Letters 1 part 6/55

And we have written also to the archpriest himself, since it has also become known to our pious emperors, that we differ from him in nothing except only on account of Joseph, and that as soon as he withdraws from the performance of the sacred rites, we will at once commune with him.

And this man is beloved by us, not only because he has become the head of our church, but also because he has long been venerable to us of old;

and we do not cease to extol all the good things of his manner of life.

But if it should come to pass that he himself also accepts this zeal (for I forbear to mention holy bishops, abbots, monks, and a multitude of laity), what would your Friendship then say? Therefore know that this is not a schism of the church, but a vindication of the truth and a defense of the divine laws;

but otherwise, as your Honor has already said, it would be a rupture of the truth and a dissolution of the canons.

And that saying might well be applied here: 'The priests set at naught my law, and profaned my holy things;'

they made no distinction between the profane and the holy, but all things were common to them.

For as to 'having neither spot nor wrinkle' — let us say it again — let it be understood thus: not admitting impious doctrines and uncanonical undertakings, nor indeed complicity of mind with those who commit forbidden acts, as the divine Basil says somewhere;

in relation to which the great Paul does not even permit eating together with such persons.

since from the time of the apostles and afterward, in many ways many heresies have burst in upon her, and lawless and uncanonical defilements have surged up, just as also now;

but nonetheless she has, in the aforesaid manner, remained undivided and unblemished, and will remain so unto the age, while all those who have thought or acted wickedly are cut off and cast out from her, just as the waves that dash against an unshaken rock by the sea are thrown back.

Let us therefore come to ourselves, O brother, and look toward the light of truth, and may we — especially we who are monks, especially we who seem to be something — show ourselves masters of the sacred canons as well as of the dogmas.

For if the light in us is darkness, how great is that darkness? And if the salt loses its savor, with what shall the laity be salted? We think of you, and we pray that you may be a savior for those there, and a luminary and a lamp of piety and exactness — not by becoming all things to all in a compromising way, but by the height of virtue, by a life ordered according to the canons, and by conduct befitting the sacred office.

And bear the reminder of your brother, which is loving, truth-loving, and judged in the sight of God.

And my desire draws me on to say more, but the excessive length of this letter, restraining us, brings us to a halt here.

We have received, then, your rich blessing;

and that you have taken thought concerning the humble estate of your monastery is a sign of your sparing and laboring on its behalf, and it has been sufficient toil for you.

But the Lord will reward you with what you need: the recovery of the virtues, and the enjoyment of His eternal blessings.

To Leo the orphanotrophos. We ourselves wished to be present and to share in the calamity that has befallen you concerning your blessed child, my most longed-for lord — not merely to lament the suffering by letter and share with you in your grief.

For how is it not pitiable, how is it not astounding, to suffer the loss of child after child, and to lose, as it were, the living treasure, the wealth of parental succession, the much-longed-for fruit of the maternal breast, the most beautiful eye of the household, the joy of the grandmother, the glory of the whole family? The first fruit came, and was snatched away untimely from its parents' hands.

The second was born, and bitter death destroyed him too.

— on whom the souls of their parents hung —

And alas for this calamity (for grief cuts off even speech), he too vanished from your sight, and — what is more pitiable — not even in the presence of his father.

And what need is there to dramatize the calamity further? Your heart has been cut — the father's, the mother's, the lady of patrician rank's — and a sword has passed through the midst of both.

And this anguish will be healed neither by word nor by consolation, neither from man nor from angel, but from God alone, who has thus ordained the boundaries of our life.

For it is He, my lord, who has taken to Himself your thrice-longed-for child, just as He also took the ones before.

Grievous indeed and exceedingly so is your situation, but not so at all for those who were taken up, since — pure and unstained by sin through their newness of birth — having departed from this world to the blessed and passionless life, they now dance in the bosom of Abraham, gather together with holy infants, and sing together with children who bear Christ.

So the most beautiful children have not perished, but are saved and remain yours.

And you will see them again a little while later, when this temporal life comes to its end, rejoicing and exulting — not in the small stature of childhood, but in the perfect fullness of Christ, as it is written.

Therefore we exhort and entreat you to soothe yourselves with these true reflections, and thereby to remove the immoderate grief of the soul.

For the Lord has given us measures, so that we might both display natural affection and not overstep the bounds of moderation.

For the one moves the Divine to mercy, but the other causes one to set oneself against the ordinances of providence.

