him and restored him to a proper state of mind. For he used always to swear and say that he had great faith in me, and that he revered my labours and struggles on behalf of the orthodox faith (I am even compelled to become a fool ^ by quoting words in my own praise in order to show his disposition). And he would depart from our presence, as if he had been de- livered from thoughts that wallow on the earth. But, being bpund up in earthly things and infected with the perversity of strife, he would again abandon him- p. 31- self to the same contentiousness. And, being w^hoUy swayed by anger, and swelling with contentious strifes, he would at one time go up to the royal city, and at another hasten to other countries. And at last, out of love of base gains, he went over to the schism of Musonius, the same Musonius who in his letter to the religious presbyter Longinus, which I mentioned a short time ago, with regard to the same Paul made, sentence for sentence and word for word, such state- ments as these: ** But I will make yet another small addition to the letter. In everything I blame myself. I caused him to be made bishop of Olba, because I thought that there was some good in him, since he displayed an appearance of undergoing a struggle for the faith. And it turned out contrary to my expecta- tions. For he had a mad and wicked strife about a place which was subject to pay tribute to the lord Hilarian the bishop, while he wished to make this
^ 2 Co. xii. II.
1. 4- SELECT LETTERS OF THE HOLY SEVERUS. 29
subject to himself; and the afore-mentioned saintly bishop Hilarian bore with him as long as possible, bm, not finding in him any advance towards settling the affair,^ at last appropriated the place to himself by setting up an altar there. For it was a monastery. But Paul p. 32. went out of his mind and became like a demon and wrought every kind of disorder, reviling me also. He says he will come there to you. If this happens, write to me and I will come with the lord Hilarian also, and expose all his conduct. God forgive me and be merciful to me! he is not worthy to set foot even on the doorway of the church owing to the deeds done by him. I tremble and am afraid to repeat in the letter the facts regarding him, lest I pollute your ears which are benevolent and God-loving. May the holy God himself grant your holiness to me! For you are always our refreshment and consolation, whenever we remember your name." What mercy therefore can one admit in the case of men who are so foolish, and have unreasonably abandoned their flock on account of base and unhallowed passions, while the sacred canons do not give them any forgiveness, but the eighty-first canon plainly says: "If any presbyter or deacon or generally anyone of the sacred order should leave his own parish and pass to another, and after- wards, completely removing, try to live in another parish for a long time, he shall not minister any more; and especially if when- his own bishop calls him and
1 KaTOLOTaa-is.
30 SELECT LETTERS OF THE HOLY SEVERUS. I. 4.
admonishes him to return to his own parish he should P' 33. not obey; and, if he should continue in the same dis- orderly conduct, his complete deposition from the ministry shall follow, so that he shall not again have a chance of returning to his place; but, if when his deposition takes place for this reason, another bishop should receive him, he also shall receive punishment from a general synod, as breaking the church laws." ^ And moreover the purport of the eighty-seventh canon also is the same, and it says thus: '* The bishops in each of the provinces must know that the bishop who stands at their head in the metro- polis is himself entrusted with the care of the whole province, because those who have business meet in the metropolis from every place; wherefore it has seemed good that he shall also be the first in honour, and the other bishops shall do nothing outside the ordinary course without him, in accordance with the canon that has prevailed from the beginning from the time of the fathers, but only those things which belong to each mans province* and to the districts under this; for ekch of the bishops has authority to administer his own parish, in proportion to the devoutness that has fallen to the lot of each, and to undertake the care of all the district that is under his city, in so far as to ordain presbyters and deacons, and to administer each matter P- 34- with judgment or examination, but not to do anything outside the course, or even try to do so, without the
^ Mansi ii. 1309. ^ iirapx^a (Gk. iroLpoiKia),
I. 4. SELECT LETTERS OF THE HOLY SEVERUS. 31
bishop of the metropolis. Neither shall he again do this without the consent of the other bishops.''^ It is a long task to quote the things that are laid down in various places by the holy canons. However it is manifest from the citations made that, since Musonius and Paul have offended against the intention of all church discipline by leaving their country, they have made themselves aliens to the high-priestly office, since they have run counter to Him who said, "The good shepherd layeth down his life for his sheep: but he that is an hireling and is not the shepherd, and whose own the sheep are not, when he hath seen the wolf coming, leaveth the sheep and fleeth, and the woh seizeth and scattereth them: but the hireling fleeth because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep.'* * I had nearly omitted yet another fact which also affords a manifest proof of the madness and of the foolish impulses of Musonius. When he was making a charge against the devout archdeacon CalHstus on the ground that he had bought the priestly order and status, thereby satisfying his wrathful inclination, and not actuated in any way by religious motives, he wrote to us to the effect that such a man as that ought to retire from the archidiaconate, but minister in the order of deacons,^ And he heard me quote, and with p. 35. great justice, the passage of holy scripture that says, " May thine own mouth convict thee and not I! ",* and that also which was spoken by the divine Daniel to the
^ Mansi il 1311. * John x. 11-13. * Cf. p. 19. * Job xv. 6.
