Letters 1 part 29/55

if we endure, we shall also reign together with him.

In former times grace chose those whom it chose for the martyrdom of Christ; from generation to generation martyrs arise.

For it is necessary that offenses come, Christ said, so that the elect may shine forth like the sun, and the tares be made manifest as creatures of night.

May we become, O brothers, in this crooked and perverse generation, like lights shining upon those in the moonless darkness of heresy, even as Christ chose us for his boast, for the glory of orthodoxy.

As those of old were to us, so may we be shown forth as a support and example to those who come after, and may we be found dancing on the day of Christ.

And yet we have a martyrdom even more manifest than those closest to us in time;

for it is not concerning the natures or wills in Christ, and whatever else was disputed alongside these — the error concerning which, being a matter of concepts alone, offered no proof perceptible to the senses — but now the thing disputed, or rather impiously assailed, stands present both with the concepts and before the very eyes.

For our adversaries not only say, and perversely maintain, that Christ, together with the Theotokos and any of the saints, is not to be depicted in images, but they also obliterate images already painted, dogmatizing that the divine likenesses are delusion and the ruin of souls.

O the impiety — Jewish and Hellenic alike — mutually corresponding to one another!

There is, then, nothing at all different, save the difference in respect of substance — and it is precisely there that the whole argument lies;

suppose the Jew, or rather the Greek, should say to the Christian, 'Renounce Christ, renounce Mary!' —

for the icon of Christ, just as that of the Theotokos, is called by the very same name, 'Christ' and 'Theotokos.'

So that one who says he renounces the icon would, by clear implication, be required to be renouncing outright the very one whose icon it is.

Is this, then, my own word — I who am utterly nothing? Hear what the God of all says to Moses:

and yet he commanded him to make an image of the Cherubim;

for surely no one would say that in doing so he intended to represent the cherubic nature itself.

And indeed here too he commands the making of an image of a serpent.

But such is the nature of the archetype and the derivative: that the thing produced — that is, the thing depicted — is called by the name of its archetype, and that with the removal of the one the other is removed also, since they exist together.

Was it an angel? For this reason it is also called the image of an angel;

was it a serpent? For this reason it is also called the image of a serpent — and so likewise of anything else that exists.

And in one respect they are called the images of the very things which they are, but in another respect, on account of the relation, they are named as the archetypes themselves, and no longer as their images.

Thus also says the holy Apostle: 'and above it the Cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy-seat,' using the name of the prototypes for the images.

Hear also the Great Basil:

'Let there also be inscribed upon the panel Christ, the judge of the contests.'

For he did not say, 'Let the icon of Christ, the judge of the contests, be inscribed,' but simply 'Christ.'

Hear also Gregory of Nyssa, who, when Isaac was set forth in a painting, named the icon of Isaac simply 'Isaac.'

For he did not say that he saw the image of an angel in the picture, but an angel.

For in the icon the archetype is made manifest, just as in the figure of the Cross the life-giving Cross itself is manifest; for this reason too the one is inseparable from the other in veneration.

For this reason the image also bears the appellation of the prototype;

for the figure of the cross is itself called 'the cross.'

So too in the case of the emperor, and of every man, and of every kind of thing, it is true for us to say that the icon of the emperor is likewise called 'emperor,'

and the icon of Peter, 'Peter.'

Shall I say something even loftier? Man too is called 'god,' as being the image of God.

Therefore Basil said this: even the icon of Christ is called 'Christ';

but if the contentious will not accept this, then first they set at naught the divine sayings, and next they thereby dogmatize — in deed if not in word — that Christ did not truly become man.

For if he is man, it is clear that he is also depicted in images;

for to be depicted in an image is the very first property of man.

But if he is not depicted, then he is not man but fleshless, and Christ has not yet come, as the Jews are deluded into thinking.

For this reason they also banish the depiction of the Theotokos and of every saint, as though she were not the Mother of God, nor they the servants of Christ.

And the Golden-mouthed one cries out, 'Your deeds are more trustworthy to me than your words.'

