affair of the magnificent Antipater has by your prayers passed away : and in accordance with the mercv o-ranted us from above we have been delivered from this : the mao^istrates havinof given this one order only, that the said Antipater shall not be permitted to remove anything from the room in which he put his baggage, since you are ready to give satisfaction - on this point also. But now I am writing
1 KaTacrrams. '-' TrXrjpocfiopta.
to your love of God about a matter which is for the common benefit, and tends to the advancement of the right faith and the preservation and extension of the holy churches of God in the East. The men of the camp ^ of Anasartha- by x\\^\r psepkisniata proposed various persons in order that a bishop might be ordained for them ; and I for my part determined that we would ordain the religious father Stephen, who is adorned with character and with faith, and, if one may so say, with all excellencies of virtues, bishop for the p. 102. aforesaid camp ^ : not because we wish to honour the man, for I know that he shrinks from this, having more regard for his own profit ; but, just as I paid no attention to this but complied with the judgments of God, in the same way I beg your holinesses also and him not to resist the grace of the Spirit which calls him. For the whole force of Christianity tends to this, that we should not have regard and respect to our own interests but to those of others. ?^Ioreover, it is also utterly unreasonable that, while we are displaying such contests on behalf of the orthodox faith, we should entrust the presidency of the holy churches to reprobate persons, men too who (which I pray may not happen), when tribulation or persecution has come, as the holy Gospel says,'^ are converted to impiety. Do your diligence therefore to obey this letter, and to send him whether he wishes or not: and be assuredlv convinced of this.
^ KOLO-Tpa. - Cf. Mansi vi. 1090; Wright, C.B.M. 756b.
^ Mt. xiii. 21.
that, if another man, who is reprobate, be instituted owing to his delay, you will be responsible for the loss. Do not pass him over and wish to send me someone else from your holy cloister in his stead : for I will not consent even to look at anyone else. I have chosen the religious father Stephen as being one of those menp- 103. tioned in the psephisma by those who came from the aforesaid camp ^ : and for us to introduce someone else not included in the psephisma is impossible. I add also that neither have I myself confidence ' in anyone else. This much we have written out of love. But, althouoh we are a sinner, we have received, as vou also with one accord confess, authority from Christ, who is God over all, to bind and loose : wherefore I wish you to know that, if you do not obey the words written above, you will be placed under a ban of excommunication ; especially the devout Stephen himself, if he dare to resist this proposal. My reason for adding this after the completion of the letter is to show that it is from necessity that I come to adopt a decisive course of action. The end.
513-7. 30. Of the same to the clergy of the metropolis of Apamea. [From those during episcopacy, from the ^th book the 135//^ letter.)
Your love of God, marked out as you are by the orders of the holy clergy of the church, and addressing a
' KilfTToa. - 7rAr;po<^opt'a.
bishop, and upon a spiritual subject/ ought not to have p. 104. cited the rhetor of Greece in the preludes ■' or beginnings of your admirable letter. In due time Elijah the Tishbite, urged by the same zeal, will now say to you also, " Is it because there is not a prophet in Israel that ye go to inquire of the fiy-Baal, the abomination of the gods of Ekron?"^ Fitly also will the book of Proverbs reprove you which says, " Drink waters out of thy vessels and out of the spring of thy wells." ^ You did not make search in order to draw from the divine scripture a saying that would prove the swiftness and weakness of human life. For the prophet David says, " Our days pass away like a shadow." " And the divine Job, while playing the philosopher during the grievous trial caused by his suffering, said, " For we are of yesterday, and we know not":'' and again, " My life was swifter than a runner." ' We are not unaware that the wise Paul also often quoted the words of poets in speaking to certain persons. But the character of the hearers, who had not been instructed out of the Godinspired words, in itself made the use of testimony from these seemly in his case. The divine scripture should therefore have been enough for you, and you should not have started by making the beginning spurious and false. We therefore (for we must now return to that which is more useful and more urgent) have p. 105. been orieved at the decease of Isaac of relioious
o o
^ vTToOca-is. " TrpooL/Jiia. ^ 4 R. i. 3. ** Pr. v. 15.
^ Ps. cxliii. 4. *"' Job viii. 9. " Id. ix. 25.
memory, your bishop ; and we have been distressed because he left the present life before he had maintained a contest on behalf of the doctrines of orthodoxy, which he proclaimed in writing and otherwise in this great Christ-loving city. However we submit to God, the orderer of such deep judgments. But the duty that remains for us is this ; not to be negligent and leave your holy church without a shepherd during the days that are so venerated of the saving Passion and of the Resurrection of Christ. Make haste therefore and draw up quickly a psephisnia in favour of three men of favourable repute and well known for virtue and, as it is written, "powerful men and religious, men that are just and hate pride." ^ But the powerful man is defined by the divine law as the man who through his life and conduct has power over the passions of the iiesh, and possesses accurate and well-tried faith, which is o-reater than everythinp- and is the foundation of our salvation. For the man who is to stand at the head oi rational souls must have power in him. and is " able to comfort by sound teaching and to refute the gainsavers,""- as the Apostle, who had Christ speaking in him, handed down to us. This besides pleasing God will also gladden our pious king, seeing that he is p. 106. much concerned for the apostolic faith, and has been brought up in such doctrines from his boyhood : who also in some sort did not praise our meanness for having delayed until to-day to institute shepherds for the cities
1 Ex. xviii. 21. - Tit. i. 9.
that are in need, who shall feed them with understanding. Do not therefore look to worldly authori- \ ties, or under the influence of fleshly considerations put / forth your vote in favour of certain men who live in a worldly atmosphere and need much purification, and ought not to be entrusted with the purification of the people and to offer the bloodless and rational sacrifice on behalf of the faults of whole congregations and as an expiation : for I hear that certain men among you dare to do such things, thinking to make a mockery of things that are divine and not subjects for mockery. Let no one think that I shall acquiesce in a vote in favour of such men, no not if I be very mad. It does not suit me because of the inconsiderate action of certain persons to "partake in other men's sins," as it is written,^ or for no purpose to be sent to the eternal fire. When therefore you have duly drawn up a psephisiua in accordance with our counsels, or rather according as the sacred ordinances and laws provide, let there come according to custom devout men, men modest in their conduct and earnest in character, such as are fitted to approach the apostolic throne and receive its judgment.
We learn that, while Isaac of saintly memory was breathing his last, certain persons, wishing to hide their own faults, by an evil action dared to remove from his office the man who was entrusted with the pio7- stewardship of the church property, and to put forward
^ I Ti. V. 22.
Others in his place, having unlawfully and contrary to custom taken the keys from him.. Accordingly we have determined that the man who administered the stewardship before shall hold the same charge, and those who have now been introduced shall be turned out and remain somewhere at a distance, and that they shall not participate at all, lest by depriving him for a short time of his stewardship we seem to be giving him also some just reason for not giving an account for the whole of his administration in time past. The end.
316-8. 31. Of the same a hypomnestikon to the bishops of Phcenice. [From those during episcopacy, from the ^th book the 236M, 2 37//^ letter.)
How great account I take of the judgments of God I cannot explain in words. But, to speak after the manner of Paul, I call God to witness ^ that I pass the nights without sleep, and never cease being worn away by the cares of the days. And I tremble lest I administer the business of the apostolic see negligently, and have to bear the punishments that my negligence p. 108. deserves, and be sent to the torments that are for ever and do not pass away. When I consider the divine words, spoken beforehand through the prophets, I am frightened and quake, and I think I hear God saying, " Therefore, shepherds, hear the word of the Lord ;
1 Ro. i. 9 ; I Th. ii. 5, 10.
thus saith the Lord of lords ; ' Behold ! I am against the shepherds and will require my sheep at their hands, and I will cause them to cease from feeding" my sheep : and the shepherds shall not feed them any more, and I will deliver my sheep from their mouth and they shall not again serve them for food.' " ^ Thinking upon these words and such as these, and hearing God saying over and over again 'my sheep,' I mingle many tears with my thoughts, when I remember the religious Epiphanius," who stealthily established himself in the Christ-loving metropolis of the Tyrians and stirred up many commotions there, when he should have betaken himself to this apostolic see and chosen things pleasing in the eyes of peace and done them, and so come back to the said city in brotherly and fatherly concord and agreement. Since therefore this duty has been neglected by him, and, desiring still even now to correct what has been wrongfully done, we have summoned him to us, we wish you to know that he is not allowed to perform any ordination until he has come to us and done everything required by law, and so yourselves to make p. 109. 2i psephisnia, as prescribed in the divine canons ; and then after that one of those who have been duly selected will be chosen, who is able to rule the bishopric blamelessly and in accordance with the judgment of God. This also I was desirous of brino-ino- to the knowledge of your holinesses, and I charged the religious Thomas and Basil deacons of the apostolic see to have in their
' Eze. xxxiv. 7, 10.
- Cf. vit. Sev. p. 30, I. 31 ; Evag. iii. 33 ; Mansi viii. 1074 ff.
hands this order in writing, and read it to each of you ; that you are not to make 2. pscphisiua in company with the said rehgious Epiphanius for the nomination of any bishop, unless all things have first been carried out " with decency and with order," as Paul commands us ^ who consecrated the Gospel among the nations as he wrote. '^ We have concluded it to be a superfluous task to address each of the God-loving bishops, seeing that the urgency of the matter will not brook delay. Let no one among you therefore dare to transgress against this our warning in writing in any way whatever, knowing that he will incur an accusation of presumption and arrogance, and will be laid under bans of excommunication. This is in fact the reason why we resolved to send the God-loving Thomas and p-iio. Basil deacons of the apostolic see, because it is our intention and prayer that all things may be carried out and performed in order. The end.
513-8. 32. Of the same to John, bishop of Alexandida the less. {F^rom those during episcopacy, from the 6th book the \^\th letter.)
The devout subdeacons of your church have made a complaint to the apostolic see, alleging that an old custom prevails in the holy church of the Alexandrines, which allows their order freedom from the oblie^ition
'ft.'
^ I Co. xiv. 40. 2 Qa ji 2.
of servirv^- what are called ' weeks ' i in your venerated bishop's house.- And we considered the statement in no way surprising- if it is absolutely true, since in other holy churches also an exactly similar provision exists upon this point. .Such matters are generally regulated in accordance with the customs of the holy churches, and the same model does not prevail in all of them. Seeing then that they both allege the custom in defence, and procure the things required to satisfy their necessities by worldly occupations owing to not receiving sustenance, your love of God should acquiesce p. nr. in all these thinofs, and not disturb that which is the custom by any innovation, unless perhaps some relief be given them as a counterpoise to the loss ^ that falls upon them. That a man ought not to serve at his own charges Paul also who had Christ speaking in him enacted : and to this he further added a saying that resembles it, I mean that a man who devotes himself to the altar should be supported by the altar ; ^ and hence he gives the same decision in parallel cases also, and teaches that a man who is engaged in any work should also receive the means of life out of the very same business in which he is engaged. Therefore let the injunction also that has been laid upon them be removed, and the cells of their poverty opened, and the harsh acts that have been done obliterated by means of mildness in all things. The cud.
^ Cf. Mich. Cerul. Ep. 5, 5 (" e/38o/xa/DiW n-ui'Tcov {iTToStaKOvwv "), and Ducange, s.v. €/38o/xa8aptos.
2 €7ri(TK07r€rov. '' fv^/xta. ^ I Co. ix. 7, 13.
613-8. S^. Of the same to Dionysins, bishop of Tarsus. i^Froni those dtiring episcopacy, f-oni the 6th book the 1 86/// /ettei'.)
Time has, it seems, brought a new thing, I mean a p. 112. mihtary force demanding as if it were part of its paythat ordination be conferred by high-priests upon certain persons ; for such is the unreasonable treatment which the God-loving bishop of Pompeiupolis has informed the apostolic see that he has received ; and he says that soldiers with their swords held above his head almost threatened to take his head off, unless he laid his hand on the head of such-and-such a man. This illeoal act therefore must bv all means be annulled, and be considered as if it had never been done. For it is known to everyone that, where there is fear and a threat of death, and anything- akin to these, and any of the passions that are created by the devil, there the descent of the Holy Spirit is assuredly prevented. I forbear to mention that as a result of this a very bad precedent will also be laid upon the churches, and we shall be required henceforth to perform solemn functions after the manner of tyrants, unless what has been wrongfully done remains void, as is in fact demanded by law. The end.
p. 113.
34. Of the same a letter of siujiiuons to the bishops 514-8. tinder Apainea. i^Froni those during episcopacy, from the Jth book the iiyth letter?)
Though we are weak and in deeds fail to keep to the way of the fathers, in that we are incHned to sloth and neoflioence, vet still as reoards the orthodox faith, in accordance with the apostolic command, we prove ourselves to see if we are in the faith, and examine ourselves to see if Christ is in us : ^ and we know^ that in this we are not reprobate through grace from above. Whereas it is written in the holy canons of the fathers that the God-loving bishops in each administrative district ought to assemble together twice a year to deal with uro-ent matters that occur,- in due season we summon your love of God and urge you to come at once to us, and betake yourselves to the apostolic throne with the other saintly bishops, respecting matters that will assist and further the union of God's holy churches ; which is a matter of concern and of earnest endeavour both to God himself and to our pious Christ-loving king. This we have made known p- "4' to you all both individually and generally, and for this very same reason we have sent you so-and-so the devout reader of our apostolic see. The end.
' 2 Co. xiii. 5. - ' Mansi ii. 669.
513-8. 35. Of the same to E^tstace the pj-esbyte^'. [From those during episcopacy, from the jtli book the 140//7. 142;/^^ letter.)
When I had read the letter of your iove of God, I was desirous of carrying out what you ask and begging Jesus, who is God, to bestow the ordination of a deacon upon the devout brother John through my sinful and unworthy hand. But I was greatly opposed in this and my readiness hindered by the strictness of the canons, which do not on any other condition allow a man who has been afflicted with the yoke of slavery to enter the sacred clergy unless he has received manumission and removed from him the bond of slavery.^ ' This principle was in fact observed by Peter who is among the saints, the bishop from Iberia, a man who in all things acted in accordance with the judgments of God. When father Timothy, an inmate of what is called the convent of Majuma, had been approved for admission to the presbyterate, he wotdd not on any other condition allow him to receive ordination, unless those p. 115. who were thought to be his masters had first bestowed freedom upon him : and then the God-loving presbyter father Theodore went with him and had the legal forms of manumission carried out in the church called that of Anthedon. For the monastery that is being built by your religiousness, and by help from God is on the
' Mansi i. 45.
point of being finished, we have sent you a very small present : which please receive contentedly : since the holy church here, having been laden with many debts by him who was ejected, does not allow me to show munificence or liberality even in urgent matters. Our common Christ-lovino- brother the lord Genesius we received with joy, and we offered him all that was in our power, seeing he is a man who deserves any trouble or effort. The end.
36. Of the same to Eusebius the deacon at Apaniea. 513-7. {From those during episcopacy, from the jth book the 2\Sth letter.)
Those who bring you this letter came to us with the information that Libanius the devout presbyter, who is enrolled in the holy clergy at Apamea, wishes to exact interest from them as arising from a loan of his, contrary to the intention of the sacred canons. They say that they often entreated him to extend to them a hand of sympathy, and to be content with the amount p- "6. of the principal ^ only, and they gained nothing. Be so ofood therefore as to remind this man throuofh the religious ceconoini, or stewards, and the devout archdeacon, or chief of the deacons, of the divine laws which say, " Thou shalt not exact interest from thy brother,""" and "He giveth not his money upon
^ K€<f>d\aun; - i)e xxiii. 19 {J) ; Ex. xxii. 25 (?).
104 SELECT LETTERS OF THE HOLY SEVEKUS. 1. 17 .
interest," ^ and " Interest and guile departed not from her Streets," " and things like these. Following- in the tracks of these texts, the God-clad instructors ^ of the church also forbade interest and usury to those who act as priests to God, fixing a fitting punishment and penalty for such unjust acquisition/ Put him therefore, the aforesaid devout presbyter Libanius, in memory of these things, and persuade him to do what beseems him and not to do despite either to his own spiritual office, or to God's laws. But let him yield to the kinship and consanguinity of nature, lest he call down upon himself the severity of the canons. For it is better for him to follow the divine counsel not of necessity but of his own will. The end.
p. 117.
513-7. ^^7. Of the same to Simeon, bishop of Chalcis. i^From
those during episcopacy , from the yth book the
238M, 2 ^oth letter.)
The devout monk so-and-so came to us, sadly lamenting and saying that he had been separated by your love of God and forbidden to live in the monastery of the holy lord 'Akiba, where he had also been educated from the beginning and practised philosophic modes of life. What moved you to this was, he said, because it was he who told us that the man who is chorepiscot)MS and also ^eriodeutes of the village of
1 Ps. xiv. 5. - Ps. liv. 12. ^ Marzafte = iJiva-raL. ■*,Mansi ii. 676.
Thelhadin, who had previously been tried by us at a time when the saintly bishops were here, and themselves also joined us in the examination, had treated the canonical inhibition with contempt and presumed to take part in the sacred ministry. When I learned this, I judged it right to send and tell your love of God that, as God is witness, 1 did not even know the very name of this monk, nor was I acquainted with his personal appearance, until I learned it ^ just now, when he made the complaint to me ; nor was it he who disclosed a fact that was hidden : for it was already being whispered by everyone. Whence those of the house of the God-loving bishop Maron also had learned it before this came to the knowledge of my vileness, and they were distressed in themselves, and did not reveal p- "8* it or tell it out : but they concealed the distress and kept it to themselves, as the truth is witness. It is therefore the duty of your love of God to release the man from his inhibition, seeing that it is without cause, and he gave no handle for blame against him. For the choi'cpiscopits or periodeutes, whom we just now mentioned, whether it is openly or secretly that he presumes to transgress the law by treating with contempt the inhibition from us, in the same way and without any difference rouses the wrath of God. For, though a man escape men's eyes, he cannot escape the eye that sees everything. Let such a man hear also from the singing prophet, "He that planted the ears,
^ Masc, i.e. the name.
doth He not hear? or He that created the eyes, doth He not perceive ? " ^ Let this therefore be a matter for inquiry, and for your consideration : for our part, bound as we are by respect for your venerable age, we commit everything to you : for I know that, as you have undergone a contest on behalf of the orthodox faith, and have shown great concern on behalf of accuracy in this respect, so you will show similar concern m the case of the canons. But for the present please release trom his inhibition the devout monk whom we have manv times mentioned, who brings vou this letter ; since, to say the truth, he has not committed any of p- 119- the sins with which you have charged him. As to the matters ' that were the cause of the devout deacon Stephen coming to you, do your diligence to handle them as befits you and is reasonable, in order that none of the troubles which have been stirred up may remain without healino- and without cure. This will bring you no small praise both in the sight ot God and in the sight of men. T/ie end.
513-7. ^8. Of the same to the same Simeon, bishop of Chalcis. (^From those during episcopacy, from the Jth hook the 26yth, 269/// letter.)
For my part I had no need of words and of assurance bv letter as regards the various matters that have happened and been transacted with the tranquillity of
' P.^. xciii. 9. '" Ke<^dXa'.a.
your love of God, since the facts, if one may so say, utter a voice and plainly cry this out. But, because there is a time to speak, as there is also a time to keep silence, according to the saying" of the wise Koholeth,^ I now wish to repeat again as in a summary - the events that occurred before, and to say like the prophet, " I have kept silence, lest I should keep silence also for ever ; I have refrained myself like a travailing woman." ^ Your holiness probably, I think, remembers that all through the summer the men from the villao-e called Thelhadin were uroino- us, p- "o. and that, though their request was refused by us once and twice (I do not hesitate to say even three times and many times), so that a chance might be given you of settlino- their affair bv some wise method and Godpleasing plan, we effected nothing at all, but we were more pressingly and more violently urged by them, and we were now being abused even by the citizens themselves who saw that they were continually complaining to us and did not receive any answer ; and thenceforward we had also to submit to murmurs of no ordinary kind. Whence also we exhorted the devout presbyter Ignatius, who happened to be here, to appease the men by some means and invite them to a peaceful frame of mind. At last, not to make a long story, we were compelled to resort to such an extreme measure as bringing the periodeutes himself here and having the details of the case * examined before the
^ Ec. iii. 7. '"' K€(fid\aLov. ^ Is. xlii. 14. ^ V7r6$€(ri<;.
saintly bishops. How repulsive to the ears the counts ^ of the accusations that were examined were I forbear to state, seeing that the gravity of these is known to those who examined them with us, and closed their ears when they were being examined and proved. But this I know clearly, that in the middle of the examination into these things the same periodeutes wanted to run away ; and in the hearing p. 121. of everyone and while he was standing up I said to him in clear and distinct tones, directing the words towards him, "If you dare to depart, you old man, before the investigation is ended, you will be excommunicate, and under deprivation." Upon hearing this he promised not to run away. And the next day, when his presence was required, though he was sitting in what is called the psepheion, and had been seen by certain men, he would not come : but he formed the plan of running away, and departed while in full health, thus offending against the reverence due to the apostolic see, and against the synod of saintly bishops. The saintly bishops Sergius and Marion, who are much devoted to your love of God, are trustworthy witnesses of these things. These things therefore having thus passed in order and been transacted, it is now your part, not mine, to say what punishment the man deserves who presumed to take part in priestly functions and down to yesterday to write letters as a chorepiscot>us and to administer the affairs of the
' K€(f)dX.aLa.
I. ^S. SELI-:CT LETTERS oF THE HOLY SEVERUS. 109
district, When a man dares even to lie and swear, and to retain a thing in ignorance, and that after he has personally received the prohibition, what chance of forgiveness or indulgence can he have ? Who is there even among men of very peaceful disposition whom he is not treating as a fool and rousing to an anger that is just and well-pleasing to God ? For for a man to be jealous for the divine laws when they are p- 122. transgressed is to offer a sacrifice to God, just as the opposite course, I mean to be silent on such occasions, is to rouse the wrath of Him who laid down such laws. And yet we for the sake of your holiness' tranquillity remained silent, as we ought not to have done under such circumstances : and, when at an earlier time those who came from the monastery of the holy lord 'Akiba were asking us about the same said cho7'episcopus or periodeutes, we kept silence out of respect to you, because we were ashamed to expose the abominable character of the affair, of which even men of no distinction were not unaware. Quite recently again, when the religious presbyter father Cosmas came to us about this same matter, and said that his conscience and that of the others was wounded, and that they ought not to communicate with a man who had trampled upon the strictness of the canons, and had reckoned the ban of excommunication as nothing, we were compelled to tell them the whole affair, and to place the facts proved by examination before their eyes and read them to them, fearing as we did the prophetic curse which lays under a miserable con-
demnation those who call bitter sweet or darkness light.i After this again the letter of your love of God came, and we gathered together in our mind all the details of the same affair, and we summoned the said p. 123. God-loving presbyter Cosmas to us, and we had some conversation with him concerning peace and concord ; after which we thought it right for the sake of your holiness' tranquillity to relieve the above-mentioned presbyter from his punishment, and allow him communion : but only on condition of his remaining quiet and not approaching the office of cli07^episcopus or pei^iodeiites in any way, because, to speak in the words of scripture and in fitting language, some had been caused to stumble through him."' But, while I was in the middle of writing these things, the company of the men of Thelhadin aofain assailed me, buzzinor about my ears like bees : and they were again dismissed by us with insult and with many contumelies heaped upon them. It is therefore the dutv of vour sanctitv to appoint such a chorepiscopus and peinodeutes for them that God may be praised, and all occasion be cut off from those that wish to find occasion. The end.
513-7. 39. Of the same to the clei-gy and notables of Apamea. i^Froni those during episcopacy, from the Jth book the 289//^ letter.)
The name and fact of concord is pleasing even in God's sight, for He himself said in the Gospel, " If
^ Is. V. 20. - Mt. xiii 57.
two of you shall agree on earth touching any matter whatsoever they shall ask, it shall be clone for them by my Father which is in heaven " ; ^ and in the statute p- 124. of piety also concerning the nomination of bishops it is ordained that a deliberate vote upon this must by all means be put forward by the common consent of the religious clergymen and of the eloquent and illustrious notables ; a principle which our pious Christlovine kinor also ratified." Wherefore we uree you again, as we have also already done,^ and that many times, to come to a united election of him to whom the bishopric of the illustrious metropolis of the Apamenes is to be entrusted. When you were divided, we, who were not under the influence of passion, were obliged ourselves to choose by a judgment that did not respect persons and to nominate for you the devout presbyter Cosmas, a man who was reputed to be fitted for this, according to the prevailingopinion ot many respecting him. But, considering also the greatness of the thing, he would not consent. And therefore I have determined again to urge you, as I have said, to a united vote, since those whom some of you chose by name did not seem to us to be fit men : and to send this letter to vou the religious clergymen, and to the eloquent and magnificent ktetores and to the men of repute at the same time, in order that I may be the first to give you an example of concord by not writing to you separatelv. but as to p. 125.
1 Mt. xviii. 19. 2 Qj I i^. J 7 ^P)^ 3 i 30^
one church which is the body of the one and only and undivided Christ. You will agree, I know well, if, free from all prejudice and cavilling- and favour, and from other such influences, you will put in your psephisnia three men who are in the first place sound in the orthodox faith and show this by holding firmly to communion with us, and secondly are in character free from avarice, and will not approach the highpriesthood with unwashen feet, as it is said, but men who have been trained, if only to a moderate degree, in exercises of virtue, and able to rule, and who besides humility possess also a practised intelligence, in order that they may rather rule those that are under their authority, and not themselves be ruled by them, but also be men practised in divine doctrines. For he who stands at the head must also be a man " apt to teach," and one who in character and speech shows himself "a pattern of good works," as the Apostle says.^ For we have in fact no other reason for using strict language about such things except to avoid straying from what is right, and becoming liable to endless torment. For it is manifest that, although p. 126. we are sinners, yet still in the nomination of bishops we in no point fall short of the principles about which many concern themselves. The end.
^ I Ti. iii. 2 ; Tit. ii. 7.
40. Of the same to Hypatms the Master of the 515-'8. Soldiers.^ [Fro/n those during episcopacy, from the jth book the 458///, 465//? letter.)
Your excellency's exalted letters I for my part receive with all affection and pleasure. Though you are so exalted and have so much olorv, to which the Lord brought you, you encourage even humble men like me to inform you of things that are the truth, since you place nothing before this. Wherefore I also will truthfully inform your highness of the reason for which I have now composed this mean letter. It was not the devout presbyter Julian only who was accused by the holy church of the Tarsians of detaining property that belonged of right to it, but many others also with him ; and in connexion with such accusations those who made the charge and those who were under the charge often wished to have recourse to the apostolic throne of the city that belongs to the Antiochenes and to you. And, since it is my habit not to cause trouble to anyone, but as far as possible to remove the complications arising from affairs, and not to inflict the p. 127, burden of heavy expense upon men who are compelled to take so long a journey, and at such grievous cost to discuss the points on which they are in doubt, I determined that all the saintly bishops of First Cilicia should sit in conjunction with the eloquent
(TTpaTqX(Lry)<;.
scholastics whom I certauily knew to be of good reputation, and who are well reported of both now and from their former life in Berytus, and discuss the details of the case of each of the persons who are said to be devouring church property. I also provided that two religious presbyters of the apostolic see^ men versed in affairs and of minute experience in such matters, should be associated with them in the hearing of the said questions, with the book of the revered and holy gospels also laid in the midst. And after every point had been discussed in due order, and each of them had accepted the judgments given (how could they do otherwise ?), the devout Julian only, beingafflicted with covetousness, dared to treat the verdict ^ of the bishops with contempt contrary to the canons and the intention of the rightly-enacted laws, and to drao- the hearinor before a civil court, in so much as to incur indignation and the punishment prescribed by the canons. And upon his brother the God- 128. loving Syrian, bishop of the city of Augusta, using many entreaties and promising to induce him to keep / quiet his punishment was remitted, since I am in fact naturally inclined to the milder course. Indeed he I tried by the use of deception to make the illustrious Heliodorus your curator also an accomplice in his plot by giving him false information : and upon your highness obtaining previous information of his proceedings all his plan was shattered. And now again, as if
^ d7ro(^a(ris.
dealing with a new matter he has set himself to entreat your highness, and to seem to be making a moderate request, that he may plead his cause before civil magistrates, after the examination and decision of the apostolic see and of the whole synod, the reversal of a decision of which is not permitted him by any authority, either by the holy canons or by the civil laws. Therefore by his words which are moderate and have a supplicatory appearance he is trying by means of his tricks to suppress things which have passed in order and been brought to a conclusion in this way. And his thoughts are, as one of the prophets said, "a pondering of iniquity, and his sin is hid." ^ For how did he expect to get anything of this kind from you who are very just, seeing that everyone who has made havoc of the property of the church would have imitated his example, and reversed judgments rightly given, and transferred ecclesiastical causes- to a magisterial tribunal, and that after judg- p. 129. ment had been given and they had received an ending consonant to the laws and to the intention of the divine canons ? Therefore I beg and entreat your excellency not to give him an opportunity of appealing to your friendship, and arming himself against the ordinances of the holy church, and destroying all discipline, of which you both are and ever will be a guardian and a protector, so long as you are preserved through your whole life. T/ie end.
^ Ho. xiii. 12. ^ vTroO€(T€L<;.
513-8. 41. Of the same to Solon the bishop. {Fro7)i those during episcopacy^ from the jth book the ^ist, ^2nd letter.)
It is written somewhere in the legal writings that the divine Moses, after appointing judges over Israel, allowed them to judge unimportant causes (I must quote the actual expression of the God - inspired utterances) : ^ but a hard matter they were to report to him, and from him to receive the solution that God "the knower of secrets " (this also I take from another scripture) - should reveal and signify to him. You also therefore as a giver and teacher of divine laws have followed this rule and reported to the apostolic see {not to my mean self who scarcely see even what p- 130- is before my feet owing to the denseness of my understanding) a matter which seemed to be hard. Therefore your love of God must know that Maximus the presbyter, who has fallen into the snare of fornication, although he has shown fervent repentance, and for a period of five years has given himself up to such labours, cannot be restored and take his place in the sacred office : and it is a simple thing for us to obtain a solution of this question without trouble from the holy canons themselves. For indeed the God-loving bishops who met together at Neocaii-sarea made these distinct pronouncements in the ninth canon : " If a
^ Ex. xviii. 26. -' Su. 42.
I. 41. SELECT LETTERS OK THE HOLY SEVEKUS. 117
presbyter be promoted after having previously sinned with his body, and confess that he sinned before ordination, he shall not offer : but he shall retain the rest of his functions on account of his zeal in other respects." ' If then a man who before ordination has sinned with his body, i.e. has committed fornication (for this the Apostle also said, " Every sin is without the body, but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body " ""), is not permitted to offer, but to retain the rest of his functions on account of his zeal in other respects, how can it be doubted that he who has committed this same sin after ordination cannot ofter the divine sacrifice, or consecrate the water of regeneration, or perform any such function ? p- ^v- Let no man say, " What then is the advantage of repentance to a man who has committed fornication, if he is not after labours of continence to be restored to the sacred service ? " Repentance brings about forofiveness and bestows communion in the bloodless sacrifice for the sake of purification and preservation upon those who wash away the sin by tears and the other tbrms of bodily mortification : but the service of the priesthood is the reward of a blameless character. The ninth canon of the three hundred and eio-hteen holy fathers also says thus, as you also know, "If men have without examination been promoted to be presbyters, and ^ being examined have confessed the sins committed by them, and after they have confessed
1 Mansi ii. 542. - i Co. vi. 18. ^ Gk. y].
some men being moved in a manner contrary to the canon have laid a hand upon them, such men the canon does not accept : for the cathoUc church requires blamelessness." ^ I forbear to say that you have adopted a very mild policy and one of exceeding leniency in the matter of Maximus, because the canon did not say anything plainly about a man who commits fornication after ordination. You have openly permitted him (this was stated in your letter) to perform evening and morning prayers, and to sit on every p. 132. occasion with the presbyters, a thing forbidden in the case of a man who has sinned before ordination and afterwards confessed ; for this is clearly written down in the ninth canon of those who met together at Neoc^esarea, which we mentioned a short time ago, which says that he should retain the rest of his functions on account of his zeal in other respects, but should not again go so far as to offer the rational sacrifice, and do things like this and of equal honour. Therefore, since you have the nature of what ought to be done from the canonical utterances themselves, do not allow anyone to take refuge in the unknown, and in the pretence of searching into the spirit of the holy canons. One seeks for the spirit in cases where nothing is defined in actual words and phrases. 2 The end.
1 Mansi ii. 672. ^ At'tet?.
42. Of the same to the fathers. i^J-^rom those diti'-ijig 513-7. episcopacy, f'oni the ^th book the 6^th letter. )
Of the circumstances in which we are placed I notified your holinesses before when I sent the letter through the holy monastery at Aphthoria.^ If you have received this letter, please let me know this by a missive of your own.
And after other things. But Philip, the devout monk from Isauria, who was ordained deacon by me, deceived by avaricious thoughts, in truth yielded to p. 133- some deceivers and conceived the idea of dioorino- and bringing up treasure. And he incurred blame from me on this account, and was expelled from the chapel of the forty holy martyrs, and was ordered to visit himself with labours of repentance. If therefore he is living in the holy monastery of father Romanus of holy memory, you are acting rightly in allowing him to communicate in the oblation, but excludino- him from the deacons' ministry, until he shows fruits of repentance for a certain period of time. As to him who I holds the prelacy of the city of the men of Jerusalem," \ no news has reached us personally as to his reconcilia- \ tion. But that the man is utterly unstable and weak, \ seeing that from the very beginning he has lived such a confused and inconstant life, and has thus been raised to the position that he now holds, all who know
^ Near Caisarea in Palestine (vit. Pet. lb. p. 120). - Cy[ p. 129.
120 SELECT LETTERS OF THE HOLY SEVERUS. K 43.
him are well aware, and I have no need of words on this point. I was glad to see the God-loving presbyter father Apaphon, as I said before, and I thought the man's coming a great blessing, and you may be sure that 1 would have bought this at a high price ; and I have incurred a debt of thanks to Christ our Saviour and God in that I received this pleasure for nothing through your saintly prayers. The sum of gold that was spent by him upon the well, I mean the sum of p. 134- fifty darics, we paid to him out of a certain God-loving loan. For, believe me, we have not a niiiia : and this is the only way in which we are relieved in poverty : while in our other pursuits we distress God and do nothing at all that is pleasing to Him. The end.
613-8. 43. Of the same to the archimandrite of the iJionastery of the holy lord Simeon. i^From those during episcopacy, from the ^th book the 134//^ letter.)
Whereas Nonnus even before entering the holy Simeon's flock was often summoned to answer the charges and accusations that were being brought against him and did not obey, but, even when placed under an injunction by the God-loving ekklesiekdikoi, trampled upon this with similar impudence, like a man who had grown accustomed to treat holy things with' contempt, and after repairing to me by night once only and in secret, as if doing things worthy of night and darkness, thought that he had thus done enough
to give satisfaction (?), and at last after receiving an explicit letter through your religiousness continued in the same shameless state, I for my part endured, and was not roused to just indignation : but after appoint- p- 135- ing him a limit ^ of ten days I allowed him to have this doubled. And he behaved exactly as one who had not been summoned, alleging only pretexts founded upon sins, and answered through your religiousness that he asked that clergymen should not be present at his trial, because they are clergymen who have been injured by him, and from whom he used to receive the unhallowed and profane gains. For he did the same as those who have stolen or committed adultery, or perpetrated a murder, and say that those who have been outraged and injured by theft and those who have thus suffered by adultery and those who have suffered by murder ought not to be present at their trial. No wonder if, being guilty of such evil deeds, he belches forth such words. What will they say who " hate judgment and pervert all right things, and build Zion with blood and Jerusalem with iniquity,"'^ as one of the prophets somewhere said ? For how can one help saying that the hands are full of blood which have sold the gifts of the Holy Spirit, which he had no right to give to some men, or to take away from those who possess them ? For this is the wonderful point about his sacrilege, that he used to hide himself as in some lurking place, I mean in hypocrisy, while hearing at
1 Trpo^etr/xia. ^ Mi. iii. 9, 10.
p- 136. every ordination the anathemas and terrific curses that I pronounced against such unlawful gains, and to stop his ears "like the deaf asp that stoppeth her ears, which will not hearken to the voice of the charmer," ^ as the singing prophet says. However, that I may not by using many words protract the letter unnecessarily, this is the second and third summons that I am addressino- to him through your love of God, or, rather to Speak more truly, a summons that has the force of the tenth and twentieth (for one may justly reckon them as equal in number to the days that have passed) ; since I wish even if late yet some time or other to induce him to make a defence, with the saintly bishops present according to the intention of the holy canons, and ready to conduct his trial, with the holy Gospels laid in the midst, and the terrific threat pronounced by them hanging over those who turn aside justice.- But, if even after this letter he shall dare to delay, then after this the same divine statutes of church discipline shall pronounce judgment and the fitting verdict^ upon him. For we for our part in no way wished the circumstances of his case to remain unknown to the glorious notables also in Antiochus' city : but we even brought these as far as was possible to their knowledge ; and we would have ur^ed them and some of the
P- ^37- learned rhetors to be judges of the cause,^ had it not been that we were hindered by reflecting upon the order of the holv canons, which command that ecclesi-
' Ps. Ivii. 5, 6. ' Lu. xiii. 27 (?). ^ d7ro</>ao-i?. ■• vir60ea-i<i.
astical cases shall be tried and decided by saintly bishops/ and subject to penalties those who pass over these and turn to civil courts.^ And it was for this same reason that we sent the religious Eusebius the deacon also ; for we cannot consent, after the lapse of so many days, to keep the saintly bishops here, when they ought to return to their own flock. The end.
44. Of the same to Eutychian^ governor of Apamea. 514-8. {Fro)n those ditring episcopacy, from the %th book the igoth letter.)
When I compare the reports that have recently come to my hearing with the words spoken by your magnificence when I was leaving the royal city and had reached this city of Antiochus, I still even now consider these untrustworthy and shrink from setting them down in so many words in this letter. I learn that, when one of those who have been deprived and p- 138. stripped of the high-priestly office was celebrating (as he thinks) the unhallowed memory of martyrs and the initiatory festival and dedication of a certain house, you also went there and took part in a least that thus contends against God. In order that you may not think that it is from a quarrelsome disposition that we have been led to use such hard words, or rather in order that you may know that what I have written
^ Cf. Mansi vii. 361. ^ Si/cao-r-j^pta.
falls short of the real abomination, I will immediately quote to you the actual canon and law of the Spirit, and you will know clearly that for a man who is in servitude to the pious king- and is the ruler of a people to do anything of the kind without consideration is not a thinor free from dang-er. The canon or law that has been mentioned is as follows : — " If any bishop, after he has been deprived by a synod, or a presbyter or deacon by his bishop, shall presume to perform any part of the ministry, be he a bishop according to the previously existing custom, or a presbyter or deacon, no hope of restoration even in another synod shall thenceforward be permitted him, nor shall he be permitted an opportunity of defence : but those also who communicate with him shall all be expelled from p- 139- the church, and especially if they have presumed to communicate with the aforesaid persons after they have learned the verdict that has been put forth against them." ^ Do you think even after reading this law that it is about small or contemptible matters that we are speaking ; or that we do so out of concern for your soul and for your reputation ? ' You must therefore abandon this discreditable state of mind, if indeed it really is a state of mind at all, and reflect upon the purpose of God and of our pious king, and of the glorious notables who are earnest upholders of the orthodox faith, and not set yourself in hostility to the saintly Peter bishop of your metropolis in any-
^ Mansi ii. 1309. " vTr6\r]^i<;.
thing, or rather not conceive any thought that is hostile and hateful to God, and to our triumphant, serene, Christ-lovinor kincr. The end.
45. Of the savif to Coiioii the brigand-chaser. [From 513-8. those during episcopacy, from the ^th book the 237///- letter.)
Concerning the unholy woman who in an unhallowed manner thrust herself into the degree of the diaconate I both wrote to your magnificence before, and am now aofain writino', thouoh I ascribe the whole affair to an evil demon and to my sins, not to you. However, p- 140. since much contumely is being poured upon me, and for the sake of the blamelessness of ecclesiastical order, and to preserve mere holiness itself, the object of veneration, I legally placed the hateful and allpresumptuous woman under deprivation, stripping her of the supposed office ; and she was convicted and even herself confessed that she had been married three times, her third husband being still alive. Therefore you for your part ought not to have recorded against yourself a thing that has been once condoned by me : but you should have been glad and have known clearly that we for our part love you sincerely, and hold you in all veneration and respect. In another letter also I made known to your greatness that the glorious patrician and lieutenant of the Master of the Soldiers ^
^ (jTparr]\aTy]<i ; cf. p. 60.
in the East excellent in all good qualities has composed a letter to you which has the force of a command, in which he gives you leave to support the orthodox and the interests of the church with ample freedom and liberty. To speak plainly, in order not to make a long story, you have abundant warrant for displaying your qualities against God's enemies. The end.
p. 141-
513 8. 46. Of the same to the clergymen of Antaradzts. i^Froin
those dziring episcopacy , from the '^th book the 264//^,,
265/// letter.)
When I had read your devoutnesses' petitions concerning the necessity of a shepherd being nominated for you,^ in accordance with the precepts of the holy canons and the laws of the Spirit, and concerning the articles that belong of right to your holy church, but are unreasonably and unjustly detained by others, after giving due consideration to the whole matter I thought it right to refer the whole case - to our serene Christloving king and his pious ears. For it is from him after God that we receive useful and satisfactory assistance in difficult affairs. Wherefore it is your duty at once to insert in a psephisma three men well-known for virtue and capable of being entrusted with a rational leadership of this kind, in order that we may choose the man who stands highest in these respects, and confer
^ Cf. Mansi viii. 1075. " ^'''"o'^eo't?.
I. 46. SELECT LETTERS OF TliE HOLY SEVERUS. 127
ordination upon him ; or rather present him for the inspiration of the Spirit : for the choice and judgment and bestowal in such matters are from above : since in fact "every good bestowal and every perfect gift is from above, cominsf down from the Father of liofhts,"^ as the sacred scripture somewhere says. Let this be both considered and performed in this way, and may it be brought to a good end by God ! Whereas the devout deacon Stephen has just presented petitions to me and informed me that Leontius, who has lived an p. 142. unhallowed life, but was improperly admitted to ordination as deacon, as if setting himself to act in accordance with his former life, contracted a second marriage after ordination, and after this was by the bishop's judgment struck out of the sacred tablets, and as an indulgence was allowed to minister again, but now wishes to retain deacon's rank and claims to be made head over the others, though he oucrht not to be ranked even amonothose that are under a head, how can we neolect the intimation that has been given us, and close our ears to such audacious deeds on his part ? Even if it is the case that, while your holy church was without anyone to act as shepherd, the man who then held the post of archdeacon by a presumptuous action enrolled him in the order of deacons, this action is already in every way invalid. This man ought therefore to stand entirely outside the ministry, and to feel the sins that he has committed, and to concrratulate himself that he does not Q^ain
1 Ja. i. 1 7.
experience of some canonical punishment ; not go on further to desire the headship that it is no way proper for him to hold. But the first position in the order of religious deacons shall be held by those who are summoned from amonof the members of the order. For the present this is the conclusion at which we have arrived : but, if Leontius thinks that he has any right p. 143- founded upon the canons that may help him, let him inform the apostolic see of this ; and the fact of the accusation will not do him any harm whatever, if he have truth on his side. If he was conscious of guilt even on one count ^ only of those that were related to us, he oucrht, he ouoht indeed to have restricted himself to a modest and humble demeanour, and thought of Him who said by Jeremiah the prophet, " ' Hear these things, foolish people and without understanding, which have eyes and see not, and have ears and hear not ! or will ye not fear me,' saith the Lord, 'and will ye not tremble at my face, which have placed the sand as a bound for the sea, an everlasting decree, and it shall not pass it .-^ ' " "■ However for our part we feared for his sake owing to the terrible nature of the reports, and were unable to remain silent in such circumstances. And, since the church ministry "requires blamelessness,"^ we decided that he should cease to exercise this, in order that we might not seem even to ourselves by acquiescing in the sins that he committed and the deeds that he thought good to do, to be by our silence actually
1 K€<j>d\aiov. 2 Jer. V. 21, 22. 2 Mansi ii. 672.
approving' the evil thing, and apply to ourselves the words spoken by God to the same prophet, " A wonder and a horror has happened upon the earth ; the prophets prophesy falsehood, and the priests clapped their hands." ^
But, since we are always desirous of arriving- at the truth, and we know that the maofnificent Christ-lovino count John is very desirous of this, we have written to his magnificence to examine into the true state of the case, and notify our meanness of it. For in everything let truth and justice be respected ; while at the same time the honour of the holy church is preserved, and the ministry has the reverence assigned to it which is its by right, especially by those to whom this ministry p. 144- has been committed, through the benignance and ineffable erace of God. The end.
47. Of the same to Cassiau bishop of Bostra. [From 513-7. those during episcopacy, from the ^th book the 288///. letter.)
It is nothing surprising if the prelate of the city of the men of Jerusalem,"' being such in his character and in his faith as everyone knows him to be, but as I for my part loathe even to take upon my lips, | -f^^ has done this act also which you have mentioned in violation of the holy canons, I mean the act of raising to the bishopric a man who was included in
1 Jer. V. 31. '- Cf. p. 119.
the clergy of your holy church. On the contrary one ought to have been surprised if one such as he in his faith and in his character had done anything canonical and accordino- to regulation. We have told
o o
this therefore to those who manage our apokriseis in the royal city.
As to Agapius the devout bishop, we have this much to say, that, if the offences committed by him are of such a nature, this man must be corrected by canonical reproofs : with moderation however on account of the difficulty of the time, and because the man has now "grown old in evil days," as the sacred scripture says,^ and has already come near to being reckoned with those that are in Hades. For " God is p- M5- faithful, who will not suffer " " those that are not rightly disposed towards Him to outrage the sacred prelacy for a great length of time, so that through them His name should be "blasphemed among the nations," as it is written.^ The end.
513-7. 48. Of tJie same to Pliiloxemis bishop of Hierapolis. [From those during episcopacy, from the i oth book the 295/// letter.^
Hearing the divine writings which say, " Salvation cometh by much counsel," ^ I wish yet now again to ask your sanctity even about a matter upon which we have often already counselled and deliberated. You
^ Su. 52. "I Co. X. 13. ^ Ro. ii. 24. ■* Pr. xxiv. 6.
know that those who received ordination for payment and bought for themseIves~fromnFlavian tHe trnfficKer in all divine things the grace_of the^Spirit that is not to be bought, alleging ignorance of the strictness of the holy canons, begged you and the other bishops of the other resplendent metropolitan cities that they mioht obtain foro-iveness on the orround of ionorance of the sin. And, though the same said men further brouoht us letters written in lenient terms from one and another set of persons, even so they did not obtain release from the interdicts. And some of them even went up to the royal city, and showed letters of this kind to those who conduct our apokriseis and to all p. 146. those who are in power and deign to love our meanness, and caused them all, though certainly in a friendly manner,' to charge me with cruelty. For all being moved to pity for them granted them forgiveness. And, when they returned thence, they did not desist from this course of action, since we even after this would not incline our ear to their entreaty and lamentation : but they went to the holy cloisters of the orthodox and moved the chiefs or rulers of the solitary and sacred orders to compassion. And they also, after weeping for the fall of certain persons, in an exactly similar manner and much more earnestly than the others, addressed supplications to us in writing with the object of procuring for them liberation from their evil plight. Being in some sort harassed and troubled by all the facts stated, I have taken the course of asking your holiness by this letter whether
1.49.
these men ouoht to receive forolv^eness at the feast of the Epiphany or if they ought not, let your love of God put yourself to a little trouble, and after the feast mentioned repair to this great Christ-loving city of Antiochus, and assist in a course of lenient mildness towards men who have sinned from ignorance, a course perhaps not wholly inconsistent with canonical strictness : for they say that the gift was concealed under the name of a present by those gain -hunters, and it deceived them. The end.
p. 147. 519 20. 4g,
^
Of the same to John and John presbyters and archimandrites and the rest. {From those after banishment, fron: the 1st booh the 55M, 53?"^^ /etter.)
I am glad and rejoice greatly whenever I write an epistle to your holinesses, and, if one may so say, fancy myself speaking to )0u as if you were close by me. And after other things. For do not think of me that my concern for the church of the Alexandrines is different from my concern for that of the Antiochenes ; I shall not be lying even though I say it is much greater. In fact both the party of the learned Hippocrates, to whom I referred a short time ago, and a very large number of other well-known and distinguished men, who have always concerned themselves about their own salvation and about the strict observance of the orthodox faith, and those who followed these, through the efforts and endeavours
(to Speak with God's permission) of my wretched miserable self joined the catholic and orthodox church in Egypt ; men who as you know for a long time had not communicated, but were satisfied by the minutes ^ of the records ' drawn up by the blessed Dioscorus who a short time ago departed to God, of which you v no doubt have an ison or copy, and are not ignorant of the purport of the things contained in them : since, after the sacred old man had received the epistle p- 148. written by my meanness, in answer to his synodical letter, with hands and feet, as the saying goes, and as far as was possible he complied with my advice and satisfied those who were separated ; who often wrote to me in their letters (although it is in folly that I speak), , " It is because we have confidence in your reputation ^ that we have communicated." How then can I neglect such men ? or how can it be said that I must not both "in season and out of season" as the divine Apostle says * search even into small matters, and cut away every cause of stumbling, and remove the stones and cast them out [of] the way that leads .
or to satisfy so-and-so and so-and-so individually, so that all these and men like them were scandalized in that a door for vain speaking was being opened to the contentious. For neither are this time and that alike, nor yet can you on your part avoid doing everything in the capacity of my representatives. For, what you do,
^ 7rpu$i<;. - v-rroiivrjiiaTa, ' {•7roX7;t//is. 2 Ti. iv. 2.
that men will justly reckon to me ; for all, both brothers and strangers, both friends and enemies, know clearly that I and you are one, as in fact we are. Accordingly, if any man owing to his imperfect
p. 149- intelligence needs to be directed by pilotage, being carried about like some ship by troubled thoughts, let him be so directed and controlled as not to rouse any storm or tempest against the great ships. Let not your sanctities think that this is the first time that I have been moved to this action. Even while I was living in Antiochus' city, I used to hear it said of the presbyter father Theodore of saintly memory that, when many came to Egypt and asked him whether they ought to communicate, he would answer and say plainly to them, "If you have been satisfied, communicate " : and other things that are like this and resemble it. And I endured because it was a time of endurance, and because none of the bishops in the East heard anything of the kind, but the reports were confined to yourselves, and did no great harm. For a man who is doing anything in accordance with God's purpose never halts and hesitates in his action : but he stands firm and steadfast, and increases what he has begun, like the gift of the talents in the gospels.
And after other things. As to the devout and beloved brother Epimachus, you know how distinct the apostolic statute is through which I also was prevented from laying my hands upon this man, when he came to Antiochus' city, in order that he might conduct
p. 150. my apoki^iseis in the royal among cities, in conjunction
I. 49. SELECT LETTERS OE THE HOLY SEVERUS. 135
with the presbyter l^eter of blessed memory, my brother. And, being afraid of the strictness of the canon, I restrained my desire : and this though I loved the man, I mean the devout Epimachus, not out of human favour, but on account of his devout and modest conduct in the monastic life, and his venerable age and old-fashioned mind. For I saw that the canon of the church everywhere " requires blamelessness" ;^ and at the same time also I was in the habit of proclaiming to everyone in Antiochus' city, " No man who has been twice married or labours under any disqualification similar [to this] can [receive] ordination from me.'' ....
Therefore take the course of which our Lord shall satisfy you." Accordingly it would not have been right for us, when the thing has been made public, to advance him now to ordination, and let him be a blot in our ministry, as the very wise Paul says,-^ us who endeavour with God's help to do everything as far as we can without cause for blame. For we cannot in fact say that the man by his monastic habit and the long \ life that he has passed in this is able to mitigate the strictness of the canon, seeing that it nowhere in actual words makes any such further provision about the twicemarried, and seeing that " what is rare is not a law of the church, " as the Theologian Gregory somewhere p- isisays." The ninth canon of the three hundred and
^ Mansi ii. 672. '' 2 Co. vi. 3. ^ Or. xxxix. 14.
eighteen holy fathers also plainly says that presbyters who have been put forward without examination shall be set aside, even though it is after ordination that their sin which violates the canon is confessed.^ The twice-married have also a certain definite time provided in the same canons, during which they are excluded from communion,- because these men ought to devote themselves to fastings and prayers. Hence it is very plain that devout conduct after the second marriage is of assistance to them only in the way of penitence, and does not besides this also assist them in obtaining admission to the clergy. We know also the letter written by the saintly archbishop and martyr Dioscorus concerning Irenaius the twice-married, and the order of Theodosius of truly pious and God-loving memory concerning this man.^ These things then being so, it rests with you and with those who disputed with you to consider whether one can extend the application of the fifty-third canon and compel it to cover the case of a man who, having contracted a second marriage, is ordained without examination, and to come to an agreement with one another on this point and settle your dispute and doubt. The canon itself is as follows : " If a presbyter be promoted after having previously sinned with his body, and confess that he p- 152- sinned before ordination, he shall not offer : but he shall retain the rest of his functions on account of his zeal in other respects. For in the case of other sins
Mansi, I.e. - Ibid., 563 ; Bas. Ep. 188. 4. ^ Mansi v. 420.
many have said that they are remitted by the mere fact of the laying on of hands. But, if he do not himself confess, and it is not possible for him to be manifestly convicted, the discretion shall rest with himself."^ Consider therefore whether the devout Epimachus also ought to communicate in the prayers and other things only. But even this 1 say as an indulgence, not as a command. For the principles laid down by the canon do not refer to an open and notorious second marriage, but to other bodily sins that are secret. But for your part, since it is upon you that the burden of judgment is laid, choose the course that seems to you good : my feebleness cannot write about this : in fact for my part whatever I have given if I have given anything I have given for your sakes as the representative of Christ. However it is with much sorrow and sighing that I have written this (I speak with God as witness), seeing that even to the devout Epimachus himself that which is thought an honour is beingf turned into a shame, and I too am beino- driven by the divine precepts to break out into grievous and bitter words. For what we are to say upon the point in question is laid down for us as a law by others. There is another thing that, as upon brief consideration appears to my meanness, would have been just and proper, I mean if you had asked me first and taken my advice, especially since it is now a kind of beginning of our state " of banishment. You are not unaware that in p- i53«
^ /</,, ii. 542. *• Karao-Tacri?.
' the case of the man of holy memory also, I mean Peter the bishop, even when he was not ordaining anyone, those who were ordaining took his advice. Timothy
I too, who bravely endured in the contests of piety, when he was at a distance and was living somewhere far
' away beyond the boundaries, used to regulate all these
I things by epistle, and they were carried into effect.
I However you may allege in defence that I was in hiding and that you did not even know where I am, and that you were in a hurry to satisfy your need, which it would not have been certainly possible to do when you wanted. Another matter, I confess, was very displeasing to me, I mean the fact that certain other men also who rejoice in two disciples only, and those boys, have presented those who are living with them for ordination, so that they are led astray from the very fact of livino- with them. For a boy who is admitted to an honour which passes his measure exposes himself to shame, while he has for the time brought no small blame on the community.
Your remark that the God-loving Isidore the bishop ought not on account of the persecution to have again laid his hand on those who were ordained deacons by me is lukewarm and cold : for these regulations apply to deacons enrolled in the churches: and to monasteries round about that parish. But to extend this to those p. 154. who are in a province ^ beyond the boundaries and are united with us in respect of the right faith it is not
* i-rrap^ia.
I. 49. SKLECT LETTERS OF THE HOLY SEVERUS. 139
a fitting season. In the same fashion also the practice of devout women living in their houses being ordained deaconesses is very usual and is diffused, if I may so say, over the whole world.
Again the fact that in previous times Palestine also was subject to the apostolic see of the city of the Antiochenes is in no doubt. However I and the God-loving bishop Isidore make up one person, and I myself say that his love of God performed the ordination on my behalf ; therefore let all question and dispute cease. The quality of the person who ordained causes no detriment whatever, such that the ordination that has been performed should be thought to be uncanonical. But you, who are wise in the Lord, ought not to have dropped the religious presbyter Victor out of your consideration : seeing ^ that he would often introduce some useful action before the event itself, or that after consenting to what you did he was thenceforward ashamed to go ao-ainst his own consent ; and seeing ^ that manv find it hard to endure neglect. But that he was vour friend not only I but everyone is aware. I know, I know clearly that it was with judgment that you put forward your devout brothers : but the reason that you yielded to certain men who were putting forward boys was, as it seems, that you might not excite disturbance against you. These things I have written to you by
1 Or " on the ground " : there is perhaps some corruption in this sentence.
p. 155. way of admonition, and privately. For indeed I know how to admonish such men as you, but to find fault with those who are so exalted in virtue I have not learned, far less to rebuke them, as you write. I know my measure, even though the fact of the office and the spiritual honour that has been given me through the benignance of God tends to exaltation, a thing that to the unintelligent and foolish gives occasion for vanity and pride, but in those who do not deceive themselves and know that they are sinners implants endurance in contests and fear of the judgment, in w^hich we shall give account even for honours that are so high, when the Judge shall give judgment, as is threatened in the prophets, against those that are "clothed in other men's apparel." ^ iVot the end.
519-20. 50. Of the sa)ue to the same John and John prastiyters and archimandrites and the rest. i^From those after banishment, from the first book the i6th letter. )
If those who were enlightened in their understanding like you, and for this reason were properly called seers, were a cause of peace to others also by giving the inner man peace from warring passions, and heard from those who approached them the words, "Thy coming, seer, is peace,"" what wonder if you also by the long - suffering and humility implanted
' Zeph. i. 8. 2 I R xvi. 4.
in you have brought about a serene and peaceful P- 'S^- state of affairs ^ in place of the disturbance which had arisen ? Wherefore we must also for everything praise and laud our God and Saviour Jesus Christ, our peace and tranquillity ; who said to His disciples, " My peace I give unto you, my peace I leave unto you," ■' and ordered them, to whomsoever they went, to say, "Peace to this house." ^ Pray therefore that we may be men worthy of this peace, in order that it may also abide with us and never leave us, now that we have once received it, as in fact it wishes, provided of course that we do not do anything contrary to it.
As to the religious Epimachus, because you the holy old man have, as you write, stretched the sinews of your mind and had recourse to the harshness of the strict execution of the canons owing to the admonitions that we gave,* ought we also to extend this matter further with them, and ourselves also to scratch (?) in a more violent manner that which has once been done, even thouo^h in an inconsiderate manner, and make it come to an ulcer and end by being incurable ? By no means. But on the contrary, we ought to devise some remedy and carry it out, by some kind of healing friction and humane refreshment. It does not seem that we are running counter to the intention of the canons in allowing him to conduct the prayers only and so forth, but not to offer the sacred sacrifice.
KaTacrrarrt?.
"' John xiv. 27. •' Lu. x. 5. ^ i. 49.
Accordingly let him have both the title and the privileges of a presbyter, on account of his long continuance in the monastic life, and on account of the fact that he thereby as far as possible purihed his previous life, and on account of the man's attested p- 157- devoutness, and because neither did he himself seek to be raised to this position, but was raised against his will and submitted to the decision and nomination of others. In fact even on the former occasion I did not write to you as a lawgiver, but rather as performing a service. And I did not do this of my own accord, but because some great "necessity is laid upon me," as the Apostle says, and because " woe is unto me if I do not" serve necessity and so "preach the gospel." ^ Indeed, although the burden is heavy, yet still " I am entrusted with a stewardship," - and, bowed down though I am, I must execute this with all fear and trembling. Still it would have been unjust that, because you " fear everything through devoutness," as it is written," while I submit to the necessity of the laws, the man who came to ordination against his will as we have said should be injured and not receive refreshment. Whence under compulsion and as a consequence we have, as is possible, been brouoht to these second thouohts, seeino- that we too are bowed down by the weight of many sins, and stand in need, if any man else besides, of the clemency of God. But may you, sacred man, be
' I Co. ix. 16. " /i>i(i., 17. '^ Pr. xxviii. 14.
preserved for us in health and youthful vigour, being more powerfully strengthened with spiritual sinews, and correcting our paralysis, and putting forth wings and being renewed like the eagles.^ and singing with the prophet David and saying, " And I will go in unto the altar of God, unto God that reneweth my youth ! " - : and there offering prayers on our p* '5^- behalf.
As to the holy communion or oblation which is being sent to Alypius the poor child (so you often termed j him in your letter) I have this much to say : that, if you had previously told his father also the very thing which you have often said, I mean that he ought not to be in doubt as to the existing state of things ^ in the holy churches in Alexandria and in Egypt, since it is now (to speak with God's permission) free from association and communion with heretics, you would perhaps now have had the courage to say that the revered and sacred communion or oblation must not be sent to him. But, since the thing has been thus begun and has become known to the adversaries, what necessity is there for us to do further harm, and go on to ruin the boy who is about as your sanctity says to yield to his grandfather ? Let the child therefore be refreshed with the usual refreshment from you on account of his believing father, and not be neglected on account of his unbelieving grandfather. For it is written, " The thoughts of the righteous are judgments."* And henceforth for
^ Ps. cii. 5. " Id., xlii. 4, ^ Karao-Tacrts. "* Pr. xii. 5.
the future let us not turn aside to similar thinofs, nor give occasion to those who seek occasion, nor in order to content one person disturb the whole church. Know well that I was loth to write that the believing^ Mitra ought to have sent his son to communicate with the p- '59- church which by God's grace is clean and pure, the church which now looks to our banished self, and does not acquiesce in any cunning fraud. For, even though it had been right to send the often mentioned holy communion to the boy, how can it be anything but unreasonable that this boy should live with enemies, ^, f / who reveal without shame even that which is thought to be ineffable ?