32 SELECT LETTERS OF THE HOLY SEVERUS. I. 4.
presumptuous elders, on one occasion, ** Rightly hast thou also lied against thine head," and on another, '' O thou that hast grown old in evil days, now have thy sins come near which thou usedst to commit aforetime, in judging unjust judgments, and in condemning the inno- cent, and in acquitting the guilty, when the Lord saith, *The innocent and righteous thou shalt not slay.'"^ '* For, if, as you say, he bought for money the grace that may not be bought, such a man ought to be re- moved not only from the archidiaconate, but also from the diaconate itself." What then is his ignorant and very rustic defence to this? **Callistus, while arch- deacon, puts a stumbling-block in the others' way by carrying the holy gospel on his breast." *' What does he * say then, madman, to the ignorant person who is near him? Do you think that the cup of salvation of the divine blood has less virtue than the book of the holy gospels, and that the onlookers will not strike upon a greater stumbling-block, when a man who has bought the ministry carries this?" It seems to me that I am doing a superfluous thing in insisting on speaking words without eloquence to men who have contracted this unholy infection. These words your p. 3^ sanctity ought to speak to those who have remained sound, and to call to you the saintly bishops of your province,^ who confess the orthodox faith, and hold the same communion with us, but strip those men of the priesthood, inasmuch as they did not spare the rational
1 Su. 59, 52, 53. ^ A 'What shall L' * hrapxCa.
I. 4. SELECT LETTERS OF THE HOLY SEVERUS. 33
sheep, but reckoned the salvation of these secondary to their own passions, and left these as in a night in which is no brightness, and tried to submerge them so deeply in the turbid drink that they should not even have power to rise. However we believe that they will find such efforts vain. For by the mandate of the divine Spirit, and the lawful vote of the citizens through the mediation of your sancity, bishops and high- priest will be ordained for the cities who will feed their flocks with understanding. For he that speaks through Ezekiel says, '* Behold! I will seek out my sheep, and will visit them. As the shepherd visiteth his flock on a day of storm and darkness when his sheep are scattered, so will I seek my sheep, and I will deliver them from every place wherein they have been scattered on the day of storm and darkness.''^ Therefore visit these sheep with the help of God, and do not show negligence or give any occasion for delay, lest you bring yourself under the condemnation of these men, and draw upon your head the sentence hanging over them. For we may hear yet another sacred utterance p 37. of the prophet which says, *' Cursed is he that shall do the works of the Lord negligently, and cursed is he that shall keep back his sword from blood.'* ^ As there is a time for mercy, so also there is a time for cutting off: for we hear the same Spirit saying in Koheleth, *' There is a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted: a time to kill, and a time to heal: a
^ Eze. xxxiv. 11, 12. ^ Jer. xxxi. 10.
3
34 SELECT LETTERS OF THE HOLY SEVERUS. I. 5.
time to break down and a time to build," ^ and the other passages through which we understand how that it is with judgment that we must handle the divine words and fulfil the ministry of these. The end.
514-8. 5. Of the same to Peter, bishop of Apamea. {From those during episcopacy, from the y^d book the ^th letter,)
When the letters of your love of God came before me, not that only which was written to me, but that also which was written to the religious presbyter Thomas, I thought it right not to judge words which were put forward, as you yourself also say, under a feeling of wrath and anger, but only to declare my mind as if God himself were listening, and to say to Him like Jeremiah, ** The things which came forth from my lips are before Thy face." ^ In the first p. 3«- place you bring a charge against us, which is not known to the canons, nor to the church laws or precepts. For what law of the God-inspired scrip- ture, or precept of the holy fathers, encloses and con- fines the laity in cities and in countries, and prevents these from going to receive ordination from anyone willing to give it? And how is it that this new charge, which has hitherto escaped the notice of many, has found such a strict prosecutor in you alone? It
1 Ec. iii. 2, 3. 2 Jer. xvii. 16.
I. 5. SELECT LETTERS OF THE HOLY SEVERUS. 36
is time for the God-loving bishop Julian of the city of the Emesenes also to make the same accusation against us in the case of the devout deacon Irenaeus, because he registers his fathers' house at Emesa. The saintly Dionysius also, who has reached extreme old age, and is crowned with honourable white hairs, who is venerable for the length of his life, will perhaps more justly put forth a complaint against us, in the case of the religious deacon Anatolius. For in fact he too was previously thought to be a citizen of the city of the Tarsians. And I am sure that the pur- pose which we had as to the magnificent count CEcumenius is also not unknown to you. Have I therefore up to this day been interfering with all these shepherds of metropolitan sees and causing them annoyance, and been infected with such greed, and been coveting other men's property without it being known? or is it rather, as the truth is, because I have given no handle for a lawful charge against me, nor caused annoyance to anyone soever? As to the devout p. 39- Leontius, it was not out of need as you think that we raised him to the honour of the presbyters' seat, but because we wished to honour the man. And this is not the first time (I speak with God himself as witness), but long before this was in my mind, even before your love of God was raised to the high-priest- hood. We had in fact made the acquaintance of the man and he was known to us by letters, even while we were practising the philosophic life in Pales- tine. However, I did not even know that the said
