Letters to various persons

Epistolary heritage of St. Theodore the Studite covers a period of about 30 years (786-826), with a significant part of the letters written during his third exile (815-820). Initially, the complete collection of letters consisted of at least 849 messages, but many of them have been lost. Circle of addressees of St. Theodore's network was extensive: from the monks of the Studite monastery and other monasteries, the clergy, relatives and friends to high-ranking government and church officials, including emperors and patriarchs. Most of the letters are devoted to the key church problems of that time: the Michian schism and the iconoclastic crisis of the early 9th century. The surviving letters can be divided into 6 main categories: 1. Open letters. Addressed to communities of male and female monasteries (about 40), as well as iconoclasts. Some of them (10 letters: 381, 382, ​​406, 410, 433, 457, 473, 480, 488, 503) are essentially catechetical teachings. 2. Dogmatic and moral letters. Dedicated to issues of faith and Christian ethics. 3. Letters of comfort. Written on the occasion of the death of children or other relatives of the recipients. 4. Letters addressed to monks who abandoned their vow. 5. Letters to high-ranking officials. Includes messages to emperors and popes. 6. Personal letters. Addressed to friends, acquaintances, students and fellow sufferers in persecution. They make up the largest part of the congregation. In a number of letters to Rev. Theodore, as in his treatises, delves into the issues of the describability (depicability) of Jesus Christ on icons and the nature of the worship of holy images. The presented collection is divided into 4 books (562 letters). The texts of the letters are accompanied by theological, church-historical and textual comments. It is important to note that the authenticity of 3 letters (557-559) is in doubt. Letter 549, addressed to the monk Methodius and containing 17 canonical questions and answers, is erroneously attributed to St. Nikephoros of Constantinople in the Alphabetical Syntagma by Hierom. Matthew Vlastar. The letters characterize the ascetic, pastoral and social activities of St. Theodora Studite. They reflect his struggle for the freedom of the Church, strict observance of the canons, opposition to the lawless royal marriage and defense of icon veneration. The letters also reveal his activities as abbot, organizer and leader of the Studio Cinema. They edify fatherly in matters of faith, are filled with a fiery love for monasticism and contain precious instructions for those seeking salvation. From an artistic point of view, the letters of St. Theodore the Studite are considered one of the best monuments of Byzantine epistolography, being not only an invaluable source of information about the church-political life of Byzantium in the late 8th - early 9th centuries, but also a living testimony of faith in the face of persecution. *Title of the work in Greek: Ἐπιστολαί. Scientific edition of letters from Rev. Theodore Studite and notes by D. S. Chepel, P. V. Kuzenkov, M. E. S. Ivanova-Pankova, P. K. Dobrotsvetov. Notes of canonical content were made by St. Alexander Zadornov. Ed.