And after othei' things. As to those who like the magnificent Anastasius are zealous for piety, and all who are settled in the land of the Philistines, who is there who is so wrathful and alien to the divine laws as to say that the communion or oblation ought not to be given them when they ask, to any extent that they wish and without stint } Our whole argument with you related to those who are residing in Alexandria and show doubts that are superfluous and intolerable because they inflicted injury on many. Do not therefore omit to give at the due time and to those who require it the indestructible grace, which as it is written was oiven for nothino-/ and is beino- asked for for nothing. You know, even if we do not write it, how great punishment ■^ and reproof from God is caused by
1 Mt. X. 8. - ^77/;lta.
neglect to give readily and without any hesitation. The end.
p. 160. 51. Of the same to Philip the presbyter. {From those 519-38. after banishment, from the 2nd book the d^oth letter. )
I have read the words written by your religiousness, not without sorrow, but with sympathy : not like a stranger but like a brother : not as one who is above law, but as one who is subject to law. Wherefore I am writing to you that you may rejoice, not that you may be distressed : that you may know yourself, not that you may despair. Do not think that what you have written needs a refutation of the same lenofth. You perhaps made your letter so long from a desire to incline the reader to pity and draw attention to your purpose : but I listen to the sacred writings rather than to you : and in submission to the precise declaration of the Spirit I quote to you the ordinance of Koheleth which prdains that "there is a time for everything," and with the other things says this also, " A time to p. 161. weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance." ^ At the proper time, as you say, you confessed the sins of your youth to the common and holy fathers. But to me you made the confession at an improper time and after the fitting season ; for I acquiesce in your written statement in order that you
^ Ec. iii. I, 4.
may know that, as the sacred text somewhere says, it is right to obey God under all circumstances/ But perhaps you will say that even now you have not missed the proper time, seeing that the canons admit the confession of gfreat sins even after ordination, and exclude those who confess them from the sacred ministry, and allow them to share only the privileges and the name of the priesthood.^ Know that I too am not unaware of this statute. But what can the effect upon me be when the Apostle cries, "The covenant which was before confirmed by God the law which was afterwards does not annul ?"^ I describe as the covenant of God the testimony given by our common teacher and father John, the great man of God, when he pre- 162. sented you for ordination, and I heartily confirm it. It seems to me therefore great presumption for me to annul the testimony of a father of this character and such as he, or to add anything to this and give orders that go beyond it. For we all know that that man was not a doer of his own will, nor presumptuous in actions, but one who, if any other man besides, makes the blessing his own which is promised to those who "fear everything through devoutness."* Wherefore also I assuredly know that after the confession which you made of your sins, unless he had received confirmation by inspiration from above, he would not have advanced you to this rank. Whenever therefore any of the lapses that you committed in youth troubles your memory, recall
1 Ac. V. 29(?), - Mansi ii. 542. ^ Ga. iii. 17. ^ Pr. xxviii. 14.
your thoughts to him who gave you the testimony and forget yourself, and be " turned into another man,"^ and boldly perform the duties proper to the sacred ministry : and do not show yourself excessive in devoutness and trust yourself to the pronouncements of the thoughts, lest you hear the sacred scripture reproving you and saying, " Be not righteous overmuch, neither make thyself over wise lest thou be astonied." " Whereas you are here, there, and everywhere representing p- 163. second marriage as a thing that is less serious than the greatest sins and yet is excluded from priestly functions, know that such a conception falls outside the range of spiritual interpretation. A second marriage was granted by way of indulgence, as a support of weakness : and he who has resorted to this of his own will and by deliberate judgment has enrolled himself among- those that are weak and have been g-ranted an indulgence and are in the second order, and are not raised to the first sacred rank. It is therefore manifest presumption, and contempt of the sacred laws, for a man to enrol himself among those that are weak and objects of indulgence, and to do this with the law's aid and openly, and then strive to rise to the first sacred rank, which is composed of those who are sound. But a man who has sinned in the times of his youth has not fallen under sin because he judged it lawful to sin, but has committed an involuntary lapse, insomuch that he may be purified by penitence. I do not say this in
^ I R. X. 6. ^ Ec. vii. 17.
order to show a second marriage to be a sin (far be it !) ; it is rather a support for weakness, that does not place those who are. married outside the company of those who are saved, but assigns them a low rank. p. 164. Incline your ear therefore to the divine law, and when it bids you perform priestly functions say the words •that are written, " Speak, Lord, for thy bondsman heareth."^ However, if for the present you shrink from offering" the perfect sacrifice, I will allow you to abstain for a time, but not to go so far as to bind yourself under such an inhibition. But in all other functions you shall not be restrained in any way whatever. The end.
520-25. 52. Of the same to John and John the presbyters and the rest. [From those after banishment, from the 2nd book the 4.2nd letter.)
I sent an answer at once to the earlier letter which reached me from your sanctity : and, because no ship was at hand, the letter was delayed several days : but 1 expect that you have by this time received it. As to the epistle that has just been sent, about the slave who was sold by the Jews and the question regarding him, I have nothing to write. For a letter was written by me about a similar matter to a certain Theodore the God - loving bishop of Olba (this is a city in Isauria),^ and I have thought well to give an ison or
^ I R. iii. 9. ^ avaffiopd. ^ ix. 2.
copy of it at the end of this letter, so that from it you p- 165. may know what our own conclusion was.
As to clergymen who come from outside, who hold the correct faith but are not united in communion with us, the answer is plain : i.e., that we must not admit these men to the exercise of the ministry : but in all other respects, in order to promote sound and correct opinions, must hold intercourse with them as with our own people and extend goodwill towards them. If we do not do this, we shall, unknown to ourselves, be circumscribing, so to speak, the right ways of the Lord. But, if any man, being a clergyman, wishes to hold entirely aloof from communion with those to whom he is subject, let him go to the God-loving archbishop of the city of the Alexandrines or to the banished bishops, and the privileges of communion \ will be properly conceded to him by them. For your ..^ love of God it is a sufficient answer to these men to say that without the bishops you can do nothing, and this does not lie in your authority. By this plan you will be preserved from irregularity, and they from finding any occasion of stumbling or of offence.
As to those in Isauria and in First Cilicia, an epistle that has just been sent to us is very gloomy : and, not to say anything harsh, it accuses those of _2^^ \ First Cilicia of remissness, and it announces a grievous ^
persecution and expulsion of the orthodox in Isauria, p. 166. as well of the devout monks, as of the clergymen and of those who are among the believing people, not to speak of what has happened in consequence, that
all have abandoned communion with Stephen the disturber, the present prelate, and are not unaware of his treachery and falseness and the evil habits ingrained in him. The wretched man has even presumed to send some of the clergymen who have been corrupted by him here also to the saintly I saurian / bishops in banishment, as if summoning them to him, I and heaping vanities upon vanities, as is written,^ and
^-^ " beating the air" in vain, as the Apostle says.^ However these impious men do not cease from making confusion, and from audaciously attempting to no purpose even things that are impossible, and from polluting the water for drinkinor with their feet, in order to eive those who are not cautious turbid pollution to drink according to the prophetic saying.^ Isidore the illustrious tribune has started in peace for Pelusium, after promising the devout presbyter Thomas to do all things in accordance with God's pleasure. He had also after the conversation held here written to the devout presbyter Epimachus to tell his religiousness to go in the direction of Pelusium. In order therefore that you may not be ignorant of what has happened, this also has been added in this letter.
Console and comfort with loving disposition the
God-loving Isidore bishop of the city of the men of
p. 167. Chalcis, who is troubled with a bodily infirmity, or
rather who is being better proved in the furnace of
trials ; and reckon it all as a gift to me : though
^ Ec. i. 3 (?). ^ I Co. ix. 26. ^ Eze. xxxiv. 18, 19.
I know that I am acting superfluously in this, since ready help and zealous attention in these matters are innate in you and belong to your character. For you must believe that I was much distressed when I learned that he had been again seized with the same kind of infirmity. T/ie end,
53. Of the same to the bishops from Syria in 519-20. Alexandria. {^From those after banishment, from the 2nd book the 6i\.th tetter.)
To the saintly God-loving brothers and fellow- \ ministers, the bishops who are under the apostolic see of the city of the Antiochenes, and are now settled in the great Christ-loving city of the Alexandrines, Cassian, Constantine, Antoninus, and the rest, Severus greeting in the Lord.
Though I am with your love of God in the spirit, I should have wished to be present in the flesh also, or, while absent in the body, to communicate with you more constantly through this remaining source of comfort, I mean by means of letters, concerning the hope laid down beforehand for those who have believed in Christ. But, since, when men are living p. i68, without fear, every time is convenient to them for sending letters, but, when they are under constraint or imprisoned, it does not lie in their power to do this, even against their will they check and silence the ardour of affection : but when need demands they then cut the fetters of constraint, and do not submit
to the ropes that fall to them among the strong, to speak in the words of the Psalmist/ but move their tongue, and serve the divine law. For this reason Paul used to say that he " endured evil things as an evildoer even to bonds for the Gospel's sake," but that " the word of God was not bound."" Therefore I also the mean one look to that pattern and say, and that very justly, "Though I flee for Christ's sake, yet His word has not tied ; for it is present in every place where the law of the Spirit wishes to carry it." Therefore I salute you, and embrace you, the sharers of my flight, whose feet are beautiful, who do not preach,^ but by accepting persecution as the law requires walk aright and follow Him who said, " When they persecute you in this city flee to another " ; ^ or perhaps it is better to say that by the very fact of being persecuted you loudly proclaim the gospel, and by the fact of being silent speak. Therefore, since you have been brought to such honour, Christ who is persecuted with you is present with you also, and He is a chief and leader for you in purpose and in p. 169, commands. Those who were removed to the land of Babylon, and endeavoured there also to live in accordance with the law, and were bereft of the sacred fane and the service, and did not even sing a song, because it was not lawful to do any of these things outside the tabernacle or outside the sanctuary ,5
^ Ps. XV. 6. - 2 Ti. ii. 9. ^ Is. Hi. 7. * Mt. x. 23.
^ Ps. cxxxvi. 2-4.
but Still set themselves to live in accordance with their fathers' customs and to pronounce right judgments had the Holy Spirit dwelling in them, insomuch that the divine Daniel being most divinely inspired from that source convicted those wicked elders, and those three boys not only performed a miracle by exulting in the furnace, the burning effect of the fire having been assuaged, but also sang a prophetic hymn of praise. - * Who is there therefore who will not say with greater justice that the Holy Spirit is dwelling among you, even when you are settled by the evangelic throne of the holy Mark, and are dwelling in a very loyal city, one whose special possession and high honour in addition to its other excellences is correctness and distinction in the faith, and as a chief and leader and counsellor and good teacher of everything that ought ' to be done and counselled you have the saintly Timothy the archbishop of this city, a man who not /
only fills the place of my meanness, but is even able \ :^ to shelter me owing to his high position ? Hence \ also the case of the religious Paul, formerly bishop ot 1 Olba in Isauria, has been very well treated by you and brought to a very proper conclusion : and this resolution that you have adopted is not at variance p. 170. with the sacred ecclesiastical ordinances. For a time of persecution more particularly invites us to be more than ordinarily mild, and to gather together the scattered limbs of the church, and to block the exits of unreasonable schisms. Secondly, if one understand the diataxeis or canonical commands also not accord-
inof to the letter after the manner of a Tew, but according to the spirit and intention of the church law, one will find that they desire that a bishop who has been unanimously deprived by the synod in the province ^ shall in those cases only be denied restoration in another synod when the synod that has pronounced his deposition remains in the same mind. For the eighty-fourth canon says as follows : "If anyone has been excommunicated by his own bishop, he shall not be received by others unless he has first been received by his bishop himself, or a synod has been held and he has presented himself, and made a defence, and has persuaded the synod and received another verdict. And the same rule applies also to laymen and presbyters and deacons and all that are included in the canon."- The ninetieth canon also says as follows : "If any presbyter or deacon shall be deprived by his bishop, or a bishop also by a synod, and shall dare to trouble the king's ears, p. 171- and, when he should betake himself to a greater synod of bishops and offer the pleas which he thinks he has to a larger number of bishops, and accept examination and judgment from them, shall treat these with contempt and trouble the king, these men shall not receive any forgiveness, nor shall an opportunity of defence be allowed them, nor shall they expect any hope of future restoration."^ It is therefore manifest from this too that it is possible for a man who has
f.TrapXi-0^-
- Mansi ii. 131 2. ■' Ii>t'd., 13 13.
been deprived by a smaller synod to be received in a greater one if the charges and complaints against him are examined and investigated afresh. It is in a sense similar to this that the eighty-second canon also is to be understood, which says : [Here follows the citation given at p. 1 24]. For the substance of these three canons is this : that, when a man has been deprived by a small synod, it is possible for him to discuss the causes of his deprivation before a greater synod and obtain restoration, if the great synod decide to absolve this man. But, if he shall dare after his deprivation to perform any priestly function, even access to a greater synod shall be refused him, if those who have once effected his deprivation continue to maintain the same judgment of deprivation. For the whole purpose of the canons is directed to this ; that the verdicts ^ of those who p. 172. have duly decided shall not be annulled, so long as they continue to maintain their verdict "" which they have pronounced. But, if these men (I mean those who deprived the man) with the same unanimity recede from the unfavourable verdict,"' and betake themselves to another which absolves him, how can anyone doubt that the forgiveness is certainly warranted by law, especially if another synod greater than it also confirms this ? If therefore the saintly bishops in Isauria who effected the deprivation of Paul and his companions continued to maintain the same ver-
1 aTTO^ao-et?. " u7ro<^tt<Tis.
diet ^ of deprivation, it is absolutely necessary that the severity of these canons shall prevail, and that the punishment which was inflicted upon them shall be in no point annulled by the authority of a greater synod. But, if they also all alike consented to absolve those who were condemned, and Solon also of saintly memory, the bishop of their metropolis, acquiesced in this decision, we for our part will not show ourselves harsh searchers of the canons, which in no way prevented those who have deprived a man from coming to a more lenient state of mind, but laid down a law and issued a command regarding another synod, saying that it has no right to lay additional commands, to speak in the words of the Apostle, upon the bishops who effected the p- 173 deprivation, and tyrannically to annul the judgment given by these. We find that the holy fathers for the benefit of the churches often receded and orranted an indulgence even after sentence of deprivation had been passed by a catholic and oecumenical synod, for the sake of the general benefit and peace of the churches themselves. For instance in the holy synod at Ephesus Helladius of Tarsus and Eutherius of Tyana, and Dorotheus and Himerius were deprived together with Nestorius, on the ground that they were infected with opinions akin in impiety, and were afflicted with the same madness as he to a oreater extent than the others. And yet afterwards, when the bishops of
1 aTr6(f)a(Ti<;.
the East had abandoned the unreasonable schism and submitted to the resolutions of the holy oecumenical synod which assembled in the city of the Ephesians, upon Paul bishop of the city of the Emesenes coming to the city of the Alexandrines and on their behalf asking Cyril the chief champion of orthodoxy, a man who in apostolic contests endured dangers even to death, that they might remain in their sees in the p- 174 position which they actually held he waived the deprivation of the said wicked men, insisting only on this point which was more particularly necessary. I mean that the deprivation of Nestorius should be confirmed by all of them together and in writing, and that they should confess that the holy Virgin is the God-bearer and such conditions as follow upon these. This he stated in the letter to Eusebius the presbyter, in which he wrote as follows : " I have read the letter from your devoutness : and I have found you to be distressed by the supposition that the peace of the churches has been completed upon an unreasonable basis ; but I imagined that it was by love that your gentleness was moved. However it is probable that you have no accurate knowledge of the points settled. For certain persons are, I learn, circulating letters purporting to have been written to me by the devout and religious bishop John. But it is probable that either they are forgeries or they contain additions made to please those who hold the opinions of Nestor- \ ius. For, in accordance with the resolution of the 1 holy synod in the metropolis of the Ephesians, I did
not orive him communion until he had anathematized in writing the doctrines of Nestorius, and confessed that he held him to be under deprivation, and assented to the ordination of the devout God-loving bishop Maximian. But when the religious Paul bishop of the city of the Emesenes exerted himself vigorously on p- 175- behalf of those who had been deprived, Helladius I mean and Eutherius and Dorotheus and Himerius, and begged that, when the peace of the churches was established, their case ^ also might receive a typos or determination, I used these words : ' I do not take any account of those who have been deprived : but they must remain in the position in which they in fact are now.' But the insult which they levelled against me I have forgiven. For it was not indeed fitting that for this reason and no other the churches should fall into a state of schism and division, when the more necessary point was brought to a conclusion, I mean the requirement that the doctrines of Nestorius should be anathematized and his deprivation acknowledged by those who would not do this before, and they also confessed in writing that the holy Virgin is the Godbearer.'"-^ This generous forgiveness he bestowed, for the sake of the peace and union of the holy churches, upon men who, as the succeeding time showed, were incurable. And yet he endured for the sake of an object that was better and of higher advantage, I mean for the sake of the unification and binding; tooether of
1 VTrd^co-ts. ^ Ep. 54.
the more important limbs. For in the same letter he added these words also : " For, even though Helladius / in Tarsus and certain others do not think rightly, this i^- ^76. has nothino- to do with those who wish to think what is right. For let two or three go if they wish, so longas the churches everywhere hold one and the same faith." How then are we for our part not bound to regard the mind of those who fed and ooverned the churches of God with such understanding, and to conclude that the course sanctioned by you in the instance of the religious Paul must also be followed in that of the devout bishop Elpidius, particularly since Paul as I have learned during the time of his deprivation presumed so far as to attempt the performance of highpriestly acts or services, but Elpidius, they say, did nothing whatever of the kind. I forbear to mention also the celebrated case^ of the holy John who was bishop of Constantinople. Since you read church histories, you know that he incurred deprivation ; but, because of his reputation for right teaching and in order that those in the royal city who were in separation on account of the mention of his name mioht be reconciled to the body of the church, the holy Cyril waived the point, being apostolically minded in this matter also. 1 and not seekino- his own but that which belongs to ' Christ Jesus,^ and setting the benefit of ecclesiastical P- J77. union and reconciliation against all subtle words and | strict procedure, and that though in letters he often ^
^ VTroOecris. ' Ph. ii. 2 1.
/ contended for canonical strictness. Therefore I bestow ' all praise upon the whole of your God-loving synod, seeing it both examined the demands of strictness, and at the same also considered the suoo-estions of a benevolent mind. In fact both those who desired strict procedure did so because they took account of preserving an appearance worthy of confidence and suited to the church, and equally also those who inclined to mild measures were not of this opinion because they had anything else at heart than to bring about a bond of peace and to gather together those who were dispersed. However in such cases as these that plan must be followed which oathers tog-ether the limbs of the church and has clemency as a superfluous advocate, and the example of the fathers who were thus minded in similar cases, and thus provided for what lay before them. Do not therefore think to yourselves that you did anvthinof unreasonable in discussing^ this matter with one another (it is not right or proper for us to say that you were divided). Did not this happen among the apostles also ? The book of the Acts relates that "certain men had come down from Judaea and were teaching the brethren, saying, ' Unless ye are circum-
p. 178. cised after the custom of Moses, ye cannot have life ' : and, as Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and dispute with them,"^ the disputation passed to other churches also, until Peter the chief of the apostles and James, who was termed brother of our Lord, but had
^ Ac. XV. I, 2.
I. 53. SKLECT LETTERS OF THE HOLY SEVERUS. 161
received the first episcopal office in Jerusalem, were inspired from above, and brought forward the prophetic words, and so put an end to the dispute that had been raised : and they extended their resolution to the other churches also, so that all members of all of them mi^ht say the same and think the same. I forbear to say that there was a quarrel not only about doctrines but also about a person between Paul and Barnabas, since the one said that they ought to take John who was called Mark with them on their preaching, while the other said not. These things are written as a pattern for us, in order that we may not fear and be caused to fall. It is not possible that being men we should not be anoered : but, if we are anorered, we must turn from our anger. Therefore in the case of Paul and Elpidius the devout bishops also let the suggestions of a benevolent mind and the course of forgiveness prevail, and let them share in the privileges and title of bishops, but not thrust themselves into their cities, if the time p- tqinvite to this, seeing that other God-loving bishops have once been lawfully designated to their sees, nor have any share in the rights belonging to that parish : a principle which, as I have been told, they have in fact with great propriety as well as with much justice acknowledged to you in writing. For they also shall not lack any kind of consolation which, while consistent with the canons, will not cause any useless annoyance or injury to anyone, if it take place here. For indeed "our life is swifter than a runner,"^ as it is written :
1 Job ix. 25.
-\
and "what the day that is coming will bring forth" we know not at all.^ I have written this epistle while suffering the affliction of a fugitive and unable to set
foot in .... as it is written and,
as ... . says, no book and no ... . surrounds me. But .... remembering the sacred and .... in [my] memory the laws and customs also that were practised from of old in the holy churches. Wherefore also I have both received and duly praised the resolutions canonically adopted by you and inserted in an epistle concerning those in the Christ-loving city of the Antiochenes who wish to come to repentance. For they were lawful and proper, p. 180. and such as, while not falling outside the limits of what is lawful, bore the marks of a loving disposition and of clemency. If anything else also of this kind should happen, .........
519-38. 54
in truth that the mouth should be silent which never grows weary and seems as if it had been set apart for prayers, the mouth which in very deed says "I will bless the Lord at all times, ""^ and at all times circulates His praises. You did well and conferred a great service upon us by relating in the course of your letter how you celebrated the memories of the holy fathers, and which of you have departed to God, one among whom is the religious presbyter Patrick. We are much profited
^ Pr. xxvii. I. - Ps. xxxiii. r.
I. 54. SELliCT LETTERS OF THE HOLY SEVERUS. 163
when we learn the names of these in order that we may remember them in our prayers, and as far as v
])0ssible, cast from us the weariness that dominates us, and prepare ourselves for the final departure from this world.
As to the events that have happened in the East, and the way in which the believers in Antioch have girded themselves for a second and third contest, as if they had never been tried by any tribulation, it is superfluous for us to write to you, since these are things which you learn also from report. Only we ask you to keep those who are thus combating in more earnest remembrance, and to ask that endurance may be granted them all by God. In trials which are so unendurable it is in fact impossible to be steadfast without help from that source. Wherefore Jeremiah p. iSi. also said to God over all, " Lord, the endurance of Israel! Thou savest in the time of evils." ^ But I beg your holinesses to grant a place among those who are remembered by you over the rational sacrifice and have alreadv gone to God to Eustochius of Godloving memory, deacon of the holy church in Alexandria, who has now put off his life in much zeal for the orthodox faith, with ail accuracy and in knowledge as the divine x'\postle says," so that he often longed for the bodily sight of your love of God also. Of him the religious presbyter Philip also made trial to a moderate extent. The end.
1 Jer. xiv. 8. =^ i Co. i. 5 ; Ph. i. 9 (?).
525-31. 55. Of the same to Theodore presbyter and archimandrite of the monastery of father Romanns among the saints. [Fivm those after banishment^ from the ;^rd book the ^2nd letteri)
Even I, thouoh I am in hidino- and live in different places at different times on account of the present stress, was not unaware of your religiousness' praiseworthy life. Wherefore also I thought the expressions p. 1S2. of John the Evangelist and Apostle fitted to be addressed to you by me, which he composed when writing an epistle to someone and speaking thus : " I rejoiced greatly when brethren came and testified to the truth that is in thee, how that thou walkest in the truth." ^ Continue therefore to show the same energy, and press forwards, and enlarge the rational flock of those who practise with you the ascetic life of solitariness, and let them henceforth have a ' measure of wheat ' of the doctrines of philosophy with understanding, as the gospel text advises ; which also promises a blessing to him who does this carefully and with diligence, saying, " Blessed is the bondservant whom his lord shall come and find so doing. Of a truth I say unto you that he will set him over all that he hath." -^ The question also that you have now been pleased to ask of the religious presbyter Thomas by your letter was in truth in consonance with your
1 3 J. 3- ' L"- ^''- 42-44-
understanding. For he sent me the letter that you wrote, and, when it came to my knowledge, I praised it. And, owing to the urgency of the matter, I considered it right to treat all other things as secondary, and send you this mean letter : in which it is pointed out that alj_^jLy;QU wiiQ-liold to communion with us must not recognise any distinction between those who are banished from the East, and made illustrious by the combat of confessorship, and the saintly bishops in Egypt, and that you must reckon that to be one church which is compacted together in the orthodox faith, and confession and communion, and is most pure and free from the no-association with the heretics ; i. 183. aiid that you must also have no vain hesitation about ordinations : but that both your religiousness and the other religious archimandrites of the holy cloisters that have been banished from Palestine ^ on account of the word of truth must after probation present your own brethren to the God-loving bishops in Egypt, in order that they may ordain presbyters and deacons for you, and satisfy the requirements of your need. How is it anything but an unreasonable state of affairs and one fraught with matter for every kind of accusation that, while the bishops who have been banished from other countries and bear upon them marks for Christ's sake flee to the great orthodox apostolic church in Alexandria as to a mother, certain men out of a. _ childish mind should create a distinction that does not
' This was therefore written during the exile of the monks (Zach Rh. viii. 5).
exist between those who are thus united and make up ^- the compact union of the Hmbs of the one body, and through the very facts themselves proclaim the immobility and steadfastness of the holy persecuted churches in the East and those in Egypt, which are. already preparing to suffer the same things, and showing the immoveable nature of their piety ? I think that the events which happened a short time ago in Alexandria have reached your ears also, events capable of showing even to those who are very foolish p. 184. the steadfastness and fixedness of the saintly archbishop Timothy, and of the God-loving bishops under him, and of the churches in their cities : so that one may fitly utter the celebrated expressions of Isaiah the prophet. "Tabernacles that shall not shake ; nor shall the pegs of her tabernacle be moved for ever, and her cords shall not be broken asunder." ^ Therefore for a man to try to separate by vain thoughts things that are so admirably united, and to divide things that are sO' indivisible through the inspiration of grace from above is a thing fraught with matter for every kind of evilspeaking and fault-finding. This we warn both your love of God and all who communicate with us to shun» and to cast such stones of stumbling out of the Lord's ways as it is written," and, as we said before, to reckon the ordination of the saintly bishops of the East and that of those of Egypt to be one, and not recognise any distinction between these. If you wish to read
' Is. xxxiii. 20. 'Id., Ivii. 14 (?).
1. 56. SELKCT LETTERS OK THE HOLY SEVERUS. 167
this letter to any other persons also, in order to show what our opinion is, neither do we forbid this. How can it not be right that we should also proclaim openly in words the things that we in actual practice think and do ? The end.
p. 1^5-
56. Of the same to P roc I us the bishop. [Fro?n those 519-38. aftei' expulsion, from the ^rd book the 2,^th letter).
The words that I wrote to the two of you in common^ were enough to show '^ your love of God my opinion, since you thought me at all competent to give advice. For my part, since " I have boldness of speech towards you," as Peiul says to the Corinthians,^ I thought that, inasmuch as you have been brought up from the earliest times in w^orks of piety, and have stood with us from the beginning, and borne the assaults of many waves, that you are competent to give advice and direction to others also in what is rig-ht. However choice is an evil thing, evil indeed, and may involve even wise men in ruin in adverse times, for, " they were confounded and staggered like a drunken man, and all their wisdom was swallowed up,"* says he that sings figuratively and instructively. Wherefore I myself also recognise our nature's feebleness, and, inasmuch as I am subject to the same weaknesses, I grant you forgiveness for having
1 V. 13.
- Whether the following to p. 1 70, 1. 4, belongs to this letter is doubtful : see vol. i., Intr. ^ 2 Co. vii. 4. "* Ps, cvi. 27.
shown a common weakness and beino- in need of encouragement. Perhaps also some thoughts are springing up in your heart, which put such ideas as these into you and say, "This man, because he has nothing to do with the affairs of the world, and is not assailed 1^6. \^y trouble of this sort, and does not know what kind of thing is the tie of nature that arises from the marriage connexion and the birth of children, will give you impassioned advice from beyond the boundaries, and will speak as from some exalted height with those that creep upon the earth." Therefore in answer to these things also we must use introductory words and say what is the truth. Paul the wise man and chosen vessel, who had Christ so firmly established in him that in orivinor ecclesiastical commandments he would sometimes appeal to the laws of Christ, and draw his admonitions from them, and at another put forward his own thoughts in place of a law and say, '* I have no commandment of the Lord ; but I give counsel ; inasmuch as I have obtained mercy of the Lord to be a believer,"^ when appointing bishops, did not take men from the trainino -school of the solitarv life and set them over the churches, nor men of philosophic habits, free from wives, and without children, but he said, " The bishop ought to be the husband of one wife," and, "one that ruleth his house well and hath his children in subjection with all gravity " ; '^ and he was not assured as regards these ties of nature, the ties of
^ I Co. vii. 25. - I Ti. iii. 2, 4.
J. 56. SELECT LETTERS OF THE HOLY SEVERUS. 169
children I mean and of a wife, that they would corrupt the character of a shepherd in times of stress. But, as to what the character of a shepherd is, hear the shepherd Himself crying and saying, "The good shepherd layeth down his life for his sheep." ^ If therefore we have been called by Him to so great a height of p- i^7. spiritual authority, it is absolutely necessary that we should rise to the same height, and that we should "mindhio'h thingfs " and "seek the thinos which are above, where Christ is, sitting on the right hand of God " : so that, when He " is revealed," then we " also may be revealed with Him in glory,'"" and share with Him in splendour. But, that you may not think to yourself that you alone among bishops have had a wife and children, and are required to "resist sin even to blood," as it is written,^ and to distinguish yourself in combats on behalf of piety, the words of the apostolic legislation that have just been quoted, words that have a general application to every bishop, would in themselves have been sufficient answer to such a fancy : but I will quote to you from actual experience also an example worthy of consideration, which shows that in times of martyrdom the women also who were joined in marriage to those who held the rank of the episcopate contested and strove in the same contests. Here it is. Dionysius, who was bishop of the great Christ-loving city of the Alexandrines, in an epistle to Flavian * bishop of
^ John X. II. - Col. iii. i, 2, 4.
•^ He. xii. 4 ■* Fabius is meant.
Antioch, in which he describes the combats of those who were martyred in the neighbourhood of Alexander's city in the days of Decius, after describing the other events introduces this statement also : ^
p. 18S. in sin. and utterly refuses to turn her eyes upwards while there is time. For for you, who bear with patience that which has happened in this matter also, a worthy reward will surely be reserved, although you did not treat her case with circumspection at the beginning. But, if you both exert yourself and bring her back from the error in which she is involved to repentance and recoo^nition of the truth, then vou will in truth be doubly a father to her, insomuch as to be able to say, " Behold I I and the children whom God has given me." - For you must do all these things to the best of your power, in order that you may not have your conscience accusino- you, as if vou ouoht to have done something and had neglected it. You know well from the sacred writings what Eli suffered, because, though he spoke reprovingly to his sons and chid their folly in the unhallowed deeds which they committed, yet he did not deal with them as a ruler. But the Lord will, I know well, grant your sanctity understanding, so that with fatherly admonitions you may mingle such censures as are likely to produce conversion and are suited to a ruler, and that you may take the sheep upon your shoulders, and present it to the chief shepherd Christ,
' Eus. H.E. vi. 41. 2 Is viii 18.
and reckon it among- those that are saved. For indeed He alone is able by His almighty power and His grace to make things possible that with men are impossible. The end.
57. Of the same to Didynius the bishop. [From those after banishment, Jrom the yd book the 50/// letter.)
The news of the attack of the barbarians ^ and of the captivity that has fallen upon those who live in your neighbourhood, and the siege and war that have been hanging over your city have caused intolerable grief and sorrow to all who hear of it, but especially to us. Our anxiety on other grounds and general sorrowwas further increased by thinking of your religiousness, who have had to endure such an unexpected attack at thevery beginning of your episcopate : since men who have been admitted to feed rational souls reckon common and public" calamities as their own. Wherefore David also the great among prophets and kings, when he saw his subjects being destroyed in the deathdealing plague by the divine wrath, being unable to endure the siofht, beog-ed that he mio-ht suffer instead of those under his rule, saying to the Lord, " It is I who have sinned, and I the shepherd have done wickedly : and these the sheep what have they done ? Let thine hand be upon me, and upon my father's house. "^
^ Probably the incursion of Al Mundhir (Zach. Rh. viii. 5). ' ?iy]/jia<ri,a. " 2 R. xxiv. I J.
p. 189. 519-25.
And by so saying he changed the wradi to mercy, and stayed the plague. Therefore you also must know that such events are fraught with no small hardship : but, when men consider things in the right spirit, and
p.iigo, accept the chastisement as a help, they bring them great profit, and lead them into close relationship with God. Therefore we also, looking at what has happened, believe that it is by divine providence that you have been raised to a sacred headship of this kind, in order that you may show yourself a man capable of comforting the flock that has been entrusted to you. As to the question that you ask about presbyters who have grown very old, I mean whether their customary share in the distribution of presents ought to be cut off from them, on the ground that they cannot perform the sacred ministry, and others introduced in their place who ought to be supported, and receive the
P-I9I- portion cut off from these, know that such a thingis not legal, nor otherwise holy. If men who perform bodily services as soldiers for kings on earth, when they reach old age, receive higher stipends, inasmuch as they have previously toiled and laboured in wars, how is it anything but abominable that men who have served in the sacred military service should not only not receive hiorher honour in their old aoe, but even be deprived of the customary emoluments ? David's soldiers also once thougrht somethinof like this, when they went down with him to fight against the barbarians who had come against them, and mightily overcame them, and stripped them of all the booty
that had been carried off by them from the wars ^ with Israel. For. when they returned from the war and their minds were somewhat upHfted on account of their victory, they claimed that they alone should take all the things that they had captured from the barbarians, and not g'ive an equal portion to those who stayed in the camp and guarded their baggage, on p- 192- the ground that they had not taken part with them in the fight in exactly the same fashion. And upon this the just David was indignant, saying that those also who remained to guard the baoQ-aCTe ougfht to eet a portion equal to that of those who formed part of the array in war. Moreover also he repressed their greed and said to them in rebuke, " And w^ho will hearken to these words of yours ? For they are not inferior to you. But, as his portion is that went down to the war, so shall his portion be that stayed by the baggage. They shall part alike."- Knowing therefore from the divine writinsfs that these things are laid down as law, give greater gratification, if possible, to those who have grown old, both in stipends and in honour. For honour is the due of elders, and the enjoyment of the good things that come after war. The o-reat o-overnor Moses also wrote in Numbers that he said to Hobab his wife's brother, who was journeying with Israel in the way in the wilderness, '" Leave us not, forasmuch as thou wast with us in the wilderness. And thou shalt be an
' The translator therefore read 7roAe/xwv for TroAeojr. ' i R. xxx. 24.
elder among us. And it shall be, if thou go with us, we will do thee o^ood out of all the orood things which the Lord shall do unto us." ^ But I beg your love of God not to associate indiscriminately with those who unreasonably cut themselves off from our communion, men who magnify with lips only an orthodoxy that is inactive and runs no risk, while they take no part in the sufferings of the persecuted church which it has p- 193- suffered for the sake of the sound word of faith and is still even now suffering, but justify themselves in vain. Lack of discrimination towards them confirms them yet more in the evil itself, and they think to themselves that we blame ourselves as if there had been somethinowanting in our conduct, and honour and praise them as men of strictness. We listen also to our Saviour in the Gospels crying, "He that is not with me is against me : and he that oathereth not with me scattereth." - Ignatius also the great bishop and martyr, who fed the church of the Antiochenes after Peter the captain of the apostles, and, because he was full of the Holy Spirit, was called "the God-clad," says in his letter to the men of Smyrna, " Shun divisions, as the beginning of evils." ' Further also in another letter of his to those at Philadelphia he says thus : "If anyone follows a man who makes a schism, he does not inherit the kingdom of God." ^ Again in writing to the Ephesians he expresses the same thing in a more fearful form, saying, "He therefore that
^ Nu. X. 31, 32. '" Lu. xi. 23. ' Sm. 8. ■• Phila. 3.
does not join in the assembly has already behaved proudly, and separated himself. For it is written, ' The proud God resisteth.' " ^ Irenctus also a man of ancient times, bishop of the city of Lyons (this is one of the cities of the men called Gauls), who was a hearer of Polycarp bishop of Smyrna and martyr, who p- 194- was a disciple of John the Evangelist, wrote thus, in his fourth book against heresies, about the Lord who will judge every breathing thing, and as it is written the whole "world in righteousness" - : " But he will also judge those who create schisms, who are men void of the love of God, and seek that which is for their profit but not the union of the church, and for small and contemptible reasons cleave and divide the great and o-lorious bodv of Christ and, as far as in them lies, destroy it, men who speak peace and make war, who truly strain out the gnat, but swallow the camel. For it is impossible that any benefit can spring from them of the same kind as is the injury that springs from their schism." -'• To these things therefore direct your mind, and beware of the obstructive forces everywhere : especially of those that arise from thoughts on the right side, which lead astray from the "royal road " ^ : and, looking to heaven and making God your guide in all things, cry, " Direct my paths according to thy word " ' ; and you will surely go straight, and not fail to do what is riofht. The end.
^ Eph. 5. - Ps. ix. 9. ■' Adv. H^er. IV. xxxiii. 7 (62).
^ Nu. XX. 17. ^ Pr. iii. 6 (?).
p. 195.
519-25. 58. Of the same to Didyinus the bishop. [Froiu those after banishment, from the yd book the goth letter.)
I have learned with accuracy the whole story of the devout deacon Sannus : and how before coming to the see where your love of God is priest he lived an indiscriminate or disordered life, and how you brought him back to devout habits, and how you laid down an injunction for him to keep. Now after examining the whole matter I have found that, because he appropriated to himself some small sum which formed part of the revenue, you were wroth and angry with him, and removed him from the charge with which he had been entrusted. Therefore I beg you to receive this man, and place him in the same rank, without any difference whatever. If by careful observance he observed all the other points on which reform was difficult,. and gave up the long-standing practice of disorderly habits, which is like a necessity of nature, and was converted to a devout life, and took upon him the character proper to deacons, let us not upset everything on account of a sin in one single point : for it is impossible for everything to be reformed at once. This is the practice of teachers also, gently to bear with pupils once and twice and many times, when they are at fault and do not repeat without mistake, until they p. 196. attain to perfection. Physicians also after the same fashion, when they warn patients to abstain from things
that are pleasant and harmful, are often defeated and orant them indulo-ences, allowino- them to taste some of the things that they like : and they do not in every point insist upon strict observance of the irksome methods demanded by science, but they treat the patient in accordance with what is possible. This method of trradual treatment and cure was shown in a figurative manner by our Lord and God Jesus Christ also in the Gospels. When He might have healed one of the blind men who were brought to Him by word only, as He did in the case of that leper, saying in a manner befitting God, "I will be thou clean," ^ and immediately upon the word completed the cure, He cured him with a certain delay and procrastination. For " He led him," he says, " out of the village. And, when He had spat on his eyes. He put His hands upon him and was asking him if he saw aught. And, his eyes having been opened, he said, ' I see the men walking like trees.' Then He put His hands again upon his eves and his si^ht was restored and his eves were opened, and he saw everything clearly."' Therefore He that is our God and the instructor of our souls by working this cure with a certain wise delay instructs us that the bishops in His holy churches, who are His representatives, ought to make use of gradual modes of treatment in order to bring those whose minds are blinded to the fight, until their eyes are p. 197- gradually opened and they see the rays of truth clearly.
1 Mt. viu. 3. 2 Mlc. viii. 23-25.
Accordingly do you also adopt this plan, both in this present affair and in others that happen after the same pattern. The end.
622-27.
59. Of the same to Juhan the presbyter and archinia^idrite of the monastery of the blessed Bassus. [Froin those during banishinent, from the ^th book the ^2nd letter.)
Those who loyally follow the ascetic and solitary life grow rich in the spirit of understanding, and from it learn the paths of right action. Wherefore also the sacred text of Proverbs says, " The thoughts of an understandino- man are ways of life " -.^ and aofain " Let the heart of a man think just things, in order that his steps may be directed by the Lord."" Sharing in this instruction therefore and bemo- o-uided bv the divine Spirit, your religiousness also has not treated church order with contempt : but, when the holy monastery of the blessed Bassus, in which you have been appointed to be governor, was lacking in the needful provision lor the ministry of priests and deacons, you properly p. 19s. resolved to inform me of this by a letter from you, and from me to obtain a solution of the doubt. Know therefore that in times of persecution anyone soever of the God-loving bishops who is of the same confession and the same communion with us in everything may properly supply the need of anv among the orthodox who is in need. On this principle I have written to
' Pr XV. 24 - Id., xvi. I.
the saintly Sergius bishop of Cyrrhus, and to the saintly Marion bishop of the fortress called Sura ^ to satisfy your need : and under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to apply their sacred hand, and impart to those that are in need the gift that was given them from above, about which Jesus Himself the giver of the Spirit cries in the Gospels, " Freely ye have received freely give." ^ The end.
60. Of the same to Phot ins and Andrezv the presbyters 519-38. and archiviandi'ites of the holy cloisters m Caria. iyFrom those after banishment , from the Jth book the i^th letter.)
Since you loyally fulfil the active part of the ascetic and philosophic life, therefore you also gather the p- i99- fruits of knowledge from your labours, which are sound faith and zeal on its behalf which raises itself to God, and devoutness and a spirit of understanding and of discretion. .......
[You ^ also therefore, who through practice in asceticism are pure in your minds, in the same manner burn in the spirit, and carry the flame of zeal blazing in you : knowing as you do that all zeal is not praiseworthy, but that which is according to knowledge.
' V. 15. - Mt. X. 8.
•'' The bracketed portion is supplied from another version : see text p. 199 note I.
For you listen to Paul accusing the Jews and saying, " For I bear record of them that there is a zeal of God in them : but not according to knowledge " : ^ and you have restrained the ardour of zeal with the cords of devoutness : for " blessed is the man that feareth all thino's on account of devoutness." " The case of the man who was received by you to communion and was converted from the heresy of the Nestorians and the Diphysites and the believers in two persons to the orthodox faith and said that he- had received ordination to the diaconate vou have thought fit to brino- to the
p. 200. knowledge of my meanness, and learn whether you received this man lawfully and in accordance with the strictness of the canons or not. We say therefore that, in so far as you required him to anathematize on oath and in writing the heresy of the Nestorians and of the Diphysites, and renounce communion with them, the transaction was good and lawful : and he should not otherwise have shared in the reception of the divine mysteries, unless he had after this model done something to satisfy the mind. But neither \ should he have been presented for the ministry of the diaconate at all, nor on the other hand should he
/ have proclaimed in writing the diaconal rank. For no
canon or precept orders that those who have been converted from the heresy of the Nestorians shall receive ordination afresh. If they received ordination afresh, those also besides who were bap-
' Ro. X. 2. ' Pr. xxviii. 14.
I. 60. SKLECT LETTKRS OF TIIH HOLY SEVERUS. 181
tized by the same heresy would always be baptized afresh. For, when men who have received ordination from particular heresies receive the laying on of hands afresh, those also who have been baptized by those very same heresies are baptized afresh : as the synod of the three hundred and eighteen holy fathers ordered in the case of the heresy of Paul of Samosata, and the heresies of those who are like them in impiety.^ And no one has ever been shown to have perfected by a second baptism those who tiee from] the Nestorian p- 201. and Diphysite heresy, and have taken refuge in the church of the orthodox. Timothy also of saintly memory, archbishop of the city of the Alexandrines, who wrote in more severe terms from exile owing to the extreme ardour of the people, which would not consent even to cast a glance at those who derived ordination from the Diphysite error, which Proterius introduced there, after his return both communicated with Paul of God-loving memory, high-priest of the city of the Ephesians and head of the holy churches in Asia, in the Encyclical formula, upon his anathematizing with the bishops under him the Chalcedonian impiety : and also, after he had reached Alexandria, received those who came from the heresy of the Diphysites in the rank in which they were,^ bishops I mean and presbyters and deacons, upon their anathematizing the heresy itself in writing, and accepting such a period of separation for peni-
1 Mansi ii. 676. . - Cf. v. 6.
tence only as he judged and determined to be good. In such cases in fact it is in the discretion
p. 202. of high-priests to shorten and to extend the spaces of time according to the consciousness of the penitents with regard to the sins committed by them. But he has not been shown to have done anything else whatever as to these men which impairs or disturbs the strictness of the canons in any point whatsoever ; no second ordination, no second baptism, no chrism ; as some from unreasonable fervour and inconsiderate zeal dared to do, at the beginning immediately after the synod at Chalcedon had been held, and became a cause of schisms and of divisions. For this reason also, after the holy Timothy of whom we are now speaking had thus received those who came from the error of Proterius and of the Diphysite heresy in accordance with the laws of the apostolic church, many men, fired as it were by some disorderly madness and self-willed ardour, separated from communion with him, while they did their best to intiame others also
p. 203. among those who were more than ordinarily weak,, like those who said, "We have no part in David, neither inheritance in the son of Jesse," ^ and divided Israel into two. Hence also they ascribed to them the name of the Novatians - who do not accept penitence for sins committed ; and for a long time they disturbed the church, although they gradually melted away, and as the book of the Acts says "were scattered and
' 3 R. xii. 24 t. ' Cf. Zach. Rh. v. 4.
came to naught," ^ like the rebellious band and seditious tlock of Theudas and of Judas the Galilaean. These things we have related, not because we would reckon acts done by heretics valid (they are in fact invalid and without foundation and unsubstantial), but because we would explain that healing is not applied to converts from heresy in one way only, but according to the nature of the error : perfection and the cure of the disease being granted to some through baptism and ordination, to others through chrism, to others through their anathematizing the heresy in writing, / and repudiating it and showing fruits of penitence. It — ' is in fact absolutely necessary for us to follow the canonical precepts and regulations of the saintly bishops as medical directions given with understanding, and from them to apply to each man the cure p. 204, suited to him. Therefore he also who has been received to communion by your love of God, if he scrupulously fulfil the prescribed time in the reforming practice of penitence and you bear witness to it, will be allowed the position of deacon by the orthodox bishops, upon presenting to them a written petition containing a confession of his sin and an anathema of the heresy. For the voice of a high-priest and bishop and his permission is a law of the Spirit, and full of power to turn the convert into another man, as is written about Saul when he heard the voice of the prophet Samuel, and went in the way that he ordered
1 Ac. V. ?6
^
him to go : and the sacred scripture speaks thus : " And it was so that, when he turned his shoulder to go from Samuel, God gave him a changed heart, and all these signs came upon him that day." ^ Those also who are in
P- 205- the rank of laymen, if they repudiate by anathema the Nestorian and Jewish heresy of the Diphysites, and by sincerely repenting place themselves within the bounds of the orthodox apostolic church, and are included among the sheep of the great God and chief shepherd Christ, will immediately cast from them everyone soever who is an alien, and will be invisibly adorned with the manifestations of the Holy Spirit. If a man on entering by night a house full of torches^ is completely pervaded by the flashing light, who doubts that the church of the orthodox, which is full' of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, causes the man who opens the eyes of a repentant heart to be pervaded by the light that is suprasensual and divine ? The power of the true church assembled in a pure fashion in the Lord's name is so great that it even constitutes men who come to it prophets, men who have not joined the congregation in order to share in any divine gift, but in order to carry out a royal order. For in the first book of Kingdoms it is written thus : " x-\nd Saul sent messengers to take David. And they saw the church of the prophets, and Samuel was standing at their
p. 206. head. And the Spirit of God came upon the messengers of Saul, and they prophesy. And it was told
* I R. X. 9. - XafiTrdSa.
Saul and he sent other messen(j;ers and they also prophesy. And Saul again sent a third set of messengers, and they also prophesied." ^ If therefore at a time when the practices of the legal shadowy service prevailed the Holy Spirit granted such things to the assembly and the name of a church, what oreat and wonderful thine will it not do in the church that was bought by the divine blood of the Lamb and God, and has nothing shadowy in it, but the whole sun of righteousness flashing upon all the acts that are performed in it ? For many other instances might have been added to those mentioned. At the very beginning when I was set over the Christ-loving city of the Antiochenes, and immediately, so to speak, upon my being raised to the episcopal throne (unworthily indeed, but still by God's p. 207 mercy), certain men who were infected with the selfcreated relitrion' of the Re-anointers, followinof a certain . deceiver named Theodotus,^ who unlawfully re-anointed converts from the Nestorian heresy to the orthodox faith, composed a petition consisting of uncanonical propositions,'' and had this given to me as I was going out into the street by a certain man who was himself also a victim of their disease ; and I have composed a certain short treatise against it. Accordingly out of respect for the love of teaching and the strictness of your religiousnesses I have thought it necessary to look
1 I R. xix. 20, 21. - I.e. iUe\oti[)i]rrK€ia (Col. i. 23).
" C/. Zach. Rh. V. 5. •* 7ri}0Tii.(T€L<;.
<e
for this and copy it out and send it you, in order that nothing bearing upon this subject ^ may remain unknown to you, so far as the power and the Hmited capacity that has fallen to the lot of my meanness extends. For we must " walk in the royal road," as it is written,^ and " not turn aside to the right or to the left." For many, starting from considerations that are rather upon the right side than otherwise, have been led into excess, and so fallen into the very pit of destruction. For this reason p. 208. also the text of the law commands that he that pursues alter justice shall pursue it justly : ^ that is, know the principles of justice and be instructed in them when you pursue that which is just : and be free from all passion, and be in this respect a just seeker of justice, and restrain yourself on all sides, and stand within the bounds of justice. Many by the very fact of wishing to be just have become mentally drunk, and have injured justice through their justice which had the appearance of being strict. Whence also the wise Koheleth, or rather the teacher of wisdom (for the true Koheleth is Christ, the head of the church and the wisdom and the sublime and substantial power of God and the Father), checking" excess, even if directed to the riorht side, gives admonition, saying, " Be not very righteous nor contrive superfluous wisdom, lest thou be astonied."* On all points therefore I praise your religiousnesses for having informed us of this present question, in order that you may wisely follow the precepts of the Holy
^ v7ro^€o-i9. ' Nu. XX. 17. De. xvi. 20 * Ec. vii. 17.
Spirit : for it is written, " The wise turn not aside from the mouth of the Lord : but they reason in assembhes."^ Accordingly, when a man is not so minded, p. 209. but, making his will law, does what comes into his mind, death is the penalty "". For he that said these things said also this : " Death lights upon the uninstructed."^ In answer to your other question I shrink and hesitate to say anything, and I tardily and reluctantly bring myself to answer, lest I be thought to be a cruel and harsh man, when I bring forward the strictness of the church tradition. For indeed this custom has prevailed in the holy churches up to the present day, I mean that after the reading of the holy revered book of the Gospels there should be a petition on behalf of the catechumens, one of the deacons proclaiming the names, and the presbyter thereupon offering a prayer applying to those whose names have been proclaimed, in order that they may receive the laver of regeneration and the communion of the holy mysteries, and that immediately afterwards another proclamation and prayer should follow on behalf of those that are possessed, in order that they also may be freed from the possession of evil spirits, and may receive the communion of the all-holy body and blood. Further, when the holy symbols that are consecrated in the mysterious sacrifice are about to be brought out into the church, and to be placed on the holy altar, the first of the deacons, look- p- 210. ing out of the door of the deacons' chamber, utters the
1 Pr. xxiv. 7, 8. -' ^77/xt'a. 2 Pr. xxiv. 8.
fearful and awful words, " No catechumen, no possessed person, no one that is incapable \" and so those that consecrate and those that have been consummated begin the ineffable sacred sacrifice, and send upwards the mysterious words. But I have nowhere found in the divine canons that such a distinction as this concerning those that are possessed is contained in them, the tenor of which is that if a man fights with a fierce demon, and is in the habit of assailing and attackingthose who come in his way, and rends chains and fetters asunder like the man mentioned [in the Gospels
■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ]
which" Paul the o-reat also in writino to the Corinthians commands men to do, and to discern what is the power ot the all-holy body, and to consider its greatness, and what the disposition ^ is in the heart of him who is to communicate in it. This is what he says : " But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he that eateth and drinketh when he is unworthy eateth and drinketh condemnation to himself, in that he hath not discerned the Lord's body. For this cause the sick and diseased among you are many, and there are many that sleep. For, if we judged ourselves, we should not be judged. p. 211. jj^ji-^ being judged by the Lord, we are chastised, that we may not be condemned with the world : " ^ even as
' I.e. under penance ; (f. Liturgy of Antioch ap. Brightnian Liturgies, i. 471, 472.
■ The subject of this fragment seems to show that it belongs to this letter. ' Sta^ccn?. ^ i Co. xi. 28-32.
He that cares for our souls and is their benion instructor directs everything to this end, that He may not condemn us on the day on which He will judge the world and the earth in righteousness, in the last condemnation to which there is no end. Those that do not judge themseh^es, but communicate without fear in the holy body and blood He judges for a time, chastising them with sicknesses and with diseases that they may come to conversion and penitence. And some, even when they are incorrigible. He removes from life, in order that they may not be afflicted by endless torments of greater severity and greater bitterness in the world to come. Blessed therefore is he who has been visited here and been chastised as by an instructor and been moved to prepare for the better life, and does not "owing to his hardness and impenitent heart," as the Apostle says, " lay up " for himself " a store of wrath for the day of wrath, and for the revelation of the just judgment of God, who will render to every man accordino- to his deeds." ^ Therefore he also who
o
is possessed by an invasion of evil spirits must submit to the canon of the apostolic church, and endure the chastening with devoutness, and take upon him thoughts and expressions of thanksgiving and make confession to the Lord and say, " I have submitted to the Lord and made supplication to him " : and He will assuredly have pity upon him (for " He is one that loveth mercy," as the prophet Micah says^), and will
' Ro. li. 5, 6. 2 Mi. vii. r8.
p. 212. rebuke the operation of the evil spirit, and will deliver His creature. For a man to be contemptuously disposed, and to communicate in the sacraments or take part in the sacred ministry contrary to what is commanded makes the assault of man-hating spirits yet more fierce. This is also confirmed by the wise John who was bishop of Constantinople, in the sermon entitled " On the treason of Judas and on the Passover and on the institution of the mysteries, and concerning the principle that we should not retain aneer," in that he wrote as follows : " For then also it was after Judas had received the oblation that the devil assailed him ; not that he despised the Lord's body, but that he despised Judas on account of his presumption : in order that you may learn that it is especially those who communicate in the divine mysteries without being worthy that the devil constantly assails and attacks, as he attacked Judas then. For privileges benefit those who are worthy : but, when men enjoy them undeservedly, they expose them to greater punishment. And these things I do not say in order to frighten, but in order to secure." ^ As I said before, the intention of the disciplinary regulations of the canons is to preserve the visible appearance of the church blameless. For this reason they forbade those also who are possessed by an invasion
p- 213- of demons to communicate in the holy mysteries: but invisible and secret afflictions [they left] to the
^ P.G. xhx. 380.
conscience of each man, ......
6 1 519-25.
a law-court, or to cry out or to annoy in return those who annoyed him. or to insult in return those who insulted him, or to bring an action against them for the insult to him, similarly and much more is it unbecoming for him who has just received the high-priestly chrism upon the crown of his head, and from whom the sweet savour therefrom is newly breathing, to involve himself in any of the said matters. Do not think to yourself, because the man who was ordained highpriest is not clad in white raiment, that he is without the garments that are suprasensual and shine more brightly than the brilliancy of the sun, and are as much better than those of men who have just been baptized as a high-priest is greater than one who is among the people, and as a shepherd is higher than a sheep.
And again after other things. But you say that the devout brother Joseph told you such-and-such a thing about the devout brother John, and the devout father Zacharias such-and-such a thing about another topic. ^ But know that in every matter it is not the word of one man that is needed, but that of two or three witnesses. For the sacred law says of everyone soever who is tried, whether he be good or whether he p. 2i4« be evil, that "under two or under three witnesses he shall die that dieth : he shall not die under one wit-
^ KiffxiXaiov,
ness : ^ and again, " One witness shall not continue to testify against a man, [in all] iniquity and in all sin and in all sinfulness soever that he commit. At the mouth of two witnesses, and at the mouth of three witnesses shall every word be established.""' I have used these arguments not in order to show that your religiousness is lying (I am convinced that you wrote as you heard) : but in order to establish the fact that, according to church regulations and the precepts of the holy fathers, and the laws of the God-inspired scripture, I cannot upon this report pronounce a sentence of censure or of condemnation against anyone, while I am far away. Your love of God ought therefore to have devoted that evening to thoughts of patience : and on the next day taken with you in the morning the saintly bishops the lord Constantine and the lord Victor, as in fact you actually did, and [with] all gentleness and humility, [and with] God .... also present .... at the discussion [first described] the circumstances of the annoyance that the deaconess and archimandritess Heracliana inflicted upon you, and the insults which, as you write, were levelled against you by brother * John ; and thus your sanctity would have judged, with p. 215. the awful tribunal of Christ, before which we shall all stand, before your eyes, whether it was right for your love of God on account of the annoyance that you justly felt to remove those sisters from the monastery of the religious Heracliana as persons who were suffer-
' De. xvii. 6. -' Id., xix. 15.
1.62. SKl-KCT LETTERS OF THE IIOLV .SEVERUS. 193
in<j^ injury or not, and what method of treatment ought to be devised (?) for the affair in order to remedy the injury ; and the use of this method would have been decreed ; and besides this fitting punishment would also have fallen upon brother John, inasmuch as he would have been shown by proofs to be an utterer of insults, and a man who is living an unchaste and indiscriminate life. If these things had been thus decided by discussion, and made known to my meanness, I would without anv hesitation have confirmed them, seeing that they would have been carried out in accordance with the custom of the holy churches, and in accordance with the rules of the monastic life.
And again after other things. But, since these things are thus recorded and supported by evidence, if anything displeasing to God be done in secret, know that it is not possible that until the end ....
519-38.
And it seems to me that it was owing to this moderation of character and humility of mind that the Godinspired scripture in Omissions named Moses "the p. 216. man of God," the words of the context being as follows : " And Moses, the man of God. And his sons were called to the observance^ of Levi.''' As to your^ saying, "We were afraid on account of the present
^ The translator therefore read cf)vXaKi]v for (f>vXy]v.
^ I Pa. xxiii. 14. ^ Fern, pi.; so throughout.
time of confusion and persecution, lest we and the places in which we live should lack bishops to ordain/' as far as the ordination of a presbyter or of a male deacon, by whom the bloodless sacrifice is of necessity performed, is concerned, this plea would have been good. But in the case of a female deaconess, especially in monasteries, ordination is received not so much tor the sake of the requirements of the mysteries, but for the sake of honour only (for the deaconesses in the cities are in the habit of ministerinor to the divine laver of regeneration in the case of females who are baptized). These things I have been compelled to repeat owing- to my wish and prayer that in accordance with your high and praiseworthy character you may do everything in a lawful manner and, as it is written in Proverbs and in the Apostle, " provide things honest not only before the Lord but also before men,"^ so that, in accordance with the testimony of our God and Saviour Jesus, "your light may shine before men" and "they may glorify your Father in heaven," - and we ourselves may justly boast of you. And, now that these words have been thus spoken, we pray that God may grant a good ending to the things which have once in whatever way been done by you, and may cover them with the abundance of His graciousness. N^ot the end.
^ Pr. iii. 4; 2 Co. viii. 21. ^ Mt. v. 16.
1.63. SELECT LETTERS OF THE IIOLV SEVERUS. 195
p. 217.
63. Of the same to Alisacl the deacon. i^Fi^om those 537. after banishment, from the gth book the ^2,rd letter. )
I received the letter of your religiousness, which was forwarded to me from Alexandria, from the devout Andrew the reader on the eighth of July. And after other things. The holy Basil also, the teacher of truth, says in his ascetic treatise that he who is entrusted with the duty of ministering to the needs of a monastery, even if it be the archimandrite, ought not to use or spend any of the property of the brother hood on any pious object, for example on the support of the poor and needy or on the ransoming of captives. Therefore neither would the case of the saintly man, though it seems to be a matter of piety, have given you a right to do anything without my consent, if you are certain from the laws and from the will ^ which left the legacy- that it is mine. For you must excuse me from adopting the honorary expressions used by friends or by men who are otherwise on familiar terms with one another, " My things are yours," and, " You are my lord, lord both of my own person and of what I possess." For the subject of the present argument is the true state of the facts. Moreover also the saintly man ■' does not need a gift from us, seeing p. 218. that he has the serene queen, who will provide him
' Sia^€frt5. - Xqyarov. '' Marg. "he speaks of Theodosius."
if he wish even with more than he needs, and now he has all the orthodox also on account of his attested steadfastness in the matter of the confession of the faith. These things I have written for the sake of the principles of the evangelic laws, and for the sake of preservinq' a blameless conscience. If it were not so, I reckon things once given by you just as if they had been given by me.
And after other things. As to the impious Sergius, who is called Bar Fathya ^ and has become broad in impiety, so far am I from saying that it was by my advice that he was ordained deacon that I even anathematize him and the man who, if even in this he speaks truth, ordained him : the one for unlawfully sleeping with his father's wife or concubine, and the other for daring to perform ordinations without witnesses in other men's cities which do not belong to him at all, without an invitation and on his own authority, and not even without price but for tilth V lucre. Under the same anathema lies also Anatolius, who after ordination to the diaconate has married a second time and is godless in his doctrines, p. 219. even if it is not stated by us, and Podolirius- who has taught his children to play the harp and dance, and has made them serve the devil, and has fallen under the divine canons of the apostles. To the same anathema those also are liable who cause confusion
^ I.e. son of the broad. Probably a rendering of some Greek, name (Platys?). -Sic.
