ПИСЬМО КАФОЛИКОСА

Flavius ​​Imerius wishes the tax collector in Mareota to rejoice. Since Presbyter Iskhir asked the piety of our Lords Augustus and Caesars to build a church on the site of the world in Secontarur, their divinity commanded that this be fulfilled as soon as possible. So, having read the list from the divine message, which is attached with due respect, and the notes compiled in my sacrament, and immediately making extracts from them, take care to enter this where it should be, so that what is divinely prescribed can be brought to an end. 86) So they invented and formed conspiracies. And I, having arrived, showed the king the untruths of Eusebius’s adherents, because he himself commanded the Council to be held, and his committee opened it. The king, having listened and was greatly moved, wrote the following: The conqueror Constantine, the Great Augustus, to the bishops who met in Tire. I don’t know what the definitions of your Council were, made in the midst of rebellion and storm. But it seems that the truth is disfigured by some outrageous disorder, because due to mutual discord with your neighbors, which by your will remains insurmountable among you, you did not pay attention to what is pleasing to God. Let it be the work of God's Providence, having discovered, to dispel the bad consequences of this discord, and to clearly show us whether, having come together, you have taken any care for the truth, and whether your definitions have been accurately made without any servility and enmity. Therefore, I want you all to hastily gather to my piety and explain the legality of what you have done. And for what reason I considered it fair to write to you about this, and with this letter I invite you to come to me, you will learn from what follows. When I entered the prosperous native city of Konstantinov, which bears my name, I happened to be riding on horseback: then suddenly Bishop Athanasius, in the middle of the street, with some others who were with him, so unexpectedly appeared before me that he was the cause of my amazement. The witness of this is the all-seeing God, that at first glance I could not have recognized him, who he is, if some of my people, when asked to tell me the matter properly, had not informed me who he was, and what kind of offense he was suffering. I didn't say anything to him at this time and didn't engage in conversation. When he began to ask to listen to him, and I refused and almost ordered him to be removed from me, then with great boldness he demanded nothing else from me, but only your arrival, so that in your presence he could bring a complaint about everything that he had endured. Since this seemed to me fair and appropriate for the time, I willingly ordered this to be written to you, so that all of you, who composed the Council that was held in Tire, would hasten without delay to the camp of our condescension, to actually prove the purity and unobstinacy of your judgment before me, a sincere servant of God, which you will not deny. For for the sake of my service to God, peace is established everywhere, and the name of God is sincerely blessed by the very barbarians, who until now did not know the truth, and it is clear that he who does not know the truth does not know God. However, as I said, the barbarians, through me, a sincere servant of God, now came to know God and learned to revere Him, actually feeling that He protects me in everything and provides for me, which is why they know God especially, and out of fear of me they revere Him. And we, who apparently boast in the holy mysteries of His favor (I will not say: we keep them), we, I say, are doing nothing else but tending to dissent and hatred and, simply put, serving to the destruction of the human race. But, as has been said, hurry to me, try to come quickly, in the confidence that with all my might I strive for success in ensuring that this is primarily observed immutably according to the law of God, and neither reproach nor any bad glory can touch this, when the enemies of the law are scattered, completely crushed and completely destroyed, who, hiding behind the holy name, give place to many kinds and different blasphemy. 87) The supporters of Eusebius, having learned about this and realizing what they had done, prevented the other bishops from going, and only themselves arrived: Eusebius, Theognius, Patrophilus, another Eusebius, Ursatius and Valens - and they no longer spoke about the cup and about Arsenius, because they did not have the courage, but, having invented another accusation concerning the king, they told the king himself that Athanasius threatened to stop the export of grain from Alexandria to his native city, and the bishops who were there - Adamantius, Anuvius, Agathammon, Arvefion and Peter - heard this, and the anger of the kings also proved the same. For the king, who wrote in this way and condemned their untruth, as soon as he heard such slander, immediately became inflamed, and instead of listening to me, he sent me to Gaul. But this further proves their cunning. For Konstantin the Younger, of blessed