Letters and Mystic Words of Pachomius and Theodore

2. Letter to Syrus and John of Chnum on Duty

Remember what I have written to you as Y, written in the Letter on account of Tau, and recall, and write Ni on account of Simma which is written. Is not Xi Y, which is turned into Kappa? In all these things remember, and write Ni and Iota, that Alpha may be beautifully written unto the grace of those on high. Is not Moe Y and Kappa: is not Kappa Tau? Open your mouth, and lift up your face, that your eyes may see, and you may be able to read what is written. Attend diligently, and take care not to write Delta over Phi, lest your days grow old, and your waters be diminished. Remember, and write Theta and Ro, that Ro may be well written.

3. Second Letter to Syrus and John on the Alphabet

Honor the Lord, and you shall be strengthened. Remember the groaning of the saints. Let Simma and Phi be done: let your house be arranged according to your years, according to the examples of the saints, not in temporal foods, nor in any likeness of those things which are seen in heaven or on earth. Have ye Ω, that you may be able to meet God on the day of visitation, freed from the rebuke of Martha. Prepare your house according to its boundaries. Observe Theta, lest you be guilty of that rebuke to which it was said, "Render an account of your stewardship"; or of him who ate and drank with drunkards, when he refused to dig, nor gave provisions to his fellow servants in their season. Therefore they rendered to him, because he forgot the law of God, and disdained to visit the sick. And therefore he began to waver, and to lack bread: imitating the most self-confident and arrogant men, who would not have the house of Hi.

Man, know what is said, that the war of the Lord is in their hands, and it has been entrusted to them, that they might govern their flesh, and cause it to stand: if perhaps they might be able to escape the rebuke of Daniel, and the ruin of Esau, and the hardness of Moab, and the defection of Ishmael, and the enticements of satiety and of the belly, because they savored the things that are upon the earth. But the abundance of a man is his wisdom. O man, give your heart to discipline, lest you multiply the dead through your contempt and negligence, on account of the error of your heart. O man, do not despise visible things. A hireling is not a shepherd: in the darkness foxes eat. Hold the sword of your glory, know the breastplate of righteousness, and do not despise the dwelling of wisdom. Make for yourself purses that do not grow old: that you may be able to put your hand to the hole of asps.

Do not be drunk with wine, from which very many ruins arise, and men walk naked upon the earth. Consider that the law was given concerning the woman in her menstruation, that she be cast outside the camp: for her ways are strewn with thorns. Poverty humbles a man, and the house drips where the hands are idle. Do not be weakened at the blows of the woods, Tau and Ro. The madness of the belly is worse than all evils. The error of the eyes diminishes the prudence of the wise. The wise man fails on account of the concupiscence of the flesh in the flesh, that blood be mixed with blood. All you who are fellow-workers of God, do not lose your glory. Know above all that if you are in Alpha, God will agree with you. But when you have agreed with God, in whom your course is, you will not be able to rejoice in any vain thing: of which if you take care, your prudence will be turned into folly.

He who is drunk cannot help one who is drunk. He who errs, how shall he show the way to one erring? Woe to him who would wish to use him as a guide. For the blind will lead the blind into the pit. Wisdom is with the saints, and in them the will of God is found: not in those whom God resists; and those who say, God is in us, their joy shall be turned into mourning. For they have not known the mystery of God: nor have they found the way of the servants, that they might work in it. They were scourged, and did not grieve: they were seduced, and did not understand. In all these things, O man of God, return to the height, which is the knowledge of wisdom. It is written, "Thou shalt not covet", and again, thou shalt not be drunk. Desire is not of one thing. The sinner is praised in the works of his hands. It is said also to others: What house will you build for me?

Who for forty years heard the word of God, and did not offer him victims, nor fasted to him for seventy years. For their heart was after idols, and they would not be at leisure for God who says: Be still and see that I am God, and to this day they are not at leisure for God! It is said to you, man, Why do you love vanity? Is your heart made heavy? Cain worked the earth, that he might offer victims to God, and founded a city, but not according to the knowledge that pleases God did he do all these things. Noah and all his house were saved from the shipwreck of the world in the ark. Abraham was rich: Isaac left the blessing to Jacob. And Jacob himself understood whom he ought to love, and his blessing they held as instar of the law.