I. 63. SELECT LETTERS OF THE HOLY SEVICRUS. 197
besides these, and imagine vain things against the orthodox faith, Hke those who once " imagined vain things against the Lord and against his Anointed,"^ and fell from His glory. For these too by always reckoning the belly and the passions that are subject to the belly as a god inflicted a stain and a blot upon us by being numbered with the orthodox. Therefore they must plead not to us but to God, whose name they are profaning among the nations as Isaiah and Paul say.-
And aftei' other things. But I was much distressed that the serene queen presumes to say such grievous, not to say blasphemous, things against the holy fathers in respect of doctrines which she does not understand, and mocks at the holy Alexander the archbishop, who is one of the prelates of the holy synod at Nicaea, and father of the apostolic preacher Athanasius, on the ground that even in the theology of the Trinity he termed person "nature," and jeers at him as one of those who practise manual crafts, a coppersmith for instance or a carpenter of the name of Alexander, or as she says by way of accusation an p. 220. advocate of the treasure-chambers.^ Let her then mock and jeer at the other saintly Alexander also, who was in the same times bishop of Constantinople, and by stretching out his hands all night and praying brought it about that, when the impious Arius was going to communicate hypocritically with the orthodox, his entrails fell through his belly and he gave up the
^ Ps. ii. I, 2. '■' Is. Hi. 5 ; Ro. ii. 24. ■' I.e. advocatus fisci.
p-host ; if the fact that a man is called Alexander is a jest, and an occasion and subject^ for jeering. What are we to do about these things, except be silent and grieve our heart, and ask God to have mercy upon our many lawlessnesses ? For, though much might have been said in answer to these things, it is better for us to be silent. As to the mischievous words that the heretics invent, the expressions of the holy fathers show what they are, blinding as they do like some lightning-flash their keen eyes, and enlightening the minds of the orthodox and understanding, while the uninstructed and unlearned see that God is glorified and admired among His saints, as David says in song,"^ for the things at which they jest and against which they blaspheme. I speak the truth and do not lie when I say that, since I wrote the treatise "Against the Grammarian," ^ there has been no one among p. 221. the believers who had a high or moderate or small share in divine knowledge who was not astonished when he found such expressions of the holy fathers collected there, some expressed at length others in few words, and stopping the mouth of the blaspheming heretics, who plot against the truth itself. From what you now say, that the serene queen has not shrunk from saying such presumptuous things against the holy fathers, I certainly iniagine that she has also spurned and despised, as vain trifling and superfluous futility,
' vTTo^eo-ts. '" Ps. Ixxxviii. 8.
■■' Add. 17,154 ; cf. Zach. Rh. vii. 10.
/
II. I. SKLECT LKTTERS OI' THK IIOL^■ SEN'KRUS. 199
my little treatise on the question whether our Lord and God Jesus Christ should be said to be from two substances even as from two natures, which she thought good to accept when it was copied by you in laro-e letters, or throug^h fear of the kino's laws which were put forth against my writings has not dared to accept it. I wrote to you at that time from Chios and to the magnificent and Christ - loving chamberlain Julian to give it to be copied : but you wrote nothing at all to me upon these matters. He who writes an answer should reply to all the points contained in the letter. Not the end.
II. Second section.' About his ordination before p. 222. episcopacy ; and about the precedence of bishops and another doubtful point regarding them ; and about men who give themselves out as bishops and ordain ; and about the proper ordination of bishops.
1. Of the same to the pati'icians. [Fivj/i those before 508-11, episcopaey, fro))i the ^rci book the ^th letter.)
As the brightness of the stars brincjs comfort to those who in the depth of night raise their looks towards heaven, so it is good for us also, whose
^ titAo5.
mind's eye is darkened by the darkness of sorrow, to look towards you the rational stars of the sacred Senate. 1 If we are allowed to enjoy your genial splendour, all the cloud of despondency will pass away, and we shall certainly see the sun also which is surrounded by you shining gently upon us as at hot noonday. It has come to the ears of our p. 223. worthlessness that our pious Christ - loving king believed that some of us without having priestly rank are officiating as priests with profane hands and handling the sacraments. Such reports it is the practice of slanderers to put forth about us : who, being unable to accuse the orthodoxy of our faith for which we were persecuted, betake themselves to such unholy futilities. But our acts are known to everyone, even if we ourselves keep silent. Although we are sinners, yet we are not unversed in the divine scriptures, nor have we an uninstructed mind with regard to them (I forbear to say that we make these our meditation by night and by day, as we are commanded -). Trying therefore as we do to direct our own life by them, we know that all who coveted the priestly functions without being in the position of priests suffered sudden death. Such were Dathan and Abiram and the company of Korah : who wished to usurp the high-priestly office of Moses and Aaron, and dared to burn incense, and the earth opened and swallowed some of them up,
^ (rvyK\r]Tos fiiovXy]. ' Josh. i. 8.
while others were consumed by the strange fire. Another man. because he presumed to touch the sacred ark with profane hand when it leaned over and was about to be dashed to the ground, was immediately struck lifeless. And what of Uzziah the p- -24. king ? Is it not the fact that, because he inconsiderately dared to be called a priest, he was smitten with the scab of leprosy between his eyes before he passed the sacred barrier^ or veil, and was thenceforth ashamed even to rei^n ? How then could we who through mercy devote ourselves to the study of such teachings, and so know that there was power even in the legal shadowy service, have presumed to officiate as priests with unconsecrated hands at the heavenly sacrifice, which even to angels is inaccessible, but out of benignance has been made accessible to the priests only, because they typify Christ ? For it is in truth He who down to the present time offers Himself every day on our behalf to God and the Father. Those who minister in the new covenant - do not ofier any new sacrifice upon the altar, but celebrate the memory of that one, in which Christ, God the Word the highpriest, the priesthood, the new and glorious victim, and noble oblation preparative for immortal life, offered Himself. In fact the wise Paul also in his epistle to the Hebrews says of Christ, " By one offering He hath perfected them that are sanctified :" ^ and again, "So also Christ, having been once offered to bear the sins
' Kay/ceXov. - 8ia6t]K-q. '■' He. X. 14.
of many, shall appear a second time without sin, to those who look for Him for salvation through faith." ^ That Christ's mystery is inaccessible even to the
v-^-s- sublime hosts Isaiah the loud trumpet of the prophets bears witness who said that one of the suprasensual and immaterial hosts of the seraphs took a coal with the tongs and not in his hand, and laid it on his lips and said, " This shall purge thy sins." ^ That the coal signifies the one Christ made out of two elements, of the Godhead I mean and of the manhood which are each perfect, undoubtedly does not escape your God-loving" excellencies. Holding therefore to such right principles, in order to cause perfect confidence in what we say, we lay ourselves under the direst curse, to fall from the glory of the Holy Trinity and not attain to the hope promised to Christians, if we are conscious in ourselves that any such presumptuous deed has been committed by our fathers or is being committed. If anyone presumes to lay hands upon the priesthood without having received the sacred ordination lawfully and in accordance with the apostolic canons, let him be anathema, and let him be ranked with men that rob a sanctuary and lie in wait at altars.^ The other slander also we cast from us and assert that no one who has been admitted to the clergy in the churches has been re-ordained among us. Wherefore we even
i>. 226. place under anathema the man who re-ordains these.
' Jd. ix. 28. ' Is. vi. 6, 7. ■'• I.e. UpocrvXoi and f3o)iJ.o\6\ou
II. I. Sl'XECT LETTERS OK TIIK I[OL\ SKVERUS. 203
or says that they must bt.- re-ordained. I^ut, if anyone after he has been admitted to the clergy has turned his eye towards the soHtary mode of life, and, being" trained in the toilsome exercises of philosophy, and desiring to know how to bear contempt for Christ's sake, has debarred himself for a time from the ministry, this is not re - ordination (far be it !), but a philosophic and divine exercise which renders the priest more worthy of reverence. It is in fact the custom of our fathers to look to the soul's profit onl)'. and, when men ha-ve once taken upon themselves to practise philosophy, whether they be priests or whether they be kings, to lead them on through the performance of humble services, in order that by trampling upon pride they may imitate Him who humbled Himself for our salvation and became flesh and took the form of a slave. For the correct definition of philosophy is this, that a man imitate God as much as possible. Therefore, now that you know these things, we beg your glorious noble eminences to convey them to the ears of our Christ-loving triumphant king. For it is not just that, when we are near and able to give satisfactory answers to the slanders against us, that we should be condemned by default as if we were absent. The end.
p. 227.
519-38. 2. Of the same to John and John the presbyters. [From those after banishment, from the \st book the 6th letter. )
Your holinesses' letter, which was brought me by Zenobius the devout deacon, has refreshed me greatly, and has been to me, as in the words of the proverb, "as cool water that relieveth a thirsty soul."^ And after other things. As to what you say about those who are residing in Byzantium, the report that has been received is true, that they contended about precedence. In fact at an earlier time also thev discussed this doubtful point, and the proper regulation - was given. Now however, when they are outside the phantasy^ of worldly sleep, they ought not to have contended as with a shadow and seen dreams. But may the hateful passion of jealousy and envy perish from among men, a passion that goes down with a man even to Hades itself and is a thing unendurable! For this reason the God-inspired scripture says, " Wrath is merciless and anger sharp, but nothing endureth jealousy.""* For both the merciless wrath and the sharp anger eat away and destroy those against whom they are whetted : but still it is sometimes possible for us to assuage them and turn them aside, by lapse of time and by methods of treatment and by gifts. But jealousy there is nothing than can endure. This p. 228. passion knows one relief, the destruction of the man
' Pr. XXV, 25. ^ TiVo?. ^ cfyavTaaia. * Pr. xxvii. 4.
II. 2. SELECT LETTERS OF THE HOL^' SEVERUS. 205
who is its object, and his ruin : and in the same fashion
also the death of the man hiniself who is jealous :
especially that of the soul before that of the body.
For the very wise book of Job says. " Jealousy slayeth
him that is in error." ^ Such annoyances I received
from the two aforesaid men : and He who came down
from on high and humbled Himself for our sake and
said, '' My peace I give unto you, my tranquillity I
leave unto you,"' - breathed upon them and extinguished
their gall, and even caused them wholly to disappear.
Do not wonder if these strove about precedence. Such
things indeed happened even in former times. W^hen
in old days Helladius succeeded to the see of the men
of Caisarea after the o-reat and renowned Basil, a man
who lived a virtuous life and was worthy of such a
succession, and was one of the holy men of the synod
of the hundred and fifty, Cappadocia having been
divided into two, Theodore, a man praiseworthy both
for faith and for character, was bishop of the other
metropolis (this was Tyana) : and under him among
others was Bosporius, a good man and one who had
reached such a high standard of holiness that even his p. 229
grave performs miracles down to the present day.
But, though they were both of such a character and so
hiofhlv exalted in virtue, thev strove with one another
about some contemptible claim of right in their parish,
and fell into ereat and lone rivalrv : and they had the
two Gregories, he of Nyssa siding w^ith Helladius and
' Job V. 5. -John xiv. 27.
he of Nazianzus with Theodore, and Bosporius the renowned, divided in sympathies, and like armed men bringing help to the generals when they engaged in battle, and writing letters in opposition to one another. If then those towers of the church and men of heavenly minds were convicted of sometimes walking upon earth, what will a man say of ourselves the gnats, who are ever flying over the sores and mire of passions and feeding on them ? Nor yet at this must one wonder, I mean that one of the very men who have been mentioned now uses humble words, saying, "It is against the things done at Chalcedon, not against the actual p. 230. synod itself, that we must put forth a sentence and anathema." For Liberius, the bishop of Rome, resisted Constantius even to blood, on behalf of Athanasius the apostolic preacher of the orthodox faith, and went out to the figurative stadiiuii, and readily allowed himself to be carried into exile : and at last, bent bv the long continuance of the sojourn in the place of exile, he gave way, and yielded to the violence of the time. Hosius also the bishop of Corduba (a little city so named), who had always been arrayed on the side of the orthodox, owing to his extreme old age and advanced time of life, was overcome at Nice in Thrace, and submitted to compulsion. And Athanasius the champion^ of the truth in word and in deed, a man of practised skill in doing service, who discharges the rational shafts against enemies with understanding,
^ dycovicTTv;?.
II. 3- SELKCT lktti;r.s ()1- the holy SEVHKL'S. 207
both in epistles and in treatises against the Arionianitacalls Hosius "of honourable old age,"^ and mentions him with distinction : while in respect of the contests undergone by Liberius he praises and extols the man ; saying not a word of what happened to them under violence, but like a wise man passing rapidly over it ;'. 231 with closed eyes, as the saying is. Let us also therelore, inasmuch as sacred contests lie before us, follow the spiritual captains, and in respect of actions on the right side, both be ourselves edified and edify others thereby, in order that the others also may be strengthened : but human actions let us pass rapidly over. For we are mortal and weak, and we are put under compulsion and led by force by spirits of wickedness. Let us pray therefore that the details of our weakness be not greatly exposed. But you for your part have the power of sharing the contest with everyone through your prayers. Not the end.
3. Of the same to the orthodox in Eiuesa. [Fnvn those 518-9. aftei"- banishment, fj'oni the 2nd book the gyrd letter. )'
Men often think that time is bringing them new and unwonted events. Nevertheless they are not such as are wholly without similar instances in times that have already passed. This is confirmed by Koheleth who
^ Ap. c. Ar. 44 (?). This is in a letter of the Synod of Sardica. - A comparison with ix. i seems to show that this letter was •written very soon after banishment.
says, "There is nothing new under the sun."^ Many indeed have desired the priesthood in an unhallowed manner ; of which unlawful thought an instance was provided in time past by Dathan and Abiram, and the company of Korah who rose against Moses and Aaron, the first priests under the shadowy law. A scion of
p- 232. this impious action and of this audacious deed is this also which has just been reported to me in the desert, where I am dwelling unseen for the sake of the common hope and substance of our salvation, which is the orthodox faith. I learn that a certain Gregory and Isaiah, who register their fathers' house the one in Pontus, the other in Armenia, have appeared in the countries of the East and are falsely and lyingly ascribinor to themselves the orreat name and the functions of the episcopate : and it is reported that their mad practices do not extend to words only : but Gregory in the great distinguished Christ-loving city of the Antiochenes, and Isaiah in the illustrious believing metropolis of the Emesenes, have laid their presumptuous and illegal hand upon certain men, and by a mockery as in a play will create certain men ridiculous priests for filthy lucre ; like those whom Jeroboam the rebel created, after he had led the ten tribes away from the lawful service which was established through Moses the great, and fashioned golden calves, and by one and the same creation instituted at the same time both the
P- 233- hateful thing and the falsely-named hierophants - of
' Ec. i, 9. ^ Marzane = ixvcrrai.
II. 3- SELECT LETTERS OE THE IIOLV SEVERUS. 209
the creation itself. Gregory, I learn, has created a traud more plausible than that of Isaiah ; having in fact stated of himself that he is bishop of Diocaesarea which is situated in the Pontic diocese, and that he left his throne on account of the sound faith : which, if true, would be worthy of crowns, and of all praise that is warranted by the spiritual laws : and, to speak plainly, a thing preparative for the kingdom of heaven according to the voice of the Lord that cannot lie which cries in the Gospels, '* Blessed are they which have been persecuted for risfhteousness' sake for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."'^ But Isaiah's elaboration is, I learn, twice as abominable : and it has been so badly concocted that, even if the foolish tale were established, he would have no confirmation whatever for his position nor any plausibility. Certain men in Egypt told me that he says he is a bishop, but, when he alleges ordination to have been performed over him, he produces no evidence or proof, names no city, and says that it was performed by one man, and by him when he was drawing his last breath and lying dead. For, when he kept perversely lying and was asked for proof of what he was saying, he came down to this as the sum of the allegation and tripped himself up. This is in fact established by the sacred text which says, "He that is incautious with his lips in that he is perverse shall be tripped up."^ Who p- 234. is there who is reckoned amoncr Christians to whom it is not manifest that these thing's stand outside all
' Mt. V. 10. - Pr. X. 8.
canonical order and the apostolic church ? Indeed from the very beginning those who were disciples and eye-witnesses and ministers of the Word Himself divided the bishops among cities, and to each church as to a spiritual bride figuratively united the bishop as a brideoroom. A witness of this is the divine Paul who writes to Titus and says, " For this cause left I thee in Crete that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and appoint presbyters in every city as I commanded thee." Here he calls bishops presbyters : for indeed after saying, " In order that thou shouldest appoint presbyters in every city," he went on further to say, " For the bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God."^ This the holy John also, who was bishop of Constantinople, interpreted in this way when he wrote as follows about Titus : " This man was highly approved among those who were with Paul : and, if not, he would not have entrusted the island to him in its entirety, nor have commanded him to supply the things that were wanting ('in order that thou shouldest set in order the p. 235. things that are wanting'): he would not have entrusted him with the selection of so many bishops, if it had not been that he had great confidence in the man."- The apostles also divided the peoples by the lots of the Holy Spirit : and each of them took possession of the inheritance that was g-iven to him, and was contented with it : and the gift of it was made to him by inspira-
1 Tit. i. 5, 7. ^ P.G. Ixii. 663.
II. 3- SELECT LETTERS OF THE IIULV SEVERUS. 211
tion from above. This gift the singing prophet compared to the wings of a dove that are covered with silver and her feathers superbly decorated with gold ; and he foretold that this grace would be eiven them openly and in actual deeds, in that he addresses his words to them thus, "If ye lie among the lots, there there are the wings of a dove that are covered with silver, and her feathers with the yellowness of gold ' : ^ the words manifestly showing this, that, if each apostle had not been satisfied with the lot that fell to him and shown regard for order, the Holy Spirit would not have bountitully bestowed upon them illustrious powers of working siijns and wonders, and teachino" that shone after the fashion of silver, and the steadfastness in sufferino's which oold shows when tried in the fire of the furnace. But the excellent Isaiah does not fear to give himself out as holding a bishopric not obtained by lot and irregular and without a city. Who has seen a marriage-chamber of an unnamed bride, and a foul bridegroom without a consort, or rather one who becomes everything to himself, as the nature of his fiction requires ? I hear that those who after the p- 236. fashion of some brute beast have adhered to his error, three or four wicked creatures, bring forward a canon also to substantiate their fraud which is without substance and full of all absurdity. This they also say is a canon of Simon the Canana;an, and it has never prevailed in the holy churches and been accepted by holy
^ Ps. Ixvii. 14.
synods, or been named in them at all. How could it have been, when the holy canons once for all enact that the ordination of a bishop must not be performed under any other conditions by him who has the right to ordain except when all the bishops of the same province ^ take part in the solemn function, or, if they are not all present, at any rate there shall be no smaller number than three, and the others also shall give their psephisma by their letters, even if they are absent in body ? " For in ecclesiastical regulations enactments carefully made at a later time in the churches allow no play to those of ancient date. For p. 237. example Cyprian the divine among bishops, who adorned the chief throne of Africa with all excellencies, but above all with a crown of martyrdom, once assembled a synod of the saintly bishops under him and ruled that converts from heresy must not be accepted, unless they have received the baptism given by the orthodox. And in modern times, now that the high-priests who fed the churches in the West and in the East, as well as the great and holy synod of the three hundred and eighteen, have discussed the quality of heresies, and enacted that we ought not in the case of all of them to accept penitents through baptism, no one presumes contrary to this conclusion to apply baptism to those who come from all heresies, as seemed right at an earlier time to Cyprian : but, if anyone contrary to the law which has prevailed shall
\/
iiTapx^a.. - Mansi ii. 669.
presume to re-baptize, he will fall within the grasp of the canons as having performed unlawful actions. The bishop also of the cit\' renowned for its orthodox faith of the city ^ of the Alexandrines was in old times appointed by presbyters. But in modern times, in accordance with the canon which has prevailed every- p- 23^- where, the solemn institution of their bishop is performed by bishops : and no one makes light of the accurate practice that prevails in the holy churches and recurs to the earlier condition of things, which has given way to the later clear and accurate, deliberate and spiritual injunctions."' However, if agreeable, we will also adduce the canon that is given out as having been enacted by Simon the Cananaean, in order that everyone may learn that Isaiah's partners in the idle fiction are stirring up destruction against themselves, as the common saying is. It is said to be as follows : " I also, Simon the Canansean, command you by how many the bishop ought to be ordained. A bishop should be ordained by two or by three bishops. But, if anyone be ordained by one bishop, let both him and the man who ordained him be deprived. But, if necessity arise for him to be ordained by one, since a lara"e number cannot come, because there is a persecution or some other cause, let him bring a p. 239. psepJiisnia of authority from several bishops."-^ Where then are we to place the fictitious ordination of Isaiah,
' Misunderstanding of 7roA.eojs Ti]<i 'AAefavSpewr.
" See Journ. of Theol. St. ii. 612, iii. 278. "■ Const. Ap. viii. 27.
which passes all plausibility ? Who are the bishops who confirmed for him the ordination that was performed by one as he says ? or where are those who made iho. psephisuia about him ? It is known to everyone that the apostles made all their enactments through the Holy Spirit, and saw the future like the present through the illumination of the heavenly liofht from above. Therefore it seems that Isaiah's ordination escaped the notice of Simon the Canansean, and the fact that it alone was to be devoid of bishops to make a psephisma about him, and to confirm that which was lame and imperfect. This is an absurdity, and a piece of silly trifling : nay rather it is a fit subject for sorrow, and fraught with tears. For how will even the spirits of the saints refrain from sighing when they see the high priesthood, which is awful even in the sight of the heavenly powers themselves, turned into a mockery ? For of such a kind are the mysteries to which we summon, which, as Peter the chosen one of the apostles wrote, even "the angels desire to look into." ^ What need is there of many words, when the very devices of Isaiah the stony man, who has taken to him all the madness of Satan, show the demon-like nature of the act ? He has indeed refuted his impiety which he falsely reported of himself by means of another p. 240. impiety, adding iniquity to his iniquity according to the saying of the Psalmist in the Psalms." For he did not even stay his presumptuous and unholy hand at
1 I Pe. i. 12. - Ps. Ixviii. 28."
the name of deacons and of presbyters, but he assigns bishops also and archbishops to peoples and to cities, after the manner of the giants of the fable who sprang from the earth. And "let so-and-so," he says, "be archbishop of Egypt : and so-and-so of Pamphylia : and another of Palestine " : and, since he lacks instruments for such madness, I have learned that he even collects men for himself from the crossroads, some blind men some lepers, some men with other bodily afflictions or suffering from disease. When I say this, I do not put forward the infirmities of the body as something shameful (the one real sickness and disease is the sin of the soul and falling away on our part from God), but I ani desirous of showing the folly of the lunatic, how he is eager to lay his unholy and all- . presumptuous hand even upon irrational things, if one may so speak, if the fatuity of men fail him. The holy Basil also in his letters mentions such roving pseudo-bishops as having been foolishly instituted by the foolish Apollinaris, writing thus : "Is not the great mystery of religion made a laughingstock, in that bishops are going about without p. 241. people and clergy, carrying about the bare name onlv, and doingf no such rioht action as tends to the extension of the gospel of our salvation?"^; so the spirit of error, which uttered much nonsense in Apollinaris and in the heretics who resemble him, but was deaf and dumb, as the Gospel says,"-^ was in Isaiah
^ Ep. 265. 2. -^ Mk. ix. 25.
and knew how to do uncanonical acts. Many other things might be said to refute the illegal fraud and this irrational madness. But, since the greatness of the unseemly and unstable abomination reaches to absurdity, it is a very superfluous thing to extend the discussion unnecessarily. What synod of saintly orthodox bishops has accepted this ? Who has not closed his ears and refused to endure even so much as the bare mention of this unlawful report ? In what other country did not the gentle Isaiah deceive, or to what place did he not betake himself, as we may hear those that know relate ? Did he not move his erring steps to Egypt seeing that he has no stability, but as Jeremiah the prophet says loved to move his feet ^ ? did he not p. 242. betake himself to Pamphylia, boasting and lying and saying that he was called to this illegal episcopate by Leontius the saintly old hermit, who practised the philosophic life in the wilderness ? for on the contrary he was actually anathematized by him by word of mouth, as all who dwell in that country testify. Did he not also come to the great Christ- loving city of Alexander, having been driven to it, like some ship without a helmsman, by the stormy waves of error ; and, after he had been rejected by all, form the plan, as he in fact said, of confirming the fiction regarding him by supposed signs, and setting himself to imitate Christ, and fast forty days continuously, in order to raise a dead boy who lay like meat that has been dried
^ Jer. xiv. 10.
II. 3- SELECT LETTERS OE THE IKJLV SEVERUS. 217
and thrown into an earthenwares vessel ; but, when the greater part of the forty days had passed, he was sorely tried by the lack of food, which was broken by bread taken by stealth, though he hypocritically pretended not to have tasted anything ; while the dead boy's father was beginning to mourn and weep at having been disappointed of his hope, and was crying aloud and wailing bitterly and after the manner of a rustic (he was a gardener) ; but the body having become putrid filled the house with noisome corruption and a deadly smell, so that the pretended bishop, simulated p- 243- faster, and false miracle-worker was in danger of being delivered to the lire, seeing that his hateful conduct had been exposed, if it had not been that he hid himself and escaped from the hands of those who sought to inflict a just vengeance upon him for the drunkenness of his mind ? Is inquiry therefore needed in the case of such men, who from the declaration ^ of our Saviour himselt have the confutation which plainly says of false shepherds like them, " By their fruits ye shall know them""'? If "the less is blessed by the greater,"^ as the wise Paul says, let us examine as a proposition who it was who gave Isaiah the fictitious ordination. Was it one who has the right of ordaining bishops and, being a metropolitan, knows also the prayer for the appointment of high-priests? or, if as a concession we grant this point also, how does a bishop of a metropolis give a man who is ordained by him authority to institute
' a7rd</)ao-ts. " Mt. vii. 1 6 ^' He. vii. 7.
archbishops among peoples and cities, as in fables and dreams? If, as he says, bishop Epiphanius of saintly memory -^ was actually drawing his last breath and giving up the ghost, a man who was not bishop of a
p. 244. metropolis, but of one of the cities under a metropolis, and gave him the hand of ordination at the moment of death, and never finished the ordination such as it was, what are we to say of such a prayer ? and how is it not a matter for tears, if Paul in speaking to the Corinthians about all prayer says, " I will pray with my spirit, I will pray also with my understanding,"'-^ while Isaiah's institutor uttered the prayer which is, if one may so say, higher and more solemn than all prayers, I mean that which institutes high-priests, with faltering tongue and indistinct and feeble voice, when he had not even ordinary intelligent consciousness, and heard it repeated from a book like a small boy who goes to school, and each word ^ was pronounced and lisped to him by those standing round him, since they elaborate this also as part and parcel of the snare and fraud ? All the details of this elaborate play and of the case * show weakness and lack of substance, but set the saintly bishop Epiphanius free from calumny, who departed blamelessly to the Lord, and, when he stands before the judgmentseat that does not respect persons on the last day, will have no knowledge of what the prayer of the ordination
p. 245. of a bishop is, and by the sentence of the just Judge wrll send those who calumniate him to the fire that is
1 Cf. vit. Sev. p. 26 1. 37. 2 I Co. xiv. 15.
II. 3- SELECT LETTERS OF THE IIOLV SEVERUS. 219
not quenched, and the wicked Isaiah to the outer darkness, with those that are "clad in strange apparel," as one of the prophets said.^ Why should one repeat the whole story ? It has been told me that he has reached such a height of madness as even to entitle himself "high-priest of high-priests," and even "apostle" also, and thereby to show everyone that he has received the evil spirit of Montanus and of Mani. For in fact those also named themselves apostles, and presumed to exalt themselves to the title of Paraclete which cannot be shared by any creature, and fitly belongs to Christ only and to the Holy Spirit; imitating Satan the chief of the rebel host, who in ancient times said, " I will exalt myself to heaven, and above the stars of heaven will I set my throne," "^ and is also expected through Antichrist, as Paul the speaker of divine things foretold, " to sit in the temple of God and make it appear concerning himself that he is God."^ And yet, after those stupid unlearned advocates of the error have gone through all these things which show the artificial nature of the fiction, they presume, I hear, to cite, as if the imao-inarv ordination of Isaiah were valid, the action that was taken in the case of Gregory the Miracleworker, I mean how Phaedimus who ordained this man p- 246. hunted him by the power of prayer when he was fleeing from the burden of the bishopric, and when absent and at a distance uttered a prayer, so that even when absent he was involved in the chains of prayer, and
^ Zeph. i. 8. - Is. xiv. 13, 14. ^2 Th. ii. 4.
was caught in the nets of the Spirit from which there is no escape, and hastened to him who was lawfully pursuing him, and thus underwent and received all the legal requirements of ordination, and did not stop at the prayer made at a distance, as is thought by the men who are bereft of intellioence and do not understand what they read. A witness of this is Gregory, who wrote his history, the brother in blood and in the Spirit and in the office of the high-priesthood of the great Basil, and bishop of Nyssa, who wrote as follows : " For this reason Phsedimus having been by some specially divine impulse roused to the task before him, paying no regarci to the intervening space by which he was separdted from Gregory (seeing he was three days' journey distant from him), but, looking to God and saying that he himself was seen by God at that hour in the same way as he was, in place of a hand applies the spoken word to Gregory, dedicating to God a man who was absent in bodv, and allottinsf p. 247. him to a city which down to those times had, it so happened, been held in the error of idols, so that, while those who dwelt in the city itself and in its neighbourhood were without number, there were not found more than seventeen who had received the word of faith. Having thus therefore received the yoke by force, and all the legal requirements having afterwards been performed over him, and having asked the man who proclaimed the priesthood over him for a short time to reflect upon the exact character of the mystery, he no longer thought it right for him, as the Apostle
said, to ' attend to blood and flesh,' but asked God that a revelation of the secrets might be made to him. " ' You see he has clearly shown that the prayer made at a distance only stopped his course of flight, but all the legal requirements were performed over him after he had hastened to him who consecrated him, and nothing whatever was lacking. At the same time it has certainly been admitted that, since Phaedimus was head of the metropolis of the men of Amasia, that he had his bishops close by him, and with them pursued Gregory. For, when he pursued, he pursued promptly : so that, when he had caught the quarry, he immediately performed the ordination. Accordingly he had the bishops standing round him, and taking part with him in the prayer also that was made over the divine Gregory at a distance. But it seems p- ^^ ridiculous for us to pass beyond the proper limits in considering the silly arguments of those deceivers, and to OTQ on to refute arguments that are feeble and have no substance, which some intelligent and devout hermits repeated to me in Egypt as having been invented by one of Isaiah's deceivers. To these I also said, " The saintly bishop Epiphanius we ourselves committed to the grave in our monastery ^ in Palestine : and of these follies and futilities we have a clear written refutation. For indeed at the very end of his life he made a will,^ in which he appointed count Eusebius the Alexandrine of magnificent
' P.G. xlvi. 909. - Cf. vit. Sev. p, 26. ^ hadijKrj.
memory, who was called ' Eleonos,' ^ who was living at that time his heir, because he knew that the man had spent all his property on the poor, ordering that what was left by him also should be distributed to the needy in an exactly similar manner : and Isaiah was to have charge of the distribution of it, who was then educating the sons of the magnificent Eusebius, who were being brought up in the monastic fashion. And the man who made these provisions at the actual very gate of departure from the world named Isaiah 'presbyter,' thereby leaving a written confutation of the dead calumny. For, if he had had the intention p- -49- of ordaining him bishop after the will,- he would not yesterday have named a man in writing 'presbyter,' whom to-morrow he was a-oing- to make an unrecorded and unnamed bishop. This is manifestly foolishness. But let the reproof be turned against the head of those who invented the fraud." They, having heard these thinofs and been delighted at what w^as said, said to me, " One of us was invited bv Isaiah through a certain intermediary to become archbishop of Egypt. However all we Egyptians made answer with one consent, ' We for our part do not inquire into this foolish tale of Isaiah's ordination : but we hold to the canon of the holy and great synod of the three hundred and eighteen fathers, knowing an ordination that is performed by one bishop to be void and illegal.' " To this I made answer and said : " Let
^ I.e. 0 'EAewvos (gen.). " ^iaBr]Ky].
II. 3- SELECT LETTERS OK THE HOLY SEVERUS. 223
your devoutnesses know that at a later time also, when Paulinus, being- patriarch of the city of the Antiochenes, himself alone at the end of his life ordained Evacrrius and appointed him his successor, while the orthodox bishops in the East lawfully ordained Flavian archbishop of the same Antioch, a synod was assembled to deal with this case ^ : in the West in the city of p- 250. Capua : and in the East at Ccesarea in Palestine : because Siricius, who was then archbishop of Rome, had decided that after the discussion at Capua the task of makino- a more careful investigation of the actual facts of the case ^ should be transferred to the East, Theophilus, the archbishop of the great city of the Alexandrines, having been invited to preside over those who were assembled : who owing to the overthrow of the heathen temples and of the images in Alexander's city had his time occupied and failed to join in assembly with them. And then the synod of saintly bishops which was assembled at Csesarea in Palestine reported its decree to the Godloving kings of pious memory, Theodosius, Arcadius, and Honorius, and made it known to them in these words : ' For we have read the letter of our reverend brothers to our reverend brother and bishop"' Theophilus, and that which was written to ourselves the bishops of the East by the bishops at Capua, and that of the religious Siricius the bishop p. 251. of Rome, to the effect that before all things we must
^ iiTTo^co-is. " The Greek must have been a-vveTrLa-Koirov.
look to this point, i.e. not to disturb the canon of Nicsea which clearly lays down that it is not permissible for the ordination of a bishop to be performed by one only.^ There was further inserted in the letter of the religious bishop Siricius a decision also upon the hearino; that was to be held : in which was inserted the statement "there must be one bishop of Antioch, he who has been legally and ecclesiastically appointed according to the canon of the Synod of Nicaea " ; and which clearly decreed that an ordination performed by one is illegal and not to be accepted. With joy therefore we have received the accurate teaching of bishop Siricius concerning the church canons, and, following this letter, we have decreed that these things be ratified : in that we have given legal and just votes, to the effect that we know one bishop of Antioch only the religious lord Flavian the bishop.' " ' After I had ofiven vent to these words, the devout old men and p. 252. Egyptian monks to whom I was speaking added that the advocate of Isaiahs deception who promised them the archbishopric of Egypt used to say that the holy Timothy also, the archbishop of the city of the Alexandrines, was ordained by two bishops only, not by three accordincr to the canon. And it has been shown clearly that Peter also the bishop, he of saintly memory, the apostolic man, who came from Iberia, our father, was present there, and held the gospel over Timothy's sacred head, and made up the number of
^ Mansi ii. 669. - See Journ. of Theol. St. iii. 433.
II. 3- SELECT LETTERS OF THE IKJLV SEVERUS. 225
three bishops : he having been brought by force to the church by the orthodox people, and dragged from the very bed on which he was still lying as being an old and iniirni man. But, while he was being carried along by violence, he in an ineffable manner heard a voice from heaven commanding hini not to flee from the sacred service.^ Whence also he gladly and with much assurance - assisted in the ordination. Afterwards, when the institution had been thus legally completed, the whole synod of the God-loving bishops of the Egyptian administrative district after these things acknowledged and considered the saintly Timothy as archbishop : and again, when he was returning after exile to Alexander's city, all the p- 253 bishops of the other districts made union with him through the Encyclical letter and proclaimed him archbishop. How then do those presumptuous and unlearned men presume to compare with those legitimate bishops the illegitimate Isaiah, who was not even carried in the womb at all or conceived like the abortive and imperfect offspring of mothers who bring forth abortions, but by the fact of wishing it only created himself bishop for those silly men ? These things I have written not because I wish to upset a thing that is tottering on all sides and contains feebleness in itself, but because I desire none of the statements made about him and discussed in my presence in Egypt to be unknown to your diligences :
^ Cf. Zach. Rh. iv. I. '' Trky^pof^opia.
226 SELFXT LETTERS OF THE HOLY SEVERUS. II. 3
since this other futility also was, as I heard, being advanced by that deceiver : " Some men, you know, in the churches buy ordinations for gold contrary to the canons. Therefore " (he says) " it is in no way beyond the limits of what is proper for me too to become a bishop contrary to strict canonical rule": and the wretched man is not ashamed of daring to confirm his illegal fiction by a similar illegality. Who when taken in adultery says, " I am not an adulterer because so-and-so p- 254- also is a murderer," and, " I have not offended against the laws because that man also is an offender"? In the next place, in which of the churches of the orthodox, fellow, is it openly put forward as a law that it is right for some men to be ordained for gold, as you make the fictitious and illegal episcopate into a law, and call sin rio-hteousness ? If a man tramples in secret on church ordinances, he will give account to the just Judge, but he will not inflict any stain on the appearance of the holy churches, which is confident in its enjoyment of freedom from blame and reproof in all things. I forbear to say that he even presumed to circulate a fictitious letter as having been written by me, which makes a show of finding fault with the fraud concerning him, and gains the plausibility thence derived, but admits that the mockery of the spurious and pretended episcopate was carried to completion. Isaiah therefore, who has been on all points rejected as illegitimate and unhallowed, and has been cast out as a stinking abomination, is trying to force himself into your distinguished believing metropolis, though there also (speaking under
II. S. SKLKCT LKTTKRS OF TllK lloLV SKN KKUS. 227
God's permission) he will not find an entrance. For p-255- the proof of your faith and loyakx' has even by actual experitnice been disseminated amon^- all men : and we know well and are confident that you are gloriously minded in the Lord, all you who belong to the revered clergy, who have respected the orthodox faith, and all vou mao-nificent and distino-uished ktctorcs, who hold the first place, and all you who fill up the body of the church, and cleave to the sound faith. But I have thought it right and seemly for me and a deed consonant with the ordinances of the Spirit not to commit to silence that which has just come into my thoughts, but to testify beforehand to the delusion of error and mark it beforehand and point it out beforehand, lest, when the divine wrath comes upon those who are led to act in violation of the divine laws, and have become the prey of the devil, I find myself under condemnation for those men's blood. For He that speaks through Ezekiel says, "And thou man, I have given thee as a watchman to them of the house of Israel, and thou shalt hear a word from my mouth. When I shall say to the sinner, ' Thou shalt surely die,' and thou speak not that the impious man may refrain from his way, the wicked man shall die in his wickedness, but his blood will I require at thine hand. But, if for thy part thou forewarn the impious man concerning his way that he may turn from it and he turn not from his way, he shall die in his impiety, and thou shalt deliver thy soul." ^ In the same p. 256.
Eze. iii. 17-19.
way as Isaiah Gregory also has been convicted, as I have learned, in the great city of Alexander. For he too has been detected, and his guile exposed in the minutes^ of the records.- Therefore, learnings these things as you do through this mean letter of mine, if anyone presumes to name Gregory or Isaiah a bishop, or shall reckon as valid the profane ordinations performed by them, and does not reject even the very mention of them as being altogether abominable and unlawful, such a man shall be anathema, and shall be found an alien to the glory and communion of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, both in this world, and in the world that is to come. If anyone, despising our exile and the persecution by which we are persecuted for the sake of the orthodox faith, shall reckon the things written as nothing, he shall give account to Him who said to the holy apostles and disciples, " But when they persecute you in this city flee to the other" ;^ and again, "He that scorneth me and receiveth not my words hath one that judgeth him ; the word that I have spoken it shall judge him in the last day";* and again, "If they have persecuted me they will also persecute you " ; ^ and all the expres- P- 257- sions that are like and similar to these. For, when men have such an unlawful and unholy disposition, and reduce the great mystery of religion to an absurdity, the sacred scripture commands us not even to give
TTpa^i?. ^ VTTOfJivriiJiaTa. * Mt. X. 23.
^ John xii. 48. ^ John xv. 20.
II. 3- si:lkct letters of the iiolv severus. 229
them oTccting, and not to receive these men in the house or take them under our roof, nor to have any dealings at all with them. " If any man," it says, " Cometh unto you, and bringeth not this teaching, receive him not in the house, and say not to him ' Hail ! ' : For he that saith to him ' Hail ! ', is partaker of his evil deeds." ^ And again Paul the Apostle, " But I beseech you, my brethren, to mark them which cause the divisions and offences contrary to the teaching which we have learned, and avoid them. For such men minister not to our Lord Jesus Christ, but to their belly. And by mild words and blessings they deceive the hearts of the simple." If you observe these things, the words also that the same sacred Paul added to these will assuredly be fit to address to you in praise and approbation : and we will truly say, " For your obedience has reached the ears of all men. I rejoice therefore over you.""^ For with this it is well to conclude what we have to say. The end.
' 2 J. lo, II. ■ '" Ro. xvi. 17-19.
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Part II
^1
/; n. i^ff-r^^
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WORKS ISSUED BY THE TEXT AND TRANSLATION SOCIETY
THE SIXTH BOOK
OF THE
SELECT LETTERS OF SEVERUS
PATRIARCH OF ANTIOCH
IN THE SYRIAC VERSION OF ATHANASIUS
OF NISIBIS
EDITED AND TRANSLATED
BY
E. W. BROOKS, M.A.
VOL. II. (TRANSLATION) PART II.
PUBLISHED FOR
THE TEXT AND TRANSLATION SOCIETY
BY
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Text and Translation Society.
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CONTENTS OF PART II.
SECTION III.
1 To Anastasius the count, son of Sergius
2 To Ammian and Epagathus
3 To Misael the deacon
4 To Cffisaria the patrician .
PAGE
SECTION IV.
1 To Zacharias of Pelusium ....... 249
2 To Ammonius presbyter of Alexandria about the mention of Peter
Mongus ........ 253
3 To Dioscorus archbp. of Alexandria ..... 257
4 To Dionysius bp. of Tarsus . . .... 260
5 To Cosmas archimandrite of the monastery of Cyrus . . . 261
6 To John the count from Antaradus ..... 263
7 To John Canopites ....... 266
8 To the believers at Antioch . . . ... . 268
9 To Andrew reader and notary ....... 270
10 To Csesaria the patrician . . . . .272
SECTION V.
1 To John the tribune in the name of Leontius
2 To bp. Nicias .....
3 To the monastery at Tagais
4 To Theotecnus presbyter and archiatros .
5 To Dionysius bp. of Tarsus
6 Against those who say that converts from Diphysitism should be re
anointed .....
7 To Dionysius bp. of Tarsus
8 To the orthodox at Antioch
9 To Simeon archimandrite of the monastery at Teleda
10 To the monastery of Isaac
1 1 To John and John the presbyters and the others .
CONTENTS
12 To John and John presbyters and archimandrites . . . 337
13 To bps. Proclus and Eusebuna ...... 342
14 To John, Philoxenus, and Thomas the bishops on the hill of Marde . 345
15 To Sergius bp. of Cyrrhus and Marion bp, of Sura . . 350
SECTION VI.
1 To bp. Eleusinius
2 To Archelaus reader of Tyre
SECTION VII.
1 To Valeriana deaconess and archimandritess
2 To Jannia deaconess and archimandritess
3 To Simeon archimandrite of the great monastery
4 To Nonnus bp. of Seleucia
5 To Victor bp. of Philadelphia
6 To Stephen bp. of Apamea
7 To the wife of Calliopius the patrician
8 To Eustace a young monk
9 To Isidora
SECTION VIII.
1 To Stephen the reader
2 To Cassian bp. of Bostra .
3 To Aurelius the scholastic
4 To John scholastic of Bostra
5 To Andrew reader and notary
SECTION IX.
1 To the fathers
2 To Theodore bp. of Olba
3 To Thecla the countess
SECTION X.
1 To Alypius ......
2 To a woman on behalf of Maximus in the name of Abba
3 To Theodore tribune and notary ....
4 To Conon the silentiary .....
5 To Theodore a Byzantine monk, brother-in-law of the prefects
CONTENTS Vll
6 To the monks of the monastery of Bassus ..... 447
7 To Csesaria the patrician ...... 448
8 To Georgia daughter of Anastasia the hypatissa .... 455
SECTION XI.
To Misael the chamberlain ....... 459
Notes of Scribes ........ 463
Index of Persons, Places, etc. ...... 465
Index of Quotations . ..... 473
Addenda and Corrigenda ....... 479
The Sixth Book of the Select Letters of the Holy Severus.
III. Third section.^ That one ought not to hesitate p. 261. on account of the politeia or character of priests, but only ask whether they are orthodox or of the right opinions.
I. Of the same to Anastasius the count, the son of 513-8. Sergius. iyFrotn those during episcopacy, from the Jth book the ^06 th letter.)
See ! overcome by the fervour and purity of your gracious father's faith we have sent you the communion or oblation, as seemed to you to be desirable : because, while one and the same faith prevails in the holy churches in the East and those in Egypt, one must reckon the communion also to be one and of the same value, since priests, whatever they be in their
^ titXosconduct, cannot increase or diminish the sacrament. This the Theolo_^ian Gregory also somewhere says, making use of the following example. As, when two seals, one made of lead and the other of gold, bear one p. 262. impress without any difference whatever, it of necessity follows that the wax sealed by them will bear the same signet and seal, a man who has not seen being unable to discern from the wax which stamp was made by the gold and which by the lead, so also in the case of priests, so long as they hold one and the same orthodox faith, and consummate a baptism, it may be, or the bloodless sacrifice, it is impossible to discern in which case the consecration or consummation was performed by the man who is golden or pure in his character, and in which by the man who by reason of the faultiness of his character resembles lead.^ For the operation and grace of the sound faith which consummated both of them is one : but let no one look at the greater and less arising from the character of those who officiated. However, as I said, having been overcome by the abundance of fervent love which you have towards Christ, we have done what was commanded by you. The end.
1 Or. xl. 26.
2. Of the smne to Animian and Epagathus. {From 519-34. those after banishment, from the yth book the 2(^th letter. f
I am astonished at the extent of your admirable goodness, that after such expenses on my behalf, who am not worthy of anything of the kind, expenses which you have incurred from love of God, you have considered it right to bestow these things upon me even when I am at a distance in oreater abundance and with greater generosity. And after other things, v- 263- But I rejoiced greatly, and offered prayers of thanksgiving to Christ who is God and the giver of all good, who has willed that a male child should be born to you the Christ-loving Ammian beyond all human hope. Since you have submitted the choice of his name to my judgment, out of the abundance of faith that you possess, and make me bold by urging me to say and do things above the measure that belongs to me, I have judged it to be a good and fitting thing that he should be named John : since the holy Baptist and Forerunner also was born to his parents beyond hope and expectation ; and I believe that through his intercession he will live and reach the due length of life and advanced old age. Indeed on the very day on which I received your welcome letter that notified
^ This was written two years before iii. 4 (p. 246), so that, if the inference as to the date of that letter (p. 244, note 3) is correct, this must be placed not earlier than 531.
his birth to me I placed it on the holy mysteries : and, when I was about to communicate after my custom in the divine communion (for it was a day of assembly), after the other lessons and the sacred sone of Alleluia, I began to read the revered gospel : and I found the appointed lesson to be the story of the holy Forerunner and Baptist, and his divine martyrdom and consummation, when he was beheaded for the sake of
p. 264. God's law ; and from the fact that it happened so I concluded that Jesus also the God of the sacred Gospels had sanctioned and approved the method of naming the boy which I had chosen. I beseech you not to delay even for the space of one day : but to seize the favourable opportunity that has been given us by God, and present the boy to the God-loving father Z'ura, for the divine laver of regeneration. But, when you enjoy such freedom from restraint, how can it be anything but a very unreasonable action, and such as to provoke Christ our Redeemer and God, to ask for the communion or oblation to be sent you by my meanness ? Those persons to whom it is necessary to send it are those who are wholly deprived of divine communion : for, when the faith is one, the
p. 265. holy communion also is assuredly one, not something different and diverse, even if one of the offering priests have a heavenly and high, and the other a degraded and low character. It is not the man who offers the sacrifice, but Christ completes it through the words uttered by the offerer, and changes the bread into flesh and the cup into blood, by the power, inspiration.
and grace of His Spirit. For. this reason too it happened once that, when a famine had extended over the whole land, and Elijah the prophet was living in the torrent-bed called that of Cherith, by- God's command ravens brought him every day bread in the morning and flesh in the evening, the narrative signifying that, though certain men be unclean like ravens, they are mediators through whom the divine ^ food is given and imparted to us, and they do not inflict any injurious stain on those who partake, nor does the uncleanness and loose character of those who administer the divine grace cause any detriment to those who are fed, provided of course that their faith is orthodox and sound (you are not unaware that the law inserts the raven among the unclean kinds of birds). ^ Gregory the Theologian also, who was bishop p. 266. of Nazianzus and teacher of all that is under heaven, in the discourse on holy baptism teaches that there is no difference whatever between the divine laver of regeneration performed by a priest of lax character and that which is given by a priest eminent for asceticism and the other virtues : explaining the matter by the following image and simile. As two 1/ seals, he says, of which one is made of pure unalloyed gold, and the other of lead, if they bear one and the same signet without difference in any point graven upon themselves, will both impress one and the same likeness upon wax without variation in any point, and
^ Le. xi. 14.
no one who has not seen them can discern from the wax which is the signet that was made by the golden seal, and which by the leaden, so, though one priest be a man of gold by reason of the purity of his character, and the other one that has the darkness and worthlessness of lead by reason of the remissness of I his life, so long as they possess the one seal of the orthodox faith alike in all points, and in no way p. 267. adulterated by heretical doctrine, both perform one baptism and one oblation, of the same power and glory, and nothing inferior in any point whatever.^ Therefore your intelligences in the Lord must with all assurance^ approach the divine communion of the saintly bishops who are living among you and of the God-loving presbyters who confess the same faith as we in all points and proclaim it with boldness, and do not shrink from fear, nor craftily adulterate it, as the Apostle says : ^ for men such as these one ought to shun as manifest heretics. But, to speak with God's permission, you have plenty both of bishops and of presbyters that are genuine and have no adulteration about them. Not the end.
519-34.
3. Of the same to Misael the deacon. i^From those after banishment, from the jth book the T^oth letter.)
Those who wish and desire to receive tokens of affection in God avoid under all circumstances receiving
Or. xl. 26. -2 TrXrjpo<f)opLa. ^ 2 Co. ii. 19.
such outside the scope of the divine laws or obtaining gratification beyond what these wish as something grievous : among whom I had come to beheve with the greatest possible confidence that your devoutness was included. For I confess that I loved you and do love you greatly on account of the gentleness of your manners and on account of the modesty of your character : and, in fine/ because for the sake of the orthodox faith you spurned all the stage-play of the world, and the deceitful pomps' of this life, and pleasures that wallow upon the earth and honours. But the request which, as I have been informed by letter, you are making, that the divine communion should be offered by my meanness and sent to you, for the sake of certain persons who are desirous of this, seems to have some kind of appearance of faith, but offends against the laws of the Spirit. For to those the oblation is of necessity sent who, while living in countries outside the boundaries and being orthodox, are deprived of priests to offer the rational and heavenly sacrifice. To speak with God's permission, since both saintly bishops and God-loving presbyters are living in the royal among cities, and without restraint and with boldness grive the bread of life and the cup of immortality, it is a very superfluous and hurtful thing that the holy communion beyond the boundaries should be sent to you by my feebleness. Since there is one faith and the same sound
268.
K€<fidXaLOV. ^ <i>avTa(TL<i<;.
confession not corrupted at all by any adulterating p. 269. doctrine, there is also assuredly one communion of different priests who offer it ; who are as far apart as east from west, and confess the same unadulterated faith : although some be high and exalted to heaven, and elevated by labours of asceticism and the highest degree of virtues, and others men that creep on the earth owing to the remissness and idleness of their character. It is not the offerer himself who, as by his own power and virtue, changes the bread into Christ's body, and the cup of blessing into Christ's blood, but the God-befitting and efficacious power of the words which Christ who instituted the mystery commanded to be pronounced over the things that are offered. The priest who stands before the altar, since he fulfils a mere ministerial function, pronouncing his words as in the person of Christ, and carrying back the rite that is being performed to the time at which He began the sacrifice for His apostles, says over the bread, " This is my body which is given for you : this do in remembrance of me " : while over the cup again he pronounces the words, "This cup is the newtestament in my blood, which is shed for you." ^ Accordingly it is Christ who still even now offers, and the power of His divine words perfects the things that are provided so that they may become His body and blood. But the priest who stands, p. 270. since he fulfils a mere subsidiary function only, makes
^ Lu. xxii. 19, 20.
no addition whatever to the rites that are performed, although he be an angelic and heavenly man in his character, nor does he detract anything from the divine grace, if he has lived a degraded and low life. This the divine writings confirm in another place also. Once, when Elijah the great among prophets was commanded to decree a famine against the land of Israel, because of the lawlessness and the prevalence of idolatry, he himself was commanded to dwell in hiding beyond Jordan, in the torrent-bed of Cherith ; "and the ravens brought him bread in the morning, and flesh in the evening : and he drank water from the torrent."^ But the law given by Moses reckoned ravens among- unclean birds.^ Hence this historical event that happened in the case of the prophet is pregnant with mystic and secret teaching. It teaches that the food given by God, which in the morning as p. 271. it were, that is in the visible sense, is bread, but in the hidden and invisible sense (this is the signification of " the evening") is flesh and God's body, is in no way injured or impaired by those who mediate and minister, even if they be unclean men and loose in their character after the manner of ravens. Greoforv also, the Theologian, who fed Nazianzus the small among cities, but is the teacher of the whole world over which the church is spread, who in the exalted nature of his theology reached to the citadel of Jerusalem in heaven, says in the discourse that was
^ 3 R. xvii. 16. ^ Le. xi. 14.
delivered by him upon baptism that the same grace of adoption is obtained from the laver of regeneration both by a man who has received baptism from a priest eminent for virtues, and by a man who has received it from one who is degraded and ofrovellinor in his character, both by a man who has received it from an archbishop, and by a man who has received it from a presbyter who holds the lowest rank. For both give one and the same seal, so long as they solemnize and preach one orthodox faith like in all points and sound. Just as, he says, a seal of gold and one of iron, or of some other cheaper material, so long as they bear one image and likeness engraved, p. 272. not differing in anything, impress one and the same stamp on wax, and no one who was not present and saw can discern which is the wax that received the seal from the signet of gold, and which on the other hand is that which was sealed by the signet of iron, or by a cheaper signet, since both bear the same signet not differing in anything, in the same way baptism, and similarly also the offering of the sacrifice, in no way differs, not if the priest who celebrated these be, so to speak, a man of gold in his character and approved and illustrious, by reason of the purity which comes from the practice of virtues, nor if he be one who is, so to speak, of iron, and a man who is murky and dark in his life.^ The difference of the character of those who officiate makes no difference whatever
1 Or. xl. 26.
in the mysteries that are celebrated, so long as both confess one orthodox faith, and are not stained by the stain of any heresy, nor do despite to the freedom of the preaching through servile fear and do not declare the glory of the truth " with open face," ^ or act craftily and speak with treacherous and deceitful tongue both what pleases the heretics and what pleases us the p- 273- orthodox, and laugh at both sides in an illiberal and meretricious fashion, or lie under the stigma of open abominations : for such as these one ought to avoid and spurn as standing outside the sacred limits : but let us not inquire into sins that are not open. Of these we are not the judges, but God, who searches into thinofs that are unknown and knows thino^s that are hidden. Paul, who had Christ speaking in him, rejecting grovelling fear, said, " But we are not of timidity that leadeth to perdition, but of faith that gaineth us ourselves " : '" and spurning accursed craftiness, " For we are not as many which adulterate the word of God : but, as from the truth and as from God before God, speak we in Christ Jesus :"^ and again : " Not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully : but by manifestation of the truth commendinof ourselves to all conscience of men before God " * And excluding open and notorious and stigmatized abomination he writes, " But fornication and all uncleanness and covetousness, let it not be even named among you, as becometh saints : nor abuse p- 274-
1 2 Co. iii. 18. 2 Hq X. 39. 3 2 Co. ii. 7. * Jd. iv. 2.
or words of folly or of derision and of jesting, which are not desirable":^ and again in another place, "Thou that preachest, 'thou shalt not steal,' dost thou steal ? Thou that sayest, ' thou shalt not commit adultery,' dost thou commit adultery ? " '^ These things, being open and matters of shame, are certainly to be avoided, and are unhallowed. It will be sfood and useful and will further confirm, what has been said, if we also adduce the actual words of the Theologian Gregory which run thus : " Say not, ' Let a bishop baptize me, and he a metropolitan or a bishop of Jerusalem' (for the grace does not belong to places, but to the Spirit), ' and he one of those of high birth ; for it is hard if my nobility shall be insulted by a baptizer ; or a presbyter, but he also one of the unmarried, and he one of the continent and angelic in his character ; for it is hard if I shall be defiled at the time of cleansing.' Seek not trustworthiness in the preacher, nor in him that baptizes. Another is the judge of these matters and searcher of things that are not clearly visible : since, ' man on the
face, but God on the heart ' ^ But to you everyone
is trustworthy for the cleansing. Only let him be one p. 275. of those that are approved, and not of those that are openly stigmatized, nor an alien to the Church. Judge not the judges, you who need healing. Inquire not, I pray you, into the authority of those that cleanse you. Hesitate not concerning begetters.
1 Eph. V. 3, 4. 2 Ro ii 21, 22. ^ 3 R- xvi- 7-
One is better than another, or lower ; but everyone is higher than you. But look at it in this way. Take gold : take iron : and both of them rings : and suppose the same royal image impressed on them. Then let them stamp wax. How will this seal differ from that seal? In no way. Recognise the material in the wax ; and, if you are wiser than everyone, say which is the seal of the iron and which of the gold. And how is it one ? Because the difference is in the material, not in the image. So let every baptizer be to you. For, though he is more exalted in character, yet the virtue of the baptism is equal : and everyone who imitates the same faith brings you perfection in the same way." ^ Strengthened therefore by these wise admonitions of the God-inspired Scripture and of the approved instructors^ of the apostolic church, inasmuch as you are entrusted with the ministry of God, warn our beloved brothers not to deceive themselves with such self-made fears, but to reckon and firmly believe the communion offered p. 276. by our meanness to be one with that which is consummated by our fellow-ministers, by the saintly high-priests and God-loving priests who are living there, or are passing their lives in other places, and in all points think and say the same as we do, as aforesaid. If one man say, " I partake of the communion that was offered by so-and-so the patriarch," and another boastingly say, " I partake
^ Or. xl. 26. " Marzane = [JLvcTTaL.
of that which was offered by so-and-so the ascetic," and another speak more proudly and say, " I partake of that which was offered by so-and-so who is learned and skilled in the sacred doctrines and in the divine scriptures," such men will, unknown to themselves, have fallen into another blasphemy, and be assigning human conceptions to the gift of the divine power, and besides this abomination committing also the other sin of dividing the one Christ. These Paul will rebuke in the form of a question and very reproachfully when he says, "Has Christ been divided ? " \ as well as another of our Saviour's disciples when he writes in a general epistle, "It is not right, my brethren, that these things should be p. 277 so."" Greet all that love us in the Lord. All our brothers who are with us greet you. The end.
521-36. 4. Of the same to Ccesaria the patrician.^ [From those after banishment, from the ^th book the ^^th"" letter. )
May our Lord Jesus Christ the great God and our Saviour rebuke the spirit of infirmity, as is written in
1 I Co. i. 13. ^ Ja. ii. 10.
2 Cf. Land., Anec. Syr. ii. 264 ff. This letter seems to have been written at the end of Csesaria's life ; and, as at the time of x 7, written during exile, she had not yet entered the convent in which she lived 15 years (Land., p. 267), it should probably be placed not earlier than
533-
4 B ' 44th.'
Luke/ and free your glorious modesty from this long trouble (for it is He who chastises and slays not, and smites and heals, as the divine Scripture teaches "), and render you sound and strong. This is our prayer by night and day and at all times, as God knows who hears us when we entreat : and we believe that He will complete His mercy towards you.^
Since you also ask ^ for the communion, and say ^ that you have not communicated '^ all this long time, see! we have now sent you^ this also, conceding on account of your infirmity a thing that is against the p- 278. strictness of the sacred ordinances. But henceforth we beg you,^ and we adjure you ^ by the divine power, and by Christ's infallible tribunal, before which we shall all stand, not to meditate,^ not to say do,^ anything of the kind again. It is a great and unpardonable sin that, when the faith of the orthodox priests is one, a man should take the holy and reverend communion from this one, and not take it from that. For it is Christ Himself and His mysterious words which are pronounced over the bread and the cup of blessing that complete the rational and bloodless sacrifice, not the priest who stands before the altar. This is taught both by the God-inspired words of the Old and of the New Testament, and by those who at different times fed the churches in an approved manner : the transgression of whose precepts brings great danger upon him who transgresses them : from, which may
^ Lu. iv. 39. ^Ps. cxvii. 18; De. xxxii. 39. ^Masc. pi.
