Ep. CXXXIX.
(This letter is written at a somewhat earlier date in
reference to the consent he had been induced to give to remaining for
some time longer as administrator of the See of Nazianzus. It is
certainly not addressed to Theodore of Tyana, and it is not known who
this Theodore is.)
He Who raised David His servant from the
Shepherd’s work to the Throne, and Your Reverence from the flock
to the Work of the Shepherd: He that orders our affairs and those
of all who hope in Him according to His own Will: may He now put
it into the mind of Your Reverence to know the dishonour which I have
suffered at the hands of my Lords the Bishops in the matter of their
votes, in that they have agreed to the Election,4775
| 4775 See Introd. to Ep.
157. |
but have excluded us. I will not lay
the
blame on Your
Reverence, because you have but recently come to
preside over our affairs, and are, as is to be expected, for the most
part unacquainted with our history. This is quite enough:
for I have no
mind to
trouble you further, that I may not seem
burdensome at the very beginning of our
friendship. But I will
tell you what suggests itself to me in taking
counsel with
God. I
retired from the
Church at Nazianzus, not as either despising
God, or
looking down on the littleness of the
flock (
God forbid that a
philosophic
4776
| 4776 Probably equivalent to
A Monk. |
soul should be so
disposed); but first because I am not bound by any such
appointment: and secondly because I am broken down by my
ill
health, and do not think myself equal to such
anxieties. And
since you too have been heavy on me, in reproaching me with my
resignation, and I myself could not
endure the clamours against me, and
since the times are hard, threatening us with an inroad of
enemies to
the injury of the
commonwealth of the whole
Church, I finally made up
my
mind to
suffer a defeat which is
painful to my body, but perhaps
not bad for my
soul. I
make over this
miserable body to the
Church for as long as it may be
possible, thinking it better to
suffer any
distress to the
flesh rather
than to incur a spiritual injury myself or to inflict it upon others,
who have thought the worst of us, judging from their own
experience. Knowing this, do pray for me, and approve my
resolution: and perhaps it is not out of place to say, mould
yourself to piety.
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