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since we dare even more and touch on a theology that surpasses mind and word - not in order to find reasons to blaspheme godless heretics, but in order to expose their wickedness and, to the best of our ability, praise the Creator: then perhaps we will not act unreasonably in answering your questions. The glorious Moses the day before with courage rebelled against the Egyptian, but when the next morning he learned that his murder had been discovered, he ran away and after a many-day journey arrived in the land of Midian (Ex. II, 15). Likewise, the great Elijah, having heard about Jezebel’s threats, did not reveal himself to those who wanted to kill him, but, leaving populated areas, fled into the desert (1 Kings XIX, 1–4). Therefore, if it is fair and pleasing to God to avoid the hands of those who persecute, then it is much more, of course, permissible to disobey the one who commands one to commit suicide. After all, the Lord did not follow the devil, who said: look down (Matt. IV, 6); but when he armed the hands of the Jews against Him with whips, thorns and nails, and when the creature was ready to cause death to those wicked people, He, as the Lord, prevented this, knowing that His suffering was saving for the world (Matt. XXVI, 51-54; Luke XXII, 49-51; John. XVIII, 10-11). That is why, just before suffering, He said to the Apostles: pray, so that you will not enter into misfortune (Matt. XXVI, 41. Mark. XIV, 38. Luke XXII, 40. 46), and taught us to say: and do not lead us into temptation (Matt. VI, 13. Luke XI, 4). God, the lover of mankind, has granted us the gift of celebrating a divine and saving holiday with the general zeal of the Christ-loving people and from here drawing the fruits of spiritual benefit. Therefore, knowing the disposition of your reverence for us, I inform you about this in writing, since people who are well disposed towards someone rejoice when they hear something pleasant about him. I would have written long ago if I had previously known about the death of the most magnificent 37 husband of your honor (σεμνοπρεπείας). And now I am not writing in order to soften the excess of sadness with words of consolation, for for people who are accustomed to wisdom and have known the nature of this life, one reflection is enough to dispel the worries of sadness. Let us suppose that it (reflection) recalls a long cohabitation, but it also knows the divine laws and contrasts with tears about this the flow of nature, and the determination of God, and the hope of resurrection. Knowing this, I will not be verbose, but I exhort you to use wisdom in good time, consider the death of the deceased as a long journey and wait for the promise of God and our Savior: for he who promised the resurrection is not false, but the source of truth. I consider it unnecessary to again offer spiritual healing against sorrow, since one recollection of saving suffering is enough to overcome even the greatest sorrow, since it was for the sake of human nature. The Lord abolished death not in order to show those who were not subject to death only His body, but in order through it to prepare for the general resurrection and to give firm hope for this. If even then, when the divine holidays provide every consolation, you do not overcome the suffering of your sadness, then I ask your respect to read what is written in the wedding record 38 with the dowry τὴν ἐπίδωσιν) and clearly understand from here that the thought of death precedes marriage. Knowing the mortality of nature and caring for the peace of the living, so-called conditions are set here and are not at all burdened by the fact that they are reminded of death before the marriage union; on the contrary, they definitely proclaim: if the husband dies first, then it must be this way, and if death befalls the wife first, then this way. Why should we be sad now, when we knew this even before marriage and when we were expecting it, so to speak, from day to day? After all, it is inevitable that any union will be destroyed due to the earlier death of either husband or wife: such is the course of nature. Therefore, having clearly known both the divine and the human, may your wonder (ἡ θαυμασιότης) disperse sorrow, awaiting the common hope of the pious. Your piety is indignant and angry at the sentence pronounced against us unjustly and without trial; and this is exactly what consoles me. For if I had been judged fairly, then I would have grieved, as having given the judges legitimate reasons for this. since on this side my conscience is clear, I rejoice and rejoice, and for this injustice I hope for remission of sins. After all, Naboth became famous not for any other virtue, but only for the fact that he suffered an unjust murder (1 Kings XXI, 1 ff.). I ask you to pray to God so that He does not leave me, and let the enemy continue to be at enmity. For my spiritual joy, God’s mercy towards me is quite sufficient; and if He remains with me, then I despise all sorrows as a completely insignificant thing. Letter 10. Lawyer ) σχολαστικῷ ) Elijah Letter 11. To Bishop Flavian of Constantinople The Creator and Ruler of all things revealed you as a brilliant lamp of the universe and turned the darkest night into a clear noon. Just as a signal light shows the entrance to harbors to those sailing at night, so the ray of your holiness was a great consolation for those struggling for piety, indicated the harbor of the apostolic faith, filled those who knew with joy, and delivered those who did not know from underwater rocks. I especially glorify the Giver of blessings, having found a courageous fighter who overcomes the fear of people with the fear of God, who willingly exposes himself to danger for the gospel dogmas and willingly accepts the apostolic deeds. Therefore, now every tongue is prompted to praise your holiness: - not only the pupils of piety are amazed at the purity of your faith, but even the enemies of truth resolutely praise your courage, for lies (inevitably) yield before the radiance of truth. I am writing this now, having recognized the venerable and most reverent reader Hypatius, who diligently carries out the commands of your holiness and constantly remembers your, lord, praiseworthy deeds. The invasion of frequent and all kinds of disasters did not shake that greatest and adamantine tower (I mean Job, the courageous champion of virtue), but, on the contrary, showed it motionless and invincible. At the end of the struggle, the just Lawgiver discovered the reason for the trials, saying this (Job XL, 3): Did you think that I created you differently, and would you appear truthful? I think that these words are also known to your love of God (ϕυλοθεΐαν), since you were able to endure many different difficult circumstances and not only did not avoid them, but also tried to acquire firm and unshakable self-control. The generous Lord, knowing the courage of your soul, did not want to hide the worthy fighter, but drew him into competitions in order to decorate your venerable head with a victorious crown and present your competitions as a model for the benefit of others. So, dear man, overcome, as always, this competition and with courage endure the death of your son-in-law (γάμβρου), and my most sincere friend. I had heard about the island of Lesbos and about the cities there, Mytilene and Methymne, as well as others, but I had no idea about the fruits of the grapes growing there. Now, thanks to your hard work, I have learned this too, and I am amazed at the purity of appearance and subtlety of taste) 41 . As for pleasantness, perhaps time will provide it, unless it produces acid in it, for it (time) is destructive to wines as much as it is to bodies, plants, buildings and other works of human hands. However, for me it is completely unimportant that it (wine), as you say, makes those who drink it long-lived. I do not strive for longevity, since there are many difficult storms in this life. I rejoiced more when I learned about the monk’s health, since I was really very concerned about this and unfairly blamed the doctors: for the disease required precisely such treatment. I sent your honor a vessel of honey, the kind that Cilician bees produce by picking storax flowers 42 . The one who made this decision is not false - and that this is so, experience is a witness to this: for everyone has one entrance into life, and the outcome is similar - according to the Divine Scripture (Wis. Sol. VII, 6), - and everyone who is born awaits the tomb. Not everyone lives for the same amount of time, but some die before they have yet matured, others have passed the age of courage, and others have experienced the hardships of old age. In the same way, those bound by marriage are separated, for it is inevitable that either the husband will leave first, or the wife will die first - and some should cry immediately after the marriage bed, others - after living together for a short time. So, the mere fact that suffering is a common destiny can serve as a sufficient reason for making a decision to overcome suffering. Moreover, the deceased was the father of children, left them already on the threshold of youth, achieved the greatest authority and, when he was in glory, did not arouse envy, but increased love for himself, and left an excellent memory of his nobility, hatred of evil, meekness and other virtues: - all this is able to console even those greatly struck by sadness. And the great David, without weapons, overthrew the fighter of foreigners (1 Sam. XVII, 38-39), and Sampson beat thousands of his enemies with the jawbone of a donkey (Judges XV, 16). And no one blames for the victory or blames the brave man for defeating his opponents without spears, shields, darts or bows. Therefore, those who strive for godliness should also carefully examine and not pursue words that excite controversy, but arguments that clearly express the truth and bring shame to all who dare to resist it. What is the importance of calling the Holy Virgin “Mother of Man” and together “Theotokos”, or calling her the matter of the Begotten and the slave, adding that she is the mother of our Lord Jesus Christ as a man, and His servant as God, and - to avoid grounds for slander - offering the same idea under a different name? Moreover, it is necessary to judge what is the common name and what is the proper name of the Virgin: after all, the whole dispute arose about this, which did not bring any benefit. Most of the ancient fathers attached such an honorable title to the Virgin (Virgin); Your piety did this in two or three speeches. I have some of them, which were sent by your love for God, where you, Vladyka, although you did not connect “Mother of Man” with (the name) “Theotokos” (name), but, however, expressed the same thought in other words 47. [And since you accuse me that in the list of teachers I omitted the holy and blessed fathers Diodorus and Theodore, I considered it necessary to speak briefly about this. For, firstly, he is a dear man to me (my dear friend), (we have omitted) and many other famous men who have become very famous. Then, you also need to consider that whoever is accused must present undoubted witnesses, whom none of the accusers can reproach. If the persecuted person calls as evidence the persons accused by the persecutors, then the judge himself will not allow them to be accepted. Now, if I, writing praise to the fathers, had omitted those saints, then, I admit, I would have acted unfairly and would not have been grateful in relation to the teachers. If, being accused, I brought undoubted witnesses in my defense, then why are those who do not want to see any of this accused without reason? And how I honor those men is evidenced by my essay, which I wrote for them and in which I destroyed the accusation raised against them, fearing neither the power of the accusers nor the intrigues that were against us]. So: let those who love chatter find another way to fool people. My goal is to say and do everything not to please one or the other, but to build up the Church of God and please its Bridegroom and Lord. And that I am not doing this for the sake of temporary benefits and a lot of caring honor, which I am used to calling pathetic, - testifies to many. conscience. I would have voluntarily stopped (doing this) a long time ago, if only I were not afraid of divine judgment. And now know, lord, that I expect violence. I think that it is close: the intrigues directed against me convince me of this. Letter 17. Deaconess Casiana Therefore, I ask you to remember those sayings that command us to dominate the passions, promise eternal life, proclaim the destruction of death and herald our general resurrection; and also - and even preferable to the above - (please remember) that the Lord, who commanded this to be so, is wise and all-good: He knows what is useful, and directs things towards that in every possible way. For death is better than life, and what seems sad turns out to be more pleasant than what is considered joyful. So, may your godliness receive the consolation of our humility (ταπεινώσεως), serving the Lord of all, courageously enduring sorrows and setting an example of wisdom to husbands and wives. Sun. they are amazed at the strength of your mind, since you courageously accept the attacks of suffering and, with great strength of spirit, defeat its heaviest onslaught. We have sufficient consolation in the living images of the deceased youth, since he left amiable fruits that can tame immoderate grief. In addition, I ask you to restrain sadness due to the weakness of the body and not to increase suffering through excessive grief. I pray to the wise Lord that He will give your piety reasons for consolation. As a wise man, He knows what is useful, and as an all-good one, He arranges this for us. Letter 19. Presbyter Vasily 48 Experience has shown us that the most eloquent speaker Athanasius really is what his letters to your piety represented him to be. After all, his language is decorated with reasoning, and (his good) morals serve to decorate his reasoning, and faith illuminates everything together. Therefore, most beloved of God, always deliver this to us and know that with such a message you have filled us with joy. Letter 20. Presbyter Martyrius 49 Nature, as the oldest, precedes the will, but the will conquers nature: clear evidence of this is the most eloquent speaker Athanasius. Boasting that Egypt is his homeland, he did not accept the arrogance of that people, but is distinguished by meekness in his way of life. For all that, he is the most ardent lover of everything divine; Therefore, he spent many days with us 50, hoping to derive some benefit from this. I, as you know, most God-loving, myself try to acquire this from others, however, not out of reluctance to give to those who ask: it is not stinginess, but lack that prevents me from doing this. So, let your reverence pray (ὁσιότης). so that the fame that has spread about us is truly justified, so that not only something praiseworthy is said about me, but this is also evidenced by deeds. Letter 21. To the lawyer (scholasticist) Eusebius. Those who spread this greatest rumor thought to completely upset us with it, considering it the worst messenger. But we, by divine goodness, accepted this rumor with joy and await the test with readiness: - all the sorrow that befalls me for the sake of divine dogmas is extremely kind to me; for we believe in the truth of the Master’s promise: we are unworthy of the passion of this present time for the glory that desires to appear in us (Rom. VIII, 18). And what am I saying about the enjoyment of future benefits? Even if there were no reward at all for those who fight for piety, then truth alone is enough to induce those who love it to accept dangers for it with all joy. The witness of what has been said is the divine Apostle, expressively exclaiming: who will separate us from the love of Christ 51? Is it tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or trouble, or sword? As it is written (Psalm XLIII, 23), that for Your sake we are put to death all day long: We are counted as the sheep of the slaughter (Rom. VIII, 35-36). And teaching that he does not expect any reward, but only loves the Savior, he immediately adds: but in all these we are victorious for our lovers of Christ 52 (Rom. VIII, 37). He added something else, in which he most clearly revealed his heart’s desire: “I was informed,” he says (Rom. VIII, 38–39), “that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor powers, nor present, nor future, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature can separate us from the love of God, even in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Look, friend, at the flame of this apostolic love, look at the fire of this ardent devotion. I don’t expect,” he says, “what belongs to Him, but I desire Him alone, and I cannot extinguish this love, but, on the contrary, I would willingly decide to lose the blessings of present and future and now endure all sorrow and endure it again in order to keep this flame unquenchable. Good people should do all good things, having good hope - courageously endure everything that God sends" 55 · And the oldest of this historian (I mean the son of Olor), among many praiseworthy sayings, wrote the following: "what is sent by the gods must be endured out of necessity, and what happens from enemies - courageously" 56 . And what can we say about philosophers, historians and orators? Even those who considered mythology superior to truth added many useful admonitions to their tales. So, for example, Homer in his poems forces the wisest of the Greeks (Odysseus) to excite himself to courage with these words: He hit himself in the chest and said to his irritated heart: Heart, humble yourself; you had the power to endure the most vile thing 57. Nowadays we assimilate all the derogatory sayings to Him as a person, and the sublime and godly ones as to God - and the revelation of this truth is very easy for us. But a discussion of faith will not fit within the framework of a letter; however, these few words are enough to show the essence of the apostolic faith. Letter 22. Comita 58 Ulpian 59. Letter 24. Bishop Andrew of Samosata 67 I know very well that your love for God (φιλοθεία), being the nursery of divine love, desires our community. And I strive for this even more, because I am sure that there will be much greater benefits for me from this community. After all, need usually evokes desire, but only the Lord of all can give what is desired: for He controls everything, knows in advance what is useful, and constantly takes care of everyone. I cannot express in words how pleased I am with the letters from your holiness. The most honest and most reverent deacon Thalassius further increased my joy by telling me what I wanted to know: for what could be more dear to me than your well-being, sir? What makes him so great if not the humility of mind (ἡ τοῦ φρονήματο ϛ μετριότη ϛ) 68 of those who are great among us? You did the same to the wise and diligent doctor, who does not wait for an invitation, but himself comes to those in need of healing. This filled me with all sorts of pleasure - and I learned by experience the words “smiling through tears” 69 and understood the poet’s thought. If our city, deserted and having few inhabitants, and even poor ones, gives consolation to those who have arrived, then it is all the more fitting for Berea, nourished by piety, to do this, especially under the guidance of your holiness. Letter 33. Comite and Primate 77 Stasim 78 The sufferings of the most magnificent and glorious 79 Celestiacus require the language of tragedians, for they are skillful in describing human misfortunes; I briefly state to your magnificence that his fatherland is Libya, once glorified by everyone, the city is glorious Carthage, class (συμμορία) and position (πατρία) - the most illustrious council (ἡ λαμπροτάτη βουλή) 80 wealth - great, flowing in excess of what is needed for necessary needs. But now all this is a myth and a story without real content, for the barbaric war deprived him of all this. Such is the well-being of people in general, which does not remain forever with the same persons, but quickly passes to others. This (Celistiacus) I submit to the hospitality of your magnificence and ask you to honor him with the generosity praised by all. I also ask your wonder (θαυμασιότητος) to inform all noble and rich people about it, so that I can bring profit to them and myself receive great rewards from the man-loving God. Letter 34. Comita 81 Patricius All types of virtue deserve praise, but philanthropy adorns all others. We constantly ask him from God of all kinds; It is only because of this alone (philanthropy) that we receive leniency when we sin; one thing it does is that the rich pay attention to the poor. Knowing that your splendor shines with this virtue, I confidently recommend the most wondrous and magnificent Celestiacus, a man who was the owner of much money and estates, but suddenly lost all this and yet easily endures poverty, as few (endure) wealth. Here (in brief) is the content of this tragic disaster: - Libya and Africa and the fury of the barbarians. I send him to your greatness; You will show others and move them to compassion. For you will receive greater benefit if you teach many people to love humanity. Letter 35. Bishop (Tire) Irenaeus When those who have received power do not tilt the scales of justice and keep them in balance, then they deliver an abundance of all kinds of benefits to the governed. If, at the same time, they are completely reasonable and in their decisions are guided by philanthropy towards those in need, then various benefits flow from government institutions to their subjects (ἐκ τῶν ἀρχείων). The inhabitants of Euphratesia, having been granted this through your lordship (λαμπρότητος) and in view of the experience-proven benefits of your previous (your) reign, are now rejoicing, having learned that their local government has been entrusted to your magnificence. I pray that they will be rewarded with greater blessings and that your lordship will receive even greater glory, adding to other excellent qualities the pinnacle of blessings - piety, 84 so that the praise of those who praise will not be lame. I hoped to meet your magnificence when I was forced to live many days in Hierapolis, where I constantly inquired from those who came, whether signs befitting your high position had been delivered to your marvel (τὰ σύμβολα τῆς ἀρχῆς). But since the approach of the divine and saving holiday prompted us, we returned to the city entrusted to us. Now, having received the letters of your magnificence and being very pleased with them, we fulfill the duty of greeting and, as you ordered, we immediately sent the most venerable and reverent deacon, by the grace of God, skilled in conducting water. May the philanthropic God grant him to bring benefit to this city, and to your magnificence to bring an opportunity to glory! Letter 38. Greetings (on the occasion of a holiday) The length of our country is forty miles 94 , and the width 95 is the same. There are many great mountains in it, some of them completely bare, some of them covered with unfruitful trees) 96 . Over such an area of ​​the country there are fifty thousand tax-free taxes (ἐλευθερικῶν ζυγῶν) and on top of this another ten thousand government taxes (ταμιακά). So, let your wisdom 97 pay attention to this extreme injustice, for even if not a single piece of this country remained uncultivated and all of it was extremely convenient for agriculture, then the settlers 98 would be extremely depressed by taxes (τὰ ϛ εἰσφορά ϛ), unable to bear the burden of taxation (τῆ ϛ ἀπογραφῆς ). There is very clear confirmation of what has been said. I apologize for the verbosity and beg your magnificence to pay no attention to the false accusations against the unfortunate payers, remove disasters from the unfortunate country, raise its declining ones and leave behind eternal glory for subsequent generations. All the saints who are with us, and especially the most reverend and most holy man of God, Mr. James 104, ask for this with me. Maintaining strict silence, this latter cannot write, but prays that the city, which he adorns with his neighborhood and protects with his prayers, will enjoy such philanthropy. Letter 43. Augusta Pulcheria 105 Here, having taken up denunciations, he begins to antagonize the country, which he calls matter, rebels against thousands of poor people and, out of hatred for one person, sharpened his tongue against everyone. But what kind of person this person is and in what occupations he was brought up - I will not say, observing my characteristic decency. However, this is clearly evidenced by what he has done now. About this country 107 I will say the following: when each province (ἐπαρχια) received relief, it was not given the benefit of philanthropy, although the heaviest burden (βαρύτατον φόρτιον) was imposed on it. Therefore, many estates (πολλὰ τῶν κτημάτων) have lost their farmers (γεωργῶν 108), and many estates have even become completely desolate, but nevertheless they are exacting money from the most unfortunate decurions for them ( they, being unable to contribute taxes (φέρειν τὴν εἴσπραξιν), some impoverish, some scatter (οἰ μὲν προσαιτοῦσιν, οἰ δὲ δραπετεύσιν 109 ). Thanks be to the Savior of all, that He constantly grants to your greatness ever higher distinctions (τὰς τῶν ἀξιωμάτων τιμάς). I did not write until now and did not immediately express my joy at the highest honor you received because I did not want to disturb your magnificence. And now I do this only in view of the fact that the country God has given me is, as they say, on the razor’s edge. While we were enjoying your arrival for the first time, an audit was made (τῆ ϛ ἐποψίας); It was not without difficulty that it was approved under the most excellent prefect, Mr. Florentius 112, and now it is reinforced by his successor in government (ὑπο τοῦ τα ϛ αὐτὰς κατέχοντος ἡνίας) 113. But here is a certain man, bearing the name of bishop, but doing something that is unusual even for comedians (τῶν ἐπὶ τῆς σκηνῆς), who ran away from the meeting of bishops and, moreover, bound by the bonds of excommunication, tries to falsely slander the revision carried out, trampling on the truth out of hatred for the noble Philip. Your greatness knows well that everyone living in the “East” is disposed to your magnificence, like children to a loving father. Why did you hate those who love you, deprived them of your care and made everyone cry and mourn, preferring your own benefit to the benefit of others? Truly, I do not think that any of those who fear the Lord did not grieve greatly at the loss of your command over the armies. I believe that all others, even if they do not have exact knowledge of the divine, will be equally grieved when reflecting on your good deeds. But I especially groan, because I remember the honor and merciful disposition (towards me), and I pray to the Lord of all, that He will always protect you with an invincible right hand and give you an abundance of all kinds of blessings. We ask your nobility, even in absence, as if you were here, to have the usual care and destroy the rage of some unworthy bishop of ours, whose way of life is quite precisely known to your greatness. He, as I learned, is trying to completely destroy our country, in quality. Last year, your holiness freed the noble Philip, chairman of the curia of our city ( τὸν τῆς ἡμετέρας πρωτεύοντα πόλεως ) from a heavy storm; and when, through the intercession of your holiness, he received peace, he filled our ears with your praises. But all this effort is trying to turn into nothing a certain reverent man 117, slandering the frequently carried out, twelve years before this, revision (τὴν ... γεγενημένην ἐποψίαν) of the country and raising an accusation that is indecent even for decent slaves (το ῐ ς ἐπιεικέσι τῷν ἀνδραπόδων ). Therefore, I beg your sacred head to stop the lies of that man and convince the most glorious prefects (τύς ὐπερλάμπους 118 ὐπάρχους) that the decision they pronounced legally and philanthropically remains in force. For in truth, our city suffered the heaviest taxation (βαρυτάτην ἀπογραφήν) compared to all other cities of the province (τῆς ἐπαρχίας) and when relief was given to every other city, it (taxation) still weighs heavily on the taxes ( ζυγῶν), the number of which exceeds sixty-two thousand. Sincere friendship cannot be destroyed by space, nor can time weaken it. This harms bodies, withers the color (of youth) and produces decrepitude, but it elevates the power of love, increasing its ardor. Therefore, I, being many days’ journey from your magnificence, am writing this congratulatory letter, prompted, of course, by love. He will be delivered by the dragon 130 Patroin - a man worthy of all respect for the virtue of his soul, for he tries with great zeal to observe the divine laws. Therefore, most amazing one, honor us with notification of the health of your greatness, which is so dear to us, and of the longed-for fulfillment of your promise. Letter 60. To Bishop Dioscorus of Alexandria 131 Therefore, we greet your piety in writing, using the services of a deacon, who recently conveyed to us the content of those unwritten speeches that you spoke about us. So, most beloved of God, having accepted this letter, respond in kind, for you preceded it with speeches, and I with letters, and with the latter I repaid the former. Therefore, all you have to do is answer letters with letters. Letter 63. Greetings (on the occasion of the holiday) As usual, we continue to enjoy the various benefits of the holiday, for we celebrate the memory of saving suffering and through the resurrection of the Master we receive the good news of the general resurrection and glorify the ineffable love for mankind of God and our Savior. However, church turmoil does not allow one to enjoy pure joy: - for if the whole body participates in the suffering of one member (cf. 1 Cor. XII: 26), then how can one not groan when the whole body is upset? Our sadness is further increased by the consideration that this is only the beginning of a complete “retreat” (cf. 1 Thessalonians II: 3). So, if this consideration is fair, let your piety pray that we may be worthy of divine help, so that we may be able, according to the word of the divine Apostle (Eph. VI, 13), to resist on the day of cruelty. If we can hope that time will help the order of life, (then let your piety pray) that the storm will subside and the churches will receive their former peace, so that the enemies of the truth will no longer rejoice over our misfortunes. Letter 64. Greetings (on the occasion of the holiday) When the Lord suffered saving suffering for the human race, then the host of the holy Apostles grieved greatly, for they did not yet know exactly what the fruit of these sufferings would be. And when they recognized the salvation that came from here, they began to call the sermon on suffering “the gospel” and readily proclaimed it to all people. Believers, enlightened in mind (cf. Eph. I, 18) and joyfully accepting this, celebrate the memory of suffering and consider the time of death a reason for triumph and rejoicing, for the resurrection associated with them (suffering) overthrows the sorrow of death and becomes a guarantee of the general resurrection. Having now been honored with this holiday, we greet your piety by sending notice of the holiday, as if some fragrance. Letter 65. To the military commander (στρατηγῷ) Zeno 134 It is your job, dearest (ὦ ἄριστε), and to call others to the “holiday of renewal” (τὴν τῶν ἐγκαινίωυ πανήγυριν), for, thanks to your diligence and care, the divine church and profit (in it) the loud messengers of truth who inhabited it, protecting those who come to them with faith. I am writing this to announce the time of the holiday. I would like to call you not only as a citizen, but also as a fellow believer and fellow servant (ὁμοπίστους καὶ ὁμοσκήνους) to praise the holy Apostles and Prophets, but (your) sense of prejudice does not allow this. That is why I point out only the rights of the fatherland, I ask you to take part in the kindly praise of the holy Apostles and Prophets, for such participation is not hindered by any difference of opinion (διχόνοια) 137. The Lord gave us such hope; We received such a promise from divine words. I know that separation is painful and painful to the highest degree - especially when the similarity of characters and the length of time have increased friendship. But let the sadness be not about death, but about departure! Such philosophy is especially fitting for those brought up in piety, and I ask your respect to adorn yourself with such. I offer this admonition not as one suffering from insensibility - for indeed I grieved upon learning of the departure of my dear friend - but remembering the Ruler of all and His ineffable wisdom, which creates everything for good. I ask your reverence (ὁσιότητα) to reflect on this, overcome suffering and praise God, the Master of us all, for by ineffable providence He manages our affairs. Letter 70. Bishop Eustathius of the Aegean 139 When the “intelligent” light dispelled that darkness, everywhere - on land and at sea, both the inhabitants of the continent and the inhabitants of the islands - collectively celebrate the holidays of God and our Savior; - and if someone wanted to travel, then, whether he was at the east of the sun or at the west of it, he would find everywhere the same festival, celebrated at a certain specific time: for it is not necessary, as according to the law of Moses, which was for the sake of the weakness of the Jews, to converge on one city (Jerusalem), here to celebrate the memory of blessings, but every city and village, and the fields and the most remote areas were filled with divine goodness, and in every place divine churches and chapels (τεμένη) are dedicated to the God of all things. That is why, scattered throughout different cities, we triumph and take part in festivities with each other, for we honor God and the Lord with hymns and offer mystical sacrifices to Him. Thanks to this circumstance, living in the neighborhood, we greet each other through letters, proclaiming the joy that we receive from the holiday. XIV, 10) to give an account of what they said and did. In view of such a judgment, it is quite possible for us to endure the sorrows of this life, since the hope of the future is sufficient to console those who are subjected to various injustices. The humane-loving Lord gave us your nobility, shining with faith and love of God. Letter 80. To Prefect Eutrechius So we are confined within the boundaries of Cyrus, if only the injunction presented to us is correct (ὑπομνιστικόν), which, as they say, was written by our victorious king himself and which reads as follows: “since such and such a bishop of this city constantly holds councils and thereby outrages the Orthodox, then with due care and caution take measures so that he remains in Cyrus and did not leave for any other city.” Therefore, I submitted to this sentence and (now living in solitude in Cyrus), I welcome the calm. The witness of this decision of mine is your greatness, since he knows that, having arrived in Antioch 167, I left there unexpectedly (ἀσυντάκτως) - because of those who wanted to keep me there. And those who give both ears to slanderers and leave neither of them for us are clearly unjust: after all, both murderers and thieves of other people’s boxes are given protection, and the verdict on their punishment is passed on them not before they are exposed, personally present at the trial, or until they themselves admit the justice of the accusation. Thirteen years under Bishop John of sacred and blessed memory, who admired my conversations so much that he stretched out both hands and often rose from his seat - and that he, raised from childhood by divine words, had a very accurate understanding of divine dogmas, your holiness also testified to this in your letters 183. Now this is the seventh year (of the reign) of the most God-loving Archbishop, Mr. Domna (as I continue to do the same). During all this time until today, none of the most God-loving bishops or the most reverent clergy ever reproached me for what they said about us. And with what admiration Christ-loving people (from the laity) listen to our speeches, your perfection according to God can easily be recognized both from those who come here from there, and from those who come from here to there. Likewise, those who divide our one Lord Jesus Christ into two persons, or two sons, or two masters, we call false and are excluded from the congregation of Christ-lovers. For we hear what the most divine Paul says: one Lord, one faith, one baptism (Eph. IV, 5); and one more thing: there is one Lord, Jesus Christ, and by Him are all things (1 Cor. VIII. 6); and again: Jesus Christ yesterday and today, the same forever (Heb. XIII, 8); and in another place: he who descended is also the one who ascended above all the heavens (Eph. IV, 10). And in general, you can see thousands of sayings in his work, where it is preached that the Lord is one. The divine Evangelist exclaims in exactly the same way: the Word became flesh and dwelt in us (and we saw His glory, the glory of the Only Begotten from the Father), filled with grace and truth (John I, 14). And the same name of this (i.e., John the Theologian, John the Baptist) exclaimed, saying: for me the man who was before me is coming, for he was before me (John 1:30); Having shown one face, he at the same time designated both the divine and human nature: - the human with the words man and is coming, and the divine with the words like before me. So, if you find those who oppose the apostolic dogmas - which, however, I do not believe - let your love for God stop their mouths, teach them to be ecclesiastical and teach them to follow in the footsteps of the holy fathers and to preserve intact the faith set forth in Bithynia Nicaea by the holy and blessed fathers, since it instructs in essential terms the gospel and apostolic teaching. It is fitting for you, most beloved of God, to take care of the glory of God and the general good opinion (of yourself), and not to neglect the reproach that falls on everyone due to the ignorance or love of controversy of a few such people - if only they really exist - so that slanderers cannot refine their tongue even against them, as they do against us. Deign to remember us in your prayers to the Lord: for the law of love prompts you to do this. Letter 85. Bishop (of Seleucia, in Isauria) Basil 191 Since some of those brought up in lies went to Alexandria and composed (there) slander against us, and the most God-loving bishop of that city believed such speeches and, although we gave him full assurance in our letters, sent one of the most God-loving bishops to the reigning city 193: then let your piety show us your usual good will and contrast the truth with lies. Letter 86. To Bishop Flavian of Constantinople 194 But he (Dioscorus) did not want to remain with these decrees, and everywhere and everywhere he puts on display the throne of blessed Mark, although he knows very well that the great city (μεγαλόπολις) of Antioch has the throne of the great Peter, who was the teacher of blessed Mark himself and the supreme one in the ranks of the Apostles. But we are aware of the height of the throne, we also know our own limits, for from time immemorial we have been taught apostolic humility 202. And we ask Your Reverence not to ignore the trampling of the sacred canons and to zealously stand up for the divine faith, for this is our hope of salvation and through this we expect indulgence for ourselves. So that nothing is unknown to your reverence, know, Vladyka, that his displeasure with us began from the time when we, following the rules of the holy fathers, agreed to accept the council decrees that you had in the time of Proclus of blessed memory, and for this he repeatedly reproached us, as if we had betrayed the rights of the churches of both Antioch (as he says) and Alexandria. Bearing this in mind and choosing what he believed was a convenient time, he discovered his reluctance. But there is nothing stronger than truth, for it knows how to win even with few defenders. I ask your holiness to remember us in your prayers to the Lord so that we can withstand the various waves. We only ask your holiness not to ignore the sacred canons that are trampled upon, but to fight courageously for the faith: for we have in it the hope of salvation, as you yourself know, through it we are confident of receiving mercy and leniency when we appear before the terrible judgment of God and (the Lord) our Savior, Jesus Christ 206. May the holy Lord deign to help us in everything and pray for us. I and everyone who is with me greet together with you the whole brotherhood (yours). Let it be known to your love of God that on the ninth day of the current month of Elul (September) 207 the reverent presbyter Photius was made bishop of the metropolis of Tire 208 . So, I ask you, pray that apostolic peace will reign and be established in all the holy churches: - pray, truly friend of God, that we will all become healthy through our Lord. Letter 87. To Bishop Domnus of Apamia 209 According to the law of brotherly love, we should expect that at the present time we will receive many letters from your love for God: for the divine Apostle commands “to weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice” (Rom. XII, 15). However, we have not received a single letter, although recently the most pious monks from your monastery and the most pious presbyter Elijah came to us. With all this, I write and greet your reverence, letting you know that instead of everything else, the consolation of the Lord is enough for us. Indeed, if we had as many lips as the number of our hair, we would not be able to worthily praise Him (the Lord), having been rewarded for confessing Him with what is considered dishonor, but which we consider the most honorable of all honor. Let them condemn us to live in the extreme limits of the universe, and then we will praise Him all the more strongly because we are rewarded with greater blessings. However, let Your Reverence pray and ask for peace to the holy churches, for it is because of them that we cry, groan and grieve. As we learned, this was done by the Ozroin clergy 210, who spread thousands of slander against all of us, although I was not at the trial and did not participate in the decision regarding them, but, as your reverence knows, I also asked to give them fellowship in view of the Easter holiday. However, it is easy for slanderers to say what they want. Our consolation is the promise of bliss from the Lord, for He says (Matthew V, 11.12): It is blessed when they revile you, and destroy you, and say all kinds of evil things against you because you lie 211. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is many in heaven. Letter 88. Patricius Taurus 212 Who is it fitting to defend those unjustly accused, if not you, Christ-loving husband, for the nobility of your family and the height of your dignity and primacy among those who know the laws give you such boldness? Letter 89. Patrician Florence 213 I take on more than I should when I send letters to your Majesty. But it is not insolence that is the reason for this boldness, but those who use slander against us. We consider it useful to bring to your unfeigned ears how clearly those who blame us for our dogmas are slandering us. We do not deny that we have sinned very much in other respects, but we have kept the dogmatic teaching of the Apostles until now undistorted, and for this alone we hope to be rewarded with compassion and condescension on the day of the Lord’s appearance: - for for it (the dogmatic teaching) we constantly fight against all kinds of heresies, we constantly offer it to the pupils of piety, through it we have brought thousands of us to the Archpastor and Savior of us all wolves, transforming them into sheep. You have laid aside the cares of a higher position, but your glory flourishes among everyone: for those who have benefited from your benefits incessantly praise them (and there are very many such persons and they are found everywhere), extol you above others and prompt the tongues of the latter to praise. I rejoice, seeing the most amiable fruit adorning the glorious root. That is why I ask your nobility so much and so strongly to take care of the pacification of the churches, for those who composed slander against us filled them with a great storm. For this same reason, the most God-loving bishops, neglecting the dangers of the path and weakness and old age and leaving their flocks without shepherds, undertook this long journey, trying to expose the lies directed against us all. So, let your greatness assist them, taking care of the slandered “East” and the apostolic faith, for you should add such glory to all other perfections. Twice, I think, even three times, I have already written to you, but have not received an answer. Having finally decided to remain silent (for I know myself and recognize the greatness of your powers [τῶν ἐξουσιῶν]), I then considered it best to write again and ask for notification regarding the reason for silence, since, in truth, I do not know that I have sinned in anything in relation to your magnificence. Since we sin not only voluntarily, but also involuntarily, and sometimes we do not know what we are sinning, then let your nobility, remembering the divine laws that clearly command: if your brother sins against you, reprove him between you and him 222 (Matt. XVIII, 15), - do not bother to clearly explain to me the reason for this sad circumstance, so that I can either show my innocence or, having learned sin, asked for leniency. I hope it will be the former, based on the evidence of conscience. Generosity adorns all people, especially those who, following the example of your nobility, have received external education, are instructed in the divine, listen to the apostolic laws, which clearly say: let not the sun go down on your anger (Eph. IV, 26), and remember the words of Homer: ... But you're only wearing hot pants Bridle your proud soul: kind meekness I said all this not to teach, but to remind your magnificence of this, who is busy with many things, and remembering the laws of the Lord, which clearly instill this (Matt. V, 23.24): if you bring your gift to the altar, you will also remember that one, as if your brothers have something on you: leave your gift before the altar, and go first, make peace with your brother, and then when you come you will bring your gift 224. Following this, I considered it necessary, through the most God-loving bishops, to appeal to your greatness and ask that you take care of the pacification of the churches, for they are filled with the greatest storm. Letter 97. To Committee Sporacius 225 Again a war broke out against us, and the human enemy, leaving (us) for a short time, again armed people brought up on lies against us. Those who clearly slander us say that we are dividing our one Lord Jesus Christ into two sons. We know the difference between divinity and humanity, but we confess one Son, God made man – the Word. We affirm that He is the pre-eternal God, who at the end of days became man - not by the transformation of deity, but by the perception of humanity. However, I consider it unnecessary to explain to your love of God what I think, when you know exactly what we preach and teach the ignorant. So, since the workers of lies have reproached all the most God-loving bishops of the “East” and filled the churches with confusion, I ask your piety to make as much effort as possible for the gospel dogmas and for the pacification of the churches. It was for this reason that the most God-loving bishops left the churches they flocked, neglected the winter weather and undertook the labor of traveling in order to calm the rising storm. In them, I am sure, your perfection according to God will see zealous defenders of piety and helmsmen of the churches. Letter 102. Bishop (Seleucia, in Isauria) Basil There is nothing unusual in the fact that those who do not know us silently listen when we are vilified, but hardly anyone, knowing about your love for us, would believe that your reverence does not expose those who vilify lies or does it with extreme restraint and not at all ardently. This does not mean at all that friendship should be preferred to truth, but only that friendship should also have evidence of truth. For your piety often heard our conversations in churches, and when we made dogmatic speeches in other assemblies, it listened to what we said; - and I don’t know that your piety has ever been dissatisfied with us because I used wrong dogmas. So: what is being done currently? Why, my dear man, do you not move your tongue against lies, why do you ignore both your slandered friend and the persecuted truth? If you neglect me as poor and too insignificant, then I consider it necessary to recall the clearly expressed commandment of the Lord (Matt. XVIII, 10 and cf. art. 6): Take heed that you do not despise one of these least little ones who believe in Me: amen, for I say to you, their angels daily behold the face of My heavenly Father 231 . If your love for God is commanded to remain silent by the power of your accusers, then you should remind us of another law: do not offend the face of a strong man (Sir. IV, 31). Judge righteous judgment (John VII, 24). May you not be malicious with many (Ex. XXIII, 2). And one more thing: close your eyes, lest he see unrighteousness; and harden your ears, lest he hear the judgment of the unrighteous (Isa. XXXIII, 15). Thousands of other similar sayings can be found in the Holy Scriptures, but I consider it unnecessary to collect them when I write to a man educated in divine words and offering abundant teaching to Christ-loving people. Therefore, I will say only one thing, that we will all appear before the judgment seat of Christ and give an account of our words and deeds (cf. 2 Cor. V. 10). Although I am afraid of this trial for many other reasons, when I remember it, I find reasons for consolation precisely in what they say against us. Letter 103. To Comita Apollonius 232 So, let your sacred and God-loving head know that no one has heard of us ever preaching two sons, for, truly, this dogma seems to me disgusting and ungodly, since there is one Lord Jesus Christ, by Him are all things (1 Cor. VIII, 6). I acknowledge that He is both the eternal God and man at the end of days, and I offer Him one worship, as the Only Begotten. I have also been taught not to lose sight of the differences between flesh and divinity, for the union is not fused. Revolting in this way against the fury of Arius and Eunomius, we have no difficulty in exposing their impudent blasphemy against the Only Begotten - what is said about the Lord is derogatory, in relation to the perceived nature, referring to Him as a man, and that which is befitting of God and reveals the properties of that (i.e., divine) nature, referring to Him as God, and we do not divide Him into two faces, but we teach that both belong to the same Only Begotten: - one, as God and Creator and Ruler of all, - the other, as a man who became such for our sake. Having rejected these and similar sayings of the divine Scripture, Simon, Basilides, Valentinus, Bardesanus, Marcion and who received the name from mania (madness, i.e. Manes) call God only the Lord Christ, who has nothing human, but only appeared to people in the form of a man, ghostly and imaginary. And those who think in agreement with Arius and Eunomius say that God the Word took on only one body, and He Himself took the place of the soul in it. Apollinaris calls the body of the Lord, true, animate, but takes away the mind from Him who became (our) salvation, I don’t know where he learned such a separation of soul and mind. According to the teaching of the divine Apostles, the rational and thinking soul was received along with the flesh, and believers are promised complete salvation (of soul and body). The promise of David's psalm is true, for through it the Spirit of truth gave the believers the following (promise): open your way to the Lord and trust in Him, and He will do: and He will bring forth your righteousness as light and your destiny as the noonday (Psalm XXXVI, 5.6). This is exactly what we find fulfilled over your godliness: for what care your godliness shows regarding those who mourn their orphanhood and how you fight for the apostolic dogmas - this is praised by everyone, since, according to prophecy (cf. Matt. X, 26. Mark. IV, 22. Luke VIII, 17. XII, 2), - it became clear that was hidden. That is why I, having learned about the praiseworthy works of your piety, am writing this, greeting you, most beloved of God, and asking you to increase your glory by adding more works and to fight for the Gospel teaching, so that we can preserve our fatherly heritage intact and bring talent to the Lord with a good increase. Letter 109. To Bishop Eusebius of Ancyra Since, probably, the slander against us has reached your shrine, I ask your reverence not to listen to the lies of the slanderers: for I do not admit (to myself such guilt) that until very recently I taught to believe in two sons. I have been taught to believe in our one Only Begotten Lord Jesus Christ, God the Word made man. Of course, I recognize the difference between flesh and divinity, but to us it seems wicked to divide the one son of our Lord Jesus Christ, as well as those who follow the opposite path and call the deity of the Lord Christ and humanity one nature. These rocks are opposite to one another, but the path of the Gospel dogmas is middle (between them), adorned with the feet of the holy prophets and Apostles and those who after them shone with grace-filled gifts in teaching. I would like to compare their opinions and show in them witnesses in favor of our understanding; but for this I would need many words, which would exceed the size of the letter. Therefore, having written briefly what we taught about the incarnation of the Only Begotten, I sent it to your perfection according to God 233. After all, we already have the example of the blessed Principius: - in this case it was so that those who ordered in writing demanded a trial of those who obeyed. Then, the letters that I read on the day when the courier arrived 236 are contrary to this: for a certain famous holy monk wrote to one person that he had received letters from both the most magnificent spafarius 237 and the most glorious former master - letters showing that the matter of the most God-loving bishop, Mr. Irenaeus 238 could take a better turn and that in reward for such work they ask for prayers for themselves. Therefore, I find it necessary to write to the clergy who wrote from the reigning city the following: The most God-loving bishops who were foremost in the Pontic diocese and all the Palestinians did the same, so there was no doubt about it. We consider it wicked to condemn a man 243 who shines with many different virtues.” This and the like need to be written in my opinion; if your holiness sees (intends to write) something else, then so be it. I already bear one thing, as they think, punishment; I am ready, with the help of God, to bear other things; if they desire the third and fourth, we, with the assistance of divine grace, will endure them too, chanting the Lord. If it pleases your Reverence, then (we will wait and) consider the answers from Palestine and, having discussed in the most precise manner what needs to be done, we will write to Constantinople. Letter 111. Patrician Anatoly I was forced to write this, having read the letters of your Majesty and learned through them that because of this there was a great movement against us, exiled men, leading silence and not sitting with the most God-loving bishops of the diocese 244. Indeed, in our diocese (ἐν τῇ ἐπαρχί ᾳ τῇ ἡμέτερ ᾳ) 245 there were two episcopal consecrations, and I did not participate in either. If I did not consider it my duty to obey the royal law, in that case I would leave here and, settling in some remote area (καί τινα καταλαβ ὼ ν ἐσχατίαν), I would spend the remaining days there, for I am tired of what is being built against me. I do not think that these Edessians of their own free will made up such a slander against us, but I believe that they were taught to do this against us by some of the “truth-loving” people there. And thanks be to the Savior of all, that He has vouchsafed me, unworthy, the blessings of the Gospel. Therefore, I gladly accepted the exile and accept the exile, and whatever they want to do to me, I accept with joy for the sake of the hope set before me. When the last council was held in Antioch, at which the great Meletius, the man of God, 248 was confirmed on that apostolic throne, and then a few days later they expelled him by royal authority, then Euzoius 249 was elected, clearly infected with the reproach of Arius, which is why those devoted to the gospel dogmas immediately set aside, and from that moment division remained. And your reverence can easily find out this by ordering the investigation of the deeds themselves (τά πεπραγμένα): for, according to accepted custom, they, of course, are preserved, sealed with the signatures of the council (τῆς συνόδου τὰς ὑπογραϕάς ). After all, there are more than fifty conciliar acts (πλείονα ἢ πεντήκοντα συνοδικά), which show the condemnation of twelve “chapters”. Even before leaving for Ephesus, blessed John wrote to those who were with the most God-loving Eutherius of Tyana, Firmus of Caesarea and Theodotus of Ancyra, calling these “chapters” the teaching of Apollinaris 252 . And the deposition of the Bishop of Alexandria (Cyril) and the Bishop of Ephesus (Memnon) that we made in Ephesus was due to the compilation and approval of these “chapters”: - many conciliar messages (συνοδικὰ πολλά) were written about this to the victorious king and the great archons (τούς μεγάλους ἄρχοντας), as well as to the people of Constantinople and the most reverent clergy. Called to Constantinople, we had five 253 discussions (πέντε διαγνώσεις) in the presence of the emperor himself and then sent him three formal confirmations (τρεῖς διαμαρτυρίας). And we wrote about this to the most God-loving bishops of the West (I mean Milan 254, Aquileia and Ravenna), testifying that they (“chapters”) are full of Apollinarian innovation. And Blessed John himself, in his epistle, transmitted through Blessed Paul (Emes), reproached the one who wrote them for them 255, just as Akakius of blessed memory 256 did. In order to present this matter to your holiness in a condensed form, I sent a copy of the letter of Blessed Acacius (Berean) and written by Blessed John to Blessed Cyril, so that you would know that those who wrote to him about the agreement blamed him for these “chapters.” And Blessed Cyril himself, in a letter to Blessed Acacius, showed the purpose of these “chapters”, saying that “they were written by him against the innovation of that (Nestorius) and that, after the conclusion of peace, they will be explained” 257. Consequently, the defense itself confirms the accusation. These letters 259 contained this and other related things. III. We, marveling at your spiritual wisdom, praise the grace of the Holy Spirit that moves you and convince, and ask, and pray, and beg your holiness to help the overwhelmed churches of God, for, expecting the destruction of the unrest from those sent by your holiness to Ephesus, we fell into an even more severe storm, since the “most just” primate of Alexandria (Dioscorus) was not satisfied with that lawless and the most unjust deposition of the most holy and most God-loving bishop of Constantinople, Mr. Flavian, and his rage was not satisfied with the similar overthrow (slaughter) of other bishops, but he also cut me, absent, like a reed, without calling me to court to judge here, and without even asking what I thought about the incarnation of God and our Savior. VI. But, I ask you, do not reject my prayer and do not despise my gray hair, so disgraced after so many labors. First of all, I ask you to tell me whether I should acknowledge this unjust deposition or not? I'm waiting for your decision. And if you decide that I remain under this condemnation, then I will remain and in the future I will not bother any person, but I will await the righteous judgment of God and our Savior. I, the Lord God is my witness in this, do not care about honor and glory, but only about averting temptation, because many of the simple people, and especially those converted by us from various heresies, paying attention to the height of the throne of those who condemned and not being able to discern the strict accuracy of the dogma, will consider me a heretic. VII. And that during such a long episcopate we acquired neither a house, nor a field, nor an obol, nor a tomb (οὐκ ἀγρὸν, οὐκ ὀβολόν, οὐ τάφον), but we loved voluntary poverty and distributed what we inherited from our parents immediately after their death - everyone living in the “East” knows this. Thus, the end of the investigation - when there is confidence in the denouement that hostility will be overcome - contributes to the greater glory of God, so that what is rejected does not seem to be driven out by silent prejudice, while in itself it deserves approval. II. So, rejoice, beloved brother, and rejoice, conqueror, in the only Son of God. Through us He conquered for himself, the truth of whose flesh was denied; through us and for us, He for whom we conquered conquered. After the coming of the Lord, this is the second holiday for the universe. After the deposition of the traitor, the mystery of the divine incarnation was returned to the age (the world), which (the sacrament) the enemy of the human race tried to obscure with slander, not being able to destroy it by deeds themselves. It is better to say that the immortal sacrament perished from the hearts of the infidels, since such a great saving remedy (tanta salus) does not bring any benefit to the infidels, since the Truth itself tells the disciples: whoever has faith and is baptized will be saved; and whoever does not have faith will be condemned (Mark XVI, 16). The light of the sun of righteousness, hidden in the East by the thick fogs of Nestorius and Eutyches, shone clearly from the West, where mainly it (the Sun of righteousness) erected its highest peak in the Apostles and teachers. IV. Therefore, when he dared to take the life of this century from the holy memory of Flavian, he deprived himself of the light of true life, and when he tried to expel you from your churches, he separated himself from the assembly of Christians, and when he enticed very many and forced them to agree with error, he wounded his soul with many different wounds; He alone is responsible for everyone, through everyone and most of all, who was the cause of guilt for everyone. But, although your brotherhood, fed on solid food (1 Cor. III, 2), apparently needs this least of all, we nevertheless fulfill what is characteristic of our position, according to the word of the Apostle (2 Cor. XI, 28.29): besides external ones, there is an attack every day, and the care of all the churches: who is faint, and does not faint? Who is tempted, and I am not relieved? VI. Moreover, we exhort you to continue to help the Apostolic See, since we know that there are still some remnants of the Eutychian and Nestorian error left there. For the victory that Christ our Lord gave to His Church, although it gave us greater confidence while we live in this world, it did not completely destroy all anxiety: it was not given to us so that we could sleep, but so that we could work with greater pleasure. Therefore, with such anxiety, we wish to have the help of your vigilance, so that with your reports you hasten to notify the Apostolic See how successful the teaching of the Lord is in those countries (regiones), so that we can help the priests of that country (regionis) where it is necessary. We wrote to our brother and co-bishop, the primate of the See of Antioch (Maximus), about the illegal things that were insolently committed at the often mentioned council against the venerable canons of Nicaea, adding that you verbally told us through our vicars regarding the unreliability of some monks of your region (regionis); We especially insisted here that no one except the priests of the Lord should dare to preach, whether it be a monk or a layman who boasts of any knowledge. (We wanted those letters, through the said brother and co-bishop Maximus, to become known to everyone for the benefit of the entire Church. That is why we did not add them to this copy, since we have no doubt that what we charged (injunximus) to our named brother and co-bishop (Maximus of Antioch) will be fulfilled. May God keep you healthy, beloved brother. Given on the third Ides of June, during the consulate of the most glorious man Opilion 267. Therefore, I ask your holiness to convince the most holy and most reverend archbishop (Leo of Rome) to use his apostolic authority and command (us) to come to your council. For that all-holy throne has authority over the churches of the universe for many reasons, and first of all because it remained uninvolved in the heretical stench, and no one who thought otherwise sat on it, but it retained the apostolic grace intact. We, relying on your justice, will accept whatever you decide, and ask you to judge on the basis of our writings. I have written more than thirty books: against Arius and Eunomius, against Marcion, against Macedonius, against the Greeks and Jews; and I also interpreted the divine Scripture. It is easy for anyone who wishes to know that I followed in the footsteps of the Apostles, preaching one Son, as one Father and one Holy Spirit, one deity of the Trinity, one kingdom, one power, eternity, immutability, impassibility, one will, the perfect deity of the Lord Jesus Christ and perfect humanity, assumed for our salvation and put to death for us. I do not know one - the son of man and the other - the Son of God, but I recognize the same one as the Son of God and God, born of God, and likewise the son of man because of the image of a servant taken from the seed of Abraham and David. I teach this and the like; I found this also in the letters of the most holy and reverend bishop, my lord, Leo, and I praised the Lord of all, that I agree with his apostolic dogmas. So, please accept my request and do not despise the unjustly oppressed. For this purpose, I sent to your love the most God-loving presbyters Hypatius 271 and Abramius - chorebishops - and Alypius, exarch of our monks - adorned with a glorious life and verbally able to tell you exactly what is being done against our insignificance. Letter 117. To Bishop Florentius 272 The grace of our God and Savior did not completely abandon the human race, but gave its seed to us in your holiness, so that we would not become like Sodom and not become like Gomorrah (cf. Isa. I, 9). This does not allow us to be completely exhausted, but makes us expect a solution to the heavy storm. That is why we sent to your holiness the most God-loving presbyters Hypatius 273 and Abramius - chorebishops and Alypius, exarch of our monks, so that they would destroy the disaster that befell the church of the “East”. And, first of all, confirm the faith handed down to us from the holy Apostles, overthrow the heresy that has arisen and clearly expose those who dare to distort the preaching of the economy, and then fight for those persecuted for piety: for, most holy ones, for the apostolic faith we were subjected to this unjust overthrow (slaughter) 274 because we did not want to sacrifice the truth evangelical dogmas. Your greatness is fully aware of what was done by the “most just” judges in Ephesus (at the Robber Council), since their sound and their “most righteous” decision spread throughout the entire earth (cf. Psalm XVIII, 5. Rom. X, 18): for what church did not suffer from the storm that arose from there? After all, some were unjust, others were subjected to injustice - and even those who did not suffer and did nothing of the kind grieve together with the offended and mourn those who offended, since they cruelly and against all laws, divine and human, beat their own members. Even thieves caught in the act are first tried by judges and then punished. In the same way, murderers, grave diggers, and those who steal other people's beds (adulterers) are first of all brought to trial, the accusers are forced to speak, and attention is paid to the intention of the witnesses: - do they not testify in favor of the persecutors, or are they not hostile to the persecuted? and after that they are ordered to defend themselves against the accusers. The all-seeing and all-arranging Lord has finally revealed the apostolic truth of our dogmas and the falsehood of the slander brought against us. For the letters of the most God-loving and most holy Archbishop of great Rome, Mr. Leo, to the sacred memory of Flavian and to others who gathered at Ephesus 282 are in complete agreement with what has been written by us and what we have always preached in the churches. Therefore, as soon as I read them, I praised the humane Lord for the fact that He did not completely abandon the churches, but preserved the spark of Orthodoxy and not even a spark, but the greatest fire that can ignite and illuminate the universe. In what he (Leo) wrote, he truly retained the apostolic character, since in these letters we found what was handed down by the holy and blessed prophets and apostles and subsequent preachers of the Gospel, as well as, of course, by the holy fathers who gathered in Nicaea; with these letters we agree to remain and condemn everyone who thinks anything different from them of wickedness. I compared one of his letters sent to Ephesus with similar writings of mine, so that your nobility, having read this, would remember what we often said in churches, would know the agreement of dogmas and would hate those who tell lies and formulate a new heresy against the apostolic dogmas 283. Letter 122. To Bishop Uranius of Emesa 284 We rejoiced greatly that, being united by goodwill, we found ourselves in communication (with you) through (your) letters. Only I did not understand (in your letter) the following words: didn’t I tell you? If this is said only as a side note, then such a remark does not upset us; if this is a reminder of the advice to remain silent and the so-called prudence (οἰκονομίαν), then I am glad that I did not accept this suggestion; for the divine Apostle commands the opposite: the infusion is in season, without season (2 Tim. IV, 2). And the Lord himself said to the same preacher (Paul): speak, and do not keep silent (Acts xviii, 9), - and to Isaiah: cry with your strength, and do not spare (Isa. LVIII, 1), - and to Moses: go down and bear witness to the people (Exod. xviii, 21), - and also to Ezekiel: I have given you a guard to the house of Israel; and it will be, unless you tell the wicked (Ezek. III, 17) and what follows after this, for it is unnecessary to talk about this at length to someone who knows. So, not only do I not grieve that I acted boldly, but I also rejoice and am glad and glorify the one who merited me this suffering and exhort my close people to the same competitions. II, 6): for the image of this world passes away (1 Cor. VII, 31) and the truth of affairs will be revealed. Letter 123. To him (Bishop Uranius of Emesa) Your letter, lengthy, pleasant and showing your ardent and sincere love, filled me with such joy that I least of all repent of my assumption 286 that the introduction of your previous letter had a different idea: for misunderstanding the meaning of that letter revealed the treasure of brotherly love, revealed the integrity of faith and made zeal for piety known. We, of course, divided among ourselves the words and trials of the prophet: Your Reverence took advantage of the words; We are subject to storms and unrest, and against those who move the ship, together with him (the prophet Jonah) we exclaim: those who keep vain and false mercy have abandoned their mercy (Jon. II, 9). Our Lord may also give him permission to swim out and get rid of the whale. Even if this raging excitement continues, then even in this case we hope to enjoy divine providence and learn from experience that His power is made perfect in weakness (1 Cor. XII. 9), for He has balanced the very dangers with our weakness. I also mourn the church disasters and grieve because of the surrounding storm. As for me personally, I am glad that I have moved away from the unrest and enjoy the silence that is kind to me. And those about whom your scholarship (παίδευσις) wrote that they are still committing injustice will not in a long time themselves suffer punishment for their lawless deeds. For the Lord of all things, by weight and measure (Wis. Sol. XI, 31), governs everything and, when some fall into immoderate lawlessness, He will not endure any longer, but finally, as a judge, will inflict punishment on them. Anticipating this, we pray that they will cease from their excesses, so that we will not be forced to mourn them at the sight of their punishments. We constantly remember your wonder and pray to the common Lord to fill your home with His blessing. Letter 125. Aphonius, Theodorite, Nonna, Scylakios, Athoonia, John - decurions 287 Zeugma 288 For if the divine nature had undergone a transformation into human nature, it would not have remained what it was; and if it is no longer what it was, then those who worship it falsely call Him (Jesus Christ) God. But we know that the Only Begotten Son of God is unchangeable, as God and the Son of the true God: for we are taught by the divine Scripture that He, being in the form of God, took the form of a servant (Phil. II, 6.7) and took on the seed of Abraham (Heb. II, 16), but did not turn into the seed of Abraham, and like us participated in flesh and blood (Heb. II, 14) and soul, immortal and blameless. Having preserved all this, He offered His sinless body for sinful bodies, and for the soul, a soul free from every stain. Therefore, we have the hope of a general resurrection, for in the firstborn the whole race participates, and just as in Adam we became partakers of death, so in the Savior Christ we will receive participation in life. And the divine Apostle clearly taught us this: now, he says (I Cor. XV, 20.21), “Christ has risen from the dead: the firstfruits has become to the dead.” For since death is by man, the resurrection of the dead is by man. Just as everyone dies in Adam, so in Christ everyone will come to life. I am writing this now not to teach, but to remind you that I am trying to be brief, because, as it seems to me, I have already gone beyond the length of the letter. I was prompted to send this in all things by the most pious and most God-loving presbyter and archimandrite Mekima (Μεκίμας) 290, who, observing the custom of love, made such a journey, informed us of the zeal of your wonder and asked us to kindle it with letters. I accepted this request and wrote a letter, and I ask the Lord of all to keep you in the faith and show you superior to him who sowed (Luke XXII, 31). Letter 126. Bishop (Perga) Savinian It seems that old age has overcome the vigor of your God-loving soul, and you do not stretch out your hands as usual; that is why Amalek is contesting (our) victory. So, let the helpers of your weakness appear - just as Hur and Aaron once supported the hands of the lawgiver (Ex. XVII, 12) - so that you overthrow Amalek and save Israel: for at the present time especially zealous prayers are required, since now both the Greeks and the Jews and all kinds of heresies enjoy the world, and only the Church is overwhelmed and subjected to severe unrest. We primarily need the help of your prayers, since those who were considered allies (ours) turn out to be opponents (us). Letter 129. To Presbyter and Archimandrite Magnus Antoninus 291 If the traitors begin to oppress them especially strongly, then perhaps they too will soon become among the persecutors and will not spare the equally faithful, but, accused by their own, will throw arrows at them along with those whom they themselves accused, even though they were taught by the divine Scripture that injustice towards one’s neighbor brings punishment, and the enduring of insults brings great and permanent rewards. II. This storm showed both the zeal of your piety according to faith and your goodwill towards us. And you wrote to us twice, despising those who threaten and showing through your letters brotherly love and letting us know about your competition for apostolic dogmas, for you asked us to write about what needs to be thought and preached about saving suffering. I gladly accepted this request and will willingly express what I have learned from the divine Scripture and the fathers who interpreted it - not in order to teach, but in order to remind your God-loving head of this. So, know, most beloved of God, that first of all else you should know the difference in names and then the reason for the divine incarnation. For when this is clear, then there will be no room for any doubt regarding suffering. Therefore, for those trying to object, we will first ask which names belong to the Only Begotten Son of God before the incarnation and which after, or, better to say, which are associated with the work of the economy. They, of course, will say that “God the Word”, “Only Begotten Son”, “Almighty” and “Lord of every creation” are early names, and “Jesus Christ” is the proper name of the incarnation, for God the Word incarnate, the Only Begotten Son of God, is called Jesus Christ: behold, says (Scripture), Christ the Lord is born unto you this day (Luke II, 12). But since others were also called “Christs”: priests, kings and prophets (Psalm CIV, 15. 1 Kings XXIV, 7. 1 John II, 20. Psal. XLIV, 8), then - so that someone would not consider Him similar to them - the Angels attached the name “Lord” to the name “Christ”, showing the Sovereign dignity of the one being born. And Gabriel said to the all-praised Virgin 294: Behold, you will be with child 295, and you will bear a son, and you will call his name Jesus (Luke I, 31): for he will save his people from their sins (Matthew 1, 21). Before His incarnation, He was not called either Christ or Jesus, for the divine prophets, predicting what would be, used expressions in the same way as they predicted about things related to birth, cross and suffering, when this in fact had not yet happened. Likewise, no one who has heard the genealogy (of Jesus Christ) in Matthew will assume that David and Abraham were the ancestors of God by (divine) nature, for from them comes the assumed nature. Therefore, as is clear and indisputable even for the most ferocious heretics, we know that one nature is eternal, the other is new; we must also recognize that the body is passionate, and the divinity is impassive, not dividing the union and not cutting the Only Begotten into two persons, but seeing in one Son the characteristics of natures. If we usually do this in relation to the soul and body - simultaneous natures and physically connected to each other - and call the soul simple (uncomplicated), rational and immortal, and call the body complex, passionate and mortal, but at the same time we do not separate the connection and do not cut one person in two: then all the more should we do this in relation to the deity born before the ages from the Father and received from the seed of David humanity and clearly recognize the first as pre-eternal and eternal, simple and indescribable, immortal and unchangeable, while the second is new, complex, describable, changeable and mortal. And to this day those who enter the churches of the victorious martyrs usually ask: what is the name of the one who is laid in the tomb? And those who know the matter answer that it is either the martyr Julian or Romanus or Timofey, although often not even whole bodies lie there, but insignificant particles, and yet we call the body by a common name 296. So the Angel called the body of the Lord Lord, since it was the body of the Lord of all. And the Lord Himself is not an invisible nature, but He promised to give His body for the life of the world: for bread, He says (John VI, 51), I will give it, My flesh is, which I will give for the life of the world. And during the betrayal of the divine sacraments, He, taking the symbol (ch.b), said: this is Mine, which is given for you (Luke XXII, 19) or broken (1 Cor. XI, 24), as the Apostle puts it. And nowhere in the story of suffering is there any mention of an impassive deity. Your piety showed both zeal for piety and love for your neighbor, for at the present time one is connected with the other. Likewise, we are persecuted because of the apostolic dogmas, since we do not leave our fatherly heritage, but are ready to endure everything rather than see even one feature removed from the apostolic faith. So, you became an accomplice in our suffering, comforting us with letters and sending to us the most honorable and reverent deacons Matthew and Isaac. And I undoubtedly know that you will hear from the righteous Judge: you were in prison, and came to Me (Matthew XXV, 36). For, although we are insignificant and small and burdened with many sins, the Lord is merciful and generous. That is why He did not mention the great ones, but the small ones, saying: since you have made one lesser ones who believe in Me, you have made them together with Me (Matthew XXV:40). So: since you are distinguished in right dogmas and shine with a praiseworthy life and through this have great boldness towards God, then help me with your prayers so that I can resist, as the Apostle puts it, the cunning art of deception (Eph. IV, 14), to escape the snares of the tormentor (cf. 2 Macc. VII, 9) and (at least) with little boldness to appear before the righteous Judge on the day of His appearance. Letter 132. Bishop Iva of Edessa. The Lord commanded those unjustly offended not to lose heart, but to rejoice and to derive reasons for consolation from ancient examples. Indeed, from the first people to the present day, one can observe that those who tried to honor the God of all were offended by the people with whom they lived, and fell into very many and serious griefs. I would go through the entire list of them if I were writing to a person who does not know exactly the divine Scripture. Since you, most beloved of God, have been brought up in divine words since childhood, I consider it unnecessary to do this. I only ask you to pay attention to them and those of the most humane priests who have caused offense, to mourn, and those who despise, to regret and mourn the storm of the church, and to the fact that we have become participants in suffering for piety, to rejoice and be merry and constantly praise the one who has honored us with such a fate. We will concede to the murderers honor and temporary benefits and the presidency and miserable glory. That you, Vladyka, do not forget our friendship - I knew this before and now I know it well. However, I wished and prayed that your piety would care about (dogmatic) accuracy and avoid communication with those who have betrayed piety, entrusting the care of us (and yourself) to the defender of all (cf. 2 Macc. IV, 21). After all, even when we are silent and live in silence, He destroyed the harshest and most severe punishments and instead of a heavy storm He gave this bright silence. since this was given to us by the humane-loving Master, we consider this peace to be most amiable. True, we recognize the need to convince those who have deviated from us as a result of slander against us, to show the truth of the Gospel dogmas and to expose the lies that have taken up arms against us. But after these exposures and the triumph of truth, we intend to retire from worries about public affairs (τὴν τῶν κοινῶν ἐπιμέλειαν) and return to the silence that is very desirable for us. About the enemies of the truth, we, together with the prophet, exclaim: their memory perishes with a noise: and the Lord abides forever (Psalm IX, 7.8). About ourselves we sing the following: He sent down from on high, and received me: They took me from many waters, and delivered me from my mighty enemies (Psalm XVII, 17.18). I am writing this now after I have already received two letters from your piety: one through Anastasius, presbyter of Vera, and the other through the draconian Theodotus. No one gave me any other letter that you clearly mention in these last letters. I cannot write anything about the journey there before I find out what order the most pious king made about us, for these letters have not yet arrived (to me). Letter 134. Bishop Theoctistus of Veria Someone asked the Savior and Lawgiver and Lord, what is the first commandment? And He answered this: love the Lord your God with all your soul, and with all your heart, and with all your mind (Matthew XXII, 37) and to this he added: this is the first commandment. The second is similar to it: love your sincere one as yourself (vv. 38. 39) and finally concluded this: in this both commandments the whole law and the prophets hang (v. 40). Therefore, it is clear that he who keeps them (these commandments) fulfills the law, as determined by the Lord; he who transgresses them becomes a transgressor of the whole law. So, let us, in a fair and righteous judgment of conscience, consider whether we have fulfilled these divine commandments? The first of them is fulfilled by one who maintains the divine faith intact, turning away those who fight against it as enemies of the truth, and passionately hating those who hate Him Whom he loves; the second (is performed) by the one who has special care for his neighbor and not only in happy circumstances, but also in those considered unfortunate, preserves the laws of friendship. Defeat Him, and become glorified by Him and ascend, disappearing like smoke (Psalm XXXVI, 20). The lies of the new heresy are condemned, the truth of the divine Gospels is clearly proclaimed. We, together with blessed David, exclaim: blessed is God, who alone does many miracles, and blessed is the name of His glory, and the whole earth will be filled with His glory: awaken, awaken (Psalm LXXI, 18.19). Letter 135. Bishop (of Chalcedon) Romilos (Ῥ ωμίλ ῳ) 300 We, even if we had as many lips as hair, are not able to adequately praise the humane Lord, because He forced even our worst opponents to preach exactly what we proclaim. We heard that the cohabitant of your love for God, having learned about the anathemas that took place in the great cities, 301 stopped imitating the backward path of crayfish and entered on the right path, discussing dogmas in a certain assembly. It is not necessary to adapt words over time, but to always and unswervingly maintain the rule of faith. Letter 136. To Magistrian Cyrus 302 So, I ask, let us surrender to the wise Ruler of the universe and accept with love all determinations, whatever they may be: joyful or sad. For this is useful and profitable, leads to wisdom and gives crowns to those who endure. Letter 137. To Archimandrite John 303 Blessed David sinned in some other things, and God, who wisely governed everything, commanded to write this down for the benefit of posterity. However, Absalom, a parricide and stained with blood, a godless, wicked and evil tyrant, not because of those (David’s sins) was inflamed with rage against his father, but, wanting to seize power, decided on an unjust war; but the divine David, when this happened, remembered the crime committed. Likewise, I am aware of many other crimes, but I kept the dogmatic teaching of the Apostles intact. Those who trampled upon the divine and human laws and condemned us as absent - they pronounced their decision not for what we sinned in (for the hidden things are unknown to them), but composed a false slander against us or, better said, out of obvious hostility to the apostolic dogmas, they excommunicated the one who follows them. But the Lord arose as if he were sleeping, and exposed his enemies, and gave them eternal reproach (Psalm LXXVII, 65.67). We have joyfully accepted the peace that has befallen us, and we are reaping useful and pleasant fruits from it. Our Christ-loving king (Marcian), having received the kingdom for his piety, brought the firstfruits of his reign to the Giver of the kingdom, giving silence to the overwhelmed churches, strength to the persecuted faith, and victory to the gospel dogmas. And first of all, he hastened to make amends for the offense caused to us. For who has ever heard of such or such great injustice? What murderer was tried in absentia? What attacker against marriages (adulterer) was convicted when he was not in court? What thief, or grave digger, or sorcerer, or blasphemer, or who committed anything else prohibited by law, was denied his desire to appear in court and was judged from afar? And nothing like this happened to such people, for the laws command that both the prosecuting and the accused appear before the judge, and that the judges wait for clear evidence and, based on them, either release him (the accused) as innocent, or punish him as guilty. Something completely opposite happened to us; for the royal letters did not allow us to go to that notorious council (Robbery Council), and the “most just” judges condemned the absentee, not only without examining the case, but also extolling with praise the notes drawn up to accuse us. Neither the divine law nor shame before people kept them from this slaughter (deposition) 305. But the chairman (Dioscorus), despising the truth and serving temporary power, ordered - and even those who thought the same as us, who had common dogmas and most of all admired our deeds, obeyed him. Thus, that time exposed some of betrayal, others of cowardice, and in suffering for the truth it gave us a reason for boldness, since the Lord Christ gave us not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for Him (Phil. I, 29), for the greatest gift is suffering for the Lord, and the divine Apostle places them above great miracles. And I, insignificant and insignificant, boasting of this and having no other pretext for praise, ask your nobility to bring a grateful voice and from my poverty to the Christ-loving king and the most pious and most God-loving Augusta (Pulcheria), teacher of all that is beautiful, since she repaid the generous Master with such gifts and made zeal for piety the foundation and support of the kingdom. In addition, beg their benevolent head to bring to an end what has been well proposed and to convene a council not from rebellious people and various rabble (let all such be removed!), but from those who are entrusted with the affairs of God and who highly value and prefer the truth to everything human. If their power desires (and this is beyond any doubt) to grant the churches the former peace, ask that their piety be present at the very meetings to intimidate with their presence those who strive for the opposite, and that the truth does not encounter any contradiction, but is examined in itself in accordance with the nature of things and the character of the apostolic dogmas. I ask your nobility about this not because I want to see Cyrrhus again (for your greatness knows the desolation of this town [τῆς πολίχνηςτὴν ἐρημίαν ] 306 the ugliness of which I myself, to a certain extent, covered up with various buildings that cost significant sums), but so that the agreement of our teaching with apostolic dogmas and so that the lies and wrongheadedness of our opponents are revealed. When this is accomplished, then - may God fulfill it! - I will spend the rest of the days complacently, wherever the Lord commands us to live. You, as one who has been brought up in piety and who has acquired the wealth of virtue, should also accept this zeal and with your exhortations make the most pious king and the Christ-loving Augusta, who already have the courage, even more courageous, so that they strengthen their all-glorious kingdom with this praiseworthy zeal. Letter 139. To the Consul (ὑπάτφ) and Patrician Aspar 307 I ask your Majesty to bring for us a confession of gratitude to the Christ-loving and victorious king and the most God-loving Augusta for the fact that in their piety (their) they gave a strong root to the pious kingdom, and to implore their power - for the establishment of lasting peace for the churches - to order that a council gather, but not from rebellious people who disturb the meeting, but from lovers of the truth, to establish the apostolic teaching and overthrow this new and evil heresy, so that you may receive fruits for these labors from the philanthropic Lord. Letter 141. To Archimandrite of the Unsleeping 309 Marcellus 310 A praiseworthy life adorns your piety, showing the image of angelic life on earth, but zeal for the apostolic faith makes it even more glorious. For what is the keel for a ship, and the foundation for a house, is also the truth of the apostolic dogmas for those who want to live piously. You courageously competed for this persecuted truth, exposing yourself to danger for it, not because it was weak, but revealing your God-loving disposition. The teaching of the Lord Christ is firm and strong, according to the promise of the Savior himself: the gates of hell, He says (Matt. XVI, 18), “will not prevail against it (the church). The humane and generous Lord has also deigned us to suffer dishonor and slaughter (deposition): for we consider dishonor to be honor and slaughter 311 to be life, since we heard the Apostle say: we have been granted not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for Him (Phil. I, 29). But, as if from a dream, the Lord arose (Psalm LXXVII, 65) and stopped the lips that spoke blasphemy against God and lies against us, and restored the tongues of the pious to pour out their streams into the usual flow. We reap the rewarding fruits of peace and grieve, seeing the storm of churches, but (at the same time) we rejoice and rejoice, because we stand far from all worries. And we constantly welcome your amazing piety in everything - and if we haven’t written for a long time, it’s not because we neglected the laws of friendship, but because we were waiting for some pretext for letters. Now, having met with the pious and wise monks who were sent by your reverence for other needs, we immediately fulfilled what we wanted and, kissing your God-loving head, we ask first of all to support us with prayers, and then to please us with your letters, for we, by divine grace, have become persecuted for our apostolic dogmas. Letter 142. To him (Archimandrite of the Unsleeping Markell) That there were (now) such, I don’t think, but only the followers of Arius and Eunomius and, of course, Apollinaris always boldly invented such slander against the church. And it is easy for diligent people to learn that the glorious fathers, the lamps of the churches, were subjected to the same accusation from the enemies of truth that we are now subjected to from the valiant champions of the new heresy. But the wise Lord exposed wickedness, not wanting to strengthen the wicked heresy with long-suffering. So, having made sure that you are writing to a fellow believer (and this is easy for you to recognize from many of my writings), respond with letters, since, if God wills, they will serve to ignite love. Before writing letters, give us the help of your prayers and beg our merciful Lord to guide our feet on the straight path, so that we can go through the rest of the race according to His laws: for you, by your pure life, having boldness (toward God), will easily convince Him who is always ready to do good. II. According to this, I consider those who rebel against the idea that there is something completely impossible for God, not from among people who are zealous and educated in the divine, but either those who do not have an accurate understanding of the apostolic dogmas, or those who, being enslaved to passions, change, depending on the circumstances, and affirm one thing or another. Since you asked me to write specifically about such persons, although I decided to remain silent at the present time, I see myself forced to speak briefly about this, following the commandment of the Master, who says: Give to everyone who asks you (Luke VI, 30). So, we say that for God all things are possible, meaning by the word “all things” only good and good, for, as wise and good by nature, He does not allow anything contrary to this, but only one thing consistent with His nature. If some object to our reasoning, ask them: can the God of all, the Lawgiver of truth, lie? If they say that lying is possible for God, then you will expel them from your society as wicked and blasphemous. If they also agree that this is impossible for the God of all, then you again ask them: is injustice possible for Him who is the source of truth? If they admit that this is also impossible for the God of all, then you need to ask them again: is it possible, in their opinion, for Him Who is the abyss of wisdom to become unreasonable, and also for God to become not God, the Lord - as if not the Lord, the Creator - not the Creator, the Good - not good, but evil, and the true light - not light, but the opposite of it? And that not the divine nature, but His body was nailed to the cross - the four Evangelists are witnesses to this, for they all teach in agreement that Joseph of Arimathea, having come to Pilate, asked for the body of Jesus, that he took down the body of Jesus from the cross, that, having wrapped the shroud, he laid the body of Jesus in his new tomb, and that those who came to the tomb together with Mary Magdalene They looked for the body of Jesus and, not finding the body of Jesus, ran to His disciples and announced this (Matt. XXVII, 57–60; Mark. XV, 43–46; Luke XXIII, 50–55; XXIV, 1–10; John XIX, 38–42). This habit can also be noticed in ordinary usage. We say: such and such died, such and such was buried in a certain place, when we know that the soul is immortal and does not share the coffin with the body. In the same way, the Angel said: come, see the place where the Lord lies (Matt. XXVIII, 6), not enclosing the deity in a coffin, but calling the body of the Lord by the name of the Lord. And that this was how it seemed to the holy fathers - let them listen to the glorious Athanasius, Archbishop of Alexandria, who adorned the bishopric with the confession: “life cannot die, and what’s more, it itself gives life to the dead” 320. Let them listen to the famous Damasus, Bishop of Rome, who says: “If anyone says that the deity suffered on the cross, and not the body and soul, the image of a servant, which He (God the Word) accepted as perfect: let him be anathema! 321) Let them listen to the most holy and pious Bishop of Rome, Mr. Leo, who now wrote: “That the Son of God suffered, this is because he could suffer, not according to the nature he received, but according to what he received: for the impassive nature took on a passionate body, and He (Christ the Savior) gave him up for us, in order to accomplish our salvation, and His own (i.e. preserved the divine nature dispassionate.” And again: “He (God the Word) came not to destroy His nature, but to save ours” 322. So, if we are accused of saying that God can do whatever He wants, but He only desires what corresponds to His nature, and He does not want and cannot do what does not correspond to it, then let them also accuse those fathers and, in general, all others who claimed the same thing. Let them also accuse the Apostle, who says: yes, two things are immutable, in them it is impossible to lie to God (Heb. VI, 18) and in another place: if we do not believe, He remains faithful: He cannot deny 323 Himself (2 Tim. II, 13). III. Remind those who object, and if they are convinced, praise the good Lord that through your efforts He has given benefit to them too. If they do not listen, stop all discussions with them about dogmas, for the divine Apostle commands not to give in to words, for any reason, to the ruin of those who hear (2 Tim. II, 14). And you keep the Gospel teaching intact, so that on the day of the appearance (of the Lord), having brought the deposit with the corresponding profit to the Judge, you will hear that most desired voice: Well done, good and faithful servant, you have been faithful for a little, I will set you over many: enter into the joy of your Lord (Matthew XXV, 21). Letter 145. To the monks of Constantinople 324 I. Those who have armed their tongues against our God and Savior are not doing anything new and amazing, taking up arms against His devoted servants with lies, for the servants need to participate in the reproach of the Master through the intense suffering they inflict on His behalf. The Lord Himself foretold this, comforting His holy disciples. He said this: if you cast out Me, you will also be cast out: if you disprove the lord of Beelzebub’s house, how much more will he cast out his household (Matthew X, 25; John XV, 20). Then He strengthens them and, having shown that slander is easy to endure, added: do not be afraid of them: for nothing is hidden that will not be revealed; and in secret, it will not be taken away (Matthew X, 26). In the same way, by performing Divine services in churches (λειτουργίας 328) at the beginning and at the end of the day and dividing the day itself into three parts, we glorify the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. If we preach two sons, as those slander, then whom do we glorify and whom do we leave without worship? After all, it would be extreme madness to believe in two sons, and bring glorification to only one. But who, hearing the divine Paul exclaim: one Lord, one faith, one baptism (Eph. IV, 5), and in another place: one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things (1 Cor. VIII, 6), could be so reckless as to decree anything contrary to the teaching of the Spirit and cut one in two? However, I am in vain expanding. Even those people brought up on lies do not dare to claim that they have ever heard us say this, but since we recognize the two natures of the Lord Christ, they say that we preach two sons. They do not want to pay attention to the fact that every person has an immortal soul and a mortal body, and, however, until this day no one has called Paul two Pauls, since he has both soul and body, or Peter two Peters, or Abraham, or Adam, but each recognizes the difference in natures, and does not call one two Pauls. In the same way, when we call our Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God, the God of the Word made man, both the Son of God and the Son of Man, as taught by the Divine Scripture, we are not talking about two sons, but we are only confessing the characteristics of Divinity and humanity. Naturally, they, denying the nature they received from us, are indignant when they hear these words. V. The Church, following in the footsteps of the apostles, sees in the Lord Christ both perfect Divinity and perfect humanity. Since He accepted a body not because He needed a body, but in order through it to grant immortality to all other bodies, in the same way He accepted a soul that rules the body, so that through it every soul would become a participant in immutability, for souls, although immortal, are not immutable, but are subject to many and frequent changes, delighting in one thing or another. That is why we sin, deviating from the right path and becoming attached to the worst. After the resurrection, bodies will enjoy immortality and incorruptibility, and souls will enjoy non-suffering and immutability. Therefore, having taken on body and soul, the Only Begotten Son of God preserved them free from all vice and sacrificed them for the (human) race. That is why He is called a bishop (Heb. IV, 14) - a bishop not as God, but as a man. And He himself was sacrificed as a man, and accepted it together with the Father and the Holy Spirit as God. Teaching the Divine Mysteries, breaking the symbol (bread) and distributing (it), He added: this is My body, which was broken for you for the remission of sins (Matthew XXVI, 26; Mark XIV, 22; Luke XXII, 19; 1 Cor. XI, 24); and again: this is My blood, which is shed for many for the remission of sins (Matt. XXVI, 28); and again: if you have not eaten the flesh of the Son of man, nor have you drunk His blood, you have not life in you; and also: whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood will have eternal life in himself (John VI, 53-54). Many other similar passages can be found in both the Old and New Testaments, proving the perception of both body and soul, as well as the fact that they (the body and soul of Jesus Christ) descend from Abraham and David. And Joseph of Arimathea, having come to Pilate, asked for the body of Jesus, and the quaternity of the sacred Gospels clearly teach us how he (Joseph) took the body, wrapped it in a shroud and delivered it to the tomb (Matt. XXVII, 57; Mark XV, 43; Luke XXVIII, 52; John XIX, 38) 331. I cry and groan that the evidence that I previously brought against those who accepted the defilement of Marcion (and I convinced more than ten thousand of them by Divine grace and led to holy baptism), the heresy that has arisen forces me to present it now against those who were considered to be of the same faith. Was there ever any doubt regarding their (evidence) for the pupils of the Church? Which of the holy fathers did not proclaim the same teaching?! The writings of the great Basil and his allies in the struggle, Gregory and Amphilochius, and those who shone in the West in the teaching of grace Damasus, the bishop of the great Rome, Ambrose of Milan and Cyprian of Carthage, who even accepted the crown of martyrdom for these very dogmas, are full of it. The famous Athanasius was expelled from his flock five times and forced to live in exile. And his teacher Alexander fought for these dogmas. True, the body remains a body, but it is already a non-suffering and immortal body, truly Divine and glorified by the Divine glory. Our life as God, says the Apostle (Philipp. III, 20-21), is in heaven, and from there we wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ: Who will transform the body of our humility, so that it may be conformed to the body of His glory. He did not say “to His glory,” but: “to the body of His glory.” And the Lord Himself, having said to the apostles: the essence of those standing here is pure, who have not tasted death, until they see the Son of man coming in the glory of the Father (Matthew XVI, 28), then, after six days, he led them up a very high mountain and was transfigured before them: “and His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became white as snow” (Matthew XVII, 1.2). By this He showed the image of the second coming, and since the perceived nature is not indescribable (this property belongs exclusively to the deity), He emitted the radiance of divine glory and produced rays of light that surpassed the limits of the perception of the eye. XV, 42 - 44), - into corruption, is raised in incorruption: it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power: it is sown not in honor, it is raised in glory: a spiritual body is sown, a spiritual body is raised; and in another place: We will be caught up into the clouds in the air, to the meeting of the Lord (1 Thessalonians IV, 17). If the bodies of saints become light, heavenly and move freely through the air, then it is not at all surprising when the Sovereign body, united with the Divinity of the Only Begotten, which became immortal after the Resurrection, penetrated through the closed doors. Many other similar apostolic and prophetic testimonies can be cited, but what has been said is enough to show the meaning of our teaching. If the co-slaves and co-equal (by origin) created natures, united and seemingly mixed, remain unmixed, and after the removal of light the nature of the air remains on its own, then how much more just to confess that the nature that created everything, having combined and united with what it received from us, itself remained whole, and likewise that which it received, it preserved intact! After all, when gold comes into contact with fire, it takes on the color and effect of fire, but does not lose its nature, but remains gold and acts like fire 332 . So the body of the Lord is a body, but it is a body that is impassive, incorruptible, immortal, Sovereign, Divine and glorified by Divine glory; it is not separate from the Divinity and is not the body of anyone else, but of the Only Begotten Son of God Himself; it shows us no other face, but the Only Begotten Himself, who took on our nature. VII. This is the doctrine we constantly preach. And people who deny the dispensation that was for our sake called us heretics, acting like dissolute wives, for even these, who publicly trade in their beauty, revile chaste women with common curses and apply the names of their own debauchery to those who turn away from this debauchery. The Egyptian (harlot, i.e. Dioscorus) did the same, for, having loved the slavery of shameful desire and preferring slavish flattery to chaste prudence, then ceasing to be seductive, but unable to extricate herself from the net of voluptuousness, she calls the lover of chastity the thief of another's bed. Such will give an account to God both of their plans against the faith and of their machinations against us. I ask those who are inclined to slander that they save at least one ear for the accused, and not leave both to the accusers. In this way they will fulfill that Divine law, which clearly states: do not accept the hearing of vanity (Ex. XXIII, 1) and: bring righteous judgment in the midst of a man, and in the midst of his neighbor (Deut. I, 16). II. As some claim, the following circumstance is stirring up a lot of talk in the city: while the elders, concluding the prayer with the usual exclamation, said - some: “For glory is due to You, and to Your Christ, and to Your Holy Spirit,” - others: “By the grace and love of Thy Christ, with Him glory is due to You with Your Holy Spirit,” - the wisest archdeacon began to insist that it is not Christ who needs to be mentioned. but to glorify the Only Begotten. If this is true, then it means that he exceeds every measure of wickedness. He either divides our one Lord Jesus Christ into two sons and considers the Only Begotten Son legal and natural, while Christ is adopted and illegitimate and therefore unworthy of praise, or he tries to establish the heresy that is now raging. And connecting with such an introduction a blessing, he draws it from the same source and combines the name of the Son with God and the Father, saying: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ (Rom. I, 7). And he decorates the conclusions of the epistles with the same blessing: the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you all, Amen (Rom. XVI, 24). And that He, as God, is also the eternal king, this is again taught by the prophetic hymn, which says: Your throne, God, is forever and ever: the scepter of righteousness is the scepter of your kingdom (Psalm XLIV, 7). By this, David shows us the human power of Him (Jesus Christ), for, having dominion over everything, as God and Creator, He receives it as a man; That is why the psalmist added: Thou hast loved righteousness, and thou hast hated iniquity: therefore, for the sake of anointing Thee, Thy God, Thy God, with the oil of gladness is more than Thy partaker (v. 8). And in the second psalm the Anointed One himself says: And I am appointed king by Him over Zion by His holy mountain, proclaiming the commandment of the Lord. The Lord spoke to me: You are My Son, I have given birth to You today. Ask from Me, and I will give You the tongues of Your inheritance, and Your possession of the ends of the earth (Psalm II, 6–8). He said this as a man, for as a man, He accepts what He has, like God. And at the beginning of the same psalm, prophetic grace puts Him together with God and the Father, saying: Why are the nations reeling, and people having learned in vain? The kings of the earth appeared, and the princes gathered together against the Lord and against His Christ (Psalm II: 1-2). So, let no one think of any other Christ than the only begotten Son; Let us not consider ourselves wiser than the grace of the Spirit, but let us listen to the great Peter, who exclaims: You are the Christ, the Son of the living God (Matthew XVI: 16). Let us listen to the Lord Christ, who confirmed this confession: on this rock, He said, I will build My church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it (Matthew XVI, 18). Therefore, the wise Paul, the most excellent builder of churches, did not lay down any other foundation, but this same foundation: for I, he says (1 Cor. III, 10.11), “as a wise architect laid the foundation: but he edifies: let each one take heed how he edifies. For no one can lay the foundations of anything more than the one who lies down, who is Jesus Christ (1 Cor. III, 10.11). Therefore, how can they invent another foundation, when the command is not to lay foundations, but to build on what has been laid? That divine man (Paul) recognizes Christ as the foundation and is glorified by this name; he says: I have been crucified with Christ: no one lives, but Christ lives in me (Gal. II, 19.20); again: for me to live, Christ: and for me to die, gain (Phil. And Isaiah, having ridiculed the making of idols (with words): he burned the floor of it (wood) with fire, and baked the meat, poison, and said: it is sweet to me, for I sinned, and saw the fire (Isa. XLIV, 16), added: from the rest make like a god, and bows to him, saying: deliver me, for you are my God (v. 17). Therefore, mourning them, he (Isaiah) says: consider that their heart is ashes (v. 20). And the songwriter David taught us to chant: For all Gods are the tongue of the devil: But the Lord made the heavens (Psalm XCV, 5). XI, 26) thus, saying: he will understand seven other spirits that are bitter to himself, and they will enter into him: and the last will be worse for that man than the first 336. But such namesake does not offend the pious, since one by nature God is only the Father and His Only Begotten Son and His All-Holy Spirit, and one by nature the Son, the only begotten of the Father - God the Word incarnate, our Lord Jesus Christ, and one Holy Spirit - the Comforter, Who completes the number of (members) of the Trinity. In the same way, although many are called fathers, we worship one Father, the eternal Father, who gave this name to people, according to the word of the Apostle: “I bow my knees,” he says (Eph. III, 14), “to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from Him every fatherland in heaven and on earth is named 337.” Knowing this and the like, those who, through the love of the generous Lord, have been honored with divine gifts, constantly carry in their mouths this most desirable name of Him and exclaim in the words of the Song of Songs (II, 3): My brother is mine, and I am his: I have longed and sat in his shadow, and his fruit is sweet in my throat. In addition, we received the beloved name that we bear from the name of Christ, for we are called Christians. Predicting about this name, the God of all things said: those who work will call me a new name, which will be blessed on earth (Isa. LXV, 15-16). That is why the Church especially adheres to this name, for when the Only Begotten Son of God became man, then He began to be called Christ, then the nature of people received rays of rational light, then the preachers of truth enlightened the universe. And the teachers of the Church have always indifferently used these names of the Only Begotten. They either glorify the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, or the Father with Christ and the Holy Spirit, but as for the meaning, there is no difference in both cases. 17); he speaks here of the future as of something that has already happened, for we have not yet been granted immortality, but only have to receive it, and having received it, we will not become incorporeal, but will only be clothed in immortality. “We do not want,” says the divine Apostle, “to be naked, but to be naked, so that we may be devoured with a lifeless belly (2 Cor. V, 4); and again: it is fitting for this corruptible to put on incorruption, and for this dead thing to put on immortality (1 Cor. XV, 53). Thus, he did not say that the Lord is incorporeal, but that visible nature is incorruptible and immortal, and also taught to believe that it is glorified by divine glory. He taught us about this in the clearest way in his Epistle to the Philippians: our life as God, he says here, is in heaven; therefore we wait for the Lord Jesus as the Savior: He will transform the body of our humility, so that it may be conformed to the body of His glory (Phil. III, 20-21). With these words he clearly taught that the Master's body is a body, but a divine body and glorified by divine glory. And a little earlier, he said this: For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole fatherland in heaven and on earth is named (vv. 14. 15). And much lower he says: We always give thanks for all of you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God and the Father (Eph. V, 20). He rewards the generosity of the Philippians with the following blessings: May my God fulfill every demand of you according to His riches in the glory of Christ Jesus (Phil. IV, 19). And he begged the Jews with these words: May the God of peace, who raised from the dead a shepherd to the sheep of the great blood of the everlasting covenant, our Lord Jesus, confirm you in every deed of His will, to do His will, doing in you that which is pleasing in His sight by Jesus Christ. To him be glory forever. Amen (Heb. 13:20–21). And not only in praises, but also in exhortations and testimonies, he unites Christ with God and the Father. So in his letter to Timothy he exclaims: I will testify before God, and 348 Jesus Christ (1 Tim. V, 21); and again: I bequeath to you before God the one who gives life to all things, and Christ Jesus who testified under Pontius Pilate the good confession: that you keep the commandment undefiled, without shame, even until the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ: who in due time will appear the blessed and only mighty King of kings, and the Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, in the living light is unapproachable, but no one has seen him from a person can see below: he has honor and eternal power. Amen (1 Tim. VI, 13–16). We were taught this from the divine Apostles, the same teaching was brought to us by John and Matthew, the greatest streams of gospel preaching. The latter said: the book of the kinship of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham (Matthew I, 1), and the first showed what was before the ages: in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was to God, and God was the Word: He was from the beginning to God, and again: all this came to be (John I, 1-3). Letter 147. To Bishop John of Germanicia 349. IV. After all, we also confess that the Word of God is immortal and is life; but we believe that It “was made flesh” (John I, 14), that is, having united flesh with itself with a rational soul, it suffered in the flesh, according to the Scriptures; and when His body suffered, it is said that Itself (the Word) suffered, although by nature It is impassive; and when His body was resurrected - for “His flesh saw no corruption” (cf. Psalm XV. 10. Acts II. 27.31), - it is said that the Word Himself was raised for the dead. But he (Nestorius) does not think so, but argues that suffering and resurrection belonged to man and that the human body is offered in the sacraments. We believe that the flesh of the Word has life-giving power because both flesh and blood belonged to the Word that gives life to everything. V. Unable to bear such expressions, he (Nestorius) instructed Celestius 354 to draw up a written complaint against the presbyter Philip 355, who denounced him and no longer wanted to have communication with him (συναφθῆναι) because of his heresy. And in that written complaint the accusation was that he (Philip) was supposedly a Manichaean. Then (Nestorius) called that man (Philip) to the council. He, fulfilling the canonical requirement, came there, ready to justify himself. After Celestius could not prove anything, he (Celestius) disappeared and did not come (more) to the council. VI. Having failed on this side, he (Nestorius) resorted to another pretext. It was he who asked (Philip): “Why did you hold private meetings and make a (liturgical) offering in an (ordinary) house?” But since almost the entire clergy began to say: “and each of us, according to need, when it happens, does this,” he (Nestorius) made a decision to depose this man (Philip). These are for you (Posidonius) the points containing the most important of Nestorius’s blasphemies. Letter 149. List of the letter written by John, Bishop of Antioch, to Nestorius 356 II. We needed to consider together some questions about useful objects; but since our mistakes caused great confusion in the churches, I was forced to let your reverence know about what was recently written to us from Rome and Alexandria. All the Alexandrian clerics sent me several messages in which they write about your piety; (there is also) one message from the most holy Bishop Celestine, others from the most God-loving Bishop Cyril. Sending the lists from them to you, I ask you to read them with such a disposition of soul that no anxiety arises in your mind, from which disputes and harmful disagreements often arise, and also do not consider this matter unimportant: for the devil, arousing pride, magnifies many insignificant matters and leads them to such heretical extremes that they can no longer be corrected. Therefore, read these letters carefully, and allow one of the people who are like-minded with you to consider the matter at hand, giving them the right to say what is useful, and not what is pleasant. After all, if many, having diligently begun to consider this matter, are free from all fear, then they will easily come to an agreement, and what seems (now) gloomy (then) will immediately appear bright. III. My lord, the most God-loving Bishop Celestine, as can be seen from his letter, set a very short period, defining only ten days for the answer; but this work can be done in just one day, even in a few hours. For in the teaching about the salvation of us by Christ, the king of all, it is quite easy to take the word (Theotokos) appropriate to Him, used by many fathers, corresponding to the saving birth of (Him) from the Virgin. Your Reverence should not reject this (Word) as something in which there is no danger. Nor should one make the excuse that it is not proper to speak out against oneself. After all, if your mind thinks in the same way as the fathers and teachers of the Church (and we know this about you, Vladyka, through many mutual friends), then why bother to openly express a pious thought in a word corresponding to this thought - and especially at a time when such anxiety and such a dispute began from you? So, know, most beloved of God, that everywhere - both in places far from us and close to us - everything has come into strong movement, and everywhere one can hear talk about the same thing. Some great storm suddenly overtook the churches: everywhere believers are being separated from one another from day to day as a result of this reason. That this is exactly the case is clear from the very deeds: the West, Egypt and even Macedonia decided to break away from the unity that the grace of God bestowed on many churches through the later and labors of the holy and glorious bishops, and especially the holy and common father to us in all things, the great Acacius. And who will judge you when you say what you think? On the contrary, will not everyone approve when you accept the name, the meaning of which your reverence, as we know, has assimilated, in order to thereby preserve prosperity and peace in the universal Church? If you like, I consider it timely to point you to one wonderful example that you, as I wish, would remember. Not much time has passed since we had this for it to be forgotten. In fact, we, of course, only for the sake of excessive precision in view of heretical malice, unjustly disregard the conscience of our brothers and listen to it without any need, rejecting the word, the meaning of which we recognize as correct and true. And if we do not accept it with the meaning that it contains, then we will inevitably fall into many errors, but rather, we will be torn away from the ineffable economy of the Only Begotten Son of God. For as soon as this word is rejected, and therefore the meaning that it contains, then the thought will follow that the One who for our sake accomplished the ineffable economy is not God, was not God, and that God the Word did not reduce Himself to the image of a servant (Phil. II, 7), in order to show the greatness of the ineffable love for us; Meanwhile, Holy Scripture especially affirms (God’s) love for us when it says that the pre-eternal, co-eternal and Only Begotten Son of God was dispassionately born of the Virgin, about which the divine Apostle said so: God’s ambassador His Son, begotten 360 of a woman (Gal. IV, 4). V. Please accept this advice from us; do what we urge you to do; do not give a reason for a new opinion to bring disagreement and division into the Church. Think about it: if before these letters were sent there were many who were unkind to us, then now how many will there be who, having received courage as a result of these letters, will openly speak against us? I wrote this letter to you in the presence of many most God-loving bishops, favored by your love for God, who happened to be with me at the time those unpleasant letters were delivered to me. I thought that with this I would fulfill my friend’s duty, according to my promise, and with brotherly advice I would help your mind, tired of present circumstances, to judge correctly. I ask your love for God to accept without dispute this advice, which I offer with a feeling of reverence for God and love for you to establish the peace of the Church. I offer it not only to me, but to all my brethren in the Lord, who, as I said, are with me, my lord, the most God-loving Bishop Archelaus, and with him those who are Apringius, Theodoret, Iliad, Meletius and Macarius, who, by the grace of God, recently became primate of the Laodicean Church of God. All of them, firmly holding to the dogmatic teaching, and warmed, like me, by love for you, ask you, Vladyka, to show humility by delving into the contents of those letters, the power of which is more formidable than a storm: it will not outrage or alarm if we are compliant, but will overthrow if we begin to resist it. Considering your matter to be our own, we decided to offer you this advice, you yourself accept it complacently, do not even look if one of our ill-wishers - to the detriment of their own and the common one - begins to inspire you to neglect this matter. Please, I ask you, in response to this letter, tell me what you think; write - better - not what you think, but what serves the good. Letter 150. Epistle of Theodoret, Bishop of Cyrus, to John 361, Bishop of Antioch 362 I was extremely saddened when I read the anathemas that you sent to us with the order to refute them in writing and expose their heretical meaning to everyone. I was saddened by the fact that the husband, who was entrusted with the task of shepherding and entrusting such a flock and commanded to heal the weak sheep, is not only sick himself, and very seriously, but also tries to infect those who are raised with the disease, and torments his flock worse than wild animals. After all, these (beasts) kidnap and torment sheep that are lost and separated from the flock; and he, being in the middle of it and considered a savior and guardian, introduces hidden error into those who obey him. For when someone openly fights, he can protect himself, but if, under the guise of friendship, he prepares deceit, he finds the one he is fighting against unprepared and easily harms him. Therefore, internal enemies are much worse than external ones. And against the audacity of the curse, I will only say that Paul, the most great preacher of the truth, anathematized those who damaged the evangelical and apostolic dogmas, daring to do this even against Angels (Gal. I, 8), and not those who abide in the definitions betrayed by the theologians (δροις), for such he protected with blessings, saying: By this they live, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God (Gal. VI, 16). So, let the father of such words gather from the apostolic curse the fruits of his labors and sheaves of heretical seeds; we will remain with the teaching of the holy fathers. I have attached to this message my objections, so that you, after reading, can see whether we have greatly destroyed the heretical proposals. To each of the anathemas, taken separately, I made an objection, so that it would be easier for readers to understand and expose such opinions more clearly. St. Petersburg 1907, XII, 16 – Sunday. Letter 151. Theodoret to the monks of Euphrates, Ozroina, Syria, Phenicia and Cilicia 363 But, showing that one is God by nature, the other is a church, and both are one Christ, He (the Lord) says: Destroy this church, and in three days I will raise it up, clearly teaching that what is being destroyed is not God, but the church. And only the nature of the latter accepts destruction, while the power of the former (deity) erects what is being destroyed. One could cite countless other sayings from the divine Gospels and from the apostolic writings and from prophetic predictions - sayings showing that our Lord Jesus Christ is the true God. V. And that after His incarnation He is also called a man, the Lord himself teaches this, reasoning with the Jews and exclaiming (John X, 40): Why do you seek to kill Me, a man who spoke the truth? - and blessed Paul in the first letter to the Corinthians, saying: for death was made by man, and the resurrection of the dead by man (1 Cor. XV, 21). And, showing who he (Paul) is talking about, he explains what was said in these words: just as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will live (v. 22). Similarly, he says in his letter to Timothy: there is one God, and one mediator for God and man, the man Jesus Christ (1 Tim. II, 5). And in Acts, in a speech to the assembly of the Athenians, he says: despising the years of ignorance, 374 God now commands man to repent everywhere: he has not appointed the day, in which he wants to judge the world in righteousness, about the man whom he ordained, giving faith to everyone, raising him from the dead (Acts XVII, 30. 31). And blessed Peter, reasoning with the Jews, says: O men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man of God made known in you signs and wonders and powers 375 which God 376 hath done (Acts II: 22). Apollinaris also adds the irrational soul to the body, as if the incarnation of God the Word was for the sake of the irrational, and not the rational. The teaching of the Apostles teaches that a perfect man was accepted by a perfect God, for this is meant by the words: Who in the form of God received the form of a servant (Philipp. II, 6.7); since here the word “image” is used in the sense of nature and essence, it is clear that this will amount to the expression that he who has the nature of God has accepted the nature of a slave. Therefore, we, competing with the first inventors of wickedness - Marcion, Manes and Valentinus - try to show from the divine Scriptures that the Lord Christ is not only God, but also man. And in order to clearly present to those who do not know the complete worthlessness of Arius, Eunomius and Apollinaris regarding the economy, we reveal from the divine sayings of the Spirit that the perceived nature is a perfect nature. Further, we expose the wickedness of Sabellius, Photinus, Marcellus and Paul, bringing as witnesses the Divine Scripture and showing that the Lord Christ is not only human, but also the eternal God and consubstantial with the Father. VII. 379 So we affirm that all things human are the Lord Christ, that is, hunger, thirst, fatigue, sleep, fear, sweat, prayer, ignorance and all the like belong to our firstfruits, having received which God the Word united with Himself, accomplishing our salvation. But we believe that the walking of the lame, the raising of the dead, the abundance (multiplying) of loaves, the turning of water into wine and all other miracles are works of divine power. Therefore, I affirm that the Lord Christ Himself both suffered and destroyed suffering - suffered according to visible nature, and destroyed suffering according to the ineffable deity that dwelt (in Him). This is clearly revealed by the history of the sacred Gospels. We learn from there how the one reclining in a manger and wrapped in swaddling clothes is proclaimed by a star, receives worship from the Magi and is sung by the Angels, and we piously reason that rags and swaddling clothes and the absence of a cradle and great poverty belong to humanity; the coming of the Magi and the guiding stars and the choir of Angels proclaim the divinity that hid it within itself. So, He flees to Egypt and by his flight gets rid of Herod’s fury, for he was a man; but He, according to the prophet (Isa. XIX, 1) 380, shakes (overthrows) the idols of Egypt, since He was God. He is circumcised, keeps the law and offers a sacrifice of purification, for he grew from the root of Jesse (Isa. XI, 1). He was under the law as a man, but then he destroyed the law and gave a new covenant, because he was a lawgiver and he himself promised to give it through the prophets. He was baptized by John: - this shows human nature. But He is testified by the Father and shown by the Spirit: this proclaims His pre-eternal nature. He was hungry, but he also fed many thousands with five loaves: the last is divine, and the first is human. He thirsted and asked for water, but was the source of life: - the first refers to human weakness, the second to divine power. He slept on the ship, but calmed the storm of the sea (Matthew VIII, 24 ff. Mark IV, 38 ff. Luke VIII, 23 ff.): this is a manifestation of a passionate nature, this is a creative nature, arranging and giving existence to everything. He grew weary on the journey (Jn. IV, 6), but made the lame fleet-footed and raised the dead from their graves: the latter refers to transcendental strength, and the former to our weakness. He was afraid of death (Matthew XXVI, 38 ff. Mark He was crucified, - according to the word of blessed Paul (2 Cor. XIII, 4), - in weakness, but alive by the power of God, according to the testimony of the same Apostle (2 Cor. XIII, 4). Let the name “weakness” teach that He was taken not as omnipotent, indescribable, immutable and unchangeable, but that the nature revived by the power of God, according to the teaching of the Apostle, died and was buried: both relate to the image of a servant. He crushed the copper gates and broke the iron ropes (Psalm CV, 16), destroyed the power of death and erected His church in three days: - all this makes clear the image of God, according to the expression of the Lord: Destroy this church, and in three days I will raise it up (John II, 19). Thus, through suffering we see humanity in Christ alone, and through miracles we understand His divinity 381. We do not separate two natures into two Christs 382 and recognize that God the Word was born of the Father, and our firstfruits was received from the seed of Abraham and David. Therefore, blessed Paul, speaking about Abraham, says: He does not say: and by seed, as many, but as one: and to your seed, who is Christ (Gal. III, 16). And he writes to Timothy: remember Jesus Christ, who was raised from the dead, from the seed of David, according to my gospel (2 Tim. II, 8). And in the letter to the Romans he says: about his Son, who was from the seed of David according to the flesh (Rom. I, 3); and again: theirs are the fathers, and from them is Christ according to the flesh (Rom. IX: 5). And the Evangelist: the book of the kinship of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham (Matt. I, 1). And blessed Peter in the Acts says: the prophet David, and the one who knew, as God swears to him with an oath, from the fruit of His loins will raise up Christ and place him on the throne. Him, foreseeing the verb about His resurrection (Acts II, 30-31). And God says to Abraham: Through your seed all the nations of the earth will be blessed (Gen. Therefore, if Christ is only God and received the beginning of being from the Virgin, then let the Virgin be called and called only the Mother of God, as having given birth to God by nature. If Christ is both God and man and was eternal (for He did not begin to be, since He was co-eternal with Him who gave birth), at the end of time He grew from human nature; - then whoever wants to recognize both the first and the second as dogmas, let him apply these names to the Virgin, showing which of them are appropriate to nature and which to combination. If someone wanted to speak panegyricly, compose hymns and pronounce praises and wished, out of necessity, to use the most honorable names, not arguing dogmatically, as I said, but extolling and marveling at the greatness of the sacrament: let him fulfill his desire, let him use great names, let him praise and marvel! We, of course, find a lot of this in Orthodox teachers, but let moderation be respected in everything. I praise the one who said that “moderation is best,” 383 although he did not belong to our herd. IX. Such is the confession of the church faith, such is the dogma of the teachings of the Gospel and the Apostles, for which we - of course, with the assistance of the grace of God - will not refuse to die three times and generally many times. This is what we zealously and fearlessly taught those who are now in error and repeatedly challenged them to reasoning, trying to show them the truth, but did not convince them: for, fearing the evidence of evidence, they avoided competition, since lies in truth were rotten (powerless) and inseparable from darkness: “everyone,” says the Savior (John III, 20), “does evil, does not come to the light, lest his deeds 384 be exposed by the light.” So, since, having worked a lot, we did not convince them to admit the truth, we retired to our churches 385, struck by sorrow and joy: joy because of our infallibility, and sorrow because of the corruption of many members. X. Therefore, I ask your holiness to fervently plead for us with the philanthropic Master and cry out to Him: “Have mercy, O Lord, on Your people and do not give up Your inheritance to reproach (Joel II: 17). Forbid us, Lord, so that we do not become like from the beginning, when You did not (as it were) rule over us and when Your name was not named among us (Isa. LXIII, 19). See, Lord, that we have become a laughing stock among our neighbors, a reproach and disgrace among those around us (Psalm LXXVIII, 4), because evil dogmas have entered into (Your) inheritance and have desecrated Your holy church (Psalm LXXVIII, 1), so that at the sight of our misfortunes the daughters of foreigners rejoiced (2 Kings I, 20), since we who were once agreed and like-minded 386, divided into many languages. Lord our God, grant us the peace that we have lost by despising Your commandments. Lord, we know no other besides You, we call Your name (Isa. XXVII, 12-13); make both one and the middle wall of the fence - the wickedness that has arisen - destroy (Eph. II, 14). He who builds Jerusalem and gathers the exiles of Israel (Psalm CXLVI, 2. Isa. XVI, 15); and in another place: I and the Father are one (John X, 30). One could find countless other evidences showing that the essence of the Father and the Son is one and the same. He did not become God, but was, for in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was to God, and God was the Word (John I, 1). He was not a man, but became, - became, having taken on our nature; and blessed Paul speaks about this: Who is in the image. He who is God, was not equal to God by admiration, but made Himself lesser, taking on the form of a servant (Philipp. II, 6-7); and again: when an angel receives it, he does not receive it, but from the seed of Abraham he receives (Heb. II, 16); and again: since then the children have communed with flesh and blood, and sincerely they have also communed with the same (Heb. II, 14). So, He was passionate and impassive, mortal and immortal: - passionate and mortal, like a man, passionless and immortal, like God. As God, He raised His dead flesh, for these are His words: Destroy this church, and in three days I will raise it up (Jn. And that those who say that we honor two sons are slandering is clear evidence of this matter. For those who come to all-holy baptism we teach the faith set forth in Nicaea - performing the sacrament of rebirth (rebirth), we baptize believers in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, pronouncing each name separately 391, and, constantly holding divine services in churches, we usually glorify the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit - not sons, but the Son. Therefore, if we are talking about two sons, then who is glorified by us and whom do we leave unhonored? After all, we have not fallen into such madness that, speaking about two sons, we would not give the other any honor 392. From here it is obvious that this is slander, for we worship one Only Begotten Son, God the Word made man, and we call the Holy Virgin the Mother of God, since she gave birth to Emmanuel, which means: God is with us (Matthew I, 23). And the prophet, having predicted about Emmanuel, wrote again about Him a little lower: A Son was born unto us, and was given unto us, His principality upon His frame: and His name is called: Great of counsel, Angel, Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Ruler, Prince of Peace, Father of the age to come (Isa. IX, 6). If a baby born of a Virgin is called the mighty God, then in justice the one who gave birth is called the Mother of God: for the one who gave birth participates in the honor of the one born and is the Virgin and Mother of the Lord Christ, as a man, and at the same time his servant (Luke I, 38) as Lord, Creator and God. Such a teaching was taught to us by the divine prophets, the same by the face of the holy Apostles, the same by the famous saints in the East and West: - the famous Ignatius, who accepted the dignity of the bishopric by the right hand of the great Peter and for confessing Christ became food for wild animals; the great Eustathius, who presided over the council meeting (in Nicaea) and was forced to live in exile for his ardent zeal for piety; this same teaching was proclaimed by Meletius, who endured the same suffering (with Eustathius), for he too was expelled from his flock three times for his apostolic dogmas; the same teaching (proclaimed) by Flavian, who adorned the throne there (of Constantinople); this same teaching (proclaimed) Ephraim, the organ of divine grace, who left us many useful things in his writings in the Syriac language; and the glorious Cyprian, who ruled Carthage and all of Libya and accepted death from fire for Christ, and Damasus, who ruled the great Rome, and Ambrose, who adorned the throne of Milan - they all preserved the same (teaching) in their writings and sermons in Latin. However, they, although they heard the imperial letter and the suggestions of the most magnificent Comite Candidian, caring little about deanery, broke the eggs of the asps and set up a spider weave 397 - according to the prophet, but whoever eats from their eggs, breaking the tuck will find a basilisk in it (Isa. LIX, 5). Therefore, we boldly cry: they will not stand on a robe, and will not be clothed with the work of their hands (v. 6). So, having seen many of their outrages (for they locked the churches and holy monuments [chapels, τὰ ἅ για μαριίρια; see p. 422.1] of the martyrs, they did not allow the feast of St. Pentecost and, in addition, sending the servants of their tyrannical outrage into the homes of bishops and making terrible threats, forcing