22. Those who delight in the errors of Origen should not hope for the shouts of Easter, nor seek ointments, gold, and pearls in the mud, nor tear their mother, the Church, who bore and nourished them, into small pieces in great cities, those who sometimes surpass us with hatred because of him and his disciples among the Gentiles and heap curses on us in their love for them, and besiege the gates of the rich, nor are they afraid to listen with the Jews: I have begotten and exalted children, but they have despised me (Isaiah 1). They who seem to me to be ignorant of every word of truth, not having a foundation, though for a time they may attract a listener, so that he may suppose to be true what is not true, will gradually dissolve and be reduced to nothing; and the entire sentiment, which is brought forth in the manner of a torrent from the worst mind, will overwhelm its author, and the letters and syllables with which it was composed will be lost, without meaning or sound, and left with no image, and will strike the bearer like the most deadly serpent, and will immediately retract its head and, as if decaying and coming to nothing, consume him in the depths of his mind. For the end of lies is destruction. Those who used to boast of themselves as lovers of solitude, at least build a small room to conceal their curses, above the lips of their frenzy, not with the holy stones of Jerusalem, but with the rough stones of Babylon, which, unsupported, and uneven, are going to collapse and support the walls of the house. Although they are commended by their hatred of the Gentiles with effeminate ears, and they criticize us for the discipline of the Church, and they abuse our patience, as if it were a kind of rashness, nevertheless, let them sometimes be silent and rest, and let them hear the Prophet saying: Refrain your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking deceit (Psalm 34:13). And let them desire to understand those things which are worthy of a holy life, and not grieve the leader and ruler of the Church, God.
23. But I beseech you, brethren, that we jointly pray for them, and say with a prophetical voice: Who will give water to my head, and a fountain of tears to my eyes? And I will weep day and night for the wounds of the daughter of my people (Jeremiah 9): beseeching the mercy of God, that he may free them from the error in which they are bound; and that they may exchange hatred, with which they madly rage against us, for love. Therefore we, forgetting the injuries inflicted on us, desire most indulgently to receive them in our embrace, and we consider their health and conversion to God as our own health and glory. And if they cannot be cured otherwise, unless by our humility, we shall voluntarily satisfy them; we have inflicted no injuries upon them, we have harmed no one, although they are angry and raging against the remedies of the Church, which restore health to the wounded. We speak what we know and what we have learned; praying that those who despise the rules of the Church may receive the pattern of truth, and not lose the benefit of repentance because of the confusion of men, by which they are often difficult to correct. And now we say, and we have said before, and we frequently urge the same, that we do not want them to wander or to stray through foreign provinces, but we shout with the Prophet to those who are outsiders and raving, and we say: Save yourselves from the earth, and return, and do not stand: remember those who are far from the Lord, and let Jerusalem rise up over your heart. (Jeremiah 51:50)
24. Perhaps hearing this, the love of the church congregation may occur and they may remember the communal joy of brotherhood and the hymns, which they sang with others to the Lord, and change the cold of hatred into the warmth of love, and understand that we are doctors, not enemies, the most indulgent fathers, not swelling with hostile pride. For it cannot happen that whom we wish to be saved, we desire to perish, and that the ecclesiastical rod not be turned into a staff for them: if indeed they will want to abandon error and follow the truth, and abandon the recklessness of lewd boys. But if they reject her, and despising ecclesiastical discipline, lift up their horn against her rules, and spurning salutary counsels, throw themselves backward, let them hear the Lord threatening: The man who acts with pride, so as not to listen to the priest who stands to minister in the name of your God, or to the judge, whoever he may be in those days, will die, and you will take away evil from Israel, and all the people hearing will fear, and they will no longer act impiously. (Deuteronomy 17:12) But lest we be preoccupied with the care of the wounded, and forgetful of our own selves, and neglectful of them, and accordingly as it is written, "Preaching to others, we ourselves shall be reprobates" (1 Cor. 9), let us remind those who are standing, to beware lest, while they reach forth a helping hand to the fallen, they themselves fall, and let them be careful to observe the ecclesiastical discipline, lest they should be afraid of the judgment to come.
25. Therefore, celebrating the Lord's Passover, let us purify ourselves with the holy speech of the Scriptures and, looking towards the trophies of the Savior, let us remove all obstacles by which the course of our life is delayed. Avoiding avarice as the worst usurer, let us strangle the desire for vain glory like an insatiable beast, and with a cautious mind let us avoid the flattering and slippery serpent of fornication. If ever a prosperous breeze of circumstances has come to us, let us mitigate the swelling of the soul with humility and meekness. If adverse winds blow, we will raise up our discouraged and fallen spirit with strength, and we will be accusers of our own sins: so that, knowing ourselves, we may correct ourselves, and, by constant meditation, recover the freedom of the soul's virtues, which has been oppressed by vices. Therefore, being placed in the struggle and sweat and labor of the present, preparing for ourselves the future glory of the heavenly celebration, before we stand before the tribunal of Christ, let us correct our past sins with repentance: with present weeping, let us redeem future joys, and let us repel the harmful bees of sins, like stingers of conscience, reserving full hives with wax and honey. Let us cure the wounds of various vices and curb the plundering of the rich, which especially captivates this race of people, with frequent admonitions. And thus we will be able to begin the journey of imminent fasting. The days of Lent begin on the thirtieth day of the month of Mechir. And a holy week of Easter we shall celebrate on the fifth day of the month of Pharmuthi, ending the fast according to Gospel traditions on the evening of the Sabbath of the tenth day of Pharmuthi. And as soon as it dawns to the Lord's day, let us celebrate the feast day on the eleventh day of the same month, joining together the other seven weeks of holy Pentecost. So that we, who confess the one divinity of the Trinity, may receive rewards in heaven with Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom and with whom, to God the Father be glory and dominion, with the Holy Spirit, forever and ever, Amen.
26. Greet one another with a holy kiss. All who are with me greet you. And we write this by necessity so that you may know that those Bishops who have fallen asleep in the Lord, and were ordained in Lemnos for Hero, in Erythrum for Sabbatius, in Omboes for Sylvanus, are counted among the saints and the blessed. Therefore, write to them and receive from them peaceful letters, according to ecclesiastical customs.