36 SELECT LETTERS OF THE HOLY SEVERUS. I. 5.
Leontius himself is among those that are in such high esteem with you. Neither had you ever be- stowed upon him such laudatory expressions as you now do in your letter, nor had we ever learned that the stability of the holy church of the Apamenes was shaken by him. However, if the man is of such a character, and is among your friends and coun- sellors as you say, even one letter from your love of God is enough to win him over: and if he desires to live in the city of the Apamenes we will in no way prevent him, nor will we detain his devoutness, even though it was thought that we needed him for some- thing. But that we should commit the unholy and uncanonical action of driving him out against his will, p. 40. and turn the honour into a shame, neither you nor any other intelligent man like you will judge to be right. If you wished to raise the man to the priest- hood as you say, the time past would have suited you equally well for this purpose. I consider that the grace of ordination receives no difference in similitude from the fishing-net, which is thrown into the sea of the world or into worldly matter by the Spirit itself: and that it is one, though divided among the nets of many fishers; among whom are Peter and James and John and Andrew, and all who fed the churches after them. All did not catch the same persons, but one caught one, and another another: but the grace of the fisher was one, because the faith also is one, and the church under the whole heaven of those who hold the same things is one. That therefore which
I. 5. SELECT LETTERS OF THE HOLY SEVERUS. 37
was done in the case of the devout Leontius is the action of the Holy Spirit, not of us. For it **bloweth where it listeth/'^ as is said by our God and Saviour. If therefore you also catch one of the Antiochenes in your net, we shall find no fault at all with your fishing, but we shall praise the Holy Spirit which distributes to each man individually its own grace, and does everything in an ineffable manner and as it lists. Indeed in this frame of mind we pray that John also, the eloquent scholastic, the son of Matronian of illustrious memory, and the eloquent and Christ-loving p- 4i- scholastic Sergius may be enrolled in the order of those who minister to the Lord, and that they may adorn the church and be adorned by it and praise Christ. This I remember to have told your love of God also many times. And it was and is in my mind to raise the eloquent scholastics Peter and Maximin also to the priestly order; and I do not know through what reasons, known as they are to the wisdom that passes understanding, I have not yet been able to carry out what I intended. But for this also I am waiting for sanction from above, and divine inspiration. However I shall not dispute whether they are to be drawn in by my hand or yours: but so far am I from being jealous of you in respect of the fishing, that I will even help you and catch hold of the net with you above. Every matter whatever that is not contrary to the canons surely urges us to give help and to act
1 John iii. 8.
38 SELECT LETTERS OF THE HOLY SEVERUS. I. 6.
in unison with one another. How is it anything but shameful that, while those who hunt birds reckon the air common property, and fishers, as I have said, the sea, we should dispute about things that lie not in our power but in God's? However, not to use many words and interfere with the moderate length of the letter (I think that even what has been written has gone beyond a moderate length), if the devout Leon- tius acquiesce in your wish as you say, we will consent, and will not retain him against his will: and this as p. 42. a concession to you, and in order to show that, in things such as these, it is not our endeavour to sub- serve to the best of our power human purposes, but to walk according to the divine laws only.
513-8. 6. Of the same to Nicias the bishop, [Front those dur- ing episcopacy, front the 2i^d book the lyist /etter.)
A wicked and unlawful action, one that conflicts with the laws of the catholic and apostolic church, has come to our ears. We hear that some of the inhabitants of the hamlet of Minidus and Uaris have presumed to sail westwards, and to receive an unhallowed ordination from those who hold the opinions of Nestorius and cut our one Lord and God Jesus Christ into a duality of natures after the ineffable union, an ordination which is invalid not in one way only but in many, and is reckoned as if it had never taken place: since, even if those who laid the presumptuous hand upon these men had
I. 7. SELECT LETTERS OF THE HOLY SEVERUS. 39
been orthodox, they ought not to have ordained in another parish or rather in one outside their boundary, in violation of discipline; and that while we by the grace p. 43- of God are not charged with any heresy. This the holy canons plainly declare both in intention and in words. Therefore let your love of God make the pur- port of the sacred canons known to all in the neigh- bourhood of their parish, and proclaim them stripped of all the honour and rank of the priesthood and dia- conate, and prohibit those who are in communion with us or rather with the right faith from associating with these men, that they may not communicate in the impiety, and call down upon themselves the wrath from God.
7. Of the same to Castor, bishop of Perga, {From 513-8. those dufing episcopacy y from the 3^^ book the 22^2nd letter.)
The order of devout subdeacons in your see has asked a certain petition of us, which does not pass beyond the holy canons, but is contained within the fathers' landmarks as the sacred scripture says. For your, sanctity well knows that there is a legal commandment in Moses, or rather a commandment of Christ who spoke through him, ** Thou shalt not remove the landmarks that are from of old, which thy fathers set up." ^ What this is it is necessary for
^ De. xix. 14.
40 SELECT LETTERS OF THE HOLY SEVERUS. I. 7*
US to say clearly. Those of the said order of sub- p 44. deacons who presented the petition to us say that they are greatly contemned and insulted by the readers and psaliai or singers of the holy church that is under you, inasmuch as they are trying to seize their place by violence, and seek to grasp for themselves the first rank, contrary to every consideration of justice and the law that prevails in the holy churches. Everywhere under the sun the order of subdeacons ranks before that of readers: both when named in the sacred tablets, and in the reception of the divine body and blood of Christ: and no one will anywhere see a reader men- tioned before a subdeacon by the sacred voice of those that proclaim. Therefore your love of God also -must preserve the same order, and not be so negligent as to place discipline second to the covetousness of indi- viduals. You, who are a teacher and expounder of the divine words, are not unaware that even in the hosts that are in heaven there are certain ranks and degrees which are ranked before one another, those which are high as well as those which are low, those which ascend as well as those which descend. For Paul who was caught up to the third heaven shows this, when he writes to the Colossians and says, '' Whether they be thrones or dominions, whether they be principalities or powers,"^ and by such names shows that there is some order which bestows fair adornment ^ even upon the heavenly and invisible spirits, and thence descends to
^ Col. i. 16. *** Misunderstanding of evKoa-fua.
I. 8. SELECT LETTERS OF THE HOLY SEVERUS. 41
the church also, which was founded by God the Word p- 45- who became incarnate and made the things that are seen and the things that are not seen, but differs in no way in its similitude from heaven, by reason of the great mystery of religion that is every day administered in it Wherefore also the sante wise Paul in his epistle to the Ephesians writes thus about it: ** And he himself gave: some apostles: and some prophets: and some preachers: and some pastors, and teachers:" ^ and in another place, ** For God" (he says) **set first in his church apostles: next prophets: next teachers; *' ^ and all that follow. By all these things we are taught to honour order, and to shun disorder and confusion: which principle we urge your sanctity also to observe in this present matter^ also, which gave occasion for this letter.