And the one gladdens those who have departed, while the other is wont to grieve those who have obtained rest.

For everyone wishes those who profess to love him to rejoice at his own joy, not to grieve.

But we believe that the lady chartoularaia (wife of the chartoularios) will again conceive and bear a son, no longer short-lived but long-lived, for the succession of the family — only if we moderate our suffering and render, in deed and word, thankful offerings to our Master Christ on behalf of the child.

To Patriarch Nikephoros. It is not necessary to signify by letter to your Beatitude's messenger what was already announced by word of mouth, even though not by both of us lowly men together —

but lest yesterday's assembly of bishops, convened at your command, having taught something other than what was said by us there, should muddy your sacred ears, we thought it fitting to report, in summary, the whole substance of our defense.

We, then, O most blessed one, are orthodox in all things, rejecting every heresy and accepting every approved council, both ecumenical and local; moreover, we also hold fast securely to the sacred and canonical formulations which they pronounced.

For one who supposes he holds the right faith, yet does not direct himself according to the divine canons, cannot perfectly rightly divide the word of truth.

And indeed we also accept the lawful economies made by the saints from time to time, since even our own present embracing of your Holiness, on account of the expulsion of the oikonomos, is not an act of strict exactness, but of great economy and reconciliation.

And by this same reasoning we also received the most holy patriarch who preceded your Holiness, in this present matter, when we returned from exile — the adulterous union having been dissolved and the oikonomos barred from sacred ministry — so that we might have no share in the guilt of indifferently receiving the adulterer to communion under your Holiness, either in the present age or in the age to come.

And we have again received your Holiness into the dignity of the high priesthood, as we also commemorate you daily in the sacred liturgy.

And in nothing is there any doubt, except concerning the oikonomos — who, though deposed in many ways by the sacred canons, and especially after the nine-year excommunication, again performs sacred ministry, and not in some obscure corner (for that would have been tolerable, since we would not be implicated in the matter), but that, so to speak, he continually enters and concelebrates at the very fountainhead of our priesthood, alongside your sincere conduct.

It is therefore right, holy, and free from scandal for the people of God, and especially for our order, that he who entered unworthily should be cast out from sacred ministry, while we continue to commemorate your Holiness and commune with every hierarch and priest not manifestly condemned, according to the Theologian.

But if this should not happen at all, because of our sins — not that I say this out of fear that something untoward might happen, but out of pity for the common good — then in our humility there would remain, on the part of your Holiness, something uncanonical and unlawful.

For our part, we will endure by the power of God whatever may happen by His permission; but we bear witness to your Holiness, before Christ, in the hearing of the holy angels, that you are working a great schism in our Church.

And even if we, being but men, exercise authority, yet we are ruled — mentally, even against our will — by the authority of the sacred and divine canons, and we shall submit.

But we beseech your Holiness: incline your ear and hearken to our voice — as a skilled physician, as a good shepherd — to bar the one sheep from sacred ministry and thereby gain the whole flock free of scandal, and not to allow our Church, which the Lord our God acquired by His own blood, to be ruined by the scab of the one.

As for idle chatter, let those who wish babble on, and let the slanderers slander.

We are ready for every defense, for the refutation of every accusatory proposition.

We are your friends and your eulogists, and indeed friends and eulogists of our most pious and ever-victorious sovereigns as well.

And since we are thus disposed, for what reason is there this disturbance? For whose sake will whatever is to happen, happen, if it be contrary to the commandments of God? Grant us your sacred prayer.

To the brothers in Sakkoudion. As long as it was time for economy and for concealing the matter of the non-communion with Joseph the oikonomos, we did so, children and brothers — not held back by fear, even though we are sinners, but out of economic condescension, imitating in some measure our holy fathers, just as they too, employing this at the fitting time, thereby drew the temptation away from themselves: on the one hand sparing the weaker and those being harmed, and on the other yielding a little in a pilot's manner, so that they might obtain, a little later, the desired achievement.

But now, since our good God has been pleased to let the matter come out into the open, we now write openly as well.

How so? Through the questioning of the logothete of the dromos, and the archbishop's reply to him.

For he said: 'Why have you not, up to now, communed with us and with the patriarch, though so many feasts have gone by?' And: 'Tell openly the reason.'

And the archbishop confessed and did not deny it; he confessed: 'I have nothing against our pious emperors, nor again against the patriarch, but against the oikonomos who performed the crowning of the adulterer, and who for this reason has been deposed by the sacred canons.'

