Letter 142: To the Same,

To the Same, I have already written to your reverence in another letter and delivered it to your respected brethren. Now I write again, moved by your admirable life and your praiseworthy zeal for the apostolic faith -- fearless of both imperial power and episcopal collusion. Granted, the majority of the council consented under coercion, but they still confirmed the newfangled heresy with their signatures. Your holiness, however, was shaken by none of this. You held fast to the ancient doctrines which the Lord, through the prophets and apostles, has taught the churches to hold. These teachings I pray to preserve and to keep to the end: my faith and confession in one Father, one Son, and one Holy Spirit. The incarnation of the Only-begotten made no addition to the number of the Trinity. Even after the incarnation, the Trinity remains a Trinity. This is what I received from the beginning; this has been my faith; in this I was baptized; this I have preached; in this I have baptized others; this I continue to hold. Of those who lie about the Father, the Lord said: "When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature" [John 8:44] -- and what is said of the master applies to his disciples. So these men who tell lies about me speak from their own nature and do not describe what is mine. I am comforted by my Master's words: "Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven" [Matthew 5:11-12]. I ask your piety to pray that I may not be counted among the wrongdoers, but among those who suffer wrong for the truth of the Gospels.

Letter 142