Joseph was a helper of his kin, because he fled sin, and abhorred pleasure, and showed to posterity that God would visit them, and opened the mysteries of things to come, leaving behind the memory of his wisdom. Afterward arose Moses, who conquered the enticements of the world, held riches as nothing, showed that the wisdom of the Egyptians was foolish. Therefore Joshua ministered to him, who understood their teaching, and had Caleb as companion. Foolish men did not understand these things, and therefore they called light darkness. God gave his ordinances, that the people might walk in them, and in all these things they did not find their heart, nor were they conversant in the commandments of God: but were at leisure for their own desires, and not for the works of God. O man, how long will you not hear him saying to you: Be still, and see that I am God: but each one follows the thoughts of his own soul? Have you visited the sick? Why will you die? Why do you run to the snare?

For these are the vital precepts which the saints received, that they might be occupied in them, that they might think of nothing else, that they might do works worthy of immortality. The birds of heaven neither sow nor reap, and God gave to them, that they might snatch from all the fruits, and live freely. A wicked and most evil man who desires the things of others is an imitator of the most evil birds; he snatches and eats what is not his own. These we ought to avoid, and understand the parables, and not be robbers and unjust; but imitate our elders, who pleased the Lord, and rebuked Adam, because he ate at the persuasion of Eve. Because before he ate, he gave names to all things, and now too they are called by their own names. But after he ate, he was cast out of paradise, and worked the earth, and begot Cain and Abel, who grew, and worked according to their own will.

The work of Abel pleased God more than that of Cain, because he offered to God the choice and first things; on the contrary Cain, if there was anything worse, offered this to God: who went before as an example for the human race. For all who offer choice things to God are like Abel; those who offer worse things are compared to the works of Cain; and of him who mocked his father, and reported his nakedness to his brothers; and of him who built a tower in the plain of Sennaar, forgetting the mercy of God, by whom he was saved in the ark, and delivered from the flood, and by whom his fathers were blessed.

Who with a certain fury exhorted their companions, saying: Come, let us hew stones, and cut down sycamores and cedars, and let us make ourselves a tower, not considering the vengeance of the tower of Chalanne, how God divided their tongues, when they wished to build a tower of pride reaching even to heaven, and abandoning the Eastern region; because they forgot the law of God, which they had received in their heart. Now therefore consider and understand the vengeance of the tower; which, although it was lofty, could not reach even to heaven: and stone shall not be left upon stone in the temple, in which the impiety of the Pharisees is gathered against Christ. It is written, This generation shall not pass away till all these things be done. Now is the time that we should work for the Lord, because our salvation is in the time of distress, if we can tread in his footsteps, and always say: The Lord be magnified, who love his salvation. And again: But I will hope in you always.

For that is not faith which is only in the time of joy, and fails in the time of tribulation. It is written: What proceeds from your mouth, take care to do. And again: If you have vowed to the Lord, do not delay to pay it: lest perhaps the Lord require it of you, and it be to you for sin. Wherefore if you have said: But I will hope in you always; and in this have pledged yourself, fulfill it in deed, that in tribulation also you may deserve salvation from the Lord. Remember what is written: Do not fail, and keep my counsel and thought, that your soul may live. For he who keeps the commandment of the law preserves his own soul. It is written: The shadow of death has covered us, and we have not forgotten the name of our God. If we have stretched out our hands to a strange god. And again: The snares of death encompassed me, the perils of hell found me. I found tribulation and sorrow.

In all these things our heart was not turned back, but I called upon the name of the Lord. Another too says, believing with most firm heart: I will not fear the thousands of the people surrounding me. And he says this, because he has confidence in God. Son, do not fail, revive your friend, for whom you have pledged faith, knowing that all the nations are like sparks from a fire, and like light stubble, which is carried hither and thither by the swift breeze, and like dust which is swept up by a whirlwind. Know that it is written to you, that when you see the horse and its rider, and an infinite multitude, you should not fear in your soul; but remember the Lord your God, who gave you strength, that you might conquer in battle; who wills all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

If you have heard the voice of God speaking, I fill heaven and earth, you will not fear, but will say: Our Lord is above in heaven, and below upon the earth, lest you hear: O you of little faith, why did you doubt? And you again will answer: Unless the Lord had been with us, when men rose up against us, perhaps they would have swallowed us alive. For often from your youth they have fought against you; and you have borne the yoke of faith from your childhood. Nor was your back struck with the burdens of Egypt, nor did your hands serve in the basket; because you loved spiritual circumcision: which gave occasion for the salvation of your soul. Briefly, you have heard: great is the danger of man, while he is new wine, lest he ferment.