It is therefore concluded in truth that the iconoclasts judaize, and that whoever suffers at their hands suffers on account of Christ and for Christ, on account of the Theotokos and for the Theotokos, on account of every saint and for all the saints;

he who contends and stands firm is an incontestable martyr and confessor of Christ,

and no argument will gainsay it.

The Maccabees are martyrs, for refusing to endure tasting swine's flesh unlawfully;

the Forerunner is a martyr for the reproof of truth, and another is a martyr for refusing to contribute a coin toward the building of an idol's temple, and yet another for some other commandment.

For why need much be said? Is then he who here contends manifestly for Christ's sake not a martyr, as some wretched men say? He is a true martyr, lacking nothing whatsoever in comparison with those who bore witness under the pagans or the Jews;

and 'the witness in heaven is faithful.'

In short, then, if he who rejects the figure of the cross refers his rejection to Christ, much more does he who denies the icon of Christ send his denial back to Christ.

Thus he who bears witness in respect of both is a most true martyr, and even more so in the matter of the icon, because the one is a sign, but the other is the very form of Christ.

I exhort you, my holy brothers, partakers of the heavenly calling: first, to remember me, the lowly one, praying that I may be shown by deed to be what I say, in no way puffed up by assaults both unseen and visible; and next, to attend to yourselves and to the contest now at hand, and not to be inflamed in your reasonings on account of poverty of understanding when events unfold that are governed by a providence too deep, and beyond the reach of the human mind.

May you not suffer what you sing: 'As for me, my feet were almost moved, my steps had well-nigh slipped, because I was envious at the lawless,' beholding this and that; but rather hear the Lord saying, 'Wait for me until the day of my resurrection,' and that 'he who endures to the end shall be saved.'

{To all the brothers who are absent} A Christian ought always to set his affairs in order in view of death, but especially whenever, beset by trials, [his foes] threaten death.

Since, then, such is my own situation, on account of the throbbing madness of the persecutors, for the sake of love of Christ — namely, the martyrdom of confession concerning him now set before me — and I do not know what will befall me, being altogether isolated and shut away far from all of you, my brothers and fathers, I thought it good to set before you this letter as a kind of final utterance, as it were, and through you, to the whole brotherhood;

for it is good often to set one's affairs in order and to persevere in it, rather than, through expectation of continued life, being suddenly snatched away and thoughtlessly left behind without having done so.

What, then, is the point of the present letter? Since on many occasions, whether gravely ill or when persecutions were impending, I have already declared and set down in writing whatever needed to be said, and there is no need now to repeat what has already been said, I say this first, my brothers: that you would grant me forgiveness for whatever, through my office as your guide, I said or did to you unreasonably, whether in word or in deed;

for 'who can understand his errors?' and 'we all stumble' — and I especially, the most useless of all men.

Wherefore I also beg your prayer for the attainment of the salvation of my wretched soul; and next, for those brothers who, on account of my sins, have been torn away from our union in the Holy Spirit.

There is indeed — there is — a just judgment reserved for them from God, made manifest to all; but nevertheless, since they are children and members still, we must still show them compassion and still bear solemn witness to them;

to brother Leontius, Maximus, Clement, and all the others who, on whatever pretext of vain excuse, have broken away.

As for the matters concerning myself, I both said them long ago and say them now:

but since matters that concern God are not for man to resolve while they remain unrepented of (and indeed they do not appear to have repented at all, but rather to have gone on doing this and that further, things they themselves know well), I beg that, through you, either now or after my death, out of fear on account of the trials, this word be given to them: 'See, brothers, the judgment is fearful and inescapable, unless with repentance worthy of note you propitiate God;'

for as far as I, the sinner, am concerned, it must be forgiven by you.

This is what grieves me and stands ever before me, which I entreat you to carry through toward all.

{To my son Proterius} I was troubled, my beloved son, at your coming;

but when I read your letter (I do not know whether it is in your own hand —

for you have quickly learned to write, and thanks be to the Lord), I was freed from my agitation, giving thanks to God, and I found rest over the good decisions you both made — the one to set out for the city, the other having arrived before Pascha, indeed with the provisions for the feast.