8. Of the same to Timostratus the duke} {From those 613-8. during episcopacy, from the 2>^d book the 2^6th 258/^ letter.)
To me it appears something to be prayed for and desirable to communicate with your greatness by letter: and to return the greeting that is owed to you as if it were some necessary debt, and not make this p. 46. the accidental result of causes about which I am even
1 Eph. iv. II. * r Co. xii. 28. ^ K€<f>aXaiov,
* Cf. Zach. Rh. ix. i (Eng. transl., p. 222 note 2).
42
SELECT LETTERS OF THE HOLY SEVERUS. I. 8.
p. 47.
ashamed to write. Though I was glad to see your magnificence s recent epistle, it was in sorrow that I ceased the reading of it For I found the cause or subject ^ of the letter to be grievous when tested by the divine purpose, and difficult and impossible and "after the flesh "^ to speak in the language of scripture, and one that is sensually judged.^ Whereas the divine apostle, or rather Christ who speaks in him, limits and restricts the gift of ordination under a certain threat, and says, '* Lay thine hand suddenly on no man, neither be par- taker of other men s sins; keep thyself in purity,"* by many the thing is considered as one of the ordinary trades, that of a smith let us say or a carpenter, or as some office that brings with it the gift of sustenance, and an occasion of clapane or expense and a relief for need; as if it were not permissible for us to acquire the means of life from any other source than this. And the good men do not know that a man must pass through all the degrees of the church, and obtain some kmd of previous training for priestly functions, and thus be admitted to ordination as presbyter or as deacon: and this because the thing is a matter of difficulty and rarely to be undertaken in accordance with the pre- viously cited statute which says, ** Lay a hand suddenly on no man, neither be partaker of other mens sins," and yet further enacts, '* Keep thyself in purity"; and each of the additions declares the awfulness of the statute, and shows that the hand should in some way
1 vTToOca-L^. 2 2 Co. i. 17 (?). 3 I Co. ii. 14. 4 I Ti. v. 22, 23.
I. 8. SELECT LETTERS OF THE HOLY SEVERUS. 43
be drawn to the head of those who are ordained under great necessity and unwillingly. In order to explain the first reason for which ordination is a formidable matter, these few words are enough for us. But I will add also a second reason, which is concerned with material considerations. This is that our holy church is very poor and needy, and that it is so much dis- tressed and laden by the weight of interest, that it is hardly able even to hold up its head, but debts upon debts are added to its account, and interest upon interest is piled up against it Of this all who live in the great city of Antiochus are witnesses: and I think there are not many even among those beyond its bounds who have not heard of the fact. And never- theless certain persons in the royal city, and others in its neighbourhood, being worried by certain persons, do not cease every day so to speak writing to our meanness and asking for ordinations; and they think that this is not a matter to excite anger. And so foolish did this desire make some men, that they even made a show of desiring the dress of the priesthood p- 48. only, and not seeking further to receive sustenance also: and, having once obtained their object, when the time of distribution came, they so to speak held out their hands before all the others: so that not only were those who made a mockery of divine things laughed at for the guile and treachery, but we also who were fraudulently deceived. These things I have been compelled to write to your magnificence, be- cause I suffer in myself, and because I know that my
44 SELECT LETTERS OF THE HOLY SEVERUS. I. 9.
letter is addressed to a Christian, and to one who is cap- able of sympathizing with me and is perhaps also able to hold out a hand to me who am wearied and stupefied like a man who is being strangled by creditors, and am compelled to find sustenance for need without sufficient incomes and revenues, considering the im- moderate extent of a demand that is pious indeed, but still difficult to satisfy on account of its frequency. The end.
618-8. 9. Of the same to Stephen, bishop of Tripolis. {From those during episcopacy, from the?>th book the 276M, 277M letter.)
Sinful and vile man though we are, nothing pleases us so much as to try to do everything that we wish to P- 49. do with reason. Wherefore also we accept and praise your love of God for having been in doubt with regard to one of the paragraphs ^ that were written by us: regarding which we must by all means make a canonical answer; for it is written, ** The lips of a priest shall keep knowledge, and they shall ask for law from his mouth. "^ What is the question which you ask because you were in doubt? Whether the devout presbyter Stephen ought to be reckoned among the holy clergy of the holy church in Tripolis, when he does not bring with him a dimissory letter from him who ordained him.
^ K€<l>aX.aLov. ^ Mai ii. 7.
I. 9. SELECT LETTERS OF THE HOLY SEVERUS. 45
Now in the first place we hear that the man was or- dained by force, and that he recoiled from or objected to an ordination outside the bounds, because he cannot live in a strange city which is not his own. And in the second place,, even if this which we have stated is not the fact, we ought to know that those who do not hold to the orthodox faith, and therefore to the pure communion of our apostolic throne, have no share in strict canonical form, and we ought not to seek a di- missory letter from these, as if it were something necessary and required by law, or any other canonical requisite, when men flee from association with these, and come over to the sound teaching. This we may learn easily and without trouble from the epistle of the holy Cyril (every utterance of whom one would say is a law of the church) to Nestorius, in which he asserted himself to be in communion with all who had p- 5o. been separated by him, and had received from him either a ban of excommunication or a decree of depriva- tion, in these words: *' But we are all in communion with all who have been separated by your devoutness and deprived on account of the faith, laymen and clergymen." ^ Do therefore the things which have been decided by us to be right without any doubt or hesita- tion, and know.clearly that, if we had not taken much account of the saintly memory of Severus the presbyter whose is the lot of the saints, we should not perhaps have written to you any such thing. For your love of
^ P.G. Ixxvii. 108.
