Letter 280

To Aelianus the Bishop. By displaying Aaron [the high priest, brother of Moses, whose vestments are described in Exodus 28] you are admired by all, since you too bear precious stones and well-sounding bells hung upon you. For of the clergy appointed under you, some, practicing asceticism in silence, cry out by their very manner of life more loudly than a trumpet, while others, instructing by the divine word and by their brilliant discourses, surpass those former ones: these are the bells, and they instill the blessed sound into the very ears of the mind.

Τὸν Ἀαρὼν δεικνύων θαυμάζῃ παρὰ πάντων, ἐπιφερόμενός τε λίθους τιμίους, καὶ κώδωνας εὐ- ήχους ἐξηρτημένους. Τῶν γὰρ ὑπὸ σοῦ ταττομένων κληρικῶν, οἱ μὲν σιγῇ ἀσκοῦντες τῷ βίῳ κεκράγασι σάλπιγγος μεγαλοφωνότερον, οἱ δὲ τῷ θείῳ λόγῳ, καὶ ταῖς λαμπραῖς ὁμιλίαις κατηχοῦντες ὑπὲρ ἐκεί- νους· τοὺς κώδωνας τὴν μακαρίαν ἦχην, εἰς αὐτὰς τὰς ἀκοὰς τοῦ νοῦ εἰσομλίζουσιν.