In return for which may the Lord nourish you with spiritual gifts, since you so labor greatly for our humble self.

We are, then, well in body — and if you pray, in spirit also — so that, letting go of your anxiety over us, you may be the more fervent in prayer, with hope and joy;

for by the grace of God, and by the prayers of my blessed father, together with your supplication also, we are accomplishing — with thanksgiving, patience, and endurance — the contest set before us, having become, beyond all hope, other men than we were, and to such a degree as we would never have become, since the time we have known good and evil.

It is God's gift, not from our own works, only if henceforth you do not grow weary in beseeching God on our behalf, just as we also do on yours.

As for the problem — since the father left it unresolved, how can we, the unlearned, resolve it? Yet the present heresy is certainly a denial of Christ;

and this is clear from other things too, and clear also from what is said in the Paterikon to the one warred upon by fornication:

It is more expedient for you to abstain from not a single harlot than not to venerate the icon of Christ.

so that this is not some ordinary heresy, but one that denies Christ;

And as for those who put forward the difficulty raised by the author of the Ladder concerning falling into fornication or being caught by heresy, as though the one were more preferable than the other, let the verdict in the Paterikon strike them with fear, and let them fall neither into fornication nor into the Christ-fighting heresy;

for in either case it is adultery.

And I had still more to say, but the letter has no room for it.

Return in good health, greeting the brothers, and come again when the Lord shall be pleased to let the brothers arrive.

{To Zacharias the Consul} I both write again and will not cease writing, making my defense and giving abundant thanks to your God-loving love, on account of your zeal for Christ's sake and your virtue-loving disposition toward our affliction, which you showed from long ago and from the very beginning — freely doing good, freely showing mercy, freely subjecting yourself to well-nigh dangers, not wary of the difficulty of the occasion, but manifesting the true measure of love; not weighed down by the multitude of those cared for, but uplifted by the hope of divine gifts;

which is the mark of a true Christian, one who fears God, vividly and constantly mindful of the day of death and of judgment before the fearful tribunal of Christ.

Of such virtue also is your yoke-fellow, joined to you by God, and indeed your children as well;

and reasonably so, since from a good root the shoots too would naturally be good.

And I think that those under your hand are likewise such, because as the ruler is, so for the most part the ruled tend by nature also to be.

What then is there to say to this, except what the divine David said: 'Behold, thus shall the man who fears the Lord be blessed'? May the Lord bless you out of Zion, and may you and your whole household see the good things of the Jerusalem above, O my most beloved lord.

To your fatherly holiness — hindered thus, as it were, by the confinement that encloses me;

since I have long since heard of your imprisonment for the Lord's sake and of your contest of struggle.

But blessed be God, who has also called your holiness to the confession of his Son Jesus Christ, our Lord and God,

for to contend for the icon of his bodily form is nothing other than to bear witness concerning him;

since the icon, by its hypostatic likeness, is one and the same with him who is depicted.

And that Christ is depicted, even the stones cry out, because he became like us in all things except sin, as it is written — 'except sin,' because he took flesh without seed and was born in virginity from his all-holy mother, the Theotokos.

Since, then, we are all depicted in image — for whoever cannot be depicted in image is not a man but some monstrosity, since every living creature that comes into the light is by nature able to be depicted — it is clear that Christ too has been depicted in image, even if it does not seem so to the godless, who thereby deny the mystery of the saving economy.

For how could the Son of God be confessed to have become man like us — of whom he even deigned to be called brother — if he is not circumscribed just as we are? And how could he be confessed to have been born according to the law of nature, if he does not resemble his own mother? If, then, he is not circumscribed, it is not from her virginal blood that he formed for himself a temple, but rather he bears a heavenly body, as it seems to Marcellus the heretic and to the impious ones of old before him.

Hence, then, the mother is not truly a mother but falsely so named, nor is he like us but of a different essence.

Nor, indeed, has Adam been recalled;

for how could that which is of the earth rise again in a body of a different kind, since it has been shown that like is restored by like?

Consequently, neither has death been swallowed up, nor has the legal worship ceased;

circumcision and the rest are still required.