memory, returning me to my fatherland and remembering what was written by his father, he himself wrote the following: Constantine Caesar to the children of the Universal Church of the city of Alexandria. It is not hidden, I think, from the knowledge of your sacred mind that the interpreter of the venerable law, Athanasius, was sent to Gaul for a time, so that - when the cruelty of his bloodthirsty and hostile enemies threatened his sacred head with danger, due to the depravity of people worthless - he would not suffer incurable evil. In derision of this cruelty, he was snatched from the jaws of the enemies who surrounded him, and he was ordered to live with me, so that in this city in which he lived, he had everything he needed in abundance, although his supreme virtue, confident in God’s help, did not count the burdens and a harsher fate as anything. Likewise, our Lord Constantine Augustus, my father, to please especially your loving piety, himself already intended to return this bishop to his place, however, caught by human fate, he retired before fulfilling his desire, and therefore I considered it fair to fulfill the intention of the king of blessed memory by succession. When Athanasius appears before your eyes, then you will know in what respect he was held. And it is not surprising if I did something in his favor, because my soul was moved and inclined to this by the idea of ​​your love for him, and the appearance of such a husband. May God's Providence preserve you, beloved brethren! Given in Trivera, on the 15th day of the Kalends of July. 88) This is the reason why I was exiled to Gaul. Who wouldn’t see in this both the king’s intention and the murder-hungry soul in Eusebius’ followers? The king did this so that they would not plan even more, because he simply listened to the matter. Such are the actions of Eusebius’ followers and such are the machinations of the conspiracy drawn up against me! Who will not say, seeing this, that nothing was done for me out of mercy, but justly and according to what was proper, so many bishops wrote for me in this way, each individually, and all together, and condemned the slander of the enemies? Who will not say, having delved into all this, that Valens and Ursatius justly accused themselves and, repenting, thus wrote against themselves, deciding it was better to suffer shame for a while than to endure forever the punishment prescribed for slanderers? 89) Therefore, our blessed concelebrants acted justly and in a churchly manner in that, when others recognized this matter as doubtful and forced me to destroy the definition made in my favor, they agreed to endure everything and decided rather to be imprisoned, just so as not to see the definitions of so many bishops violated. So, if those who plotted against me and wanted to overthrow what was served in my favor were opposed without reasoning by the true bishops, or if they were insignificant people, and not the primates of famous cities and the heads of so many Churches, then one could suspect that even now they are again stubborn, acting out of servility. When they were based on evidence, and suffered imprisonment, and among them is Liberius, Bishop of Rome, who, although he did not fully endure the sorrow of imprisonment, nevertheless remained in exile for two years, knowing about the conspiracy against me, when the same number included the great Hosea, and all the bishops of Italy, Gaul, Spain, Egypt, Libya, Pentapolis (for, although Hosea, having briefly feared the threats of Constantius, apparently, did not contradict them, however, the violence and autocracy of Konstantsiev, very many insults and beatings show that not because I was found guilty, but because of human weakness, unable to bear the beatings, he gave in to them for a while), in this case it is fair for everyone, as those who have been convinced of the matter, to hate the injustice and the violence done to me and to be disgusted by them, especially when it is proven that I suffered this for no other reason than wickedness Arian 90) Therefore, if anyone wants to know my deeds and the slander of Eusebius’ followers, then let him read what was written in my favor, and have not one, not two, or three witnesses, but a great number of bishops, and from them let him again choose as witnesses Liberius, Hosea and those with them, who, seeing what was being done against me, agreed - it was better to endure everything than to change the truth and the determination made in my favor, and acted in this, guided by beautiful and holy reasoning. For what they endured proves the need that other bishops also endured, and at the same time serves as a monument and shameful inscription of the Arian heresy and the deceit of slanderers, as well as an outline and charter for future generations: how to strive for the truth to death, turn away from the Arian heresy against Christ - this Antichrist forerunner, and not trust those who are attempting to speak against us, because that the verdict of such and such bishops, which justifies us, serves as reliable and sufficient evidence. You might be interested in: