Bad Advertisement?
Are you a Christian?
Online Store:Visit Our Store
| Consolatory, to the clergy of Colonia.
PREVIOUS SECTION - NEXT SECTION - HELP 
Letter
CCXXVII.2929
Consolatory, to the clergy of
Colonia.2930
| 2930
i.e.in Armenia. cf. Letter cxcv. p.
234. The removal of Euphronius to Nicopolis was occasioned by
the death of Theodotus and the consecration of Fronto by the
Eustathians, to whom the orthodox Colonians would not
submit. |
What is so goodly and
honourable before God and men as perfect love, which, as we are told by
the wise teacher, is the fulfilling of the law?2931
I therefore approve of your warm
affection for your bishop, for, as to an affectionate son the loss
of a good father is unendurable, so Christ’s Church cannot
bear the departure of a pastor and teacher. Thus, in your
exceeding affection for your bishop, you are giving proof of a good
and noble disposition. But this your good will towards your
spiritual father is to be approved so long as it is shewn in reason
and moderation; once let it begin to overstep this line, and it is
no longer descrying of the same commendation. In the case of
your very God-beloved brother, our fellow-minister Euphronius, good
government has been shewn by those to whom has been committed the
administration of the Church; they have acted as the occasion
compelled them, to the gain alike of the Church to which he has been
removed and of yourselves from whom he has been taken. Do not
look at this as merely of man’s ordaining, nor as having been
originated by the calculations of men who regard earthly
things. Believe that those to whom the anxious care of the
Churches belongs have acted, as they have, with the aid of the Holy
Spirit; impress this inception of the proceedings on your hearts and
do your best to perfect it. Accept quietly and thankfully what
has happened, with the conviction that all, who refuse to accept
what is ordered in God’s Churches by the Churches, are
resisting the ordinance of God.2932
Do
not enter into a dispute with your Mother Church at Nicopolis.
Do not exasperate yourselves against those who have taken the
anxious responsibility of your souls. In the firm
establishment of things at Nicopolis your part in them may also be
preserved; but if some disturbance affects them, though you have
protectors beyond number, with the head the heart will be
destroyed. It is like men who live on the riverside; when they
see some one far up the stream making a strong dam against the
current, they know that, in stopping the inrush of the current, he
is providing for their safety. Just so those who have now
undertaken the weight of the care of the Churches, by protecting the
rest, are proving for your own security. You will be sheltered
from every storm, while others have to bear the brunt of the
attack. But you ought also to consider this; he has not cast
you off; he has taken others into his charge. I am not so
invidious as to compel the man, who is able to give a share of his
good gifts to others, also to confine his favour to you, and to
limit it to your own city. A man who puts a fence round a
spring, and spoils the outpour of the waters, is not free from the
disease of envy, and it is just the same with him who tries to
prevent the further flow of abundant teaching. Let him have
some care for Nicopolis too, and let your interests be added to his
anxieties there. He has received an addition of labour, but
there is no diminution in his diligence on your behalf. I am
really distressed at one thing that you have said, which seems to me
quite extravagant, namely, that if you cannot obtain your object,
you will betake yourselves to the tribunals, and put the matter into
the hands of men, the great object of whose prayers is the overthrow
of the Churches. Take heed lest men, carried away by unwise
passions, persuade you, to your hurt, to put in any plea before the
courts, and so some catastrophe may ensue, and the weight of the
result fall upon the heads of those who have occasioned it.
Take my advice. It is offered you in a fatherly spirit.
Consent to the arrangement with the very God-beloved bishops, which
has been made in accordance with God’s will. Wait for my
arrival. When I am with you, with God’s help, I will
give you in person all the exhortations which it has been impossible
for me to express in my letter, and will do my utmost to give you
all possible consolation, not by word but in
deed.E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
|