Do you see, O man of God, into what abyss of impiety the icon-fighters have driven themselves and become entangled, by refusing to have Christ inscribed and glorified on a panel? They are indeed certainly Judaizing.

Hence they accept neither the Theotokos nor any of the saints, abhorring — through their denial of the saints' own images — those who are thereby depicted;

for the honor and the dishonor of the icon pass up to the prototype, as the great Basil says.

You have abhorred the figure of the cross;

and whom do you abhor? Is it not the life-giving cross? So too is it with the image of the emperor, so too with that of any man whatsoever;

so too is it with the image of Christ, and of his mother, and of every saint.

Christ has now been denied, and persecuted, and set at naught.

And blessed are you, father, contending and holding fast to orthodoxy.

But pray also for me, the wretched one, that I may follow after your holiness, and not be cast away on account of my sins.

{To the Steward} I heard concerning your honor how well you contended for Christ, subjected to scourgings and kept under guard, and again I gave thanks to the Master Christ who called you to his own confession — not only because you belong to the holy schema, but because you also rank among the obedient brothers; and I would add, indeed, that you also belong to my own monastery;

for your being from Symbola — where my blessed father submitted himself to the holy Theoktistos and, having practiced asceticism, shone forth in virtue — leads me, in my humility, to reckon your glory and your martyrdom as my own.

Well done, then, O good steward, soldier of Christ, who have far outstripped many abbots — or rather, put them to shame — seeing that you, though ranked merely as a sheep, have shown yourself unconquered by the hunting of the heretics, while those who merely seem to be shepherds, turned into wolves by the intelligible beast, lie before all as a pitiable spectacle, having betrayed — by choosing the things of this world and sparing their flesh — through their lapse into either communion with, or subscription to, those who make a heresy of Christ our God, the only truth.

Rejoice, then, O shepherd truly so by your deeds; rejoice, O martyr of the Lord;

be still more perfectly manly henceforth.

You have been scourged together with Christ, you are imprisoned as he was;

come now, receive also the blows, be pierced with nails, be lanced, be lifted up in the suffering of the cross.

The argument calls us, and may it exact the debt we owe;

If we die, we shall also live with Christ; if we endure, we shall also reign with him.

Such are the promises of him who cannot lie;

But you, O good brother and beloved father, do not forget to remember me always, asking that I too may attain, together with you, the God who has called us.

{To Timothy, my child} What have I heard? Even you, child Timothy, have fallen in love with God together with the martyrs? You have burned with zeal for the Lord;

having bidden farewell to flight, you have handed yourself over to martyrdom.

How blessed is your resolve, how God-inspired the fervor of your heart, by which also you were formerly known, shining forth in many right actions!

But now you have shone forth more perfectly, having truly been shown to be a martyr;

you too may say with joy, 'I gave my back to the scourges, and I did not turn my face away from the shame of spitting,' as Christ did for Christ's sake, even if it does not seem so to the Christ-persecutors.

Blessed be God, who strengthened you to be lacerated with a hundred and fifty scourges and not to abandon your salvation, but on the contrary to convict the most impious contriver, whose scourges shall remain forever, since he clearly does not repent.

In a single moment, good brother, having been sharply stung, you have raised up, as it were, eternal glory;

you have been fitted together as a holy stone into the building of the confession of Christ, unto the joy of your brothers and fellow-contestants, unto a boast for me, the sinner, and indeed for the most God-beloved archbishop, and also for all the pious.

Who, hearing of your contest, will not sing of it? Who among those who know you will not call you blessed? Christ has crowned you from heaven, the choir of the saints has embraced you.

But since it is not only the good beginning that is to be blessed, but rather the completion of the contest that is sought, let us stand firm, beloved child, henceforth being made manly, bearing nobly the hardships of imprisonment.

Christ is present with us, who does not allow us to be tempted beyond what we are able to bear, but gives you endurance unto death, and at the end of the contests bestows on you the crowns of the struggle.

O good Timothy, pray also for me, the unworthy one, that I may be saved in the Lord together with you, the saints.

