Letter of Theodosios of Jerusalem to the Emperor Basil

¹ [Letter of Theodosius, Patriarch of Jerusalem, to the Emperor Basil]

² To the master who is attended, guided, and governed by the divine providence from above—the beneficent, peaceable, victory-bringing, ally of God, reverently Christ-loving, most Christian, gentle and most meek Basil, Emperor of the Romans: Theodosius, by the mercy of God the least patriarch of Jerusalem, write, having made bold to do so.

³ Great is the Lord and great is his strength, and according to his great mercy he has wrought an inexpressible and great salvation for the Christians throughout the world, who await the unutterable consolation; for he has raised up the great and incomparable might of your empire, in which the horns of all the sinful adversaries are crushed, and what is left over and remains shall be utterly broken in pieces; and [the realm] of the righteous and the pious shall be exalted on high together with felicity. By your trophy-bearing victories and your magnificent sceptred dominion—and in them the all-variegated glory of the Orthodox faith blossoms forth like a lily—every man cast down in long despondency is made bright in his soul, in the hope of these joyful preludes, as though he already had part in them; and all grief is consigned to vanishing. But that this may come to a perfect work, we who are held fast in the hands of the lawless because of our sins make ceaseless supplication; for, to speak in the words of the prophet, we have become utterly poor, and our grievous life has drawn near to Hades. May the Lord God help us—he who has raised up your holy empire—through which he may utterly destroy from the earth the memory of our most grievous enemies and bitter tyrants, and may preserve the souls of us who toil in the uttermost humiliation, and redeem us by deliverance from it. For inasmuch as, like the hope that does not put to shame, O God-crowned emperors, the good tidings are proclaimed to the Christians everywhere from the brilliant achievements of your sovereignty, the [hour] of our redemption shall come to its fulfillment; and we, the pitiable, who have not yet attained it—divine providence directing the things concerning us—through you set our hope. But as matters now stand, suppliantly, with groaning and lamentation, with a contrite and grieving heart, I, as a servant, bring my adoration to your divinely-ordained empire, [imploring you] to have mercy on the church of the holy Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to take pity on Zion, the mother of the holy churches, that in the time of the visitation of your incomparable empire they may not fall away into the danger of [their] annihilation. For we are scarcely able worthily to set forth in detail the unbearable injuries that frequently befall them; for the dangers are boundless, and the trials, being insupportable, do not submit to narration. Wherefore may we be deemed worthy of God-imitating mercy from your empire; for when we came to the uttermost humiliation, with destruction threatening us, then, constrained by the dread that grips us, we deemed it right [to ask] the most reverent lord Andrew, the own brother of our holy vicar, the holy Elias the stylite, to set out for your divinely-built might, bearing also this our bare suppliant letter—who will confirm before your holy empire the dread and tyrannical things [done] against us—while his aforesaid most excellent brother waits upon your empire there, for the sake of the restoration of the ecclesiastical ordinances and ranks, and the deposition and abolition of the contrivances of the enemy. For I have no other means to this end, so as to serve in this matter, save Andrew, the aforesaid own brother of our vicar Elias; because necessity has so moved us that we chose him to minister this hope-bearing ministry. And [we charge him] to speak to all that has befallen the holy churches, boldly and earnestly asking of our most compassionate empire to deem them worthy of mercy, and in whatever way is possible to help them. This we ordain, or rather we

⁴ ⟦jointly ask⟧ through the apostolic thrones that are among us, and to all we announce and proclaim, as an inviolable canon: if anyone does not receive our holy and far-renowned fellow-minister, our brother lord Photios, the patriarch of the imperial city, and is not joined to him, let him be anathema. And let him be deposed by the authority of the holy apostolic thrones. And by their prayers may your holy might lay hold of the uttermost parts of all the earth, gathering thereto the scattered children of the catholic Church. For you have arisen to take pity on Zion, since it is the time to take pity on her.

⁵ The holy synod answered: The things synodically decreed by the most holy patriarch of Jerusalem, our moderation also accepting them, consigns to the anathema those who do not so think.

⁶ The most holy vicars of elder Rome said to Elias, the most God-fearing presbyter and vicar of the East: When did this letter come, and by whom was it brought?

⁷ Elias, the most God-fearing presbyter and vicar of the East, said: This was sent by Theodosius, the most holy patriarch of Jerusalem, who had already accepted Photios the most holy patriarch in synod before me—my own insignificance being present there as well—or rather, he confirmed the ancient, high, and great esteem which he held concerning him. And afterward, as the occasion called for it, he sent this letter through Andrew, the most reverent monk and my own true brother; and not only [the patriarch] of Jerusalem, but also the president of Antioch, became a co-voter in this synodical judgment.

⁸ Peter, the most God-fearing presbyter and cardinal, said: Behold now, just as the most holy patriarchs of the East beforehand sent synodical letters confirming and accepting Photios the most holy patriarch, so also our master the ecumenical pope sent a letter, which you have already heard, agreeing in all things with the said most holy patriarchs, upon the acceptance and restoration of the said most holy patriarch; and he holds him as a brother and fellow-minister. But since those who came of old from the East, those associated with Thomas and Elias—as we hear unanimously from all—were seeking out Saracen captives, and were dispatched by the Saracens for the ransoming of their own kinsmen, and were registered and conducted their affairs as agents of the Saracens; and were sent by none of the patriarchs, having been entrusted with no ecclesiastical office; and among these Elias had of old been condemned and cast out of the choir of the Christians—for this reason we make examination concerning the brothers who have lately arrived, both bearing hierarchical letters and holding the person of the hierarchical thrones of the East. For it is written that the truth, when examined, becomes the purer. You have heard, then, the answers of these brothers, and how the churches of the East are in concord.

⁹ Paul and Eugenius, the most holy vicars, said: Not only the letters, but also the letter-bearer himself, lord Andrew the most reverent monk, did we see, he having spent a good many days with us; and when we had examined his faith exactly, we found him purely professing the doctrines of the Church; from whom also we received a libellus of the faith. The holy syn- [—text continues at—]

¹⁰ …synod said: It was fitting that those men, who had unlawful and accursed works and the mind of the Saracens, and who were servants of the Saracens, should be thrust out of the Church. But those whom the most holy patriarchs released are truly their representatives, and disciples of the apostles, and nurslings of the Church, and ⟦were entrusted⟧ with ecclesiastical ministry.