God deliver both you and our poor self! In the case of the religious deacon Misael also,^ as well as the Christ-loving brothers Ammian and Epagathus, who about two years ago sent me a box and asked to
p- 279- have it filled full for them with the communion or holy oblation, I did not fall in with the impiety and superfluity of the request, writing as follows : [Here follows a citation from ep. 2, extending from ' But, when you enjoy' (p. 234 1. 17) to the end]. But it is incumbent upon us to lay down as a law concerning these things the utterances of Gregory the teacher of truth which we have mentioned, the actual words ^ of which are as follows : [Here follows the extract from Greg. Naz. given on p. 242 ff]. If therefore both the divine laws of the sacred Scripture and the precepts of the saintly fathers and teachers crive these commands, how is it not manifest breach of the law for a man to say, " I will not consent to partake of any other oblation but that which is consummated by so-and-so"? In the first place he divides Christ who in this also is one and
p. 280. undivided, and draws upon himself the condemnation of those who divide Him : in the second place, if such a man depart from human affairs, and go without having- communicated and taken with him the last provisions, his soul will be liable to be seized by the demons, who will prevent it from making the upward journey and resting at once in some light countries, but will drag it away and convey it by force to the
1 ,■;;
iii. 3. '^Xi^ei-s.
depths of countries that are dark and not light : in the third place, he will also lay himself under the burden of another condemnation for opposing the precepts of the fathers and high-priests and laying down a law, if one may so say, in opposition to these. Indeed Paul, when writing to the Romans about those who oppose political powers and authorities and their commandments, says these words : " Let every soul be subject to higher powers, for there is no power that is not from God : and those that exist are appointed by God. Whoever therefore opposeth the power opposeth the commandment of God. And those that oppose them shall receive judgment."^ If these words apply to political or military powers, how great will be the condemnation of those that oppose the rulers of the holy church and their ordinances ! For the difference and distinction is as great as between heavenly and earthly things. Withdraw therefore and dissociate yourself from such an awful and terrible judgment, and look upon all the orthodox priests as one and as Christ Himself: and reckon the sacrifice performed by all of them to be one, and do not lay down decrees against p. 281. your soul, decreeing and saying, " I will not touch any sacrifice except that which is performed by so-and-so." It is said in the legal writings given through Moses that, if a woman, being in her parents' house, decree a fast against her soul, or vow and promise to accomplish any other action, or swear that she will do something
^ Ro. xiii. I, 2.
or Other, and her father hear and keep silent and do not dissent, she that vowed or decreed shall certainly and by all means be bound to accomplish her vows and decrees : but, if, when her father hear what his daughter in the first instance decreed, he do not consent, but dissent and reject the decrees, God also will annul them, and will not require her that decreed to accomplish them. Know therefore that your excellency's decree also is null and worthless. For Gregory the father, the speaker of divine things, rejects it, and does not allow you to discriminate between priests, and say positively, " I will not communicate in the holy mysteries, unless they be such as have been consummated by so-and-so." Hear also what the legal commandment says : " But, if her father dissent in the day on which he heard her vows and decrees which she decreed against her soul, they shall not stand. And the Lord shall absolve her, because her father dissented."^ Do not therefore seek to accomplish in fact the things which you decreed, but which the father resisted and disowned ; and the Lord will absolve you, and will free you from all sickness of soul and of body, and will grant you power p. 282. to follow His laws in all things, and to impute divine things, as divine things, to God alone, and not to any man.
You say that all methods of treatment have been tried by the physicians, but all have been found useless
1 Nu. XXX. 6.
and have been defeated by the long continuance of the illness. Look therefore at the pattern of the praiseworthy woman in the Gospels who was troubled by an issue of blood for twelve years, and had spent all her wealth on physicians, and like her draw near to Jesus, and, as Mark the Evangelist says, tell Him as God the whole case and the truth. If you do this in a pure fashion He will assuredly say to you, " My daughter, thy faith hath saved thee : go in peace, and be whole of thy plague."^ Such illnesses need only the divine working in order to be healed, and this right-minded souls draw upon themselves in its entirety by confessing the sins that they have committed. The end.
IV. Fourth section.^ That one must not communicate indiscriminately or without investigation with heretics ; and how one ought to avoid being with them while they pray.
I. Of the saute to Zacharias of Pelusium. {From 513-8. those during episcopacy, from the ist book the 2o2>th, 209M letter.)
You say, " What can be made pure by that which is impure ? " But I say that this expression, inasmuch
1 Mk. V. 33, 34. ^ TtrXos.
p- 283- as it was uttered in the right spirit, makes your offering pure, although it was by nature impure and a thing acquired by iniquity (we will refrain from mentioning this in words). For there is nothing that makes God so glad as for a man to be the first to blame himself, even though he be a man who is free from all blame. He who has been the first to blame himself, progressing by degrees, will certainly give up the iniquity also. Wherefore He cries through the prophet, " Tell thou thy sins first, that thou mayest be justified."^ So also that Canaanite woman, when she was compared to a dog and accepted the insult as true, heard the high and loud testimony, " O woman, great is thy faith, be it unto thee as thou wilt."^ You deserve admiration for giving, and giving in such a spirit : but you would certainly have deserved greater admiration, if while doing this you communicated with us the orthodox. Do not think to yourself that, because you communicate with those who have prayer-house buildings, and for this reason say that you communicate with the church, that you say anything sound. This argument is childish and ridiculous : for a church is a collection of pious men which is joined in one union by right belief. As a witness of this, take Gregory the Theologian. In the discourse against the Arians he said, " These have the houses, we the indweller : these the temples, we God, and the privilege of becoming temples of the
1 Is. xliii. 26. 2 Mt. XV. 28.
living God and living ones, soul-possessing oblations, rational whole burnt-offerings, perfect sacrifices to God through the adored Trinity : these a people, we p. 284. angels : these presumption, we faith : these the power of threatening, we of praying : these the power of throwing, we of enduring : these gold and silver, we the pure word. You have made for yourselves houses of two stories and three stories (know the words of Scripture : " A cooling chamber divided by windows ") : but these are not yet higher than my faith and heaven to which I am going. Small is my flock, but it does not go towards the rock. Narrow is my fold, yet it cannot be leaped over by wolves : yet it is not such as to admit a robber, or to be captured by thieves and strangers."^ So far he. And we might have further quoted many other testimonies of the Godclad fathers, which say this same thing. But, not to extend the discussion to a great length, I leave the rest on one side, but will cite for you a passage from a certain presbyter (Isidore, I mean, a native of your city of Pelusium, who was wise in learning and in piety) which is sufficient for this present purpose. In writing to a certain bishop named Theodosius he speaks thus : " Let Eusebius who presides over the people that have their habitation in Pelusium learn what a church is. For it is most shameful and grievous that, when he does not know even this same thing, he should think to perform priestly functions.
^ Or. xxxiii. 15.
p. 285. For that the gathering of holy men gathered from right faith and illustrious character is a church, is well-known to those who have tasted wisdom. And that he, not knowing this, is pulling down that which is really the church by giving offence to many, while raising up the church-building, and spoiling the former by driving out the earnest men, while embellishing the latter with fine marble, this also is wellknown to everyone. But, if he were to gain any distinct knowledge that a church is one thing and a church-building another (for the former is made up of spotless souls, while the latter is built of stones and beams) I think he will give up pulling down the former, and embellishing the latter beyond what is needful. For it was not for walls, but for souls that the King of Heaven came here. But, if he pretends not to know the fact stated, although it is abundantly clear even to those who are very deficient, I will try to explain this by examples. For, as a sacrifice-building- is one thine and a sacrifice another, and an incense-buildingf one thingr and incense another, and a council-buildinof one thinsf and a council another (for the former means the place in which they assemble, and the latter the men who deliberate, on whom the issues both of danger and of safety rest), so also with a church-building and a church. But, if he shall say that even so he has not understood, let him learn that in the apostles' days, when the church
p. 286. abounded in spiritual gifts, and a glorious mode of life was practised, there were no church-buildings :
JV. 2. SELECT LETTERS OF THE HOLY SEVERUS. 253
but in our days the church-buildings are embellished beyond what is right : while the church (but I do not wish to say anything harsh) is jeered at. For my part, if the choice had been laid before me, I would have chosen to be in those times, in which churchbuildings embellished in this way did not exist, but the church w^as crowned with heavenly and divine gifts, rather than in these, in which the churchbuildingfs are embellished with all kinds of marbles, but the church is stripped and bare of those spiritual gifts." ^ Not the end.
2. Of the same to Am^nonius a presbyter of Alexandria, 513-6. in ivhich he gave him information as to the mention of Peter who was bishop of Alexandria. {^Froni those during episcopacy, from the \st book the 22nd letter.)
You bear witness to a wisdom in us which we do not possess, and you call yourself weak in comparison with this, as if we were inviting you to a wrestlingarena or a contest : but for my part I will in due season use the words of Job who says, " But where was wisdom found ? and what is the place of understanding ? Man knoweth not the way thereof, neither is it found among men."- Wherefore I looked to the Giver of wisdom, and to Him I yielded abundance of p. 287
^ Ep. ii. 246. 2 Job xxviii. 12, 13.
understanding thoughts, and I do not come to your brotherly person with many words, but use as few words as possible. For I think that either you have forgotten what I wrote to you before, or you are purposely turning your mind away from it. For what else ought I to have done but communicate with you when the mention of Peter was inserted in the sacred tablets, without raising any objection ? but I ought not also to be required to praise and call distinguished a man who is not at heart so regarded by me, although you are otherwise minded. And after other things. Whereas you say of Peter who was bishop of your city that he wrote to those who were at one time and another bishops of the city of Antiochus, and openly anathematized the things done at Chalcedon against the right faith, and the impious Tome of Leo, know that we too are not unaware of this : but we express blame on the ground that he embraced the communion of those who did not write the same things as he did. Indeed not a single man among those outside in the epistles that he addressed to him can be shown to have anathematized those who spoke or speak of two natures after the union, let alone the Chalcedonian Synod, or the blasphemous Tome of Leo. Tell me : if now also upon our writing to the prelate of the royal city p. 288. maybe, and anathematizing the things that we actually anathematize he were to draw up a trimming letter, containing only a confession of the right faith, but not further an anathema of the offending
things also, would this suffice for a pure, sincere, firm conjunction ? Not in the least. For instance, when Timothy was instituted after the expulsion of Macedonius, and sent a synodical letter to the saintly John, archbishop of the city of the Alexandrines, with nothing satisfactory about it, his holiness both wrote an epistle in answer, and through some method of mediation required him to remove the offending things by anathema ; for he had held his peace, and had adopted the reprehensible course of silence. But the party of Dioscorjjs and Chaeremon, having always been hirelings and hucksters of piety, were not contented with this only, but also caused a letter to be drawn up by the pious king, addressed to the saintly John, archbishop of your city, which contained no small complaints, on the ground that he had not been contented with the Henotikon only, as Peter and Athanasius and John who succeeded the latter had been, without requiring reference to be made in actual words to the impious things done at Chalcedon or to the impious Tome of Leo. And they induced the illustrious king for the purpose of proof to include in his pious letter a copy of the letters ; the letters that Peter, Athanasius, and John addressed p, 289. to the bishops who were outside : which had been produced at an earlier time also in the city of the Sidonians, when the synod of bishops was assembled there, and cast great shame upon us who were combating on behalf of orthodoxy, and nothing else was left to us
except only to hide ourselves and yield to manifest refutations/ To these was also attached a letter of the pious John the archbishop written to Dioscorus and Chseremon, to the effect that he did not ask for anything beyond the Henotikon only with no further addition. Do not therefore tell me that Peter wrote this and that to those who in earlier times occupied the throne of Antiochus' city : but show that they ever took upon themselves to write things agreeing with Peter's statements. Or, if you do not show this, he will be clearly convicted of having communicated with those who did not say and think the same as he did. How then did you bring yourself, and that though you are firm on all points, to write this assertion : " We for our part have done nothing new or great in anathematizing the Synod of Chalcedon and the impious Tome of Leo " ?
The analogy " of the dead man, who defiles or does not defile water, and the difficulty arising from it you p. 290. niust not take in this way, subjecting the mind to bodily conceptions, and restricting pollution to the effect of a multitude of bodies. In the mind of those who examine with intelliofence, a mention whether one or many of men who have committed impiety causes the same abomination : which nothing else can extinguish except an abundance as I have said of the water of right faith, copiously poured upon everyone,
^ Cf. Zach. Rh. vii. 10. - OempLa
and a loyal anathema of the offending things, like much water which covers the sea according to the expression of the prophet. ^ Not the end.
3. Of the same to Dioscorus a7xhbishop of Alexandria. 516. if^rom those during episcopacy , from the ist book the ii^th letter.)
Even when the brotherly person of your love of God is sending an embassy to the royal among cities, we are not separated from you in spirit : but we lift up to God hands that are not holy, but are much paralysed by sins ; yet still we lift them up and entreat Him, who holds in His hand the hearts of those that are held like rushing water, to incline our serene king's pious soul to compliance, and bestow grace upon your words, in order that you may obtain all that your mind desires, and rescue the Christloving city of the Alexandrines from the wrath that threatens it, while time is granted you to feed your p. 291. flock by " the water of stillness." ^ When this has been brought to pass, we will again offer prayers of thankso-ivine to Christ the Saviour of all and God, and will rejoice, and rejoice together with you at seeing by actual deeds themselves that our Lord is near and that He cares for us, so that even those who are outside our communion will say when they have seen
Is. xi. 9. ^ Ps. xxii. 2.
these things, " Truly God is among you." This fact also we reckon to be a part of such graciousness towards us, that the God-loving bishop Soteric who is placed at the head of the God-loving bishops of First Cappadocia should wish to unite with us, and should put forward propositions ^ by means of which we ought to draw those who are in the royal city also to lawful conjunction, and the God-loving bishops of Second Cappadocia also are associated with him in such a purpose. Accordingly I have thought right to inform your sanctity, in order that by common consultation we may decide upon what ought to be done. They say that we ought to receive them upon their giving us satisfaction ^ up to this point, I mean up to the point of confessing the orthodox faith and anathematizing the things done at Chalcedon and the impious Tome of Leo, who was head of the church of the Romans (would he had never been so !), and those p 292. who speak of two natures after the union and the energies and properties of these. We are by no means unaware that Timothy of holy memory, who lived in toils and labours of piety, in so far as to dwell in exile, and reckon it a pleasure to suffer for Christ, on his return thence under the Encyclical letter which had this effect, received to communion those who were separated upon their anathematizing what was wrongfully done at Chalcedon, and the impious Tome of Leo ; but, since we must do all
Trporacrcis. ^ irXrjpo^opia.
things with deliberation, and support ourselves bybrotherly counsels, therefore we have referred the consideration of this matter to your sanctity, in order that you may immediately inform us of your opinion. For it is manifest that we will do those things which you judge to be proper. When we also received the sacred letter of your holiness from Pamphylia, we rejoiced at learning at the same time how you had also in scrupulous fashion and with consideration and in the manner that became you joined the God-loving Castor bishop of the metropolis of Perga in the conduct of the mysterious service, and had communicated with him in the divine mysteries, teaching him by what you did to keep the possession of the sound faith "with all observance,"^ and to hold the beginning of our stability firm unto the end, as Paul says in his epistle to the Hebrews.^ This will more especially be the case if they keep themselves free from association in communion with those of contrary p. 293* opinions. Of this I for my part bore testimony to the Cappadocians also, reminding them moreover of the patristic law. For Basil of saintly memory in an epistle to a certain Urbicius who was a monk at that time wrote in the same strain : " We begr therefore that these things receive ecclesiastical correction, and that you hold aloof from communion with the heretics, knowing as you do that indifference in these things takes away from the boldness before Christ."^ In
^ Pr. iv. 23. 2 He. iii. 14. ^ Ep. 262. 2.
fact, to Speak the truth, if a man believe rightly, but reckon association with adversaries as nothing, it is time for him to say like Paul, " I am become sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal."^ The end.
513-8. 4. Of the same to Dionysius bishop of Tarsus. [From those during episcopacy , from the 2nd book the ^th letter. )
How I behaved with all attention and respect towards you when you came here it is not mine to say, but it belongs to you who had the experience to declare this, if need demand. Of this also I think your religiousness is not unaware, that of your own accord and without p- 294. pressure from anyone you confessed everything that is required for a confession of the orthodox faith and a renunciation of the offences that have divided the unity of God's holy churches, and ratified it in writing and in a letter. How is it then that you have treated things thus done with piety and of your own accord as nothing and do not keep them "with all observance," as it is written,^ but admit to the ministry men who do not share your belief, and by the expressions which you carelessly and lightly utter to these show that you entered into union with the cause of piety rather because you gave way before the time than because you deliberately chose what was right } Perhaps it is time for me to say
^ I Co. xiii. I. 2pj. iv_ 23.
to you the words of the Apostle also, I mean, " Ye have not yet withstood unto blood in the combat against sin, and ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto sons." ^ I shall in fact be very much ashamed, and hide myself, if we, whose duty it is to see "the Lord's glory with open face"^ and with boldness and after the manner of apostles, have the veil of fear and of respect of persons laid upon our hearts. Therefore let that which has been neglected receive the required correction and care. If the deed that has been done had been a case of rejecting my meanness, I would perhaps have overlooked it : but, if it is a case of insulting and contemning the orthodox faith, it is by no means a course free from danger for us to keep p- 295. silence in this matter, if we have any regard for the eternal torture that is threatened. For the holy Basil also in writing to a certain Urbicius a monk speaks as follows : [Here follows the citation given on p. 259]. The end.
5. Of the same to Cosmas archimandrite of the monastery 513-8. of the blessed Cyrus or Khiirish. i^From those during episcopacy , from the 2nd book the i6th letter.)
We have readily forgiven the devout Julian the sin that was involuntarily committed by him. Ignorance and the fact that the man who has sinned confesses this, and in consciousness of his fault asks for forgive-
1 He. xii. 4. ^2 Co. iii. 18.
ness, is a sufficient defence. In fact, even when the service of Moses' law prevailed, a man's ignorance, or rather the sin arising from this, was not forgiven him on any other condition except on his offering the sacrifice for sin : and now also, when the bloodless sacrifice has taken its place, and the truth has expelled the shadow, in place of a sin-ram, or a pair of turtledoves or young pigeons, and in place of offering fine wheat flour,^ we have " the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world " " : only if we duly confess the sin. For David also the speaker of divine things somewhere says in song, " I said ' I will confess my p. 296. transgression to the Lord against myself,' and thou forgavest the iniquity of my heart. "^ This also you must clearly know : that the Lord has forgiven through our meanness not only the man who committed the sin, but also all who in ignorance communicated with him. For do not think that the sin committed by the brother is less. For a man to associate in communion with heretics is grievous, and unpardonable, when the sin is voluntarily committed. For how is it anything but shameful that, while we do not consent to eat common sustenance with our own enemies, we should eat the heavenly bread which gives life to the world with the enemies of God, or that we should communicate with those that are wrongfully presented for ordination by them as with holy men, when the Apostle cries, " What communion hath light with darkness ? or
^Le. V. i-ii. 2 John i. 29. ^Ps. xxxi. 5.
what part hath a beHever with an unbeHever?"/ and John the son of thunder writes to the behevers, " If any man cometh unto you and bringeth not this teaching, receive him not in the house and say not to him ' Hail ' ; for he that saith to him ' Hail ' is partaker of his evil deeds." ?^ Therefore, these things being so, keep your heart "with all observance," as it is written.^ For that " without faith it is impossible to please" is a declaration* of the Holy Spirit.^ The end.
6. Of the same to John the count froin Antaradns. {From those during episcopacy, from the T^rd book the 2,90th letter.)
Your magnificent and believing consort did not need a letter of recommendation. For we will say both to you and to her in the words of the Apostle, "Ye are our epistle, written in our heart, and known and read by all men."*^ However your actions seem gratifying, even those which are thought superfluous. As to the prelate of Area, whereas you said in your letter that he reckons it an intolerable thing to do anything that annoys us, and this though he and those with him who are trying to bring him to this are making many prayers and entreaties, what was written seemed to be not clearly, but obscurely expressed :
^r Co. vi. 14, 15. '2}. 10, II. 2Pr. iv. 23.
* tt7rd(/)a(rts. ^ He. xi. 6. ^2 Co. iii. 2.
p. 297. 513-8.
but it informed me that he is pure in the communion which those men were desirous of rendering polluted through heretical association. And I for my part confess that this conduces to my pleasure. In fact the salvation of any man, especially of those that are loved like you, is fitly thought by me to be worth tens of thousands of talents of gold : or, to speak more justly, even worth all the pomp ^ and theatrical display in this world. But that you have rather bestowed a gift p. 298. upon yourself, not upon me, by doing this is easy to show from the God-inspired scripture. For John the speaker of divine things in an epistle to certain believers says as follows: "If any man cometh unto you and bringeth not this sound teaching, receive him not in the house, and say not to him, ' Hail.' For he that saith to him 'Hail' is partaker of his evil deeds."* And Paul the wise in writing to Titus expressed himself thus : "A man that is an heretic after one admonition and two avoid : knowing that such a man is perverted and sinneth, being self-condemned." ^ And the words written by him to the Corinthians also lead to this sense: for he says, "Therefore 'come out from among them and be separate,' saith the Lord, 'and approach not an unclean man.'"* However, not to spin out the letter by using many words, know that the ofreat Basil also, the teacher of all that is under heaven, wrote this in his letters as a kind of rule and canon, in this manner : [Here follows the citation
1 (^avracrta. -2 J. lO, II. ^ Tit. iii. lO. ^2 Co. vi. 1 7.
/
given on p. 259]. These sacred commands therefore you have followed, in that you would not at all consent to come to the communion of those who profess opinions contrary to the orthodox faith. So that, if your firmness had slackened (as I pray may not happen), how great repentance would you have needed for transgressing the strictness of such a law ! Wherefore p- 299- keep the gift that was given you by God, I mean that of the pure and unadulterated communion : for truly this is a gift of God. In fact Paul also somewhere speaks thus : " And this was not of you. For it is a gift of God : not of works, lest any man should boast." ^ The saying also of one of the wise men without seems to be in a way suited to the present topic ; " It is harder for us to keep good things than to get them." This too it is ofood to consider : if he who eats with the king's adversaries is thought to sin beyond forgiveness, where ought we to place him who eats the mysterious and heavenly bread with those who hold opinions adverse to God ? Let these words that we have written concerning your salvation which is highly regarded by us suffice : words few compared with the need, but too many for the compass of the letter. But that the ruler of Area, whom I mentioned a short time ago, is exactly like a beast of burden and a pack-ass, and that he belonofs to those who lead him rather than to himself, experience showed even before your words. You were wise and very intelligent in considering that
^ Eph. ii. 8, 9.
that letter which exposes the false profession ought to be sent to those who conduct our apokriseis in the royal city : a thing which I have in fact done. But let it p. 300. not be unknown to your greatness that he spoke the truth when he said that he had received a letter from his brother which hindered him from making- the journey to us, or rather which led him to death. The end.
519-34.
7. Of the same to father John Canopites} {From, those that were found outside the 23 books, the ^th letter.)
We for our part, feeble although we are, write everything written by your holiness upon the tablets of our heart, as it is written,^ and do not, as a man might think, read it over hastily. And we pray, as sinners, that your words may with God's help be continued to us in the time of trial. For I am in the habit of mentioning Basil and Gregory, and having their names constantly upon my tongue : but there is nothing resembling their virtue in me, seeing that I have passed all my life in negligence. As for those who, as your holiness says, starting from this place, go to other provinces ^ and communicate indifferently, my conscience does not smite me as not having given this injunction with all my power and all my capacity for
1 Cf. Vit. Sev. p. 23 ; Vit. Pet. lb. p. 132. "-2 Co. iii. 3.
^ e7rap;^6'as.
teaching, and said that want of carefulness in these things is great wickedness ; whence I did not shrink from giving personal demonstration and proof even to women, when need called, that there is a great gulf, as in the passage in the Gospels,^ between the orthodox communion and that of the adversaries, and that we have no communion or association with those of p- 301- adverse opinions. But, if some men associate secretly in so great a number of cities and of provinces,^ your sanctity knows that this reflects no blame on us. So far was I from being satisfied with the matter that I even wrote an epistle to some of our brothers in Alexandria to say that they ought not, on the pretext of worshipping in the holy places, to associate in communion with men of other opinions. These are our proceedings, and this is the position in which they stand. However matters are placed as in a balance and a scale of a balance, and we do not know what will be the result of the things that are being stirred in the royal city and the things reported concerning the synod that is to be held,^ seeing that they are variously told and differently at different times. But of this one thing we for our part are assured, that, while God extends His hand, no one will be able to lead us away from the right faith. From places and from sees removal by force is possible : but from belief it is wholly impossible, unless we ourselves
^ Lu. xvi. 26. - eVapxi'a?.
^ Perhaps the conference of 532 (see Intr. p. viii).
268 SELECT LETTERS OF THE HOLY SP:VERUS. IV. 8.
desire it, and the fear of God be lacking in our souls. For " the Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear Him and in those that hope for His grace," ^ as the singing prophet somewhere says. But you, father, help us with all the power that is in you by stretching forth your saintly hands. The end.
p. 302.
519-38. 8. Of the same to the believers in Anttoch. {Froin
those after banishment, from the 2nd book the
gth letter.)
To the holy church of God in Antioch, the devout clergymen and those that are among the people, Severus greeting in the Lord.
Neither at an earlier time when I left your Christloving city did you omit . And after other things.
And to others again, showing how great are the benefits of sufferings for Christ's sake, he wrote in an epistle, " Unto you it was given not only to believe on Christ, but also to suffer for His sake,"- calling it a gift given by God that they should suffer in the cause of piety. Fitly therefore and as beseems your intelligence and the earnestness of your character you are searching and inquiring both as to the exact nature of the right faith, and as to the way to observe this with carefulness. For a man to be polluted by the communion of heretics ruins all the labours and
^ Ps. cxlvi. II. - Ph. i. 29.
toils even of the solitary life, and leads to hell and final destruction : from which the divine John the Evangelist also tried to hinder men, writing- thus : [Here follows the citation given on p. 263]. The God-clad Basil too, the great doctor of the church, wrote in an epistle to a certain monk named Urbicius, saying : [Here follows the citation given on p. 259]. P- 303- In the letter to count Terence also he speaks thus : " But, even if a man come from heaven itself, but is not in accord with the sound word of faith, I cannot reckon him a communicator in the sacraments."^ And in writing to the same Terence's daughters who were deaconesses he repeats the same things in a terrifying form, because the Arians and Fighters against the Spirit were disturbing the churches of God and were surging against them tyrannically; "But they who speak of either the Son or the Spirit as a creature, or reduce Him in any way to a subsidiary and servile office, are far from the truth : whose communion one should shun and from whose words one should turn away as being destructive of souls." ^ And to Patrophilus the bishop he wrote thus: "If these things seem to you a fit subject for grief, impute the separation to those who were the cause. But, if you judge them indifferent, pardon us when we do not consent to be of the leaven of those who teach other things."^ Gregory also the Theologian wrote thus about the Arians who were in power at that time, as
^ Ep. 214. 2. 2 Ep 10^^ 3 Ep_ 250.
I said, and compelled the orthodox to communicate p- 304. with them against their will : " Having made this one charge only, that they did not assent to the impiety and were not polluted by the communion ; which we shun as serpent's poison, that does not hurt the body but blackens the depths of the soul."^ Let no one therefore cause you to depart from that which is right. For "in a very little while He that Cometh will come and will not tarry" :" and " He will render to every man according to his deeds." ^ For it is in very truth " a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the livinor God." * Not the end.
Sept.
537. 9. Of the same to Andrew the reader and notary. {^F7'oni those after banishjient, froiri the (^th book the 62nd letter.)
By a wonderful chance, such as no one expects before it happens, the letter of your devoutness was delivered to me on the fourth day of the present month of September, on which is celebrated the memory of the thrice-blessed Dioscorus, the archbishop and holy martyr, who is now counted among the heretics in Alexandria and anathematized by the impious. With this letter was also joined a letter of the holy virgins who were expelled from Antioch : which in us
^ Or. xxxiii. 4. - He. x. 37.
3 Ro. ii. 6. 4 He. x. 31.
excited many sighs and tears, but for them has prepared right glorious heavenly blessings, such as are described in the book of life. And after other things. But you have rightly determined that the Christ-loving p- 305- freewomen shall in no way be afraid to visit their anepsios or cousin,^ who is laid in the martyr's chapel of the holy Peter the archbishop and martyr. Where the bones of holy martyrs have previously been laid, it is right to pray without hesitation : especially when the place is in silence, and the heretics are not unlawfully conducting services or singing inside. In fact even Peter the bishop of holy memory from Iberia prayed in the house of the chapel of the glorious holy martyr and apostle Judas the brother of James, who is laid at Berytus (in the same fashion he prayed also at Tripolis in the house of the chapel of the holy victory-clad martyr Leontius).
As to the fact which you mention that they "are constantly busying themselves about the offering that they made to me, I say that here again is a timely act on the part of the sacred martyrs and divine virgins who are expected from the East, and are ready to show forth in themselves as pious women the love of God. For my part, if I be hungry or thirsty, I will rend by force the mantle and tunic with which they are clad, if they do not generously feed me. May the Lord therefore in return for everything give them a perfect reward for their good will ! You did rightly
1 Syr. "uncle's son."
in informing us further of the decease of the pious bishop Zosimus, in order that we may praise God who p- 306. did not allow him to be wholly perverted to any of the deeds of the adversaries, but to depart while in some sort counted in the communion of the orthodox, and find mercy in the judgment before the awful tribunal : that is, unless he is perhaps stained somewhere at bottom with the leprosy of heresy and with impious belief. In the case of men of this kind I say with confidence that they will find no place of clemency, seeing that, as far as in them lies, they have given strength to the noose of error to destroy the souls of many. The end.
519-35. 10. Of the same to Ccesaria the patrician. [From those which were foitnd outside the 23 books, the \^th letter.)
Out of piety that loves instruction you ask whether some of the orthodox are doing well in not communicating with the heretics, but listening to the reading of the holy Gospel, or even staying during the time of the mysterious prayers, but not communicating in the rites that are being performed. To those who are not ignorant of the divine laws the answer is manifest. John the Evangelist, the speaker of divine things, wrote : [Here follows the citation given on p. 263]. If then it is not riofht to offer even a bare sfreetinof to p. 307. those who bring another teaching and do not teach
the orthodox faith, how can one communicate in prayers and in lessons or in any other such things with such men as these ? And Paul the wise commands us to turn away even the very face from those who are in servitude to heresy, writing thus to Titus : [Here follows the citation given on p. 264]. He therefore who joins in assembly with the guilty renders himself subject to the same judgment. Nay even the holy canons of the Church have manifestly repudiated the principle of a man praying with heretics. For the hundred and thirty-fifth canon says ; " It is not right to receive the blessings ^ of heretics, which are rather noblessings and not blessings," And there immediately follows the hundred and thirty-sixth also, which says ; " It is not right to pray with heretics or schismatics," ^ These statements give the strict rule. But, when I the mean one, as far as my mean knowledge extends, consider the broadness of the God-inspired scripture, I find that men who hold ministerial posts or high offices, and are obliged to accompany and attend upon rulers, receive an indulgence, if, when they go in with them and hear a lesson and prayers, they keep themselves perfect : I mean if they do not communicate in the communion from which they are divided. For instance in the fourth Book of Kingdoms there is something like this written. A certain captain of the host of the p. 308, King of Syria of Damascus, by name Naaman, who was a leper, went to the prophet Elisha, and received
^ I.e. €vXoyLaL, presents. - Mansi ii. 570.
cleansing from his affliction. And through his healing he recognised the one and only true God of Israel, the Maker and Creator of all, and spurned the falselynamed gods and his fathers' worship and error. And, when he was about to return to his own country, he said to the prophet that he would no more look upon the strange gods and vain demons. " But," he says, " although the King of Syria go into the temple of the demon in their country who is called Rimmon, and I also Qfo in with him to do him honour and to support him with my hand, I will worship the true God in my heart, and I will recognise Him only, but I will not communicate with the king in the error and worship the demon with him. Only" (he says) "pray for me, that God may be gracious to me in this thing also on account of necessity." And the prophet was silent and did not praise or blame : but by silence he followed a middle line and orave him indulo-ence : and, having invoked peace upon him, he sent him away. But it is well that we cite also the actual words of the divine scripture, which Naaman spoke to the prophet himself, which run as follows : " ' Thy slave will no more perform a burnt-offering or a sacrifice unto other gods, but unto the Lord only. And in this thing the Lord will be gracious to thy slave, when my lord goeth into the house of Rimmon to worship p. 309 him there, because he leaneth upon my hands. And, when he worshippeth in the house of Rimmon, I, being with him. will worship the Lord God. And the Lord will be gracious to thy slave in
this thingf.' And Elisha said to Naaman, 'Go in peace. '"^ Therefore, seeing that your glorious devoutness knows these things, I pray that with pure and sincere faith you may walk in the Lord's paths both in deed and in word. For besides your other excellencies I admire also your practice of reading and meditating on the divine words, the fruits and flowers of which are displayed in your God-loving letters, which gladden those before whom they come. The end.
V. Fifth section.^ About clergymen or laymen who are converted from heresies.
f . Of the same to John the tribune, in the name ^489-508. father LeontitLS. [From those before episcopacy, fro7n the \th book the 2nd letter.^
For my part I thought that the negligence and sloth that has grown old with me, and the sleep of sins from which up to the present day I have not been roused, were unknown to the majority of men, but known to God only, " who knoweth the hearts," and makes " light the hidden thing-s of darkness," and reveals the thoug-hts that are in the mind.^ But you by namingme a city set upon a height have caused me an increase of tears, if I not only injure myself by my
4 R. V. 17-19. ^ titAos. ^ Ac. XV. 8; i Co. iv. 5.
forgetfulness, but also make myself a bad example to others who know me. The holy scripture knows of such cities also and evil powers, and men who regard impiety, whose memory the Lord destroyed with tumult. However, I considered that you were led by love and your faith towards Christ to write thus, though you distressed my wretchedness. But, concerning the other part of your letter, I was much grieved : and I prayed that the earth might open for me, seeing that you have dared to open a blaspheming mouth against the saint and archbishop Timothy, the preserver of the orthodox faith, who was left as a remnant and a root for Israel, enduring long exiles,^ and bearing Christ's marks in him. What cause of blame is there, tell me, in the fact of his receiving canonically upon repentance those who were ordained by heretics, when they anathematized their heresy in writing ? Are you not in the habit of hearing that p. 311. Melitus,- the archbishop of Antioch, was ordained by Arians, and that he afterwards showed himself an approved champion of orthodoxy, insomuch that he was thought worthy to suffer many things, and put on the crown of confession? What then? Did those who received this man at that time and honoured him with tens of thousands of praises, one of whom was the great Basil, also praise or receive the man who ordained him, holding as he did Arian opinions ? Nay, him they justly repudiated as having remained in the nets
^ efopias. ^ Meletius is meant.
of Arius, while they admired Melitus as having byrepentance purged away the dregs of heresy and combated on behalf of orthodoxy. But you say that the holy Timothy contradicted himself, seeing that at first he said that those who had been ordained should not be received, but at a later time received them. Being" an old man and without learninof and uninstructed I acquiesce in what you say. However, we find that the holy apostles also showed similar self-contradiction. For instance Peter, though he was in the habit of preaching the gospel to those of the circumcision only, and did not go on to preach to those of the nations also, because he thought it to be " unlawful to approach or join himself to anyone of another race," afterwards, when he had received a revelation from God, said, " God hath showed me also not to call any p. 312. man comm.on and unclean": and again, "God also who knoweth the hearts bare them witness, giving them the Holy Spirit even as unto us, and put no difference between us and them." ^ In such cases the purpose is approved though the things done are thought to appear in some way contradictory. But, that you may learn that it is not I only the uninstructed who say these things, I remember to have heard a discourse of the holy John, bishop of Constantinople, read : and I have now again looked for the book, and have copied some sentences from it for your affection, which give us an example bearing upon this
^ Ac. X. 28, XV. 8.
present subject, that we are not to be scandalized without reason. The discourse in which the holy man writes these things is the encomium on Paul the Apostle: and he speaks thus: "So neither would Paul have been known to imitate his Lord, except that he became now a Jew, now as one not under the law. For now he would keep the law : now he would neglect the law. And at one time he would cleave to the life here ; at another again he would despise it. And now he would ask for money : now he would refuse it even when given. And he would sacrifice, and shave : and again he would anathematize the doers of these things. And now he would circumcize : now he would reject circumcision. And the things done were contradictory : but the thought and intention from which these proceeded was very consistent p- 313- and consonant with itself. For he sought one thing, the salvation of those who saw and heard these thino-s. For this reason now he would keep the law : now he would subvert it. For it was not only in what he did, but also in what he said that he was versatile and rich in expedients : not being changed in his mind, nor passing from one disposition to another, but remaining that which he was, and treating each of the said matters in accordance with the need of the time. Do not therefore speak evil of him on account of these things, but celebrate and crown him the more on account of these things. For in fact in the case of a physician also, when you see him now burning now feeding ; and using now iron now medicine ; and now prohibiting foods
and drinks, now allowing the patient to enjoy these without stint ; and at one time restricting him on all sides, at another ordering the man who has been seized with fever to drink a glass full of cold water, you do not blame him for the variation, nor because of the perpetual change : but you will then praise the technical skill the more, because you see it boldly applying methods that seem to us contradictory and hurtful, and pledging itself for a safe result. For such is the man of technical skill. But, if we accept a physician when he does these contradictory things, much more must we celebrate the soul of Paul, which approached those in trouble in this way."^ So far the holy John : p. 314. but I wish to say one other thing which also springs from rusticity and an uninstructed mind. I consider that all the bishops throughout the earth who are bound together with one another in the orthodox faith and combined in union are one. For all follow the model of one, of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ. Therefore, as, when Cyprian in Africa with the synod under him said that all who had been baptized by heresy ought to receive the laver of regenertion, as if they had never originally been baptized at all, but at last the opinion of Sixtus of Rome, and of Dionysius of Alexandria and of the others prevailed, so that those who had been baptized by heretics in the name of the three substances, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, were not re-baptized, no one of sound « _ —
1 P. G. xlix. 498.
intelligence said that those saintly bishops contradicted themselves, but that upon later consideration they chose a better and more canonical course, so also the holy Timothy too at first, owing to the blasphemy and the impenitent heart of the Proterians as it was at the beginning, and the zeal of the orthodox people of the city of the Alexandrines, said that he would not accept p- S'S- those who had been ordained by the opposite party : but at last, when they canonically repented and he lawfully accepted them, he did not show himself selfcontradictory, but rather very consistent, since he said those things on account of the zeal of the believers, but allowed the canons to prevail, and accepted those who repented in accordance with the final conclusions of the fathers, and further by signing the Encyclical united himself to all the bishops in the world/ Though these things seem contradictory to many, yet nevertheless their one purpose was the salvation of those who had perished, and that those who stood upright might not under the influence of immoderate zeal leave the royal road, and turn away to that which is rather on the right side. Therefore, you that are beloved on account of our Lord Jesus, do not out of ignorance injure your soul : but hear me the unlearned and uninstructed, and do not revile the man of God, with whom all the fathers were satisfied at that time, not having received the satisfaction '' that is from men, but that which is from God : and I the mean and sinful
^ Cf. p. 1 8 1. ^ TrXrjpocfiopLa,
am, as I persuade myself, no false witness of this. We did not love Timothy as having been crucified for us, as you say, but as having been a true bondservant of Him who was of His own accord crucified for the race of men, and a faithful and wise steward of God's mysteries : ^ who also contended against the heresy of the Diphysites or Nestorians, and the impious p- 316. phantasy 2 of the Eutychianists, proclaiming Emmanuel to be one nature out of two, the Godhead that is and the manhood, and the same of one essence with the Father in the Godhead, and of one essence with us men in the manhood. For He took of the seed of Abraham and was made like us His brethren in all things except sin, ^ in order that He might redeem those who were under sin, and might save us by His blood, and we might thenceforth be called a holy people, inasmuch as we were created by the blood of God, who suffered for us in the flesh and remained impassible. Let your beloved person know that to all who came to my pitifulness of the holy fathers in Pamphylia, and of the Christ-loving laymen, I read what was written to me by you : and each of them urged me to write to you many things taken from the doctors who were eminent at various times in the church. For some of them actually knew you at the time when Promotus the count, whose soul is at rest, was living in the royal city : with whom you perhaps in fact - discussed these things. But for my part, seeing that
^ Lu. xii. 42 ; I Co. iv. 1. ^ 0avTao-ia. ^ He. ii. i6, 17, iv. 15.
as an uninstructed and unlearned man I avoid many words, I have sent you in an epistle the fruit of my rusticity : having besought the merciful God to place in you the wisdom which is gentle and obedient, in respect of the things that have been written by me. May the Lord of peace and of tranquillity grant us peace and tranquillity at all times and in all ways ! The end.
p- 317-
513-8. 2. Of the same to Nicias the bishop. [From those
during episcopacy, from the 2,'^d book the 323?'^
letter. )
We were surprised when your sanctity's letter came before us, by which we learned that Gennadius the devout presbyter of the village called Minidus had any doubt whether those who have received and undergone the spurious ordination, and have purged themselves of these dregs by petitions of confession which they presented to you, and have once put off by a written legal renunciation the strange and foreign clothing^ in which they thought themselves to have been clothed by the heretics, ought to return to their former grade in the ministry. Therefore they must show this in deed by returning to the former grade, and in it performing their sacred ministrations, if we are not sinning in using this same expression, and mentioning " the
1 Zeph. i. 8.
former," as if there were a second : whereas, since the second has no vahdity and is unknown to God, it is more fitting to say that they ought to minister in the true and only grade, which they have legally received, there being no other at all. For no one who has been legally ordained a deacon maybe shall be able to think of himself that he is a presbyter, whether by fraud or by some disowned and illegal hand. Therefore as I p. 318. said, the devout Gennadius must know clearly that it is by deeds that they ought to unite to themselves those who have cast from them in writingr the strang-e and accursed laying on of a heretical hand, if '' the kingdom of God is not in word but in power," ^ and not he that says "Lord, Lord!" but he that does the will of the heavenly Father enters into the kingdom of heaven. ^ T/ie end.
3. 0/ the same to the monastery at Tagais. [From 513-8. those during episcopacy, frofn the \th book the 248M letter.)
When we asked the God-loving presbyter and archimandrite Neon how your honourable cloister is faring and what its condition^ is (if one were to call that cloister a dwelling-place of the orthodox faith the expression would be appropriate), he told me that some among you out of fervent zeal are divided in a matter of names, and are passing to questions outside the
^ I Co. iv. 20. 2 ]y[^^ yji 21. ^
Karao-rao'is.
boundaries. But for my part I wish to remind you, who are disciples and hearers of Stephen who is among p. 319. the saints, that the royal road both of the faith and of the active virtues is in danger not only from things that lie on the left side, but also much more from things that lie on the right and are not recognised, and from principles and causes that appear just and are able to deceive. You remember that, when the man remembered for sanctity made a union with the holy fathers in Palestine and in Alexandria, he found certain men to be deceived by considerations that lay rather on the right side, and to be passing to scruples self-created ^ and uncanonical, of which you have a clearer knowledge : and being; moved with zeal he inquired into the affair, and subjected it to very careful examination : and the diataxeis or commands of the fathers who at various times fed the churches were scrutinized, and the truth was made manifest and judgment given in its favour by everyone, and it was decided to be right. I also when I came here found certain men saying that converts from the evil Chalcedonian faith to the orthodox faith ought to be rebaptized, on the ground that the holy bishops who met at Laodicea ^ and effected the deprivation of Flavian of evil name call those who confess two natures after the union Paulianists : and on the ground that Julius also, who was bishop of the city of the Romans, so termed
^ I.e. iOeXoOprjo-Kiia (Col. ii. 23).
^ Ephesus must be meant, but c/. p. 316.
them, as they said, in his letter to Dionysius the bishop p. 320. of Corinth r^ and I had a discussion with them, insomuch that I cited a certain enactment and showed that such must not be re-baptized, nor yet be re-anointed. Concerning names also, we must distinguish between times and look into them, and consider what ought to be required in the case of general unions, and not be confused by chance occurrences and mingle things that are not to be mingled, and excite disturbances against ourselves, and give others also, as is written, turbid filth to drink.^ I should have wished to deal with these matters in this letter also : but, since various things have been written by me in epistles to different men upon this same subject,^ I have now made isa or copies of these compositions, and have given them to the God-loving presbyter Neon, in order that they may be read to the God-loving intelligence and devoutness of your sacred company and spiritual fellowship : and I am well assured that you will place them in the ears of your hearts, and will write them on the tablets of the inner man, and will be delivered from disturbance, and with all readiness will make prayers on behalf of us, who are daily incurring dangers for the sake of the sound word of faith, and are able to say with Paul, " I swear by my boast of you, my brethren, which I have in Christ Jesus, that I die p. 321- daily," ^ it being understood that the Apostle endured
1 P. L. viii. 929. - Eze. xxxiv. 19 (?).
" Vtt6Q(.(ji%. ■* I Co. XV. 31.
such things as a test of his virtue, while we are chastised as a recompense for our sins, seeing that we have nothing else to set to the credit account, except that we show boldness on behalf of the orthodox faith. The end.
515-8. 4. Of the same to Theotecmis the presbyter and archiatros. [From those dtij'ing episcopacy, from the 6th book the i6ist letter.)
With regard to the case ^ of Mark the devout monk and presbyter you have written throughout wisely and with the religious feeling and the intelligence that belongs to you. Know however that, even if we had not the instance of the saintly bishop Eleusinius, we have many other examples provided by the holy fathers in the times of the Arians, which charge us not to repel those who have been often perverted, and recurred to the evil thing as before, but, as far as is possible, to allow them the last repentance. It is related in church histories that Asterius, who was a sophist and author among the Arians,'^ was often received and often returned to his vomit,^ insomuch that this expression of his is cited in histories. He cried out lying on his face before everyone and p. 322. saying, "Trample upon me, the salt which has lost its savour." Hosius also, the bishop of
^ -'— o^ccrts.
- Cf. Socr. i. 36, Theod. Hist. Rel. p. 1321. I cannot find this story. ^ 2 Pe. ii. 22.
Corduba, the old man, whom Athanasius who is amonothe saints often called "a man of goodly old ao-e," ^ was often perverted and overcome by the times and again received, and many others. Therefore with Mark also this same principle should hold good, and he should be received on the basis of a written document, upon his anathematizing the heresies of the Diphysites and of the Massalians, together with the impious men themselves and their impiety. For indeed " both the impious man and his impiety are equally hated before God,"- as a wise man said; although the fathers as pilots ^ from motives of policy received some men upon the impiety alone being anathematized (I refer to the pepragmena or thino-s done at Chalcedon), thinking that those who did them were also anathematized at the same time in silence. When this is done it is absolutely necessary that the office of superintendent should also be entrusted to Mark, seeing that the majority of the brethren and, if one may so say, all are asking for him as you write. Indeed after considering the matter from many points of view I have come to this conclusion, that it is better that he should be canonicallv received now while he is humbled, than that, desired as he is by many persons, he should betake himself perhaps to the royal among cities, and do things that many are wont to do, and with money buy independence, and get the monastery
^ Ap. c. Ar. 44 (?); cf. p. 207, note i.
^ W. xiv. 9. ^ KvlSepvrJTai..
under his control with Hberty to follow the impiety with head bare and unashamed. I have also received p- 323- the letter that you wrote about the hateful opinions of Romanus, in which you state that you have read the tome written by me cursorily. But I wish you to read it yet again and pay attention to the contents, and to condemn more strongly the impious man, and induce the saintly bishops also to do the same, and repudiate that wicked man by a common synodical letter addressed by them to my meanness. There is yet another thing that I had almost forgotten to make known to your religiousness, viz., that the devout Mark in what he said displayed an appearance of shrinking from the superintendence of the monastery, and seeking only to live at peace, and besides this asserted further that a royal letter had assigned the monastery to the apostolic see of the city of the Antiochenes, and that the clergymen in Tarsus had a spite against them, and prevented them from lessonreading and the offering of oblations if they were in need, the holy remnants of the bloodless sacrifice being often lackino- to them. And I said to him and to the man who was with him, " You cannot raise these matters now : but for the present you Mark must certainly show true repentance by a form of satisfaction^ and by a change in your deeds, and then, if you have the witness of time to the blamelessness of your future conduct, we will also go on to settle the said points," if
TrXr)po<f)opLa. " K€(f>dX
aia.
anyone try to act perversely towards you, and to do any spiteful and injurious action to your holy monastery," Therefore, in order that the questions raised upon these subjects too may not be unknown to you, I have added these few words in the letter, p- 324. Moreover on second thoughts I have determined to warn your religiousness of this further point also : that, when I was composing the letter to the metropolitan,-^ and I thought that the number of brethren living in the monastery was large, I came to the following decision : that is that the entrusting of the superintendence to the devout Mark should depend on the opinion of the majority. But I learn that there are not more than fifteen : and distinct information has been sent me that one or two only are thought to be opposed to him, and that it is certainly he who ought to receive the post of superintendent, upon giving complete satisfaction with sincerity and with his whole heart, so far as men can see. We have also sent an isoii or copy of the form of satisfaction" which our notaries have drawn up, having compiled it from other forms ^ that were previously composed by me in the cases of various persons.
The God-loving Basil bishop of Pompeiupolis has informed us that he has been compelled by the Godloving Dionysius bishop of the metropolis to undertake an unlawful laying on of hands or ordination. If this is really so, it is also proper that your love of
V. 5. -^ ■!rXripo<f>opia. ^ '7r\-qpo<^op(.a<;
p- 325-
515-8.
God and the religious presbyter and logothete John should take care that it too receive correction. The end.
5. Of the same to Dio7iysius bishop of Tai^stis. [From those during episcopacy, the bth book the ij^th letter.)
Having by many circuitous and roundabout methods succeeded in mastering the various aspects of the case^ of the devout monk and presbyter Mark, and having considered all the circumstances that had come to my knowledge, and finding that he is repeatedly changing, I remembered Him who speaks through Jeremiah the prophet and says to Israel who had sinned, " Behold ! I will enter into judgment with thee when thou sayest, ' I have not sinned ' ; because thou hast been very scornful so as to repeat thy ways ' ; and again, " if a man put away his wife, and she go from him and become another man's, shall she return to him again ? " ;; and again, " Lift up thine eyes to uprightness and see where thou hast not been defiled.""" But the same may be seen holding forth the broad path of repentance and saying through Isaiah the gracious words, " I held forth my hands all the day unto a disobedient and gainsaying people, who walk in a way that is not good but after their sins " ; ^ and the day is the whole of this life according to Paul the Apostle who says, " Exhort yourselves daily while it is called to-day, that none of
1 vTTo^ecri?. - Jer. ii. 35, 36, iii. i, 2. ^ Is. Ixv. 2.
you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin."^ Therefore my conclusion and judgment is that an p. 326, opportunity for penitence be given to the said devout presbyter and monk Mark, in order that he may anathematize in writing the heresies in which he has shared, viz., that of those who divide our one Lord and God Jesus Christ into two natures after the union, and that also of the Massalians with the persons themselves and the doctrines, as we also here caused him to draw up a form of satisfaction ^ here in writing. For indeed we find certain men in the times of the Arians who removed themselves from the communion of the holy fathers and fell away to the error of the heretics, and were again converted and were not repelled. However the devout Mark must henceforth be cautious and know clearly that it is not possible for him to retain our communion and that of those who do not think the same as we do, seeing that Paul who had Christ speaking in him warns us to shun even communications with such men, saying, [Here follows the citation given on p. 264]. And John the speaker of divine things writing an epistle and holding the same opinion speaks thus ; [Here follows the citation given on p. 263]. And Basil, who was moved by the same Spirit as these, and is an accurate teacher of the sacred laws, wrote in the letter to Urbicius the monk as follows; [Here follows the citation given on p. 259]. p. 327. If the circumstances of the present case^ concerned
^ He. iii. 13. ^ irXiqpot^opia. ^ viroOecTL^.
only the person of the devout presbyter and monk Mark, I would perhaps have closed the letter with these texts. But, since it is a habitation of many brethren, and a headship of rational souls that have taken upon them the philosophic life, in singing of the comeliness of which and the pleasure that it gives to God and in chanting those harmonious spiritual songs the prophet David sang crying, " Behold ! what is good and what beautiful except that brethren should dwell together, as ointment upon the head that runs down upon the beard, the beard of Aaron ? ",^ it is your sanctity's duty to look at the number of the brethren dwelling in the monastery, and to comply with the opinion of those who are the majority, provided firstly that the oftenmentioned devout Mark did not intrude himself bv force and violence, and secondly that he is not by his association disturbing and dissolving the bond of unity, to speak in the language of the Apostle," and the concord of those who are living a life that has no association with the world's confusions, and is beautiful and lovely p. 328. and resembles ointment. Repentance is not a thing of the same kind as the spiritual headship and superintendence of a monastery. Such men must be of approved character, and men who have walked in all virtue, according to the utterance of the Lord which says in the Gospels, "Who then is the faithful and wise bondman, whom his lord set over his house to give them the food in due season ? blessed is the bondman
1 Ps. cxxxi. I, 2. 2 Eph, iv. 3 (?).
whom his lord shall come and find so doino-."^ I therefore upon the devout monk and presbyter Mark showing penitence in canonical form and confessing his sin have opened to him the door of repentance. But it rests with you, as I said, to determine the question of the headship and superintendence of the monastery, according to the opinion of the brothers who form the majority : because in such cases it is the more fitting course to acquiesce in the wish of the greater number. This I say because I have received a written petition pleading for the devout presbyter and monk Mark, and containing signatures given by the devout clergymen and monks of the same said monastery, which are in number ten only. Therefore, p. 329- since it was not my part, being at a distance, to give a judgment upon the details of such a question, I have of necessity committed to your holiness the duty of makino- a detailed investioration of the matter. Considering therefore both points, I mean the superintendence of the cloister, and the gain or loss in regard to the brothers themselves, give a proper decision upon the disputed questions with help and inspiration and grace from above, without which it is impossible for any right action to be done.
As to the devout presbyter Julian, the brother of the God-loving bishop Serenus,^ I forbear to say anything, being convinced that after such an experience he would never have dared to convey false
^ Mt. xxiv. 45, 46. ^ Cf. p. 114.
P- 33°- 513-8.
information to the pious ears of our serene Christloving king. If in addition to what has already been done he have presumed to do this also, he falls by divine and human laws, from which there is no possibility of escape. The end.
6. Of the same against those who say that men who have communicated with the Synod of Chalcedon, and are penitent and anathematize those who call 07tr one Lord and God Jestcs Christ two natures after the ineffable union and come over to the orthodox faith must be re-anointed. [From those during episcopacy, from the gth book the \st letter. )
I for my part am not conscious in myself of any quality such as that to which you bear witness, when you say that the fame of our meanness has gone out over all the earth, and that we are one competent to teach and to heal the afflictions of the soul : but I know clearly that, if I utter anything that is on the right side and is capable of profiting, it is out of the writings and labours of the God-clad educators ^ of the church that I utter and speak this : and I think that I hear plainly from God what is said by the wise Paul, " And what hast thou that thou didst not p. 331. receive ? but if thou didst indeed receive it why
1 Maithyai raze = fiva-TaywyoL.
boastest thou as if thou didst not receive it ? " ^ For I for my part am not competent to break the bread of knowledge for those that are hungry : on the contrary I gather the food of learning by picking up the crumbs of the orthodox shepherds, and so I seem to give this to others also. Wherefore it is from their labours that I make answer to your affection also, and it is by adducing their utterances that I find a solution of the doubts that have been raised.
Whereas you say that those who assembled at Chalcedon, and divided our one Lord and God and Saviour Jesus Christ by calling Him two natures after the union fell under the anathema laid down against abominable godless heresies, and that men coming from them are not to be received, but their " end is to be burned," ^ because they are devoid of the grace of the Holy Spirit, know that you have missed the truth. That by denial of the faith they are stripped of every spiritual heavenly gift it is impossible for me to gainsay ; but that when they repudiate and renounce the heresy and condemn it by anathema, and come over to the church, they are according to the ordinances of the fathers to be p. 332. received, I will try to show in what I am about to say (by the church I too mean the confession which is founded on the true faith, since Peter also heard the words, " Thou art Cephas aad upon this rock will I build my church, and the gates of Hades shall
1 I Co. iv. 7. 2 He. vi. 8.
not prevail against it " : ^ and I find that Gregory the Theologian also says of the Arians who formerly held the temples of God, " They have the house, we the dweller in it : they the temples, we the privilege of becoming temples of the living God""). Now, when Cyprian held a prominent position at Carthage in Africa, and God-loving bishops assembled there, who were in number eighty-seven, some from the same Africa itself, some from Mauretania and Numidia, p. 333- they determined that those who come from all heresies should be perfected by the true baptism of the church,^ as if they had not been baptized at all, not distinguishing the character of each of the heresies, but bringing all under one pronouncement/ It was from God-loving zeal that these adopted this resolution : as is clearly shown by the words which the holy Cyprian who has been mentioned wrote in epistles to Juvian and Ouintus and Magnus, where he also includes a reference to those who are baptized on their beds during sickness.^ And soon afterwards Dionysius to whom it fell at that time to feed the church of the city of the Alexandrines, writing to Dionysius his namesake and Stephen, who presided over the holy church of the city of the Romans, made a distinction, saying that those who had been baptized in the name of the three substances, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, even though it were by heretics
^ Mt. xvi. 1 8. " Or. xxxiii. 15. ^ Cf. p. 212.
■* d7rd0acrts. ® Ep. 69, 71, 73.
that they were baptized, but still such as confess the three substances, should not be re-baptized : but p- 334- converts from the other heresies should certainly be perfected by the baptism of the church. This opinion the three hundred and eighteen fathers who assembled at Nicaea also followed, and those who fed the churches after them. Those who assembled in Africa in the days of Cyprian, looking at the common name of the heresies only, applied a single method of cure. But the contemporaries of the great Dionysius and those who came after him distino-uished the varieties of diseases, and so applied to each of them the cure suited for it. Just as in bodily troubles every infirmity is termed disease, and they are expressed by this general name, which however covers many different diseases, fever for instance and dropsy and elephantiasis, so also in the weaknesses of the faith every aberration from the sound word is named generally heresy, but every one of the diseases that are included in this term is not of the same character : for neither do they hold an equal eminence in impiety. But, as a skilful physician heals a man with fever in p. 335- one way, and in another a man who has ague maybe or dropsy, or is troubled by a swelling of the spleen, in the same way those also who healed and fed the churches with more than ordinary spirituality and sagacity judged it right to distinguish the nature of each heresy, and did not think the same cure fit to be applied to those who shared in the sickness of Novatus and of Photinus, and to those who had
been stained with the corruption and mire of Paul of Samosata. The nineteenth canon of the three hundred and eighteen fathers requires those who come from Paul of Samosata to be re-baptized : ^ but in the case of converts from Photinus and Novatus to the orthodox church the hundred and tenth canon, which was enacted by the synod that assembled at Laodicea in Phrygia, decided that they should be perfected by chrism : " although much the same folly gives birth to the miserable heresy of Paul of Samosata and of Photinus, and they do not differ from one another except to a slight extent. And yet we for our part p. 336. follow the regulations of the fathers and do not make ingenious investigations, nor have recourse to that which in former times pleased Cyprian and those who assembled in Africa, whom we mentioned shortly before. For we must follow the common conclusions made at different times by the God-loving orthodox rulers of the churches, and not adduce the private conclusions of different men, or opinions which seem to contain self-created scrupulosity ^ or strict teaching, and lay down a contrary law, and presumptuously contend against the holy fathers. Indeed the holy Cyprian himself, as if laying down a general canon in his letter to Ouintus, enjoins that we ought to followlater principles adopted as a matter of expediency and for the sake of the union of the church, and not be
^ Mansi ii. 676. - Ibid. 566.
■' Sebyanayuth dehltha = lOeXoBpyja-Kcm (Col. ii. 23).
shackled by prejudices held at an earlier time : and I am convinced that he was moved by the Holy Spirit to say this beforehand : and that though he was then insisting that converts from all heresies should be p- 337- perfected by the baptism of the church. This is what he says : " Moreover also Paul the Apostle, being himself also concerned for peace and concord, entreats and teaches in his letter in such words as these : ' Let two or three prophets speak : and let the rest discern. But, if a revelation be made to another while sitting, let the first keep silence.' By this he clearly taught and showed that many things are revealed to each man for the better : and therefore each man ought not to be constantly and at all times contending for the opinions which once won his approval and prevailed : but, if anything better and more beneficial show itself, gladly accept it. For, when better things are brought before us, we are not conquered, but are instructed : especially in things that conduce to the unity of the church, and to the hope and assurance of our salvation."^ Therefore it is rig-ht to consider what was determined by those who assembled at Ephesus to depose the impious Nestorius and anathematize his doctrines. Now after the examination of the heresy and its refutation, and the deprivation of that wicked man, Charisius a presbyter from Philadelphia (this is a city of the province ^ of the Lydians) came through into the midst, and laid before everyone a silly p. 338.