{To Ignatius, my child} What you have written, beloved child, I have understood, and I rejoice to hear your voice — though not as you suppose things concerning me;

but if you say you are benefited by my words, write and receive them, and there is no grudging it.

I understand that you are dragging out a life of hardship in the present persecution, hiding just as those like-minded with you also do, but let hope lighten the burden;

keep your affairs secure together with the good Eusebius, whom I also greet.

Communion from the heretics is not common bread, but poison; it does not harm the body, but blackens and darkens the soul.

But to discard it secretly is not for me to prescribe, but belongs to those who do so out of fear — concerning whom one may say that saying: 'Many even of the rulers believed in him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue;'

for they loved the glory of men more than the glory of God.

since it is required that the prayers of the sacred liturgy belong to an orthodox priest;

what good, then, does it do if these should come from heretics? For they do not think as the one who composed them thought, nor do they believe as the words themselves signify, since the whole mystagogy glorifies the fact that Christ truly became man;

but they deny it, even if they say it, because they hold the view that he cannot be depicted in image — just as if someone were to say, 'I believe in Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,' while holding that the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit are one hypostasis under three names, which is the doctrine of Sabellius the vain-minded.

What then? Shall we say that such a man believes in the Trinity? By no means, even if he says so.

Thus, then, in this case too he does not believe as he speaks, even though the mystagogy is orthodox; rather each one speaks idly, or rather insults it, trifling with the liturgy.

since even sorcerers and enchanters make use of divine songs in their demonic practices

...of the Son and of the Holy Spirit — or else to depart this life unillumined [unbaptized]...

for out of necessity there is also a change of the law, as happened long ago and has been accepted

{To Maria, the Augusta} I have again received the letter of your venerable dignity and athletic endurance, and I gave thanks to the Lord that you remain in the same purpose, the same confession of Christ, possessing gracious speech joined with knowledge and a virtuous life perfected through faith.

To her, then, praise and commendation are fitting, as truly to the one who reigns as queen over the passions, not to us sinners and worthless ones, even if you bid us speak thus.

As for what I wrote earlier concerning the brother, it was not as though something improper had occurred (God forbid), but because what is done soundly by some becomes for others an occasion of scandal;

we have been commanded by the Apostle not to put a stumbling block or occasion of scandal before our neighbor

For this reason I did not urge that the brother be released from custody, since, even if he were free, it would not be profitable for him to enter into convents of virgins.

And this ought not to grieve you, my lady, since you know that I am concerned for your irreproachability and good repute as for my own mother — which indeed you are;

for you are my mother, since you belong to the Lord.

For if I did not hold you thus, I would not have written the former letters, I would not have done what concerns you.

Knowing this, put away your grief, and continue to pray for me the humble one, as I also do for you.

{To Euodius and John, [my] children} I rejoiced, children, at the address of you both, that being joined together you spoke as one — words that both revealed your health and signified your hiding place, and showed your longing for us sinners, and made clear your readiness for the confession like-minded with the brothers, and altogether declared you to be disciples of Christ.

How then could we fail to rejoice and be glad on hearing these things? But may He who holds us in the shelter of His loving providence Himself also protect us henceforth, nourish us, and lead us on as He wills — whether uncaptured or captured by the persecutors.

Do not, then, if the second should happen, become fainthearted;

for He who allowed you to be caught up in it will Himself grant the strength to endure the contests undertaken for His sake.

And for me, the humble one, do not cease to make prayer of salvation.

As you requested, I have written to the two [women].

May you be saved, most-longed-for brothers.

{To Anatolius, [my] child} The slowness of your letters, O sacred child, led me into thoughts that were not wholesome, since I heard also of your transfer and this release;

and as far as one could infer from both reports, it was a fall (for how could these things be so, given that it is not in the nature of things for anyone to be free and to go wherever he wishes in the present persecution? whence no ordinary anguish came upon me) — but as far as I was taught by your letter, I, the humble one, was relieved, I leapt for joy, I glorified my God.