46 SELECT LETTERS OF THE HOLY SEVERUS. I. lO.
God must be assured that it is our earnest endeavour and desire not to write anything at all to the God- loving bishops under the apostolic throne about ordina- tion, or about the enrolling of individuals in the order of the clergy, unless perhaps some just cause some- where arise, as we see to be the case in the present instance also to which we are now referring. As to the venerable cross remaining fixed before the house of Theodore the illustrious governor and vindex after the former fashion, let your sanctity make it your earnest concern that it do so. It is the duty of bishops like you to cut short and to restrain any unregulated p- 51. movements of the mob, if they should indeed occur, and to set themselves to maintain all good order in the cities, and to keep watch over the peaceful manners and customs of those who are fed by them. The end.
518-8. 10. Of the same to Eucharitts the bishop, {From those
during episcopacy, from book the 142^^/,
x^'^rd letter^
The transactions in the Christ-loving, believing city of the Paltians concerning Firminus have come to my notice, and I have agreed to them. Otherwise you would not have written, as may with most probability be inferred. It is however impossible to pass sentence upon a guilty man before he has had an opportunity of defence, having his accusers also face to face as is written.^ Therefore, as form requires, our judgment
^ Ac. XXV. 16.
I. II. SELECT LETTERS OF THE HOLY SEVERUS. 47
is that the man who has sinned be sent here, and the actual men who are able to convict him, and to confirm the transactions regarding him, so that in this way we may cause him to be subjected to canonical sentences. For it is written, as your love of God who teach others p. 52. also knows, **The innocent and righteous thou shalt not slay, and thou shalt not acquit the wicked." ^ The end.
1 1. Of the same to the archimandrite of the m^onastery 514-8. of Bassus. {From those during episcopacy, from the ^^rd book the 345th letter.)
The letter of your love of God which has just been brought to me I have taken into my hands, and re- ceived as yours. For I rejoice and exult when I read your name even on the mere outside address, and I am brought to a more lively memory of your holy monas- tery, and draw away my thoughts from the worry of affairs, and in this way am refreshed and comforted. But, when the things written met my eye, I was astonished, and wondered how it could have come into your mind to make a profitless and impossible request. The devout Cosmas, who has just died, I instituted bishop of the city of the Apamenes, because I trusted to the report of others concerning him and their par- tiality on his behalf. For I confess to your holiness
^ Ex. xxiii. 7.
48 SELECT LETTERS OF THE HOLY SEVERUS. I. II.
that I never had any confidence in him. Accordingly during all the time previous to my coming to this city P- 53- of Antiochus it can in no case be shown that I ad- dressed a letter to him; but it was the religious pres- byter Theodore who used to write to him. But for what reason I would not consent to write to him it is not proper to the present time to say. However, as I said, I instituted him bishop, thus adding yet another to my sins. For what blasphemous utterances he vomited forth, and what darts he hurled against heaven God who heard knows. In plain language, not to make a long story, after many roundabout methods and entreaties on my part, and tears unsuited to the Holy Spirit, after alleging one reason and another, and at last bringing in his bodily infirmity also, he re- signed the bishopric. Thenceforward the whole position was an insoluble difficulty to us, and full of doubt. For it was not only on account of the mistake made in his case and the words blasphemously put forward by him that there was cause for weeping, but also owing to the question in what way the affairs of the Apamenes would have to be administered: for in such a state of confusion all counsel was helpless. The God-loving bishops who in accordance with the statutes of the church were residing at that time in the city of the Antiochenes, being present, exhorted me to receive him as wishing to resign. And, since it was im- possible for one church to be united to two men at the same time, he drew up petitions of resignation, saying of himself that he was no bishop and no clergy-
I. II. SELECT LETTERS OF THE HOLY SEVERUS. 49
man, nor did he hold any other degree in the ministry. And, after this had taken place, the God-loving bishop Peter was thereupon instituted. How then is it possible to undo, as you ask, a thing that was carried out with so much caution and without anger? Assuredly, if the trans- action which renders Cosmas not a bishop is not main- tained, it results that the God-loving Peter was uncan- onically instituted, and was given to a church that had already received a bishop. Accordingly it is plain that the resignation of the often-mentioned Cosmas tends to establish the ordination of the God-loving bishop Peter. But I for my part am wondering who advised your sanctity to ask this. Does anyone intend to clothe the dead man in that of which in accordance with the ordinances of the Holy Spirit that cannot be rejected he voluntarily stripped himself? or does any- one wish to mention him as a bishop? What therefore the wisdom of such a request is I am unable to under- stand And what a time was it for a man s resignation to be recalled after his decease! Again, as to the fact that I went out to the devout Cosmas after he had fallen ill, I wish the sequence of events not to be unknown to your sanctity. Some of the zealous brethren came up to me and begged me to go to him, p- 55* on the ground that he himself was asking for this. But I said, ** This cannot be. With a man who is not in communion with the holy church, I do not consider that I myself have any communion." And, though those who made the entreaty persevered, I would not consent: and I was so firm that for three whole days they urged
4
60 SELECT LETTERS OF THE HOLY SEVERUS. I. II.
the point, and I did not yield. But at last one of those who were with us, the religious deacon father Elijah, began to say that perhaps he wished to repent, and to receive the oblation from my sinful hands. When this was said, I considered that I should bring myself under the judgment of God, if I did not on this con- sideration consent to the request itself: and in this hope I went to visit the afore-mentioned man. How- ever, knowing as I did his unyielding character, I said to those who were with me: '* Believe me when I say that I am going out against my will and without any confidence."^ And, when I had gone, I made a prayer in the expectation that he would repent: but to give him a greeting or to ask a greeting from him I would not consent, far be it! For with what reason could I have given a greeting of peace to a man who refused the mystical peace before the holy altars and communion with us? Woe is me if I give a bodily greeting to any man when my soul does not agree to the greeting. When therefore we had sat down and p. 56. none of the things that were expected was said by him, but, though he could not articulate, he kept urging and inviting us to enter upon a long conversa- tion, while I for my part considered it a sin for us to enter upon a contentious and profitless conversation while the man was on the point of giving up the ghost, I rose, and prayed to God in private to forgive me the inconsiderate visit. To a man who was so disposed I
^ 7rkrjpo<l>opta.
