2. I.e. Empress Irene (780-802).

Epistle 5 (64). To Naucratius the Son

News - after news, word - after word. What should I say and what should I talk about? How will I, unfortunate, feel about what happened? I have joy and sorrow, comfort and weeping. I found myself between two passions and I do not know which of the two I would prefer to talk about. However, He who has conquered Satan overcomes both the rulers and the tormentors of this world.

The lamb of Christ was slain for Christ, Thaddeus, my branch, my heart, the son of obedience, the branch of piety, the namesake of the Apostle. Immeasurable joy, extraordinary joy not only for me, the humble one, but also for the Angels and for people. How majestic are Thy works, O Lord (Psalm 91:6)! For even now, in this humble generation, Thou hast shown an indescribable witness of Thy truth, and moreover, not from among the wise and noble of this world, but from those contrary to them, so that the word of the Apostle may be fulfilled: "God hath chosen the ignoble and the lowly, that he might abolish the things that are" (1 Corinthians 1:28).

Whither hast thou departed from me, blessed son? Whither hast thou ascended so quickly, numbered among the martyrs? Oh, thy lot! Oh, thy nobility! Oh, thy prudence! In one day you gained endless life, and through excruciating sufferings you gained unspeakable joys. For one hundred and thirty strokes, for your feats you received a perfect reward together with the martyrs from the Holy Trinity, since the first of these numbers signifies perfection, and the second means the Trinity. Thus from the very punishment of thy God hath shewed thy greatness. Thy blood is myrrh; Your remains are a source of purification for those who touch them.

I beseech thee, holy Thaddeus of God, pray for me, thy unworthy servant; for I do not dare to call you a son. Look, my brethren, what has happened, what treasure, and what brother we have gained. To the glory of God, and to our praise, as well as to the joy of the whole Church, the Martyr of Christ Thaddeus serves.

What's more? "They shall be," says the Lord, "the first last, and the last first" (Matt. 19:30). This I am talking about James and Lucian, one of whom asceticized, and, oh, if he had struggled to the end together with Dorotheus and Bessarion! And another because of my sins was shipwrecked with those like himself. Oh, how they fell, wretched ones, among the luminaries! Thus they forgot Him Who said: "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body" (Matt. 10:28). Does not the only Mighty One know the measure of strength, Who strengthens the weak? And witnesses to this are close. Does He not pull out of trouble the weak by nature, and not by will? The witness Thaddeus in heaven is faithful (Psalm 88:38).

Let us not be afraid, my brethren, and let us not be afraid, seeing the fall of those who are slain, being saved by the thought that we too are not able to endure the blows. Let us endure them by the power of God and go forward, even if we meet fire or sword. God goes ahead and calls us to enter the promised kingdom as Israel did, the promised land. Do you not know what the people who stirred up at that time suffered, saying: "We will not be able to enter, for there the cities are fenced up to heaven, and we have seen there the giants, the sons of Enaki" (Deuteronomy 9:1; Numbers 13:34)?

What happened? Was it not for this that they were burned with fire, and all the murmuring people perished, and their bodies remained in the wilderness?

Let no one be such a troublemaker, no one faint-hearted, no one who has lost hope. Let us go, brethren, let us go as Caleb and Joshua, heirs of the promise. The walls of the mind will shake before us, as they were in Jericho, from the trumpet sounds of gratitude, which Blessed Thaddeus sang, crying out from the very beginning of his asceticism: "This day hath the Lord made" (Psalm 117:24). So I persuade, so I ask; we, says the Apostle, are messengers in the name of Christ, and it is as if God Himself exhorts through us (2 Corinthians 5:20). I beseech you not to fear even death for Him and with Him, if necessary.

This is a letter to everyone, although it is written to you, good son. Therefore, I greet everyone and rejoice with everyone in suffering. Who is worthy to make up for the lack of Christ's afflictions in his flesh (Col. 1:24)? Woe to him who renounces and apostatizes, even if under threat of death; for eternal death shall shepherd them, and the righteous shall soon have dominion over them (Psalm 48:15).

Peace be with you of Christ, power, strength, consolation, who pray for all the brethren and for me, that I, too, by the mercy of God, may be the doer of what I call you to do. The brethren who are with me greet you.

Notes

1. Written in 814.