To this the logothete's reply was: 'Our pious emperors have no need of you, neither in Thessalonica nor elsewhere.'

Up to this point, thirteen days having now passed, neither has an immediate reply been given, nor has any further question been proposed — except only that we have sent letters to lord Symeon, which we enclosed within other letters, so that you might learn the full weight of the matter.

— concerning almost the whole city; and indeed there are many who are troubled together with us and speak in agreement with us, but they are worshippers of God only by night, unable to declare themselves openly in the light.

But we, children and brothers, by our confidence in God, and by the firmness of the truth — namely, by that very outcome of justice already come to pass and declared, according to what was demonstrated to the world concerning both the adulterer and his accomplices — remain unwavering with regard to the commandment and the paternal canons;

and we will not yield, nor will we betray piety, nor indeed will we tear down what we have well built up through our steadfastness during the exile, lest we be shown to be transgressors of the law.

But held fast by the divine law, we hold fast, as we have held fast before — embracing all things, enduring all things, even should God permit whatever may come — rather than share in communion with that man and those who concelebrate with him, until the deposed one ceases from sacred ministry.

Men, then, will babble much, and will mock and laugh at us — and, what is more pitiable, not a few of those of the same habit and rank, who seem to be friends.

It is written: 'and a man's enemies shall be those of his own household.'

And it will be recalled that they themselves acted as procurers, cooperated, ate together and drank together at the adulterous marriage, and dipped their pen to write against our exile.

But the Lord, who was then roused up to vindicate His law, and who shattered the kingdom of the adulterer through his blindness, put to shame his accomplices as He did the priests of Baal, and gathered our lowliness back to its own monastery beyond all hope — He Himself is present even now; He Himself.

Even though for a little while He allowed the unlawful union to occur again, yet again He was pleased that the malicious joy of the marriage-joiners and adultery-loving 'Nazirites' should be disapproved, through the just judgment of our pious emperors, who — after the adulterer's death — restored him to his lawful wife, declared the lustful woman an adulteress, and left the child born of that adultery without inheritance, as begotten of an unlawful and most iniquitous union — as I myself heard with my own ears from their honored mouth, in accordance with the Roman laws.

But nevertheless, those who broke the law feel no shame, nor does the one who blasphemed against the Holy Spirit in the sacred prayer at the crowning union hide himself; but, having leapt in like a cat into the Church of God, he leaps about again, and again begins to defile holy things through his ministry, and contends to make iniquity be recognized as righteousness, and, so to speak, to prove himself more devout than the Forerunner and Baptist.

For while John rebuked the adultery of Herod and died for the sake of truth, this man crowned and embraced, even unto death, a second Herod who had shown himself in adultery — proclaiming, not in words but by his very deeds, that John the Forerunner had erred, having lawlessly and untimely rebuked him and died.

And why indeed do I mention John, the greatest of all the saints? Against Christ Himself — though it is bold to say it — he spoke in contradiction and fought back, through his accursed mouth.

For while Christ called an adulterer the one who puts away his lawful wife (and adultery is a grievous sin, equal in weight to murder, to the corruption of males, to bestiality, to sorcery, and to idolatry, as the canon of the holy Basil states) — this man, having set such a one before the altar in the midst of all the people, dared to burst forth with those accursed words against the Holy Spirit, speaking thus (and consider how fearful and monstrous it is):

'Thou Thyself, O Master, send forth Thy hand from Thy holy dwelling place, and join Thy handmaid unto Thy servant;'

'yoke them together in oneness of mind, unite them into one flesh, whom Thou hast been pleased to join to one another;'

'show forth their marriage as honorable, keep their bed undefiled, and be pleased that their life together should remain unstained, in a pure heart.'

How could the holy angels not also be provoked to anger? Or how did the earth not immediately, opening its mouth as for Dathan and Abiram, swallow up the one who taught falsehood and displayed darkness as light, and who attempted to make Christ fall into contradiction with Himself? For assuredly, whatever the priest signifies, that God too promises to ratify, according to the great Dionysius.

But nevertheless, having committed such wickedness and having given his subordinates an example of vice to imitate (which indeed came about, and moreover even among distant rulers and princes — as was likewise carried out in Lombardy and Gothia and their regions —

for not even among the heathen has such a thing been dared) — and the wretched man feels no shame, but, as has been said, the unholy one performs sacred ministry, and hastens to exile those who rightly turn away from him.