I. II. SELECT LETTERS OF THE HOLY SEVERUS. 61
ought not to have gone out at all. Even when he was dead and many thought I should go there, I did not go; considering that ** everything that is not of faith is sin,"^ according to the words of the Apostle. For I for my part consider a man who separated himself with- out reason from our orthodox communion an enemy not a brother, even if he is deceived by the devil, who **is transformed into an angel of light," ^ by con- siderations that are rather upon the right side. For I hear the Lord say, ** He that is not with me is against me: and he that gathereth not with me scattereth."^ Indeed by the prayers of the saints and of your holi- ness, when church histories and the labours of the holy fathers from the coming of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ down to this time come before me, I find that this present condition * of the holy churches in the East and in Egypt is purer than the condition ^ p- 57. in former times, when the facts are examined side by side. They therefore that trouble the simple ** shall themselves bear the judgment whosoever " ® they are, and shall themselves " give account in the day of judg- ment," ^ when ** he shall come who knoweth the hidden things of darkness and revealeth the counsels of the hearts."® As for me, may I have no part with such men, either in this world or in that which is to come! For, shunning as I do harshness of speech, I do not wish to declare in detail what is the judgment
^ Ro. xiv. 23. 2 2 Cor. xi. 14. ^ Mt. xii. 30.
* Karaa-Taa-LS. ^ Karao-Tao-ets. * Ga. V. lo.
^ Mt. xii. 36. ® I Co. iv. 5.
52 SELECT LETTERS OF THE HOLY SEVERUS, I. 12:
of those who turn aside. Wherefore also I am urgent in entreating every one of those who have been in- volved in the error not to continue in the plausible strangulation of this. righteousness, and hold aloof from the life-giving communion of the holy mysteries. And so forth. The end.
614-8. 1 2. Of the same to Cosmas and Polyeuctus and Zeno the presbyters. {From those during episcopacy^ from the y^d book the 354M letter,^
Even in the case of things that are acknowledged and manifest we are not justified either by the form of p- 58. human laws or by the ordinances of the Holy Spirit in judging on the statement of one side. Wherefore neither did we consent to agree to the things that were written by your devoutness; not because we do not believe you, but to preserve the appearance that befits those who have been entrusted with the task of judging such matters. The right and proper course would have been for your love of God to come as far as here: and then we would have summoned the other side also to come to us, and the truth would have been determined. Or, if they remained away and did not come when summoned, then the provisions laid down in the laws regarding those who remain away would have been plain and would have followed upon the act. For our own desire is not to leave the matter unheeded and unsettled. If the saintly Isidore, bishop of
L 13. SELECT LETTERS OF THE HOLY SEVERUS. 53
the city of the men of Chalcis, had been present, we would have yielded to him the duty of giving judg- ment concerning places and persons in his jurisdiction. But, as he is absent, it is therefore absolutely necessary that we should ourselves, as I have said, lay down a just conclusion of the questions that have been stirred. The end.
p. 59. 13. Of the same to Entrechius, bishop of Anazarba. 6ia-8.
{From those during episcopacy, from the yrd book
the 397/A, 398/^ letter.)
I do not know whether I should lay the blame of the events that are happening upon my sins, or upon the operation of an evil demon. Though there is nothing else that I have had so much at heart or for which I have prayed so much as that every Christian should conduct himself blamelessly, but especially those who are high-priests, giving no cause for reproach or blame against themselves, but being ** in everything a pattern of good works, in gravity and in holiness," as the Apostle says, '' in order that he that is of the contrary part may be ashamed, Having no evil thing to say of us," ^ I see that not once only but twice also 1 am worried about the same matters. Indeed, though some of the devout clergymen of the holy church of Flavias had presented to us certain accusations upon
1 Tit. ii. 7, 8.
64 SELECT LETTERS OF THE HOLY SEVERUS. I. 1 3.
certain subjects ^ against their God-loving bishop, and we managed the affair ourselves, and brought things that else would have been troublesome to a peaceful
p. 60U typos or conclusion and so settled them, now again old men bowed down with age have risen up to make more serious charges, men who, if one may so say, struggle against life itself, and live in utter poverty and need: if one were to call them a pitiable sight, the expression would not be amiss. The statements made by them are many and various. Still for my part, again following the same practice, I wished to stop their accusation if it were possible: but, as they went on saying the same things, I proposed to commit the hearing of the case * to your holiness. But, since they objected, and said that their life would be no life for them, if the religious Procopius their bishop did not come here, I have adopted a middle course (I do not think that others either will think the coming to us an easy thing) and resolved to send the religious Theodosius a presbyter of our apostolic see that he may examine the facts in conjunction with your love of God, and a decision consonant to the canons may be given by you, and a conclusion reached upon each of the subjects^ with the greatest possible accuracy. But at the same time we have resolved to say this much, that the said religious bishop Procopius should not, after the first warning, have received a gift at ordinations
p. 61. on the pretext of making a profit for the church, as he
^ K€<l>aXaia, '^ V7r60€(TL^.