^ Ep. 71. 3. ^ iirapx^ot..
symbol composed by Theodore of Mopsuestia the teacher of the folly of Nestorius, and showed that there were many from that country who had denied the accurate faith of the three hundred and eighteen fathers, and had fallen away to this alien and spurious symbol. And they were moreover brought in and anathematized the hateful heresy of Nestorius ; ^ and they did not put forward any such canon declaring that converts from his perdition to the bright light of orthodoxy must be perfected by baptism or by chrism ; nor has anyone been shown to have been anointed at that time : and this thougfh the schism lasted a lonotime, and the bishops of the East supported Nestorius, and separated themselves from the Catholic synod, and afterwards joined themselves to the same and were reconciled at the time when Paul bishop of the p. 339. city of the Emesenes went to Alexander's city and acted as mediator of the union between the churches in Egypt and in the East. As it seemed necessary to the men of earlier days that converts from heresies should be perfected through baptism, but afterwards a sag-acious discrimination regarding; the matter introduced the principle that some must be re-baptized, others re-anointed, so concerning the Nestorian heresy the fathers after examining the character of the heresy decided that the impious doctrine should only be anathematized by those who repent. Paul of Samosata and Photinus sinned
^ Mansi iv. 1344.
against the very substance of God the Word, and assert the Lord born of Mary to be a mere man. But Nestorius says that He is the Word which existed before the ages, but divides the mystery of the dispensation into two by saying that it was not in substance but by brotherly conjunction that God the Word was united to the flesh containing the intellectual soul. Therefore we embrace the conclusion adopted by the fathers, and the cure that was introduced by them with reference to converts from the Nestorian heresy we hold as a law that cannot be shaken, and we do not have recourse to the conclusions p. 340. that were adopted and introduced by the men of earlier days with reference to other heresies : but we decide that each conclusion has its own validity in the case of those with reference to whom it was introduced : for everything whatever that God's priests decide, this is a law. As the men of earlier times gave the gift of the Holy Spirit to the heretics who were devoid of His grace by means of the true baptism of the church, and those who came later filled up what was lacking in those that repented by means of chrism, so in the case of converts from the evil belief of Nestorius also the fathers thought that an anathema of the heresy ought to be sufficient to fill up what is lacking in them ; and, whatever was determined by them to be sufficient, this we, as I said, observe as a law. For it is written ; "the lips of a priest shall keep knowledge : and they shall ask law at his mouth, because he is an
angel of the Lord the All-ruler."^ And, since this course was approved by them, we believe that it was rightly approved, in accordance with the apostolic statute that says, "With the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth man confesseth unto salvation,"" according to the Lord's utterance that does not lie which says, " By thy words thou
p- 341. shalt be justified."^ This same principle one may see in the case of ordinations also. For the statute is that converts should be re-ordained, or should be ordained, when they come from those sam.e heresies from which when men come over to piety after having received a spurious baptism from them they are perfected by the true baptism.' And I will show you clearly that ordinations also that were performed by the Arians were accepted by those who then presided over orthodoxy. Now in the times of the Arians there were two sections among our brothers who confessed the orthodox faith in this great Christ-loving" city of Antiochus, because of the wrongful expulsion of Eustace ; and each of the same sections had an orthodox bishop, one having Paulinus and the other Melitus : and, Paulinus having left the life here and uncanonically appointed Evagrius his successor (for he ordained him alone without having two or three
p. 342. bishops with him as the ordinance of the church commands), after Melitus' decease and his departure to God the other section lawfully and according to the
1 Mai. ii. 7. 2 Rq ^ j^ 3 ^^ ^ii. 37. ^ Cf. p. 181.
canons nominated Flavian, by the psephisma of a large number of bishops, and Evagrius and Flavian disputed the throne ;^ and, the ordination of Evagrius (who had also departed from the life here) having been repudiated as unsound, Theophilus who was bishop of the city of the Alexandrines writes to Flavian to accept the clergymen who had been ordained by Evagrius, speaking thus: "Therefore in your days allow those also who assemble apart by themselves to be united to the clergy under your religiousness, and to the whole people. If we are in communion with the devout Anastasius, bishop of the church of the Romans, and he gives the communion of clergymen to those who assemble by themselves, and communicates with them all, you understand to what the conclusion points. Therefore, seeing that the reverend Anastasius our fellow - minister has p. 343- communicated with them, I think it henceforth necessary that a concession on the ground of policy should be made to them, in order that the peace with our beloved fellow-ministers in the West may not be disturbed on account of anything that is wanting. Therefore I pray you to assume a salutary courage for a good end, in no point yielding to those who maintain the principles of strictness. Being an old man, you are well aware that our holy fathers cured more difficult matters than these, and that, adopting intelligent counsels, they became * to those not under the
1 Cf. p. 223.
law as not under the law,'^ and checked things difficult to cure, and did not disturb the whole body of the church. Wherefore Ambrose also of blessed memory [received those who had received ordination from Auxentius his predecessor in Milan : and they received many others in the East who had not been ordained by the orthodox, lest, if these remained outside, the heresy of the Arians should strike root, and the flocks perish, and the greater portion of the body of the nations be lost. In this way they treated both those of Palestine and Phcenice and many others ; properly relaxing the strict rules of ordination for the sake of the salvation of the nations, so that after these things the universal concord might remain firm and P- 344 unshaken. Accordingly, since things that are serious and are incurable were by making a great concession as far as was possible healed without turning to evil, it is not difficult, but very easy, for these things to be now managed ; since we have chosen by comparison the faults of the orthodox rather than the virtues of the Arians." Bearing these things in mind, show us that men who come from the heresy of Diphysitism, that is of the Nestorians, ought to be re-baptized, in order that we may be compelled to insist upon re-ordination also ; or, if you do not show this, respect the laws laid down by the fathers, and orderly administration. For neither has Timothy of holy memory, who fed the church of the Alexandrines in apostolic fashion,
^ I Co. ix. 2 1.
been shown to have been inconsistent with himself, as you vainly suppose/ When the people under the influence of ardent enthusiasm were unwillino- '
even to look at those who had received ordination from Proterius, he, wishing to soften their sternness p. 345. and to follow a course opposed to them, spoke to them in such words as these, " Regard them just as if they had received ordination from me " ; or, as you say, " I have determined to give them ordination " (for we will allow it to be thus) : and, after seeing that by the application of this remedy the sternness of the zeal was softened, he did not in the matter of the reception of those who derived ordination from Proterius transgress against the moderation of the canons, nor was he carried away by the violence of zeal ; but he restrained enthusiasm by the cords of politic action ; and he induced them to acquiesce in the established canons. And, when he accepted the repentance of the converts, he did not give them ordination at all, a thing contrary to the intention of the canons ; nor did he recur to the strictness of the men of early days and their stern method. As to the principle that these things are rather matters of politic administration, and not inconsistent, the divine Paul also signifies it to be so in that he p. 346. circumcised Timothy by reason of the policy which he adopted towards certain persons, as the Book of the Acts clearly states, saying : " And he took and circum-
1 Cf. pp. 181, 276.
cised him, because of the Jews who were there in the country. For all these knew that his father was a Gentile."^ But to the Galatians, who had turned to the observances of Judaism, he writes as for the general profit, and as if laying down a law for the whole church, and says : " Behold I Paul say unto you that, if ye are circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing." ^ And that this is so the saintly John will bear witness, who with wisdom fed the holy church at Constantinople, in that in the fifth book of his Praises of the apostle Paul he speaks thus : " For he desires those things only which bring him advantages in God, even though it happened that these were contrary to the previous actions. For he was something versatile, and rich in expedients ; not that he acted hypocritically (far be it !) ; but he became everything which the necessity of the preaching and the salvation of men required : and in this also he imitated his Lord. For God too would appear as a man also when it was necessary for Him so to appear ; and again in fire when the time required this ; and at one time in the form of an armed man and a soldier ; and at another in the p. 347. guise of an old man ; and at another in the breeze ; and at another as a wayfarer ; and at another He becomes human, and did not refuse even to die so. But, when I said that this was necessary, let no one think that there is reference to compulsion ; but to His mercifulness only. And He sits sometimes upon
^ Ac. xvi. 3. " Ga. v. 2.
a throne ; sometimes ag-ain upon the cherubim. But all these things He did in accordance with the subservient dispensations. For this reason He said through the prophet also, ' I have multiplied visions ; and through prophets I have made myself like.' [Here follows the citation given at p. 278 ff I give such variations only as are nearer to the original, which are as follows : 1. 5 ' Paul, who imitated his Lord, have been condemned. He becomes now a Jew, now as one not under the law ; now one who keeps ' ; 1. 1 2 om. ' again ' ; 1. 19' For this reason he now supports the law, now subverts' ; p. 279 1. 9 ' For this the man of professional skill does '.] For those that are diseased in soul require treatment and cure no less than those that are sick in body : and, if you simply offer them everything, the cause of their salvation will be ruined."^ Holding this same opinion, the holy Theophilus also in the letter to Flavian, which we mentioned shortly before, speaks thus : " Therefore carry out this policy boldly. If the Apostle ' became to them that were without law as without law, being- not without law to God, but under the law of Christ,' and ' became everything to every man that he might by all means save some,' "" the reception of those who assemble apart according to the rank which they hold does not steal away your reputation,^ but rather indeed in- p. 348. creases it ; nor yet are you acting inconsistently when the urgency of the case compels the adoption of a
^ P. G. xlix. 498, 499. 2 I Co. ix. 21, 22. ^ VTr6Xr]{f/i<;.
policy of concession for the sake of profit. You knowthat the blessed Paul also, looking to what was of advantage, circumcised Timothy; but puts the Galatians, who were circumcised, to shame, in that he writes, ' If ye are circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing.'^ And, among wise men, he does not appear to be inconsistent, but to be acting in a politic manner towards living men, while healing troubles that occur with great profit."
But perhaps when you hear these things you will say, " Who is there among orthodox bishops who received those who assembled at Chalcedon, or rather those who succeeded to their sees, upon repentance ? " But I as against this will bring before you a scriptural law which shows how the God of repentance accepts and justifies a sudden conversion to virtue, such as has now taken place in the countries of the East, where all by the divine counsel under behest from above have cast forth and banned the heresy of the duality of the natures with definite anathemas, and have in pure fashion confessed the faith of the fathers, which is pure from all corrupt mixture and alien addition. When in old times the Jews had lapsed, and had fallen into the pits of idolatry, and had so much neglected the law of their fathers that even the places for the performance of the priestly service that was commanded by Moses were no longer maintained, then Hezekiah was established as kinof, and, his mind havino- been en-
^ Ga. V. 2.
lightened by God, he wished to sacrifice the passover according to the law, and according to the law he p- 349- commanded that Aaron's sons only should offer the sacrifices, as is said in the Book of the Priests : " And they shall kill the calf before the Lord, and the priests Aaron's sons shall bring the blood near, and pour it out all round by the side of the altar that is before the doors of the tent of witness. And they shall flay the burnt-offering, and cut his limbs in pieces." ^ But at that time, since the priests were too few,^ contrary to the intention of the law, Levites also were brouQfht forward together with Aaron's sons to perform the service : and the passover was celebrated without the purification of the whole people having been strictly carried out. And God accepted the pleasant savour, having had regard to the completeness of the repentance of their hearts, though it was thought to be defective in the matter of lack of faith. But it is well also to recite to you the actual words of the Holy Spirit, which are written as follows, in the second part of the Book of Chronicles : " And the priests received the blood from the hand of the Levites, by reason of the numbers of the congregation, and they were not sanctified. And the Levites had the charge of sacrificing p. 350. the passover, for everyone who could not be sanctified to the Lord, by reason of the multitude of people from Ephraim and from Manasseh, and from Issachar and
1 Le. i. 5, 6.
2 12,168 " But, since the priests were at that time too few."
from Zebulon, and they were not sanctified ; but they even ate this passover contrary to the scripture. And Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, ' The good Lord God be propitious toward every heart that has turned in sincerity to seek the Lord God of their fathers, and not according to the purification of the holy things.' And the Lord hearkened to the voice of Hezekiah, and healed the people."^ Observe clearly the reason for which God accepted such repentance, as stated in the divine scriptures ; because they had prepared their hearts to seek the Lord God of their fathers. And even after the coming of Christ in the flesh one may see that this happened in the church also. Socrates, who wrote the Church History, related a similar thine in the seventh book and the second chapter; and he writes thus: "At Synada, a city of Phrygia Pacatiana, a certain Theodosius was bishop, who vigorously persecuted the heretics of the religious party of the Macedonians, of whom it contained many, expelling them not only from the city, but from the country-districts also. And this he did although it is not the practice of the church of the orthodox to persecute ; and not out of zeal for the right faith, but because he ministered to the passion of avarice, and was desirous of amassing gold from the heretics. For this reason he set everything in motion against those p. 351. who held the opinions of Macedonius, putting arms into the hands of the clergymen who were subject to
^ 2 Pa. XXX. 16-20.
him, and using countless tricks against them ; and he did not even refrain from putting them in bonds in law-courts : and especially their bishop, whose name was Agapetus, he harassed in various ways. But, since the governors of the country seemed insufficient for his purpose in the infliction of punishment, he betook himself to Constantinople, and asked for orders from the prefects/ And, while Theodosius was for this same reason spending time in Constantinople, Agapetus, the leader as I said of the religious party of Macedonius, came to a good resolution. For he consulted with the whole of his clergy, and summoned the people who were under subjection to him, and persuaded them to accept the faith]^ of the co-essentiality. And, having arranged this, he ran immediately to the church as fast as he could with a great multitude or rather with the whole people. And after conducting prayer he occupies the throne on which Theodosius was wont to sit. And, having united the people, and preaching from that time the faith of the co-essentiality, he took possession of the churches under Synada. And, these things having happened in this way, not lonof afterwards Theodosius arrives, brinofino- with him assistance from the prefect.^ But, not knowing anything of what had happened, he made his way to the p. 352. best of his ability towards the church. But, being driven from it by all alike, he again made his way to
vwap^oi.
The bracketed portion is supplied from another version : see text, p. 343, note 7. ^ €Trapxo<s.
Constantinople. And, when he was there in the presence of bishop Atticus, he bewailed his fortune as having been without reason driven from the bishopric. But Atticus, since he knew that the affair had turned out for the benefit of the church, consoled Theodosius in words, persuading him to embrace a retired life without anger, and taught him to prefer the common good to his own, while he writes to Agapetus to keep the bishopric without imagining that any annoyance would result from Theodosius' anger." ^ Tell us therefore in this case, my excellent man, what chrism or what laying on of hands, or what ordination, confirmed these proceedings. Or is it matter of previous knowledge that the uprightness of their heart, to use the words of the divine scripture," made these also genuine instead of spurious,^ and this though they had been converted from the stinking heresy of Macedonius which blasphemes against the Holy p- 353- Spirit, in the case of which the perfecting rite of chrism is in fact laid down as necessary for those who repent from it ? But perhaps under the influence of a mistaken feeling you will further bring up against us that you do not accept the testimony of Socrates who is a Novatian in heresy. But know plainly that especially in historical narratives even the statements of those that are such are accepted. For instance the holy Basil in his letter to Amphilochius cited the testimony
1 Socr. vii. 3. - Ps. cxviii. 7.
3 The word is corrupt : the other version shows this to be the meaning.
both of Eusebius known by the name of Pamphilus and of Origen, who in doctrines are faulty, saying that they are trustworthy owing to their great experience. And Basil cited the testimony of those men to support doctrines : but we do so only for a statement of bare historical fact. But it is well that we quote to you the actual testimony of the holy doctor, which is as follows : " But, if Eusebius the Palestinian also is trustworthy in any man's eyes on account of much experience, we produce the same expressions from him too in the ' Difficulties concerning the polygamy of the ancients.' p. 354. For he speaks thus, encouraging himself to deal with the subject : ' Inviting as a guide the holy God of the prophets through our Saviour Jesus with the Holy Spirit.' "1 Upon Origen also, a man who has not much that is sound in him in all his tenets concerning the Spirit, we now find that under the Spirit's direction he bestows praise in many of his comments on the Psalms. Follow therefore the statutes of the divine scripture, and the dispensations of the fathers of which they made use from time to time, under the influence of miore subtle consideration and being much concerned for the abolition of the divisions and for church unity. There is in fact no one who denies that heretics are base and split coin, and in need of the grace of the Spirit. But the educators^ of the church supplied this want in many ways ; in some cases by fresh baptism, in others by chrism, in others by those who repent
^ De Sp. S. 72. - Maithyai raze = fx-va-TaywyoL
merely condemning the impious belief by anathema, and renouncing the stain of heresy, and attaching
p- 355- themselves to orthodox opinions. If you have recourse to what was approved by the men of earlier days, and say that the Holy Spirit must be given through chrism to converts from heresies, inasmuch as the heretics cannot give what they have not, it is time for you to have recourse to the other rule too and say that it is also absolutely necessary for them to be re-baptized, according to the opinion held by Cyprian. But it is very plain that we must follow the more recent precepts of the fathers, and the methods of cure which they introduced for each disease, and not issue commands out of presumption and pride, and lay down a law going beyond what seemed to them to be good. For " the Spirit bloweth where it listeth 'V as it is written, and it determines the regulations of the high-priests, and accompanies their sacred utterances. I am convinced that it was for this reason that in the Acts of the Apostles also, when Cornelius the centurion and those with him had with all their heart believed in the preaching of Peter the chief of the apostles, the Holy Spirit went in advance of the water, so that Peter said, " Can any man forbid water to these that they should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Spirit even as we ? " ^
p. 356. If you think Theodotus^ a man of strict practice
^ John iii. 6. 2 ji^^^ x. 47.
^ C/. Zach. Rh. v. 4 ; Evag. iii. 6 ; and see p. 185.
because he recently introduced chrism in the case of the heresy of the Diphysites, know clearly that others also among those who were zealous against this heresy were afflicted with a madness that surpassed his in strictness. For instance a certain Cassian, who was a disciple of father Romanus who is among the saints, who after an approved fashion was distinguished in Palestine for ascetic life and excelled at that time in tens of thousands of gifts of the Spirit, caused many of the disciples to secede : and he betook himself to Skanthin (?)/ and used audaciously and illegally to baptize converts from the Chalcedonian evil belief About this same Theodotus, who went through tens of thousands of changes, and contradicted himself, and is led in different directions at different times like the teachers of the adverse party, I might have said much, which I pass over. For he further also adhered to the fatuities of John the Rhetor," who said that it was in His essence that the Word of God endured the saving cross and took upon Himself the passion on our behalf, and would not consent to call the one Lord and our p. 357- God and Saviour Jesus Christ of one essence with us in the flesh : a point which you also omitted in the preface ^ of the document that was published in which you make confession of faith, and thereby dealt us no small blow and eave cause of offence. Nevertheless, just as I said, it becomes us to pass his affairs by in
1 14,601 " Skthys " (Scythopolis ?).
" Cf. Zach. Rh. iii. 10. ^ irpooLfiia.
silence : for we do not draw a defence from the sins of others for propositions advanced by ourselves, nor do we take the weakness of others as a support to strengthen our own position, but we establish our own case by the good and invincible arguments that we have, adducing the ordinances of the church and the dispensations of the fathers.
As to this other statement of yours, i.e. that difficulty has been caused to your mind by the fact that the God-loving bishops who assembled at Laodicea call those who cleave Emmanuel into two natures Paulianists,^ you must on no account be alarmed by this. It is in fact a custom of the fathers to refer heresies to the roots from which they sprang by way of reducing them to something shameful. Hence they p. 358. called the corruption of Arius idolatry, inasmuch as it exhorts us to worship a creature, and the witlessness of Sabellius they termed Judaism, inasmuch as it includes the three substances in one person after the Jewish fashion. But they did not on this account receive those who repented from these heresies as Gentiles or Jews, and men who have never been initiated. In consonance with this principle which I have just stated they also term those who are infected with the phantasmal tenet of Eutyches Manichees : not because they are in all respects enveloped in the nets of the Manichees, but because the fatuous idea of a phantasy is part of the vitiated conception of Mani,
1 Cf. p. 284.
and is derived from him. After this manner the holy Cyril also in writing against Theodore of Mopsuestia said, " ' Sodom has been justified more than you ' ; you have surpassed the babblings of the heathen which they uttered against Christ, ' reckoning the cross foolishness ' ; you have shown that the charges against Jewish arrogance are nothing." ' Therefore neither is anything shameful said by the saintly bishops who assembled at Laodicea, who called those who cleave the one Christ into a duality of natures after the in- p. 359. effable and incomprehensible union Paulianists : nor ought we on this account to re-baptize those who repent from them like converts from Paul of Samosata.
Thus much we have written to your affection as in a few words, lying as we are under a mass of many affairs, and not able, as we wished, to extend the refutation of your propositions,'^ so as to cover a wider field of examination : but, since you have a right disposition, and are not subject to prejudice, even what has been written is enouQfh. We have in fact dealt with each of them in no defective manner in accordance with our ability, quoting the testimonies of the God-clad doctors of the church. The end.
^ Man si ix. 235. - TrpoTctcreis.
515-8. 7. Of the same to Dionysms bishop of Tarsus. [From those during episcopacy, from the i oth book the 6 1 st letter. )
That they who preside over Christ's rational flocks must look in front as much as they can, and must lead the sheep to a " place of grass," and pasture them by " the waters of stillness,^ " and must watch lest anywhere p. 360. any hurtful root and muddy perturbed drink corrupt the healthy conscience of those that are fed is already known to your love of God also. How is it therefore that those in Isauria and in the other provinces'" are very justly blaming you for having incautiously received Indacus, who presides over Corycus, when he has not agreed in confessing the same faith as we, nor acquiesced in the common resolutions of the whole holy Synod of the God-loving bishops in the East?^ First, such a man ought not to have been received to communion without the judgment of the apostolic see : and, even if by reason of the pressure of the days of the saving Passion and of the Resurrection it had been right for him to be received, the rule as to the lawful mode of reception ought on no account to have been neglected. This is that all who hold to the same communion should think and say the same things. Hasten accordingly to bring the matter that you have neglected to correction : for you see that, if for a little
1 Ps. xxii. 2. 2 iTrapxia<;.
^ The Synod of Tyre in 514-5 (Assem. B. O. ii. 18).
moment we close the eye of watchfulness, we kindle by this small spark a great flame of separation. But the course of healing is not difficult for you. In fact we hear that the whole honourable clergy of the holy church of God in Corycus have already with one accord p- 361. removed the offences by a certain written renunciation and anathema, and that they readily hold to the orthodox faith and confession. Or, if you like, only make him satisfy the proper requirements and come according to custom to greet us, and leave the course of cure to us and to God. For we are able to bring him near to us by healing words. "Is there no balm in Gilead ? " as Jeremiah says, or is it troubled by absence of physicians ? ^ The end.
8. Of the smne to the orthodox clergymen and laymten 519-20. in Antioch. {^From those after banishment, fro7n the 2nd book the 2/^th letter.)
In everything the consideration of your vigour, church in Antiochus' city, causes me wonder, and the fact that you not only hold yourself readily and courageously against disturbing elements coming from without, but also manage your internal government wisely, and are guided in the right way by the gospel law. There has only just now come to the hearing of our meanness, far distant as we are in geographical situation, the epistle that was canonically addressed to
^ Jer. viii. 22.
you by the saintly bishops, who followed Christ who p- 362. said to His disciples, "If they persecuted me they will also persecute you,"^ and chose instead of their sees the sojourn in a strange land, and are settled in the great Christ-loving city of the Alexandrines, about those who have erred and fallen away to heretical communion, and have repented and wish to come back to the truth by the path of legal penitence, and to take thought for their salvation ; ^ and that, after you who are in the city among the holy clergy and the believing people, who confirm the fact that you are clergy and people by keeping the orthodox faith, and are taught to "prove all things" and to "hold fast that which is good," as Paul says,^ had read the letter of the said holy bishops, you accepted the purport of the epistle, the contents of which are corroborated by the fatherly precepts of Timothy ^ of apostolic and combatant memory, who died, if one may so say, or to speak more correctly came to life, amid the toils of exile. Wherefore also I have praised and gladly accepted the unanimity and concord of you all in this matter too, and have cried in admiration over your city that which is really said by Micah the prophet, " The Lord's voice shall be named over the city, and He shall save them that fear His name :" ^ for one will not fall outside the limits of what is seemly if one call you the Lord's voice. For what
1 John XV. 20.
2 Cy! p. 339. As to the bearing of this upon the date see p. 341, note 3.
3 I Th. V. 21. ^ Cf. pp. 326, 339. 5 Mi. vi. 6.
is the Lord's voice but assuredly that which is made p. 363- known by the laws of the Spirit, and confirmed by works, and in everything sets forth what is lawful, which also saves us ? For it is seemly that you who have shown courage in the contests on behalf of piety should also not be without the virtues that are akin to this. Courage is then shown to be courage and not ferocity, when it stands boldly against the man who opposes, but towards the man who is bent bends itself pitifully. This is to " become everything to every man " ^ and from all sides to gain the power of assigning the proper treatment to different times and persons, and measurinof out to each man that which suits him. Hold therefore to the words canonically addressed to you, and walk in them without turning aside to the right or to the left as it is written,'- but opening the door of penitence to every man, according to the different methods of healing and the character of the sins committed. Whereas some, as I learn, of those who are said to have been re-ordained, a thing horrible even to hear, assert that this mockery was not performed over them, and in some cases no witness of such presumption is now forthcoming, I have come to the conclusion that there is no violation of right principle in the discreet and practical course proposed p- 364. by the religious presbyter Philip of letting them assert this by oaths in writing. But in cases where there is confession, and an anathema of the man who ordained
^ I Co. ix. 22. 2 Pr. iv. 27.
them has been put forward by them, and a hateful and unlawful prayer has followed, such men everyone must regard in no other way than as men who have been re-ordained, and, as has been resolved, await a common inquiry by the saintly bishops at the proper time.
After these rules have been thus observed, we ought not as I have said to block the lawful path of penitence. How shall we be able to block this, when the Lord cries from heaven and from above and says, " Knock and it shall be opened unto you"?^ It lies with us therefore in brotherly love to admonish those that are remiss to knock vigorously and wait : but to open lies with Him, not with us. Let us not usurp the Lord's authority. Let us leave Him His part : but let us perform ours with earnestness. Let us show ourselves mild to our fellow-slaves, not harsh exactors of what is owing, inasmuch as we also are in need of mildness at the day of judgment. If you do this,. and practise the exercise of each virtue in due season and in accordance with right, you will be, as is said by Micah the prophet who was mentioned shortly before, "a marvellous remnant of Jacob among the kindreds amidst many peoples, as dew that falleth p- 365- from before the Lord," ^ and cools those that have undergone the assault of the devil's " fiery darts " : ^ and all who see and hear that you are guided by God in your actions "will say, 'This great people is a wise and understanding people.' And what great people
1 Mt. vii. 7. - Mi. V. 7. ^ Eph. vi. 16.
is there who hath God nigh unto them, as the Lord God in all things wherein we call upon Him?"^ Now that this has been begun let it also be carried further and brouo"ht to a conclusion, through the prayers of all saints. The end.
9. Of the same to Simeon the presbyter and archiman- 521-31. drite of the 7nonastery at Teleda. [From those after banishment, froju the 2nd book the 2^th letter. )
Joyfully I have received the greeting of your love of God, which refreshed me greatly even before reading it because even in its mere superscription only it bore your honoured name. And after other things. Since therefore the sacred text says of kings who act in this spiritual mind that "by patience kings prosper,"- it beseems your statesmanship,^ and is very consonant to it, with patience and in very great humility readily to receive those who wish to come to the orthodox faith and share with you in the same struggles, and to go forward to meet them and em- p- 366. brace and welcome them readily, so that the word of truth also may go on in the right way and make progress. It has in fact come to the hearing of our meanness that the flock of Simeon who has the lot of the saints have repudiated the impiety in writing, and
^ De. iv. 6, 7 2 Pj- XXV. 15. ^ Trokirda.
have stripped themselves for the same stadiimt as you,^ and that your sanctity used some strict words that are not suited to the present time : and I am astonished and cannot believe that this mind is yours. It was in fact you that they imitated because they are settled in your neighbourhood, and it was you who brought about this chang-e for the better in them. Not the end.
lo. Of the same to the monastery of Isaac of blessed memory. [F'rom those after banishment, from the 2nd book the 2gth letter.)
I have been informed that Samuel of saintly and holy memory and presbyter and archimandrite of your holy cloister has departed from the life here, and o^one to God.
And after other things. Only I beg that he will not on the repentance of those who have fallen and wish to come to the orthodox faith put forward the untempered cup of strictness, but besides this will take the cup of merciful discretion, and show the mercy of pity towards those who share our weakness, and are p. 367. bought with the same blood of Christ, and have received the same " Spirit of adoption," ^ and will imitate
^ Hence this letter seems to have been written during the banishment of the monks, which began according to Jo. Eph. in 521 (Land Anec. Syr ii. 512), according to the so-called Zacharias (viii. 5) in 525, and ended according to both authors in 531.
- Ro. viii. 15.
the Father in heaven, who does not pour out His wrath according to our sins, but tempers it with mercy. Not the end.
II. Of the same to John and John the presbyters and 520-34. the rest. {^From those after banishment, from the 2nd book the Jist letter.)
I owe thanks to God that after the winter-season I have again through your letter heard your sweet and cheerful voice. For to me to hold communication with you seems more cheerful and joyful than any spring. To delight and adorn ourselves with flowers from the meadows that quickly bloom and wither is not like weaving together blossoms of spiritual words. The first blossom, one very well adapted for giving joy, was contained in your letter in the fact that the celebration of the saintly Theodore the presbyter ^ provided a crowded festival and feast to those who assembled, so that the believers are confirmed in future hope even by what is seen now. For the departure hence of holy men and the remembrance of them on the occasion of this is a means of instruction and of meditation on the blessed life : the life which Christ promised when He revealed to us by actual experience the mystery of the Resurrection. p, jgg..
As to events in the East we also have certain know-
1 The first Saturday in Lent (Sachau Verz. d. syr. Hdschr. Berlin, p. 486).
zu
ledge of the same things that were also stated in your letter : and nothing beyond. Nevertheless the pangs caused by the impiety compel us to bring the foul birth out. It rests therefore with you, saintly men, and with all who love God to make supplication and to stir up your fervent prayers like a censer, and cast upon them "fine composite incense"^ which is earnest and laborious supplication, supplication that at the same time reminds the divine ears of their wonders from eternity and is able to stop the corruption so that the Lord's congregation may not utterly perish, and the peoples say, ^' Where is their God.?"^
As to Silvanus who is of heretical ordination, but begs to be received, you ought not to be in difficulty seeing that the regulations of the holy Timothy ^ have marked out the proper course for you, and have laid down for you the method to be followed in this case : :so that everything that goes beyond and surpasses him falls outside the limits of what is proper. However it will rest with you who are at hand and know the man p. 369. to shorten or lengthen his time according to the character of his repentance. If possible therefore, the God-loving Isidore bishop of the city of the Chalcidians will release this man. But, if it is thought that this will stir up affliction to his bonds, as the Apostle says,* it is easy for him to go with a letter from you to the God-loving Epimachus bishop of Rhinocorura, and receive forgiveness. Only beware
^ Ex. XXX. 7. ^ Ps. Ixxxviii. 10. ^ Cf. pp. 320, 339. ^ p^ j. 16,
lest, when the man is forgiven, he use the freedom as an assistance in causing disturbance in various places, since such is the character that you ascribe to him in your letter.
As to John of blessed memory the reader and our scribe, I should perhaps have been sorry that he did not come to see me and was prevented from undertaking the daring journey which would have been in the winter and is full of dangers, had it not been that he met with such an end of life, and a gathering-place for which one might well pray and a holy tabernacle (I will not say grave), it being one that foreshadowed for him rest in the eternal mansions. We pray also that through your holy prayers he may receive the lot of the saints in all its fulness. However both he and the devout Sergius the reader when they came here injured many persons more than they edified them. One might hear them relating certain dreams and prophecies, on account of which, as they said, they hesitated to communicate with the holy churches in Egypt. From whom he heard these things I do not wish to say, lest I even seem to certain persons to be a hard man. Who is there who will not (and very p. 370. rightly) pronounce against us as senseless, if we set ourselves against such prophecies and dreams, and while occupying ecclesiastical thrones forget these things, but, when we are outside and are expelled and driven out, again attend to dreams and repeat dreamy prophecy? However, since it is not my pleasure to
make accusations, but to declare and explain to those who love me what my position is, and proclaim it also to the adversaries, the communion that now prevails in the persecuted church of the East and in all the Egyptian church, and is pure in the proclamation of the faith, and in the rejection of the evil Chalcedonian impiety, and in purging itself of heretics and holding no association with them, this communion I so hold and to it I so draw near, as I drew near in it with the highest assurance^ and a fixed mind, when our holy father Peter the bishop from Iberia was offering, and was performing the rational sacrifice. We did not by our concession give anything like what we received. We waived the strict observance of names according to the fathers' ordinances for the sake of the salvation of so many cities, and instead of it we obtained besides the East the whole of Egypt also supporting us and ranging itself on our side with a pure heart, and not bound in a yoke with unbelievers, p. 371. to speak in the words of the Apostle.^ Having cast this seed, we gained for fruits banishment of bishops : confession on the part of cities : martyr-like contests, such that men reckon every kind of torture small. This is to be seen not only in men, but also in women and in every sex, and every age : insomuch that the inhabitants of the whole of Egypt are ready to strip themselves for like contests, if the time summon. What manner of man then were we when we had these things granted us, a man deprived of bishops
^ irX-qpot^opia. " 2 Co. vi. 1 4.
and sitting in a corner, and resembling a pelican of the wilderness as the prophet sings/ and possessing a fruitless accuracy, insomuch that some were eager to proceed to new and different divisions ? But God, knowing clearly that our holy fathers and His true servants always endeavoured to walk in the royal road, cut away these things and made them cease as if they had never begun at all, and instead of them by invisible means bestowed upon us riches that we had never desired or been able to conceive in our mind. He exposed the feebleness of human thoughts and efforts, but by means of facts themselves said, " For what the holy God hath purposed who shall annul.'* and His high hand who shall turn away ? " ^ How then shall we be found speaking in a contrary sense, we whose duty it is to exhort those who com- p. 372. municate with us to show freedom of speech regarding these things ? Indeed according to my information the wonderful Mitras showed himself more irrational even than irrational things by continually saying that he is not in communion with the holy churches here, and o-ave g-round for lauofhter to those who have no soundness of their own, but apply themselves to find for themselves lines of defence and discoveries of methods of support from the weaker brethren among us, because he could not give a reason for this irrationality (I will not say "doubt "). Who is there who will not be disofusted with men who like Abimelech the
^ Ps. ci. 7. - Is. xiv. 27.
offspring of Gideon's concubine, who illegally became king in Shechem by gathering round him depraved and profligate men, as the God-inspired scripture somewhere narrates/ illegally receive bishops who have been canonically repudiated and received deprivation, and make prayers over them, and crucify Christ afresh, as it is said,'^ and think that they are practising religion : men whom God has rendered more naked than a pebble as the text of Proverbs says, as their evil disposition deserves : men who have fallen so far into conflict with God as to presume to anathematize the Edict, under which, as those men say p. 373 in so many words, the followers of Julian the presbyter,^ whose soul is at rest, continued joined in communion with Peter, who became bishop of the city of the Alexandrines after Timothy, unto this day, and went into the church with him ; not knowing that they are laying under an anathema men whom, as they think, they ascribe to themselves as their fathers. For how is it that, the right confession being contained in the Edict, they sought to have that which is wanting added, i.e. a rejection of the Synod of Chalcedon, and when this was not added withdrew from communion ? If the Edict deserved an anathema, they ought never to have assented to this at the beginning : but have demanded that it also be repudiated, like one of the repudiated doctrines. So great is the lack of instruction and the desire of amassing money : an object
1 Judg. ix. 1-6. 2 He. vi. 6.
2 Cf. Zach. Rh. vi. i, 2, 4.
that " blinds " even " the eyes of the wise," as the sacred text says,^ not to speak of men who turn their attention to their belly only : which they fatten every day and carry about like some honoured sister, making their cheeks red by constant feastings, and presenting them swollen with fat to those that meet them, and not hidinor themselves at all. The g"ood Anatolius also is one of these, who foretold death to some men who had in full assurance ^ communicated with the holy church in Alexandria, claiming to draw prophecies p- 374- from that fat belly of his : but, when the prophecy failed to be fulfilled, he changed his tack and acted as a suppliant to those who had received his menaces. Having fallen in with them on the road, he knelt down and kept begging those who had been threatened to give him forgiveness, and only to return to communion with him. But they after laughing for a long time left him lying on the ground his prophecies and all. I pray your sanctities to be assured that a certain quiet man who had received such a threat from him, after communicating the knowledge to the holy church and accepting its help in considering what was best to do, by God's permission was smitten with bright tumours on the side, which many are in the habit of naming carbuncles. He, coming up to me (for he was one of those who know our affairs), begged me to touch the afflicted part: and I, beginning to weep, applied to it the chrism of the holy cross, and its
1 De. xvi. 19. ^ TrXrjpoffiopLa.
venerated sign ; and I sent this man away expecting to die. And on the next day the Lord of hosts made the swelling caused by the tumours to disappear, and he did not keep his bed for one single hour : but, going about and following his usual pursuits, he was delivered from the affliction, " walking and leaping and praising God " ; ^ for the sacred scripture will again express this also. But, if I have become a fool by relating this, Anatolius the false prophet compelled p. 375- me, even as the false apostles did Paul ; ^ though I am not Paul, and am a sinner, yet not a breaker of the law or the canons, but an observer of the law of Christ.^
Many other things also might have been related, which expose the foolishness of those men, but confirm the power of the truth : but the limits of a letter are not suited for such stories, seeing that they need the extended ranofe of oral conversation. For the same Anatolius thought fit to say to certain men, " Hosius an old man, in whom alone I had confidence, who also" (he says) "gave me the monastic garb, used to urge me, when I came to Palestine, to communicate with the bishop of the city of the Antiochenes, saying that he placed confidence in him. But, when " (he says) "I for my part went on to ask him whether I ought also to communicate with the bishop of the city of the Alexandrines, he answered that I ought not to do this. But I " (he says), " laughing at the contrariety and inconsistency of the words, declined
^ Ac. iii. 8. 2 2 Co. xii. ii. ^ i Co. ix. 21.
to follow the advice." And many other falsehoods he tells. To women too he was to be seen prophesying, and presumptuously laying threats upon them, while not getting anything else from such practices but laughter only. However he does not perceive things that are of a nature to cause shame, because he takes his pleasure in loaves of bread and cooked dishes and various drinks that are offered him, and feeds his belly only. For this has in fact been his p. 376. object for a long time. To such an extent did the good and excellent Mitras (for to him I return) use words without sense, that I almost even forgot my caution, and even asked to meet and speak with him, and prevent him from being shaken : but I have not been able to find a way of doing so, since the necessity that surrounds me hinders the accomplishment of my wish. For he put forward one and another counterargument of contemptible character, swimming and tossing (?) in his own fatuities and driven hither and thither at random. Among these one is this. They used in fact to say of us that we communicated with Simeon who stood on the pillar : and against those who laid down this counter-argument some of our supporters brought forward the truth and said, " Accordingly on your principle Timothy also of holy memory will rightly incur blame in this matter, if one does not take into account considerations of expediency concerning the holy churches and the necessity of joining and binding them together. For indeed he also is shown to have sent clergymen to
the East : who communicated with Peter who at that time held the prelacy of the city of the Antiochenes, bringing with them a synodical letter. And, after all the names had been read, the bearers of this communicated in the oblation : one among whom was the man called Achillas." Then they out of conp- 377- tentiousness falsely disputed and said that Achillas had orders to remove the names, and he did not do as he was ordered, and after his return to Alexandria was visited with punishment and separation. But the fiction was refuted by the fact that Antiochene clergymen had come at that time to the city of the Alexandrines to buy wheat, Syria being afflicted with lack of wheat, and exercised the ministry here and communicated in the sacred oblation. And again those audacious men said, "why did I pronounce a laudatory discourse about him, when I ought to have held my peace, and to have given effect to the considerations of expediency by silence?" In answer to this I said to those who spoke, " The prootJiiion or preface of the discourse shows the whole truth. Because the unholy Nestorians, whose leader was Theodoret, wished to snatch for themselves the splendour of the man's character, and to attach this to the heresy, I in composing the discourse made the true statement that he actually drove away Theodoret and said that he did not even know the Synod : but that he believed in the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. I added this argument also, which is very true, that a man who did not know letters did not
sign : and those who have grown old in the flock p- 378. and yet survive showed this by many proofs. And in order to exclude the impiety I made this manifest in the discourse, and prevented the deception of the believing peoples who by this plea were being brought to what the heretics desired, and were spurning the substance^ of the sound faith." So far said I. But I find that the holy fathers also defend conspicuous men who are capable of attracting many by their reputation,^ and this while knowing that those men did not keep the accuracy of the faith, whom they enthusiastically and with many praises defended. Such was the conduct of Athanasius when he wrote on behalf of Dionysius against the Arians,^ who wished to snatch for themselves the reputation^ of the man in support of their heresy. The purpose of Athanasius that made him compose the defence and the encomium was very plain : and this was, not to give the adversaries a chance of priding themselves upon him, and of putting forward the glory of Dionysius as a covering for their evil belief.
Basil the great, as you know, in writing to Maximus the philosopher utters a pronouncement about Dionysius, in which he says these words : "Wherefore also he is many-coloured in his writings : now taking away the co-essentiality, on account of him who uses p. 379- it in an evil way for the destruction of the substances, now accepting it and making a defence to his name-
1 K€<^aXatov. - woAt/i/zis. ^ P. G. XXV. 480.
sake. In addition to these things he has regarding the Holy Spirit also left utterances that do not at all beseem a spiritual man, exiling Him from the adorable Godhead, and reckoning Him with created and ministering nature in some lower place." ^ What then ? When we hear these things, shall we bring a just accusation against Athanasius on the orround that bv his defence he extolled and praised a man who thus fell from the right standard of accuracy ? or shall we accept him the more on account of this high spiritual service of his and the skilful policy by which he did not allow the Arians to pride themselves in such a man and thereby hurl the more simple down into the pit.? In all things the methods and actions of the fathers were directed to the end that the orthodox faith might be spread abroad and that this might prevail in the churches, and to the end that they might hinder the plots of the heretics, and might bar every opening for deceit against them, and that they might remove the stones from the royal road that no one might go astray.
I have given vent to these utterances, because I have grieved in my spirit as it is somewhere written " over the wonderful Mitras, who, as was said by the wise Paul to the Corinthians, suffers fools though he is wise.^ For this reason I said like Job, "Wherefore neither will I refrain my mouth ; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit ; I will open my mouth being
^ Ep. 9. 2. 2 ps. cvi. 7 (?). ^ 2 Co. xi. 19.
constrained by the bitterness of my soul."^ I beg and p- 38oentreat your holinesses, since still even now I have not had an opportunity of speaking with him (if I shall find an opportunity, I will not neglect it), yourselves to fill my place, and suggest to his smallness of soul not only these few things which I have said, but all that it is in the power of your understandings to say. But, if I too "have erred" (I will again quote the words of Job), " and a deceiver dwells with me," ^ " teach me : and I will be dumb " ; ^ and " I will lay mine hand upon my mouth : and, having once spoken, I will not go on to speak a second time." * The end.
12. Of the same to John and John the brethreji, pres- 519-20. byters and a7'chiniandrites. [From those after banishment, from the 2nd book the j 2nd letter,)
Truly I say, and you ought certainly to believe me when I say, that it is not as the result of effort or of cogitation that I proceed to utter praises of you whenever I write an epistle to you, but out of the abundance of my heart according to the Lord's saying that does not lie my mouth is opened to speak. ^ Wherefore, as soon as I reflect upon your actions, I find it hard to draw myself away from them and I continue to think of them, and I cannot bear to keep silence. I am in the same state as men who happen upon the p- 381-
^ Job vii. n. '^ Id. xix. 4. ^ /^, yj 24.
4 Id. xxxix. 34, 35. 5 Lu_ yj 42_
sight of a lovely body, and then, before they have sated themselves with the beauty or sufficiently gazed at it, are separated from it by force by someone.
In order to explain to you the astringent and instructive character of the salt that is in you, I will say this much only. You are honoured men and capable after the manner of great stars that shine and give light, such as were our Peter and Isaiah^ the renowned men, seeing that you do not remain hid, but with them give forth rays that are like theirs, or else in a small degree inferior, and give light to " them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death " " as it is written : but now the scarceness and lack of such men makes you more honoured and causes you to be more highly reputed than they. Do not therefore behave haughtily to us in our hunger. It is your actions that we want, not you. Remain in the flesh. In fact not only when writing an epistle, but also when engaged in any ordinary conversation, if I ever do converse with anyone, I bring forward the mention of you like some pleasant odour, and I please both myself and those that hear. Do not therefore think that the words written are as you say the words of a scribe who has scattered " thino-s old and thino-s new,"^ but the words of love and of need only : since neither am I among those who praise at random, nor are you among those p. 382. who delight in praises, and the subject * of the letter itself is not concerned with praises.
^ Cf. Land, Anec. Syr. iii. 346 ff. ; Zach. Rh. v. g, vi. 3.
2 Lu. i. 79. ^ Mt. xiii. 52. "* uTrd^eo-is.
I incurred a great debt of gratitude to our God and Saviour Christ when I learned that you the saintly presbyter had been restored to health after the deadly sickness, and that you are in tangible reality officiating in the rational sacrifices.
I am much surprised that you say that you were in doubt about the letter that was written by the saintly bishops who are settled here/ It was in fact free from all misunderstanding: especially in the matter of giving authority to the believers there and in particular to the solitary order to receive or not receive those who wish truly to repent : and, what is very important, that the forgiveness should await the assent of everyone, so that it should also require the unanimous opinion of the bishops who are absent. When all these things are put together, they both make those who made answer to the question blameless, and, when the precepts contained in the letter have been carried out, the reconciliation of all remains to be accomplished. I do not mention that the authors of the epistle followed the regulations of Timothy '" of holy memory in all points. I do not say these things as if I had myself given counsel upon the matter. No man has known our place of abode at all or where we are, except only p. 383. those whom we informed for the sake of the necessary requirements of our life. However the devout presbyter Thomas, having been invited by the bishops, in order that he might not be thought to be a haughty
1 Cf. p. 320. 2 QT pp_ 320, 326.
and unsociable man, heard and answered them, and in proportion to the power that is in him often sowed the seed of caution in those that were willino-.
As to the sign that was seen in the sky, it was seen here also in the same way and for many days. Among wise men outside an appearance of this kind consisting in the rising- of an unusual star is called a dokias or krinthiya : ^ and, as thought even by those who have attained knowledge in such things, it betokens a change in affairs. In accordance with the purport of the divine words, the aforesaid star presented the shape of a rod : thus leading us, so to speak, to remember Him who says, " If they profane my statutes and keep not my commandments, I will visit their lawlessnesses with a rod, and their iniquities with stripes." Pray therefore that the other statement may be also added and applied upon our repentance, " But my grace will I not remove from them, nor will I do iniquity in my truth." ^ Let your sanctities know that there was also an earthquake here on the fourteenth of October : a thing which in general rarely happens in the regions of Egypt ; and no ordinary earthquake, but violent enough to shake buildings and cause them to tremble p. 384. for a long space of time, passing over the small ones only, while everyone so to speak felt it. In certain cities of Egypt, especially in Athrib, a pestilence and plague has also been reported to have occurred.
The books that were sent me by the presbyter
1 Corruption of KpivLrrjs (?). - Ps. Ixxxviii. 32-34.
Stephen of God-loving memory I have not been able to look through, by reason of the shifting of the places in which necessity causes me to be. Indeed, as soon as I read some part, and think that I have collected some part towards the dissertation against the heretics at which I am working, often some report reaches me and makes me remove elsewhere, and what has been collected is annihilated. I am in the same state as Israel, when it was once under the hand of Midian : and as soon as they had sown warriors used to come up against them and encamp against them, as is written, and destroy the produce of the earth. ^ Therefore it is necessary for me like Gideon to collect a few grains of wheat now and a few later, and pound these because I do not dare to thresh, since I flee from before the face of Midian ; for this also I will add from the same scripture."
As to what you say has happened in the city of Cyrrhus, this news has come to us too ; indeed the minute ^ has also been sent in which he who in a Jewish spirit holds the presidency of that city * made a confession to the effect that Diodorus and Theodore and the detestable gang of Nestorius differ in no way p. 385. from the Chalcedonian synod, which like a seed is justly and truly traced to those who sowed tares upon
1 Judg. vi. 3, 4. - Ibid. 11. 3 7^/35^19.
* Sergius (Mansi ix. 349, 364, 365). If the reference is to Hypatius' inquiry, it follows that this letter as well as v. 8, in which also the letter of the bishops in Egypt is mentioned, was written in 520.
the Pfood seed. And this the minister of falsehood rightly confessed.
Whereas, when you wrote before about Ascalon, I did not write any reply, being interrupted by constant anxieties, do not think to yourselves that any action taken by you is displeasing to me : for I am glad that there also you have again begun to plant a good plantation of faith. Even though the Philistines when they see us say, "Behold! the Hebrews come forth out of their holes where they hid themselves," we like Jonathan will say, "Come up because the Lord hath delivered them into the hands of Israel." ^ If therefore it shall at any time happen that we remain silent upon receiving anything written by you, do not think that it is because it is displeasing to us that we have remained silent. All things done by you are pleasing, and very pleasing. The end.
519-37. 1 3. Of the same to Proclus and Eusehuna the bishops? [From those aftei' banishment, from the 2)'^d book the 2i^th letter?)
It was not without sorrow nor with a mind free from affliction that 1 read the letter of your love of God : p. 386. but, as is sung in the Psalms, " My heart was disturbed within me."^ A7id after other things. But what ? If, even after taking all these offences that are so manifest into account we allow him to be purified by association only as Cyrus said, he will reckon this a
^ I R. xiv. II, 12. 2 Ps. liv. 5. 3 Qf p j5y_
small thing, and a thing that does not injure the soul on the most important points, and in the matter of its very salvation. Let him therefore, if he likes, ask the Theologian Gregory, and he will answer clearly: for I do not know how it is that, when besides the holy scripture you pride yourselves in the teachings of your countrymen, and can obtain from them instruction in what is right, you have had recourse to my poverty. What therefore says the mouth of Christ, the mouth that at all times instructs the church, and catches souls out of the pit of destruction, upon the principle that we must not associate in any way whatever with the adversaries who make an accusation and a charge out of the fact that those who stand upright are not perishing with them ? [Here follows the citation from Greg. Naz. given on p. 270 with the variation "we" for "they".] How is it therefore that the excellent Cyrus asks for association only as he says to be permitted him like a man innocent on the other matters ? And how is it that after confirming the impiety in writing he wishes to become an orthodox man not enrolled in writing and in a corner ? Or do we not hear the great p. 387. Basil saying in his letters, " But, if they say that they have repented, let them show their written form of repentance and an anathema of the faith of Constantinople, and separation from the heretics, and let them not deceive those that are simple " ? Look therefore, I beg, to these columns of the church and your progenitors, and emulate their glory. For they are your
progenitors, after the true and spiritual family : and for you to put their glory to shame is in truth a deed of great shame, and worthy of the final and endless fire. Cappadocia is in danger of becoming a tale of laughter in our age. For indeed, if, as I pray may not happen, you be caught in those sophistical traps, the enemies of the truth will count the latter as added to the former and will laugh and say, "Cyrus has lapsed: Soteric has fallen : Proclus and Eusebuna after many circuitous courses and useless movements have been cast down into the same ditch : and the whole trap has been spread abroad. Great champions ^ of the faith Cappadocia displays to us." Therefore, even though there were nothing grievous to expect in the world to come, are these things tolerable to the ears of the pious? Will they not seem fraught with lamentations and tears to p. 388. those that hope in Christ ? Will they not mourn and instead of their garments rend their hearts, as the prophetic text says?'^ Be not, I beg and pray you, be not the cause of such lamentation. Short is our time : and "yet a very little while and He that cometh will come and will not tarry," ^ and "will reward every man according to his works " : * and, while we are now gaping after the shadowy things of this world, He will come upon us and seize us in the midst of our pleasures : whereas we ouo^ht to have ofone while watchingr. For, as the end of the life here finds us, so will He that shall judge us see us on the great effulgent day of the last judgment. May it come about that we are ready when
1 dycovio-Tat. ^ Joel ii. 12, 13. ^ He. x. 37. ^ Mt. xvi. 27.
we appear before Him, and that we find Him gentle, and not pronouncing the sentence that condemns, but that which acquits, and giving us a share in the good things that are prepared for those that have hoped in Him! I have committed these things to writing in fear and trembling, and with caution lest anywhere I should think or utter anything contrary to the divine laws, and be found with those that are accused by the prophet as perverting justice,^ or as possessing two weights contrary to the law,^ and to be weighing the words of the Spirit not worthily nor intelHgently, but inclining the balances of truth like a huckster, and making myself liable to the divine sentence. Pray therefore, saintly men, that I may receive forgiveness from Christ p. 389. the great God and our Saviour, both for what has been written and for what has been orriitted. The end.
14. Of the same to John and Philoxenus and Thomas 521-7. the bishops, confessors on the hill of Marde. {From those after banishment, from the A^th book the 2\st letter ^1
On reading your sanctities' letter I thought of Elijah the Tishbite prophet, who when persecuted by impiety betook himself to the hill of Horeb, and as a reward for his tribulation gained the privilege of seeing and conversing with God, so far as is possible
1 Mi. iii. 9. 2 De. xxv. 13 (?) ; Pr. xx. 17 (?).
for men. When He that knows all things before they are as it is written ^ approached him like a father, and assumed the appearance of ignorance in order to comfort him, like a father who comforts his beloved son by playing with him, and in order to lighten the weariness and distress that he had incurred from the long journey, and said to him, "What doest thou here, Elijah ?", he stirred up the zeal that was blazing in him and answered very hotly (and that though speaking to Him who knows all things and whom nothing escapes), " I have been zealous for the Lord the All- Ruler, because the sons of Israel have forsaken thee. Thine altars they have thrown down : and thy I'. 390. prophets they have slain with the sword. And I only am left : and they seek my life to take it away." " And He put fresh heart in him by revealing Himself to him in mightier fashion and initiating him in more perfect knowledge. Therefore I am convinced and assured that your love of God also, who have imitated the same pattern of zeal, and walk in the footsteps of a like mode of life,^ who engage as combatants not only in the contest of confession after the manner of martyrs, but also in the patient labours of the ascetic life, will also be oratified with the conversation and sight of God, and that you will render the hill called in the tongue of the country Marde no meaner than the hill of Horeb, but even more glorious than that. For by drawing to you companies of holy monks, and
1 Sir. xxiii. 20. ^ 3 R- xix. 13, 14. ^ TroXiTcia.
of men who are living the coenobitic Hfe ^ while cleaving to orthodoxy, and by recalling and healing like shepherds and fathers at the same time those who have transgfressed or otherwise become remiss and been swept away to follow the violence of the time you have also appropriated to your hill the glory of another higher and holier hill that is situated in Jerusalem, I mean on the corner-stone of Zion, the watch-house that is higher than all the earth, which you have surpassed by making more peculiar to yourselves in a higher sense the grace and title of the episcopate also, which were given you already by the Spirit, but are confirmed by works every day, as the Apostle says. Indeed I see many running and hastening to the p- 391 summit of your hill also, even as to that hill, and saying the words of the prophecy that have been carried out in actual deeds, " Come let us go up to the hill of the Lord and to the house of the God of Jacob, and He will show us His way and we will walk in it." ^ And I have confidence in saying that they will not be disappointed of their hope. For you teach those who stand to keep the orthodox faith, and to practise a devout and just life : while to those who have been led away to error you teach the way of repentance by ofivino" them forgiveness canonical and leg-al. Wherefore also, showing humility in this point too, you ask
^The letter therefore seems to have been written after the expulsion of the monks (cf. p. 324 n. i). The terniiftus ad quem is fixed by the date of v. 15 : see p. 352 and p. 358 note.
^Is. ii. 3.
our meanness how those who have been baptized by this heresy that now prevails ought to be received. To this I made answer in writing at an earHer time also when I was living in the city of the Antiochenes/ because certain persons in unthinking fervour had supposed that these ought to be perfected by chrism, just as the custom is for Arians and Fighters against the Spirit to be received. I think that the religious presbyter and archimandrite John also, who sent me your revered letter, has with him the treatise that was written by me on this point. But I will now also in the same way tell your sanctities in a few words a thing of which you too are not unaware : that at the holy oecumenical synod that assembled at Ephesus P- 392- and effected the deposition of Nestorius, who raised the heresy of this Diphysite man-worship to a higher position, when Charisius a presbyter who came from the province^ of the Lydians, and registered his fathers' house at Philadelphia, with many others who had been swept into the error of that heresy, presented petitions to it and exposed the creed previously concocted by the impious Theodore of Mopsuestia, it both received him and admitted him to clemency, not making any canonical pronouncement in their case about chrism or about anything else of this kind : ^ but it lawfully decided that they were to renounce the heresy itself in writing and condemn it by anathema, and so be received and become members of Christ's flock.
^v. 6. - iirapxta. ^ Mansi iv. 1344; tf. p. 299.
And all from that time to the present day have been received on these terms by the orthodox bishops who lived at different times ; who did not do anything further with regard to them, nor abrogate the covenant ^ confirmed by the fathers, or lay down any additional commandment beyond what were laid down, as Paul somewhere says in writing to the Galatians,^ Whence also a certain Theodotus, one of the bishops of Palestine,^ because he presumed to anoint certain persons, was repudiated and expelled, both by Timothy of holy memory, archbishop of the city of the p- 393- Alexandrines, and by all who shared his opinions and were zealous with zeal that is "according to knowledge " * and is pleasing to God. To remove in any matter whatsoever the landmarks that our fathers set up is wholly unlawful,^ even if a man is deceived by considerations that seem to be rather on the right side. Upon this point these things are sufficient for your perfection in Christ. But I beg you also to extend your diligent watchfulness which becomes shepherds to the God-loving archimandrites and devout solitaries, those that are near you and those that are geographically far from you, and not allow anyone to disturb those that are more simple, in the matter of the question about the incorruptibility of the body of our Lord and God and Saviour Jesus Christ, which was stirred up among us by Julian who wantonly became impious, and has departed from the life here, but
1 hiaO-qKr^. 2 Qa. i. 8, 9. 3 Cf. p. 1 85.
*Ro. X. 2. 5pj._ xxii. 28.
350 SELECT LETTERS OF THE HOLY SEVEKUS. V. 1 5.
shall answer for his blasphemy and evil belief to the
Judge of all, and shall then regret that he was not
converted to a right state of mind by the warnings
that he received, and this though he was admonished
in a gentle and brotherly manner, as your sanctities
also who saw what was written will bear witness/ It
has come to my knowledge that certain men who do
hot perform any service as is written except things
p- 394- that are vain "^ have torn away an occasional line or
two from what I wrote, and have tried to lead astray
those that are easily cheated. And no wonder, when
even about the wise Paul's episdes Peter the divine,
who was instigated by the same Spirit of concord and
apostleship, wrote, "which the unlearned and unstable
wrest to their destruction, as they do also tke other
scriptures."^ Therefore you will do an act worthy
of you if you write a common letter to all who have
been driven from the holy cloisters, condemning the
unlawful statements, and warning them to adhere to
the teachings of the holy fathers which our meanness
has cited. TAe end.
522-7. 15. Of the same to Sergius, bishop of Cyrrhus, and Marion, bishop of Sura. {Fro7n those after banishment, frotn the /\th book the Sist letter.)
I have read your sanctities' letter in no negligent way but very carefully indeed : for it was such as to
^ Zach. Rh. ix. 9-13. 2 j^. i. 26. s ^ pg jjj jg
attract even those whose mind wanders and who stare vacantly at the stage-play of the life here and cleave to it. And after other things. As to the subdeacon who has fallen under a decree of separation from the miserable wicked Cyriac, if he repent of the p. 395. sins that he has committed, the merciful sentence of God will absolve him through your holinesses. And, if anyone else also has committed or shall commit any such sin, as we pray may not be the case, he shall in an exactly similar way attain absolution according to your legal judgment, on account of Him who does " not wish the death of the sinner so much as that he be converted and live."^ In fact even in the ordinance regarding Cyriac we have mixed with the severity the mild drug of penitence by inviting him also to recognise the sin that has been committed. For we hear Paul saying in his epistle to the Romans as follows : " Behold therefore the mildness and severity of God ; on them which fell severity, but upon thee the mildness of God if thou continue in mildness."" For by everything this is what we are taught, to look to Him who sought the sheep that was lost, and bore it on His shoulders and carried it up and counted it in the flock of those that are being- saved.
Greatly did I rejoice in the Lord, as the wise Paul somewhere said,^ that the religious presbyter and archimandrite John, trained as he is to do all things with understanding and guided by the divine Spirit,
^ Eze, xxxiii. 11, 2 Rq ^i. 22. ^ Ph. iv. 10.
brought first to your sanctities the letter written by me to the saintly bishops Philoxenus, Thomas, and John, who were then living on the hill called that of Marde/
p- 396. For my part I say that your ears and your tranquil and thoughtful mind, which is built up with all devoutness, are like a furnace of fire, in that they have the capacity of distinguishing what is alloyed from what is sound. Wherefore also I have gladly accepted your action in keeping with you the letter written by me to them, and first giving me the benefit of your advice. If therefore it is in order to cause fear and trembling in those who have turned their eyes towards penitence that your sanctities are making the delay in the matter of the reception of the children who were baptized by heretics, I concur with your purpose : only unless perhaps the long delay cause those who have turned their eyes towards penitence to become inert, and despair of being received by you, and return to their first vomit as it is written, and wallow again in the same mire.^ Nevertheless the form of penitence that was once approved by the holy oecumenical synod that assembled at Ephesus in the case of those who have been baptized by men who hold the hateful profane doctrines of Nestorius^ must be maintained in full force, and there must be no thought either of
p. 397- second baptism or of chrism. Indeed those who did this when the impiety introduced as an innovation at Chalcedon first prevailed were repudiated both by the
1 V. 14. 2 2 Pe, ii. 22. ^ Cf. p. 299.
holy Timothy who fed the great Christ-loving city of the Alexandrines in saintly fashion and by all the orthodox bishops, as having walked outside the royal and lawful road. But, if we are now going to discuss the question in what way those who are baptized by men who divide the one Christ into two natures after the ineffable union ought to be received, those who observe our actions carefully will say to us, and very rightly, " Why did you repudiate such an inquiry at the time when the impious wicked Flavian was driven from the see of the city of the Antiochenes, and all the bishops who deposed him were assembled together ? " They will also blame us for receiving those who were ordained by him in the orders which they then held on merely anathematizing and renouncing the heresy. No one is so devoid of the p- 398- sacred teachings of orthodoxy as not to call baptism given by any heresy imperfect and spurious : but those who know this look at the regulations of the holy fathers, and reflect that according to the character of the heresy treatment also must be applied, and the stain must be purged and expiated either by another baptism or by chrism, or by an anathema of the heresy, and the judgment of the orthodox priests and reception by them. The utterance of those who officiate with orthodox mind, whatever it may be, is accompanied also by the curative treatment and grace of the Spirit : since the word of the baptizer perfects baptism also and causes the Spirit to come down upon the water, on account of Him who graciously allowed
354 SliLECT LETTERS OF THE HOLY SEVERUS. V. 1 5.
US who creep upon earth to share in this power. For He cleanses the washing of water by His word, as Paul says in his epistle to the Ephesians.^ So also the word of the anointer is mingled with the chrism, and applies curative treatment and brings the grace of
p- 399- the Spirit into play. After the same fashion also an anathema of the heresy, when enjoined upon those who utter the condemnation by order of orthodox highpriests, and proffered by the mouth of those, as well as entrance into the holy of holies performed in accordance with the judgment of those who receive them brings healing to the sore, and causes the pure and sincere grace of the Spirit to flash invisibly upon those who have been accepted. With these things the sanction from above is also identified in the orivino- of the decision, according to the commandment plainly laid down in the Gospels of Him who said to Peter, " I will give thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven,"^ and repeated the same again to all the disciples and said, " All things that ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and all things that ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."^ For there is nothing lawfully said by the orthodox high-priests, and performed in accordance with the divine commandments and canons, that is not full of
p. 400. the Holy Spirit, as David also the spiritual singer said,
^ Eph. V. 26. 2 ]yf^ xvi. 19. ^ Id. xviii. 18.