them to sign what they illegally dared to do), we deposed the above-mentioned Cyril and Memnon and deprived them of their bishoprics, and the accomplices of their outrage, attracted either by flattery or fear, excommunicated them from (church) communion until, having felt their ulcers, they will sincerely repent and, having anathematized the heretical “chapters” of Cyril, who agree with the wickedness of Apollinaris, Arius and Eunomius, will again accept the faith of the holy fathers gathered in Nicaea, and, having peacefully and without any noise gathered at the council, according to the pious instructions of our Christ-loving emperors, they will want to carefully examine with us controversial subjects and honestly (without guile) to preserve the pure light of the gospel faith. Letter 154. Same message 398 to the Senate of Constantinople 399 The God-loving and Christ-loving Senate, the holy council, rejoice in the Lord. We grieve greatly, forced to inform your magnificence about the cutting off of our own members. For, although the removal of rotten members is necessary, it also causes severe pain to the rest of the body. If one soul suffers, says Blessed Paul, all people suffer with him (1 Cor. XII: 26). But doctors should not refuse to cut off useless and harmful members. After all, a prudent and wise physician of the body, having in mind the health of other members, does not spare a rotten member in order to protect the safety of the whole body. We have done the same thing now. For we saw that Cyril, Bishop of Alexandria, and Memnon (Bishop) of Ephesus were committing various crimes against the Church of God and filled the (entire) city and the holy cathedral with confusion and fear, using Egyptian shipmen and Asian villagers as instruments of their violence; they did not wait for the holiest and most godly bishops invited (to the council), did not respect the letters of our most God-loving and Christ-loving emperors, and did not listen to the suggestions and admonitions of the most magnificent and glorious 400 comite Candidian; but they have created disorder in all sacred matters of piety, they do everything illegally and unlawfully, they have prevented the celebration of the feast of St. Pentecost, they locked the divine churches and sanctuaries (chapels, σηκούς; see p. 422.1) of the good-victorious martyrs, so that it was impossible for those who wanted to pray, even those who came from afar, eager to kiss the tombs of the saints and good-victorious martyrs, especially the blessed John the Theologian and Evangelist, who great boldness towards our Master. Therefore, we were forced to depose the aforementioned Cyril and Memnon and deprived them of their bishoprics, and we excommunicated those who, through flattery or fear, contributed to their self-will and tyranny, from (church) communion, proportioning the (corrective) punishment to their voluntary repentance. For if they feel their guilt, abandon heretical evil, again accept the faith of the holy fathers who gathered in Nicaea in Bithynia, and, uniting with us (according to the letters of our most pious and Christ-loving emperors) at the council, will examine controversial subjects with the calmness befitting priests; then they will be released from the bonds of excommunication and will again receive priestly ministry. Letter 155. Epistle (report) of John, Bishop of Antioch, and those who were with him (bishops) to the clergy of Constantinople 401 Your piety, of course, learned about the illegal and illegal actions of Cyril of Alexandria, Memnon of Ephesus and others who take their side: - contrary to the charter of our most pious and Christ-loving emperors, they formed a separate council. Therefore, we considered it necessary to let your piety know that everything they dared to do was a spider’s act 402, according to the word of the prophet (Isa. LIX, 5). Those who dared to do this themselves, that is, Cyril and Memnon, as the leaders of disorder and illegality, were deposed by us and deprived of their bishopric; and we excommunicated those who chose to gather with them from (church) communion until, having realized their guilt, they anathematize the heretical “chapters” of Cyril of Alexandria and unsophistically (without guile) accept the faith of the holy fathers gathered in Nicaea of ​​Bithynia. So, let not your reverence be disturbed by any of those who are in the habit of acting in this way (i.e., disturbing the peace of others), for, as we have already explained, their illegal and daring acts have no power. We also brought this to the attention of our pious and Christ-loving emperor and the most magnificent nobles 403. Letter 156. Same message to the people of Constantinople 404 To the most reverent, most faithful and Christ-loving people of the holy Church of God in Constantinople. But Cyril of Alexandria, apparently born and raised for the destruction of churches, having accepted the insolence of Memnon of Ephesus as an aid, transgressed your meek and pious command, showing himself to be uninitiated in everything. For - when your Majesty (κράτους) ordered to carry out a study and thorough investigation of the faith, with general unanimity and peace, - Cyril, accused of the teachings of Apollinaris, or - better - convicted himself of it with those writings that he, under his own signature, recently sent to the reigning city along with anathemas, in which exposed in his unanimity with the wicked and heretic Apollinaris, he (Cyril), not paying any attention to all this, as if during an interregnum, falls into all kinds of illegality. And when he had to give an account of his false opinion about our Lord Jesus Christ, he, having arrogated to himself power that was not given to him either by the canons or by your decrees, produces all manner of disorder and lawlessness. For we know that you will prefer nothing to the sound faith in which you and your blessed ancestors were raised; from them you have successively received the scepter of the kingdom and always depose those who oppose the apostolic dogmas. These include the aforementioned Cyril, who, with the help of his accomplice Memnon, took possession of Ephesus, as if some kind of fortress, and therefore was rightly subjected to deposition together with him (Memnon). For - in addition to what has been said - they attempted any offense, any outrage against us, who gathered here, not caring about (their) cities, or about the fatherland, or about themselves, as was determined by your decree. However, already before, in another message, we explained to your magnificence what calamities we were subjected to when, having received through the most amazing 415 Master Palladius the message of our most pious and Christ-loving emperors, we intended to pray in the church of the holy Apostles (τὸ ἅ γιον ᾽ Αποστόλιον) 416: after all, then they not only forbade us to pray, but also attacked us with stones and pursued us for a long time. You, however, are the child of piety and shine with every virtue, so that your glory spreads in the mouths of all people, and you courageously stand up for the holy Church, making every effort to ensure that the wind favorable to it constantly blows; Therefore, we ask your Majesty to present our messages to our most pious and Christ-loving emperor and take every possible care so that the present confusion subsides and, without any noise or indignation, a general council gathers, at which both opposing sides would be present when discussing controversial subjects. Letter 161. Report of John, Archbishop of Antioch, and those with him to the Emperor (Theodosius II), sent with Master Palladius 417 The affirmation of the Orthodox faith, pious emperors, truly consists in destroying everything done illegally and already rejected by the canonical rules, and commanding the assembled council to first of all study the dogmas. Having read with countless praises your commands that have recently reached us, we called the universe blessed because it is under such a scepter and governed by such power. So, their madness is immediately clear to everyone; why the holy council, moved by a sense of justice and zeal for God and caring for the holy churches, pronounced condemnation on those who condemned themselves. At the same time, as everyone will say, he did not do anything worthy of accusation or reckless (let him not be!), but cared most of all about piety, which was in danger. Let this be the fairest defense before Your Majesty (κράτος) of everything we have done. For we were not carried away either by friendship or hatred, but had in mind only one thing: to somehow save the pious faith, shaken by those who madly tried to defend their writings, in reproach and humiliation of what Peter confessed, what John theologized about, what Matthew and the other Evangelists preached, what Paul taught, by the power of the Spirit, what all the Orthodox preached everywhere in the universe and thereby planted the pious faith. Therefore, so that at the general Council there will be no disturbance or noise again, let your Christ-loving Majesty (κορυφή) determine that only two bishops should be present at it with each metropolitan: for we too, obeying the message of your piety, brought with us the same number, although if we needed a multitude, we could have had with us much more bishops, exactly understanding divine dogmas and not at all similar to the ignorant crowd who came from Asia and Egypt. And without this decree, confusion will inevitably occur again: after all, fifty Asians came from Egypt, forty Asians under the leadership of Memnon, the leader of tyranny, twelve heretics from Pamphylia, called Messalians - besides those who were with this metropolitan (Memnon) and others, deposed and excommunicated in different places either by bishops or councils: - all of them constitute simply a crowd of people who do not know exactly the divine dogmas and capable only of producing noise and disturbance. Even now we thought that by your pious message they would be admonished by your God-loving Majesty (κορυφῆς) after the definition filled with all piety was read to them. Therefore, having dictated the appropriate message, we went to the Apostolic Church of St. John the Evangelist εὐαγγελιστοῦ) 419 pray and thank God for your Majesty (κράτους) and for your pious intentions; but when they saw us, they immediately locked the church. And when we, having prayed outside (the church), returned from there in silence, a multitude of some ministers appeared, who seized some of ours, took away the animals of others, wounded some, and we were pursued for a long time with sticks and stones, so that we had to flee with great haste, as if pursued by barbarians. This was prepared in advance by Memnon, who did not allow anyone (of us) to gather for prayer in any house of prayer (ἐν εύκτηρί ῳ οἴκ ῳ, see p. 422.1), or to discuss church affairs in peace and with due order. Therefore, we ask your piety that you order the expulsion from this city (Ephesus) mainly of the tyrant Memnon, who has already been deposed for such atrocities, and is trying to throw everything into confusion so that it is impossible to accurately investigate his actions. For if he is not expelled, it will be impossible for us to achieve peace, nor for you to fulfill the intention of your piety. Letter 162. Letter of Theodoret (Bishop of Cyrus) to Andrew, Bishop of Samosata, written from Ephesus 420 I write from Ephesus and salute your holiness, whom I applaud for the infirmity that has befallen me and consider it dear to God, because she learned by ear, and not by experience, about the disasters that occurred here - disasters that exceed all understanding and surpass the historical narrative, worthy of constant tears and continuous lamentation. For the body of the Church is in danger of being torn apart, or rather, it has already received a cut, if that wise Physician does not restore the separated and rotten members and unite them. Egypt again goes mad against God and fights with Moses and Aaron and His servants 421, and a very large part of Israel agrees with the opponents; there are extremely few sensible people who voluntarily take up labor for piety. Venerable piety has been violated. Those who are deposed perform priestly services, and those who are deposed sit at home, groaning. Those who were excommunicated from (church) communion with the deposed ones freed the deposed ones from deposition, as they thought. The Egyptians and Palestinians, the Pontians and Asians, and the West with them, laugh at such a council. For a very large part of the universe was affected by disease. What kind of laughers, during times of wickedness, so ridiculed piety in comedy?! What comedy writer would ever read such a fable?! What tragic poet will adequately describe lamentation about this?! Such great and such calamities have befallen the Church of God, although I have told the smallest part of what has been done. [In the Synodicon there is also the following addition: “For everything else cannot be spoken of without danger. Therefore, let your holiness be silent and implore that Christ God will arise, destroy this sea turmoil and create the desired silence, so that, having received this merciful gift, we can exclaim with Saint David (Psalm XCII, 19): because of the multitude of my illnesses in my heart, Your consolations have made my soul glad]. Letter 163. First letter of the legates (“Eastern” sent to Chalcedon, among whom was Theodoret) to the “Eastern” bishops in Ephesus 422 Having arrived in Chalcedon (since neither we nor our opponents were allowed to enter Constantinople due to the indignation of the “good” monks), we heard that eight days before our presentation to the most gloriously pious emperor 423, Bishop Nestorius was released from Ephesus with permission to go wherever he wanted. Therefore, we grieved greatly, because what was done illegally and without trial, apparently, is already receiving full force. Through the prayers of your holiness, we were allowed to appear before our most pious emperor - and we, by divine grace, prevailed in the competition over those of different minds; for everything presented by us was accepted by the most Christ-loving emperor. What they presented was also read, and we rejected what seemed to us unworthy of acceptance and had no consistency. They reminded us of Kirill in every possible way and asked to call him so that he could answer for himself. Until now, they have not listened to them, but, as they should, they have listened to the speeches (mones) about piety, i.e. about the reason of faith, so that the faith of the blessed fathers may be confirmed. We also denounced Akakias 427 who in his comments 428 expressed the idea that a deity could suffer. The pious emperor was so outraged by this that he shook his pallium 429 and retreated back before such great blasphemy. We also know that the entire consistory 430 is very favorable to us, because we stand up for piety. So, we ask your holiness to be wise in the same way as us and show the same feat. For we stand for faith as the only hope for the sake of which we hope to enjoy the fruits of the goodness of our Savior in the next century. And as for the most pious and holy Bishop Nestorius, let it be known to your piety that although we tried to start a speech in his favor, we could not hitherto, because at his very name everyone shows hostility. Nevertheless, even under such circumstances, we will try to do this at a convenient time and in the favor of the listeners, if God cooperates with our intentions. We pray that we may be allowed to put our questions in writing before your piety. For in this way those who are mistaken will be better recognized and convicted for all subsequent times. If someone, through negligence, neglecting the commandments, decides to act against the commandment of the true faith, then your justice and the court will need to investigate 449 whether those who, introducing something into dogmas, refuse to be tested and do not want to submit to the previously preached teaching, so as not to be convicted of the fact that they acted wickedly, and do not consider this worthy of refutation, so as not to their mutual conspiracy remained useless. For it is already clearly evident from the dedications (installations to episcopal sees) of some of them for such wickedness that others tried to earn honors 450 by this and for this they came up with some other goals. And this will be revealed even more clearly, and your piety will see that, after a little time, they will share the reward of their betrayal as the spoils of Christ's faith. Then the noble magistrate Palladius arrived, bringing another message from Your Majesty, urging him to destroy everything that had been decreed privately, then to assemble a council and establish the true teaching (dogma). However, according to custom, this pious command of yours was not fulfilled by those who dare to do anything. The most magnificent Master John, who was then the Committee of State Finance 457, came with a new message, announcing that Your Majesty had already issued three determinations that should destroy all temptations and confirm to everyone one faith, set forth in Nicaea by the holy and blessed fathers. As usual, this law is left unenforced by those who laugh at everything. For even after reading it, they did not abandon their undertaking and continue to have communion with the excommunicated and remember them as bishops, not agreeing to reject the “chapters” invented to harm and corrupt the pious faith, although we often called them to an interview, presenting with clarity the content of the heretical “chapters.” After all this, Your Majesty wished that we and they should be convened again, and that those who did not obey should be forcibly forced to study the dogmas. But when we expected this, your piety went to the city (Constantinople) and those who were accused of heresy and therefore were either deposed by us, or deprived of communion and subjected to ecclesiastical punishments, were ordered to come to the city and exercise positions of priesthood and church 460 government. But we, who have accepted such a struggle for piety and have endured every danger for the right dogmas, are not allowed either to come to the city to continue the work of studying the conquered faith and to take care of the right dogmas, or to go home (to our dioceses). And so we remain sad in Chalcedon, mourning the Church, troubled by schism (schism). We did not expect such consequences from calling (us here) by your piety. We were called honestly, as priests of the flock by the king, and were called to confirm the faith of the holy fathers; That’s why we came, obeying the pious king. Upon our arrival, we obeyed the Church no less and did not despise your command, but from the day we came to Ephesus until the present day, we have continuously followed your commands. However, our modesty, apparently, did not serve us at all in favor in this century, but, as we see, it harmed us even more. For we, who act in this way, have been held in Chalcedon until this day, and now we are leaving home (to our dioceses); those who have thrown everyone into confusion and filled the whole world with indignation, who are trying to divide the churches and openly persecute piety - they hold priestly offices and, in their opinion, have the right of consecration, which they have most unlawfully appropriated, they create disturbances in the church and spend what was given for the benefit of the poor on their soldiers. We often testified to this before God both in Ephesus and here and convinced your piety, giving an account of this to you as before the God of all. For He requires this of us, as the divine Scriptures, prophetic and apostolic, teach. So blessed Paul exclaims: I command before God those who give life to the dead, and our Lord Christ Jesus who testified before Pontius Pilate a good confession (1 Tim. VI, 13). God also commanded Ezekiel to tell the people and added a threat, saying: If you do not tell him, I will require his blood at your hand (Ezekiel III, 18). So, fearing this judgment, we found it necessary to again inform your Majesty that those who are allowed to have churches teach in the churches the same thing that Apollinaris 464, Arius and Eunomius taught, illegally and contrary to the rules, they hold priesthood and destroy the souls of those who come to them, if anyone wants to listen to them: for by the grace of God, which cares for all people and wants to save everyone (1 Tim. This is our intention, but those who seek their own, and not even Jesus Christ (Phil. II, 21), try to make peace with us against our will. And we don't care about it. God knows our intention, tests our virtue, and does not punish us for what happens against our will. As for your friend (Nestorius), let it be known to your holiness that if we ever even mention him - whether before the most pious king or before the glorious consistory 471 -, we are immediately accused of falling away - so strong is the enmity against him of all those here! And this is extremely unfortunate. The most pious king, above all others, is indignant at his name and directly says: “Let no one tell me about him. After all, once he himself already gave a sample” 472. Nevertheless, however, as long as we remain here, we will not cease to do our best to work in his favor, knowing the injustice caused to him by the wicked. So we ask you, most holy ruler, to withdraw from communication with those who have introduced heresy with such insolence, and to declare to everyone - and to distant neighbors - that these are the very “heads” for which the blessed Damasus deposed Apollinaris, Vitaly and Timothy as heretics; that one should not innocently believe the message sent from him (Cyril), in which he covered up heretical thoughts with a guise of piety, for in his “chapters” he openly revealed his wickedness and therefore he dared to anathematize those who thought differently, and in the message he planned to insidiously deceive the simplest by cunning. So, let your reverence not neglect this matter, so that later, when this heresy is established, you do not grieve in vain and do not be tormented by the fact that you cannot defend piety. We also sent a list of the work that we presented to our most pious and Christ-loving king and containing the faith of the holy fathers of Nicea, where we refute the newly introduced “chapters” of Cyril, which we consider alien to the Orthodox faith. For in them our Lord Jesus Christ is recognized as perfect God and perfect man; two natures are allowed in them (letters), their difference and unfused union, which did not occur by dissolution or confusion, but inexpressibly, divinely and while preserving the properties of natures without confusion; it is stated that God the Word is impassive and unchangeable, and the church is passionate and was put to death for a short time and then restored by the power of God united with him; finally, it is confessed that the Holy Spirit does not have existence from the Son or through the Son, but proceeds from the Father, and is called proper to the Son, as being consubstantial with Him. Seeing such truth in these letters, we glorified (God), who healed the tongue-tied (Isa. XXXV, 6) and transformed discordant sounds into pleasant agreement (cf. Isa. XXIX, 24. XXXII, 4). So, let no one convince your holiness that, out of the desire of the bishop's seat, closing my eyes [with my eyes closed], I accepted the Egyptian letters as Orthodox [as right dogmas]. For, speaking in all fairness, I re-read them quite often, carefully examined them and found that they were free from heretical incompetence, and was afraid to put any stain on them, hating, of course, like anyone else, the father of these letters (Cyril of Alexandria) as the culprit of disturbances in the Universe. And I hope not to suffer any punishment by His grace on the day of judgment, because the righteous Judge tests the intention (of everyone). With the same thing that was unjustly and illegally committed against your holiness, I will not allow myself to agree even then, if someone were to cut off both my hands, with the help of Divine grace, which supports the weakness of the soul. Based on the reports of Presbyter Daniel (Cyril), he complains about Theodoret’s slander and his insane attitude towards him (Cyril) and insists that the reckless impulses of this self-willed man must be curbed. And him, the unfortunate (Cyril of Alexandria), the Ruler of our souls did not leave him, like others, to continue to enjoy what seems to be amusement, but, knowing the malice of this man, which daily increased and harmed the body of the Church, he rejected him, like some kind of ulcer, and took away the reproach from the children of Israel (1 Sam. XVII, 26). His departure delighted the survivors, but saddened, perhaps, the dead - and one may fear that they, too burdened by his company, would again send him to us or that he would run away from those who were taking him (to the underworld), like the tyrant of the cynic Lucian 507. So, you must take care (and your holiness especially needs to take this haste) to order the society of bearers of the dead to place some greatest and heaviest stone on the tomb, so that he (Cyril) does not come here again and again begin to prove unsteady opinions. And just as Noah and his sons once appeared during the flood as the seed of the human race, so at the present time the Western fathers remained, so that through them the holy Eastern churches would preserve the true faith, which a completely godless and new heresy tried to devastate and devour. Therefore, it is appropriate to repeat now the prophetic word: unless the Lord of hosts left us seeds, as Sodom had been and as Gomorrah had become like them (Isa. I, 9), for in this wicked heresy the wrath of God sent upon us, as it were, some kind of flood and war. Now we confess the appearance of our Savior in human flesh, the one Son of God and perfect divinity and perfect humanity; We do not divide our Lord Jesus Christ into two sons, for He is one, but we only recognize the difference between God and man and affirm that He is from the Father, and this one is from the seed of David and Abraham, according to the Divine Scriptures, and likewise that the divine nature is impassive, the body was formerly passionate, but now it has become alien to suffering, for the last. resurrection it became free from all suffering. Therefore, those brought up reverently in such hopes despise the present, the greatest of what exists is sent to that life, so that when they depart they will have what is necessary for the journey; and since they tremble at that terrible judgment, then, as if they were some kind of defenders, they hire the poor, in order through them to bend the righteous Judge to the mercy of the righteous Judge and to buy humanity with compassion for their neighbors: for those who leave here are accompanied only by what they sent forward through the needy while they were still on earth, and others become the owners of what remains (on earth), who have no opportunity to help those who have departed. In this very sense, your magnificence, clearly knowing this, (let) properly arrange (and your) God-given wealth, for, according to Divine Scripture, the deliverance of a husband is his wealth (Proverbs XIII, 8). Letter 185. (IV). Archimandrite Agathon You, most excellent man, in your intercourse constantly deliver a rich meal of rhetoric and philosophy and, forming a honeycomb of words, the most pleasant (combs) of the Attic bee 521, and offering the sweetest streams, you usually generously treat us. We, having come to terms with the poverty of words, but wanting to repay your treat, sent you the best fruit of (our) fatherland, which is produced by the branches of vines, nourished by the irrigation of the clouds, and which time and age make more valuable and pleasant, sweet and tender - a fruit that does not burden the heads of drinkers and, due to its fragrance and pleasant taste, can serve as a healer for the stomach. But, so that envy of the beauty of the gift would not serve us to our detriment 522, along with this we sent bread, showing the poverty (abandonment) of our city. And you will eliminate this reproach to our fatherland by sending him a good baker (ἄρτων δημιουργόν). Letter 189. (VIII). Decurions of Zeugma 523: Eulalia, Germanus, Proteus Therefore, I ask your insight (ἀγχίνοιαν) to be ashamed of the Lawgiver, to fear the righteous Judge and not to become a bad example for others, not to open the door of lawlessness to voluptuous people and not to prefer the pleasant to the useful. You may find your (future) sons-in-law 526 worthy of kinship and able to adorn your daughters, but you should not defile your marriage chambers. After all, there is no shortage of either men or women so that you can present this deficiency instead of defense when there is no such reason. With what eyes will you look at the sky? In what tongues will you ask the offended Lawgiver for fruit from your children? Having considered this and similar things and having accepted my advice, as if from a father, put an end to that evil enterprise, protect the marriage by guarding the laws and by your obedience create salvation for yourself, and joy for us, as an adviser. Letter 190. (IX). To them (Decurions of Zeugma: Eulalia, Germanus, Proteus) Those who have received the paternal inheritance are not satisfied with what they have, but try to increase it. It is precisely this kind of effort that should be applied to the spiritual and increase countless times the piety and generosity inherited from our ancestors towards the poor. I exhort your nobility to give this to our Church of God, as your grandfather commanded, and to keep his memory unquenchable. This will bring blessings to other acquisitions as well. Consider that if someone were to take away something that was once dedicated to God and cursed, he would have committed a clearly sacrilegious act and would cease to be among the ktitors 527 . This is admitted by everyone who dares to do so under the pressure of conscience. May this never happen to you, but may you double the blessings you have inherited and bring to God double fruit instead of simple fruit. Letter 191. (X). Sophist Avria One of these is the most God-loving Bishop Florentius, who strives for the greatest city (Constantinople) and makes his way through your holiness. And he knows that he will reach (with you) a harbor that is good, pleasant, windless and full of all sorts of blessings. Having enjoyed handling him for a short time, I salute your respect, which I highly value, and at the same time I hasten to send (him to you), hoping to receive pleasure from you and encouraging the worthy elder to pray for me. Letter 202. (XXII). Sophist Aeria. In ancient times the Athenians mourned the Sicilian disasters; the present time has produced the disasters of Libya and Carthage 558 - and these are more sorrowful and much more painful (those); they were brought about by the cruelty and insolence of the barbarians. They also befell the noblest Maximian; mourning his suffering, he amazes those listening and waters (them) with streams of tears. Truth Letter 208. (XXVIII). Bishop Theodotus of Antioch Even those who plot injustice are (sometimes) the culprits of the greatest pleasure in a good deed. The teacher of this for me was experience, for, having lived for a very long time in Antioch as a result of that injustice, I abundantly enjoyed the honey of your reverence and more clearly knew how many benefits the community with your reverence brings, since the consolation of your contemplation rewarded (ἐνίκα) for the fight against injustice, and the pleasure of your pleasantness destroys sorrow. So, the evidence (ἄλησπον) of your love for us 564 ... Letter 209. (XXIX). Unknown 565 ………………………………………………………………………………… The law of the province is this: this is anger - fair and beneficial to everyone. For caring for subordinates not only brings benefit to them, but also provides very great benefit to those who have received power. After all, those who care immoderately about one member harm the other, but those who soften energy and tame the severity of collection (taxes) with meekness and philanthropy and honor moderation, according to the law of philosophy, these directly benefit both those who pay taxes and command them to pay them (καὶ τούς εἰσπραττομἑνους καὶ τούς εἰσπράττειν καλεύοντας ). I know that your splendor 579 does exactly this, for you, being in power, rule with prudence (ἀγχινοι ᾳ) and through this you please with fatherly meekness, and with the help of soft suggestions you achieve that taxes are paid without hostility and intimidation 580. For, ashamed of your meekness, taxpayers forget about their poverty and are ready to give up their miserable rags [just to pay taxes]. Now, with such a scarcity of gold, when goods are abandoned (they are not bought by anyone), when no one has either raw or dry fruits, now, having taken a loan of five, ten and twenty gold pieces 581 and thereby stripped the soldiers stationed with us 582, they still sent back the gold as much as you ordered to deposit. Such can be meekness combined with prudence, for the tragic saying is absolutely true: Many hands beat 583. Therefore, excellent man, continue to rule in this way, ignoring the instigators 584 and preferring concern for public affairs to everything else taken together, since in this way you will please the God of all, preserve the cities entrusted to you for the king and receive good fame from everyone. Letter 214. (XXXIV). Sophist Isokasiy. The beautiful and kind Gerontius, who knows how to excellently prepare various things from wood, knows how to artistically carve from it all kinds of images of animals and trees, leads the best life - (representing) the height of art - I sent to your magnificence, although I need his art, since I preferred your needs to my needs. Having learned from the most brilliant Eurykian 585 that your greatness needs such a man for the carved decorations of your house, I immediately sent him to your wisdom so that he could entrust this task to the best of his fellow artists and so that he could return to us as soon as possible. So: since, having this husband with us, we preferred yours, we hope to receive exactly the same gratitude. And we will be rewarded with it in the case (that is, gratitude will consist precisely in this) if he, having put the right person to work for you, returns to us as soon as possible. Letter 215. (XXXV). To the former prefect Antiochus 586 And he, now deprived of his position (παυσάμενος τῆς ἀρχῆς), himself, of course, was freed from worries and worries, but also deprived his subordinates (τούς ἀρχουμένους) of fatherly care. He resorts to your greatness, having acquired fame instead of money and shining with amazing and praiseworthy poverty. Send him again to us as a helmsman (μετὰ τῶν πηδαλίων). Let it not be that a husband who knows how to do good will be deprived of opportunities to do good. Letter 216. (XXXVI). Quaestor 590 Dometian 591 Having one consolation - the simultaneous (with me) presence of your reverence in the same city, I was greatly upset that I could not enjoy it at such a time. I grieve most of all because, having fallen to such unexpected harm and being justly indignant, you do not (now in me) have a comforter who drives away sadness with hymns to the All-Holy Spirit. But, most amazing man, be your own adviser and teacher, show in competitions such wisdom as you have acquired since childhood - and let everyone know that you philosophize more in deed than in word, not placing anything human highly, but placing both the flows of wealth and extreme poverty on the same level. For, as you know, both usually come to and fro with the pressure of the waves of the sea straits, and now there is this (wealth), then that (poverty). You not only teach the young men who are brought up by you the Greek language and practice Attic eloquence, but you also honor them with all other care, taking care of the beauty of morals and preparing them to direct their lives towards virtue. Moreover, you