4. Letter to the Brothers Shearing Goats in the Desert

We passed through you, and were not able, because of too great haste, to hold divine converse with you; therefore now we speak by letter. Strive with all your strength to fulfill the custom of the monastery, and to do the things that are commanded: lest you be prepared for the correction of the time to come, and be found condemned in the bonds of sins, and be offered to God because of negligence—not only your own, but also that of the brothers who are with you and who cooperate with you, knowing that we have most faithfully handed on to them the things which he gave to us. Remember also the ministry and labor of the Saints, and of your friend, who knew the will of God: that they too may become co-heirs of the same promise, and may have the immortal faith from God, which was created through the spirit of the prophets, and strengthened by the apostles. Who endured for it all straits and persecutions.

For they believed his promise, and therefore prepared for themselves the fragrance of a good odor. Let us consider then those whom God has bestowed with dominion, if perhaps we may deserve to serve them, and to cling to their teaching, having abandoned all pride and sin: resisting most strongly the Alpha, which works without fear in bodies. For death has been swallowed up in victory. And how again are we weak in this time; knowing that the Church has been established and is to be guided toward good, as he also foretold to you. You know that the axe does not boast without him who cuts with it, and that the Scriptures teach us to have an answer of death: which if we devour, we save our soul. Destruction is not to be feared in the place of our pilgrimage; but we must fight, so that we may be able to have peace with those who keep the ordinances of God. Heta, if you gain the whole world, and have enmities against God, what is the profit?

It is fitting then that we sometime understand the things that are said to us: knowing that the world passes away, and its desires. Watch and see how you walk. We know that death overtakes the unlearned. And do not fail to understand the times, in which there is error and seduction. Consider the hours and moments, and the spans of months, in whose course human life rolls away: and by their number it is known for how long each one has lived: that they may be able to gather their strength, and to fill their barns from these, and to prepare seed for the harvests to come, and that they may find the labors of cultivation at the time of harvest, and possess before God and all men the necessities, the fear of death having been overcome, and, the world passing away, that they not celebrate feast days in old garments. Cities have been destroyed and filled with strangers, who are not pious enough to take wise counsel.

Water flowed in the desert, and the beasts of burden and the birds rejoiced. The wise and continent man will not be anointed with ointment, because the dying flies have destroyed it, and because it was compounded for the sons of the field. Therefore we ought to watch, and with all care provide for the stones to come: that we not be confounded in the time when the times of refreshment shall come, and that we not be found subject to servitude, but that we may be a new lump: knowing that beauty is with us. The divine word speaks also elsewhere: Shall I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats? Wherefore let us not be carried about by every wind of doctrine: for the time is coming when the saints shall receive the kingdom. Zion has spread out her hands, there is none to comfort her. The young men have been weakened by the plagues of the waters: scattering the waters of their journey. The lion's whelp perished, because it had no food.

He who shares with a thief hates his own soul. Avoid profane and new doctrines. Let the stranger be among you as one born in the land. He killed their vines with hail, and their sycamores with frost. An understanding minister is acceptable to the king. Have you found honey, eat what suffices, lest perhaps being full you vomit it up. Remember judgment, and mercy, and faith. Judgment, through which regions are made habitable: mercy, through which God is glorified: faith, which is the foundation of the dead and the living: that through this we may be able to possess hope. Fight and strive, and let the brothers who are with you know that I have written to you in figures and in parables, that you may seek them out wisely, following the footsteps of the saints: and that you not fall under the judgment of God, being taught by his words.

Let not the winter of the present age hinder us from walking; but let us unceasingly always work the justice of God, remembering that testimony: Until the winter pass, and the rain go away and withdraw itself. May God be our helper in peace, which has no measure of largess, which may be in our houses, until the evening time pass. All these things I have written to you, that laboring now you may be able to have rest in the future.

5. Vision at Mochansi on the Monasteries' Future

You ought to undertake the care of gathering your prudence, so that your door may be open before you go forth from the world. When a poor man is fed, he is fed according to the measure of his poverty. I have told you, that you may know the hours and times of your childhood, that you not be anxious about the house, which has been prepared as your hunting-ground. And you, when you come to us, take care for the bed of the sick, that you may make it up for them, and not lack bread. If ever you can find a mattress or a pillow for the head, that the weak may rest: that the admonition which is written to us may be fulfilled: But if any man have not care of his own, and especially of them of his own house, he is worse than an infidel. The gith is beaten out with a rod, and cumin is eaten with bread.

