To Anatolius the Patrician, on the Order Confining Him to Cyrrhus

The Lord God has given your excellency to us to be, at the present time, a very great comfort, and has provided us with a fitting harbor in the storm. So we have the confidence to tell your lordship of our distress. Not long ago we informed your excellency that the most honorable Count Rufus had shown us an order, written in the emperor’s own hand, commanding the gallant general to see to it, with good judgment and care, that we live at Cyrrhus, and not to let us leave for another city, on the ground that we are trying to call synods to Antioch and are disturbing the orthodox. Now I let you know that, in obedience to the imperial letter, I have come to Cyrrhus. Six or seven days later they sent the devoted commander Euphronius with a letter asking me to acknowledge in writing that the imperial order had been shown to me. So I promised to stay in Cyrrhus and the district around it, and to tend the sheep entrusted to my care. So I beg your excellency to find out exactly whether these orders were really issued, and for what reason. I am indeed conscious of many other sins, but I do not know of any wrong I have done either against the church of God or against public order. And I am not writing this because I resent having to live at Cyrrhus. In truth she is dearer to me than any of the most famous cities, because my office in her was given me by God. But to be bound to her not by choice but by force does seem rather hard. Besides, it gives the wicked a handle, so that they grow bold and refuse to obey our exhortations. [a]

So I beg your lordship: if no such order was really issued, let me know. But if the letter really comes from the victorious emperor, tell his pious majesty not to believe slanders readily, nor to listen to the accusers alone, but to demand an account from the accused. And yet the evidence of the facts alone was quite enough to persuade his piety that the charges against me were false. For when did I ever give offense in anything to his serene majesty or to his chief officers? Or when was I ever disliked by the many distinguished landowners here? On the contrary, your excellency knows well that I have spent a good part of my church revenues on building porticoes and baths, building bridges, and providing for other public needs. But if some people take it badly that I mourn over the ruin of the churches of Phoenicia, let your lordship know that I cannot help grieving when I see the horn of the Jews raised on high and the Christians in tears and sorrow, even if they send them to the very ends of the earth. We cannot fight against the apostolic decrees, for we remember the word of the Apostle which says, “We must obey God rather than men.” And more terrible to us than any of the pains of this life is “the judgment seat of Christ” the Lord, before whom we shall all stand to give an account of our words and our deeds. Because of that judgment seat the hardships of this present life must be endured. For those who suffer wrong, the hope of what is to come is comfort enough. But to us the loving Lord has given a further comfort in you, most excellent sir, whose life shines with piety and faith. [c]