grant them another kind of diligence, removing them from what tempts them to injustice, promoting what can be beneficial, and - in short - fulfilling fatherly concerns, for such are the properties of those who instill such prudent wisdom among you in human souls. Our most noble and most desired son Philip received such benefits from your great mind (μεγαλονοίας). For while the competition regarding the kirarchy 598 arose, you knew what you needed to compete for, as well as everything that should be done regarding this young man. And now, as I am convinced, your nobility has made great efforts to ensure that he is not one of the people who are led and guided by good leaders, but one of the people who are respectable and worthy of honor 599 . IV, 13): I do not want you, ignorant, brethren, about those who have fallen asleep (περὶ τῶν κεκοιμημένων). He does not say: about the dead (τῶν τεθνεώτων) or about those who have passed away (τελευτηκότων), for according to the nature that things have assumed, he changes the names: I do not want you, brethren, to be ignorant “about those who have fallen asleep,” so do not grieve, like other people who have no hope. He does not exclude sorrow, does not legislate dispassion, and does not command what is outside the limits of nature, but tempers sorrow with faith, only (barely) without saying the following: you are not guided by the same hopes as the Greeks, Jews, and other heretics who consider the resurrection a fable (φλυαρίαν), nor do you have the same (what reasons they had) for consolation. For they consider the destruction of a living being to be death and recognize death as complete annihilation, but you, looking through the eyes of faith into the future, consider the destruction of the body from the soul to be a departure 615, and believe that this is repose and transition - a dream, the shortest of ordinary ones. This is what everyone teaches us. So, we learn from this not to look for anything cheerful or completely joyful in real life, but to courageously strive for the expected benefits and to endure with firmness everything sad, no matter what happens for the sake of truth. Such constancy will bring us future benefits, for Blessed Paul says: For tribulation makes patience workable, and patience is an art, and art is hope; but hope does not put one to shame (Rom. V, 3-5). Bold confession now is the beginning of joy: whoever endures this cannot be mixed with sorrow, and current trials will be confirmed by deeds. Expectations of fruits lighten the burden of labor. Therefore, the duality (contubernium) of the holy Apostles, i.e. Peter and John, when they were even scourged for performing miracles, walked rejoicing, as if for the name of Christ they had been vouchsafed to receive dishonor (Acts V, 41). And Paul, the champion of piety, exclaims: we are pleased in weaknesses, in annoyances, in troubles, in exiles, in tribulations, in uprisings according to Christ (2 Cor. XII: 10). Explaining the reason for this, he says (2 Cor. Therefore, one should believe in the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit: - in the Father, who does not come from anyone else and does not receive the beginning of being from anyone; - into the Son, co-eternally begotten of the Father, but not identical (not coinciding in being) with the One who gave birth to Him. And let this opinion not seem to anyone to be devoid of any evidence. For just as the Son is begotten of the Father, so the Word is the co-eternal radiance of the glory of the Father (Heb. I, 3). since the Son is from the Father, then the Word is in the Father, radiance with the Father, (the Son) truly sitting with the Father. We believe the same about the Holy Spirit, who, according to the teaching of the Lord, proceeds from the Father (John XV, 26). The Apostle also conveys the same thing, teaching: we have not received the spirit of this world, but the Spirit who is from God (1 Cor. II: 12). So, we believe that in the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit there is one deity, one dominion, one kingdom and power, and we also (believe) that (one) council must be recognized in three persons or beings (in tribus proprietatibus sive in subsistentiis). And (to indicate in the Trinity) we leave the lesser and the greater to those who dare with their tongues, as it were, to embrace that which is infinite. We render the Trinity a single worship, for we learn to honor the Son in the same way as we honor the Father. A letter which, according to Irenaeus, Blessed Theodoret, Bishop of Cyrrhus, sent to Candidian, Committee of Domesticists 631, before the conclusion of peace Just as the error of those who left the right path saddens us, we are just as greatly pleased by the ardent zeal of your love for God in the gospel faith. For we find that Blessed Paul also greatly grieved over the foolishness of his enemies, but he also admired the unity of the faithful. Therefore, writing to Timothy, he revealed both the sorrow that he had for those, and the relief in relation to them, saying (2 Tim. I, 15. II, 17): Do you think that all who are from Asia have turned away from Me, and Philetus and Hermogenes from them? And showing how through that despondency he received consolation from above, he immediately added the following: may the Lord give mercy to the house of Onesiphorus, who gave me rest many times, and believed mine without being ashamed: but when you came to Rome, you sought me more carefully and found it: may the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord (2 Tim. I, 16-18). So, we also have the greatest consolation - the devotion of your love to God. The firmness of your faith resolves our sadness, which is generated by the winter that has befallen the churches. Therefore, writing (to you) often, we strive to (receive) your holy message as well. We inform (you) that we strive day and night for piety and hope that until our death we will not damage the teaching handed down to us by the holy Apostles. Witnesses of these words are (together with me) my lords, the most holy and most God-loving bishops John, Peter, Elisha, Alphius and Jephtahe, who (better) chose to be expelled from the churches entrusted to them than to betray the apostolic faith. So, believing that we will not allow even one iota to be taken away (Matt. V, 18) from the teaching that we have received, stand in the faith, take courage, be strong: let all love be with you (1 Cor. XVI, 13), and the God of peace will be with you (Philipp. IV, 9. Rom. XV, 33. 2 Cor. XIII, 11). Proposals regarding the conclusion of peace, which, through the tribune and notary Aristolaus, were sent by Acacius, bishop of Veria, to Cyril, bishop of Alexandria, from the council of bishops: John of Antioch, Alexander of Hierapolis, Macarius of Laodicea, Andrew of Samosata and Theodoret of Cyrrhus. I, not only the called one, but also the uninvited one, would always want to go to your holiness. But now I must abandon this intention, since I cannot follow the letters of your holiness 651. I again suffered from terrible weakness (languor) and the evil terkraniy 652 attacked me after returning from the mountainous countries 653. Moreover, here is a most magnificent and most glorious military leader (magister militum) 654. Therefore, I apologize. I let your holiness know that in the letters sent from Alexandria 655 I found that what was said here by him (the author of the letters, St. Cyril) is dogmatic, contrary to what was once stated by him, but in accordance with the teaching of the fathers. I rejoiced greatly and praised the Lord Christ for this change, which took place at the insistence (per admonitiones) of your holiness. However, other parts of the letter seem to me full of empty reasoning (valutionibus) and false verbosity. So: your wisdom should arrange the whole matter so that the future world will be pleasing to everyone, and by this, obedience will be shown first of all to Christ, the God of all. Letter from Bishop Theodoret to Bishop Helladius about Imerius, Bishop of Nicomedia. Who is it fitting to rule over all goods, if not the one who has collected an abundance of all goods and carries it within himself? You, most God-loving ruler, as in everything else, defeated me in sending encouraging letters more hastily. While we are inert and sleepy and too lazy and careless 665, your holiness aroused us with your conversion and with corresponding and truly spiritual love called us to memory. However, without hiding all the reasons for the slowness of letters, I will give myself some small but true justification to excuse my laziness: we live in a city located far from any horse (postal) route 666 and therefore we do not know either those who come to our “province” (ad nostram provineiam) or those who happen to depart from here. That is why we do not receive the consolation of sending letters to your holiness. We bring almost no benefit to the Church of God: for we, completely unnoticed, are rather despised by all the pious and faithful, animated by the fervor of complete zeal and the pious confession of the holy fathers, rather than despised - rather governed than governed. We often consulted about this in Antioch and in Beria and in Hierapolis 673. I also wrote this to my lord, the most holy and most God-loving Bishop Andrew 674 through the most venerable and most venerable deacon 675 from the third regiment of Stabilisians 676 who came there. since our competition is not about something unimportant, but about our very hope, then, if not for a physical illness 677, I myself would have come to your holiness in order to, with great reasoning and general consultation 678, comprehend the meaning of the letters (Cyril of Alexandria) 679. Letter from Bishop Theodoret to Alexander, Metropolitan of the Euphratesiae region (Euphratesiae proviciae). Some trouble us with vague rumors regarding the news that comes from Egypt, believing that we are afraid that we may be deprived of everything; but they do not know that we love peace very much: it is more pleasant than anything that is usually loved in this life. We would like to achieve it without anyone's prompting, if only the fear of that Judge did not hold us back. since this cannot happen without danger, then (my) intention - with (legal) permission to surrender to (this my) desire - is subject to necessity. And since the rumor being spread contains many things that are far from the truth and - in this form - are capable of disturbing the soul, I therefore ask your holiness to inform us in writing what is true, since we would like to be prepared precisely for this: for we desire peace with piety and avoid it, since it is with injustice and ungodliness. Letter 240 (chapter 87) 680 Letter from Theodoret, Bishop of Cyrrhus, to John, Bishop of Antioch, in response to the above news of peace 681. Letter said to be from Bishop Theodoret to John of Antioch “Since God wisely governs everything, provides for our unanimity and cares about the salvation of nations, He will prepare for us to gather together 691 and show the dispositions of everyone in agreement with each other. Reading together the Egyptian letters (Cyril of Alexandria) and examining exactly their meaning, we found what was stated in them to be in agreement with ours and directly contrary to the twelve “chapters” against which we continue to fight to this day. For they (“chapters”) contain that “from God the Word flesh was made flesh, that union took place according to hypostasis (secundum substantiam) and communion (of natures, conventum) according to natural unity, and that God the Word became the firstborn from the dead.” They also forbade the division of sayings that refer to Christ. In addition to this, they also concluded something else, alien to the apostolic dogmas, which arose precisely from those heretical tares. If your holiness desires that this too be stated in the letters that will be sent by us, so be it. Therefore, do not delay, I beg with your holy feet.” 703 In all this matter, I rely on God: He will manage, as He knows, both your holiness and my smallness. Letter 245 (chapter 110) A letter from Theodoret to Helladius, to whom he informs that he has not separated himself from those who once met for negotiations, nor will he agree to admit the injustice that was committed in relation to a famous person (Nestorius). When now we should especially benefit from the consolation of letters - since now a stronger storm has arisen - we are deceived in this (expectation) and are condemned to one thing that only amazed us. I wrote once and a second time about what was happening, demanding a general meeting, declaring my opinion and asking to notify me of the intentions of your holiness, and yet I did not receive an answer; during all this time I received only one letter of consolation (commendatitiam). I admit, this amazed me. I fear that some accusation has not already been launched against us (after all, many have always been engaged in this, and especially at the present time!) which has outraged the purity of your love with the assurance that, having left the ranks, we surrendered (to the enemies) and - like polyps and chameleons - changed color in accordance with the rocks and leaves 704. Therefore, I again write this letter and ask your holiness for the same in relation to us. Therefore, we accepted the letter that was sent from Egypt, since it is Orthodox; the retribution (from us for this) 706, which is demanded for his right faith by the one who was barely able to recognize it, we turn away as hateful and disgusting to God. For who among those brought up in piety has ever demanded murder as a reward for the right faith? Or who gave it to the one who demanded it? Or who called someone who does not want to honor the truth without retribution a lover of the truth? It doesn’t matter, even if he proves that the required reward is not evil in itself. After all, it seems to me, one cannot call perfect a person who strengthens himself in the virtue of the soul for the sake of the kingdom of heaven, but only one who is tied to good by love (precisely to him, as such) and who strives for good for its own sake. The witness of this is the Lord; These are His words: whoever loves Me will keep My commandments (John XIV:23). He does not say: “Whoever desires the kingdom of heaven,” but: Whoever loves Me. If He sometimes remembered the reward, saying: for these are the kingdom of heaven (Matt. V, 3), or: for they will inherit the earth (v. Who will not show mercy to him, who says what, apparently (quasi), is worthy of mercy, or will not condescend to condescend to the one who is crying? For, after all, almost touching his knees and using tears instead of letters, he exclaims to those who deposed him: “You have done something unnecessary, empty and devoid of a reasonable reason. But I express my decision as if I am completely convinced of you” 714. How great is the prayer of the sinner towards those who show mercy, when he quite clearly and bluntly calls them foolish! After all, now all this is “empty,” he says... So he satisfied me to a high degree, saying that “you have done something empty and unnecessary.” For,” he says, “thought the same way as me, you have foolishly suspected until now that I think differently from you.” This is the beginning of his repentance. A little later, the following accusatory words (voces compunctivae) of the penitent follow: “he,” he says, “brought us a letter containing an impeccable confession of faith” 715. Look, I ask you, at the arrogance of this speech, which is condemned along with the pride of the devil. He said a letter (ehartam) and did not even honor it with the name of letters. To this he added: brought to us; having to ask as a subject to judgment, he goes berserk. He added: containing an impeccable confession of faith; as if sparing something worthy of reproach, he called them blameless. And after this he says with pathos: “he (Paul of Emesa) claimed that this letter was compiled by you and the most God-loving bishops who were there” 716. What does this mean if not “that I do not believe that you have an unimpeachable faith in dogma; but I put aside the suspicion that I have against you, since your dogmatic wickedness is published everywhere, believing the actual oath of the one who brought me the letter and who claims that he does not lie”? So who, no matter how little he knows, will consider the stubbornness of a scoffer as repentance? If you like, consider the following parts of the letter. And - first of all - let us bring the first chapter of his “good” repentance to those. “If we say,” he says, “that the holy body of the Savior of all Christ is from heaven, and not from the Virgin, then how can we understand that She is the Mother of God? For She certainly did not give birth to Him, unless it is true that She gave birth to Immanuel in the flesh.” These words of his are especially senseless and blasphemous - senseless because he uses that word - Mother of God (as She is called) - to prove the just idea that flesh is not from heaven. He buzzed the ears of everyone everywhere that she (the Mother of God) should be called from the great (quod majus est) 717. So, if the name Mother of God (genitricem Dei) is greater, then how does he designate the lesser by the name of the greater? In the same way, when, taking the word Immanuel to designate the deity of God the Word, as it were, born of the Virgin, he then cites the testimony of the prophet (Isa. VII, 14) and everywhere exclaims about the Virgin: She gave birth to Emmanuel according to the flesh, then why does he now take this name in the sense of designating the birth of humanity? and He is perfect in humanity" 720. He does not say: “being perfect God in a perfect man,” but: being perfect in divinity and also: and He is perfect in humanity, so that, positing both natures as mutually complementary (mutually replaceable, tamquam partes ponans invicem completivas), he introduces a mixture of natures in sounds more acceptable to the ears. For the same reason, they also rely on the words: And He is in order to deceive in a secret way. It is not Christ, not this Son “and He”, but the Word, he says, who is called both the man from heaven, and He who is perfect in humanity. That is why he later made a faint mention of natures, since the Orthodox are pleased to hear these words! And why did I need to turn in this abyss for so long (so as not to say anything worse about it), if your piety with your letters had not prompted me to do this? After all, this was necessary to consider whether repentance is true or feigned (false)? However, I personally have already calmed down and exclaim with David: for you, the only Lord, have given me hope (Psalm IV: 9). So, having once entrusted to God what concerns me, I laugh at the futile labor of his wickedness and try to steal from the divine right hand the hope I desire, without listening to those unspeakable words: until no one can snatch them from my hands (John X, 28). Thank you, most beloved of God, for your mercy, since you, according to the commandment of God, have such great affection for us; We always tell about this to others who, out of ignorance, strongly accuse (you) of something. May it not be that such oblivion falls upon us that we forget the contests of your piety for the right faith; for these victories against wickedness, the Lord of all will give (you) a crown both in the future life, for the patron of the pious, Christ, is no weaker than the patron of the wicked, the devil. I and those who are with me especially earnestly greet all the brotherhood that is with you 724. Letter 247 (chapter 128) “And this is a letter from Theodoret to Meletius of Neocaesarea about what John (Antioch) unjustly did in various cities.” The prophet Jeremiah, mourning the fire of the only city and the captivity of the people, asked for a source of tears, sought the latter’s vitality in the desert (Jer. IX, 1–2) and wrote down his laments, so that through crying, as if through the evaporation of smoke, the sorrow that was raging inside would be poured out. We, mourning the war against the Church of God, the betrayal of the saints and the desecration of the priesthood, invite you, fellow shepherds, to participate in the general mourning - not in order to teach you as ignorant, and to bring you to the competition as rejoicing, but to receive some small consolation from your participation in the competition. Your holiness knows how much unjust or illegal has been and is being done: and that embassy that, against the will of all the “eastern” bishops, was sent to Alexandria; and that resolution (as he thought) of the condemnation (of Cyril of Alexandria), which was violently and contrary to church canons made by him (John of Antioch). If someone is appointed without observing these conditions, they (the canons) call such initiation fragile and invalid (infirmam reprobamque). Therefore, those who act against the law and initiate in a foreign diocese (in aliena provincia) subvert the very canons. These laws they violated forced us to withdraw from communication with the perpetrators of injustice. We did not serve disagreement and enmity, as your greatness suspects, and we do not like disturbances and unrest, but we would rather endure everything than allow church definitions to be violated. Therefore, we again united against this other Absalom, who was raging against his father, took an oath from him so that he would not invade Dolichia during the life of the one (Aviv) who appointed him presbyter and steward (dispensatorem) and entrusted him with sacred money, and let him go. But after he returned from there, he accepted the deposition and anathematized the teaching of truth. To this he added another injustice, worse than this, for he decisively attacks those who did not want to participate in this murder and wickedness. Therefore, he raged against our province (provinciam) and, contrary to the rules of the holy fathers 740, ordained two bishops 741 - vile and perverted men, committing all kinds of obscenity. He also took away and destroyed (pervasit) the martyrium of the holy and victorious martyr Sergius, which was under the jurisdiction of the Church of Hierapolis, and recently, contrary to custom, he installed a bishop there, whose injustice is not a secret to anyone, but is known to everyone. Therefore, we were forced to send the most God-loving clergy and monks with these letters, through which we ask your piety not to despise the churches of God, but to report such injustices against us to our most pious and Christ-loving sovereign (principem) (Emperor Theodosius) and convince him that his sovereignty ordered the abolition (vasage) of illegal dedications, and to make these dedications to bishops our region (provinciae) according to the rules of the holy and blessed fathers and return the basilica (basilicam) of the holy and victorious martyr Sergius to the jurisdiction of the church (sub ecclesiam) 742 of the metropolis to which it was subordinated according to ancient custom; At the same time, it should be ordered that this great church and the highest walls and all other buildings adjacent to those buildings be restored. It is fitting for your holiness to remove this injustice and strengthen the rules of the holy and blessed fathers, through whose prayers your rule is protected. Letter 251 (chapter 138) Letter from Bishop Theodoret to Dorotheus (Bishop of Marcianopolis), Metropolitan of Moisia 743 Those who have chosen the art of sailing and usually live at sea, being besieged by the worst storms, contrary currents and fierce waves and being overwhelmed by great darkness, are consoled if fire suddenly illuminates them, and, leaving fear, they are imbued with a confidence that does not allow them to despair, since it gives them hope for the best. We also experienced the same thing today, having read the letter of your love for God. For, seeing the great shock of the churches, seeing that storms and thunderstorms were flying in from everywhere, that the excitement was boiling and growing, and noticing that shipwreck was threatening and a thick darkness was spreading, which did not even allow us to see what was nearby, we saw your letters, like some sudden light showing the entrance to the harbor, we were filled with consolation, received confidence and bravely endured the attack storms, in anticipation of pure clarity: for “God is faithful, He will not leave you to be tempted beyond your strength, but will create with temptation an abundance, so that you are able to bear it (1 Cor. X, 13). During these days I suffered a lot of excitement, a lot of sadness, which I have never (never had to experience), I am not reporting all of them. The most amazing and most glorious tribune Euricianus (Euricianus) 746 came here with letters from the most magnificent and brilliant Comite Titus, both to the holy monks, and to Mr. James, Mr. Simeon, Mr. Varadat 747 and to us. These letters contained threats that if we did not agree to reconcile, then immediately, after our expulsion, others would be installed. I, of course, laughed at the threats, but the holy monks bothered me greatly, asking me a lot for peace, as if accusing me. When I, angry and annoyed at this, was preparing to leave both the city and the region (provinciam) and seek refuge in the monastic life, they, being amazed, promised to go with me to Gindar 748 and convince the Antiochian (John) to come there to negotiate with me. Having read the letter of your holiness, and also having looked at three copies of 752, I favored the one without a name (Nestorius?), for one of the first two is simple, and the other is immoderately ardent. The same one seemed good to me, since it has both moderate leniency and commendable severity. It requires us to examine those conciliar messages 753 and examine whether they have anything superfluous, whether they agree with the right faith, whether they do not accept what was done badly in Ephesus, and therefore whether they should be accepted for the sake of the peace of the Church; if this is not the case, then they should be avoided and rejected. So let your holiness, while those who carry these same (instances) return from the East 754, examine and examine (them?) and notify us what is true; I vaguely heard that the one who now occupies the throne (of Constantinople) teaches Orthodoxy. My lord, the most holy and most God-loving Bishop Helladius 755, clearly informed me about the echo in letters. I forwarded the lists of what he wrote to me to your holiness. For he did not say: “we anathematize his teaching,” but “everything alien that he spoke or thought other than the apostolic teaching” 758. Therefore, I decided to ask your wisdom to discuss what is useful, and not to be angry, but to understand our intention. Letter 255 (chapter 161) Letter from Theodoret to the most God-loving Bishop Alexander (of Hierapolis), in which he points out that one needs to think a lot about peace, and especially because those who wait for their thrones are known (by their qualities) 759. The grace of God arranged the departure of my master, the most venerable and most God-loving presbyter Donatus and deacon Akakios, and delivered me from the worries that worried and consumed me. What is the intention of those above 760, your holiness will learn from the letters sent to them. For everyone - even those who refuse to help us in anything - gave us advice in favor of peace; the extreme zealots 761, fearing this most evil time, did not even deign us to write letters. Therefore, your holiness will more accurately learn this from the named most God-loving men; I ask you, having learned this, to jointly judge what is useful for the churches. As I see, our persistence will not bring anything pleasant, but only indignation of the churches, and will betray the peoples we graze (populos) to bloodthirsty wolves. For it is clear that they seek our expulsion; those who will enter instead of us are already ready. We must be afraid that we will not receive punishment from God for this excessive severity (pro hao nimia acribia) for us, who seek our own and do not care about what is useful to the nations (cf. 1 Cor. X, 24; Philip. II, 4). I examined the letters that your holiness sent (to us), and read the letter of the most magnificent and most glorious quaestor 762 (to you), which you forwarded to us through the most beloved of God - Prester Donatus and Deacon Acacius. I also read other letters from friends and found that they all exhort us in favor of peace. After all, your holiness remembers that from the very beginning I said that the letter sent by the Egyptian (Cyril of Alexandria) was Orthodox and never had any disagreement regarding it. So: having considered all this with myself, as well as the fact that the teaching of the Church is one and that the power of those heretical “chapters” has been abolished (evacuata), since two natures are proclaimed instead of one and the impassibility of the deity is confessed, I entered into negotiations with my master, the most God-loving Bishop John (of Antioch), and found that he zealously competes for Orthodoxy, strives for arrangement for the unification of the Church and does not at all require the signature of the deposition (Nestorius) from those who do not want to do this. I also found that a sociable letter 763 was sent to him from the second Cilicia. It is necessary to act in such a way that we, having finally come to know ourselves, will love the world. Letter 258 (chapter 162) Letter from Bishop Theodoret to Mocim (ad Mocimum) 768, the most God-loving steward of the Church of Hierapolis, where he notifies that he was at a meeting with John (of Antioch) and arranged the controversial affairs as it should and as desired. Whether or not your holiness accepts what is being done by us or with us, we will not stop doing with all our might what will not bring upon us any condemnation before that terrible judgment seat. Although in everything else we are careless and lazy and have no concern for the divine 770, we nevertheless pray and take care that we do not be especially weak before those who are zealous for goods. I inform your holiness that the Cilicians and Isaurians sent communicative letters (eulogias) to Antioch and in their letters recognized the primates of Alexandria and Constantinople (i.e. Cyril and Proclus) as bishops, 771 adding that they do not join in the deposition of the most holy bishop Nestorius. This was reported to me by some of our mutual friends, asking me to once again implore your holiness, fall at your holy feet and persuade me to acknowledge what everyone wants, for they think that for me everything is possible with your holiness. Therefore, I once again ask your holy soul to accept this prayer of mine and yield for the sake of the peace of the Church. Letter 261 (chapter 170). I suffered greatly (aegrotavi) 773 after I returned from Germanicia; but I was even more crushed and tormented by what was happening with my lord, the most holy Bishop (of Hierapolis) Alexander. For he does not agree to follow either the words of the Lord: a good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep (John X, 11), nor the oaths of blessed Paul, which he used to convince us, (saying) that he is ready to become anathema from Christ for the sake of the wicked Jews (Rom. IX, 3), but he wants to destroy the pastures entrusted to him and does not at all discuss what he will have to suffer retribution for this. Therefore, I again ask your holiness to write to him and convince his holiness to listen to Paul, who says: I do not seek my own benefit, but many, that they may be saved (I Cor. X, 33), and leave your empty suspiciousness (pusillum). We believe that if this happens, he will save others from great sin. You, most God-loving ruler, clearly know what I say and know the reasons for my sorrow. Therefore I do not need to waste many words, but I only implore your holiness to influence him more strongly. I think that if we succeed in ensuring that he does not reject our convictions (colloqula), then, with God’s favor, all difficulties will be resolved. Letter 262 (chapter 172) Letter from the most God-loving Bishop Theodoret to John of Antioch on the matter of the most God-loving Bishop Alexander (of Hierapolis) 774. It was not through negligence that I put off sending letters to your holiness, but because until now I did not know what to write. My lord, the most holy and most God-loving Bishop (of Hierapolis) Alexander continues to remain in his stubbornness, confident that he is defending the highest justice. Therefore, he does not accept either devoted friends or prayers, but considers fair indulgence (dispensativam condescensionem) to be a violation of the Gospel commandments. So, since you, Vladyka, know him perfectly from the very beginning, and have also experienced another virtue of this man, I ask your holiness to treat him patiently and prevent those who are plotting trouble for him. As before the truth, I say that this has brought special glory and respect to your holiness (pluximum decus) and will rejoice the one who does not receive any consolation from anywhere. Your piety (forgive me for this because of the sorrow with which I am writing) will incur great blasphemy if this happens, while what I spoke about above will bring all gratitude and praise for patience. He who has an abundance of ways to take revenge, but does not use his power, is worthy of all praise. Let him remember your holiness and those words that were once spoken (by you) to us, “since we all carry Vladyka Alexander in our arms and will not allow him to be insulted in any way.” Both for the sake of what concerns everyone, and for the sake of your own dignity (decorie), prevent those who would think of causing him trouble. I think that with this you will please God of all kinds, and will encourage not only friends, but also enemies to praise 775. A protest sent to Blessed Cyril (of Alexandria) and those who came together with him, other bishops from various provinces (provinciarum), who wanted to wait for John of Antioch and then, in his presence, open the council - especially since, as he himself wrote to Blessed Cyril, he had barely three days of travel left [to Ephesus]. The protest was sent on the eve of 776 the day when the acts against Nestorius were carried out, and he was deposed. Tranquillinus (Bishop of Antioch of Pisidia), Alexander (Apamyan) and Helladdius (Tarsus) to our gentlemen brothers and co-servants Bishops Cyril (Alexandria) and Juvenal (Jerusalem) and other bishops with them, rejoice in the Lord. The faith of Orthodoxy is known, which has long been preached to us by the divine and revered Scriptures; in the same way, it was handed down to us by the holy fathers who gathered at the Council of Nicea, who had as many sufferings for piety as there were members. since, due to some disputes, the most pious and Christ-loving emperor, following his own zeal for the faith, with his letters summoned Orthodox clergy from everywhere to Ephesus; then, by divine grace, almost all of us gathered (here). The only thing missing to attend the holy council is the most pious Bishop of Antioch, John, who is at the very doors (of Ephesus), as he recently announced in his letters, as well as through the prefectians and magistrates he sent ahead 777. Likewise, some of the Western bishops 778 will be present at the council. Therefore, we beg and beseech your piety (since we obey the letters of your Christ-loving majesty and came here, not knowing about these barbaric assemblies against us) to order so that we do not suffer from any lies and that the council takes place legally, where there will not be a single cleric or monk - neither from ours, nor from the Egyptians - and not a single such bishop who appears only for indignation cathedral, unless called to arrive there. Order that each metropolitan enter into the council only with the two most elected (bishops) of his district (provinciae), who can know such issues, in order to establish the faith of the holy fathers in peace and harmony. Otherwise, command us to return to our places without danger, for they