If you have handled the hair of your head, and have found the ointment of your beard, which goes down even to the fringe of your garments, you will be able to fulfill all that is written to you. We read elsewhere: Let not your eyes fail; for the reward is more cheerful to your works: therefore let your eyes flow with water, and let tears flow down day and night, and not fail. I wish you to be like those who did not know their right hand from their left. Watch, and bend your bows. For the adversaries have bent the bow, a bitter thing. Remember that the saints open their door to every passer-by. It is commanded us to enter our chamber and shut the door, and not be carried about by every wind.

Whence we ought more diligently to take heed, lest we be swallowed up in the times of goodness; but that we imitate those times which were before the flood, when each of the just pleased God with his whole household and children, and no sin was found in them. But afterward, as iniquity grew, and all the earth clung to the vices of the flesh, they offended God, and in their condemnation Noah alone with his household and children, while the flood was overflowing, was saved, and while the world was in peril, he held the rudder of justice, and was overcome by no storm of sins. And he who had mocked him, and had told his brothers of his nakedness, was cursed together with his seed, and there was fulfilled at that time what is written: He who dishonors the just man sins.

And again: Cursed is he who curses father and mother: As Esau despised his parents. Whence it is written of him: Lest there be any fornicator or profane person, as Esau. And it came about, through Rebecca's zeal, that he did not obtain the blessing, nor receive the robe of the firstborn, his parents being offended, who, repaying him in kind, and provoking his pride to emulation of the good deed, clothed Jacob in his garments. For he did not deserve to use the garments of those whom, proud and stiff-necked, he neglected. And therefore they did not divide their substance to his sons: but gave all to Jacob, who dwelt innocently in the house, and obeyed their commands. Solomon also speaks of Esau: A disobedient son comes to ruin. And Moses in the same sense says: Cursed is the man who curses his father or mother. And again Solomon: To the deceitful son nothing good shall come. He lost therefore the blessing, and was deprived of the paternal inheritance.

What shall I say of Adam, who from the beginning of the human race went before as the pattern of disobedience and contempt? For dominion was given to him over all the beasts of the earth; just as double portions of all things were commanded to be given to the firstborn. But after he despised the command of God, not only did he lose the dominion; but he was also cast out from the place which he had received for a dwelling, in likeness of the man who fornicates, who is cast out of the Church, and from whom his glory is taken away. All that he suffered, those will endure who despise the commands of God, and walking in pride will experience what is written: He spoke, and the earth swallowed them up. But let us imitate the example of the just man, who wisely kept his household, and, the pride of the giants being struck down, was preserved by humility.

Nor is it a wonder if he and his children, and their wives, were preserved out of the whole human race, since even beasts and birds escaped death, and were freed through obedience. He sent forth the dove from Noah's ark, which, obeying the will of the one who sent it, went and returned, and by its obedience condemned men who were despisers; because the bird heard the just man, and men did not hear God. All beasts too and all living things were freed through obedience. And because they were such, therefore he offered victims to God from among them. Which history teaches us what things should be offered in God's sacrifice; and if they be obedient to his command, they are rescued from the snares of the devil, and enjoy his good things; not according to the works of their own righteousness, but according to his mercy, by which we have all drawn near to him.

Knowing these things that are to come, let us be joined to one another in charity, that we may be able to escape the impending sentence of God. Do not provoke anyone to anger, lest perhaps he die, and you be left bound, and all his sorrow be brought upon your soul, and God pour out his wrath upon you, because you also poured out your fury upon your brother. Do not forget the commandments of God, lest it be said of you: They have turned their backs to me, and not their face, and in the time of their affliction they shall say, arise and save us. And he himself will answer: I will rebuke their delights, and I will not let them come to the passover, to which they are called. Let us labor, bearing one another's burdens, as Christ also bore our infirmities in his body, and did not fail.

If our master is Christ, let us be his imitators, and let us bear his injuries: lest in the time to come we be separated from our brothers who have suffered tribulations. As others also have suffered, who were unwilling to devote themselves to virtues, but to vices. Our judge and witness, however, is God, who from heaven beholds all things, and on the day of visitation will render to each according to his works. Let all follow the footsteps of his saints, whose precepts we also ought to hear. I have spoken to you through my weakness.