" I Opened my mouth and breathed in spirit because I longed for thy commandments," ^ I beg your sanctities also to consult carefully the words written by me in Antiochus' city against those who dare to re-anoint contrary to the law,^ and to reflect what unhallowed objections we met on their part, and that we have not held different opinions at different times, but always have the same thoughts, endeavouring as we do all the days of our life to guide our short-sighted mind by the writings of our holy fathers and their lawful regulations. If you like, assign a certain time for converts from heresy to the orthodox faith, in order that they may expiate their sin by tears and weeping, being admitted, that is, to expiation through your holy prayers and entreaties, and the outstretching of your saintly hands. Wherefore like Jacob the divine patriarch show them the rod of orthodox teaching, which is white and shines with sound doctrines, and is cleared of every green and dead hue of heresy : ^ in order that these rational sheep, fired by your teachings, may cast from p. 401. them all the murkiness and darkness of heresy, and in its stead put on the white and full light of the orthodox faith : and may clothe themselves in the many colours of virtues, and may cease to be counted among the heretics' unknown * sheep, and may mix with those that are known, making up the one flock of the one Shepherd and God and our Saviour Christ.
1 Ps. cxviii. 131. - V. 6.
3 Ge. XXX. 37 ff. 4 Marg. "late".
I for my part have written these things to you the ministers of Christ, and careful stewards of God's mysteries. But it will rest with your discriminations at the present time to take what steps you like in the existing circumstances. Only please communicate what we have written to our brothers and fellowministers who brought before us the question concerning this present matter, in order that it may not be thought that we did not deign to answer your sanctities : and, after you have examined all the circumstances conjointly, take the right course.
As to the mad dog's who have followed the witless Romanus and the stony Julian we have not a word to say, seeing that, while we walk according to the law in all respects, both in doctrines and in canonical actions, they are absurdly spreading these contrary opinions concerning us. For neither will we for our part by reason of rivalry with those filthy men p. 402. abandon the middle of the royal road and walk upon the rocks on the other side. We must listen to Him who cries with a loud voice through Isaiah the prophet to those who keep His laws, " Hearken unto me, ye that know judgment, my people in whose heart is my law ; fear not the reproach of men, and be not overcome by their derision ; for like a garment shall it be consumed by lapse of time, and like wool shall it be eaten by a moth ; but my righteousness shall be for ever, and my salvation to generations." ^
1 Is. li. 7, 8.
This point also I have thought necessary to bring to the knowledge of your perfections in Christ our God : that the religious presbyter and archimandrite of the holy cloister of the blessed Bassus has sent two of his devout monks to the great Christ-loving city of Alexander, bearing a letter which states that they are in straits with regard to the sacred ministry, and in want of presbyters and deacons.^ Wherefore also he begged me to vv^rite to your holinesses, or else to some other of the saintly bishops who share the same persecution with us, in order that you may satisfy this their need by your saintly and lawful hand. And, p 403. since it was then the winter season, the letter remained, as I have been informed, in the same great city of the Alexandrines, because it was no longer possible for voyagers to cross the sea. Therefore I beg your sanctities not to be remiss in supplying such a need. In all good things it beseems you to show courage as well as to give comfort, and to be first in every action that is on the right side. For I intend, if God pleases, to write about this through you also, in order that either you or others with your sanction may carry out the duty which thus presents itself and is urgent : that is upon the archimandrites presenting with their testimony those who ought to be duly advanced to the ministry of the sacraments, lest any take necessity as an excuse for being appointed deacons and priests without discrimination and casually, without having any p. 404.
1 Cf. i. 59.
virtue to qualify them for this, except that they desire the priesthood and diaconate. Therefore, now that you know these things, speaking with God's permission, I beg you, when the winter has passed, as soon as saiHng begins, to write us a careful answer, saying what your opinion is on all the matters mentioned in the epistle, and to put our meanness in a safer position through your understanding in the Lord.
For the safety of the learned and Christ-loving scholastic Maximin we offer prayers of thanksgiving as sacrifices at all times, as we also stated in the previous letter : and we moreover give him loving greeting through your sanctities.
Against the last fatuous work of the wickedly impious Julian, which promulgates the same arguments upon the same subjects, I have not up to to-day begun to write, ^ although it is refuted beforehand by what has been already written by me before, so that everyone who meets with it will know its feebleness and the futility of the erroneous phantasy which he confessed. During the whole time of the summer, and that though I have been hiding in corners, I have never ceased being worried by constant letters from men who in various ways ask different questions at different times, and beg to have now scriptural expres-
^ The last work of Julian must be the Appendices ; and, as the answer of Severus to this is contained in the translation of Paul of Callinicus published in Apr. 528 (Assem. B. O. ii. 46), this letter cannot be placed later than 527.
sions, now doctrinal theories ^ explained to them, p- 405- Also the loneliness of solitude, and the fact that I have not men at hand to serve as scribes when I want it in addition to the other things hinder me from writinof. But I think that I shall be strengrthened through your saintly prayers, and that I shall be sufficient for everything, if Christ our God grant me life and grrace from above. The end.
VI. Sixth section.^ That one must not take account of anathemas or separations pronounced by heretics.
I. Of the same to Eleitsinius the bishop. [F7^oin those 518. during episcopacy, from the \st book the \21st letter.)
Many men after gazing on the likenesses of those whom they love are refreshed and comforted, and think that by this they satisfy their affection. But I, not having fashioned a likeness of your sanctity for myself, but having joined it to myself, am the more attracted to the picture, and every hour, if I may so say, am smitten in my soul and yearn in thirst for your delightful and spiritual conversation, and wish to
^ 6€(i)pi]fJiaTa. " tltXos.
be immediately gratified by speaking with you, and to p. 406. have again the former joy. But this I am well assured the Giver of all good things will give me and at no distant time.
However I rejoiced excessively at the contents of your holiness' epistle, and that the affair of the trial concerning the presbyters in the country did not come upon you as a snare. For it is manifest that, seeing they are still of this disposition, if you meet with them, you will envelop and catch these also in your spiritual nets.
You have also described very well and like men who are wise in all things the character of the many-footed Isidore, the unphilosophic and deceitful solitary, who for the destruction of the holy churches, as he thought, emulated the character of the cunning fox, and who composes his outward appearance only to an expression pleasing to everyone, but within carries a smoking firebrand according to the prophetic saying : ^ by which we believe that he will be utterly consumed, and will become fuel for it like faggot-material, and will not be changed into another man but reduced to ashes.
As to the man who has just been instituted and holds the prelacy of the royal city, we have learned that he is John called by the name of Florentinus,^ who held the post of syncellus to him who is dead ; who is thought to be inclined to the right opinions,
^ Is. vii. 4.
^ Lit. " John of Florentinus," i.e. 'Iwawijs 6 ^AwpcvriVov, not necessarily "son of Florentinus."
and holds out some pleasing hopes to the orthodox, p. 407. but is more desirous of adopting a deceitful middle course, and of walking himself also according to that model which Timothy his predecessor adopted in his synodical letter. There are therefore two ways ; for we must say briefly what ought to be done as it occurs to my feeble mind. Either you must accept the synodical letter, though it does not contain the same sense as the document of the ten bishops or anathematize the transactions ^ of Chalcedon and the Tome of Leo and those who called and call our one Lord and God Jesus Christ two natures after the union ; or you must write what is repugnant to you and say that if he show himself such and such you will accept communion with him. But I am wondering whether a man who accepts a synodical letter is not obliged to communicate with those who bring this to him. But the advice which I have given you is that which I also am endeavouring to carry out, God supporting my feebleness.
Know that the God-loving bishop Soteric also is going up to the royal among cities with a similar purpose to that which you too declare in your letter. For the saintly bishop Entrechius has done him much good since the time that he has been more thoroughly on our side. Now however, now that he also has p. 40S. learned that Timothy is dead and his successor has been appointed, he wishes to put off the journey, and
^ TTCTrpay/Aei/a.
see by events themselves what position the man who now presides over the royal city is inclined to take up, and so prepare himself for the questions that will arise. But he too intends, if he stay where he is, not to accept the synodical letter, unless it contain something that tends to heal the division of the holy churches. But keep this to yourself and tell no man whatever.
But know this too : that the anathema which has been reported to have been pronounced against us by him who has now been instituted is quite untrue. Certain men, in number very few, tried to make use of such rumours, and they were exposed and it became known by whom they were employed to do this : and the bishop who has now been instituted never consented to turn his attention to the rumours put about by those men : but on the next day we hear that some of them were actually arrested. However on New Sunday ^ so great an assembly of orthodox was purposely collected that those who were collected by a gleaning process by the heretics did not dare even to appear, but only to slink away and hide, and they were P 409- in great fear, and by flight gained freedom from all harm.
The magnificent and believing silentiary Conon, when in conversation with him who now ranks before me, found that with regard to unity and with regard to our meanness he said such things as those who are
^ Apr. 22, 518.
exceedingly orthodox would say. But I am wondering, as I also said before, whether he will withdraw from the middle position which inclines to both sides.
My reason for writing about the anathema that has been reported was that I wish merely to inform you of the sequence of events : otherwise I take no account whatever of such things. Anathemas by men who are not united in communion with those who hold right opinions, but walk contrary to us, are similar to what one would consider those to be that were pronounced by the Arians against the holy Athanasius and decreed his complete deposition without touching his faith at all. He who on account of his sound faith was able to hear from Christ the words, " Thou art Cephas and upon this rock I will build my church,"^ has consequently also the power of binding and loosing, inasmuch as the heavenly mandate also sanctions such things. But, if he is carried beyond this rock, it is manifest that such a man does not escape detection as beating the air, as the Apostle says.^ The end.
p. 410. 2. Of the same to Archelmis the reader of Tyre. 513-8.
[From those during episcopacy, from the \ st book
the \/^\st letter.^
Our Christ-loving brothers the lord Menas and Isidore informed us that some of the readers, moved
1 Mt. xvi. 1 8. 2 I Co ix. 26.
by divine zeal, recoiled from communion with that wicked man/ and he laid upon them, as he thought, a ban of excommunication ; and that it is necessary for this to be removed by us. For my part I was surprised if they considered a ban laid upon them by a man repudiated for his faith to be a ban at all. Indeed the holy Cyril also in writing to Nestorius says this ; " Those who spoke against you on account of the faith and have been separated by you are in communion with us. For it is not rigfht that such men should be injured by your sentences." ^ If therefore it is on account of the orthodox faith only, and not for any other sin, that these too have received such a ban and have seceded from him, they are released. How could men who, as we said before, were never even placed under a ban at the beginning be under a ban ? The end.
p. 4". VII. Seventh section." About monks and nuns.
513-8. I . Of the same to Valieriana * the deaconess and archimandrttess. {^From those during episcopacy , from the Tf'^d book the loth, i^th letter.)
I rejoiced greatly on learning that your religiousness had by God's decree received the headship of those
1 Epiphanius; cf. p. 97. '^ Ep. 17 (P. G. Ixxvii. 108).
* titXos. * Sic.
sacred virgins. And after other things. Wherefore gird up the loins of your understanding, and with watching- and strenuousness guide the rational souls over which you have been appointed to be head to every good action. Require from them not only asceticism of body, but also purity of mind. Make the virgins' holy convent inaccessible to every male, and let none whatever set foot within their sacred precincts : neither if he be a boy in his time of life, nor if he has reached advanced old age, except the priest who performs divine service for you. Neither let the virgins look freely at one another, but with eyes turned downwards let them say what is needed. The lust of the flesh obtains occasions from the lust of the eyes, as the divine John the Evangelist says in his epistle.^ Paul the wise also writes to the Ephesians, " Let no foul p- 412. speech proceed out of your mouth : but that which is good for needful edification, in order that it may give grace to them that hear." ' To this also your religiousness must, carefully see : i.e. that all the virgins do not take their food separately, lest one be hungry and another drunken : ^ but be at one and the same table, as it is written in the Acts of the Apostles concerning those who in the beginning believed on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that they were all together, and they broke bread in a house and " took food, with gladness and singleness of their heart praising God " ; and that "the heart and soul of the whole number of
^ I J. ii. 16. 2 £ph_ iy 29. ^ I Co. xi. 21.
those who had believed was one, and none said of any of the things that he possessed that it was his own, but everything that they had was common."^ But neither let any of them keep a bondwoman within to minister to her : but let those that are young minister to those that have erown old. It is not lawful for a virgin or a solitary, who have promised to imitate Christ, to keep a bondman or bondwoman. " The Son of man," He says, " came not to be ministered unto but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many."" If therefore the bondwomen are willing to be bound with the yoke of virginity, after due p- 413- examination receive these, and let them live with the rest as freewomen ; and let them have no liberty of intercourse with their former mistresses, nor for the future perform service for them. '* He that was called as a bondman in the Lord is the Lord's freedman,"^ as the divine Apostle says. But, if they desire to minister to their mistresses in the monastery while yet bondwomen and living a secular life, use all your power to expel these women. If " evil communications corrupt gentle dispositions,"* much more does the servile character cause corruption in the characters of the freeborn when it lives with them. But do not exert yourself to apply correction to all these things immediately, lest you grow weary of labours, and load yourself with an excessive burden : but cut away the
1 Ac. ii. 44, 47, iv. 32. 2 Mt. XX. 28.
' I Co. vii. 22. 4 Id. XV. 33.
evil practices little by little, and provide the proper remedy for every disorder, like the most skilled physicians : and, when you have healed one disorder according to the method proper for it, then bestir yourself to cure another also ; and thus you will make the whole body sound by gradual corrections, and will win the reward of wise stewards/ Enforce God's laws : but slanders against you or contumelies despise ; and thus you will be a good example of humility of mind to those under your headship. Those that are ill comfort : before those that are well hold out readi- p- 414. ness for ascetic exercises. Those that are harassed by cares help and sympathize with them, inasmuch as you also are clad in bodily infirmity, and strengthen them with hopes for the future : teaching them that " the fashion of this world passeth away."^ Warn them not to despise the work of their hands. In fact even the wise Paul used to work : and he would say, " These hands ministered to my necessities and to them that were with me. And I have showed you all things, how that ye ought so to labour and work and help the weak."^ Warn them to have ever in their mouth meditation upon the divine scriptures, and to sing night and day the songs that the Holy Spirit delivered to us through David's mouth, not men's hymns, which are made to give pleasure, and which weaken the soul and relax the vigour of asceticism. " Meditate upon these things : think upon these things ;
1 Lu. xii. 42-44. 2 J Qq vii. 31. ^ Ac. xx. 34, 35.
in order that thy progress may be manifest to everyone " : ^ and you may be as a ship that is engaged in commerce and gathers the spiritual profit from every quarter, in Christ Jesus our Lord. The end.
p. 415-
489-612. 2. Of the same to Jannia the deaconess and archiman-
dritess. [F'rom those before episcopacy, from the
/^th book the ii^th, 121st letter.)
The religious deacon, father Theodore, has asked me about the commands which he received from your devoutness. But I, being poor in knowledge and having no right even to open my mouth, seeing that I am doing no good service that gives me freedom to speak, have been under the necessity of writing these things, since I yielded to his entreaties accompanied by adjurations, and I also shrink from distressing you by silence. Therefore I wish your religiousness to know that she who is entrusted with the governance and headship of rational souls must possess unlimited fear, and a heart of mercy : fear, lest she neglect any of God's judgments or commandments, and do not teach them to the sisters or enforce them upon them : goodness of heart, lest in enforcing strict discipline she harshly and without sympathy make the Lord's gentle yoke heavy, and render His light burden grievous to be borne, though He Himself says in the Gospels, "For my yoke is gentle and my burden is light ".^
1 I Ti. iv. 15. 2 j^t_ xi. 30.
You did well therefore in showing condescension towards her who has been weak and has been tempted by the evil one, and in restoring her to repentance by p. 416. displaying the mercy of pity towards her. Do not cease bearing with her as long as she displays penitence by works of asceticism that is worthy the name and able to wash away the pollution of sin. However, if her faults are such as to injure and stain the others also and inflict her leprosy upon them, like the stains of men of corrupt mind mentioned in the Apostle,'^ cut her off and cast her from you: "for it is good for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should fall into hell."^ Only so long must you bear with her as the detriment is confined to her, and does not pass to the others also like some grievous flood. Expel from the company of the sisters all license and idle speech, unrestrained and unseemly laughter, and adornment of the body or of clothes, from which spring fornication and foul and filthy thoughts. For one may wear the lowly and dark tunic itself or cloak in no modest or chaste fashion, but wantonly and immodestly, and walk unbecomingly, and turn one's eyes about in a disorderly way, and use dissolute language, and place one's limbs in a languishing posture, and so satisfy the passion of elegance, and excite the lascivious desires. Command p. 417. them therefore to keep their heart "with all carefulness,"^ and with David to cry, " My flesh trembled for
1 I Ti. vi. 5. 2 j^t y 29. 3 Pr. iv. 23.
fear of thee : for I was afraid of thy judgments." ^ If the fear of God reach our mind, and we persuade ourselves that to-morrow we shall be dust and ashes, and that the fire of hell that is not quenched will receive us, we shall slay all carnal pleasure. For he that trembles for fear of God is dead to deeds of sin : but he is alive to works of righteousness : and he takes no account of the labour of watching : but he rejoices and delights in the consolation of song ; and at working with his hands he is ready and cheerful, seeing that, having fled from the greed and covetousness of the world, he gains by his own toil his daily bread to eat, and often also to give of it to a poor man, and to feed Christ when hungry. To all kinds of obedience also such a one is prompt, and carries out what is commanded without cause for blame and immediately, saying according to the Lord's commandment, " That which is my duty to do I have done,"^ and fears to open his mouth and speak idle and inexpedient words, and lose his toil.
Let us pray therefore that the fear of God may be bestowed upon us, which is itself the beginning of good works and their preservation and completion. For "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom " :^ p. 418. and "let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall." '
Besides all other things I wish you to know this :
^ Ps. cxviii. 120. 2 Lu xvii. 10.
^ Ps. ex. 10. 4 I Co. X. 12.
that, if you do not through your honourable demeanour offer yourself as a model of good works to those who are being taught, and by your actual conduct show them uncorruptness and modesty, as the Apostle says,^ during your teaching, though you perish ten thousand times every day, you will profit nothing : but you will be " as sounding brass," and as " a tinkling cymbal " i^ since our teacher and God Jesus Himself first began to do, and then to teach, thereby giving us a model of virtue. The prophet David also shows that a man cannot otherwise open his mouth and speak spiritual words, unless he has first loved and served God's commandments : for he says, " I opened my mouth and breathed in spirit, because I loved thy commandments."^
I have out of affection reminded your religiousness of these things as in a few words : but do you in your deeds show better things than these. The end.
p. 419- 3. Of the same to Simeon archimandrite of the great 513-8.
monastery, {from those during episcopacy, from
the y^d book the 35M letter.)
A report has reached us that your religiousness in the pursuit of quietude and the desire of remaining constantly in prayer and holding intercourse with God wishes to nesflect the rational flock of brethren that
^ Tit. ii. 7. 2 I Co. xiii. r. ^ Ps. cxviii. 131.
has been entrusted to you by our God and Saviour Jesus Christ, and that your mind is not much set upon the charge of them : but that for this reason you are desirous of nominating an administrator of the government of the monastery. When we heard this, we were astonished : and we did not, and still even now do not think it true : for this is alien to your perfection. You know well the apostolic statute that says, " Let every man wherein he was called therein abide," and that " we were bought with a price," ^ and that we must with all our mio-ht fulfil the will of the Lord who bougrht us the captives with His own blood. But what is God's will, except that a man seek not his own profit, but his neighbour's ? ^ That the retention of the charge of the rational sheep who have been committed to you brings you nearer to God than quietude our Lord and Saviour is witness, who in the Gospels said thrice to Peter, "Peter, lovest thou me?", and said that this is the token of love towards Him, " Feed my sheep" and "Feed my lambs." ^ Therefore retain p. 420. the spiritual headship with all devotion, and do not, while you are on a path that is higher than all paths, turn your mind to another which cannot make God so near to you : I forbear to say that it actually grieves His Holy Spirit. The allegation that you have also cut yourself off from the sacred ministry I am ashamed even to write. It was this especially which made me not think the statements true : so that, even if some
1 I Co. vii. 23, 24. 2 Id. X. 24. ^ John xxi. 15-17.
verbal bond or oaths have been put forward by your sanctity without consideration, we reckon this as a thing that is not right. Wherefore we release you from such a ban, if we ought to call this a ban at all, and we also urge you to preside over your flock entirely, not with half your mind, and to officiate at the bloodless sacrifice. The end.
4. Of the same to Naiimts ^ bishop of Seleucia. {^From 513-8. those during episcopacy, from the loth book the T,S/\.th, 385//^ letter.)
Be it known to your love of God that Pelagius, having been afflicted with disdain of the divine laws of the Spirit, and having disobeyed our summons which very gently summoned him, because he was not conscious in himself of any soundness, and could not p. 421 make a defence to the accusations against him, derived so much benefit from his great presumption that he obtained many further witnesses to his own audacity and impiety. He was in fact required to give account or be tried for what he had done before the glorious count of the East, who was present in the honourable bishop's house,^ and he did not need the expressions of his accusers, or any witnesses : but by his own words he was convicted of trying to make a defence in a crooked and crafty manner. For truly speaks the
Sic. 2
€7ricr/co7reiov.
sacred text which says, "He that is incautious with his lips being perverse shall be tripped up":^ and again, " A fool's lips lead him to evil things, and his presumptuous mouth calleth down death upon him."^ Our Lord and God and Saviour Jesus Christ Himself also, who uttered these words and words like them in those that said them, says in the Gospels, " Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh," and, " The evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth and putteth out evil things."^ Not to make many words, he was shown to be liable to many punishments : but by reason of the clemency to which the aforesaid oflorious count of the East also as well as my meanness was by inclination disposed, he was adjudged indeed to be wholly unworthy to reside in p. 422. the holy monastery situated by the chapel-house of the glorious apostle Thomas in the city of the Seleucenes, because he sows disturbances among the brethren : but for the present as a discipline for his sins to live for a short time in any monastery that we please. For he has not ceased sinning against the brethren as the Apostle says * and wounding their consciences, and so injuring Christ, to whom every sin that is sinned reaches, since in graciousness He makes our afflictions His own. How was it anything but shameful that he should bring his brother into the monastery, who is a Nestorian and will not consent'^ to set foot even in the
^ Pr. X. 8. 2 Id. xviii. 9. ^ Mt. xii. 34, 35.
* I Co. viii. 12. ^ We rather require "is not fit".
outer court of the holy church or on the path to it, and admit him to be received by him ; and further in the case of a man who was formerly a solitary, who is stained with the hateful belief of Nestorius, and calls our one Lord and God Jesus Christ two natures after the divine and ineffable union, and was reproved and after the reproof said, " It is the same thing for us to speak of two natures and of one incarnate nature of God the Word," not only admitted him to entrance into the monastery, but even to give the divine communion to the brethren ? And how could it be tolerable to those who know how to give right judgments that, while the commemoration of Epiphanius is allowed as p- 423- an indulgence by me, he should take this man as a support for his own wickedness, and should in psalms and hymns of praise call one who has been admitted to indulgence a theologian, insomuch as to put down a certain small jug or flask and say, " It is a relic of the holy Epiphanius," and use this turbid filth, as the prophetic text says,^ to give drink to the rational sheep? Not to prolong the letter by citing every one of the facts established by examination, by committing these and like sins he was shown to be drawing into his own impiety those of the brethren also who are specially simple and have specially rustic minds. The archimandrite also of the monastery that has been often mentioned fell under great blame for keeping silent on these matters, and closing his eyes, as the
^ Eze. xxxix. 19.
saying is : and, had it not been that I and the glorious count of the East yielded to his white hairs and advanced old age, and he received forgiveness, he would perhaps have been taught to be watchful in the case of sins directed against God. For it is written, " If a man sin against a man, they shall pray for him : but, if he sin against God, who shall pray for him ? " ^ For this reason we also, being concerned for the conscience of the brethren, and desiring to give no entrance to impiety, have disallowed what was previously permitted as an indulgence, I mean the commemoration or p. 424- mention of Epiphanius. It was also resolved that the programma or superscription of the faith should be put up before the gate, after the model of the other monasteries of the orthodox, on account of Him who said "What I tell you in the darkness speak in the light ; and what ye hear in the ear preach upon the housetops." ^ For that which He when He had become man for reasons of expediency delivered in quiet, and to few in number, speaking to His disciples, this He ordered to be clearly preached throughout the world. The reason that a man obtains an indulgence and a concession is not that he may by means of it rebuild the impiety, but that he may by gradual ascent increase the strictness of his practice. In this way, after God had allowed the sons of Israel, who had been brought from heathen denseness, the sacrifices through "the blood of bulls and goats," as the Apostle
1 I R. ii. 25. 2 ]yjt X. 27.
VII. 4- SFXECT LETTERS OF THE HOLY SEVERUS. 377
says/ men like David the prophet, advancing towards knowledge, said, "In burnt-offerings thou delightedst not; a sacrifice unto God is a broken spirit."^ The apostles also, after having allowed circumcision to those who believed from among the Jews, after these things, when the preaching of religion had advanced further, said and taught and wrote in their epistles, *' Ye who are justified by law have fallen from grace" : and, " If I yet preach circumcision, why am I again p. 425- persecuted?"^: and, "Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples which neither we nor our fathers were able to bear ? " ^ These things were carried into effect ; and those who received the concession that was allowed on account of imperfection forgot this, and pressed on to perfection : and neither did the true Israelites lapse into demon-worship because of the indulgence of sacrifices, nor did those who believed among the Jews in the beginning and were circumcised recur to the shadowy worship.
Therefore, these things being so, the matter of the superintendence of the monastery too was ordered and settled in writing, the magnificent count of the East also being- present, in order that the seeds of all disunion may be removed from before the feet : against which we urge your holiness also to keep a watchful mind, and not suffer anything of the kind to
1 He. X. 4. - Ps. 1. 18, 19.
3 Ga. V. 4, II. ^ Ac. XV. ic.
happen henceforth jn the same holy monastery. All the devout brethren were charged with threats both by me and by the glorious count of the East not to bring forward any matter tending to disturbance or confusion unsuited to solitaries, but to be subject to their religious archimandrite, and in all things to p. 426. think, say, and do what is in harmony with the orthodox faith and with the solitary life. But, if they do anything contrary to these things, they must no longer expect the castigation suited to monks, but that which is suited to men living the unregulated and undisciplined life in the world.
But these things your love of God ought to have first arranged and settled yourself, and not have thrown such labours upon me, who am harassed by the great turmoil of affairs. The end.
513-8. 5. Of the same to Victor bishop of Philadelphia. iyFrom those during episcopacy, from the /^th book the I ^6th letter.)
That the thing which holds Christianity together is love we are all assured. But what is the peculiarity of love except to regard a neighbour as itself? Therefore, since we have heard a report that is not good about the devout John, who formerly ministered to the presbyter ^lian who is among the saints, to the effect that he has lapsed into love of money and the vileness of filthy lucre, and the other vices that are akin to
these (if the text is not false which said that "the love of money is the root of all evil things " ^), we urge your holiness, who besides your other good qualities are rich also in the virtue of obedience, to send this man to his own monastery in order that he may keep quiet : p- 427- especially since he came to us in an improper way and as one may say self-invited, and not by invitation and as one who is carrying out an order so that he might also receive a reward. For I have learned that his evil repute has also reached our holy fathers of the house of the saintly John and Theodore. In what way I do not intend to say : but that those who related these things are not liars, and that they have "the fear of God before their eyes,"^ and that they are greatly devoted to your love of God I know and am assured, and I have gained this knowledge from actual experience. I remember also that the devout John often showed a lucre-loving character in affairs, in the neighbourhood of the holy monasteries where I and your love of God lived, and that he did not edify us much (for we must speak thus moderately). The occasion of this hunting after lucre in him was that old man, and the attendance on that invalid, and the disguise thence derived, coloured with Melian earth ^ of this kind. Therefore I beg your holiness to purge away this blot also and reflect that nothing is likely to impair the whole administration of those who preside over a people (not
1 I Ti. vi. 10. 2 ps XXXV. I.
3 A substance used by painters ; see Liddell & Scott s.v. M-^Xio^.
only spiritual administration but also political or any other kind whatever) so much as intercourse with those p. 428. who are constantly with them and serve them and are entrusted by them with things that cannot be entrusted to those without. For this reason the prophet David, leaving us a rule and a statute for an illustrious life, sang to the God of all, " When the wicked man turned aside from me I did not know " : and, " Mine eyes are upon the faithful of the land that they may sit with me : and he that walked in a blameless way he ministered to me " : ^ and the passages that agree with and resemble these, words which everyone sings and takes into his mouth, but few, and those such as you, display in act.
These things have been written by us with the love of Christ going in advance and filling up the measure of the letter. Though we are sinners, we are in the habit of endeavouring to do what is good not for the sake of anything else, but for the sake of goodness itself only. The end.
513-7. 6. Of the same to Stephen bishop of Apamea. [From those during episcopacy, from the jth book the io6th letter.)
I have thought it necessary to commend to your love of God the man who brings you this letter, and to
1 Ps. c. 4, 6.
State the reason for which he has come to you. The magnificent and Christ-loving Marinus wrote to me to p. 429. say that the man is his kinsman, and that he is in need of some assistance, as many say ; and that by reason of his retiring character he would not consent to throw himself into political affairs and obtain relief from that source : but he thought it suited to his habits to be included among the clergy of the city of the Apamenes : for he is in fact also from that same country. Therefore he asked in his letter that this misfht be carried out for him in actual fact. And I after investigating the man's mode of life found, as far as was possible for men, that he had not neglected modesty of conduct. But do vou also with men fitted for this purpose examine the man further, and you will know that he is not one unworthy of such a favour. This presupposed, we shall be paying a very just debt to the magnificent and Christ-loving Marinus, who concerns himself much about our affairs, if we include the man among the clergy of the holy church of the Apamenes, and admit him to the order of the diaconate. So much for this matter.
As to the circumstances of the time, I beg you to remember our humble admonitions, and do all things with discretion, and reckon all other things second to the integrity of the orthodox faith, in order that you may appear perfect and say like Paul, " I can do all things, in Christ which strengtheneth me." ^ p. 430.
1 Ph. iv. 13.
The men of the blessed 'Akiba have written to me about John the monk, who has betaken himself to a temporary retirement with you, to the effect that it was not by their counsel that he removed from their monastery, but also that here too he sought to be ordained on his own authority ^ (I must use their words) ; and this they explained not only by their letter, but also by sending devout monks here. Accordingly I beg you not to lay a daring hand upon him until his archimandrite gives his consent ; Jest we be found to be incurring blame, as breaking the holy ordinances of the churches and of the monasteries. The end.
513-8. 7. Of the same to the wife of Calliophis the patrician'^ on a diptych. {From those during episcopacy , from the Zth book the i^Jth letter.)
Beinof enofaaed in hearingf a certain cause, I had not time to attend to what was written by your highness immediately. But, now that I have read it, I have this much to say : that concerning the confession of faith it is necessary for me to give you an admonition. For in such thinofs as these it is not rio-ht to be p. 431- negligent. For we hear the Apostle saying, " For necessity is laid upon me : and woe unto me if I preach not the gospel."^ Indeed, even when such a
^ avdevTia. ~ Cf. Jo. Mai. p. 401, and Wright, C.B.M. 335.
^ I Co. ix. 16.
thing is said in simplicity as you say, it is foreign and alien to the right confession, I mean that Christ should be reckoned as an addition to the Holy Trinity, or, vice versa, that we should place Him before and in this way confess the Trinity. Having positive knowledge that you ^ are sound ^ in the faith, and that you rejoice at such an admonition, I have written to you, and that with very just confidence. But, since the same apostle says in writing in another place, " Let your speech be always seasoned with grace as with salt," ^ with grace that does not fall outside the limits of devoutness I have added also the case of that woman : and that though it is certainly in no way alien to believing women to help one another, especially in such urgent matters. The practice of women teaching in public and giving expositions to men the wise Paul disallowed, saying, " I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over a man : but let her be in silence." ^ But that they should correct their sisters in their assemblies and conversations he properly permitted, especially those who are advanced in age, calling them " teachers of good things," * in order that they may give an example to the others also in everything;. Also the women who were tauofht at that time by the Lord show that instruction in religion is not p- 432- foreign even to the female sex. For this reason too he accepted Mary who was industrious in this matter, saying, " Mary hath chosen for herself the good part,
1 Masc. pi. - Col. IV. 6. ^ i Ti. ii. 12. * Tit. ii. 3.
/.'.aW
which shall not be taken from her."^ Accordingly both to learn and to teach such things, in a proper manner and according to the character of each person, belongs to every sex and is praiseworthy and blessed. I forbear to go on to refer to Paul who says in his epistle to the Philippians about certain women, " Which combated with me in the gospel with Clement and my other helpers," '^ in order not to be thought to be prolonging the argument, and doing detriment to the brevity of an admonitory letter. The end.
519-38. 8. Of the sa7ne to Eustace a young monk. [From those after banishment , fro?n the ^th book the 2,'^th letter.)
Your devoutness acted rightly and lawfully in informing both that saintly old man at an earlier time and our meanness now of the thought that troubles you. And after other things. Know therefore that our Lord and God Jesus Christ, by way of making the road that leads to salvation broad for us (for His p. 433- " commandment is exceeding broad," ^ as the singing prophet says, although it seems narrow to many by reason of the hardness and difficulty of works of virtue), when in the Gospels urging us to bear the cross and follow Him, and to despise the worldly matter that draws our mind away from heavenly things, and press on to perfection, in one place says,
1 Lu. X. 42. 2 Ph. iv. 3. 3 pg cxviii. 96.
"If thou wilt be perfect, go sell that thou hast and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven, and come follow me " : while in another place He laid down a principle saying, " Everyone that hath forsaken house or brethren or sisters or mother or father, or wife or children, or lands, for my name's sake shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit eternal life."^
Since therefore you also have by God's grace chosen for yourself and completed one of the said roads by forsaking all for His name, do not let your thoughts distress you and think that you ought in all points and under all circumstances to carry the other method into effect also, I mean that of selling what you have forsaken and giving to the poor. Indeed Basil the great in divine teaching, when drawing up the ascetic canons for us, ordered us to testify to a charge of sacrilege only against men who hold property that belongs to us, saying that the voice of religion does not permit us to go to law about it. If therefore you be able to do so out of a superfluity (for neither is there any need for you to do even this as a matter of p. 434. necessity and compulsion), I mean to take a part also of your father's or mother's inheritance to help the poor, without relaxing the laws of the Spirit and being involved in the confusions of courts, the action is good and not to be disallowed, and it ought not to be despised. For the same doctor said, " But every-
^ Mt. xix. 21, 29.
where let us take care lest by reason of one commandment we be seen to be breaking another."^ You are therefore in need of a believing man, one who is powerful in the state, - and able to receive instructions and commissions from your devoutness as to the claims which it is proper to make, in order that he may hold the fear of law-courts ^ only before those who hold your property, and when they have given way demand from them some of the things that can be demanded. For you do not require him to be led into suits in the courts,^ if those men be very unjust, and to be further found to be yourself sfoinof to law through the instrumentality of the man who has received the instructions and do violence to the laws and rules of the Spirit, which prohibit you from going to law. This I say, because among the things written by you you stated that, if you do not at once remind those who hold the things that belong to you, you will be barred by the time that has elapsed from any claim< or indictment. JVo^ the end.
P- 435-
519-38. 9- Of the same to the Christ-loving Isidora. [From those after banishnent, fro7n the gth book the iTfth letter.)
The fact that I learned from your Christ-loving' modesty's letter (to speak with God's permission) that
^ Reg. Fus. Tract, ix. 2. 2 ^oXircta. s g
LKacTTripia.
both you and our common children are sound both in soul and in body was a cause of great joy to me.
And after other things. And she is blessed because of her departure : but you are more blessed in that you did not see her in the body, for the sake of the law of the Spirit and the future eternal hope. You will assuredly see her there, since by enduring not to see her here you have consecrated your endurance as a sacrifice to God. This principle is also stated in the sayings of the holy old men who after an approved fashion gained distinction in the solitary and immaterial life. Once indeed, when father Poemen was following the life of philosophic quietude with his brothers, and the door of his cell was shut, his mother stood outside the house, and he spoke to her thus in so many words, " Do you wish to see us here, or to see us in that country ? " ; and the old woman said to him : " If I do not see you here shall I certainly see you there, my son ? " ; and he answered her, "If you force yourself p- 436- not to see us here, you will see us there." And she went away rejoicing and saying, "Shall I certainly see you there ? I do not seek to see you here." ^ These things were said and done by those understanding old men, and fathers of the holy and solitary life, not because they were cruel and unkind men in respect of the claims of nature, but because they were taught by the God-inspired scripture that those who have been set apart and consecrated to God have no
1 Apoph. Pat. Poem. 76 (P. G. Ixv. 340).
family on earth, but among angelic hosts and the heavenly spirits. For this reason Moses in his blessings said of the tribe of Levi that was set apart to perform priestly functions, from which was Aaron the first high-priest, and those who after him wore the robe of judgment and the revelation and truth upon their breast (these were bright stones, which signified the fact that all things that are true and are not revealed to most men are revealed by God to the high-priests), " Give to Levi his revelations, and his truth to the saintly man." Then also he adduces the cause of such honour, saying, "Who saith to his father and to his mother, ' I have not seen thee ' : and acknowledged not his brethren and his sons." ^ For this reason EJisha also, who was working at the tilling of the earth, and was looking after twelve yoke of oxen ploughing, when he suddenly received the heavenly calling from Elijah the prophet, p- 437- was not allowed to see his parents and bid them farewell : but, when he said, " Let me kiss my father and my mother and I will follow after thee," he heard the prophet indignantly commanding him and saying, "Go and turn back, what have I done to thee ? " ^ Jesus Himself also, the teacher and God of the prophets, and of the rigfhteous men who have been from all time and from the beginning of the world, for the sake of example and instruction to us made answer in the sacred Gospels to the man who said to Him while
1 De. xxxiii. 8, 9. 2 ^ R. xix. 20.
He was teaching the multitudes, " Behold ! thy mother and thy brethren stand without and seek to speak with thee," and said in the ears of everyone, "Who is my mother? and who are my brethren?" : and He stretched forth His hand towards His disciples, and said : " Behold ! my mother and my brethren. For, whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, he is my brother and sister, and mother."^
And again after other things. With regard also to the burial of that blessed God-loving virgin's body, if you determine upon a course worthy of the perfection of Christians and the high garb of virginity, you will allow her to be buried in the place where she placed her spirit in the heavenly Father's hands, an expression which Christ, the new first fruits of our race, left us as an inheritance, when He died the voluntary death for our liberation and said, " My Father in thy hands I place my spirit."^ For "the earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof " * says the singing prophet : who also in another place teaches that the whole earth is a foreign land to holy men, and that they have no country, in that he sings thus to God over all : "I am a denizen with thee, and a sojourner, p. 438- like all my fathers."* The reason that patriarchs such as Jacob and Joseph desired to be removed from the country of the Egyptians to the land of promise, and there receive perfect burial, was that with prophetic
1 Mt. vii. 47-50. ^ Lu. xxiii. 46.
^ Ps. xxiii. I. * Id. xxxviii. 13.
eyes they foresaw our God and Saviour's Resurrection, which was to take place there ; for which reason also the observances of the divine service an,d worship were confined to these places only, so that in the legal writings also the following command is given by Moses, "Take heed that thou offer not thy burnt offerings in every place where thou shalt see, but in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose."^ But now, when the gospel service and the worship in spirit has embraced all the ends of the world, and one sacrifice has been offered for the sin of the whole world (for, "Behold!" He says, "the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world " ^), it is lawful for us to do spiritual service and to worship and pray everywhere, and no one can any longer be found amonof saints and those who conducted themselves according to the perfection of the gospel who gave injunctions or who greatly concerned himself about being buried in this land or in that. For they looked to the hope of the resurrection, and the last trump, which shall in the same manner awake those who sleep from the dust of earth, as says Daniel the divine among prophets," and "from end to end of heaven,"* as Jesus Christ who spoke in the prophets said in the p. 439. Gospels ; who to the Samaritan woman also who thought that the observances of worship were limited and confined either to Mount Gerizim according to the
1 De. xii. 13, 14. ^ John i. 29.
^ Da. xii. 2. ■* Mt. xxiv. 31.
folly of the Samaritans, or to Jerusalem according to the opinion of the Jews, said, " Woman, believe me, an hour cometh when neither in this mountain nor at Jerusalem shall they worship the Father"; and again after a little more ; " But an hour cometh, yea now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth ; for the Father also sgeketh such worshippers. God is spirit ; and they that worship him must worship in spirit and in truth." ^ Following these things the wise Paul also in writing to Timothy said, " I will therefore that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands without wrath or cogitations."' Not the end.
VIII, Eighth section.^ About men who cut off their p. 440. eenital members, and about men who have them cut off through necessity, and about men who killed themselves in time of martyrdom : and that it is the custom in many churches for the glories and praises of the saints to be read.
I. Of the same to Stephen the reader. [From those 513-8. during episcopacy, from the yth book the 2)9'2nd letter. )
I confess that I rejoiced greatly when I received the letter which your religiousness sent me by the
1 John iv. 21, 23, 24. 2 I Ti. ii. 8. ^ tiVAos.
magnificent Sergius, the governor of the second people of the Syrians,^ for two reasons : both because it was yours, and because its contents were what they are. For we have now by experience found the man such as you described him in your words to be : and in this great thanks are due to your God-loving soul.
By asking after you have received the discourse produced by us upon the saintly Simeon^ that we should compose another also in the form of a historical narrative you seem to me to be doing the same as a covetous and strict lender, who, when he sees that his p. 441. debtor is unfruitful, desires to receive the principal only, but, when he has received it and seen the gold in his hands, is induced to demand the interest also, which before receiving the principal he despised, determining in a friendly way that his own only should be repaid without increment. Know clearly however that it was our endeavour in that discourse, even while applying ourselves to the festal and laudatory style of composition, not to neglect the historical and narratival aspect also : in order that it might contain both at once, and the hearer might be more gratified at receiving a history adorned with flowers of praises, and at the same time as far as possible not failing in ecclesiastical gravity.
That the praises of the saints are read even in
1 I.e. the province of Syria II.
2 Wright C.B.M. 536, 791. The order of the homilies shows that it was delivered in spring 513.
churches is witnessed by the discourse of the wise Basil on the forty martyrs/ which is read to the people in the city of the men of Berytus, as well as by that of the holy Pamphilus, both there and in the city of the men of Caesarea, which is the metropolis of First Palestine. The laudatory discourse also that was delivered upon Gregory the Wonder-worker^ we ourselves have known to be read in many churches, and in the royal city itself : similarly also that upon the great Basil. We who are scrutinizers of the laws must do you an injury, and so stop your greedy ears, I think that the preface ^ of the same discourse that we p- 442. wrote on the same holy Simeon will cause you difficulty, seeing that it is unacceptable to the Byzantines. But it is easy for you to use three or four passages that stand at the beginning, and leave out the things that cause difficulty, and read the rest continuously.
But the lawful freedom of speech of your love of God, or rather to say what is more true your confession on behalf of piety, we have heard from others. And you are blessed both in the distinction enjoyed here, and in the expected reward, which is promised to those who have foug-ht well. The end.
^ p. G. xxxi, 568. ^ Id, xlvi. 893. ^ 7rpooL[xtov.
513-8. 2. Of the same to Cassian bishop of Bosii^a. i^From those during episcopacy, from the yth book the T,y 2nd letter.)
In this one letter I make answer to all those written at different times by your sanctity.
And after other things. As to the case of the man whose genital members have been cut off, you are not right in saying that the fact that his name is not mentioned in the transactions against the impious Julian^ is enough to secure acquittal in our eyes. In fact, if a time of inquiry come, we shall certainly insist upon saying why such a count ^ was drawn up. But this principle must be observed, that according to the p- 443- provisions of the canon this shall be a great defence for him, that he in truth suffered this at the hands of physicians, by reason of some infirmity that had arisen in him, and he was not himself his own destroyer : ^ for this is what falls under accusation and the canonical punishment. If therefore this appear to be so, out of benevolence place him among the clergy : you will not be in any way whatever relaxing the ordinances of the church. Julian of the hateful name was deprived for other reasons greater than these : and this count ^ was added to those by way of addition : and, even if it is not true, it cannot benefit him in any way. Since you
^ Bp. of Bostra (Zach. vit. Sev. p. 30 ; Evagr. iii. 33). 2 K€^aXaiov. ^ Mansi ii. 668.
have written to us about the gentle Dorotheus, it seems you have forgotten the points on which he caused us just vexation, which I made known to your love of God in another letter: and for your perfect knowledge I have thought good to insert a copy ^ of that in this letter. The end.
3. Of the same to Aurelius the scholastic. [From those 513-8. durmg episcopacy^ from the jth book the 2)7^^^^^ 2,7 ^th letter.)
The fact that your wisdom has been pleased to show a kind disposition ^ towards those who are distressed by any vexation is good and of great profit. But for those who like my meanness are entrusted p- 444. with the o-overnment of rational souls it is not a safe thing to walk contrary to the laws of the Spirit, and by granting indulgence do violence to what those approve. By doing such things we shall without our own knowledg-e be o-iving- those that are under a superior liberty to sin, so that we shall henceforth be unable to cut off others also who neglect church discipline, by reason of the fact that we ourselves have already undermined this. Therefore with regard to the devout Thomas, if on account of some infirmity
^ icrov.
'-'Or, with an easy emendation, "The fact that your wisdom is benevolently disposed."
his genital members have been removed by the skill of physicians, whether cut by the knife or burnt by drugs, he has under the canons liberty to minister, and there is no difficulty as to his performing priestly functions, and standing before God's altar "with open face"^ as the Apostle says. But, if he presumptuously mutilated himself, we will not put force upon the determination of the canons concerning him, and give occasion for blame against us to those who are eagerly and malignantly observing what we do. It may in fact happen that we cannot do all that we wish, unless it be by setting at naught the offence caused to many, and wounding "the weak conscience" of our brethren, as it is written.^ If it were not so know well that I too inasmuch as I am clad in bodily weakness p- 445- am much inclined to benevolence. However, since I am "bought with a price," ^ with the blood I mean of the great God and our Saviour Christ, I coerce my will according to His laws and check the unrestrained impulse. These things I have written to the saintly Cassian also the bishop of your resplendent metropolis : * for I think I heard from his love of God that it was rather on account of an infirmity and under the skill of physicians that the aforesaid man was mutilated. The end.
^ 2 Co. iii. 18. 2 J (^Q yiji^ J 2.
^ Id. vi. 20. * viii. 2.
4. Of the same to John the scholastic of Bostra. {^From 519-38. those after banishment, from the ^th book the ^<^th letter.)
I praise the man who addressed an epistle to your Christ-loving erudition, and is earnestly desirous of learning the intention of the commandments of the Spirit, and rightly shrinks from the crime of transofressinor the commandment of the divine laws, which p- 446. leads to manifest death. For the God -inspired writings somewhere say, " The commandment of the Lord is a fountain of life : and it makes one turn aside from the snare of death." ^ Wherefore I also of necessity answer with what comes to my knowledge, since it is not a safe thing for me to keep silence and neglect the question. If men who have been admitted to act as priests to God do not make manifest to those that are in need the path of what ought to be done, it is equivalent to committing murder. For He that speaks "in Hosea the prophet says, " Priests have hidden the Lord's way : they have slain Shechem : because they have wrought iniquity in the house of Israel.""^ For the sharp sword that provides the devil with an instrument for the slaughter of our souls is an iniquity. Wherefore we will set the question of him who asks before our answer, as he requested. It is word for word as follows.
^ Pr. xiv. 27. 2 jjo. vi. 9, 10.
p. 447. Question one. "The loud-voiced Isaiah admonishes those that thirst to go to the water.^ Having therefore for a long time disputed about the points ^ to be mentioned without being able to find anyone here to explain these clearly to us, and yearning greatly in thirst, we have now had recourse to your wisdom as to fountains of salvation, you who are able from your own resources and by the help of the God-taught men there to explain to us what the right opinion is concerning the propositions'^ submitted by us. But let the story be taken as relating to imaginary persons. There were with a certain man two deacons who had received the habit from him, and were admitted to the diaconate by his hands : not both at one time : but each of them separately. These concerted a partnership in wickedness : and having corrupted one another left their archimandrite, having perhaps even before
p. 448. their departure made an agreement to trample under foot the anathema that would be launched against them. Therefore, after they had withdrawn themselves, these men's archimandrite, wishing to check the evil, immediately through a certain brother placed them under an anathema, the exact terms of which were that they were not to be together nor talk with one another, nor taste wine for some short stated time.^ For it was thought that what had been done was chiefly due to the indulgence of the belly. But these men treated the anathema with contempt, and on the very day
' Is. Iv. T. ^ K€(f)dXaLa. ^ 7rpoTao-Et9. * 7rpo6e.a-fJi.ia.
were together and in company, and did not refrain from the drinking of wine even for the space of one day only.
" That if they had observed the pronouncement they would not have been under the anathema, and that after the anathema had been removed also it would have been easy for them to be together is, I think, obvious to everyone : but, since they were infected p. 449- with contemptuousness and did not take account of the anathema, in what light must we hold these men ? and is it possible for him who placed them under anathema to Sfive them forgiveness when the ban has once been broken contrary to his pleasure ? Or, even if he who pronounced the anathema shall forgive them, will the Lord also with him forgive their contempt of the anathema and their neglect of the pronouncement ? What I ask is whether even if the author of the ban himself wishes to erant release it is difficult for him to do so, or if it is in fact upon him that the whole matter depends so that he may even change his mind and give way, or if it depends upon a certain definite penance and strict observance of the things that were forbidden them before, and whether this is to be observed for ever, or is to be applied to them for a space of time as a discipline.
" To speak generally, if a man is under an anathema, and on his own authority deliberately transgresses against it, what does he deserve ? And is the act of p. 450. release after the transgression free from danger for the author of the ban ? and does God grant forgiveness with him, and judge the man who has sinned inno-
cent ? I ask further also whether pronouncement and anathema and separation differ from one another in meaning, or if, the meaning being one, it is only the articulation of the syllables^ that is different."
Answer. Since Moses who was named a faithful servant in all God's house ^ says to those who are to judge, " Ye shall not recognise a person in judgment ; judge according to the small and according to the great ; thou shalt not be afraid of the person of a man, since the judgment is God's," ^ and Koheleth too gives us wise instruction, speaking plainly thus, " There is a time for everything under the sun,"* we the mean one also must, as far as is possible for us, so make answer to the question as if the judgment were divine and p. 451- not human, and produce a solution of the doubt in accordance with the distinctive character of the time.
If therefore the head of the monastery reproved the brothers who have now left while they were within and living under his power, and found fault with them for disorderliness of conduct, and forbade them the corrupting intercourse, he would have reason for laying an ordinance upon them after they left also, and ratifying this by an admonitory anathema. But, if he is shown to have been silent the whole of the time during which they were under his authority, and not to have found any such fault with them at all, he is now giving ground for suspicion that he is rather inflicting a man's vengeance upon them for his own
^ a-vWd^ia. - He. iii. 5. ^ De. i. 17. ■* Ec. iii. i-
injury, not applying a correction out of concern for their salvation. Everyone who wishes is allowed to leave a cloister freely without any blame following him. A man who leaves a monastic community does not, as in the case of the holy churches and of those who are included in the honourable clergy, need a dimissory letter or similar permission : for this is not laid down p- 452- in any of the holy canons. In conformance with this distinction therefore we say that the pronouncement that has been laid upon the brethren shall hold or not hold. If they received a warning while within the cloister, it is manifest that they have sinned, inasmuch as they have trampled upon the pronouncement. But, if they left without having had any fault found with them, they are not subject to the pronouncement that was laid upon them after their departure : but for their disorderly character they shall give account to the righteous Judge, when they shall themselves bear the burden of their own sin : " for everyone," as the Apostle says, "shall bear his own burden "\ But, if they fall under the ordinance, it is manifest that penitence will help them. Every sin, even one that is very grievous, is cured by the method of sincere penitence, and those who show penitence worthy the name have nothing incurable about them ; and the man himself also who laid the ordinance upon them can remove the interdict : not introducing thereby human favour, but serving the divine will. But, if he shall be wrathfully and p. 453-
1 Ga. vi. =:.
hostilely disposed, and be unwilling to release those who sincerely repent, it rests with another authority higher than his, viz., that of the bishops, upon learning the truth, to remove that which out of human bitterness and malice is maintained even after sincere penitence. But it rests with him who has authority to remove the interdict to approve the measure and character of sincere penitence, where nothing is explicitly stated by the church canons, as in the case of certain sins. Such pronouncements the divine scripture is able tO' term both "ordinances" and " pronouncement"^ For it is written in Numbers as follows : " This is the word ^ which the Lord commanded. Any man who shall vow a vow unto the Lord, or swear oaths, or lay down an ordinance concerning himself, shall not make his pronouncement void. All that proceedeth out of his mouth he shall perform."^ Also, when Samuel the prophet had commanded Saul, and had ordered him to arm himself against Amalek, and deliver to death p- 454- everything soever that he captured of men and of cattle, and he was victorious and gained mighty success in war, and he transgressed the ordinance and kept the goats and oxen alive, and he angered God, the divine scripture introduces the prophet himself saying thus : " Because thou hast rejected the pronouncement of the Lord, the Lord shall reject thee from being king over Israel." And Saul said to Samuel : " I have sinned in that I have transgressed
1 Marg. "word." '-' Marg. "pronouncement." s j^u. xxx. 2, 3.
against the word of the Lord."^ You see Samuel called the divine commandment and ordinance " the pronouncement of the Lord ", and Saul " the word of the Lord." Jeremiah the prophet also applied the term "commandment" to the ordinance that the righteous Jonadab established for his sons and his sons' sons, commanding them not to taste wine at all, nor possess a house or field, but to live in tents, Jeremiah was commanded by God over all to take a jar of wine and a cup, and urge his sons' sons to drink, contrary to what was commanded them by their fathers' father : and they made answer saying, " We have hearkened to the voice of Jonadab our father, that we should not drink wine all the days of our life, we and our wives and our sons and our daughters, besides not building houses to live in them. And we have had no vineyard or field or seed : and we have dwelt in tents : and we have done all the things that Jonadab our father commanded us." And thereupon He that commanded the prophet to do these things, in order to convict the disobedient people of Israel, speaks thus : " The sons p 455- of Jonadab the son of Rechab have maintained the commandment of their father : but this people hath not hearkened unto me." "" This ordinance the Spiritinspired writings are also in the habit of calling "covenant.'^ For instance, when the chiefs of the Jews had with the knowledge of King Zedekiah agreed after the space of six years to let the Hebrew
^ I R. XV. 23, 24. 2 Jgj- xlii. 8-10, 16. 2 SiaO-QKrj.
handmaid and slave go free according to what is written in the law/ and they had transgressed the ordinance that was enacted by them, the same prophet Jeremiah speaks thus: "The word that came from the Lord unto Jeremiah, after King Zedekiah had completed a covenant with the people in Jerusalem to proclaim a release, and to let every man his Hebrew slave and his Hebrew bondmaid go free, that no man might be in bondage from Jerusalem ; and all the great men and all the people who entered into the covenant turned aside from dismissing every man his bondman and his bondwoman, and releasing their p. 456. bondmen and their bondwomen." ^ Also, when those who had returned from Babylon joined themselves to foreign women, of the peoples of the countries that were near them, from among whom God had forbidden them to make marriages, and Ezra was roused to wrath on account of the sin, those who had offended agreed and ordained to send away from them the women that were united to them : and one of them is described in the second book of those that were written by him as speaking in this manner : " We for our part have been false to our God, and have taken strange women of the peoples of the land : and now there is hope for Israel concerning this. And let us now make a covenant to our God, to put away all the women and such as are born of them. As thou wiliest, arise, and frighten them by the commandments of our
^ Ex. xxi. 2. 2 jej.. xli. 8-1 r.
God : and let it be done according to the law. Arise, because the word is upon thee and we are with thee. Be strengthened, and act." ^ You see here also he called that which was resolved and ordained both " word " and " covenant " ^ : so that in the God-inspired writings the same thing was named " word " and " ordinance " (or "prescription") and "pronouncement" and " commandment " and " covenant."
An anathema fills the place of punishment for him p- 457- who transgresses what has been ordained. But you must know that there are two kinds of anathema. For the expression " anathema " is also applied to that which is devoted and consecrated to God, gold it may be and silver, and garments and slaves, and cattle and fields : in some cases for the honour and adornment of a prayer-house building, in others for the service or support of those who are in need, or " those who constantly attend upon the altar " as Paul says.^ Such things it is in no way lawful to transfer to private use after they have been consecrated, and to remove from the use whereby they are appropriated to God. This principle is stated as follows in Leviticus : " Every anathema that a man shall devote unto the Lord of all that he hath, from man unto head of cattle, and from the plot of his inheritance, he shall not sell it, nor redeem it. It shall be a holy thing unto the Lord."* Thus it is written that Judith acted. "And
^ 2 E. X. 2-4. 2 StaOrJKr].
^ I Co. ix. 13. ^ Le. xxvii. 28.
Judith set apart all the goods of Holophernes that the people gave her, and the net that she took for herself from his chamber, and gave it as an anathema
p- 458- to the Lord."^ But the other kind of anathema is when persons are by the sentence and judgment of God set apart for death, as Joshua the son of Nun ordained in the case of Jericho according to the determination of the Lord, saying, " This city and all that is therein shall be anathema to the Mighty Lord ; however Rahab the harlot and all whom she hath in the house save alive." "^ After the same fashion the divine Samuel also said to Saul about Amalek : " And thou shalt destroy and make anathema him and all that he hath, and shalt not spare him : and thou shalt slay from man unto woman : from babe unto suckling : and from ox unto sheep : and from camel unto ass." ^ Wherefore also Moses to the words cited shortly before from Leviticus adds these expressions which distinguish this other kind of anathema as we said : " And every anathema which shall be set apart by men shall not be redeemed, but shall surely die."* The anathema therefore that is laid upon those who transgress against the divine ordinances, or commandments or commands, is of the
p- 459- second kind, the anathema which ordains death to the man who transgresses or sins. But death is separation from God. For God is life. Accordingly it follows
1 Judith xvi. 19. - Josh. vi. 17.
^ I R. XV. 3. ** Le. xxvii. 29.
that death also is deprivation of life, and it consists in our being separated and removed from God. Into this kind of anathema Paul also cast those who preach to us contrary to what we ourselves have received : and he said in the epistle to the Galatians, " But, even if we or an angel from heaven preach unto you contrary to what we preached unto you, let him be anathema. As we have said before, I say now also again : if any man preach to you contrary to what ye received, let him be anathema."^ In the first epistle to the Corinthians also he wrote in a similar fashion : "If any man loveth not our Lord, let him be anathema."" However he that tramples upon an anathema decrees against him double and manifold death, and he is alien to the blessed calling and name of Christians : whence by transgressing against the pronouncements of the laws that hold the church of God together he becomes disobedient to the church : and the man who becomes disobedient to the church our Saviour and Lord and God Jesus p. 460. Christ in the Gospels consigned to the lot of the nations, saying, " But, if he also hear not the church, let him be unto thee as a Gentile and as a taxgatherer."^ In general therefore an anathema is a separation. For it separates the man who is guilty and is removed from God's people, as is said by Isaiah, " Let not a foreigner that is nigh unto the Lord say, ' The Lord shall then separate me from His people.' " *
1 Ga. i. 8, 9. - 1 Co. xvi. 22. ^ Mt. xviii. 17. * Is. Ivi. 3.
But the word " separation " is also used when a man is separated for a time from ministering, or from communicating in the sacrifice that is offered.
