Letter 415: Theodore Studite, Letter 415; Greek heading: Ναυκρατίῳ τέκνῳ.
Theodore Studite→Recipient in Theodore Studite Letter 415: Ναυκρατίῳ τέκνῳ|c. 817 AD|Theodore Studite|From Studios Monastery, Constantinople|AI-assisted
monasticismcorrespondenceexile
We have been late in writing to you, beloved child, but it is because here too there is a persecution at the boil: blows, chains, imprisonments, as the man who holds us in his power breathes out rage and threats, arresting and punishing the pious wherever they may be found, here and there. Even as he was setting off into the city (for he is now staying there), he did not hesitate to say, "I will ask the emperor to lend an imperial officer to my aid so as to behead them outright, or even to cut out their tongues." I do not know whether the threat will come to its fulfillment; on which account we have already made our farewell preparations, conjecturing as much both from the malice of the man and from the gathering of the bishops in those parts, since, as they say, they are present in order that some such thing might be carried out. But the attendant [the official courier], having become fearful and trembling (since he had been gravely threatened beforehand by the impious leader himself that, if he were found even slightly at fault, he would live no longer), was utterly afraid to hand over to us paper and ink. Hence the delay. Then there came as a further hindrance a report of this kind: that you yourself had been taken from prison, and moreover that, on account of some unholy deed, the bishop of Sardis -- in what manner is not definitely known -- had been beheaded. From both of these, then, came our holding back.
Nevertheless, since we lowly ones have been counted worthy once again to break forth in speech to your ears, making known to you that we are well in body -- and would that it might be said, in spirit also -- through your holy prayers together with those of my blessed father. As to the things you yourself signified, what shall I say and what shall I speak, except that, in keeping with the grievousness of the heresy, the persecution too is bitter and follows close upon it? For what do you wish to see, when Christ has been denied through the outrage done to his holy icon [eikon: the sacred image, whose veneration the iconoclasts rejected]? Is it not blood poured out and flesh cut to pieces, afflictions and straits, chains and prisons and every other kind of maltreatment -- vessels of wrath fitted for destruction, of whom one is the man you spoke of? And you will yet see, brother, more terrible things still, when the heresy is prolonged. But blessed are those who endure, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Already the choirs of confessors and of martyrs rejoice and are glad, receiving some by a blessed death, and anointing others invisibly through their visitations. And why do I speak of martyrs? Christ himself, who is testified to, is rejoicing and contending alongside each one of the confessors. For if it were not so, those who bear the present trials would not bear them nobly; women would not play the man after the manner of the holy women of old; laymen and senators' wives would not strip for the contests; maidens would not despise the sight of impious men; public prisons would not be displayed everywhere; deserts and mountains and glens and caves would not be filled with those who have fled for the Lord's sake; nor would all that is beneath heaven be ringing out, to put it briefly. So that we must believe plainly that Christ has been persecuted; so that we must hope and likewise be eager that everyone who truly believes should bear whatever punishment with Christ and together with Christ.
Such are our reports. Let the meek hear them and be glad; let East and West hear what happens in Byzantium [Constantinople] and give praise. Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. Here is athletic steadfastness, here blood flows, watering the Church of Christ beyond the watering of paradise in Eden. As I live, says the Lord, but those who glorify me I will glorify, and he who despises me shall be dishonored. Do you also, whoever you may be, in zeal for the Lord, write down these new -- or rather God-wrought -- testimonies of martyrdom, that those who come after may see that God is truly among us, and that the seed of the righteous lives, and that the golden race of martyrs bears Christ, against whom the gates of Hades have not prevailed, nor shall prevail, according to the promise of him who cannot lie. It is hard for you, he says, to kick against the goads, and otherwise it cannot be.
I the wretched one address these things to you; but you, O holy child, give me your prayers in return. Greet your fellow confessors by name and your fellow disciples, and not only these, but, if you can reach them, all the others also: the elect of God, those who have been singled out from the myriads, the luminaries in the world, the vessels of mercy, those useful to God, those longed for by the Trinity, by whose prayers may we also, the unworthy, be saved. He who is with me greets you together with all of them.