But the Lord is the helper of those who stand firm for His commandment, who will exhort the hearts of our pious emperors to bring about the vindication of His Church, just as in the case of the adulterer, so that He may also be pleased to have this man cast out from sacred ministry, to the benefit of the most holy patriarch and of the whole catholic Church.

Therefore take courage, children and brothers, and do not fear, nor lose heart.

This is a time for confession, a time for steadfastness, a time perhaps for contest and other sufferings as well — but also for crowns and heavenly glory;

for it is said: 'But those who glorify Me I will glorify, and he who despises Me shall be dishonored;'

and: 'Blessed are those who do not turn aside from His commandments.'

Therefore rejoice and be glad, for great is your reward in the heavens for those who endure.

Hold fast to your works; pray earnestly for our emperors, for the high priest, for the expulsion of Joseph from the altar, and for the peace of the Church — walking in a blameless way, greatly desiring His commandments, in every good order and canonical way of life — until you hear something further, or until we ourselves shall make it known.

May Christ be with you, the Theotokos shelter you, the Forerunner and the Theologian guard you, and all the saints be with you, through the prayer of my father and yours.

I greet you all by name.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all, beloved children.

{To Nicholas the chartularios.} We had supposed that your great piety, our most beloved master, was somewhat ill-disposed toward our humility on account of some intervening matter;

but you have truly shown, at the present time, that your honored soul is pure of all ill will, and indeed filled with all godly reverence, in that you were swift and fervent to be moved, immediately from our first entreaty, toward union with our most holy patriarch, for the sake of the peace of the church of God.

This is the mark of sincere friendship, this the characteristic of a God-fearing man, this the proof of manifest zeal for truth.

And so may the Lord repay you, even should nothing come of it, with the whole reward of righteousness;

for it is not from the outcome of affairs but from the intention concerning them, whether praiseworthy or not, that the Divine is accustomed to apportion rewards to those who act.

You have therefore gained, in a single turn of time, not gold and silver, but unfailing treasures of heavenly recompense.

We further beseech and entreat you to make haste in this matter, that you yourself may gain a rich treasure, and we, the lowly, may attain to communion with the high priest — or rather, that the church of God, rewarded through your mediation, may weave for you many crowns of praise.

And there is no need to say more.

But since you bade us to signify what our humble account amounts to, we now make known truthfully to your greatest excellency, as in the presence of the Lord, the knower of hidden things, that there is nothing in us that casts doubt upon communion with the high priest, except on account of the oikonomos, in that he has been deposed by the divine canons.

Formerly, by the good pleasure of God, of the most holy patriarch, and of our pious sovereigns, since he was manifestly oikonomos and held that honor, we immediately concelebrated with him, communed together, and were ordained, seeking no reckoning concerning his concelebration during these three years, for the sake of economy — not out of fear, but for the common good and for salvation.

Let the lying, accusing tongues be silent, which are stirred up against the peace of God, saying that, once the oikonomos is barred from the priestly ministry, we will seize the occasion to bring an accusation against our high priest, as one who has already concelebrated with a deposed man, and then also against the preceding most holy patriarch.

Deceitful lips are they that speak such things — the drama of slanderous and envious men, who do not wish the debt that has fallen upon the church to come to healing.

We both received and still receive the preceding patriarch, wherefore also we communed with him until his death; and we both received and still receive the present most holy high priest;

for on this account also we offer his commemoration daily.

once the oikonomos who crowned the adulterer is barred from the priestly ministry, then, as we have already declared, we will concelebrate with him [the high priest], if he so commands, in the catholic church, each according to his own rank.

And if this should come to pass, there will be joy in heaven, peace in our church of God;

the schism will withdraw, concord will shine forth clearly, our high priest will be crowned with praises, and to such a degree that his eulogy will be handed down for generations; our most mighty emperors, together with their most precious diadems, will be crowned all the more with angelic acclaim; the priests will be clothed with righteousness; and still more the holy ones — I mean the monastic order — will exult with exceeding joy.

As for our master, what a prize, and how great a one, you will receive — what need is there to say? And what good thing will not come to pass? What delight will not be brought in? Let us say this too, that the oikonomos himself will be praised and glorified, and on this account will inherit great mercy both in this present age and in the age to come;

and we sinners will be prostrating ourselves, doing reverence, and giving abundant thanks, contributing in deed and word what is due to him as high priest above every man, according to what is owed.