threaten to deprive us of even our lives 784. Letter 265 (chapter 13). To the venerable and venerable presbyters, deacons and other clergy and Christ-loving people in Hierapolis, in Euphrates, - the holy synod of the “eastern” and those who, by the grace of God, from various countries and districts (regionibus atque provinciis) gathered in Ephesus, rejoice in the Lord. Since it seems quite consistent that those - who inspired the entire universe to destroy the right faith and, despising their own salvation, filled church affairs with confusion, turmoil and injustice - sent to you (epistles) in order to confuse your respect with illegal and unjust letters: then know that some of them because of the heretical decision (sententiam) of Cyril 785, which they dared to confirm with their signatures, and because of their other perverse opinions, they were deposed, while all the others were excommunicated and did not have any power of the priesthood to bind or permit, and in general to do anything that belongs to the clergy. So, do not let your respect be confused by what is contained in the letters they send. For everything that is done by those deposed and excommunicated is fragile and weaker than a web 786. Letter from John, Bishop of Antioch, and the council that met with him (in Ephesus), to the Emperor Theodosius, which they sent through the committee of John; it also contains that confession of the Catholic faith, which last. Cyril of Alexandria praised in his conciliatory message, writing to this same John, primate of Antioch through the legate for peace - Paul, Bishop of Emes. Someone will rightly call those people who are now very blessed, compared to those who were before our generation, since they are governed by your dominion. Using tens of thousands of concerns about the world, your piety has placed concern for pious faith above all other matters. Your most praiseworthy government even predominately adorns that which relates to God throughout the entire universe, since faith promotes your piety to carry out your most excellent thoughts and deeds for the benefit of all. From the very deeds we learned that this has always been so, but in particular it has become clear (to us) at the present time; for when the priests are seized with unforeseen turmoil, plotting to raise wars against each other and our agreement is broken, when the Egyptian 788 habitually disturbs the world, then the definition of your piety followed, promulgated through the most magnificent and most glorious committee of public finances 789 John - and it would be sufficient to suppress empty mutual strife, if we wanted to act soberly. And what your Majesty commanded (vestrum imperium) in those very letters was most of all supposed to direct towards the destruction of the temptations that were introduced by some regarding the right faith; those who want to impose on us the innovations of false understandings have already rejected the rule and standard of faith set forth by God by the fathers in Nicea, which, having nothing insufficient or superfluous, gives proper salvation, containing in a few words everything that the Holy Scriptures have given us about piety. As your Majesty knows, our most God-loving and holy father and Bishop Acacius (Berea) notified the holy council in writing that these (“chapters”) coincide with the wickedness of Apollinaris, but this could clearly be known to a man who was one hundred and ten years old, who spent his whole life in evangelical competitions, was present at many councils and always had close neighbors those who shared the dogmas of Apollinaris 790; therefore, he was the most likely to notice that the named “chapters” belonged to his own madness. The said faith of the holy fathers in that which relates to the deity of the Only Begotten does not allow any hesitation, but, preaching the consubstantial, protects the mind of believers in steadfastness, destroying the Arian heresy. And about the economy (incarnation) she conveys in the most precise terms, teaching us that the divinity of the Only Begotten is immutable and unchangeable and that our Lord Jesus Christ is not a simple man, but that - according to the divine and sacred Scriptures - we must believe in the Son of God. Therefore, following this, we do not add or take away anything in the presentation of faith and confession, since the paternal presentation (i.e., Nicene) is sufficient for everything. The most magnificent and most glorious committee of state finances 793 John was sent to put this into effect; he keeps Cyril and Memnon under the strongest guard, separating them and surrounding their houses with a crowd of soldiers (multitudinem militum). But those who disturbed everything and filled the world with confusion and confusion did not calm down even after this, but continued to revolt as usual, restoring the rule (regulam) against themselves. For, having been excommunicated, they have boldly assumed the power of the priesthood and enter into communion with the condemned, which should not be done, since the canons clearly prohibit this, i.e. (the rules order) that a condemned or excommunicated person should not give himself permission, but await a conciliar trial. If they allowed themselves, then no justification would be given to them, but anyone who would have communication with them would become alien to sacred service. This determined the rule (regula), and they, having no (as follows from the canons) hope of restoration, confused and outraged (everyone) and filled the scattered churches everywhere with confusion. So, knowing this, let your piety spiritually help us and praise God of all kinds in songs for His providence for us, and let him pray for those that they will be freed from the disease that is most disastrous for them, and let him constantly invite the teachers of the Church to his meetings to give speeches against this ungodly teaching and so that they lead the people of God in the footsteps of the holy fathers, so that everyone knows what the wickedness is against which we we fight. If by those who are possessed by the weakness (languore) 794 of this heresy, someone is sent to our city, the greatest and which is the matter of piety, your piety should take precautions against him and hand him over to the judges, so that those who try to cause outrage will learn what a good discipline is and (on the contrary) how many evils a stubborn and tyrannical will 795 carries within itself. To my lord, to my most holy father, Bishop Acacius (Berea) - John 796, John 797, Alexander 798, Alexander 799, Dexian 800, Paul 801, Macarius 802, Apringius 803, Theodoret 804, Musaeus 805 12), Meletius 806, Diogenes 807. We have already informed your holiness with what diligence we are acting in order to uproot from the church dogmas the madness of Apollinaris, renewed by the teachings of Cyril of Alexandria, and that, having deposed him and Memnon, who in everything contributed to his indecency, we notified our most pious and Christ-loving emperors. And their piety answered us, informing us that they approved (approbasse) the deposition we had made. He commanded that we all subscribe to the faith set forth by the holy fathers in Nicea, rejecting the temptations that arose, as the letters of your holiness contain. Now we let your holiness know this too, since, although those (imperial) letters were transmitted, however, those whom error once (forever) captured, fighting for that heretical folly, i.e. those who dared to sign the above-mentioned “chapters” did not want to reject them from the Orthodox faith, as the definitions of our Christ-loving emperors commanded. Having been summoned by us for discussion, they did not even want to answer our objections, for we are ready to expose the said heretical “chapters,” collected with great difficulty both from the inspired Scriptures and from the writings of the holy fathers. They all confuse and disturb and fill cities and regions (provincias) with confusion, sending unjust and impermissible (illicitas) letters against us, which, of course, have no force, for what meaning can those who are removed from all priestly service have? But since they can confuse simple people, let your piety know that those who were once excommunicated by us for contributing to the heretical madness of Cyril and what was committed illegally and unjustly, dared to perform ministry and communicate with the condemned. Your piety knows the regulations regarding such persons (regulae constitutae) and the fact that the latter do not give them any room for leniency. They do this, seeing that the most insolent Cyril and Memnon are guarded behind bars by a multitude of soldiers, who guard them day and night, imprisoned separately. Therefore, we ask your holiness to sing the praises of all God for us and ask for His invincible beckoning for us, and also to pray for those that, freed from disastrous understandings, they will return to their fatherly faith; for peace cannot be restored to the churches unless that wicked exposition is rejected. We most earnestly welcome all the brotherhood that is with you. May you remain healthy and prayerful for us, most holy lord and most sacred father! St. Petersburg, 1908, XII, 1st Monday This means that the name of the person to whom this or that letter was sent has not been preserved in manuscripts and is unknown to us. So it is in other cases. Μεγαλοπρέπεια magnificentia; see Paul Koch, Die Byzantinischen Beamtentitel von 400 bis 700 (Jena 1903), pp. 118–119. Μεγαλοπρεπέστατος magnificentissimus; see Paul Koch, Die Byzantiniscben Beamtentitel, S. 45–58 However, from the unclean part, mixed with wood flour or earth, they also make a mass that smells more pleasant than pure juice, although it is inferior to the latter in another respect, but most do not know this; Superstitious people mostly use this mass for smoking.” Wed. still at M.M. Khvostova, History of eastern trade of Greco-Roman Egypt (Kazan 1907), pp. 89, 174. Here are the features of reading the blessed. Theodorite are: τοῦ ταῦτα ποιῆσαι (instead of τα ῡ τα) omission of σοῦ and ὁἍ γιος (instead of Κύριος). See letters 27, 146 and 223 (XLIII). Ὁ πρωτεύων – primas, by position first, chief (officii, scholae, scrinii), (foreman; for example, primates possessionum vicorum are rural judges. Here, judging by the title μεγαλοπρέπεια, of course an important official, and the addressee of the letter of the 33rd, being primate, was also a “comite” (cf. letter 22) Additions Χριστοῦ in Greek. Biblical manuscripts are not found, and in the Slavic translation (Prof. G. A. Voskresensky on page 144 note) there is only the version of “God” in the first edition. Here ο ὔ τε ἀρχαί is omitted, as well as Chrysostom, Theophylact, Icumenius, as well as in the 1st edition and in the versions of the 2nd edition by Prof. G. A. Voskresensky on pp. 144–145. Plato, Apology of Socrates 30 D. Demosthenes came from the deme of Paeania, in Attica, which is why Theodoret calls him ὁ Παιανιεύς ῥ ήτωρ. The quotation is taken from Demosthenes' speech Περὶ στεϕάνου (§ 97). Of course, Thucydides, son of Olor, from the deme of Halimun, near Athens. His History is quoted (II, 64: 2). These sayings of Demosthenes and Thucydides are cited by Blessed. Theodoret and in letter 193 (HII)-m. Odyssey XX, 16–17, translated by V. A. Zhukovsky; in this case the translation is not particularly accurate: vm. “heart, humble yourself” would be better than “heart, be strong.” A comite is a vicar or deputy prefect (see letter 40), the civil ruler of a well-known diocese that was part of one or another of the four prefectures. In this case, of course, comes Orientis - a diocese that embraced 15 provinces and was part of the “eastern” prefecture. Praefectus praetorio Orientis usually lived in Constantinople, and the committee had a residence in Syrian Antioch (on the Orontes River). It is allowed (by † Prof. V.V. Bolotov in “Christian Readings” 1892, No. 7–8, p. 67) that the former often held his high post for several years, while the committee rarely ruled for more than a year; Probably, each indictment sent a new committee to Antischia. See also letter 42. This letter was found in a new manuscript by Sakkelion. Obviously Ulpian was not a Christian. Ἀρεοβίνδ ᾳ πατρικί ῳ. It seems that this is the same person to whom the XVIIIth letter from among those published by Sakkelion was addressed (see below under No. 193), inscribed as follows: Ἀρεοβίνδ ῳ στρατηλάτ ῃ. This patrician, Flavius ​​Areovinda Marcialius, was consul (cos. ord.) in 434, mentioned among the generals sent by Theodosius the Younger against the hordes of Attila (Theophanis Chronographiä Migne, gr. ser. t. CVIII, col. 264. 265). Marcellinus dates his death to the year 449 (Chronicon: Migne, lat. ser. t. LI, col. 928), when he was “state chancellor.” The grandson of this “stratilate” Areovindas the patrician, son of Degaloithes (cos. ord. 461), was also Areovindas (cos. ord. 506), married to Juliana (daughter of Olivrius and Placidia), and was also the great-grandson of Aspar (on the female line - through his mother Diagisea or Godisea, daughter of Asparov’s son Ardaburius, cos. ord. 447), which contributed to the new rise of the blessed. Theodoret (see letter 139). See H. F. Clinton, An Epitome of Civil and Literary Chronology of Rome and Constantinople, from the Death of Augustus to the Death of Heraclius (Oxford 1853), p. 278, and y † prof. V.V. Bolotov in “Christ. Readings" 1892, No. 7–8, pp. 78–79), as well as a note (σελ .15) by Sakkelion to the letter XVIII (198) published by him. Sakkelion Manuscript (σελ. 43): God of all. See letters 15 (on p. 15.3) and 22 (on p. 26.1). In the Vatican list, Baronius seems to have Statesima. Ἐνδοξότατος gloriosissimus; see Paul Koch, Die Byzantinischen Boamtentitel (Jena 1903), pp. 58–73. In ancient times, the Council of Carthage was in charge of almost all state affairs; its members held their seats for life. Wed. letter 29 on page 31. See letter 22 (on page 26.1). Pompeian was the successor of the famous Paul and died before the Council of Chalcedon, since Uranius of Emesa was already there. Ἄ ρχων – praeses, the civil commander of one of the provinces in the diocese of one or another prefecture, subordinate to the committee (see letter 22 on page 26.1). In this case, of course, the province is in the “eastern” diocese (Oriens), and specifically the Euphratesian one. From this we can conclude that Salust was not a Christian. Viceroy or vicar, i.e. deputy prefectacomite (see letter 22 on page 26.1), - according to Garnier (Migne, gr. ser. t. LXXXIV, col. 268–269) - of the diocese of Asia, which belonged to the “eastern” prefecture (Oriens). In the Vatican Code, apparently, to Sallustian. Of course, the earthquake that happened in 447 and the invasion of Attila’s hordes (Marcellinus, Chronicon ad an. 447: Migne, lat. ser. t. LI, col. 927–928). Ἐπάρχῳ (ὑπάρχῳ) i.e. to the prefect. This was a civil dignitary who ruled one of the 4 (6) prefectures. If it were a praefectus praetorio per Orientem, or Orientis, then it would include 5 dioceses: “East” (with 15 provinces), Egypt (with 6 provinces), Asia (with 10 provinces), Pontus (with 10 provinces) and Thrace (with 6 provinces). The residence of this prefect was in Constantinople. See letter 22 on page 26.1. But here, of course, is the praectus praetorio urbis, i.e., Constantinople, for this city and also Rome were allocated as special prefectures. See letter 197 (XVII). Constantius (or Constantine), who created the walls of Constantinople destroyed by the earthquake and was present at the Council of Chalcedon, was prefect at the end. 447 (Marcellinus, Chronicon: Migne, lat. ser. t. LI, col. 927), why letters 42–45, 47, 197 (XVII) and 200 (XX) should be attributed to this particular year. Wed. u☨prof. V.V. Bolotov in “Christ. Readings" 1892, No. 7–8, p. 82. Tilmon suggests that this is Athanasius of Perga. See N.N. about him. Glubokovsky, Blazh. Theodoret I, p. 42, note. 81. That is in Antioch under Bishop Domieu; see page 45. Περίβλεπτος spectabilis; see Paul Koch, Die Byzantinischen Beamtentitel (Jena 1903), S. 22–45. Columns; see letter 23 on page 28.1. The Roman mile is equal to 693 fathoms. τοῖς ἀθλίοι ϛ πολιτευομένοις So (πολιτευόμενοι) were called decurions or curials, i.e. members of local curiae, selected from wealthy landowners and - on the basis of representation (substitution) - obliged to contribute taxes to the government. For this reason, the entire empire was divided into certain sections (capita); their owners, uniting into communities, allocated richer members to the permanent council (βουλευτήρια) as judges, and these were responsible for paying taxes of the entire community to the “practors”, who, when leaving, received extracts from the ministry (ἀκρόστιχοι κατάστιχοι) with the designation of payment taxes (ζευγάρων) with columns (στίχος) of the owners. The accounting of taxes was carried out according to scribe books (ἰσοκώδικον), and each cadastre - by law - must. would be valid for an indiction (15 years), after which the tax lists (αἱ δημοσίαι ἀπογρφαί) were checked by watchmen, seasoners, scribes (ὄρθώται, ἐπόπται, ἐξισώται, ἀντιγραφεὶς), although this requirement was never strictly observed. It is clear that the position of the elected decurions was very difficult - and they, fleeing from the curiae, were listed in the category of official aristocracy (honorati, ἀξιωματικοί), which dealt the first blow to the municipal structure or local self-government (see G. Finlay, Greece under Roman rule, pp. 198–199. Prof. N.A. Skabalanovich, The Byzantine state and the church in the 11th century, pp. 236 ff.). This is clear from Theodoret’s letter itself, but it is also necessary to remember that taxes were levied both in kind and in gold, and the value of the latter grew terribly, and during the reign of Theodosius II (the Younger) the ratio of silver to gold was 1:18, while under Valentinian I it was 1:14 2/5, i.e., in less than a quarter of a century, gold rose in price by more than 1/5. The curials could not make ends meet and, falling into bondage to the land magnates through loans, became poor, while others abandoned their farms in advance and became officials (see M. Belorussov, Kolonat, Warsaw 1903, pp. 65–66). This is a quitrent in kind, and sometimes in money. See the blessed one about him. Theodorit, History of the Bogolyutsev, ch. 21, St. Petersburg 1853, pp. 161–184, et cf. to letter 200. Damian was at the Council of Antioch in 445 and at Chalcedon; in 458 his successor Megas was already known. Garnier is inclined to identify this addressee with the 10th subdeacon Gerontius mentioned in the letter (on page 8). Wed. in letter 32 (on page 34). Ankirsky. Reading of the Vatican Code: Eulalia is declared an infidel. The city of Constantine was in Ozroin. Eutrechius was prefect at the time when Nome was consul, i.e. in 445. See also letter 81. Nome (with F.I. Placidius Valentinianus Aug. VI) was consul in 445; see N. F. Clinton, Fasti romani I, p. 630. For the unflattering characterization of this person by the presbyter of Alexandria Athanasius, see Mansi VI, 1024 D: Acts of the Ecumenical Councils III, p. 584, and 2nd ed., p. 260. This letter was republished by Sakkelion; the difference between this new list and the previous ones lies only in the omission of the underlined word: and death. According to Garnier, it was in Antioch: the friend mentioned here is John of Antioch. According to Garnier, this is the same person to whom letters 41 and 99 are addressed. Dragonarius - mounted warrior, dragoon; This is what the standard bearers were called because the banners had an image of a dragon. According to Harpie, it was written shortly after Dioscorus occupied the See of Alexandria, in the year 444, since St. Kirill died this year on January 28th or June 9th. Wed. letters 24 (on page 29) and 196 (XV). This saying, attributed either to Pythagoras or Epicurus, became one of the popular proverbs. The meaning of this expression is subject to special study by Plutarch (in his Moralia, pag. 1128 sqq.). Wed. Georg Buchmann, Geflügelte Worte, 23 Aufl. (Berlin 1907). S. 419. Was consul in 448 (N.F. Clinton, Fasti romani I, p. 634); mentioned in the acts of the Robber Council in the trial of the Willow of Edessa case. He was a pagan. See letter 71. Obviously, we are talking about the death of Zeno's brother. Wed. at the blessed Theodoret, History of the God-Lovers, ch. 21. pp. 174–175 (according to the publication of St. Petersburg, 1853); Migne. gr. ser. t LXXXII, col 1436. Obviously, Epiphanius was not a Christian. Wed. in letters 236 (ch. 71) and 241 (ch. 88). Αἰγαί is a city in the second Cilicia, which Pliny (lib. V, sar. 27) calls Aegas. See also below to letter 230 (chapter 71). Zeno - R. Praetextatus Flavius ​​Zeno - was consul in 448: see letters 65 (on p. 59.1) and 82 about him. Obviously, Zeno was a pagan. Assistant, advisor to senior magistrates when resolving important issues. According to Garnier. Ermisigenes lived in some city neighboring Cyrus - in Antioch or Veria. Of course, the famous Akaki, who was a prominent figure during the reconciliation of the “Easterns” with St. Cyril of Alexandria after the Council of Ephesus and died in 437 or 438. Acacius's successor is Theoktistus, to whom the 32nd (on pp. 33–34) and 134th letters are addressed. For some explanations of this and the 78th letter, see Prof. V.V. Bolotov in “Christ. Readings" 1892, No. 7–8, pp. 83–84, 89–92, 136–147. Eulalius is probably the Bishop of Mardagia, and he (as well as Eusebius) is blessed. Theodoret, answered on behalf of Maximus of Antioch. Relations date back to the end of 450 - the beginning of 451 (when the Armenian bishops invited the believers of Constantinople to pray for triumph over the enemies of the Persians), or in 452-453 (when - after the defeat of June 2, 451 - the Persian government decided to abandon its plan to convert the Armenians to Parsism). This addition is not found in Greek manuscripts. Ἀπήτησα ἂ ν αὐτό without ἐγ ώ and with σύν τόκ ῳ placed in front - all these are features of reading the blessed. Theodorit. Reading bliss. Theodorite presents many features. See letter to '80 on page 79. This term, as a title (vir devotissium), appears from the second half of the 4th century, see Prof Otto Huschfeld in “Sit/ungsberichte der Akademie der Wibsenschaften zu Berlin” XXVI (1901), S 607–608; Paul Koch, Die Byzantinischen Beamtentitel (Iena 1903), S 78–81. In 445: see letters 57 and 81 (on pp. 54.1 and 80.2). Wed. in letters 81 (on page 82) and 236 (chapter 71). 60th Rule of St. Vasily V. excommunicates grave diggers from St. secrets for ten years (Rules of the Holy Father, Moscow 1844, p. 337): St. Gregory of Nyssa softens it somewhat (ibid., pp. 496–497). Nome was consul in 445, when Eutrechius was prefect (F.N. Clinton, Fasti romani I, Oxford 1845, p. 630. Tillemont: Memoires XV, p. 267. 268. 276. 438. 449.643: Histoire des Empereurs VI, 102. Mansi, VI, 563. 566. Acts III p. 586. 587 1st edition). Since the present letter appeared in 448, there is probably an error in its inscription ὑπατ ῳ (consul) vm. ὑπατικῷ – consulary (see Baronii Annales VIII, p. 62: ad an. 450 not. XLIII; cnf. ibid not. XII Pagii ad an. 450 in annotationibus: p. 60–63: ad an. 423 not. X: Annales VII, p. 231. F.H. Clinton, Fasti romani II, Oxford 1850, p. 473), although cp. to letter 139. Wed. letter 58, p. 54. Wed. letter 80s, p. 79. Οἰκ ἐξστιν ἡμὶν … ο ὖ σι … ὒ νθρωπον without τινά … πρὶν ἰἰν … σχοίη – features of reading the blessed. Theodorit. It's like a blessing. Theodoret was not only interned in Cyprus, but also had to stay there in the monastery indicated to him. Cyrus was located 64.9 Roman miles (almost 90 versts) from Antioch, i.e. just two days away. Wed. in letters 80 (p. 79) and 236 (ch. 71). About the (possible) Councils of Antioch at this time in † prof. V.V. Bolotov in “Christ. Readings" 1892, No. 7–8, p. 80. Compare, for example, the 40th canon of the Council of Laodicea, which reads: “It is not proper for bishops called to the council to be careless, but to go and admonish, or to be admonished for the well-being of the Church and so on. If he neglects it, he will blame himself: if he stays because of illness” (see Rules of St. Local Councils, issue 1, Moscow, 1880, pp. 254–255. This actually means that in Antioch the blessed one. Theodoret used his influence at councils in favor of candidates worthy of consecration. See letter 110. According to Garnier, it was Nome, consul and military commander in 445: but since Theodoret was exiled to Cyrus much later, this is incorrect. Others understood Lupicinus here: but on the one hand, nothing is known about his personality, and on the other, in letter 90 he is called μαγίστρος, while here we are talking about στρατηγός. In 448 Zeno was consul (H.F. Clinton, Fasti romani I, Oxford 1845, p. 634.). See below for letter 148. See letter 81, page 81.1. Wed. letters: 85 (p. 96), 86 (pp. 97–98) and 118, III. Wed. in the Syrian acts of the Council of Robbers, the first letter of Dioscorus to Domnos: Martin, Actes du brigandage d’Ephèse, Amiens 1874, p. 161; Hoffmann, Verhand Jungen der Kirchenversammlung zu Ephesus am XXII August CDXLUX, Kiel 1873, S. 69,37–39; Perry. The Second Synod of Ephesus: Acts, Dartford 1877, p. 332. δέ is a feature of Feodoritov’s reading, but it is not found in all lists. Wed. Theodoreti Eranistes, dialog. IÏ Migne, gr. ser LXXXIII, col. 197. 200. 201. 204; 212–213. What does the blessed man mean in this place? Theodoret, we don’t know for sure. It is only known that we are talking about the “scapegoat” of St. Cyril writes in a letter to Akaki Melitinkos: see S. Cyrilli epist. 41 (36): Minge, gr. ser. t. LXXVII, col. 202 sqq. About this circumstance - written relations with the blessed one. Theodoret - also mentioned by St. Cyril in one of his letters (Synodicon, cap. 210: Migne, gr. ser. t. LXXXIV, col. 836–837). Regarding the IV section of this letter in the publication of the works of Blessed. Theodoret in Min (Pair. curs. compl., gr. ser. t. LXXXIII, col. 1273. not 43) makes the following note: “this place is not in Sirmond’s edition - and I don’t dare say how authentic it is: unless it means peace between Theodoret and John of Antioch, which peace was somewhat after the negotiations, which Theodoret talks about in letter 162 (Synodicon see below No. 258 and cf. letter 86), although this world was not completely unfavorable for Nestorius, since Theodoret did not agree to condemn him.” It seems much fairer to accept the evidence of the '83 letter in its full force, leaving it to historical criticism to determine the time, circumstances, and details of the event in question. According to Garnier, this is a letter on behalf of the Council of Antioch or Euphrates to the bishops of Tareia (in the first Cilicia) and Anazarvia (in the second Cilicia). Yes, that is πα ῤ ἱμῖν instead of the previous reading πα ῤ ἡμῖν (adopted by Archpriest A.V. Gorsky in the “addition to the works adopted by Archpriest A.B. Gorsky in the “addition to the works of the Holy Fathers”, vol. XIV, p. 364) put by later publishers of letters from Blessed. Theodoret (Migne, gr. ser. t. LXXXIII, col. 1273), following a fair amendment made by Garnier (Dissert. II, sar. V, § V: Migne, gr. ser. t. LXXXIV, not. IV, col. 280). Basil is the successor of Dexian: he was at the councils of Constantinople (448), Robber and Chalkidome and died after 458. There is only one letter to the bishops of Cilicia, which can be recognized as a district letter. See #84 above on pp. 93-94. Wed. letters 82 (p. 86), 86 (pp. 97–98) and 118, III. Apparently written after September 9–10, 448: below in letter LXXXVI. Wed. more to letters 77 (p. 69.1) 78 (p. 73.1) LXXXVI and 110. See the works of St. Athanasius, part III (Moscow 1853), pp. 329–343; 2nd ed. (St. Sergius Lavra 1903) pp. 290–302. See also below to letter 288 (chapter 53). In terms of content, the first response letter of Domnus of Antioch to Dioscorus (Martin, Acter, p. 164–165. Hoffmann, S 71–72) comes close to this. Actually: having said all this “be healthy!” (Acts XV, 29. XXIII, 30) Wed. letter 203 (ХХХIII)-e. If letter 86 is a draft message on behalf of Domnus of Antioch, then the anti-canonical actions of Dioscorus should be attributed to the latter. Wed. letters 82 (p. 85), 85 (p. 96). LXXXVI (p. 101) and 113, III. A diocese is one of the civil areas in the prefecture (see letters 22 and 42 on pp. 26.1 and 40.3), and in ecclesiastical terms it is the district of the “patriarch” See 6th rule of the Nicene and 2nd Councils of Constantinople (Acts of the Ecumenical Councils in Russian translation, vol. I, Kazan 1859, p. 165. 265–266: 2nd ed., Kazan 1887, p. 69. 109. Rules of the Holy Apostle, Holy Councils and Holy Father, issue II, part 1, Moscow 1877, pp. 23–24). The first of them, for example, reads as follows: “Let the ancient customs existing in Egypt, Libya and Pentapolis be preserved, according to which the bishop of Alexandria has his authority in all these places: just as the Roman bishop has his own customs in this regard. In the same way, in Antioch and in other districts, let the privileges belonging to the famous churches be observed.” These words are more appropriate in the mouth of the Primate of Antioch, who, by succession from the Apostle Peter, knew the height of his see, but personally preferred humility. Therefore, it is very likely that this letter was written by Blessed. Theodoret, but sent on behalf of Domnus of Antioch, as it turns out according to the Syrian acts of the Robber Council. See No. LXXXVI (pp. 99–100) and cf. to letters 77 (p. 69.1), 78 (p. 73.1) and 110. Actes du brigandage d'Ephese. Traduction faite sur texte syriaque contenu dans le manuscrit 14. 530 du Musée Britannique par M. I’ Abbé: Martin, Amiens 1874, p. 139–143. Verhandlungen der Kirchcnversammlung am XXII August CDXLIX aus einer syrischen Handschift vom Iahre DXXXV übersetzt von Dr. Georg Hoffmann, Kiel 1873. S. 61 – 62. The Second Synod of Ephesus, english version with notes by Perry, Dartford 1877. p. 298–305. There are no underlined words in the Greek list. Wed. letters 82 (page 85), 85 (page 96). 86 (page 97) and 113, III. Martin (Actes, p. 143, note a) suggests that the letter ended here, and considers the rest as post-scriptum, but see the beginning of this letter on page 99. Instead of Irenaeus, about whom see letter 110. Apamia - was in the second Syria: Domnus was at the Council of Chalcedon. Ozroin region, Ozroina - the western part of Mesopotamia with the main city of Edessa. For the case of these clerics, see Act 10 of the Council of Chalcedon. The placement of this word at the end of the sentence is a feature of reading the blessed. Theodorit. Taurus was a comite in 416, a consul in 428, a praetorian prefect and a patrician in 434 (cf. N.F. Clinton, Fasti romani I, p. 619), and died (according to Marcellinus: Migne, lat. ser. t. LI, col. 928) in 449. Florentius was prefect of the city of Constantinople in 422, prefect of the praetorium in 428, consul in 429 (N. F. Clinton, Fasti gomani I, p. 610) and again prefect of the praetorium in 436, 430 and 440; he took part in the analysis of the case of Eutyches and was at the Council of Chalcedon. Wed. about him and † prof. V.V. Bolotov in “Christ. Readings" 1892, No. 7–8, pp. 135–136. “To the Master,” writes the blessed one. Theodoret (40th question of interpretation on 2 books of Kings, Creation, part 1, Moscow 1855, p. 405; 2nd ed., Holy Trinity Lavra of Sergius 1905, p. 344), - the leadership of the guards surrounding the king is entrusted, - I mean shield-bearers and spear-bearers.” Ἐνώπιον – a feature of reading the blessed. Theodorit. ΙΙαραστησόμαθα - a feature of reading the blessed. Theodorit. Τὰ ἴδια τοῦ σ ώ ματος - this reading is found both in manuscripts and among church writers, but it was probably formed from the original τὰ διὰ τοῦ σ ὼ ματος. Garnier calls the addressee Senator, not Senator, and identifies him with the person to whom the letter is intended 44 (on pp. 45–47). The addressee's name Sirmond should be written as Sphoracius, and Baronius - Sporadiy. Sporacius was present at the Council of Chalcedon; in 452 he was consul (N.F. Clinton, Fasti romani I, p. 644), but now he was a “comite of domestics” (comes domesticorum), i.e. like the commander of a guards division. This was a man who was quite close to bliss. Theodoret, who, in dedicating his work “Haereticarum fabularum compendium” to him, directly calls him his “Christ-loving son” (Migne.gr. ser. t. LXXXIII, col. 35–36). Cp. letter 34 (on pp. 35–36). The interchange of ἔλεος and ἐκχίν ῃ occurs occasionally in Greek New Testament manuscripts. Garnier identifies this addressee with the person to whom letters 41 and 59 are addressed (on pp. 40 and 55). Ἀντιγραφεύς - glorious scribe, quaestor (Migne, gr. ser. t. LXXXIV, col. 889: Index graecus), contrôleur général des finances (Migne ibid., col. 285). According to Ducange, ἀντιγραφεύς means the head of an archive (Glossarium ad scriptores mediae et infimae graecitatis. Tom I. Lugduni 1688. Col. 83–84). Cp. to letter 42 on page 43.2. Garnier identifies this Alexandra with the one to whom letter 14 is addressed (pp. 12–15), and claims that she was “ordained” as a deaconesses by Proclus of Constantinople. According to Garnier, Celerina was an Antiochian, or at least lived in Antioch for a long time. Introducing τῶν ἐλαχίστων and ἀυήν, withdrawing ὁτι, as well as καθ ̕ ἡμεραν ὁρῶσι (instead of διὰ παντὸς βλἐπουσιν) - all these are features of the blessed. Theodoret, but the omission of ἐν οἰρανοῖς is also found in New Testament manuscripts. Apollonius was a comite (comes sacrarum argitionum, see letter 167) in 436. Wed. Letter 73 on pp. 65–66. Garvier (not. III ad h. er.: Migne, gr. ser. t. LXXXIV, col. 287) here means the second dialogue of Eranist. See also letters 130 and 151, XI. The bishops stuck to the nearest, dry route - through Galatia and Bithynia to Chalcedon - where they should have encountered the heights of Taurus and Antitaurus. According to Martin, this is a letter from Domnus to Theodoret (Pseudo Synode, pp. 84–85 et not. 3. 4; Actes, p. 101, note b), but this is doubtful, as can be seen from the following notes (Sir. 125, 3.4). The letter dates back to July-August 448. Δεκτικάριος – lecticarius, a chamber-page who brought imperial letters, or – rather – a courier (see Migne, gr. sert LXXXIV: Index graecus. Col. 1030); according to others, the lectician is a porter of travel chairs, a slave. Σπαθάριος – a person from among the judges of the prefect (Migne, gr. ser. t LXXXIV, col. 1119); according to others (E.A. Sophocles, Greek Lexicon of the Roman and Byzantine Periods from B.C. 146 to A.D 1100, New York 1887, p. 1002) it is ζιφηφόρος and means a member of the imperial guard - bodyguards ( σωματοφύλακες ). The Roman mile is equal to 693 Russian fathoms; This means, of course, a place 166⅓ versts from Kirrestia, almost 104 versts from Antioch and 4 1/6 versts from Apamia. Garnier suggests writing the addressee's name: Lupicinus and identifies him with Lupicipus Magister, who is assigned letter 90 on pp. 106–107. Wed. Acts of the Ecumenical Councils III, pp. 516–531 (2nd ed., pp. 231–238): V, pp. 294–307 (3rd ed., pp. 150–156). Emesa (now: Khums) is a city in Lebanese Phenicia, ecclesiastically subordinate to the Damascus Metropolitan. Uranius was among the judges at the Tyro-Virite-Tyrian conference on the Willow case (at the beginning of 448) and was present at the Council of Chalcedon; he was still alive in 458. This is how it is read in another Greek italic manuscript, from Eusebius and I. Damascene. See letter 122 on pages 153–154. See letter 42 on page 43.2 and also in prof. I.A. Pokrovsky. Lectures on the history of Roman law (St. Petersburg, 1907), pp. 66 (and 60): During the period of the monarchy, “self-government of communities - civitates in their internal affairs continues to be preserved, although it is strongly influenced by government control. The bodies of self-government are now (which replaced the municipal people's assemblies) the municipal local) Senate - decuria and elected municipal magistrates (decuriones). The Senate is, in principle, a local administrative authority: it is responsible for carrying out public works, recruiting, and collecting taxes. In these financial matters, all members of the Senate are responsible with their property for any shortcomings and shortfalls, and, moreover, all for each other. As a result, the position of decurius was burdensome, and the local aristocracy shied away from it. To attract her, the Roman government gave the decurions various class and honorary advantages.” The city of Zeugma (τὸ Z ε ṙ γμα) was located on the right bank of the Euphrates, not far from Samosata (Strabo, Geography XI. 14: 15. XIV, 2: 29. [XVI, 1: 22. 