6. Letter to All Monasteries Concerning Easter

I wish you to understand the letters which you wrote to me, and which I wrote back to you, and how it is fitting to know all the spiritual elements of the Alphabet. Write Moe over Heta and Theta, and write Zeta over Xi: and Moe and Lambda and Iota. When, reading these letters, you have completed them, write to yourselves, that you may understand the mysteries of the letters. Do not write Moe over Xi and Eta and Hi: but rather write Zeta over Xi, and Moe over Heta and Theta. Upon receiving your letters I wrote back at once, and to the sacred mystical matters I likewise responded. For I noticed that the endings of your Epistle were Heta and Theta: and therefore I too agreed in the same sense and words, lest I should seem unequal to your negligence, and you should sustain any loss from us. I wrote to you therefore Simma Phi: write back Chi. And so now in these days we do not write Theta Moe.

And do not say: we can write N, Heta, Phi, Labda, OYYOYY, Labda, Iota, Labda; behold I have written to you also Xi whole and complete in circles. And you write Xi and Phi, that you may be able to write Simma Moe. Behold, Theta has been written before this. Let it suffice for you to take care of Kappa and Tau. If, however, you are about to set out, we have written to you Hi, on account of your labor, that you may apply all diligence before you depart. For we too have the same care as you: nor have we written Kappa and Tau. I have written to you by name, whence also you, when you shall have seen Kappa and Tau written, write back Zeta. When you shall have seen Simma and Phi, write back Moe. When you shall have seen Labda, Iota, Labda, write back Xi. When you shall have seen YOYY Kappa, Ro, because we have found it written; but we have written Simma, Phi—take care.

For this is written in these days Ro; be watchful: which letters are called in Egyptian Orez and Thei. For we have found it written—the letters which are called in Egyptian Bei and Thei. Have care, therefore, for Hi, and write Alpha; because I have given it to you in place of Hi. Write also Simma, because it is written Tau and Delta, that you may be able to reach us. Beware lest you forget to write Psi over Kappa, because it was written before, and Ro was written before that: and lest perhaps you say that Theta was written, and part of Xi. Therefore we write the whole as Beta; lest you should say that Gamma was written. In every Epistle which I have written to you, there is contained something about your sitting, and about the resurrection, and about the shadow of the outer wall, which is outside the wall. The fragrance of your wisdom has reached even to us, and has compelled me to write these things to you.

And you, as wise men, understand what I have written to you: and show yourselves to be such as my discourse has chosen to describe.

7.

The time is near at hand that you should come together as one according to the ancient custom, according to the old practice, that the remission of all things may be duly celebrated, that you may know one another: that each one may forgive, according to the precept of the Gospel, the debts of his brothers, and sorrows and quarrels: and if there be any strife, let it be driven away from the choir of the saints: that they may free their hearts from the fear of God, and, falsehood being put to flight, truth may reign, so that, wars ceasing, the tranquility of peace may return; and that in it you may be able to walk before God and men: that you may all love equally: that you may serve God and concord, and not various desires, and the error of your eyes: and the vices of swelling deceitful knowledge and of the flesh.

From which arise schisms, and contempt of the law of God, contention, evil thoughts which, boiling with the fire of wrath, sometimes burst forth outwardly, and foam out in the pleasures of the body. Therefore the law of God was written, that the law of bodies and its rights might be dissolved: and that they might blush who walk in their lusts; and that at length they might return to God, and, despising temporal things, seek after eternal things: prepared for the inheritance of the saints, who despised the present life for the life of the age to come: hoping, instead of malice, for kindness; instead of tumult and discord, for peace and concord; instead of the adoption of the flesh, for the service of God. That they may seek those things which please His will, overcoming the incitements of the flesh. For it is written: If you forgive men their sins, your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your trespasses. And again: Let each forgive his brothers from his heart.

And again: Forgive, and you shall be forgiven. And further: Do good to those who hate you. And elsewhere: Be not overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. And this: Say not, Avenge me of my enemy. And elsewhere: Not rendering evil for evil. And again: Providing good things in the sight of all men. And this: Not avenging yourselves, dearly beloved. And also elsewhere: Be kind to one another, working good to all. And again: Love your enemies: do good to those who hate you: pray for those who persecute you. Let us consider, then, dearest brothers, with how many testimonies the faithful man is bound by God so that he may not sin: if only he be willing to hear His law, and incline his ear to His precepts: to open his eyes, to direct his heart, that he may be able to fulfill what is said.