And for confirmation of what has been said, we set down this statement in writing at length: that if, after the cessation of his priestly ministry, as before, we do not immediately go in and commune, as has been written above, let the verdict be against us, whatever you wish, and let it no longer be permitted for us to speak concerning this matter.

And behold, it is not a man, not an angel, but the Lord himself who, through us, is drawing, urging, and entreating you.

{To Leo, Pope of Rome. To the most holy and most preeminent father of fathers, Leo, my master the apostolic pope, Theodore, least presbyter and hegoumenos of the Studites.} Since Christ our God gave to Peter the great, along with the keys of the kingdom of heaven, the dignity of the office of chief shepherd as well, whatever is newly introduced in the catholic church by those who have strayed from the truth must necessarily be referred to Peter, that is, to his successor.

Having been taught this, then, we too — the humble and least — from our holy fathers of old, since some innovation has now arisen also in our church, formerly reported through the most devout archimandrite, that is, our brother and fellow-servant Epiphanius, and now through our humble letter, have considered it our duty to bring this to the notice of the messenger of your supreme beatitude.

There has come to pass, then, O most divine head of all heads, according to the prophet Jeremiah, a synod truly of transgressors, and a council of adulterers.

For what was said there concerning idolatrous fornication has here been shown through the ratification of the adulterous union.

For both have rejected the same Lord, the one through transgression of the Law, the other through transgression of the Gospel.

By an earlier assembly, through their acceptance of and concelebration with the one who effected the adulterous union, they became, according to the divine Basil, a factious gathering; but so that they might procure for themselves the name of a full-fledged heresy, they have, through another public synod, subjected to anathema those who did not assent to their unlawful false doctrine — or rather the whole catholic church — some of whom, already brought before them, they have exiled far away, and others they hold in prisons, thus renewing here again, according to their custom, persecution.

And their justification is but the stronghold of an evil argument.

They therefore make it a dogma that the adulterous union is an 'economy';

they decree that the divine laws do not hold in the case of emperors;

they forbid the imitation of those who resisted unto blood for truth and justice, such as the Forerunner and Chrysostom;

they declare that each of the hierarchs has authority over the divine canons, contrary to what has been canonically established in them.

And for this reason, whenever it happens that one of the ordained is caught, secretly or openly, under canons requiring deposition, he remains undeposed by the authority of whoever so wills.

And witness to this statement is the man who effected the adulterous union, held culpable under various canons along with others, and who yet publicly concelebrates with them.

Those who commit lawless acts as though they were economies, both others and themselves, they call holy in this matter, and those who do not accept such things they anathematize as estranged from God;

and witness to this statement here too is the persecution of those very ones.

What then is there to say concerning these things, O blessed one, but that apostolic word, that now many antichrists have arisen — if indeed we men are not all governed by the divine laws and canons? These things having now been truthfully reported by our lowliness, we offer to your Christ-imitating beatitude that cry which the chief apostle, together with the rest of the apostles, brought to Christ when the surge of the sea was rising:

'Save us, chief shepherd of the church under heaven; we are perishing.'

Imitate your teacher Christ, and stretch out your hand to our church, as he did to Peter — he to one beginning to sink in the sea, but you, in turn, to one already sunk in the depth of heresy.

Emulate, we beg you, the pope of your own name; and just as he, when the Eutychian heresy arose in that time, was stirred up in spirit like a lion, as all know, through his dogmatic letters, so also you yourself — I dare to say — true to your name, roar divinely, or rather thunder forth what is fitting against the present false teaching.

For if these men, acting on their own authority, did not fear to bring a heretical synod to completion — although exercising authority, even in an orthodox matter, not without your knowledge, as the custom prevailing from of old required — how much more reasonable and necessary would it be, we remind you with reverent fear, that a lawful synod be convened by your divine primacy, so that the orthodox dogma of the church might repel the heretical one, and that neither might your supremacy, together with all the orthodox, be anathematized by these new empty talkers, nor might those so inclined, finding in the 'adultery-synod' a base of operations for lawlessness, easily slide into sin.

Having announced these things, as befits our nothingness, as the least members of the church, and submitting to your divine pastoral care, we ask, for the rest, that your holy soul reckon us as its own sheep, and illumine and strengthen us from afar with its sacred prayers;

and if also with teachings, that would be a matter of your divine condescension.

since Christ also wrote a letter to Abgar, and many of those in subordinate rank were deemed worthy to receive letters from apostles and saints.