Epistle to Nikephoros Theotoki

To the Most Reverend Teacher, Hieromonk Nicephorus of Cyrus - rejoice in the Lord! Out of love, the foundation of which is God Himself (see 1 John 4:16), out of true and unfeigned love, you thought of us, O my sacred and honest head, much more than was fitting. You considered that we have many such men who, along with literacy, could teach the Lord’s commandments and virtues to children both in deed and in word, being an example and example for them thanks to their honest, chaste and sober life; which you ask, and even more are asked of us for this work by the lovers of Christ from the mother of cities 1 of this land. Calling our conscience as a witness to your love for God, we inform you that to this day we do not have such men fit for this work as the word addressed to us and you ask for. For although we have come together in the name of Christ to a doctor’s clinic, that is, to a hostel, to the true physician of souls and bodies, Christ God, with the hope of healing, we are still sick and weak, we have not yet been healed of our illness, our spiritual wounds still stink and rot because of our negligence, we have not yet achieved the desired health to be able to heal others. We are salt taken from water, and if we are thrown into water again, we will overflow with passions. The brick of our inner man has not yet been burned by the fire of the Spirit, so that we can withstand the pressure of the water of passions and not crumble. We have not yet received “a wing like a dove” (Ps. 54:7), the Spirit, so that we could, having plunged ourselves into the abyss of sinful irritations, which are before our eyes, fly to the heavenly haven without getting bogged down in passions. We are terrified and trembling, not daring to enter the Babylonian furnace of passions and lusts, which the mental Babylonian tormentor could kindle for us among the people, because of the weakness of our feelings, since we have not yet been granted the dew of dispassion - let us not be burned, like those who stood around the Chaldean furnace (see Dan. 3, 19-50). We know - oh blessed one! - although in part what the world is, from the teaching of our blessed fathers: it is (I borrow your words) the lust of the flesh, the vanity of acquisition and the will of the devil. We also know from the teachings of the same fathers that it is useful for monks who are weak in soul to escape from the world and from worldly people, from seeing them, and hearing them, and talking with them, and even more so from being with them. We are not worthy to think about the height of perfection of the shrine of those who are in the world, but with a mind outside the world, for we regard such as equal to the angels. We, being outside the world, are in the world, damned, - we confess this before God and people. You know, God-wise one, how great the evil of the devil is, and you know that his mental warfare extends to all people, especially to Orthodox Christians. How much more does it extend to monks, who, by the supernatural virtue of virginity and purity, force themselves in the flesh to imitate the incorporeal. And if such fierce, constant and unceasing abuse is raised against those who are outside the world, in the desert, the sufferers of Christ, then how much more so against the monks who are in the world. How great is such spiritual strength and perfect dispassion required, as well as extreme love for God and faith and the grace of the Holy Spirit, so that they, like the three youths, in the midst of the flames of such fierce enemy warfare and temptations, can keep their virginity and purity of soul and body, like the church of God (see 1 Cor. 3:16), unburnt. We, being fearful and weak at heart, from such superior strength of our mental warfare of our enemy, according to the word of the teaching of our holy fathers, we leave and return to the house of our inner man (and, sitting in it, we cry about our weakness), fearing and trembling, lest, due to the weakness and weakness of our soul, we should succumb to our enemies, crawling into carnal lusts and passions, and not frighten the hearts of our brothers who want to be saved by becoming a temptation and stumbling block for them through our harmful example. We know that teaching children is a divine work and a work of love, but it exceeds our strength, therefore we believe that the Lord, the Knower of the Heart (see Acts 1:24; 15:8), will not require such an act of love from us, weak ones, knowing our weakness. Who knows all this as thoroughly as your divine wisdom? After all, to our detriment, you wrote the letter as if on behalf of the school caretakers. Therefore, we pray to your love for God to have mercy on our weakness and leave us to cry over our sins; we also pray that you will notify the caretakers, according to the wisdom given to you by God, of our inability to do such a thing. For such good deeds of yours, which will be shown to our souls, you will have reward in the Kingdom of Heaven - the benefits prepared for those who love God from the righteous Giver of Retribution, Christ our God, to whom we, the last, constantly pray for your health and salvation. This refers to Iasi, the capital of the Moldavian principality at that time.