Question two. " Men who cut off their own members are rejected by the great synod : with the quahfication that it grants remission to those who have suffered this at the hands of masters or of barbarians, or by reason of disease, or some other imperative cause/ This is manifest to those who look at the canon : but for the sake of a searching investigation let a case in point ^ such as this be presupposed. A certain man among those with us, who had worn the monastic habit from his childhood, p. 461. as soon as he began to reach physical puberty, fearing the enticements of nature, and thinking that he was doing a great thing, did not consider the consequences beforehand : but, being deceived by ignorance or by enthusiasm, cut off his own members without his superiors having knowledge of it. At the time he underwent many punishments for his presumption : but, when he attained to manhood, he adopted a very devout mode of life, giving himself up to fasts and to the singing of psalms accompanied by many tears, and shunning women and bringing his body into subjection by abstinence ; though it is for the sake of these things that those who cut -off their own members generally fall into this audacity, since they then associate with women without suspicion, and expect thenceforward to minister to their bellv without dis-
^ Mansi ii. 668. - vTro^ccrts.
crimination. But the man whose case we are considering is not of this kind. He is temperate in all things : his hand is unsparing in deeds of mercy : and his whole life he is, if one may so say, mourning for the presumptuous deed that he committed against himself : and so much so that he is often brought even p- 462. to despair. But some bid him despair of grace, and say that the sum of his many labours is useless to him. Wherefore, even though after his audacious act he was admitted first to the diaconate then to the presbyterate, he is in distress because he has learned that this is forbidden by the canons. Therefore let your God-inspired wisdom explain to us what ought to be thought about men who so conduct themselves, or what is the penitence proper for these, and what is the benefit derived from that penitence, and whether the hopes of these men are vain, and they have no expectation of salvation, and in this matter only the power of penitence is weak, seeing that, not even when he is penitent for what he has done, and weeps constantly and wears himself out with supplication, is he to expect forgiveness for the sins committed : or if his upright life and sincere penitence are enough to blot out the presumption of the deed ; and if he should continue to hold his axia or function, or must inevitably p. 463. be stripped of this, being expelled by the canons } "
Answer. The decision and answer upon this question is manifest. If a man who has cut off his own genital members and destroyed them was to have forgiveness, be it on the ground of ignorance or immature age, or
fear, or a devout life after the presumptuous deed and evil act, the exactitude of the canons, pronounced as they were through the inspiration of the divine Spirit, by the holy apostles and by the saintly shepherds who were after them, would have foreseen it. The twentvfirst canon of the Constitutions ^ published to the nations by the apostles through Clement speaks thus : " Let not a man who has mutilated himself become a clergyman. For he is a self-slayer, and an enemy of God's
p- 464. creation." And the twenty-second canon also speaks thus : " If a man being a clergyman shall mutilate himself, let his deprivation be effected. For he is a slayer of himself" Next follows the twenty-third canon also, which says these words : " Let a layman who has mutilated himself be separated for three years. For he is an offender against his own life."" The first canon also of the great synod of the three hundred and eighteen holy men, of which the question also made mention, proclaimed principles consonant with the declarations of these apostolic constitutions,^ placing those who have cut off their own members outside the whole clergy, even those who have already been admitted to any kind of ordination. For it spoke thus : " But, if any man being sound in health has cut off his own members, this man even if enrolled in the clergy must be set aside. And henceforth no such man ought to be presented."^ But the
p. 465. practice of penitence prepares those who have com-
1 Siara^ets. ^ Mansi i. 33- ^ Id. ii. 668.
mitted this presumption for forgiveness in respect of the sins committed, in order that they may not fail to attain the expected life and the kingdom of heaven.
But, if any man thinks penitence profitless, and fancies that this is feeble, because it does not contrary to the intention of the holy canons introduce into the clergy a man who has cut off his own members, and restore him to the sacred ministry, he misses the right conception. No one is blamed on that dreadful day of judgment because he was not a clergyman, but because he did not produce fruits worthy of penitence. A man who is sincerely penitent and conscious of his own position, even if he is a man free from every canonical impediment that might prevent him from officiating as a priest and ministering, shuns such an honour. In facta man does not take "honour unto himself, but by being called of God, as also was Aaron " \ as said the apostle Paul in the epistle to the Hebrews. The ninth canon also makes these general provisions about those who have fallen under canonical p. 466. impediments and been presented to the priesthood : "If any have been presented as presbyters without examination, and when examined have confessed the sins committed by them, and after they have confessed any men being moved in a direction contrary to the canon have laid a hand upon them, such men the canon does not accept. For the catholic church
1 He. V. 4.
requires blamelessness "\ To the same object the tenth canon also Is directed.
These things I for my part have considered and written down in answer to the questions sent me by your believing wisdom ; not as one who has high thoughts (far be it!), and who exalts himself above those who sin ; but I have poured forth a flood of sympathetic tears over the sinners, and I also am clad in weakness of flesh, as the Aposde somewhere says ; " and of necessity as well as in consequence my speech has borrowed the exactitude of the canons, and has uttered their words ; to listen to which and delight oneself even for a short time in this transitory life that flits away sooner than a dream is a cause of great and unending joy, and of the exaltation of the angels and p. 467. the festival of the spirits above, and of ineffable bliss. May the holy Unity in Trinity, for that is our God, keep your believing wisdom : while you increase in zeal for the orthodox faith, and bear troubles for its sake with firmness, and walk blamelessly in the evangelic commandments; and may It admit you to the future endless life in the kingdom of heaven, through the prayers of all the saints. Amen ! The end.
1 Mansi ii. 672. ^ Ga. iv. 13.
5, Of the same to Andrew the reader and notary. 537. i^Froni those after banishment , from the gth book the 6ist, ^ist letter.)
The letter of your devoutness which has now been brought, I received on the last day of the month of July, on which was the commemoration of the saintly Timothy, who was archbishop of the city of the Alexandrines, who completed a long residence in exile after the manner of a martyr, and of King Theodosius the younger, piously deceased, who in zeal and in the maturity of his intellect surpassed all who reigned before him : to whose prayers I also ascribed the receipt of the letter, since I had been expecting it p. 468. for many days, and I was disturbed by various anxieties, and I was anxious lest it too had been overlooked and lost.
And after other things. As to John the scribe who threw himself into a river and departed from this life, I am in doubt, and I have no sure decision to give. Know that since the times of Christ's coming in the flesh we find in church histories that this is allowed to women, to remove themselves I mean from this life, and throw themselves on to rocks or into water : on account of the weakness of their nature, and the fact that they are exposed to double danger, that of the pollution of the body I mean, and that of denial of the faith : but in the case of men we have nowhere known this principle to have been accepted or
sanctioned. But it is written about one of the holy Maccabean martyrs that the torturers thought he was drawing back, and that he was showing signs of change : and upon their releasing him for a short time he leaped upon the implements of torment glowing from the fire and the instruments^ of torture, and separated his soul from his body and flew to heaven. -
Therefore, what has thus happened must certainly be judged according to the disposition " of his heart and the character of the words that John said.
But may the God of mercy, who desires our salvation rather than our destruction, grant him the portion of those that are saved! Indeed the holy John the bishop not only treats such a death as a subject of praise in the case of the holy Pelagia the p. 469- martyr, but also pronounces a festal discourse over three other women, I mean Domnina and Prosdocia and Berenice, who by reason of the urgent dangers to which they were exposed threw themselves into the waves of the Euphrates.* Eusebius also in his Church History recorded acts like these on the part of females.^
Aiid after other things. But you did well in sending isa or copies of the synodical letter and of the other letter to those in the East, for their comfort and establishment in the faith.
And again after other things. But the fact that
^ opyava. ^ 4 M. xii. 20. ^ Sta^ccris.
4 P. G. xlix. 579, 629. 5 H. E. viii. 12.
you have continued to reside at Alexandria we also regard as the effect of great prayer, although I am in no small degree weary, since I write letters to everyone with my own hands, and fill the place of a notary, and I am moreover annoyed at the confusion of the letters, since mv handwritino- is ill-regfulated, althouoh the recipients of them are good believers. If you are obliged to come to us, seek the lord James the man of the count's retinue (?),^ and he will appear before you more quickly than words can express, and with God's help you will be free from care in other things.
And again after other thmgs. But as for those who, after knowing of the death of the wicked Gaian, hold assemblies in which a dead service is performed in his name, and commit impieties like those of the heathen, who celebrate symbolic services in honour of dead men p. 470 as of gods, it is quite clear that some divine wrath of no gentle kind will come upon them in common, as may be inferred from the divine scriptures. But may God grant them to be roused from their error, and to be converted from their recklessness while there is time !
As to the passage in the letter addressed to father John the son of Aphthonia which you say was a difficulty to you, it is a perfectly recognised construction, and it ought not after such long consideration to have baffled you. After the conjunction "indeed" the conjunction " but " is used, either immediately, or after other things
^ This perhaps represents Ko/xtnavo?; or we might render "of Beth Kumis"'.
that have been said in a parenthesis : as is also to be seen clearly apparent in the place that was a difficulty to you. It stands thus : " And let these things indeed be both conceived and understood in this way : and let them keep us away indeed from things that are evil, but let them lead us to the hope of things that are excellent." If we inquire into things that are so well recognised, it will even give rise to an accusation of foolish speaking among those who are versed in outside learning. Such constructions may be found plentifully used, both in every one of the ancients, and in the holy fathers. For such a construction is a piece of fine and artistic composition. For instance, an expression of the holy Basil, taken from the letter to Amphilochius about the Holy Spirit, follows so to speak in the very track and confirms what p. 471. I say. " Therefore the names indeed are of exalted nature and great like these, and names that have not indeed any excess of glory. But of what kind are the operations? Ineffable indeed on account of their greatness, but innumerable on account of their abundance."^ You notice, I think, how the doctor after saying "Therefore the names indeed are like these," again employed another conjunction "indeed", saying "names that have not indeed any excess of glory." But this clause is a parenthesis, and the sentence composed by him fits together as if it had never been inserted at all : as if he had said, " There-
1 De Sp. S. 48, 49 (P. G. xxxii. 156).
fore the names indeed are of exalted nature and great like these. But of what kind are the operations ? Ineffable indeed on account of their greatness, but innumerable on account of their abundance." Since this book was found lying at hand by me, I have quoted this to you from it. If it had not been so, as I said before, one may find similar constructions like showers of rain in every book. Not the end.
p. 472.
IX. Ninth section.^ About baptisms performed in 513-8. time of necessity by deacons or by laymen ; and about men as to whom there is doubt whether they have been baptized or not.
I. Of the same to the fathers. {^Froni those during episcopacy , from the 6th book the ^th letter.)
^neas and Zacharias the devout deacons, and Elijah the devout monk, who have obtained a testimonial from you, of which I also was not unaware, have been admitted by the Holy Spirit, the two former to the honour and second seat of the presbyterate, the last to the rank of the deacons, and to the status of the diaconate. I would that all were like these, men who are advanced to this position with a good
^ TiVAos.
and sound testimonial, and because they are called by reason of being needed, and do not put themselves voluntarily forward out of unseemly ambition and selfwill. And after other things. But those who received the name of clergymen from Gregory ^ the V' follower of Theodotus the Re-anointer^ must in all points and by all means be reckoned among laymen. However, in the case of those who have been admitted to baptism by them, let no one say that they must be p. 473- enrolled among the unbaptized. In fact we hear that many when beset by a storm at sea, or by other pressing circumstances of a similar kind, in order not to miss the invocation, have conferred baptism upon themselves, either with their own hands or with the assistance of others who however were laymen, the rite being made complete for them by the invocation, and the anointing with the holy chrism ^ being added afterwards : although it is a matter of presumption for us to say anything decisive in such cases, and not to speak by way of investigation and consideration.
As to the follower of Isaiah the Armenian,* let him not even be named, a man who like Dathan and Abiram rose not against Moses but against the highpriestly chrism, and wished not so much to be as to be called that which he also coveted. About him one might find many things to say, a man who, besides his illegal pretence in contravention of the canons,
' Cf. p. 208 ff. 2 cf. p. 185.
^ fjivpov. ■* Cf. p. 208 ff. and P. G. Ixxxvi. 45.
has also committed the very serious sin of oathbreaking, not once but twice also and thrice and many times, and instead of the character of oath-keeping has pfained that of oath-breaking-. And no wonder. In fact in the times of the holy Timothy also they say that Cyrus the simple thus arose suddenly and out of self-will and fatuously pretended to hold the high-priesthood, and perished together with this drunken supposition.
And again afier other things. You write also about the bishop of the city of the men of Berytus, finding fault with the indiscriminating character p. 474- of his clergymen ; and you are unaware that he has in fact fallen into the nets of Eutyches and of Valentine, and of those who have contracted the disease of the phantasy^ and deny the true Incarnation. He has had the infirmity latent in him all this longtime, and I do not know how it is that he has now brought it to liorht. For this reason also I have sent the religious presbyter and steward ^ Eusebius and the God-loving presbyter and entertainer of strangers Victor to the said city of the men of Berytus, in order to convert the man who has erred if he accepts correction, or if he is contentious expose him by refutation, and subject him to the canons. This same man also admitted the man who was prelate of Scythopolis to honour after his decease, a man who was scarcely even a Christian as you yourselves also know, thus committing a deed full of all folly and without discrimination.
^ (fiavracria. ^ oikovo/aos.
Wherefore also I meet with daily deaths, since I fight and strive with greater severity with those who are thought to be catholics than with those outside. For everyone who sins and receives any kind of admonition arms himself for strife and battle. And again after other things. But I beg that the letter be also read as usual to the saintly presbyter Zoninus and Irenaeus p- 475- and Zenobius and Eubulus and the rest. Through the persons mentioned, who appropriate the superscription, this epistle was addressed to their love of God also ; and through you I greet all the God-loving fathers and brothers who are with you, and I ask to have your God-beseeming prayers, given with great earnestness. The end.
513-8. 2. Of the same to Theodore bishop of Olbe. {From those during episcopacy, from the <^th book the d>th letter.)
The questions asked by your love of God no one will be able to decide, from the written laws of divine scripture, or from the spiritual constitutions ^ of those who at one time and another instructed the holy churches. To some extent it seems to be a dangerous thing for us to say anything at all on such matters. But again, on account of the importance of the question and its bearing on salvation, I considered it an im-
pious thing to hide in silence what has come to my knowledge without written source, and not make it clear to your sanctity. You say in fact that one of the barbarian slaves bought with money, after com- p- 476. municating in the communion of the divine mysteries as a baptized man, after this said that he did not know at all whether he had been admitted to the laver of regeneration.
Know that I heard some old Alexandrine monks, whose mind has been trained by long asceticism, tell the following story. In the great city on the day called that of the recipients (thus in accordance with the custom of the country they name what we call "first baptisms"), a great multitude having as usual thronged together, especially of little babies at the breast, and being admitted to the divine grace, it so happened that two women were in doubt about their infants, whether that of the one or that of the other had been baptized ; for there had in fact been an interchange, and the two babes had been received, and it was already manifest that one had been admitted to the laver of forgiveness, while the other had not passed through the rite ; only it was not known which of them it was. This came to the ears of the holy Cyril the teacher of exact orthodoxy who at that time p. 477. adorned the high-priestly seat ; and, taking the two infants, by the inspiration of the wisdom from above, he dipped them in the life-giving water, speaking over them as follows: "He that has not been baptized is baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and
of the Holy Spirit"; and so he settled the point that was in doubt. I remember that in the holy monastery of father Romanus of saintly memory also, which is situated in Palestine, that a certain monk, who by race was an Ethiopian, after he had for a long time communicated in the sacred mysteries, since he was also counted in the order of those who had taken upon them the solitary life, upon seeing certain persons baptized there, thinking that he had seen a strange sight, secretly confessed to one of the brothers that he had not been admitted to the divine laver. And the man who was at that time archimandrite of the said monastery (this was Eupraxius the holy old man), fearing lest perhaps, if he were baptized, some might fasten the stigma of men who re-baptize upon them, informed the prelate of the city of the men of Beth Gabrin of what had then happened : and he concluded and judged that the brother who was unbaptized ought ip. 478. to be admitted to holy baptism. This action was very right, and not outside the scope of the divine laws of the Holy Spirit. For, since our Lord plainly decreed and said to Nicodemus, " Verily verily I say unto thee ; unless a man be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God," ^ it is absolutely necessary to follow the safe course, and to use the holy Cyril's expression and say, " So-and-so is baptized if he has not been baptized, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."
^ John iii. 5.
For in fact by ineffable graciousness the immanent power of the Holy Spirit baptizes at the word of the baptizer and accompanies it. For the wise Paul also says that we are cleansed " by the laver of water by the word," and so put off every spot and wrinkle of sin.^ This power He who became poor for our sake gave p- 479- to those that perform priestly functions, in order that we "through his poverty might be rich " ; ^ and He said also to the holy apostles, and to those who succeeded these afterwards, " Verily I say unto you, , all things that ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven ; and all things that ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." This same power He also named " the keys of the kingdom of heaven." '^ Therefore with the knowledge of these things direct your steps to that which it is right to do, and follow the safe course as I said before, not as by stealth and with fear, but "with open face" :* because "we are not of fear that leadeth unto perdition, but of faith that gaineth the soul,"^ as the same wise Paul again somewhere says. The end.
3. Of the same to Thecla the countess. {From those 519-38. after banishment, from the ^^rd book the ^'^rd letter. )
The letter of reminder that was given by your magnificence to the learned and believing grammarian Stephen
1 Eph. V. 26, 27. '-^ 2 Co. viii. 9. ^ Mt. xviii. iS, 19.
* 2 Co.i ii. 18. ^ He. x. 39.
showed me by the reading of it that still even now you remain that Thecla whom Theotecnus the presbyter, who is in all things steadfast and relio-ious, would depict to me in words of piety, tracing the likeness as p. 480. in colours : who so much attracted me by his words that I was then the first to begin to write a letter to you. Wherefore also I confess myself indebted to God our Saviour that neither has his testimony which he bore on your behalf been falsified, nor my faith in your Godloving modesty which I then gained. The devoutness of your character is shown by the fact that your own judgment was not enough for you, and you had not confidence enough to presume to things to which it is not proper to presume before being confirmed by a lawful utterance of high-priests. And now you are blessed on account of your praiseworthy fear, by the text of the sacred writings that says, " Blessed is he that feareth everything through devoutness."^ Further praise I assign to you from the divine law also which ordered a man in disputed causes, and that while the service consisting in shadowy things and types yet prevailed, to repair to the place where the Levites and priests dwelt, and the judge who had the headship over all things at that time, and from them obtain a solution of the doubt. It is good and very beneficial to quote in the letter the words of the law itself, which are as follows : " But, if any matter be too hard for thee in judgment, between blood and blood, and between judgment and
^ Pr. xxviii. 14.
judgment, and between stroke and stroke, and between reviling and reviling, words of judgment in your cities, thou shalt arise and go up to the place which the Lord God shall choose for His name to be called there : and thou shalt go in unto the priests the Levites and unto p- 481. the judge that shall be in those days, and they shall inquire and show thee thy judgment : and thou shalt do according to the commandment which they shall pronounce to thee that are from the place which the Lord thy God shall choose for His name to be called there : and thou shalt observe well to do according to all thinors that shall be ordained for thee. Accordinor to the law and according to the judgment which they shall pronounce to thee do : thou shalt not decline from the sentence which they shall pronounce to thee, neither to the right hand, nor to the left." ^ The intention of these expressions of the law you have fulfilled in actual deed, both by feeling intelligent doubt, and by referring the question as to the doubt to the pronouncement of the high-priests, in that you have stated that a certain baby, having been seized with severe illness, and having already reached the very gates of death, was sent to a prayer house building to receive the laver of regeneration, and the communion of the divine light ; and, it so happening that the presbyter of that place was not there, you say that the deacon by reason of the urgency \/ of the case dipped the boy in the water of life, and performed the legal ceremony ; and after the action
^ De. xvii. 8-1 1.
the presbyter came and complained of what had been done as unlawful, and sought to subject the deacon to punishment. For it was doubted among you whether ' the boy who was baptized received the perfect grace. You must know that in matters that are doubtful p. 482. and rarely occur one cannot find broad statutes : since those who made the statutes took care to avoid giving occasion through absence of restraint for the rules of strictness to be corrupted. Therefore concerning this problem ^ also and concerning its rareness it is written in the Constitutions - or in the Commands of the Apostles, which they named the Testament ' of the Lord, that a deacon also may administer the laver of regeneration when a presbyter is not present, by reason of the imminence of the necessary end of death : this same rare observance being proclaimed in these words: "In case of necessity, if a presbyter is not present, let a deacon baptize ".'^ Therefore the presbyter did well in paying attention to what was done by the deacon out of necessity, and performing the ceremonies that follow baptism, and laying upon the boy who had been baptized the anointing with the holy chrism,^ and V the seal of the perfection that results from this.
As to the other question about the other strange and
p. 483. unknown boy who could not repeat any mystic symbol,
by which you might have been able to learn whether he
is a believer or an unbeliever, as not having received
■* Test. Dom. ii. 10. ^ ixvpov.
the laver of regeneration, a letter has been written by me to the God-loving bishop Theodore of a certain city in Isauria named Olbe/ and I have determined to quote the same to you at the end of this letter, as being sufficient to provide you with a solution of the doubt.
May you be preserved to us, noble God-loving woman, who show your strict practice regarding faith in God even by the questions which you ask in doubt ! That strictness continue to keep till your last breath : for " without faith it is impossible to please " ^ says the Apostle. The end.
X. Tenth section.^ About a man who has a wife and children and wishes to become a monk : and the same also about women, and about the marriage of these.
L Of the same to Alypius. (From those before epz'sco- 4,90.512. pacy, from the -^rd book the 2^'jth letter.)
In many instances, when it was necessary for some sanction to be given to an action, I have known your p. 484. illustriousness to set great store by the judgments of my erring and uncertain mind, as I persuade myself that it is.
And after other things. You certainly, I think,
^ ix. 2. 2 He. xi. 6. 3 ^t^vAos.
remember that I engaged in a discussion with you about your consort, whom, having been struck by some unexpected suspicion, you drove from your house, and acted like men whose marriage has been dissolved, not even giving her the necessary sustenance ; and how I quoted to you the laws of the Lord and God and Saviour of all, that men are not permitted to put away those that cohabit with them under any other conditions except for one reason, I mean that of fornication ; and fornication we judge to be that which is manifestly detected, and demonstrated by witnesses or manifest proofs, so that, if any suspicion otherwise occur, we do not define this as fornication : but rather we turn the supposition into a gentler channel. For " in matters that are in doubt we must incline to clemency," as the Theologian Gregory says/ I have indeed gained sure knowledge that the woman is not liable to charges of fornication so much as to going out freely. But such a thing as this invites you to forgiveness, and does not give you cause for separation. But, if you are strict in requirp. 485. ing modest conduct, know clearly that you are commanded to practise the same observance towards your wife as you wish her to practise towards yourself Christ our lawgiver speaking through Paul said, "The wife hath not power over her body: but the husband : and in the same fashion the husband also hath not power over his body: but the wife."^ Re-
1 Or. xxi. 15. 2 I (Jo. vii. 4.
fleet therefore whether you also have never been discovered to have been seduced by the pleasures of the body. But why do I say "pleasures"? Whether you have not in curiosity gratified your eye with greedy gazing, making yourself in no lovely fashion a spectator of another's loveliness ; the eye which the divine word condemns to be plucked out, in order that it may not bring eternal torture upon the whole body : ' whether you have not relaxed under the influence of the touch : whether you have not indulged the sense of smell : whether your ears have never taken delight in dissolute songs : whether you have kept all your senses untainted. He that is a strict examiner of the doinsfs of others shall have the same judgment exacted from him in the case of his own sins also. If "the head of the wife is the husband,"^ how is he to find fault with the rest of his body as being diseased, when he himself is not in sound health ?
And again after other things. And many think in the case of a man that when he sins with his bodv he deserves forgiveness, but a woman deserves to be afflicted with grievous punishments. But this is not so : but exactly the contrary. For scripture says that p. 486. a woman shall be admitted to forgiveness, inasmuch as she is the "weaker vessel":^ but a man, inasmuch as he holds the place of head, must be an example to the other members of the same body. Therefore be
^ Mt. V. 29. - I Co. xi. 3. ^ I Pe. iii. 7.
not merciless or hard to your member, if you obey Christ's laws ; and do not apply amputation and cut it off from you : but claim it as part of your body, in order that Christ, the Word of God, who out of graciousness became head to the body of the church that was infirm, may claim you also as part of Him. If He raised human nature, which had committed fornication, to heaven by showing Himself as man upon earth, what terrible thing shall we think ourselves to be doing, if we show ourselves gentle to our own members, or rather if we are not found to be harsh to them beyond what is right, and that when they are not committing unpardonable sins? In fact Christ plainly proclaims to us that we ought not casually and lightly to cut off her who has been united to us in one flesh through trusting vain suspicions: and He says that separation was introduced into the polity ^ or social life by Moses on account of our own hardness of heart: but "from the beginning it was not so," He proclaims to the discerning.^
How therefore, tell me, shall we ourselves have forgiveness, when we do not conduct ourselves, I do not say according to the gospel l^ws, but not even according to the figurative laws used by Israel who conducted p. 487- himself according to the flesh and was a child ? For such statutes were g"iven to them in the Book of Numbers by Moses, or rather by God who gave the statute to Moses. He says that, if a man say that his
1 TToXiTeta. 2 Mt, xix. 5-9.
wife has committed adultery, and do not find her doing this evidently, or be able to prove the act by witnesses, but is excited by the rage of jealousy, that he shall commit such judgment to God : and that he shall approach the priests of his time, not entering a suit of jealousy, but offering "a sacrifice of jealousy." And look, I pray, at the principle that is carried out in the sacrifice, how even before the actual methods of conviction are used it defends the woman. Whereas it was the custom for fine wheaten flour to be offered in sacrifice, he commanded barley meal to be offered on her behalf, signifying by the barley the falseness and futility of jealous suspicion : but neither shall oil (he says) be poured over the sacrifice, on account of the asperity and unkindness of the occasion : and, when the sacrifice has been performed in this way, and the rest of the sacred rite has been duly accomplished, then the woman shall drink the water of conviction, the priest having first prayed over the same water, and shall either repel the evil suspicion from her by suffering no evil in her body, or shall be found to be guilty of the charges, and fall into God's hands by her belly being rent and the penalty for the deeds that have been done paid by her on the spot.^ Wherefore have p. 488. I repeated this to you ? That you may learn that we also ought not to entrust the judgment upon this matter to ourselves, but to refer everything to our sacrifice which is Christ. He is no liar who said that
^ Nu. V. 12-31.
unless our " righteousness exceed that of the scribes and of the Pharisees " we shall not " enter into the kingdom of heaven "/ Therefore both according to the old law and according to the gospel polity,^ where the suspicion is not clear, let us not take ourselves but God as the judge of these things. And we must obey Paul who gives wiser advice than we do. He says, " Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come and make light the hidden things of darkness, and reveal the counsels of the hearts ; and then shall every man have praise from God." '
That you have just cause for making the charge we are clearly persuaded : but that the woman has not offended beyond forgiveness I think you have already been persuaded by what has been written. But, if this does not persuade, we say this. She has sinned, she has done all that is evil as you have said, she has recognized her sin, she confesses that she is guilty, she weeps and groans, she takes refuge in your mercy, she begs your clemency ; seize the opportunity. Commit yourself to God : prepare pity for yourself by showing pity. You also being a man are certainly in need of mercy. Look at common nature. Consider the p. 489. instability of human things. We are certainly not walking upon ground that is firm and not to be shaken. Let us expect ourselves also to fall, and let us set upright those that have fallen. The saying
1 Mt. V. 20. 2 TToXiTcia. ^ I Co. iv. 5.
is not mine : " Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall,"^ says divine scripture. Not the end.
2. Of the same in the person of Abba on behalf (9/489-508. brother Maximus, to a certain woman. {^From those before episcopacy, from, the ist book the 2 J 2nd letter.)
I have asked our holy father Abba about that question as requested in your modesty's epistle, and I have received a complete answer from him. He said that those who have once been united in marriage, seeing that marriage "is honourable and the bed unsullied,"^ ought not to desire to separate from one another by reason of religion except where there is consent. For the divine Apostle says, " Deprive not one another, except it be by consent for a time, in order that ye may give yourselves up to prayer, and again come together." For the same said above that it is the husband who has power over the wife's body, and, vice versa, that it is the wife who has power over the husband's body: saying, "The wife hath not power over the body but the husband : and in the same fashion the husband also hath not power over his body, but the wife."^ It is therefore manifest that, p 490. unless the husband consents, the wife who separates has no forgiveness, and she makes herself a cause of
1 /</. X. 12. 2 jjg_ xiii. 4. 3 J Qq^ vii 4^ 2
his turning aside to fornication. If then your husband consents, you are permitted to place yourself under the yoke of piety : there is no one who will find fault with so praiseworthy and admirable a choice. But, if the husband cannot restrain his body, and therefore will not permit you to do this, put up with the marriaofe-state : such intercourse that saves the husband is better than an abstinence from pleasures that is unknown to the canons. The aim of divine scripture not in this only but in everything else too regards not the person of him who has obtained mercy, but that of him who is infirm : and it especially wishes that those who are strong shall condescend to those who lie on the earth. It does not accept the man who regards his own interest only, but the man who rather treats his neighbour's interest as if it were his own profit. So therefore in this present case also it is pleasing to God that both of you should attain and win the goal of purity consisting in continence : but, if the inclinations of your husband's will do not accord with your own readiness, the laws of holy scripture judge the marriage-state to be better, in order that they may gain you both. This we say on the assumption that the husband wishes to live chastely, and restricts the pleasures that cannot be restrained to intercourse with his wife only. But, if he goes beyond what is right, p. 491- and does not keep the marriage unsullied, but associates with other women also after the manner of a beast, then the wife incurs no danger by neglecting such a man, and giving the preference to the excellent state,.
and taking no account of the marriage, but soaring on piety's wing, and turning her eyes to the solitary life, and keeping her holiness of mind and of body always unsullied.
This also our said holy father further laid down, saying that, although the husband be living chastely, being content to have intercourse with you only, but you have already chosen for yourself to live among virgins, and have included yourself in their order, although the thinor was not rigrht in its begrinninor for you ought not in fact to have left your husband while he was living chastely, yet still it is not seemly for you now to separate from the virgins, and give them also occasion for stumbling. It is to be feared lest, if you return to your husband, they also may imitate such a practice, and may defile God's bridechamber after having been once united to Christ the heavenly Bridegroom. It is impiety of a high degree that after having been set apart to God they should prefer the corruptible intercourse rather than the immortal and heavenly connexion. But, if you have not yet lived with virgins, but only withdrawn from intercourse, according to the principle stated by us above act in common with the husband, and, if he does not consent, you ought to follow his inclination, and prefer the p. 492. marriage-state to purity, because this is pleasing to God.
But, if the husband does not desire intercourse with you, but wishes you to live within the house with the children who have been born to you from the common
marriage even if they be males, this too is also acceptable to God.
These things have been said as in a letter : but we think that in what we have written we have in no point failed to answer the question of your religiousness. This epistle has been addressed to you by our holy father himself in his own very words ; for he was able to make his own spiritual mind clear without the greatness of his divine thoughts being befouled by the squalor of my words. The end.
608-11. 3. Of the same to Theodo7^e the tribune and notary. {From those before episcopacy, fro^n the \th book the Z()th letter.)
I think that I still see the torch ^ of the divine lisfht shining in you, under the influence of which you would have almost gone so far as to betake yourself to the philosophic life, had it not been that you restrained that tyrannical desire like some fiery steed by the bits of God's laws. What are the bits ? " Art thou bound to a wife? seek not release." And again "Let every man in the calling wherein he was called therein abide." And again, " Deprive not one another, except p. 493- it be by consent for a time, in order that ye may give yourselves up to prayer, and again come together."^ If then you have by devout and God-loving conduct attached your spouse to the same zeal and yearning for
1 Xafji.Tra.8a. ^ I Co. vii. 27, 29, 5.
X. T,. SELECT LETTERS OF THE HOLY SEVERUS. 437
the good life, fly, and withdraw to philosophy. But, if she has not attained to this excellence, and cleaves to the life here, and is unable to restrain the impulse of the flesh, seek not your own good but your fellow's.^ The whole force of Christianity as well as the commandment supporting the law and the prophets that says, "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself,"" points to this : the commandment which the Lord above all fulfilled when He graciously showed Himself to us by His coming- in the flesh, and He said "A new commandment I give unto you that ye love one another as I have loved you, that ye also may love one another ; and by this shall every man know that ye are my disciples, if ye love one another." ^ How then shall we not offend against the laws of love, if we suffer the wife who has been reckoned to be one and the same flesh with us to perish ? for, just as no man of sense prays that his head may be sound, while his other members are afllicted with paralysis, or are filled with disease, (for the head also will certainly share in the malady), so it is not in accordance with sound understanding for us to concern ourselves about our own salvation, while we neglect p. 494- our wife's, when we shall on her account be brought to hell. Although in the Gospels with leaving father or mother or children there is also included without division the leaving of a wife,* yet this must necessarily be subject to the later apostolic distinction. In fact in
^ Id. X. 24. - Mt. xxii. 39, 40.
3 John xiii. 34, 35. * Mt. xix. 29.
external laws also, and in fine in every statute and conception general loose statements assuredly follow later distinctions. That the wise Paul understands the meaning of the Lord's laws better than we do we shall admit even against our will. But let us not think it the wife's consent if the wife permit the husband to go merely in order that he may betake himself to a life of continence, while she turns aside to the pleasure of worldly passions and a dissolute life ; but only if she choose the same continence and philosophy as the husband, or, if not this, at least chastity and purity. Indeed, when Paul permitted separation from society by consent, he used the plural, saying, " in order that ye may give yourselves up to prayer," and not " in order that the husband alone may give himself up," or contrariwise "the wife."
This epistle I have written to you in proportion to my poverty. If you obey this, you will obtain the reward for the choice of philosophy, and that for the education of your children, training them "in the training- and teachinor of the Lord ".^ *
p. 495. I forbear to say that you can also in all characters practise philosophy, seeing that you have a soulpossessing pillar of excellence in that sharer of your name and your belief and man of God : whom also I beg you greet.
Who could voluntarily forget you, good couple that you are, the modesty of your character, the gentleness
1 Eph. vi. 4.
of your thoughts, your sadness, your cheerfulness ? For, while you are sad for piety's sake, you yet also by God's grace avoid wildbeast-like harshness, and you show the mercy of pity towards the needy and poor. Through you your father Asclepius of learned and illustrious memory also reaps a blessing, inasmuch as it was to form the material of your beneficence that he amassed the profits derived from law-courts. For alone, if I may so say, with few others he failed to conform to the passage of Koheleth that says, " There is a sickness which I have seen under the sun, riches kept for him that springs from them to his hurt."^ Wherefore also you seem in your sleep to see him feasting when you are justified. Accordingly as one that is wise in the Lord take the same Koheleth as a good counsellor and " all that thy hand findeth to do do according to thy might " ; -^ and reverse the order, and feed your children by good works, and leave them to God as a patron. The end.
p. 496. 4. Of the same to Conoii the silentiary. [From those 508-11.
before episcopacy, from, the "^rd book the 22"] th
letter. )
John, the soldier of Christ, being ardent in everything, and fervent through abundance of faith, has thought fit to address an epistle to me containing a
Ec V. 12. - Id. ix. 10.
440 SELECT LETTERS OF THE HOLY SEVERL'S. X. 4.
question that is overbold and passes beyond canonical limits about your modest daughter, and about those who are eager to take her in marriage. He gave in fact the names of those who are wooing her, and also in the name of your magnificence asked that the question might be brought before the holy old men, and before some of the women who have practised an ascetic life, in order that they may say to whom it is most fitting for the girl to be joined in marriage. But I, knowing that fathers who have the spirit of discretion turn deaf ears to such questions, in order that they may not seem to be bringing upon themselves the reputation of soothsayers and charlatans, did not dare to write anything of the kind to them, lest perhaps I might even expose myself to sentence as an uninstructed person, for being clad in the philosophic and solitary garb and yet propounding to them questions suited for those that live in the world, which those attempt only out of compliance with the pleasure of those that ask, men who pass all their time in Byzantium, and often turn their attention even inp. 497. voluntarily to such voluntary service,^ to use a scriptural expression. But we know a few of the fathers who return answer, being stirred by God, and not by the questions or the propositions," but by abundant Spirit : of whom the sacred text says, " Speech in the heart of a man is as deep water, and a flowing river and a
^ Sebyanayuth dehltha = kQ(.'koQpi](XKda. (Col. ii. 23). The text needs a slight emendation. ^ Trporao-eis.
fountain of life."^ The wealth of grace is so to speak plentiful, and of its own accord it makes those that surround it outside share in any gift. If your greatness had ofone to some such men in order to visit them, you would perhaps at any rate have derived, not as the result of the question or of the proposition,^ but as the product of such plentiful store, something that would have been of service for the solution of the question and the understanding of the present matter.
As to those who have received such grace from God let this suffice. But, since the utterance of our Saviour says in the Gospels, " To every one that asketh thee give,"^ whether it be a gift pertaining to the intellect, or one pertaining to the senses, it is necessary for me also who see few things, and, far from being able to foresee or preconceive the future, do not even know what lies at hand, to say what my advice is. It is that you should give the girl who has been brought up by you in faith and in the love of God to that one among all her wooers who has the most correct and p. 498. orthodox disposition as regards faith in Christ, and sets himself most earnestly to lead a devout and modest life : for this all other things also follow as in the second line. In fact He is no liar who said, " Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you" :* since to speak the truth it is indeed an abominable
1 Pr. xviii. 4. 2 Trporacrts. ^ Lu. vi. 30. ■* Mt. vi. 33.
thing, and one that does not greatly gratify God, or perhaps even excites His wrath, for us to pass over manifest judgments as to what it is right to do, and facts from which God's pleasure is especially to be seen, from whom everything whatsoever that is good comes down,^ and give directions by unknown things or by predispositions, and commit everything to revelations ; for some have even applied this meaning to the words, " Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God."^ If you will turn your eyes towards the said object, and choose what it is right to do, you will not stray from the right course, seeing that you will obtain God as a surety for the future and for a good result. The Apostle also admonishes us saying, " Whatsoever ye do whether in word or in deed, do all in the name of our Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father through Him."^ The end.
p. 499.
513-8. 5- Of the same to Theodore the Byzantme monk,
brother-in-law of prefect s^ i^From those during
episcopacy ^ from the \th book the \%th letter?)
It was perfectly obvious that your devoutness would fall into "a later mind" as is written^ after thus inconsiderately beginning the solitary life; and this after many arguments had often been discussed between you and
1 Ja. i. 17. - Mt. iv. 7. 3 Qq1_ jj; j^
^ €7rapxoi. ^ Pr. xxiv. 71.
me, and scriptural principles and patristic admonitions, which the God-clad doctors of the holy church left to us, directing every man in every order and kind of life known to the gospel to the royal road, and handing down the advice that we should beware of turning aside to the right or to the left, as the divine scripture says/
However, as you have in fervour betaken yourself to such a garb and mode of life, you need another exposition. Before attaching yourself to Jesus and taking up the cross you were yourself free to consider what mode of life was best for you to choose. But, as you have gone up to the hill of philosophy, do not any more return to the land of Sodom, lest you be fixed as a pillar of salt. To bury a father also was right, and in full accord with reasons of nature : but even this was thought a secondary matter after following Jesus, You should at the beofinninor have listened to Koheleth who says, " Let not thine heart be hasty to utter thy speech before God's face ; since a dream cometh p. 500. through a multitude of trials."^ However, since as I said we have come to this, we will now quote the admonition of the same Koheleth which says, " Better is it for thee that thou shouldst not vow than vow and not pay."^ This too is worthy of consideration : that, when Moses the great was prescribing the array of physical war (which however signified the nature of the spiritual array), he ordered the rulers of the sons
1 Id. iv. 27. 2 Ec. V. I, 2. ^ Id. V. 4.
of Israel in time of battle to cry to those that were going out to combat and say, "Who is the man that hath built a new house and hath not dedicated it ? let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the war and another man dedicate it. And who is the man that hath planted a vineyard ? And who is the man that hath betrothed a wife ? 'V and things like these. If a man then, when the law gave him liberty to stay at home for one of these reasons, had in ready ardour taken up arms and hastened to join battle with the foemen, and accordingly stood even at the very pinnacle of danger : and afterwards had come to remember the passibility of the flesh, and had gone back again, would anyone be right in saying that he had not left the line of battle and been enrolled with deserters and traitors, because before going out to the combat he had permission from the law to remain within the house ? Certainly not. Accordingly you also, who have joined battle with invisible enemies, p. 501. and stripped yourself not against blood and flesh, but against principalities and powers and spirits of wickedness,^ must not trade upon laws which you rendered superfluous by taking arms : but keep the same excellent mind in which you made light of children and of wife, and perform true service to the " Father of the orphans and Judge of the widows,"^ and He will be more truly a husband to the wife, and a father to the children. We must also examine the character of
^ De. XX. 5-7. 2 Eph. vi. 12. ^ Ps. Ixvii. 6
times and of persons, and so apply the divine commandments to deeds to be done, and choose those that are good instead of those that are bad. For this reason among animals also some are clean and allowed to be eaten and hallowed for sacrifice, those whose hoof is parted, and those that besides this chew their food also and masticate it, and chew the cud as it is written.^ Often, when a thing a short time before appeared to be lawful and a matter of duty, the interposition of some small circumstance has at once and immediately rendered it unlawful. For instance, after the twelve men whom Moses sent had explored the land of promise, together with Caleb and Joshua the son of Nun he urged the whole congregation to go up to that land ; but, when they showed fear and hung back and turned to contention and abuse, and after the transgression against God's commandment and the wrath threatened against them prayed the next day that they might go up, he who • the day before had been urging them to go up pre- p. 502. vented them from doing so, saying, " Ye shall not prosper. Go not up, for the Lord is not with you ; " ^ and nevertheless they went up, and they roused God to double exasperation.
You too therefore, who put on the angelic garb of the monastic life without restraining the fervour that led you to this by the strict letter of the canons, have other men also as an example, who were fired with a fire or fervour like yours. Imitate them, and distin-
1 Le. xi. 3. 2 Nu. xiv. 41, 42.
guish yourself in the struggles of the solitary existence, lest, while wishing to correct a small fault, and that at an improper time, you forget yourself and fall into a pit of evils, and dishonour the sacred garb by involving yourself in worldly cares. As it is an unhallowed and profane thing for us to apply to human use a revered vessel that has once been set apart for the service of God, so also is it foul and abominable for a man who has given himself to God, and hallowed in some sort his own life, to turn back to the claims and judgments of the flesh.
Say farewell therefore to the thoughts that call you to live in the world, and keep to the road that lies before you, until you reach, as it is written, "the goal of victory of the upward calling of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."^
There is only one thing which I would have wished p. 503- added to the beginning that you have made ; that you had joined yourself in everything, both in community of opinion concerning the faith and in community of habitation, to the holy fathers of the house of the saintly presbyter Theodore ; which also you were in the beginning impelled to do and for which you were very eager ; and I do not know how the hater of what is good hindered you. But it is easy for us not to be cheated by Satan to use the language of the divine Apostle.2
These things we have written while much harassed
^ Ph. iii. 14. 2 2 Co. ii. 1 1.
with many affairs and not able even to breathe, because we are inflamed with love towards you, and know that we owe even more to your excellent person. Never at any time shall we be forgetful of the good deeds that you have shown towards us. The end.
6. Of the same to the inmates of the monastery of the 513-8. blessed Bassus. {From those durmg episcopacy, from the yth book the ZSA^^ letter.)
Some respectable men have come to us, asking me to write to your love of God, in order that you may dismiss the man who has renounced the world, who is from the village and has in unapproved fashion put on the garb of monasticism among you, so that he may continue to till the soil and not dishonour the holy profession of monks, since it was not in quest of virtue for its own sake that he came to this. I hear that he has left his wife contrary to the apostolic law and without consent, while they have, 1 learn, children also, born of their common cohabitation. But this will certainlv p- 504. seem a crime to you also, and a thing contrary to the divine laws. Either therefore explain what the truth of the matter is, or, if the case is as we have been informed, send the man to live in the world. We must provide "things honest," as it is written, "not only before God, but also before men." 1 The e7id.
^ Id. viii. 2 1 .
519-35. 7, Of the same to C<Tsaria the patrician} {From those after banishment, fro7n the y^d book the ^(ith letter. )
It seemed to me perfectly credible that, as stated by your glorious modesty, you gained so much profit from reading" my mean letter with understanding. The good soil that is like your God-loving soul knows, it knows indeed, how, even when receiving barren seed, to give forth fruitful produce in plenty, insomuch as to reach to the perfect measure of a hundred.^
And after other things. As to the short treatise that is being circulated and carried about by certain persons, which you say is inscribed with my name and bears such an ascription, a treatise that I shrink from even taking upon my lips, seeing that it is full of ignorance and stupidity, know that it is not the work of our meanness at all : but a forgery either of certain p. 505- foolish men who are called orthodox, or of heretics who wish to hide their shame and make it appear to those who come across it that it is we who keep men away from communion with them by fraudulent words, not they who separate from them by reason of their sound faith, and recognise and abhor their manifest impiety and Jewish opinions.
Let not this too be unknown to your God-loving
^ Cf. p. 244 note 3. If the inference there drawn is correct, this letter cannot be placed later than 521. 2 Mt. xiii. 8.
highness : that a certain devout presbyter also came from the East, and showed us other letters also purporting to be mine, that are in part forged and falsified ; the forgery and garbling having been done by certain persons whose business it is to forge such things to their own destruction as the Apostle says/ And we brought him the documents themselves : and after comparing the genuine documents he reprobated and condemned the falsehood, and cursed the wicked men who commit such wanton wickedness ao-ainst the truth. And no wonder if the devil through his own instruments wroucrht such thingrs ao-ainst us the sinner and weakling, considering that in the same way he contrived similar thinsfs or even more serious aofainst the apostolic doctors of the church also. The great Basil in the letter addressed to the ascetics and solitaries under him, at Orobiane and at Chalane, asserts that certain persons were circulating forged and spurious letters against him : as to whom he also p- 506. says; " Many letters are being circulated against me, which contain abuse and derision and speak evil of us in respect of the actions : for which we have a defence ready before the court of truth": and again; "My words shall judge me : but for the offences of others no man shall condemn us." Moreover in another letter also, writing to those at Neocaesarea, he showed that certain persons were also inventing dreams against him, thinking by this also to cast aspersions upon his
^ 2 Pe. iii. 16.
faith : about whom even while laughing at their absurdity he says, " Men who acted so shamelessly against us as even to invent certain dreams against us, bringing charges against our teachings as hurtful." ^ But, since I do not read negligently anything that is written to me by your believing excellency, but do so with much consideration and diligently, I think it to be necessary for us to give you some short answer on another matter also. You besought me to pray on behalf of your modesty that the Lord would release you from the bonds of this world, and would bring you to the calm haven of penitence, seeing that you are buried as you say in the evils of this world. Do not forget therefore, you whom I revere above everyone, that the apostle Paul in his epistle to Titus lays down a law for women that are yoked in marriage in these terms ; " Let the young women be lovers of their husbands, lovers p. 507. of their children, chaste, pure, good housekeepers, subject to their husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.'"' It is therefore manifest that, if anyone depart from the canon of this statute, and be carried though but a little to the right side or the left, he will be judged as a transgressor against the law. A woman who fears God and obeys Christ's commands must practise love of her husband as readily as the love of God itself. If the husband is the head of the wife in the same fashion as the Lord is the head of the church, a woman who loves her husband chastely
1 Ep. 207. I. 2 T,t. ii. 4, 5.
through the medium of her husband loves Christ the Head of all heads. On the same principle also a woman who keeps her house, and keeps the things within the house with strenuousness and watchfulness, imitates a man who presides over a church and wisely administers the sacred things on the care of those that are in need. That every believer's house also is a church the same Paul further bears witness when in greeting certain believers in his epistles he says, " Greet also the church that is in your house." ^ One may fitly admire the way in which the Apostle, after saying that women who love God ought to be such as keep their houses, immediately added "good housekeepers." For there are women who from their great carefulness in housekeeping are induced to make profit out of the p- so8. goods, and are hence incited to covetousness, the mother of evil deeds. Wherefore, to cut away such a vice, he said that such women ought to be good, in order that by the justification and consolation of those that are in need the house also may be increased ; seeing that the blessings that are from heaven will be measured to them in return, and they will through beneficence lay down beforehand a good foundation for themselves in the future life. At the same time by naming them good he also inculcates kindness to menservants and bondmaids, and all that are bound under the yoke of slavery. Of the love of a husband ,
also and of chastity this is the criterion, not that a wife
^ I Co. xvi. 19.
look at her personal chastity only, but how far she regards her husband's preservation also with watchful eyes, and makes every effort that he too may be content with intercourse with her only, not that he may turn himself to another connexion. If she herself be chaste, but do not concern herself about her husband fallinor into fornication, she has, unknown to herself, become chaste in half her body and in half of it defiled, in that she is transgressing against the divine laws. If in fact they are not two, according to our Saviour's saying,^ but the two are reckoned as making one flesh, what profit is there in the chastity of one portion, when the conjoined portion is led away to lasciviousness ? Marriage is then " honourable and the bed unsullied,"^ p. 509. when the whole of it is hallowed in the whole body. But the whole body is husband and wife, having the same mind, and treating the marriage as a mystery of God, and hence making the procreation of children to be blessed, and from all sides bringing praise and glory, not reviling, upon the word of God. If you walk by these laws and know your place, and do not desire other things beyond the measure that is commanded, you will be an inheritor of the kingdom of heaven, and with the wives of those patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all that are such, you will receive the promises of immortal life : who also lived with men that were owners of sheepfolds (?) and lords of cattle and of much wealth and armed
1 Mt. xix. 16. ^ He. xiii. 4.
themselves for war when the time summoned to this also, and with them fulfilled God's commandments perfectly.
These things I have written because I gave my attention to the words contained in the letter of your believing soul, and I considered the fire of the Spirit that is in you, and I feared lest out of great fervour you might incautiously form some plan that is at variance with the laws of piety ; for you know such pleas, which by the use of considerations that are rather upon the right side are apt to deceive the pious.
The words of divine scripture that have been cited p. 5iowould even by themselves have been enough to confirm your love of God in acquiescence with the admonition of our meanness : but I have thought it good to corroborate what I have said from the teaching of the fathers also, and to plant the loyal disposition more firmly in you. The wise John, who was bishop of Constantinople, towards the end of the commentary on the Gospel of Matthew, in the exposition the beginning of which is " But Jesus stood before the o-overnor " wrote in these terms about the cunnino- of
o o
the devil, by which he has cheated specially fervent souls : " He has also a third evil trap : as for example : when he thows an appearance of devoutness over a sin. ' And how has the devil succeeded so far as to cheat even in these things ? ' Hear, and beware of his counsels. Christ commanded throuoh Paul that
o
wife should not separate from husband, and they should not defraud one another, except perhaps by
consent. But some women, havinof on the orround of a desire for continence separated themselves from their husbands as if they were doing some devout action, have thrust them down into adultery. Reflect therefore what an evil thing it is that, while undergoing so much toil, they should be charged with having done the greatest wrong and pay the utmost penalty, and thrust their spouses down into a pit of destruction. Other persons again by abstaining from foods under the law of fasting have gradually come to p 511. reject these : a thing which itself also brings heavy punishment. And this happens when they assign greater validity to their own thoughts than to the determinations of the scriptures."^ Therefore I beg your glorious modesty to turn the glances of your understanding on all sides, and hear the divine laws, and listen to Paul who says, " Let every man wherein he was called therein abide."'" Since God called you under the yoke of marriage, in it also maintain a loyal contest, and show prowess : and be one that loves her husband and loves her children and is a good housekeeper, in order that through these things you may at the same time be also one that loves God. Never on account of these things term
o
yourself one buried in the mire of evils, and flee from the bonds of the world : but flee from the bonds of evil. For in these we are all in the same fashion bound. The divine text somewhere says,
1 P. G. Iviii. 768. '2 I Co. vii J4
" Who will boast that he hath a pure heart? Or who will be confident of being pure from sins?"^ But we who have believed the gospel try, as far as is possible for men, to purify our soul through commandments : in order that God, looking upon the readiness of our heart as is sung in the Psalms,^ not upon the weakness of our nature, may admit us to mercy and graciousness in the day of judgment, and make us sharers in the kingdom of heaven, because the heavenly One became man and consorted with those that are on the earth, having become a man in truth and without difference and not in semblance. The end.
8. Of the same to Georgia daughter of Anastasia p- 5 '2. the hypatissa. iyFrom those after banishment, from the ^th book the 22nd letter.)
Since for my part I never regard your glorious modesty's affairs with indifference, but with great earnestness concern myself for your salvation, as for that of a beloved daughter, and I look into God's deep judgments, by the evidence of actual facts I perceive that you are supported by great help from above, and conduct your life with very watchful care. For that you should have reached the flower of your age and not yet been yoked in marriage to your glorious parents perhaps and to the others who love a worldly manner seems a reason for anger as well as a matter of sorrow. But I regard it as a thing of
^ Pt. XX. 9. - Ps. ix. 38.
great profit and pronounce it to be so. This, I think, is the meaning to which the statement made by the wise Paul to the Corinthians also points; "If any man thinketh that he is put to shame in his virgin if she hath passed the flower of her age, so also ought it to be."^ What he says is in fact something like this; "What is thought by some to be a cause of shame, I mean that a virgin should reach an advanced time of life, this I have thought to be both advantageous and beneficial." Just as the fruit of a tree, when taken before the time, causes no pleasure by p. 513. its taste, because it is without the sweetness that gives the pleasure, but actually hurts the teeth, by reason of its sharpness or acidity, in the same way also a virgin who has not yet ripened in her season so to speak, but has the disposition of the flesh undeveloped and too tender, hurts and does not profit the man who marries her : because her character is not fixed, and inasmuch as her time has not yet come is unstable and not constant, but rather easily excited and driven to childish wrath, and disturbed perhaps by melancholy and irrational gloominess. How is it anything but shameful that, while a wrestler does not go down into the violence of the arena [unless he has been thoroughly trained in wrestling, or a soldier p into the battle array, unless he has been thoroughly trained
^ I Co. vii. 36.
- This is clearly the sense required, but more than this is needed to fill the gap.
in military matters, a virgin should be introduced into the society of marriage, and should pass to the headship and government of her husband's house without having been perfectly trained in her parents' house, or learned how she should govern a house, and in what way she ought to behave to each of those that are under her authority ? It has often happened that bad men, when they have obtained women who are undeveloped and of unfixed character, have perverted them to their own bad model, and stamped the lines of their own wickedness upon their tender disposition as upon wax. Whence, when they have been sated and not been able
• ••■••• •
your modest mother in your father's glorious house, p- smand throug^h advanced ao"e has been instructed in administrative science, and has been perfectly exercised in such useful exercises, and you have at the same time also increased the wisdom of your character, you will go to your husband's house like some image and statue that is perfect in beauty and not lacking in anything, and you will be to him " a helper like unto him " ; since woman was in fact created by Him who said in the beginning, " It is not good that the man should be alone ; let us make him a helper like unto him."^ A woman who is trained and skilled in governing a house, and intelligent and a real helper in the world's difficulties, is in truth a
1 Ge. ii. 1 8.
haven for a man. For in fact, when a man has gone out to .
• •••■ •••
in a law-court, either because he is doing or because he is sufferinof wron^ or aeain he is often inflamed to anger, and wantonly insults or on the contrary is insulted in his turn, the anger of another blowing against him like som.e storm. But, when the time calls and he returns to his house for food, agitated and disturbed by anxieties, he encounters his wife's intelligence : he finds her temper both placid and calm : he tells what has happened to him in the street. Then she like a trained physician gently looks into the hidden sources of trouble : she touches his heart with intelligent words, p. 5 '5- and learns the causes. And, when she has found that he has been excited without good reason, she appeases the fury of his mind by offering peaceful
that^ I have written these things also. And I beg you, lady, not to tell anyone whatever that you have received this letter from me, even if he be an angel from heaven. You will in fact both hnno- danger upon me by telling it and vex God ; and you will make many angry with me, because I did not write to them too just as I have done to you, But we believe that Christ, the God of orthodoxy, who every day carries out the words that say, " Other sheep also
^ Possibly from another letter.
I have which are not of this fold ; and I must brinothem also and they shall hear my voice, and they shall be one flock and one Shepherd,"^ will make your glorious and exalted father also His own. Not the end.
XI. Eleventh section.^ That a man who can help or p. 516. assist the right confession while engaged in state affairs must not become a monk.
Of the same to Misael the chamberlain. ^ {From those 513-8. during episcopacy, from the ^th book the looth letter. )
How can I express my admiration of the labours of your magnificence which you display towards my meanness in the way that they deserve, seeing that I have one mouth and one tongue ? Still however, since you do not care about praises upon earth, but make it your one and only endeavour that through good works your name may be written in the book of life, I pray as a sinner that this grace may be abundantly bestowed upon you by God the bestower of gifts that are so great. For by your faithful care you have delivered our church that was in a pitiful condition through the hostile contrivances of the illustrious yEgilas from a heavy burden.
^ John X. 16. 2 titXo5.
^ Cf. Land, Anec. Syr. ii. 275. 12, 22, iii. 356. 11.
But it wounds me deeply that, because your soul has been smitten with divine love, it should conceive the idea of adopting the philosophic and solitary life, though it is living in a philosophic manner and has within that which it seeks as if it were at a distance. By God's grace, while you conduct yourself in so p- 517. chaste and ascetic a fashion, you have this privilege also that has been bestowed from above, I mean not only to believe on Christ, but also to suffer for His sake,^ and endure distress with Israel when in turmoil ; whence also the illustrious crown of martyrdom is being woven for you. By desiring retreat or solitariness at a time so unsuited for it you are doing the same as if one of those three boys, of one of whom you are namesake, when the golden image of Nebuchadnezzar the fighter against God was set forth, and he was required to stand up and confute the error, had fled and withdrawn, thinking to win safety for himself, and not bow his head to the abominable and unlawful object of worship. In that case they would not have obtained such glory with God as that which they gained by undergoing the trial of the furnace, and quenching the fire by their virtue, and gaining God as a witness to their modest and humble mind by saying, " Our God is in heaven whom we serve, one that is able to deliver us from the burning furnace of fire ; and if not be it known unto thee, O king, that we do not serve thy gods, and the golden image
1 Ph. i. 29.
which thou hast set up we do not worship " ; ^ in order that these words might be an instruction and a pattern in piety to all in later times too who should love God.
How then can you, when the king is pious, flee from the fight with the heretics, instigated as you are p- S'S- by a God-loving thought, and refusing to endure their blasphemies, and looking at this only, and reckoning our nakedness as nothing ? If this is carried into effect, you will now double for me personally the grief that I felt by reason of the departure of Peter the presbyter " who is among the saints, and will throw me " fall after fall," as the great Job somewhere says :^ and then I shall know clearly from facts themselves that God has utterly abandoned us, and has turned away His face from those that praise Him in the right way : and we will say as is written " to the mountains, ' Fall upon us,' and to the hills, ' Cover us.' " * I forbear to say that neither will you obtain that desire, seeing it will not be in accordance with God's judgment that you will be abandoning the life in the world.
Further also a story like this has been conveyed to us by those who have grown old in asceticism. In the times of the Arians, two men who lived in the philosophic manner remained in the desert, and in the unsocial life. And, when the word of truth was being attacked, and was being obscured by heretical craftiness of speech, and they were called to give help (for they had in fact qualifications for fighting on behalf of piety), they were
I Da. iii. 17, 18. 2 cf. p. V, and Wright C.B.M. 335.
3 Job xvi. 14. 4 Ho. X. 8.
disinclined to do so, because they clung to philosophy, and action seemed to them irksome. And the one put constraint upon himself, and showed more respect to the commandment than to the peace that he loved, and hastily set off to take part in the contests, and p- 519- obeyed those who called him. But the other remained according to his pleasure in the desert, and the spirits of evil came and assailed him with greater vehemence, and he became possessed of the feeling that he had been stripped of God's grace and help, and was in danger of being devoured by fiends as it were by lions ; and he was awakened and reflected upon his thoughtlessness, and he changed his mind and immediately followed his brother's good resolution, and took a hand with him in the contests on behalf of the faith. I say nothing of Obadiah who served under Ahab the grievous tyrant, and secretly fed a hundred prophets in a cave, contrary to the pleasure of the holder of power. I also pass over the selling of Joseph, and the bondage to the Egyptian woman and her false charge, and the other stories : since not only have you heard the sacred writings, but you are in fact well-versed in them. Wherefore these things too we have written as a mere admonition only so to speak, by which we urge you, inasmuch as you live not to yourself but to God, immediately to say what has been written and has been handed down by our Lord as a teacher, " Nevertheless not as I will but as thou wilt." '
^ Mk. xiv. 36.
It is ill truth a great sin for us to desert Christ when He needs help. Such a man acts in the same way as a man who is rich and quickly passes by one who is hungry, and one who is naked or sick, or shut up in prison ; for the need of all these Christ makes His own. Wherefore also He bitterly inveighs against the crime and holds it up to reprobation before the theatre ^ p- 520. of the world or rather before all rational nature, saying, " Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of these little ones, neither did ye it to me."" May we all escape having experience of these words ! The end.
The end of the sixth book of the select^ or chosen letters taken from the letters of the holy Severus, patriarch of Antioch in Syria.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit in whose power we began and by whose help we have ended for ever and ever Amen !
For the glory and honour of the holy Trinity the saintly lord Elisha, metropolitan of the Christ-loving city of Nisibis, exerted himself and acquired this spiritual treasure ; for his own profit and that of all who love God. But, if any man borrows this book to read it or to copy from it, and detains it, or makes erasures or excisions, or shall do it any kind of injury,
^ Oiarpov. - Mt. XXV. 45. ^ c/cAoyi
ai.
let him know that he is transorressingr aofainst the awful
word of God.
p. 521. Translated from Greek into Syriac by the religious presbyter Athanasius of Nisibis and written at his dictation by the devout presbyter Severus, at the instance of the saintly bishops, Matthew of the city of Berrhoea and Daniel of the city of Edessa, in the year nine hundred and eighty of the Greeks. But for our Lord's sake let every reader pray for them !
But this book was written by ... . who is diligent in his business and foolish
reads what is written, and breaks what is commanded ; loves what is near, and despises what is counselled ; a trumpet for words, and a flute for sounds, that has been in no way benefited by anything that passes through them ; a foolish sailor who has not
gained proper skill in steering his ship ri
how to call his name .
be " hateful " and if you who hate
if you wish ....
ghtly : and unless it
"Whoever loves not our Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema." ^
^ [ Co. xvi. 22.
INDEX OF PERSONS, PLACES, ETC.
[An asterisk denotes doubt whether all the passages relate to the same person.]
PAGE
Abba, monk, . . 433, 435, 436
Achillas, cleric of Alexandria, . 334
Adelphius, heresiarch, . . 55
Advocahis fisci , . . . .197
/Egilas, ilhistris, . . . 459
/Elian, presb. , . . . 378,379
/Eneas, presb. and monk, . . 47
Africa, . 212, 279, 296, 297, 29S
Agapetus, bp. of Synada, . 311, 312
Agapius, bp., . . . .130
'Akiba, monast. of, . 104, 109, 382
Alexander (i), bp. of Alexandria, 197
(2), bp. of Constantinople, . 197
(3), vindex of Anazarba, . . 87-9
Alexandria (in Egypt), 7, 8, 76, 79,
143, 144, 151, 153, 157, 163, 165,
166, 170, 195, 213, 216, 223, 225,
228, 257, 267, 270, 2S0, 2S4, 300,
320, 331, 334, 357, 415 ; ^ynod
of, 160, 225
Minor (in Cilicia), 98. Bp. John.
Alypius(i), boy, . . 143, 144
(2), .... 427-32
Amasia, . . . . .221
Ambrose, bp. of Milan, . . 304
Ammian, . . . 233-6, 246
Ammonius, presb. of Alexandria, 253-6
Amphilochius, bp. of Iconium, 312, 416
Anasartha, Castra, 91. Bp. designate
Stephen. '
Anastasia, hyfiafissa, . . 455, 457 1
Anastasius ( i ), bp. of Rome, . 303 ' (2), count, . . .231, 232
(3), Emperor, 4, 16, 70, 71, 72, 75, 82, 84, 94, loi. III, 124, 125, 126, 200, 203, 255, 257, 288, 294, 461 (4), fieyaAoirpiiriCTTaTOs, . . 140
Anathema, meaning and effect of, 398- 400, 405-7
Anatolius (i), deacon of Antioch, 35
(2), deacon, .... 196
(3), .... 33F-3
Anazarba. Bp. Entrechius.
Andrew (i), archim. in Caria, 179, 180,
183, 186, 187
(2), reader, . 195, 270, 271, 413-7
Antaradus, . . . 126, 263
Antencyclical, . . . . 7, 8
Anthedon, ..... I02
Antioch, 17, 18, 25, 43, 47, 48, 52, 54,
59, 71, 73, 89, 94, 107, 122, 123,
132, 135, 139, 162, 163, 185, 208,
223, 260, 266, 268, 270, 2S8, 302,
319, 320, 348, 353, 355; Synods
of, 25, 48, 70-2, 73-5, 84, 107,
108, 353 ; state of ch. of, 43, 44,
.64, 65, 103, 120, 459
Antiochus, tribune, • • • 57
Antipater, niyaAoirpeirearTaTos, . go
Antoninus, bp. of Berrhcea, 57-63, 151-3,
159-62 Apamea, 36, 48, 70, 92, loi, no, in, 381. Bps. Isaac, Stephen, Cosmas, Peter. Apaphon, presb., . . .120 Aphthoria, monast. of, . .119 Apokrisiarioi, 65, 130, 131, 134, 135,
Apollinaris, bp, of Laodicea in
Syria, . . . .215
Area, bp. of, . . . 263-6
Arcadius, Emperor, . . . 223
Archdeacon, 19, 31, 32, 103, 127, 128,
Archelaus, reader of Tyre, . . 363 Archiatros, . . .83, 286
Archive-house, . . . -19 Arethusa, bp. of, . . . 73
Arius, presb. of Alexandria, 197 ; heresy
of, 6, 10, 13, 276, 304, 316. Arians,
9, 207, 250, 269, 276, 286, 291,
296, 302, 304, 335, 336
Armenia, . . . . 55) 208
Ascalon, ..... 342
Asclepius, illustris, . . . 439
Asia, 181
Asterius (i), bp. of Celenderis,'' . 4
(2), sophist, .... 286
Athanasius (l), I., bp. of Alexandria,
197, 206, 207, 287, 335, 336, 363
(2), II., bp. of Alexandria, . 255
(3), presb. of Nisibis, . . 464
Athrib, 340
Atticus, bp. of Constantinople, . 312 Augusta. Bp. Serenus. Aurelius, scholastic of Bostra, 395, 396 Auxentius, bp. of Milan, . . 304
Baptism, heretical, . 77, iSi, 2S5, 296-302, 304, 313, 314, 315, 317,
348, 352, 353, 418
of sick persons, . , . 296
Barbarians, raid of, . . 148, 149
Basil (i), bp. of Cresareain Cappadocia,
9, 10, 13, 19s, 215, 220, 259, 261,
266, 269, 276, 291, 312, 313, 335,
343, 344, 385, 393, 4i6, 449, 45°
(2), bp.of Pompeiupolisin Isauria, 289
(3), deacon of Antioch, . 97, 98
Berenice, ..... 414
Berrhoea. Bps. Antoninus, Matthew.
Berytus, . . . 114, 271, 392,
419. Bp. Marinus. Beth Gabrin, .... 422 Beth Remsha, .... 62 Bishops, election and ordination of,
7-10, 13-5, 66, 67, 91, 92, 94, 95,
97, 98, III, 112, 126, 127. 212-4,
217-26, 228, 302, 303 without sees, . . . 21 1, 215 Bisula, bp. of Germanicupolis, 26, 80 Bosporius, bp. of Colonia, . 205, 206 Bostra, 397. Bps. Julian, Cassian. Byzantium, 204, 440. Byzantines, 393
C.ESAREA in Cappadocia. Bp. Soteric.
in Palestine, 393 ; Synod of, 223,
Csesaria, patrician, 244-6, 248, 249,
272, 275, 448, 450, 452-4
PAGE
Calliopius, patrician, . . . 382
Callistus, archdeacon, 17-20, 21, 22, 31,
32,69 Cappadocia, 55, 205, 344. Capp. I.,
258. Capp. II., 55, 205, 258.
Cappadocians, 259 Capua, Synod of, . . . 223
Carthage, 296 ; Synod of, 212, 279, 299,
297, 298 Cassian (i), bp. of Bostra, 129, 130,
1 5 1-3, 159-62, 394, 395, 396 (2), monk of Palestine, . . 315 Castor, bp. of Perga, . 39-41, 259
Catechumens, . . . 187, 188
Celenderis. Bp. Asterius. Celer - wfli,-. off., _ . ' • 73> 75, 84 Cestrus. Bp. Elpidius. Choeremon, cleric, . . 255, 256
Chalane, monast. of, . . . 449
Chalcedon, Synod of, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10,
16, 19, 68, 83, 84, 88, 1S2, 206,
254, 255, 256, 258, 284, 287, 294,
295, 308, 315, 328, 330, 341, 352,
Chalcis (in S)Tia), 57. Bps. Simeon,
Isidore. Chamberlain, . . 63, 199, 459
Charisius, presb. of Philadelphia in
Lydia, . . . 299, 348
Chios, 199
Chorepiscopus, 104, 105, 108, 109, no Chiism, 294, 298, 300, 301, 312, 313,
314, 315, 331, 348, 349, 352, 353,
354, 41S, 426 Cilicia I., . . . . 1 13, 149
Clement, bp. of Rome, . . 410
Colonia. Bp. Proclus. Commanus, Synod of, . . 35
Conon (l), AriffTodiiiKTTjs, . 125, 126 (2), silentiary, . 362, 439, 442
Constantina. Bp. John. * Constantine (i), bp. of Laodicea in
Syria, . 15 1-3, 159-62, 192
(2), bp. of Seleucia in Isauria, 3, 4,
II, 15, 19, 20 Constantinople, 11, 28, 43, 69, 73, 82,
83, 123, 131, 159, 204, 237, 257,
258, 266, 267, 281, 287, 311, 312,
360, 361, 362, 440 ; Synods of, S^,
205, 267, 343 Constantius, Emperor, . . 206
Corduba, 206
Corycus, 318, 319. Bp. Indacus.
1 Vit. Sev. p. 28.
- Theoph. A. M. 6004, Cod. Just. IV. xxix. 21.
PAGE
Cosmas (i), archim. of monast.
of Cyrus, . . . 261-3
* (2), bp. of Apamea, 47-51, m
(3), presb. and monk ^ of Chalcis
in Syria, . . 52, 109, no Count, 35, 129, 221, 231, 263, 269, 281,
415 ; see also East. Countess,
Cross (emblem), . . 46, 33i, 332 Curator, . . . .114
Cyprian, bp. of Carthage, 212, 279, 296, 297, 298, 299, 314 Cyriac, cleric, . . . -351 Cyril, bp. of Alexandria, 45, 157, 159,
317, 364, 421, 422
Cyrrhus, 341. Bps. Sergius I. and II.
Cyrus (i), (the Simple), pseudo-bp.,
(2), cleric, . . . 342-4
monastery of, . . .261
Dam Ascus. Bps. Mammian, Thomas (?). Daniel, bp. of Edessa, . . 464
Dara. Bp. Thomas. Deaconesses, 139, 192, 194, 269, 364,
Decius, Emperor, . . .170
Demoniac possession, . 85, 1S7, 190 Didymus, bp., . 171-5, 176, 178
Diniissory letters, . 44, 45, 401
Diocaasarea in Isauria. Bp. Hilarian. in Pontus, 209. Bp. Gregory. Diodorus, bp. of Tarsus, . . 341 Dionysius (i), bp. of Alexandria, 169, 170, 279, 296, 297, 335, 336 (2), bp. of Corinth, . . 285
(3), bp. of Rome, 296, 335, 336
(4), bp. of Tarsus, 35, 84, 85, 100, 260, 261, 289, 290, 293, 318, 319 Dioscorus(l), I., bp. of Alexandria, 136, 270 ; his commemoration, 270 (2), II., bp. of Alexandria, 133, 257-9 (3), cleric, . . . 255, 256
Diphysites, 38, 180, 181, 182, 184, 281, 291, 294, 295, 304, 315, 316, 317,
348, 353. 361, 375 Diptychs (ecclesiastical), 19, 20, 40, 68,
77. 127, 163, 254
Dokms, 340
Doliche. Bp. Philoxenus.
Domnina, ..... 414
Dorotheus (i), bp. of Marcianupolis, 156, 157, 158
(2), 395
Duke, ..... 41
Earthquake, .... 340 East (diocese), 51, 58, 74, 88, 91, 126,
I34> 157, 163, 165, 166, 223, 271,
300, 304, 30S, 325, 32S, 334, 449 •
count of, 373, 374, 376, 377, 378,
Edessa. Bp. Daniel. Egypt, 51, "3, 134, 143- 165, 166,
209, 215, 216, 222, 224, 225, 231,
300, 327, 328, 340 Ekklesiekdikoi, . . . .120 Eleusinius, bp. of Sasima,^ 83, 286,
359763 Eleutherius, sacellarnis, . 65, 66
Elijah (i), bp. of Jerusalem, 119, 120,
129, 130
* (2), deacon and monk, . 50, 417 Elisha, bp. of Nisibis, . . 463 Elpidius, bp. of Cestrus,-* . 159, 161 Emesa, . 35, 207, 208, 226, 227 Encyclical of Basiliscus, 7, 181, 225, 258 Entrechius, bp. of Anazarba, 53, 54, 56,
66, 67, 361 Epagathus, . . . 233-6, 246 Ephesus, Synods of, 156, 157, 284, 299,
300, 316, 317, 348, 352 Epimachus (i), bp. of Rhinocorura, 326
* (2), presb., _ 134-7, 141, 142, 150 Epiphania in Syria, bp. of, . . 73
* Epiphanius (l), bp. of Magydum, 7,
8, 218, 221, 375, 376 (2), bp. of Tyre, . 97, 98, 364
(3), Isaurian bp., . . . 68 Ethiopian, .... 422
Eubulus, presb., .... 420 Eucharius, bp. of Paltus, . 46, 47
Eunuchs, ordination of, 394-6, 40S-12 Euphrates, . . . ,414
Eupraxius, archim. of monast. of Romanus, . . . 422
Eusebius (l), bp. of Cffisarea in Palestine, . . . 313, 414 (2), bp. of Pelusium, . 251, 252 (3), hp. of Samosata, . . 9 (4), count, . , , 221, 222 (5), deacon of Antioch, . . 123 (6), deacon of Apamea, . 103, 104
^ Zach. Rh. vii. 10.
■'■ Michael Chron. ed. Chabot, p. 267.
2 Theoph. A. M. 5999.
Eusebius (7), presb. of Antioch, . 419
(8), presb., . . . .157
Eusebuna, Cappadocian bp. , 342-5
Eustace ( I ), bp. of Antioch, . 302
(2), cleric, .... 21
(3), monk, . . . 384-6
(4), presb., . . . 102, 103
Eustochius, deacon of Alexandria, 163
Eutherius, bp. of Tyana, 156, 157, 158
Eutyches, archim. of Constantinople,
'5, 6, 316, 419. Eutychianists,
281, 316
Eutychian, governor of Apamea, . 123
Evagrius, bp. of Antioch, 223, 302, 303
Fabius, bp. of Antioch, . 169, 170
Firminus, cleric of Paltus, . 46, 47
Flavian (i), I., bp. of Antioch, 223,
224, 303, 307
(2), II., bp. of Antioch, 4, 13, 26, 80,
I3i> 353 (3), bp. of Constantinople, . 284
Flavias, 53. Bp. Procopius.
Forgery of documents, 18, 69, 70, 157,
448-50 ; punishment of, . 69
Forty Martyrs, ch. of, at Antioch, 119
Gaian, bp. of Alexandria, . 415
Galatia, . . . • -55
Gauls, 175
Genesius, ..... 103
Gennadius, presb. of JNIinidus, 2S2, 283
Georgia, dau. of Anastasia, 455, 457, 45^
Germanicea. Bp. Thomas (?).
Germanicupolis, 13, 26, 80. Bp. Bisula.
Grammarian, .... 4^3
Great Monastery, . . 371-3
Greece, . . . • • 93
■Gregory (l), (of Nazianzus), bp. of
Constantinople, 9, 13-5, 68, 135,
205, 206, 232, 235, 239, 240, 242,
246, 248, 250, 251, 268, 269, 270,
296, 343> 344> 42S (2), pseudo-bp. of Diocsesarea m
Pontus, . 208, 209, 228, 418 (3), (Thaumaturgus), bp. of Neo-
cffisarea, . . 219-21, 393
(4), bp. of Nyssa, . 205, 206, 220
Hebdoniarii, . . • • 99
Heliodorus, curator of Hypatius, 114 Helladius (i), bp. of Csesarea in Cappadocia, . . . 205, 206
(2), bp. of Tarsus, 156, 157, 158, 159 Henotikon, . 16, 255, 256, 330
Heraclea, . . . • • 73 Heracliana, archimandritess, , 192
Hesychius, presb. of Antioch, . 25 Hilarian, bp. of Diocsesarea in Isauria,
17, 18, 21, 22, 27, 28, 69, 70, 86 Himerius, bp. of Nicomedia, 156, 157,
Hippocrates, scholastic (0, • 132, 133
Honioousion, . . .311, 335
Honorius, Emperor, . . . 223
Hosius (i), archim,, . , . 332
(2), bp. of Corduba, 206, 207, 286,
Hypatissa, . . . . .457
Hypatius, mao-. inil.Orientis, 60, 113-5-
Iberia, . 8, 102, 224, 271, 328
Ignatius ( I ), bp. of Antioch, . 174
(2), presb., . . . .107
Incorruptibility of Christ's body, 349,
Indacus, bp. of Corycus, . . 318
Interest, taking of, 25-7, 64, 78, 103, 104
Irenffius (l), bp. of Lyons, . . 175
(2), (SiYot/tios), bp. of Tyre, . 136
(3), deacon of Antioch, . . 35
(4), presb., .... 420
Isaac, bp. of Apamea, . 93, 94, 95
monastery of, . . . 90-2, 324
Isaiah (i), pseudo-bp., 208, 209, 211,
213-9, 221, 222, 224-6, 228, 418,
(2), monk, . . . .338
Isauria, 19, 20, 23, 32, 67, 76, 77, 78,
82, 149, 150, 155, 318, 427 Isidora, ... 386, 387, 389 Isidore (l), bp. of Chalcis in Syria, 52,
53> 59, 138, '39, 150, 151, 326 (2), monk, . . . .360
(3), presb. and monk of Pelusium,
251-3
(4), tribune, . . . .150
(5), of Tyre, . . . .363
James, Ko/ir/Tiai/dy _(?), . . 415 Jannia, archimandritess, . 368-71 Jerusalem, ..... 242 Jews, . 60, 61, 62, 63, 148, 316
John (i), archim. at Antioch, 132-44,
148-51, 204, 207, 325-7, 331,
337-42, 348, 351, 352 (2), do., 132-44, 148-51, 204, 207,
325-7, 331, 337-42 (3), (son of Aphthonia), archim. of
Kenneshre, .... 415 (4), (Canopites), archim. of monast.
of Theodore, 146, 147, 266-8, 379
John (5), II. (Hemula), bp. of Alexandria, .... 255 (6), III. (Nicaeota), bp. of Alexandria, . . 88, 255, 256 (7), bp. of Alexandria Minor, 98, 99 (8), bp. of Antioch, . 157, 158 (9), bp, of Claudiupolis, . 4-7, 11 (10), bp. of Constantina,! 345-50, 352 (11), I. (Chrysostom), bp. of Constantinople, . .159, 190, 210,
277-9, 306, 414, 453 (12), II. (Cappadox), bp. of Constantinople, . . 360-3 (13), count, . . . 129, 263-6 * (14), deacon and monk, 102, 378, 379 (15), monk of monast. of 'Akiba, 382 (16), monk, . . . 191-3 (17), presb. and logothete, . 290 (18), reader, . . . .327 (19), rhetor of Alexandria, . 315 (20), scholastic of Antioch, 37, 61 (2 1 ), scholastic of Bostra, 397, 405, 412 (22), scribe, , _. . 413, 414 (23), son of Ammian, name to be given to, . . . 233, 234 (24), tribune, . . 275-7, 280-2
(25), 439
Joseph, monk, . . . 191
Judas the Apostle, ch. of, at Berytus,
Julian ( I ), archim. of monast. of Bassus,
(2), bp. of Bostra, . . , 394
3), bp. of Emesa, ... 35
(4), bp. of Halicarnassus, 349, 350,
(5), chamberlain, . . -199 (6), monk of monast. of Cyrus, 261,
(7), presb. of Alexandria, 330
(8), presb. of Tarsus, 113-5, 293, 294
Julius, bp. of Rome, . . 284, 285
Justinian, Emperor, . . . 199
Juvian, Mauretanian bp. , . . 296
Khurish, monast. of, . . 261
Kou.i)Tiav6s (?), .... 415 A'tefores, . . . .Ill, 227
Lampetius, Adelphian, , . 55
Laodicea in Phrygia, Synod of, 284,
298, 316, 317^
in Syria. Bps. Nicias, Constantine.
Law, civil, ..... 69
Lectionary, .... 234
Leo, bp. of Rome, 258 ; Tome of, 5, 88,
254, 255, 256, 258, 361
Leontius (i), deacon of Antaradus, 127,
(2), (Tapitoleon), magistrian, 73> 84
(3), martyr, ch. of, at Tripolis, 271
(4), monk, . . . 216, 275
(5), presb. of Antioch, . 35-8
AjjtrToStc^KTTjy, . . . .125
Libanius, presb. of Apamea, 103, 104
Liberius, bp. of Rome, . 206, 207
Litigation forbidden to monks, 385, 386
Logothete, .... 290
Longinus, presb. of Antioch, 25, 26,
28, 29, 79, 80 Lydia, . . . 299, 300, 348
Macedonius (i), I., bp. of Constantinople, 312. Macedonians, 269, 310, 311, 348 (2) II., bp. of Constantinople, . 255 Magister militum, . 4, 60, 113, 125 Magister offidorwn, . . 73, 84
Magistrian, . . . 73, 84
Magnus, African, . . . 296
Magydum, 7, 8. Bp. Epiphanius, Majuma, monast. of, . . .102 Mammian, bp, of Damascus, . 20 Mani, heresiarch, 219, 316. Manichees,
Marde, hill of, 345, 346, 347, 352
Marinas ( I ),- bp. of Berytus, . 419
(2), chartularius^^ . . .381
Marion, bp. of Sura, 108, 179, 350-2,
355-9
Mark ( i ), cleric of Berrhoea, . 62
(2) presb. and monk of Cilicia.
286-9, 290-3
Maron, bp. , monast. of, . 105
Marriage, second, 127, 134-7, 141,
142, 147, 148, 196 Married bishops, . . 168, 169
Martyrius, cleric of Anazarba, 88, 89 Massalians. . . . 287, 291
Matthew, bp. of Berrhcea, . 464
Matronian, illiistris, . . -37 Mauretania, .... 296
Maximian, bp. of Constantinople, 138 Maximin, scholastic, . . 37, 358
Maximus (i), philosopher, . . 335 (2), presb. of Seleucia in Isauria.
116. 118 (3), 433
1 C/. Land Anec. Syr. ii. 173. 15.
2 Evag. iii. 33.
3 Zach. Rh. vii. 9.
PAGE
Meletius, bp. of Antioch, 276, 277, 302 Melian earth (pigment), . . 379 Meloe, 25, 26, 77, 80, Si. Bp.
Musonius. fjLfv and 56, construction of, 4I5~7
Menas of Tyre, . . . .363 Mesopotamia, .... 9
Metropolitan, jurisdiction of, 13, 17, 30,
31, 35. 71, 72, 78, 82, 131, 217,
218, 221, 289, 311, 31S
Milan, 304
Minidus (in territory of Laodicea in
Syria), . _ . .38, 282
* Misael, chamberlain, afterwards dea-
con, 63, 66, 195, 196, 199, 236, 237, 243, 244, 246, 459-61
* Mitras, . 144, 329, 333- 336, 337 Monasteries, jurisdiction over, 27-9, 69,
86, 87, 138, 192, 193, 288, 292,
293- 377, 378
Monks, banishment of, . 165, 347
Montanus, heresiarch, . .219
Musonius ( I ), bp. of Meloe, 17, 19-21,
23-6, 28-33, 76-80, 81, 82, 83
(2); vindex of Anazarba, . . 87-9
Nazianzus, .... 239
NeociEsarea, 449; Synod of, 116, 118
Neon, archim. of Tagais, . 283, 285
Nestorius, bp. of Constantinople, 5, 45,
156, 157, 158, 299-301, 348, 364;
commemoration of, 84 ; heresy of,
6, 10, 38, 158, 180, 181, 184, 185,
299-301, 352, 375. Nestonans,
38, 281, 304, 334, 341, 374
Niccea, Synod of, 117, 135, 136, iSi,
197, 224, 297, 298, 300, 408, 410
Nice, Synod of, . . . . 206
Nicias, bp. of Laodicea ^ in Syria, 38, 39,
Nisibis. Bp. Elisha. Nonnus (i), bp. of Seleucia in Syria,
373. 377, 378 (2), monkof monast. of Simeon, 120-2 Notary, . . 270, 413, 415, 436
Novatus (Novatian), presb. of Rome,
297, 298. Novatians, 182, 297,
298, 312
Numidia 296
(Eco}io?Hi, . . .65, g<,, 96, 103 CEcumenius, count . u, 35, 83
Olba in Isauria, 27, 68, 78, 82, 427. Bps. Paul, Theodore.
Ordination in another province, 39 ; m articiilo mor/is, 58, 209, 218 by heretics, 77, 180-3, 202, 203, 276-80, 282, 283, 302-5, 321, 322, 353,418
sm-iomac, 31, 32, 54, 55, 131. 132, 196, 226
Origen, presb. of Csesarea in Palestine,
Orobiane, monast. of, . . 449
Palestine, S, 35, 139, 165, 215, 221, 223, 284, 304, 315, 332, 349, 422. Pal. I., 393
Palladius, bp. of Antioch, . 19, 21
Paltus, 46. Bp. Eucharius.
Pamphilus,presb.ofC3esareainPalestine,
Pamphylia, 7, 8, 215, 216, 259, 281
Patricians, 11, 60, 125, 199, 200, 203
Patrick ( I ), 7Jiag. mil. in press., . 4
(2), presb. and monk, . .162
Patrophilus, bp. of /Egae, . . 269
Paul (i), (of Samosata), bp. of Antioch,
181, 298, 317. Paulianists, 284,
298, 300, 301, 316, 317
(2), bp. of Emesa, 157,158,300
(3), bp. of Ephesus, . . 181
(4), bp. of Olba in Isauria, 18, 27-31,
32, 33, 68-70, 81, 82, 86, 87, 153,
155, 159, 161
Paulinus, bp. of Antioch, . 223, 302
Pelagia, martyr, . . . . 4H
Pelagius, monk of Seleucia in Syria,
373-6 Pelusium, . .150, 249, 251
Perga, 7. Bp. Castor. Periodeutes, 104, 105, 107, loS, 109,
IIO
Pessinus (?) (in territory of Tarsus), 85 Peter (i), I. (Martyr), bp. of_ Alexandria, ch. of, at Alexandria, 271 (2), III. (Mongus), bp. of Alexandria,
253-6 (3), (the Fuller), bp. of Antioch, 19,
21, 334 (4), bp. of Apamea, 34-8, 49, 71, 72,
(5), (the Iberian), bp. of Majuma, 8,
102, 138, 224, 225, 271, 328, 338 * (6), presb. of Antioch, bro. of Severus,
", 135
(7), scholastic, . • • 37
Phredimus, bp. of Amasia, . 219-21
1 Kugener in Oriens Chr. 1902, p. 276.
PAGE
Phantasy, doctrine of, 6, 281, 316, 358,
Philadelphia in Isauria. Bp. Victor.
in Lydia, . . . 348
Philip ( I ), deacon of Antioch, . 119 * (2), presb., . . 145-8, 163, 321
Philoxenus (i), bp. of Doliche, 89, 90,
345-50, 352 (2), bp. of Hierapolis, . 19, 90
Phoenice, . . . - 96, 304
Photinus, bp. of Sirmium, 297, 298,
300, 301 Photius, archim. in Caria, 179, 180, 18^,
186, 187 Phr. Pacatiana, . . . .310
Phrygia,
Plague, . ' . Podalirius, cleric, Poemen, Egyptian monk, Poetry forbidden to clergy Polycarp, bp. of Smyrna
,89
Polyeuctus, presb. of Chalcis in Syria,
Pompeiiipolis (m Cilicia), 100, 289.
Bp. Basil. Pontus, • • ■ 55, 208, 209
PriFses {r]yi/j.wv), . . 19, 392
Prefects, . . . . 311, 442
Proclus. bp. of Colonia,! 83, 167-70,
342-5 Procopius, bp. of Flavias, . . 54-6 Progra7)niia of faith before gates of
monasteries, . . . 376
Promotus, count, . . .281
Property of churches, 26, 44, 45, 62,
64, 65, 80, 103 Prosdocia (Prosdoce), . . 414
Proterians, .... 280
Proterius, bp. of Alexandria, 181, 182,
Psaltai, ..... 40 Psepheion, . . . . .108
QuiNTUS, Mauretanian bp., 296, 29S
Readers, 40, loi, 195, 270, 327, 363,
391, 413 Re-anomters, 185, 294, 315, 348, 349,
.355, 418 Recipients, day of, . . .421
Registration of family, 35, 78, 208, 348 Rhaphania, bp. of, . . -73
Rhetors, .... 122, 315 Rhinocorura. Bp. Epimachus.
PAGE
Rhosus, ..... 66 Romans, ..... 83 Romanus(i), archim. in Palestine, 315 ; his monastery . . 119,422 (2), Julianist, . . . 288, 356
Romulus, presb, of Doliche, 89, 90
Rufinus, magistrian, • ■ • 73
Sabellius, heresiarch, 6, 316, 335
Sacellarius {=com. sacr, larg.), 65, 66 Samuel, archim. of monast. of Isaac, 324 Sannus, deacon, . . . .176
Sasima. Bp. Eleusinius. Scholastics, 37, 61, 114, 358, 395, 397 Scythopolis, bp. of, . . . 419
Seleucia in Isauria, 78. Bps. Constantine, Solon, Stephen.
in Syria, 347. Bp. Nonnus. Senate, ..... 100 Serenus, bp. of Augusta, . 114, 293 Sergius (i) I., bp. of Cyrrhus, 108, 179, 350-2, 355-9 (2), II., bp. of Cyrrhus, . 341, 342 (3), (Bar Fathya), deacon, . 196 (4)) eVSol^Taros, . . . 231
(5), ^J^'(2'J"£.s"of Syria II., . . 392
(6), reader of Antioch, . . 327
(7), scholastic, • • • 37
Severus (i), bp. of Antioch ; his monastic life, 35, 379 ; ordination, 7, 8, 200-2 ; at Constantinople, 123, 393 ; banishment, 137, 268 ; life in exile, 164, 341, 358, 359, 415 ; at Chios, 199 ; works condemned, 199 ; his monastery, 222 ; writings, 59, 185, 186, 198, 199, 288, 341, 350, 358, 392, 393 (2), presb. of Nisibis, . . 464 (3), presb. of Tripolis,- . . 45 Sidon, Synod of, ... 255
Silentiary, .... 362, 439 Silvanus, cleric, . . . 326, 327
Simeon (i), archim. of great monast.,
371-3 (2), archim. of Teleda, . . 323
(3), bp. of Chalcis in Syria, 58, 104 (4), Stylites, . 533, 334, 392, 393 monast. of, . . 120, 323, 324 Siricius, bp. of Rome, . 223, 224
Sixtus, bp. of Rome, . . . 279 Skanthin (?), . . . -315
Slaves not to be ordained, 102 ; not
allowed to monks or nuns, 396 Socrates, scholastic, . . 310-2
1 Mich. p. 266.
Vit Sev. p. 21.
Solon, bp. of Seleuciain Isauria, 12, 13, IS, 16, 17-23, 25, 32, 33, 67, 77, 7«, 81-3, 86,87, "6, 118, 156
Soteric, bp. of Csesarea in Cappadocia,
55, 258, 344, 361, 362 Stephen (i), archim. of Tagais, . 2S4 (2), bp. of Apamea, . 380-2 ;
(3), bp. of Rome, . . . 296 j (4), bp. of Seleucia in Isauria, . 150 (5), bp. of Tripolis,. . . 44-6
(6), deacon of Antaradus, . 127
* (7), deacon, ... 76, 106 (8), grammarian, . . . 423 (9), monk of monast. of Isaac, bp.
designate of Anasartha, 91, 92
* (10), presb. of Antioch, 22,340,341 (11), presb. of Tripolis, . . 44-6 (12), reader, . . . 391-3
Stipend of clergy, 25, 42, 43, 56, 65,
172, 173 Subdeacons, . 39, 40, 98, 99, 351 Sura, 179. Bp. Marion. Symbatius, Isaurian bp., . . 68
Synada 310-2
Syiicellus, ..... 360 Synodical letters, 70-2, 255, 288, 334,
361, 362, 414 Synods, — see Alexandria, Antioch, Csesarea, Capua, Carthage, Chalcedon, Commanus, Constantinople, Ephesus, Laodicea, Neocsesarea, Nicsea, Nice, Sidon, Tyre provincial, to be held twice a year,
lOI
Syria, 151, 334. Syr. II., 73, 84, 392
Tagais, monast. of, . . 283, 285 Tarsus, 35, 84, 159, 288. Bp. Dionysius. Teleda, monast. of, . . 323, 324 Terence, count, . . . 269
Thecla (i), countess, . . 423-7
(2), martyr, .... 12 Thelhadin (in territory of Chalcis in
Syria), , . 105, 107, no
-Theodora, Empress, . 195, 197-9
Theodore (i), archim. of monast. of
Romanus, . . . 164-6
* (2), archim, of monast. of
Theodore, 48, 102, 104, 438 ;
his commemoration, 325 ; his
monastery, . . . 379, 446 (3), bp. of Mopsuestia, 300, 317,
341, 348
Theodore (4), bp. of Olba in Isauria, 148, 420, 421, 423, 427 (5), bp. of Tyana, . . 205, 206
(6), deacon and monk, . . 368 * (7), tribune and notary, afterwards monk at Constantinople, 436-9, 442-7 (■8), vindex of Tripolis, . . 46 Theodoret, bp. of Cyrrhus, 9, 334
Theodosius (i), bp. of Alexandria, 195, 196 (2), bp. of Synada, . . 310-2
(3), bp 251
(4), I., Emperor, . . . 223 (5), II., Emperor, 136, 413 ; his
commemoration, 413 (6), presb. of Antioch, . 54, 56
Theodotus, bp. of Joppa, 185, 314,
315, 349, 418 Theophilus, bp. of Alexandria, 223,
303, 307
Theotecnus, presb., and archiatros,
83-5, 286, 28S-90, 424 Thomas (i), the Apostle, monast. near ch. of, at Seleucia in Syria, 374-6 (2), bp. (of Damascus or German-
icea ?), 57
(3), bp. of Dara,i _ . 345-50, 352
(4), deacon of Antioch, . 97, 98
* (5), presb. of Antioch, 34, 150, 164,
165, 339, 340
(6), presb. of Bostra, 394, 395, 396
Thrace, ..... 206
Timostratus, duke, . . . 41-4
Timothy (i), II. (.^lurus), bp. of
Alexandria, 7, 8, 138, 181, 182,
224, 225, 258, 276, 277, 2S0, 281,
304, 305, 320, 326, 333, 339, 349, 353, 413, 419 ; his commemoration,
(2), IV., bp. of Alexandria, 149, 153,
(3), bp. of Constantinople, 254, 255,
360, 361 (4) presb. of Majuma, . . 102
TOTTOTTjpTjTTjs (of a ;;/(Zo. viil.^, 60, 125 Tribune, .... 275, 436 Tripolis, 44, 271. Bp. Stephen. Tyana, ..... 205 7)'/oi' (formula) of Anastasius, . 4 Tyre, 97 ; Synod of (?), 88, 318. Bp. Epiphanius.
1 Elijah of Dara, vit. Jo. Tell. ed. Kleyn p. 40 ; cf. Zach. Rh. vii. 6, viii. 5.
Uaris (in territory of Laodicea in
Syria), .... 38
Urbicius, monk, 259, 261, 269, 291
Valentine, heresiarch, . . 419 Valeriana, archimandritess, 364-8
* Victor (l), bp. of Philadelphia in
Isauria, 192, 378-80
* (2), presb. a.nd xenodockos oi Aatioch,
139, 419 ^ ^
Vittdex, .... 46, 87
Xenodochos, . . . .419
Zacharias (i), monk, . . .191
(2), of Pelusium, . , 249-51
(3), presb. and monk, . .417
Zeno (i), Emperor, . . .16
(2), presb. of Chalcis in Syria, 52
Zenobius (l), deacon of Antioch, 204
(2), presb., .... 420
Zoninus, presb., . . . 420
Zosimus, bp. , .... 272
Z'ura, monk, .... 234
INDEX OF OUOTATIOxNS.
Ge. ii. 18, . XXX. 37 ff.,
Ex. xviii. 21,
xviii. 26, .
xxii. I,
xxii. 25 (?),
xxiii. 7,
xxviii. 4-35,
XXX. 7, Le. i. 5, 6, .
V. I-II,
viii. 7-9, . xi. 3, xi. 25, xxvii. 28, . xxvii. 29, .
PAGE
• 457
• 355
• 94 . 116
403, 404
. 103
• 47
• 326
• 309 . 262
• 445
• 235
• 405 . 406
Nu. V. 12-31, 430, 431
vi. 27, . . 4
X. 31, 32, 173> 174
xiv. 41, 42, . 445
XX. 17, 88, 175, 1S6
XXX. 2, 3, . . 402
XXX. 6, . . 248
De. i. 17, .
.
iv. 6, 7, .
322, xii. 13, 14,
.
XVI. 19,
.
XVI. 20,
.
xvii. 6,
191, xvii. 8-1 1,
424, xix. 14,
.
BIBLICAL.
PAGE
PAGE
De. xix. 15,
. 192
2 E. X. 2-4,
, 405
XX. 5-7,
• 444
xxiii. 19 (?)
• 103
Ps. ii. I, 2, .
xxiv. 16,
. 61
ix. 9,
XXV. 13 (?),
• 345
ix. 38, .
xxxii. 39, .
. 245
xiv. 5, 64,
, 104
xxxiii. 8, 9
. 388
XV. 6, xxii. 2,
Josh. i. 8, .
. 200
xxiii. I, vi. 17,
. 406
xxxi. 5, xxxiii. I, .
Judg. vi. 3, 4 ix. 1-6, xvii. 10,
II,. 341
329, 330
• 79
xxxv. I, xxxviii. 13, xlii. 4, 1,18,19, • liv. 5,
I R. ii. 25, .
. 376
liv. 12, iii. 9,
. 148
Ivii. 5, 6, .
X. 6,
3- 147
Jxv. 12,
X. 9, .
. 184
Ixvii. 6, xiv. II, 12,
. 342
Ixvii. 14, .
XV. 23, 24,
402, 403
Ixviii. 28, .
xvi. 4,
. 140
Ixxxviii. 8,
MX. 20, 21,
184, 185
Ixxxviii. 10,
XXX. 24,
• 173
Ixxxviii. 32-4
2 R. xxiv. 17,
■ 171
xciii. 4,
105,
3 R. xix. 13, 1
4, • 346
xciii. 5, xix. 20,
. 388
c. 4, 6, xxii. 24 t, .
. 182
ci. 7,
4 R. i. 3, •
• 93
cii. II,
V. 17-19. •
274, 275
cvi. 7 (?) . ex. 10,
I Pa. xxiii. 14
, • 193
exvii. 18, .
2 Pa. XXX. 16-2
0, 309,310
cxviii. 96, .
INDEX
•
PAGE
PAGE
PAGE
Ps. cxviii. 1 20
369= 370
Job ix. 25,
9-
;, 161
Jer. xiv. 8, .
. 163
cxviii. 131,
355, 371'
XV. 6, xiv. 10,
. 216
cxxxi. I, 2,
. 292
xvi. 14, .
XX. 9,
67,68
cxxxvi. 2-4
• 152
xix. 4, xxviii. 9, .
• 27
cxxxviii. 21
. 61
xxviii. 12, 13, xxxi. 10, .
• 33
cxliii. 4,
• 93
xxxiii. 25 (?),
.
xl. 6,
65,66
cxlvi. II, .
. 268
xxxix. 34, 35,
• xlii. 8-10, 16,
• 403
Pr. iii. 4,
• 194
W. xiv. 29, .
Eze. iii. 17-19,
. 227
iii. 6 (?) .
• 175
xxxiii. II, .
• 351
iv. 23, 259
, 260, 263,
Sir. xxiii. 20,
• xxxiv. 4, . xxxiv. 7, 10,
• 97
iv. 27,
321, 443
Judith xvi. 19,
405,406 1
xxxiv. II, 12,
• 33
V. IS,
■ 93
xxxiv. 18, 19,
21, 4,
X. 8,
209, 374
Ho. vi. 9, 10,
24, 150,
285, 375
xii. 5,
■ 143
X.8,
.
xiv. 27, .
xiii. 12,
.
"5
Su. 42,
. 116
XV. 24,
52, 53, 59,
32, 130
XV. 31 (He>
0, '•
Mi. iii. 9, 10,
121, 345 1
xvii. I,
V. 7,
Da. iii. 17, 18,
460, 461
xvii. 3, vi. 6,
.
xii. 2, .
• 390
xviii. 4,
0,441
vii. 18,
.
xviii. 9,
4 M. xii. 20,
• 414
XX. 9,
Joel ii. 12, 13,
.
xx._i7 (?), .
Mt. iv. 7, .
. 442
xxii. 2,
Zeph. i. 8, 140,
2I<
?, 2S2
V. 10,
. 209
xxii. 28, .
V. 16,
• 194
xxiv. 6,
Mai. ii. 7, 44,
301, 302
V. 20,
• 432
xxiv, 7, 8, .
V. 29,
369, 429
xxiv. 71, .
Is. ii. 3, vi. 33,
• 441
XXV. 15,
V. 20,
no
vn. 7,
• 322
XXV. 25,
. 204
vi. 7, vii. 16,
. 217
xxvi. II, vn. 4, vii. 21,
. 283
xxvi. 28,
• 79
viii. 6, vii. 47-50,
■ 389
xxvii. I,
. 162
viii. 18, viii. 3,
. 177
xxvii. 4,
. 204
xi. 9, x.8,
144, 179
xxviii. 14,
142, 146,
xiv. 13, 14, x. 23,
. 152
180, 424
xiv. 27,
X. 27,
■ 376
(unidentifie
d), . 330
xxxiii. 20. .
i6b
X. 28,
. 366
xii. 8-1 1,'.
xi. 30,
. 368
Ec. i. 3 (?),
. 150
xlii. 14, xii. 30, i:.9> •
. 209
xliii. 27, .
xii. 34, 35,
• 374
iii. I,
• 14S, 400
Ii. 7, 8, .
• 356
xii. 36,
. 51
iii- 2, 3,
33, 34
Iii. 5,
• 197
xii. 37, .
. 302
iii. 4,
. 145
Iii. 7,
• 152
xiii. 8,
. 448
iii. 7,
. 107
Iv. i.,
• 39^
xiii. 21,
• 91
v. I, 2, 4
• 443
Ivi. 3,
. 407
xiii. 52, .
. 338
v. 12,
• 439
Ivii. 14 (?),
. 166
xiii. 57, .
. no
yii. 17,
. 147, 1S6
IxV. 2,
^
-3, 290
XV. 28,
. 250
ix. 10, xvi. 18, 295
296, 363
Jer. ii. 22, xvi. 19, .
• 354
Ca. iv. 7, ii. 31,
• 23
xvi. 27, .
• 344
11. 35, 36, 111.
1,2
, 290
xviii. 17, .
. 407
Tob v. 5,
• 205
V. 21, 22, .
. 12S
xviii. 18,19,
110,111,
vi. 24,
• 337
V. 31,
. 129
354, 423
vii. II,
• 336, 337
vi. 16,
■ 72
xix. 5-9, .
• 430
viii. 9,
• 93
viii. 22,
• 319
xix. 16,
• 452
PAGE
PAGE
PAGE
Mt. xix. 21, 29,
385, 437
Ro. ii. 5, 6,
189, 270
2 Co. i. 17 (?),
. 42
xxii. 39, 40,
• 437
ii. 21, 22,
. 242
ii. 7,
. 241
xxiii. 4, .
ii. 24,
• 130. 197 "
ii. II,
■ 446
xxiv. 31, .
• 390
viii. 15,
■ 324
ii. 19,
. 236
xxiv. 45, 46,
292, 293
X. 2, .
• 180, 349
iii. 2,
. 263
XXV. 45, .
• 463
X. 10,
• 302
iii. 3,
. 266
X. 21,
. 23
iii. 18, 241,
261, 396,
Mk. V. 33, 34,
■ 249
xi. 16, viii. 23-5, .
• 177
xi. 22,
. 72, 351
iv. 2,
. 241
ix. 25,
• 215
xii. 19,
. 62
vi. 3,
• 135
xiv. 36,
. 462
xiii. I, 2,
• 247
vi. 14,
. 328
xiv. 23,
• 51
vi. 17,
. 264
Lu. i. 79, .
• 338
xvi. 17-9,
. 229
vii. 4,
. 167
iv. 39,
244, 245
viii. 9,
. 423
VI. 30,
. 441
viii. 21,
194, 447
vi. 45,
• 337
I Co. i. 5 (?),
. 163
xi. 4,
X. 5, .
. 141
11. 14,
. 42
xi. 19,
• 336
X. 42, II
383, 384
iv. I,
• 281, 356
xii. II,
28, 332
xi. 23,
• 74
iv. 5,
5I, 275, 432
xii. 42-4, 164,281,367
iv. 7,
294, 295
Ga.i.8,9, I56(?),349(?),
xiii. 27 (?),
. 122
iv. 20,
. . 283 xvi. 26,
. 267
vi. 7-9,
• 27
ii. 2,
. 98
xvii. 10,
• 370
vi. 14, 15,
262, 263
iii. 17,
. 146
xxii. 19, 20,
. 238
vi. 18,
• "7
iv. 13,
. 412
xxiii. 40, .
vi. 20,
• 396
v. 2,
306, 308
xxiii. 46, .
• 389
vii. 4, 5, 428, 433, 436
V. 4, . .
. 377
vii. 20,
• 436
v. 10,
• 51
John i. 29, .
262, 390
vii. 23, 24,
372, 454
v. II,
. 377
iii. 5,
. 422
vii. 25,
. 168
vi. 5,
. 401
iii. 6,
• 314
vii. 27,
. 436
iii. 8,
• 37
vii. 31,
. 367
Eph. ii. 8, 9,
, 265
iv. 21, 23, 24
, • 391
vii. 36,
■ 456
iv. 3 (?), •
. 292
X. 11-3, 3
I, 81, 86,
viii. 12,
372, 396
iv. II,
. 41 ix. 7, 13,
99, 405
iv. 29,
. 365
X. 16,
458, 459
ix. 16, 17,
142, 382
V. 3, 4,
240, 242
xii. 48,
. 228
ix. 21, 22,
303, 304,
v. 26, 27, .
354, 423
xiii- 34, 35,
. 437
3C
7, 321, 332
VI. 4,
. 438
xiv. 27, .
141,205
ix. 26,
150, 363
vi. 12,
. 440
XV. 20,
228, 320
X. 12,
370, 433
vi. 16,
. 322
xxi. 15-7, .
• 372
X. 13.
• 130
X. 24,
372, 437
Ph. i. 9 (?), .
. 163
Ac. ii. 44, 47,
365, 366
X. 32,
. 86
i. 16,
. 326
iii. 8,
• 332
XI. 3,
• 429
i. 29, .
268, 400
iv. 32, . 57 (?), 366
xi. 21,
. 365
iii. 14,
. 446
v. 29(?), .
. 146
xi. 26, iv. 3,
. 384
V. 36,
182, 183
xi. 28-32,
. 188
iv. 10,
. 351
x. 28,
• 277
xii. 15, 16,
• 74
iv. 13-
. 381
X. 47,
. 314
xii. 28,
. 41
XV. I, 2, .
. 160
xiii. I,
260, 371
Col. i. 16,
XV. 8,
275, 277
xiii. 5,
. lOI
ii. 18,
XV. 10,
• 377
xiv, 15,
. 218
ii. 23, 185,
298, 440
xvi. 3,
305. 306
xiv. 40,
. 98
111. I, 2, 4,
. 169
XX. 34, 35,
. 367
XV. 31,
. 285
iii. 17,
. 442
xxi. 39, .
XV. 33,
. . 366
iv, 6,
• 383
XXV. 16,
. 46
xvi. 13, xvi. 19,
. 451
I Th. ii. 5, 10,
. 96
Ro. i. 9,
. 96
xvi. 22,
407, 464
V. 21,
. 320
PAGE
PAGE
PAGE
1 Ti, ii. 8, .
,
Tit. iii. 5, .
. 400
He. xi. 6, .
263, 427
ii. 12,
.
iii. 10, 264,
273, 291
xii. 4,
169, 261
iii. 2, 67 (?),
112, xiii. 4,
• 433
111. 4,
He. ii. 16, 17,
. 281
iv. IS, iii. 13,
. 291
Paul (unidentified), 347
V. 22, 23, . 42, 64, 94
iii. 14,
. 250
vi. 5, iv. s,
. 281
Ja. i. 17,
126, 442
vi. 10,
23,
V. 4,
. 411
i. 26,
• 3 "jo
vi. II (?), .
(^1
vi. 6,
• 330
J
%JJ
2 Ti. ii. 9, .
vi. 18,
• 295
I Pe. i. 12, .
. 214
ii. 19, vii. 7,
. 217
^
iv, 2, ix. 28,
201, 202
iii. 7,
• 429
iv. 7,
iv. 16, 17, .
X. 4, . X. 14, X. 28, 29, .
. 376 . 201 62,63
2 Pe. ii. 22, . iii. 16,
• 352 350, 449
Tit. i. 5, 7, •
X. 31,
• 279
I J. ii. 16, .
• 365
i. 9.
X. 34,
2 J. 10, II, .
229, 263,
ii. 3.
X. 37.
270, 344
264, 269
272, 291
ii. 4, 5, .
X. 39,
241, 423
3 J- 3. •
. 164
ECCLESIASTICAL.
Acta depositionis Juliani ep Bostrse, ... Syn. Chalcedonis, actio V.
(Mansi vii. 1 13), . Syn. Commani (npa|is inronvq
ixdruv), Syn. Ephesil. (Mansi iv. 1344),
299, 300, 348, 352 Syn. Ephesi H. (unidentified),
284, 316
Syn. ep. Syrise II., . , . 75
Syn. Palti, .... 46
'Akiba, monks of monast. of, letter
to Severus, ....
Alexander of Alexandria, ep. ad
Alex. Const. 9 (Theod. H.E.
i.9)
Anastasius, Emperor, letter to
John III. of Alexandria,
letter to Severus,
typos addressed to Flavian of
Antioch, ....
Anonymous, confession of
faith
letter to Antoninus of Berrhcea, letter to John of Bostra, 397, 398-400
408, 409 letter to Severus, . . 193, 194 Apophthegmata Patrum, Poemen
76, 387
4, 5
Archimandrites, petition to
Severus, . . . -131 Athanasius I. of Alexandria,
Apol. c. Arian. 44 (?), 207, 287 De Sententia Dionysii, . . 335
Athanasius II. of Alexandria,
letters, . . , .255
Basil of Csesarea, Ascetic Treatise
(unidentified), . . 195, 385 Comm. in Ps. (unidentified), . 313
ep. 9.2 335, 336
ep. 105, 214.2, 250, . . 269
ep. 207.1, . . . 449, 450 ep. 262.2, . 259, 261, 264, 269, 291 ep. 265.2, . . . .215 ep. ad monachos Orobianes et
Chalanes (unidentified), . 449
ep. (unidentified), . . . 343 Horn. xix. .... 393 Reg. Fus. Tract, ix. 2, . . 386 De Spir. Sane. 48, 49, . . 416 72, . . . 312, 313
Can. Apost. 21-3, Apost. 78, Apost. 81, Syn. Ant. 3, Syn. Ant. 4, Syn. Ant. 6,
. 410 85, 189, 190
. 102
29, 30 . 124, 155
• 154
PAGE
114, i23(?), 154
8,39
116, 117, 118,
136, 137
• 394, 408, 410
97 (?), 212, 222, 224
. lOI
73, 117, 118, 128,
135, 136, 411, 412
. 412
27, 104
181, 297; 298
Can. Syn. Ant. 9, Syn. Ant. 12, . Syn. Ant. 13, 22, Syn. Laod. i, . Syn. Laod. 4, . Syn. Laod. 7, . Syn. Laod. 33, Syn. Laod. 40, Syn. NeocEes. 9,
Syn. Nic. I, .
Syn. Nic. 4,
Syn. Nic. 5,
Syn. Nic. 9,
Syn. Nic. 10,
Syn. Nic. 17,
Syn. Nic. 19, Celer viag. off., letter to Severus, 84 Church Histories (unidentified), . 286 Constit. Apost. viii. 27, . 211, 213 Cosmos of Apamea, petition of
resignation, . . . 48, 49
Cyprian, ep. 69, 71, 73, . . 296
ep- 73-3> • •. • • 29S, 299
Cyril of Alexandria, ep. 17, 45, 364
ep. 54, . . . 157, 158, 159
in Theod. Mops. (Mansi ix. 235), 317
DiONYSius of Alexandria, letters to Dionysius and Stephen of Rome, . . . 296, 297
Dioscorus L of Alexandria, letter
about Irenaeus Siyaf^os, . 136
Dioscorus IL of Alexandria,
Hpu^is vTTOfiprip.aTwi', . . I33
Eleutherius sacellarius, letters
to Severus, .... 65 Epiphania, Arethusa, and Rhaphania, bps. of, attack on Syn. of Antioch, . . 74, 75
Eusebius of Caesarea, H. E. vi. 41,
169, 170 viii. 12, 414
Greg. Naz., letter against Gregory of Nyssa (unidentified), 206
Or.
vi. II,
14, 15
Or.
xix. 7 (?), .
. 68
Or.
XXI. 15,
. 428
Or.
xxxm. 4, .
• 269, 270, 343
Or.
xxxni. 15,
. 250, 251, 296
PAGE
Greg. Naz., Or. xxxix. 14,. . 135 Or. xl. 26, 232, 236, 237,239, 240, 242, 243, 246 Or. xliii. .... 393
Or. xliii. 37, . . . 9, 10, 13
Greg. Nyss., letter against Gregory of Nazianzus (unidentified), .... 206 Vit. Greg. Thaumat., . 133,393
HiLARiAN of Diocffisarea, letter
forged in name of, . 18, 69
Hippocrates scholastic (?) and
others, letter to Severus, . 133
Ignatius ad Ephes. 5, . 174, 175
ad Philad. 3 174
ad Smyrn. 8, . . . .174
Irenceus adv. Hser. IV. xxxiii. 7
(62), 175
Isaurian bps., letters to Callistus, 18 Isaurian or Cilician correspondent,
letter to Severus, , . 149, 150 Isidore of Pelusium, ep. ii. 246, 252, 253
John II. of Alexandria, letters, . 255 John III. of Alexandria, letter to
Dioscorus and Chseremon, . 256 letter to Timothy of Constantinople, .... 255 John Chrysostom, Comm. in
Matth., _ . . . 453>454 Comm. in Titum, . . .210
Laudes Pauli, . . 277-9, 306, 307
De Proditione Juda;, . . 190
De SS. Bernice et Prosdoce, . 414 De S. Pelagia, . . .414
John (not further defined), letter
to Severus, . . . 439, 440
Julian of Halicarnassus, Appendices, 342 Julius of Rome (Pseudo-), letter to
Dionysius, . . . 284, 285
Liturgy, .
122, 187, 188
Marinus chartnlarhis, letter to
Severus, .... 381 Markarchim. , ■7r\7ipo(popia, 289, 291 Musonius of INIeloe, letter to
Longinus, 25, 26, 28, 29, 79, 80 letters to Severus (?), . . 83 np5|ts, 77
Pamphilus, oration on,^
1 The life by Eusebius is perhaps meant.
PAGE
Peter of Alexandria, letters, 255, 256 Peter of Apamea, petition to Syn.
of Antioch, . . . .71
Upa^is inrofxiT)^a.TO}v (at Alexandria),
22S See also Act. Syn. Commani and Dioscorus II.
Re-anointers at Antioch, petition, 185
Rhosus, clergy of, petition to
Severus, ... 66, 67
Sergius II. of Cyrrhus, 7rpa|is, . 341 Severus of Antioch, against the
Grammarian, . . .198
Horn. XXX., . 334, 335, 392, 393 against Julian, . . 350, 358
against Romanus, . . . 288
letter to Anastasius or Celer, . 84 letter to brothers at Alexandria, 267 letter to Cassian of Bostra, . 395 letter to Dionysius of Tarsus, . 84 letter to the fathers, . . 119
letter to John the count, . 129
letter to John son of Aphthonia,
415. 416 letter to Julian the chamberlain, 199 letter to Misael the deacon, . 199 letter to Philoxenus of Hierapolis, 90 letter to Solon of Seleucia, . 25 on Two Substances, . . 199
(Pseudo-), treatise and letters,
448, 449 Simeon, monks of monast. of,
recantation, . . . 323
Simoniac clergy, letters to Severus
on behalf of, . , • 131
Siricius of Rome, letter to Eastern
bps., . . . . 223,224 Socrates, H. E. vii. 3, . 310-2
Solon of Seleucia, letter to Severus{?),
18, 19, 20 Synod of Csesarea, letter to
Theodosius I., . . 223, 224 Synod of Capua, letters to Theo-
philus and to Eastern bps., . 223 Synod of Tyre (?), letter to John
of Alexandria, ... 88 Sy nodical letter ^uncertain of
whom) and another letter . 414 Syrian bps, at Alexandria, letter
to Syrians, . 162, 319, 320, 339
Ten bps., formula of, . . 361
Testamentum Domini ii. 10, . 426 Theodore presb. , letters to Cosmas
of Apamea, ... 48
Theodoret, H. E. v. 4, . . 9
Theodosius II., order about
Irenseus Siyafj.os (Mansi
V. 420), . . . .136
Theophilus of Alexandria, letter
to Flavian, . 303, 304, 307, 308 Timothy of Alexandria, letter
on reception of heretics, iSi, 320,
326, 339
synodical to Peter of Antioch, . 324 Timothy of Constantinople, synodical to John of Alexandria, 255, 36:
Virgins of Antioch, letter to
Severus, .... 270
Zacharias of Pelusium, letter to
Severus, .... 249
SECULAR.
Anonymous,
61, 265
Cod. Just. I. iv. 17 (?) IX. xxii. 22 (?), .
PAGE
ADDENDA AND CORRIGENDA.
P. vi. note 7. There can be no doubt that Epiphanius of Magydum was the ordainer of Severus.
P. vii. 1. 13,14. This sentence is open to misunderstanding. Severus never openly opposed the Henotikon, but by explaining it as a condemnation of the Synod he made it useless as a compromise.
P. X. 1. 6. For *■ iKXoyai' read 'cKAoyai'. So at p. i, note 2, and p. 3, note I.
P. xiii. 1. 14. For ' Cosmos ' read ' Cosmas '.
P. 9, 1. 16. For ' who longed for him ' read ' for whom he longed '. (Ryssel in Theol. Literaturz. 1904, No. 5, p. 148.)
P. 19, note 2. For 'rjyfj.wv' read ^ rjy^jjLUiv'.
P. 60, marg. If the general is Hypatius, the date should probably^ be 515-8.
P. 66, note 2. For 'B' read ' MSS.'
P. 87, marg. If the synod is that of Tyre, the date should be 514-5.
P. 88. For ' him ' read ' it '. There is a play on the word t6/j.o?.
P. 96, marg. For '315' read '513'.
P. 107, 1. 7. For ' Koholeth ' read ' Koheleth '.
P. 114, 1. 20. For 'Syrian' read 'Serenus'.
P. 125, marg. The date should probably be 515-8 : see on p. 60.
P. 148, marg. For ' 25 ' read ' 21 '. It is clear that the banishment of the bishops and monks was in progress or had only just been completed : see p. 34, note. (John's date is to be preferred to that of ' Zacharias.')
P. 164, marg. For ' 525 ' read ' 521 '.
P. 167, marg. This seems to date from the time of the expulsion of the bishops (519-2 I ).
P. 171, marg. For ' 25 ' read ' 21 '. A Monophysite could hardly have been in possession of an Eastern see after 521. So on p. 176.
P. 171, note I. The incursion may also have been that of the Huns (Land Anec. Syr. ii. 13. 7, 41. 19, and note to v. Douwen and Land's translation).
P. 179, marg. As the bishops and monks appear not to have been in exile, the date should probably be 519-21.
P. 185, 1. 25. This treatise is no doubt our v. 6.
480 ADDENDA AND CORRIGENDA.
P. 185, note 2. For ' i.' read 'ii.' P. 185. note 3. For ' 5 ' read '4'.
P. 216, 1. 14, 15. For 'feet? did he . . . Pamphylia' read 'feet (but he did . . . PamphyUa) ' (Ryssel, I.e.). P. 231, 1. 9. For 'gracious' read 'glorious'.
P. 233, marg. For ' 519' read ' 521 '. A comparison of p. 236, 1, 15 ff., and p. 237, 1. 22 ff., seems to show that Ammian and Epagathus were in Constantinople, but Z'ura (p. 234, 1. 16) could hardly have been there before 521 (Land Anec. Syr. ii. 13. 22 ff.).
P. 244, marg. For ' 521 ' read ' 523 '. This follows from the last correction.
P. 244, note 3. This chronology is very hard to reconcile with the fact that John of Ephesus saw Ctesaria apparently before she entered the convent.
P. 278, 1. 13. i'J?^ ' circumcize ' r^fl^ ' circumcise '. / 'j
P. 294, marg. A comparison with p. 185 makes it probable that this letter should be placed in 513.
P. 297, 1. 22, 'But' ... p. 298, 1. 16, 'Africa'. This passage is quoted in some answers addressed by certain ' holy fathers ' to some questions from the East in Brit. Mus. Add. MS. 12,155 f. 244 r., where it is headed merely ' Of the Holy Severus.' As we should expect, this version differs both from th.u in 14,601 and from that in 12,155 ^^ f- 220 r. and other MSS.
P. 298, 1. 9- 1 1. For 'although . . . Photinus ' read 'and that though the miserable heresy of Paul of Samosata and that of Photinus are pregnant with the same folly '.
P. 307, 1. 13. For 'professional' read 'technical'.
P. 320, note 2. For ' 3 ' read ' 4 '.
P. 342, marg. This letter, having been written before i. 56, must be dated 5 19-21 : see on p. 167.
P. 342. Transpose notes 2 and 3.
P. 375, note. For 'xxxix.' read 'xxxiv.'
P. 393, 1. 4. Emend the text and read ' on 'for the first ' of.
P- 393> note I. For ' 568 ' read ' 508 '.
P. 415, note. For ' Ko/Ainavos ' read ' Ko/xTjTtavos '.
P. 436, note 2. For ' 29 ' read ' 20 '.
P. 454, note 2. For ' 14 ' read ' 20 '.
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