Ep. CLXXXIII.
(Helladius, Archbishop of Cæsarea, contested the
validity of the election of Eulalius to the Bishopric of Nazianzus, and
accused Bosporius of heresy. S. Gregory here throws the whole
weight of his authority into the other scale. It is however
manifest from the very terms of the letter that the person addressed is
not Theodore of Tyana. It was conjectured by Clémencet that
perhaps he was Theodore of Mopsuestia.)
Envy, which no one easily escapes, has got some
foothold amongst us. See, even we Cappadocians are in a state of
faction, so to speak—a calamity never heard of before, and not to
be believed—so that no flesh may glory4773
in
the sight of
God, but that we may be careful, since we are all human,
not to
condemn each other rashly. For myself, there is some
gain
even from the misfortune (if I may speak somewhat paradoxically), and I really
gather a
rose out of
thorns, as the
proverb has it. Hitherto I have never
met Your
Reverence face to face, nor conversed with you by letter, but
have only been illuminated by your
reputation; but now I am of
necessity compelled to approach you by letter, and I am very
grateful
to him who has procured me this privilege. I omit to
write to the
other
Bishops about whom you wrote to me, as the opportunity has not
yet arisen. Moreover my
weak health makes me less active in this
matter; but what I
write to you I
write to them also through you.
My
Lord the
God-
beloved Bishop Helladius
4774
must cease to waste his labour on our concerns. For it is not
through
spiritual earnestness, but through party
zeal, that he is
seeking this; and not for the sake of accurate compliance with the
canons, but for the satisfaction of
anger, as is evident by the time he
has chosen, and because many have moved with him unreasonably, for I
must say this, and not
trouble myself about it. If I were
physically in a condition to govern the
Church of Nazianzus, to which I
was originally
appointed, and not to Sasima as some would falsely
persuade you, I should not have been so cowardly or so ignorant of the
Divine Constitutions as either to
despise that
Church, or to
seek for
an easy
life in preference to the prizes which are in store for those
who labour according to
God’s will, and
work with the
talent
committed to their care. For what
profit should I have from my
many labours and my great hopes, if I were
ill advised in the most
important matters? But since my bodily
health is bad, as everyone
can plainly see, and I have not any responsibility to
fear on account
of this withdrawal, for the reason I have mentioned, and I saw that the
Church through cleaving to me was suffering in its
best interests and
almost being
destroyed through my illness, I
prayed both before and now
again my Lords the
God-
beloved Bishops (I mean those of our own
Province) to give the
Church a head, which they have done by
God’s
Grace, worthy both of my desire and of your prayers.
This I would have you both know yourself, most honourable
Lord, and
also inform the
rest of the
Bishops, that they may receive him and
support him by their votes, and not bear heavily on my old age by
believing the slander. Let me add this to any letter. If
your
examination finds my
Lord the
God-
beloved Priest Bosporius
guilty
concerning the
faith—a thing which it is not
lawful even to
suggest—(I pass over his age and my personal
testimony)
judge him
so yourselves. But if the discussion about the dioceses is the
cause of this
evil report and this novel
accusation, do not be led away
by the slander, and do not give to falsehoods a greater
strength than
to the
truth, I beg you, lest you should cast into
despair those who
desire to do what is right. May you be granted good
health and
spirits and courage and continual progress in the things of God to us
and to the Church, whose common boast you are.
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