For there are many who indeed desire good things, and seek God with tears, and groan day and night; but, deceived by the lusts of their eyes, and overcome by the ticklings of the flesh, have fallen asleep in groaning and sorrow of heart, because they were not able to master their flesh, and to suppress the incitements of seething thoughts; pursuing vain and brief things instead of firm and everlasting ones. Who desire the law, and by their deeds destroy the will of God: who judge truths, and are conquered by falsehoods. Therefore they groan, according to the words of the prophets, and are tossed about by perpetual terror, until they fail; and waste away in their ways and sleep in sorrows. But those who are truly just, and have peace within themselves, enjoy everlasting joy.

8.

God seeks those who love Him: just as He found Israel like a grape in the desert, and like the first-ripe figs, so also was Jacob found in Mesopotamia when he wandered like a grape in the wilderness, and Joseph in Egypt like the first-ripe fig: whom, among all his brothers, God recognized, and gave him headship after many hardships. Whom we ought to imitate, because he conquered his flesh, and cast down sin, and trampled upon the snares of the eyes. He did not follow the fullness of the belly, that he might keep his soul holy to God, that he might become a temple of the Holy Spirit, and exchange captivity for freedom. God will not forget those who fear Him, and who do His justice. Whence also that young man, placed in the slipperiness of youth, whom the flatteries of the flesh did not overcome, overcame bonds and prisons, and in the place of narrowness pleased God.

Let us also, then, be confident that God is with us in the desert, and that His remembrance is always in our heart. And let us keep our flesh and soul holy in the desert, just as Joseph also kept himself in captivity, that God may remember us, and be with us even to the end.

9.

ΑΩ. The ages have boiled over in evil, which is Delta. ΒΥ the fruit is completed on the lips, which is Tau. ΙΧ. God has made me forget the poverty of my house from the top of the mountains even to their summit, which is ΡΟ. Α☩ on account of the slumber of the widow, and the glory of the poor man, which is ΟΥ. ΕΥ. The mountains have heard the gladness of the earth, which is ΞΞΙ. The earth is hidden without price, which is Ν. NC they shall be smooth upon the eyes until evening Ι. ΕΡ. Do you suppose they will look upon the well, which is Π. ΙΥ. They have drunk the hidden thing in gladness, which is Iota. ΡΟ has become the spoils of the earth without blood. ΝΑΞ the depths of the abyss have become mourning of heart, which is ΞΕ. ΗΝ. The hidden ones have fled without fear, which is ΟΑΩ. Who knows whether God may turn back and repent. ΤΒΥ. Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth exult. ΘΙΧ. Dan awaits the salvation of God. ΟΑ☩ Can anything good come out of Nazareth? ΒΙ ΕΥ.

Blessed be God, He has given food to those who fear Him. ΩΚΖΤ. The fruit of my mouth has become sweet on my lips. INC. The Lord gives me the tongue of discipline. ΑΘΡ. I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord. ΙΩ. He who enters through me shall be saved. ΤΚΟ the judgment of the Lord is sought against His people, Damascus. ΟΑΖ for God has had mercy on Israel, and has consoled the humble of His people. ΜΝ. As cold water to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country. ΘΡΝΙΝΖΟΡΙΠ.

ΑΝΝΑΜΜΜΑΑΒΝΙΡΖΖΟΙΓΙΘ ΡΗCΩΥΤΥΧ ΨΑΟΜΝΠΧΘΙΛΨΒΙΜΣΤΑΖΑΡΕΤ.

10.

The superiors of the monasteries have wrought iniquity in their baskets: the sword of their own destruction is under their armpit, which has arisen: they lie in wait at the gates of hell. As for the abundance of the earth and the good things which God has bestowed upon the sons of men, they said: Come, and let us search our ways, and let us see if we can find leaven, and let us put it into the mass of flour, that it may not be able to rise, nor to swell upward; but let it fail from hunger. They prepared snares for their feet, and a bow for their hands, and carried an axe on their shoulder: and they came to a man who had a saw, and he said to them: Go, and cut down wood. And they said to him: By no means; but we are searching our ways, and we have found leaven, that we may put it into the mass, which does not rise, nor can swell upward, but has failed from hunger.