We have been late in writing to you, beloved child, but it is because here too there is a persecution at the boil: blows, chains, imprisonments, as the man who holds us in his power breathes out rage and threats, arresting and punishing the pious wherever they may be found, here and there. Even as he was setting off into the city (for he is now staying there), he did not hesitate to say, "I will ask the emperor to lend an imperial officer to my aid so as to behead them outright, or even to cut out their tongues." I do not know whether the threat will come to its fulfillment; on which account we have already made our farewell preparations, conjecturing as much both from the malice of the man and from the gathering of the bishops in those parts, since, as they say, they are present in order that some such thing might be carried out. But the attendant [the official courier], having become fearful and trembling (since he had been gravely threatened beforehand by the impious leader himself that, if he were found even slightly at fault, he would live no longer), was utterly afraid to hand over to us paper and ink. Hence the delay. Then there came as a further hindrance a report of this kind: that you yourself had been taken from prison, and moreover that, on account of some unholy deed, the bishop of Sardis -- in what manner is not definitely known -- had been beheaded. From both of these, then, came our holding back.
Nevertheless, since we lowly ones have been counted worthy once again to break forth in speech to your ears, making known to you that we are well in body -- and would that it might be said, in spirit also -- through your holy prayers together with those of my blessed father. As to the things you yourself signified, what shall I say and what shall I speak, except that, in keeping with the grievousness of the heresy, the persecution too is bitter and follows close upon it? For what do you wish to see, when Christ has been denied through the outrage done to his holy icon [eikon: the sacred image, whose veneration the iconoclasts rejected]? Is it not blood poured out and flesh cut to pieces, afflictions and straits, chains and prisons and every other kind of maltreatment -- vessels of wrath fitted for destruction, of whom one is the man you spoke of? And you will yet see, brother, more terrible things still, when the heresy is prolonged. But blessed are those who endure, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Already the choirs of confessors and of martyrs rejoice and are glad, receiving some by a blessed death, and anointing others invisibly through their visitations. And why do I speak of martyrs? Christ himself, who is testified to, is rejoicing and contending alongside each one of the confessors. For if it were not so, those who bear the present trials would not bear them nobly; women would not play the man after the manner of the holy women of old; laymen and senators' wives would not strip for the contests; maidens would not despise the sight of impious men; public prisons would not be displayed everywhere; deserts and mountains and glens and caves would not be filled with those who have fled for the Lord's sake; nor would all that is beneath heaven be ringing out, to put it briefly. So that we must believe plainly that Christ has been persecuted; so that we must hope and likewise be eager that everyone who truly believes should bear whatever punishment with Christ and together with Christ.
Such are our reports. Let the meek hear them and be glad; let East and West hear what happens in Byzantium [Constantinople] and give praise. Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. Here is athletic steadfastness, here blood flows, watering the Church of Christ beyond the watering of paradise in Eden. As I live, says the Lord, but those who glorify me I will glorify, and he who despises me shall be dishonored. Do you also, whoever you may be, in zeal for the Lord, write down these new -- or rather God-wrought -- testimonies of martyrdom, that those who come after may see that God is truly among us, and that the seed of the righteous lives, and that the golden race of martyrs bears Christ, against whom the gates of Hades have not prevailed, nor shall prevail, according to the promise of him who cannot lie. It is hard for you, he says, to kick against the goads, and otherwise it cannot be.
I the wretched one address these things to you; but you, O holy child, give me your prayers in return. Greet your fellow confessors by name and your fellow disciples, and not only these, but, if you can reach them, all the others also: the elect of God, those who have been singled out from the myriads, the luminaries in the world, the vessels of mercy, those useful to God, those longed for by the Trinity, by whose prayers may we also, the unworthy, be saved. He who is with me greets you together with all of them.
AI-assisted translation - This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek below for scholarly use.