And may the Lord my God, by His providence, keep you unfallen, without part in heretical communion;

but take heed how you are situated and where, and inform me more fully, by another letter, of the manner of your release and the safety of your precious soul;

and take care and be diligent to draw near to God by distancing yourself from the passions;

Behold, child, my honored sponsor has also departed, having blessedly been perfected in the confession of Christ — a man who, though in a most grievous illness, was exiled and was not overtaken by the impious.

What then shall we say? Shall we not steel our hearts? Shall we not be tempered by fear and love of God to endure all things, just as our brothers have? Yes, I beg you, my beloved son, my glory and boast — let us not be charmed by things seen, since they are passing away, but let us be held fast by the things of heaven;

You have arrived, through rather humble words, at the height of your virtue, and, though unwilling, you have shown it most excellently;

And that you urged us again to write and not to cease, this gladdened us completely and brought us to the conviction that we have found in you the very sort that reason seeks and the pastoral manner characterizes.

For no one, it seems, among those of your rank has spoken thus or been so drawn to us; indeed, even when they receive letters, they do not deign to write back;

and their excuse is that they have been ordered by the authorities not to teach, not to put pen to letter.

And may you forgive me, most blessed one, for having entertained a captious scruple;

For if we must guard against what the ruler does contrary to God, why do we not choose accordingly with full conviction, but are orthodox only by halves? Yet they themselves, I know not how, act in this fashion;

But you have both enlightened and strengthened and guided us, saying all that it is fitting for one who is truly a hierarch to say.

We, however, sacred summit, are not as you extol us to be, but poor and sinful, praying only not to fall away entirely from the sacred assembly of those who stand firm in the Lord.

As for what you have said concerning the heresy, it is so;

for it fights against the truth in actual deed, possessing but one weapon: authority;

and when this power is unwearyingly removed, it too will be removed along with it at that time, when the lawlessness is worn away, because of which also came the scourge.

But it grieves me that the body of your holiness is too weak to bear the hardships arising from confinement;

but strength is yours from God, in whom you have trusted and for whose sake you have counted all things as refuse — formerly through your undertaking of monastic perfection, and now through your confessor's steadfastness.

Do not cease, my most holy father, to pray for your least child.

{To Peter of Nicaea} Knowing that you delight to have me — who am worthy of nothing — speak to you, my sacred summit, for friendship's sake and not out of necessity, I now speak;

I also appear to have addressed you already through another letter, which — whether you received it — I do not know.

In both, then, my one purpose is that you be well in body, my father, the firm foundation of truth for the support of many, for the seal of faith, for the praise of Christ, for the glory of the whole Church;

since you are an eye of surpassing splendor above the rest, known in both East and West, possessing, along with your holy life, abundant learning as well, on account of which you have become beloved to emperors, cherished by rulers, and praised by monks.

But what need is there to speak of your own church? They call you blessed and long for you because of the very many, indeed most excellent, achievements you have accomplished, as infants long for their mother's breasts, as nestlings for their nurse, as lambs for their true shepherd (and how could it be otherwise?), holding your lively words ringing in their ears, beholding before their eyes the temples of God restored by you.

And I have not yet even mentioned the abundance of your almsgiving and your other pious deeds.

And do not suppose that I am indulging you out of mere friendship;

for even though I have not perceived this by sight, nevertheless I have become well-informed from those who know.

But if now this truly one-eyed wretch holds control over these things — blind alike in outward and inward eyes — do not grieve, O blessed one, nor indeed be astonished;

the apostles were in the upper room, while the God-killers occupied the renowned temple.

Such also are the doings of the iconoclasts and those who think like Jews now;

whom may the Lord convert, and may He keep you safe as you pray for me, your child.

{To Theophylact of Nicomedia} For a long time I have desired to write to your beatitude, and it was not possible for me, the humble one, for lack of a letter-carrier,

but now, by God's good pleasure, having found the means, I fulfill my longing, which I have rightly conceived toward your beatitude — not only because of your confession in the Lord, but also, in particular, because of your extraordinary character beyond that of most: your gentleness, your simplicity, your graciousness, your sweetness in conversation, your affability in meetings, your beneficence in all things;