The man therefore called his friends, and they flayed their feet, and the tips of their hands, that is, their fingers; and these fell down upon the ground. And the young ravens came, and carried them off, and made a nest there, and the ravens brought forth young in their places, and through them the land was inhabited.

11.

God is true in all things, who says ΡΝ, all the torrents go into the sea κ. The Lord has looked down from heaven. Α. There is no longer wisdom in you. ΜΑΝΥΤ It is pleasing to the Lord in those who fear the Lord. CΘΟΜ Arise, why do you sleep, Lord? ☩ the eyes of the wise are in their head. The pledge is the patience of the poor man. ΗΘΑΜ The joy of the just is to do judgment. Ν the wise son is a judgment. ΦΥ the sorrow of the fool is to lack discipline. Τ take away his garment; for the injurious man shall pass by, Υ☩, and shall bring contumely upon others. CN. A desirable treasure rests in the mouth of the wise man. KM how long will you look upon scoffers, and be silent? ΤΜΑ. My eyes have failed for Your salvation. CΘ the wise heart understands a parable. Τ we have seen that Zion has stripped herself of the glory which she had from the beginning: therefore it has not grown warm.

Among the letters NY do not write Ζ, but rather from abundance write ΑΟΑ. ΔΙΑ I know that you write from yourself. In all these things remember Α, hasten to write I, and say that it belongs to him up to this point E. It is written INΩ he himself wrote Ξ. And if K is likewise written, again hold O expanded. It is necessary for you to count, and thus again I write and CHI. Set Ω before your eyes, that it may be well with your soul. Remember C, that it be turned back into the Kalends, which is ZEO or. Remember also and write Z on account of K, which is written, not because I now tell you, but because I trust that you will have heard this day. P again stretches out his hand to us in these days. Before your eyes our heart grieves for C, because truly it, and they have forgotten the Kalends.

But as for what you wrote, A chi, another before us did this same thing, and said: Behold, I send you as sheep in the midst of wolves. We have heard again concerning EINΩ, that there are two grinding together; one shall be taken, and the other left.

12.

The solemnity of unleavened bread has drawn near, in which the Passover must be celebrated, concerning which Moses too, as the people were going out from the land of Egypt, commanded, saying: Eat it with all haste. Josias also, a righteous king, celebrated the Passover most diligently in his days, and his zeal is related even to this day. Concerning which the Apostle also speaks: Christ our Passover is sacrificed. Let us therefore celebrate the feast in it, as it has been commanded to us. Gird your loins, and put shoes on your feet with the Gospel sandals: holding staves in your hands, and burning lamps; that we may be able to eat the Passover with haste, and go up to Jerusalem six days before the Passover, sanctifying ourselves, that we may celebrate the holy day in holiness, without malice and wickedness, in holiness and truth, as the Apostle has commanded us, and our Father, by whom the life of the monasteries was founded.

That we may be gathered together alike in peace, within the bounds which it is unlawful to overstep: that none of us may desire to remain in the monasteries without the disposition of the elders; that those who come together may not come without the command of the elders. We also, who seem to be Superiors to the brothers, and to show them the rules of their manner of life, let us not, without grave necessity, allow them to remain at home; nor let the Paschal gathering be forsaken on our occasion; lest we be found to make void the precepts of our Father; but let us, contrite, hold the things written by him as the rule of truth; and let God be glorified, who has set families in order like sheep. Let the upright see, and rejoice; and let all iniquity stop its own mouth.

That all of us, the senate of the sons of Israel, and with them those of second rank, may come to the Passover, and let none of us be found remaining behind, who does not fulfil the bounds of our Father: that the stewards of the monasteries and the houses, the Superiors, and every order of the brothers, and all the members, may come together into one body, that they may raise up the temple of God. Let us then be gathered together in peace and concord: that we may fulfil the bounds of the saints and the rules of our Father. But let the catechumens also, who are in the monasteries, and await the terrible remission of sins, and the grace of the spiritual mystery, hear through you, that they ought to weep and mourn over their former sins, and prepare themselves for the sanctification of souls and bodies, that they may be able to sustain the Blood and Body of the Lord Saviour: of which even to have thought is a matter of dread.

But the other things which you ought to do, you know very well, nor is it necessary to admonish you by letter: that you prepare yourselves at the appointed time, which our Father has arranged. We and all the brothers who are with us greet you earnestly, and all the brotherhood which is in your monasteries.