23. 2: 1] according to translation † by Prof. F.G. Mitsenko, Moscow 1879, pp. 542. 678 763 765. Ptolemy VI, 15 § 14 and Stephen of Byzantium). Wed. at the blessed Theodorit, “History of the God-Lovers” ch. 5, pp. 76–77 (according to the publication of St. Petersburg, 1853). ἓ ν is omitted, as in S Δ B. Is this not the same person as Mokim, the steward of Hierapolis, to whom letter 258 (chapter 162) is addressed? Blessed Theodoret in the 23rd chapter of “The History of God-Lovers” mentions (St. Petersburg 1853, p. 189) the glorious ascetic Antonin, but he was neither a presbyter nor an archimandrite: but perhaps he became one after writing the said work. Dolikh, Dolichia is a city in Euphratesia not far from Cyrus, subordinate in ecclesiastical terms to the Metropolitan of Hierapolis. Timothy was at the Council of Chalcedon. See N.N. Glubokovsky. Blazh. Theodoret I, p. 357, note 83. In this form, these words are read today only in the story “about the appearance of an Angel to Joseph in Matt. 1, 21. Features of reading: without καὶ and σύ ἐν γαστρὶ ἔξεις (cf. Matt. 1:18). Wed. Eranisties Theodoreti, dialog. III (Migne, gr. ser t. LXXXIII, col 256. p. 206–207) and below letter 145. For the time of writing this letter, see N.N. Glubokovsky, Blazh. Theodoret I, p. 269, note. 125. See also letters 117 and 145 on pp. 148.4 192. In manuscripts, Aspar (an Arian) is called consul (ὕ πατος). but this was Avienus around 450 (in 452 Prosper already calls him a consular: S. Prosperi Aquitani Chronicon integrum: Migne, lat. ser t. LI, col. 603), whose name Garnier puts in the title of this letter, suggesting a copyist error in the existing codes (Dissert. II, sar V, § V, not II ad h. epist: Migne, ser. t. col. It seemed to us much more likely to make a typo ὑπάτ ῳ vm. ὑπάτικ ῳ (so Baronius, Annales, t. VIII, p. 62: ad an. 450 not. XLIII. Cnf. Pagii annot., not. XII ad an 450 ibid., p. 60–63. F.H. Clinton, Fasti romani, vol. II, Oxford 1850, p. 4/3), than Ἀσπάρι vm. Ἀβιἐνῳ; but † prof. V.V. Bolotov rejects this, pointing out that the former consul (ex consule ordinario) would have been designated differently, because in ordinary life consulares (correctores, praesides), ὑπατικοί were called simple clarissimi - rulers of more significant provinces (in one or another area of ​​a known diocese), who were not consuls and had very macho chances for this distinction are not even close future (see “Christ. Reading” 1892, no. 7–8, pp. 71–72). He was a commissioner at the Council of Chalcedon (Acts of the Ecumenical Councils III, p. 123; 2nd ed., p. 57); served as consul (together with Opilion) in 453; see F.Ya. Clinton, Pasti gomani I, p. 648, et cf. to the end of the letter of CXIII on page 145.1. Wed. about them from prof. I. I Sokolova, The state of monasticism in the Byzantine church from the half of the 9th to the beginning of the 13th century. (Kazan 1894), pp. 206 and 250. These monks received the name “akimits” or “vigilant” because they were divided into several parts (from 3 to 6), which, directly replacing each other, continuously and “vigilantly” performed prayers in the church. The beginning of this monastic dispensation was laid by St. Alexander († around 430), who founded his first monastery on the Euphrates around 400 and not long after this, another in Constantinople, where, ½ hour away from him, his next successor John created a much larger monastery, under the name “Irinarius”. Under the third rector, St. Markelle (died before 484) former consul of Fl. Studius Eutropius founded the famous Studite monastery in Constantinople in 463, which used the same monastic practice, which is why “Akimites” are sometimes also called “Studites.” This inscription was made by Garnier on the basis that in the letter itself, warriors are also mentioned between different classes of people. Against this, Tilmon notes (Memoires XV, p. 305) that theological disputes between soldiers are not at all common, and in no case can they themselves expel their comrades from their midst, but Theodoret speaks of “expulsion” from Christian-confessional communion (pp. 187. 191). In general, the purpose of this letter specifically to the “warriors” can hardly be disputed in view of the abundance of the military element in Cyrus (see † Prof. V.V. Bolotov in “Christian Reading” 1892, No. 7–8, pp. 75–76). According to Garnier, the letter appeared after 449 or at the end of it. Now this is the place of the prophet. Malachi reads like this: I am your Lord, and I do not change. The Church of the Martyr Dionysius in Cyrus is mentioned by Blessed. Theodoret and in “History of God-Lovers”, ch. 2 (according to the edition of St. Petersburg 1853, p. 44. Migne, gr. ser. t. LXXXII, col. 1321, p. 1136). This is probably the Martyr of Tarsus, on whose memorial day (June 21) the speeches of St. John Chrysostom and Monophysite Severus of Antioch. Apparently there were churches to all these saints in Cyrus. See also letter 249 (chapter 133). Wed. letter 130 (p. 166) and Eranistes, dialog. III (Migne, gr. ser. t. LXXXIII, col. 256, p. 206–207). The most extensive discourse on faith, § 3: see Works of St. Athanasius, part IV, Moscow 1854, p. 507; 2nd ed. (St.-Tr. Sergius Lavra 1903), p. 456. For quotes from this “word” of Afanasiev, see Blessed. Theodorit still in the "Eranist" dial. II and IIÏ Migne, gr. ser. t. LXXXIII, col. 180 (p. 137–138). 292–393 (p. 239–240). The original is somewhat different (Epist. S. Damasi IV – ad Paulinum: Migne, lat. ser. t. ХШ, col. 362; cnf. ibid. not. a); The version of this passage quoted by Theodoret in the third dialogue of the work “Eranist” (Migne, gr. ser, t. LXXXIII, col. 296) also differs from this edition. In the now available list of the famous letter of Leo to Flavian: “Lectis dilectionis tuae litteris” (Acts of the Ecumenical Councils III, pp. 516–531 and according to the 2nd ed., pp. 231–238; V, pp. 294–307 and according to the 3rd ed., pp. 150–156) these expressions are not found. Here γάρ is omitted by some New Testament codes and church writers. According to Garnier, it was written in September or early October 450. See letters 117, 138 and 141 on pages 148.4 177. 183. Ἀσπαστήριοις οἴκοις were rooms, special premises for clergy who retired there for secret night conversations; they were located behind the altar and ἀνἀκτορον (seat). Here it was Ambrose of Milan who spoke with Emperor Theodosius I (Migne, gr ser. t LXXXIV, col. 906: index graecus). Wed. at N.N. Glubokovsky, Blazh. Theodoret I, p. 176, note 60. This means that three immersions were made separately for each name, as required by the 50th Apostolic Canon: “If anyone, a bishop or presbyter, performs not three immersions of a single sacrament, but one immersion given into the death of the Lord: let him be cast out” (Rules of the Holy Apostle, Holy Ecumenical and Local Councils and the Holy Father, issue I, Moscow 1870, p. 105). As can be seen from the context, this refers to worship in general, and not specifically “liturgy.” The Old Testament in Greek edited by Alan England Brooke and Norman M e Lean reads (I, 1, Cambridge 1908, p. 4): ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς. Wed Eranistes, dialog III Migne. gr ser t LXXXIII, col. 225, p. 179. See also Letter 144 on pp. 188–190. Theodoret also gives these examples in “Eranist” (dial II-Migne, gr. ser. t. LXXXIII, col. 156 – 157). Wed. N. N. Glubokovsky has comments on this letter. Blazh. Theodoret I, pp. 271 ff. Now this passage reads like this: from the earth, and from these who are under heaven. The insertion of “many” and the omission of “Jesus Christ” are features of the reading of the blessed one. Theodorit in this place. Reading bliss. Theodorite with some features. See letter 14 (p. 15), 27 (p. 30) and 223 (XLIII). Ὑ μῶν – a feature of reading the blessed. Theodorit. So according to some New Testament codes and church writers. The word “Jesus” is also omitted in some New Testament codes and among church writers. “Believe” (instead of “repent”) is a feature of the reading of the blessed. Theodoret, and the insertion of “Lord” is found both in the New Testament codes and among church writers. See the 12th speech of Basil the Great “On the Holy Spirit” (Works of Basil the Great, part III, Moscow 1846, p. 272; 3rd ed., Moscow 1891, p. 221). “Christ our Lord” (instead of “Son of God”) is a feature of the reading of the blessed. Theodorit. “Jesus” is sometimes omitted in New Testament codices and church writers. So in the fourth edition by prof. G. A. Voskresensky, Ancient Slavic Apostle, vol. I (Sergiev Posad 1892), p. 199. This kind of reading occurs occasionally in others. Blazh. Theodoret omits here the words “according to the flesh.” “By the Lord” is omitted both in authoritative lists and in many church writers. According to Garnier, it was written at the end of 449 or at the beginning of the next. τοῖς Ἀμαξοβίοις. For Strabo, these are generally nomads, and for Ptolemy, they are nomadic Scythians. See letters 117, 119, 138, 141 and 145 on pages 148, 150, 177, 182, 192. Wed. letters 137 (on page 176), 172 and 245 (chapter 110). Or “mandate” (ὑπομνηστικόν), instruction (commonitorium), “mandate”, memo; Wed letter 79 on page 77. This document is placed at the end of the 11th (9th) letter of St. Cyril of Alexandria to Pope Celestipus 1st (Migne, gr. ser. t. LXXVII, col. 85. 88. 89). Wed. in Mari Mercator's Liber subnotationum in verba Juliani I, 4 words: Migne, lat. ser. t. XLVIII, col. 112 sqq; see also ibid, col 285. See y Socrates, Ecclesiastical History VII, 26, 27 and 29. Acts of the Ecumenical Councils in Russian translation, vol. I, Kazan 1859, pp. 429–437; 2nd ed., Kazan 1887, pp. 172–175. The translation is largely inaccurate, checked from the text found in Migne, gr. ser. t. LXXVII, col. 1449–1457. Μεγαλοπρεπέστατος magnificentissimous: see Paul Koch, Die Byzantinischen Beamtentitel vom 400 bis 700 (Jena 1903), S. 45–58. In another list (cod Seguierianus) Theodora. In another list: to many or before many. In another list: the accepted (γενόμενον), which reading is often found and accepted in critical editions of the New Testament. A significant part of this letter, which we enclosed in quotation marks, was read at the Robber Council of 448 (Martin. Actes, p. 103–119; Hoffmann, S 46–53. Perry, p. 218–240 263–271). Here this passage is designated as follows: “a list of the letter that Theodoret wrote to the monks against the pious Bishop Cyril and against the holy and ecumenical council of Ephesus,” and Presbyter Pelagius expresses that this is “the tomos that Theodoret compiled against the first holy ecumenical council that met here (in Ephesus), and against the writings of blessed Cyril.” A minor extract, placed between double quotation marks, was also read at the fifth ecumenical council (Acts V, pp. 221–223; according to the 3rd ed., pp. 114–115), as an extract from the letter of Theodoret, “written by him in the monastery, against St. Cyril.” Variations and additions to all these lists are indicated below the line. Acts V, p. 221 (according to the 3rd ed., p. 114): “over our battle.” In addition to manuscript No. 14.530 (Syrian Acts of the Robber Council), the next part, in a completely identical version, is still in man. No. 12.155 (f. 112 b, 2) under the following title: “an excerpt from the tomos of Theodoret, read at the council. The extract begins from the place where he (Theodoret) speaks against Cyril and the council, which, having accepted his (Cyril’s) head, condemned Nestorius.” Another edition, different from the named versions, is in man. No. 14.602 (f. 97 a, 1, 2). The Syriac translation adds: Cyril. Syriac version: Marcion. Further words (see Martin, Actes, p. 106; Hoffmann, S. 47.38–48.5; Perry, p. 223. 264–265) almost literally coincide with the so-called “Antiochene Creed” The Syriac version adds: according to humanity. Wed. with these words blessed. Theodoret “Antiochian Symbol” in letter 266 (chapter 17), introduced by St. Cyril and in a conciliatory letter to John of Antioch (see Acts of the Ecumenical Councils, vol. II, p. 375; according to the 2nd ed., Kazan 1893, p. 149). Blessed Theodorite added μοῦ. Blazh. Theodoret omits ἐατίν. Syriac version: by the power of His verb (Word-Logos). The Syriac translator understands the word: ὑπεριδών in a different sense: Sch'baq - leaving without a prize. Rearrangement is a feature of reading the blessed. Theodorit. So it is in some codes and translations and among church writers. The Syriac translator omits the underlined words. Insertion is a feature of reading the blessed. Theodorit. To this department cf. Epistle of Leo to Flavian of Constantinople: Acts of the Ecumenical Councils III, cf. 523–525 (from 2nd ed., pp. 234–235); V, pp. 300–301 (after 3rd ed., pp. 153–154). The Syriac translator, in contrast to the previous person, conveys this expression with the words: aikalaha - since God is like God. Wed. letter of Leo to Flavian of Constantinople Acts of the Ecumenical Councils III, p. 523 and according to the 2nd ed., p. 234; V, p. 300 and according to the 2nd ed., p. 153): “Each of the two natures, in conjunction with the other, acts in the way that is proper to it: the Word does what is proper to the Word, and the flesh does what is proper to the flesh. One of them shines with miracles, the other is subject to suffering.” The Syriac translator adds: but in one Christ we think of two natures (Martin, Actes, p. 114; Hoffmann, S. 51, 14 – 17 Perry, p. 234-268). Ἄ ριστον - τὸ μέτριον: this is a saying of one of the seven wise men - either Solon or Cleovulus of Linda - which is given by Stobaeus in this form: ἄριστον μέτρον - better than the whole world. It was also adopted by another sage (see † Prof. I.P. Korsunsky, Sayings of the most ancient Greek thinkers, selected from the works of Diogenes Laertius, Plutarch, Stobey and others, Kharkov 1887, pp. 44. 50. 52. 151). Wed. and in letter 219 (XXXIX). And in one Latin list (d) the addition de luce occurs (Jo. Wordsworth et H. Jul. White, Novum Testamentum Domini nostri Jesu Christi latine secundum editionem sancti Hieronymi I, Oxonii 1889–1898, p. 521). Based on this expression, we can assume with complete confidence that the present letter came to the latter. Council of Ephesus in 431 and probably soon after. The Syriac translator conveys this place - word for word - like this: they were children of the same language. In the Synodicon it’s like this: “we also see that all the senators who were in the consistory” (in consistorio), i.e. at a meeting of the imperial council (nonsistorium principis) See Acts of the Ecumenical Councils I. pp. 850–852; 2nd ed., pp. 338–339. The translation has been revised and corrected according to the text in the collection of letters of Blessed. Theodorit. Another version in Synodicon, sar. XXXI, col. 628–629. The letter has been preserved everywhere only in the Latin translation of Wed. and note to letter 163 on page 276.1. In the list of “Acts” there is no mention of nobles (et magnificentissimos principes), but in the Synodicon, col 628, it reads like this: “plissimum prinicipem, et magnificentissimum judicem” (the most pious sovereign and the most magnificent judge), which names should refer to the emperor (see letter 166 on p. 283.3). However, it must be remembered that the word judex was used as a general term for the rulers of the “provinces” (with the title proconsules): see Prof. Yu. A. Kulakovsky and A.I. Sonny, Ammianus Marcellinus, History (translation from Latin), vol. I (Kiev 1906), pp. XX. In Synodicon: to your monastery (ad suum monasterium). There are no further words in Synodicon. The following words are not in the text among the letters of the blessed one. Theodorit. Acts of the Ecumenical Councils I, pp. 813–818; 2nd ed., pp. 323–325. The translation (very inaccurate) has been revised and corrected according to the text in the collection of letters of Blessed. Theodorit. Another version in Synodicon sar. XXXII, col. 629–631. The letter has been preserved everywhere only in Latin translation. In Synodicon: “through distant and absurd dreams” (propter spes futuras et incongruas). Wed. letters 167 and 169 on pages 288 and 292. The underlined words came down only in the Mansi edition, and in the Synodicon as follows: “according to the judgment of your piety.” The underlined words in the “Acts” are omitted - according to the text in Mansi (IV, p. 1402). See letter 165 on page 280.1. In Synodicon, col. 630, the definition is said: sedium principatus (the primacy of the thrones, or the most important thrones). In Synodicon: in both Phenicia. The same is expressed in Synodicon, col. 631, where we find:... qui certe de ipsis quoque civitatibus, quarum nobis cura commissa est, et ab ipsa, si oportuerit, vita facilius absedemus quam relinquamus devotionem pro flde bellandi. Neque nostra magnum aliquid erunt, and in the Synodicon there is a little definition: neque nostra magnum apud eos magnum fides nostra putabitur (“and our faith will not be considered any great by those” - “will not be valued”). Regni commoda, and in the Synodicon: suavia, quae ad imperium pertinent, i.e. “the advantages of participation in the supreme (state) power.” Synodicon. col. 631, gives an unimportant variant of the last sentence: "who, as it turns out, intend to fight against your piety." Acts of the Ecumenical Councils I, pp. 818–822; 2nd ed., pp. 325–327. The translation has been revised and corrected according to the text in the collection of letters of Blessed. Theodorit. Another version in Synodicon, sar. XXXIV, col 632–645. The letter has been preserved everywhere only in a Latin translation. Comes omnium largitionum (later λογοθέτης τοῦ γενικοῦ, logothete of general affairs), committee of state finances, in the style of the minister of finance. That is, the aforementioned John, as it is said more directly in the Synodicon, col. 633: praefatus magnificentissimus magister. Of course, a meeting of senators (or nobles in general). Wed. letter 164 on page 278.4. In Synodicon, col. 634: “to administer the ministry of the priesthood and ordain (every) bishop. Wed. letters 166 and 169 on pages 282 and 292. Celsitudo ὑπεροχή: see Paul Koch, Die Byzantinischen Beamtentitel, S. 109–111. Acts of the Ecumenical Councils I, pp. 823–825: in 2nd ed., pp. 327–328. The translation has been revised and corrected according to the text in the collection of letters of Blessed. Theodorit. Another version in Synodicon, sar. XXXV, col. 635–637. The letter has been preserved everywhere only in a Latin translation. In the Synodicon the name of Apollonarius is omitted. In the Synodicon it’s like this:... after this request of ours and a reminder (to you of this) before God. In the Synodicon it says: “Let them not become traitors to the faith betrayed by their fathers.” Acts of the Ecumenical Councils I, pp. 827–830; 2nd ed., pp. 328–330. The translation has been revised and corrected according to the text in the collection of letters of Blessed. Theodorit. Another version in Synodicon sar. XXX, col. 626–628. The letter has been preserved everywhere only in a Latin translation. See letters 164 (page 278.4) and 167 (page 287.3). Wed. letters 166 (p. 282) and 167 (p. 288). In the Synodicon it’s like this: “to restore Cyril and Memnon to the episcopal rank” (as they had already been deposed). In the Synodicon it’s like this: “and before the consistory of the emperor.” See letters 164 (page 278.4), 167 (page 288) and 169 (page 292). Specimen enim semel ipse dedit. The Synodicon (col. 627) is clearer: “Let no one tell me directly anything about him. After all, they have already adopted a formula (typum) regarding what concerns him.” On the outskirts of the city of Chalcedon, where the buildings of Rufinian were located. See letter 163 on page 276.3. Contra nos - the reading is, of course, incorrect. The preferred reading is Synodicon, col. 627: ad nos (“to us”). Agere, or more precisely in the Synodicon: “to administer church services to heretics and excommunicates” (ecclesiastica ministeria poragant). magister tuus comes largitionum, and in Synodicon, col. 627, more precisely: is qui nunc magister est, quaudo erat comes largitionum tuus. Of course, John is here. See letter 167 on page 287. Acts of the Ecumenical Councils I, pp. 838–845; 2nd ed., pp. 333–335. The letter is preserved in the Greek original; the translation has been revised and corrected according to the text in the collection of letters of the blessed one. Theodorit. Reading manuscripts V58; Ἐριδικῆς publishers correct it to Σερδικῆς (or Σαρδικῆς). See Rule 4 of the Council of Antioch in the publication Rules of St. local councils with interpretations, vol. I (Moscow 1880), p. 151. The correct name of this bishop of Milan is Martinian. See Acts of the Ecumenical Councils I, pp. 811–813; 2nd ed., pp. 322–323. From this letter, preserved in Greek, the part enclosed in quotation marks, is translated in the Vth volume of the Acts of the Ecumenical Councils (pp. 226-227; 3rd ed., p. 117). The ancient Latin version is preserved in the Synodicon. sar. XCV: Migne, gr. ser. t, LXXXIV, col. 709–711 and see #212 below. Acts of the Ecumenical Councils V, pp. 225–226 et cf. p. 448; 3rd ed., pp. 116–117 and pp. 226. This is a translation of the version placed in the fifth collection of the fifth ecumenical council with the inscription: “His same to Nestorius after the union that took place between the eastern and His Holiness Cyril.” The translation of this letter, preserved everywhere in Latin, was revised and corrected according to the text in the collection of letters of Blessed. Theodorit. Another version, which does not present important features, belongs to Marius Mercator (Migne, gr. ser. t. LXXXIII, col. 1486. ​​1487 and lat. ser. t. XLVIII, col. 1086: Excerpta ex epistolis Theodoreti. Verba Marn Mercatoris). There is also an editorial office in Synodicon, sir. CXX (Migne. gr. ser. t LXXXIV, col. 733–734). According to Marius Mercator, this letter was written at a time when Nestorius was “in exile,” that is, according to Garnier, in the monastery of St. Euprenia, and according to Baluz, he was already exiled to the oasis (see Migne, lat. ser t. XLVIII, col. 1076–1077, not. a). According to the version of Marius Mercator, it is clearer: “that City life, pleasure and glory do not take possession of me and that I do not crave high thrones”... According to the Synodicon version, “that I am not burdened to live outside the city (in an appointed monastery) and fulfill the command (about this) and that I am not constrained by the desire for a high throne” (Quod habitare in villa non metuam et obsequi regulae, et excelsi throni non sim desiderio compeditus). Of course, polyps and chameleons. In other versions, the proper names of these animals are read in the text. Wed. in letters 147 (on page 222) and 245 (ch. 110). This letter has survived only in a Latin translation; another Latin version of it is in Synodicon'e sar. CXXXXIX (Migne, gr. ser t. LXXXIV, col. 754–755 and see below No. 252). As is clear from the words: et post alia, Marius Mercator gives (Migne, lat. ser. t XLVIII, col. 1079–1080) only an excerpt from it (why it is necessary to recognize the translation of the Synodicon as more correct), noting (col. 1078–1079) that this letter was sent to Constantinople in favor of the Nestorians (in favorem Nestorianorum Constantinopolim destinavit – Theodoretus). The inscription “to the monk Andrew of Constantinople” was made by Garnier (Migne, gr. ser. t. LXXXIV, col. 301–303) - without any justification. That's how Valuz does it. (Migne, lat. ser. t. XLVIII, col. 1079, not, a): “Ejusdem Theodoreti ex epistola, quam pro consolatione Nestorianorum Constantinopolin destinavit”; for there and for the same purpose the blessed one. Theodoret sent two more letters (Synodicon, sar. XL. XLVIÏ Migne, gr. ser. t. LXXXIV, col. 642–647. 654). The present letter was composed after Cyril of Alexandria sent his confession of faith to John of Antioch, i.e. at the end of 442. Another version is preserved in the Synodicon (sar. CXLVIIÏ Migne, gr. ser. t. LXXXIV, col. 763–764 and see below No. 254) and in Marius Mercator (Migne, lat. ser. t. XLVIII, col. 1083); the latter unfairly considers this letter to be the second letter of Theodoret to Imerius of Nicomedia. Another version is preserved in the Synodicon (sar. LXÏ Migne, gr. ser. t. LXXXIV, col. 671), from which we borrow the end of this letter, marking this part with quotation marks; here in the title it is indicated that the letter speaks “about the same matter” (de hac ipsa re) as in Chapter LX (see below No. 235), i.e. “about the letters that came to that Acacius (Bishop of Veria) from the Egyptian” (Cyril of Alexandria). Wed. also translation of Marius Mercator (Migne, lat. ser. t. XLVIII, col. 1080–1081). It was Maximus (Synodicon, cap. LV et CVIÏ Migne, gr. ser. t. LXXXIV, col. 660. 720. Cp. cap. LXXVI ibid., col. 687). Migne, gr. ser. t. LXXXIII, col. 1489: indiscrete, a t. LXXXIV, col. 671: indeterminate. This conjecture was adopted by Garnier instead of the word (“to) John,” for John of Antioch died (in 441 or 442) before Cyril of Alexandria († in 444). Acts of the Ecumenical Councils V, pp. 227–230: 3rd ed., pp. 117–119. The translation of this letter, preserved only in the Latin edition and hardly belonging to the blessed one. Theodorit (see N.N. Glubokovsky, Blessed Theodorit II, pp. 483–486), checked and corrected according to the text in the collection of letters of Blessed. Theodorit. Of course, the story is in Lucian’s dialogue under the title “Tyrant”, where it says so about Megapene - the tyrant. Abundius was from Thessalonica. Arriving in Italy, he here won the favor of Amantius Comansky, who left him as his successor at his department. Abuniy was sent to Constantinople (together with Bishop Asterius and presbyters Basil and Senator) by Pope Leo V. as a guardian of Orthodoxy and arrived there, probably soon after the death of Theodosius the Younger, † July 28, 450: epist S. Leonis 69 (89), 70 (91), 72 (92) in Mansi VI, 85. 87. 88–89; Migne, lat. ser. t. LIV, col. 892.894.896; Acts of the Ecumenical Councils III, p. 103 and according to the 2nd ed., p. 47. Wed. above letter 121 on page 153. Next, under numbers 182–228, follows the translation of letters from Blessed. Theodoret, published by Sakkelion; their order is marked in brackets with Roman numerals. Here we also took into account the comments of the reviewers - V. Γεωργιάδης ᾽ α in "Ἐκκλησιαστικὴ Ἀλήθεια " περίοδοδευτέρα, τόμ. Α' (1885), σελ. 115–123. 161–168, and P.N. Papageorgiou in "Byzantinische Zeitichrift" II (1893), 2–3, pp. 585–589. That is Hierapolis in the “diocese” (metropolis) of Euphrates. Apparently, the military detachment located in the “metropolis” was sufficiently taught by Agapit about the divine, and therefore he, like a zealous shepherd, is now sent to Thrace, where, obviously, urgent pastoral activity among the soldiers was required. Wed. letters 62 (p. 57) and 199. Τὸ βραβεῖον see 1 Cor. IX, 24. Philip. III, 14. The beginning of letter 42 on pp. 40–41 is similar to this. We are talking, of course, about the election of Eustasios to the episcopal see (apparently the Virite, and not the Egean), which he asked from Blessed. Theodorit's assistance and himself praefectus pretorio Florentius. Wed. u † prof. V.V. Bolotov in “Christ. Readings" 1892, No. 7–8, p. 80. Κόμητι δομεστικῷ own. comes domesticorum, like the commander of a guards division (mounted or foot). Wed to this letter 86th (on p. 97.1). Τοῦ λαμπροτάτου Εὐρικιανοῦ. We know that Comite Titus, who had an offer to some “eastern” bishops - either to reconcile with John of Antioch (and through him with Cyril of Alexandria), or to leave their sees - sent in his place to Blessed. Theodorit tribune Euricianus (tribunus Euncianus; see Synodicon, sar. CXLVÏ Migne, gr. ser. t. LXXXIV, col. 760 and below no. 253); therefore we cannot accept the amendment (in "Ἐκκλ Ἀλήθεια" 1885, σελ. 162) Εὐρυβιανοῦ (instead of Εὐρυκιανοῦ). See Letter 95 (on pp. 110 – 111). Wed. to letter 37 on page 37. See letters 213 (XXXII) and 216 (XXXVI) on pages 343 and 347. Ἀρχαί (later οφφίκιοι) the essence of positions in contrast to ranks - ἀξιώματα. Quaestor (sacri palatii), member-rapporteur in the council of the emperor, is a dignitary in charge of the legislative function of state power. Δομετιανῷ Κοιυαίστωρι. In documents about the disagreement of some “eastern” bishops with John of Antioch, Domitianus quaestor is mentioned (Synodicon, cap. CXXIV: Migne, gr. ser. t. LXXXIV, col. 739) See below to letter 256 (chap. 160). See about him letters 213 (XXXIII) and 215 (XXXV) on pp. 343 n 346. See letter 209 (XXX) on page 340. Vm. τ ἆ λλα ἄνθη τοῦ πλούτου is suggested to read: τ ἆ λλ ʼ (or τἄλλ ʼ) ἀγαθὰ τοῦ πλούτου. The first saying is learned by Solon (see † Prof. I.N. Korsunsky, Sayings of the most ancient Greek thinkers, selected from the works of Diogenes Laertius, Plutarch, Stobaeus and others, Kharkov 1887, p. 22.50), as well as many other sages of antiquity (ibid., p. 30. 36.52. 151). The same must be said about the second saying (μέτρον ἄριστον), which was attributed to Solon, Cleovulus and later thinkers; it is also given in letter 151 on page 246. Καλίψει (instead of καλύπτει) is adopted in the textus jecept, according to NLP and others (more than 45), Ikum, but the influence of James V, 20 is possible. Wed. Proverbs X, 12 Love covers all those who are not inquisitive. Περὶ τῆς κηραρχίας This later and inappropriate word here, it seems, should be replaced with π ερὶ τῆς κυριαρχίας - about domination, about participation in local (city) government. And perhaps it is also permissible to read π ερὶ τῆς κληρουχιας, and about the “cleruchs” (κληροῦχοι) in relation to κάτοικοι, see M.M. Khvostov in the “Journal of the Ministry of Public Education” 1904, No. 9, p. 190 ff. 452), which were later transferred into Slavic writing, where the disease in question was also called “undead” or “undead” (Vladimir Kacanovs κ ij, Apocrifne molitve, gatanja and rice in the magazine “Starine”, book XIII, and Sagrebu 1881, pp. 151. 154–155; Prof. A.I. Almazov, Healing prayers, Odessa 1900, pp. 48–49). Obviously, ter cranium is also related to painful phenomena in the head, but their properties remain unclear. The fact is that for headaches, Latin authors use the term “dolor capitis". In the large work of Sennertus (Orega, ed. 1676), for this purpose only a simple transcription of words found in Hippocrates and Galen is accepted, namely: cephalalgia and hemicrania (migraine, migraine). The same terms are given here by writers of the 18th century, for example, Boerhaave (in works De causis morborum) and van Swieten (in Commentaria). Based on the study of all famous Greek and Latin authors, R. Frank (in Praxis Medica, 1791) indicates only the following expressions: cephalalgia - headache in general; hemicrania - pain limited to half of the head; clavus - pain in one point; head Tercranium is not found at all, which is why sometimes they tend to make a mistake in the current Latin text, proposing to read hypercranium or periuranium, because there is (in the dictionaries of Rare, Rideli-Scott) an adjunct. περιϰράνιος and creatures. περιϰράνον. But hypecreranium is not found anywhere in medical writings, and pericranium in all writers denotes only the soft parts on the skeleton of the head and in all dictionaries of medical terminology does not have any other meaning, for example, headaches or seizures. In view of this, Professor of the St. Petersburg Military Medical Academy, Dr. Grigory Grigorievich Skorichenko, to whom (and also to the professor of the St. Petersburg Historical and Philological Institute Alexander Iustinovich Malein) we owe medical certificates and bring our gratitude for them, thinks that in the analyzed place we are talking about the blessed one. Theodorit is not specifically talking about some kind of headache disease - especially since, judging by the analogies, then the ending would be in -ia, i.e. would stand tercrania. Rather, it is a seizure, the nature of which can only be guessed from the context. Blazh. 10, 64, 69) and - in particular - the image of airigae is applied to the champions of piety: see letter 230 (ch. 42) on page 372.2. Therefore, the proofreading in question does not seem necessary to us. See letters 234 (ch. 54 on page 370), 237 (ch. 71 on page 386), 238 (ch. 72 on pages 387, 388) and 243 (ch. 97 on page 397) For this part, marked with quotation marks, for another list, see Letter 171 on pp. 301–302. Of course, the letter from Blessed Alexander. Theodoret (Synodicon, sar. XCVÏ Migne, gr. ser. t. LXXXIV, col. 712–713), where the Bishop of Hierapolis denounces Paul of Emesa for betraying the faith, since the beginning and end of what the Cyrus shepherd wrote in Ephesus was not included in the conditions of the world, why Cyril of Alexandria turns out to be supposedly unrepentant of his errors. Next, after the period, follow the words: falsa est. They disrupt the connection, and therefore it is necessary to consider them, together with Baluz, as a gloss, an explanatory note introduced from the margin of the manuscript into the text of the letter. Wed. in letter 244 (ch. 99 on p. 397.6). Wed. in letters 234 (ch. 54 on p. 376 2), 237 (ch. 71 on p. 386), 238 (ch. 72 on pp. 387, 388) and 242 (ch. 95 on p. 394). Athanasius and Marinian. See letters 247 (ch. 128) and 249 (ch. 133) on pp. 411–412, 417–418. This and the following letters appeared after the reconciliation of the blessed one. Theodoret with John of Antioch, and the Bishop of Antioch authorized the Shepherd of Cyrus to do whatever he finds necessary to attract the stubborn to the union, and even - if necessary - to deliberately slander him (Synodicon, cap. CXXI): Migne, gr. ser. t. LXXXIV, col. 738). It seems that here we need to understand the extreme members of the parties (Cyril-Ioannova and Eastern Protesters), who did not think or care about mutual agreement and pacification of the churches. This understanding seems to you to be more consistent with the circumstances of the case and with the content of the letter itself than Baluz’s interpretation that the Bishop of Cyrus is talking about his friends who were afraid to send messages to their like-minded people, fearing that the latter would fall into the hands of their opponents. These letters probably belong to the blessed one. Theodoret, for it is difficult to admit that the Bishop of Cyrus could assume in Nestorius greater tolerance for the dogma of Cyril of Alexandria and the policy of John of Antioch than in Alexander of Hierapolis. However, in the very content of the letter there is nothing that could compromise Theodoret See also letters 235 (ch. 60), 238 (ch. 72), 241 (ch. 88) and 245 (ch. 110) on pp. 378–380, 368.5. 392.401. To Theodoret’s prayer for compliance (see letter 260 above on pp. 436–437), Alexander again responded with a decisive refusal and conjured his friend with the Holy Trinity to leave him alone, since they were convinced of the persistent heresy of Cyril of Alexandria, and considered John of Antioch dogmatically suspicious in view of his inconstancy (Synodicon, sar. CLXIX Migne, gr. t LXXXIV, col. 753–784). The efforts of the blessed Theadorite regarding Alexander did not lead to anything: April 15, 435 (Synodicon, sar. CLXXXIV: Migne, gr. ser. t LXXXIV, col. 799) The Metropolitan of Euphrates was removed from Hierapolis and exiled to Egyptian Famozin, where there were mines (Synodicon, sar. CXC, col. 803). This means that it was on Sunday, June 21, 430. Wed. letters 249 (ch. 13.5) and 264 (ch. 8) on page 417.4. 443.2.