I. 13. SELECT LETTERS OF THE HOLY SEVERUS. 66
used to say, and again been detected in the same practices, as those who make the accusation against him say: nor should he have named Lampetius ^ at the divine sacrifice, a man who was infected with the heresy of Adelphius, and for this reason was con- demned at Commanus in Armenia, as the minutes ^ of the records' of that synod also show. Indeed, to pass over old matters, it is easy for your love of God to learn what canonical discussion the abominable flock of the Adelphians received in Second Cappadocia, seeing that the saintly Soteric bishop of the city of the men of Caesarea and the holy bishops who sat with him, from Cappadocia and from Pontus and from Galatia, then put forth a decision worthy of the priest- hood against it. Of this same heresy the outward token is greed and immodesty and a mad desire of vain glory, owing to which they pride themselves in attracting admiration and receiving in secret the evil spirit: and, what is most important, the fact that, in- fected as they are with extreme godlessness, and wear- ing as they do a deceitful mask of hypocrisy in all things, they put forward this deception also, that their heresy is not a heresy: for they count up all the p. 6a. heretics in order and anathematize them, but Adelphius they honour by silence. The celebrated freedom from passions of which they boast they do not display at all: and concerning matters on which charges are made against them they give no satisfaction,* but from
* Cf. vit. Sev. p. 28. L 24. ^^ TTpafts. ^ inrofJLinjfiaTa, ^ Trhtjpotf^pia,
56 SELECT LETTERS OF THE HOLY SEVERUS. I. 1 3.
matters on which they are not accused they gather the reputation of not being godless. It lies therefore with your love of God in conjunction with the religious Theodosius the presbyter of our apostolic see to see that the whole matter is as I have said carefully ex- amined, and to make known the result of the examina- tion to us also, in order that on all sides the appear- ance of the church may be preserved blameless. And another thing seems to me to be urgently demanded by piety, I mean that these unhappy men be not vexed by a long and useless session, who from neces- sity, as I believe, have made the accusation; and that they should not support themselves at their own expense, but that they should receive double the necessary daily sustenance from the holy church of which they are members. Another matter too you must set right without dispute before the trial itself, a thing which appeared to me absolutely incredible and still even now appears so: I mean that the said men themselves should be enrolled in the sacred number of the clergy, their names having been expunged, as they say, for this reason and no other, because they were able to have recourse to the apostolic throne on account of the things which they suffered and the wounds that have been Pi 63. inflicted on them. That this, if it is true, surpassing as it does all presumptuous audacity, needs canonical punishment, I leave to your love of God to reflect. The end.
I. 14. SELECT LETTERS OF THE HOLY SEVERUS. 67
14. Of the same to Antoninus^ bishop of Berrhoea. 614-8. {From those during episcopacy, from the ^th book the 6^th letter!)
We were glad to see even the illustrious tribune Antiochus inasmuch as he came from you, and we encouraged him to converse constandy with us, and to ask for everything that is in our power, and is for the spiritual assistance of your love of God. And we praised him to the God-loving bishop Thomas, and, although we are sinful and vile, we repaid him by prayers. We have come to believe that the man who made the happy mistake in the address of the letters did not fall into the error without some divine provi- dence. For this showed clearly that the two of us are wrapped up in one another, being joined together by the love that is in Christ, and that we have all things common according to the commandment,^ and have nothing of our own. Know however that the letter which properly belonged to you but was addressed to us we have not yet received. As to the ordination at Chalcis (I call the truth to bear witness to my words) no letter has come to us, or any information or indica- P- ^ tion. But, if you have in a philosophic manner been brought to a state of exasperation on account of the things that have happened among you, there is no cause for wonder: since this also is proper to the orderliness of your habits and to your discretion, which allots all
^ Ac. iv. 32 (?).
68 SELECT LETTERS OF THE HOLY SEVERUS. I. 1 4.
things to the times suited for them. But, since we know that your holiness delights in words of admoni- tion, and that you are eager to amass all things that conduce to the salvation of the soul and the acquisi- tion of divine wisdom (for it is written, ** The ear that heareth the reproof of life shall dwell among the wise,'*^ and, ** He that keepeth reproof loveth his soul " *), we say with boldness the things that seem to us to be right. You also were not ignorant that those who managed Simeon whose soul is at rest (for he did not rule himself but was ruled by others) performed no sacred or ecclesiastical action except for money or under the influence of passion. For, if one may so speak, they were not known for virtue to any one of all the men who live in the East. To men such as these therefore you should never have lent your unde- filed and sacred right hand, when they were making a division and presenting men for the sacred order of priests, especially when the ordination, performed as p- 65. it was just before death, contained in itself a great fraud. For how was it possible that a man who in time of health never did anything sound in such matters should in time of disease be in any but a diseased condition for examining the question of propriety? For that he was awake when he gave you permission neither do I dispute: I consider your testimony more trustworthy than all oaths and every ground of con- fidence. Still, since you thirst to hear things that
^ Pr. XV. 31 (Hex.). ' /^. xvi. 3.
I. 14. SELECT LETTERS OF THE HOLY SEVERUS. 69
profit, there is a further point which I will not omit, that it would have been a thing in accord and very consonant with the devoutness of the rest of your life to tremble and hesitate to undertake ordinations that belong to others, and by actual deeds to show that it is with order and in all fear and only from actual necessity that you minister and serve even in those that belong to yourself. As to the question whether the ordination performed on the said persons ought to hold good or not, we believe that, after we have learned the whole character of the action and of the persons, we shall give a decision that agrees with the judgments of God, and shall urge that this hold good: not because we do not think the fruit of your blameless hand perfect (this is beyond doubt), but because we are examining the question whether those who received the grace are worthy or not. In any case we think your love of God will be contented, since you do not even desire to be contented with things other than those with which God is contented. . If our wretched discourses be copied out, we will send p- ^ them to you. For we have ordered them to be copied out, though we have not in plain fact even a man to copy. Before this present letter was closed, the God- loving Isidore bishop of the men of Chalcis arrived in our city: and this has been added to the things written, because we honour the truth before all things. And now it will be our endeavour to learn from him also what his disposition is with regard to the same aforesaid ordination. The end.
