To Lupicinus, Master of the Offices

I have passed through the struggles of my prime, and I see the borders of old age before me. As an old man I expected to be given more honor. Instead I am a target for the arrows of slander, and I am driven to answer accusations aimed at me. Under these circumstances I beg your excellency not to believe the lies of my accusers. If I had lived a life of silence, there might have been room to suspect that I was not orthodox. But I am constantly preaching in the churches, and so by God’s grace I have countless witnesses to the soundness of what I teach. I follow the laws and rules of the apostles. I test my teaching by holding it against the faith laid down by the holy and blessed fathers at Nicaea, as against a rule and measure. If anyone claims that I hold any contrary opinion, let him accuse me face to face; let him not slander me in my absence. It is fair that the defendant too should have the chance to speak and to answer the charges brought against him, and that only then should the judges lawfully pronounce their sentence. This favor I ask with your excellency’s help. If any men want to condemn me unheard, I accept even their unjust sentence willingly. For I wait for the judgment of the Master, where we need neither witnesses nor accusers. Before him, as the divine Apostle says, “all things are naked and laid open.” [a]