80 SELECT LETTERS OF THE HOLY SEVERUS. L 1 5.
518-8. 15, Of the same to the same Antoninus^ bishop of Berrhoea. {From those during episcopacy ^ from the ^tk book the T 2nd letter.^
That the presumptuous deeds of the impious Jews are beyond all forgiveness, and such as to stir and excite any soul to just wrath, even one that is not easily roused, if only it has been initiated in the doctrines of piety, is plain and manifest. But that those who like you are lovers of God and at the same time intelligent persons ought to handle such things in a wise way you have already shown in your epistles, p. 67. the epistles to us and to the glorious patrician and lieutenant of the general of the East excellent in all good qualities, your uncle. ^ Hence also we met to- gether, and discussed the whole matter in conjunction, and endeavoured as far as possible to remove before- hand and prevent the evils that were about to spring up, and we set down what as the outcome of our deliberations appeared to us to be expedient and made this known to your sanctity. The indication given by their excellencies and by us who discussed the matter in common with them is therefore complete: but it will be a matter for your consideration to arrange the action to be taken on a proper footing. No punish- ment is severe enough for the arrogance of the Jews: but still men who stand at the head of the teaching of
1 ^cto5. There is nothing in the words to show whether this refers to the lieutenant or to the general; but, as the Mag, Mil, was probably Hypatius (i. 40), the uncle of Antoninus would be the lieutenant. Cf, p. 125.
I. 1 6. SELECT LETTERS OF THE HOLY SEVERUS. 61
piety ought not to look at what they ought to suffer, but at what we ought to refrain from doing. This I say, not in order that we may take no account of the divine laws, but that, while singing with David, ** I have hated them that hate thee. Lord, and against thine enemies have I been wroth," ^ we may also have in our mind at the same time the commandment of Moses that says, ** Fathers shall not die for children, neither shall children die for fathers: every man shall die in his own sin,"^ and not* as is said by one of the wise men without, **The thing that so-and-so is so-and- so is not." The end.
p. 68.
1 6. Of the same to the same Antoninus, bishop of 513-8. Berrhoea. (From those during episcopacy, from the ^th book the loist letter^
As for the accusation in the matter of the silence after the feast of salvation, which you attack as if it had been a violation of justice, I shall be acquitted by the experience of fact For indeed before the charge itself was made at all I had already sent a letter to your sanctity by John the eloquent scholastic. Never- theless you must know that the greeting which is given at the festival of the saving Resurrection should always begin by a letter from you, as is the established rule with regard to the other God-loving bishops also. How is it then that, when you had not yet cast the
^ Ps. cxxxviii. 21. ^ De. xxiv. i6.
^ This clause is perhaps corrupt: the negative seems superfluous.
62 SELECT LETTERS OF THE HOLY SEVERUSl I. l6.
seed, you were thinking abt)ut the things that spring from that? With a clever jest at our poverty or our need you said that the devout Mark came to us in order to give presents, not in order to receive anything, and therefore we thanked your sacred soul in this matter also, and readily showed towards him too all the duties of love without expense, making the inter- course with him to consist of a cheerful face, a serene p. 69. aspect, and gentle speech, and repaying the presents brought by him with torches and spices. Also on the subject ^ of the estates that are near the hamlet called Beth Remsha but of right belong to your holy church, we are exerting all our ability, and will cause measures to be taken that will accord with justice and also satisfy you. As to the Jews, as soon as I received your letter and found a convenient time, I thought good to prescribe a course to you in a few words. You must apply the distinction made by the apostolic laws of the wise Paul, who in speaking of matters relating to us cries, ** Avenge not yourselves, my beloved, but give place unto wrath," and " *Mine is vengeance and I will repay,' saith the Lord," ^ but in speaking of pre- sumptuous deeds against God says, ** If a man despise Moses' law, he dieth without mercy at the mouth of two or three witnesses; of how much sorer punish- ment think ye that he will be worthy who hath trampled on the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant whereby he was sanctified a
1 v7r6B€a-i^ ^ Ro. xii. 19.
L 17. SELECT LETTERS OF THE HOLY SEVERUS. 68
common thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? " ^ All who took part in the sin should, in my opinion, be subjected to a penalty, in order that even in future time the action taken may be a lawful example to those who dare to do the same things. Knowing therefore that this is our mind on this matter, p. 7a carry out what ought to be done with the help of God, even though hereafter we appear to write something that goes farther in the way of concession or is more ambiguous, avoiding however the appearance of con- tradicting ourselves. This I say on account of certain men who show, as they think, philosophy and clemency in the case of presumptuous deeds done against Christ. But I bring my words back like some ship to the prelude^ or beginning of the letter, and again pray on behalf of your love of God with a disposition that is at the same time fervent and humble, one that exacts from us the debts of love and stirs our coldness to spiritual affection. For who is there, even though he be a man of no feeling, who would not be put to shame by such modest words as are written by you? The end,
1 7. Of the same to Misael the chamberlain, {From 5ia-a those during episcopacy^ from the ^th book the lo^rd letter.)
For my part, when I was raised to this bishopric, unworthily indeed, but still by the judgment or per-
^ He. X. 28, 29. ^ TTpOOtfUOV,
64 SELECT LETTERS OF THE HOLY SEVERUS. I. I/.