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what a favor you will do for us, do not deprive us of so great a joy. 22. To Castus, Valerius, Diophantus, Cyriacus, presbyters of Antioch. I am not surprised that you called our long letter short. For such are those who love; they know no satiety, they do not accept fullness, but whatever they may receive from their beloved, they seek more. For this very reason, even if a letter ten times longer than the previous one had come to you, not even that would have escaped the name of brevity, but it too would have been called small; or rather, not only would it have been called, but it would have even seemed small to you. From this also, wherever you come from loving us, we ourselves also receive no satiety; but we are always seeking additions to your affection, and the debt of love, which is always being paid off, yet always owed For, it says, 'Owe no one anything, except to love one another,' we demand from you each day; always receiving it with much abundance, yet never considering we have received the whole. Do not cease then to deposit with us this good debt, which has a double pleasure. For both those who pay and those who receive enjoy equal joy, since both become equally rich by the payment. This is not the case with money, but the one who has deposited it becomes poorer by this, and the one who has received it, richer. But this is not accustomed to happen in the transaction of love. For it does not leave the depositor bereft of it, as silver does when it passes to the one receiving it; but it makes him all the richer, when he pays it. Knowing these things, therefore, my most honored and most reverend lords, do not cease to show a disposition towards us that is continually flourishing. For even if you have no need of exhortation from us for this, yet since we greatly love your love, we remind you who do not need it, for this reason, both of writing continually and of making known the things concerning your health. For even if you have no need of a reminder for this, yet we, since this is of great concern to us, will not cease 52.625 to seek it from you continually. That this is now difficult, both because of the season of the year, and because of the difficulty of the road, with not many travelers appearing who will minister to you in this, we ourselves are not ignorant; but nevertheless, as it is possible, and as it can be done even in so great a difficulty, we urge you to write continually, and we ask this favor from your love. And to my lord the most reverend presbyter Romanus, as you commanded, we have sent, and for this we are very grateful to you. Since this too is a mark of those who love us greatly, and are excessively fond of us, to make an attempt with such great men even through letters, and to make great effort to unite us more closely. Therefore, having received our letter to him, be so kind as to give it, and apart from the letter to greet him again from us. For not in some chance way from of old and from the beginning have we become his most ardent lovers; and let him learn this through your tongue, that we remain preserving the same love, doing the greatest favors for ourselves; and that the silence in between we have not made out of laziness, but from waiting to receive a letter from his Reverence. But since he asked us to write first, behold, we are doing this too, and we urge him also to do this continually towards us. 23. To Romanus the presbyter. You yourself also know, my most honored and most reverend lord, how we have always been disposed toward your Reverence, and how we have always continued bound to you by the law of love, admiring the gentleness of your character, and being astonished at the beauty of your virtue, by which you subdue all who meet you. For this very reason, even though we sit at a long distance, we always carry you in our mind, and to whatever wilderness we may be carried away, we are not able to forget your love; but as though you were present and near, so also we see you

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ἡλίκα ἡμῖν χαριῇ, μὴ ἀποστερήσῃς ἡμᾶς τῆς τοσαύτης εὐφροσύνης. ΚΒʹ. Κάστῳ, Οὐαλερίῳ, ∆ιοφάντῳ, Κυριακῷ, πρεσβυτέροις Ἀντιοχείας. Οὐ θαυμάζω, ὅτι τὴν μακρὰν ἡμῶν ἐπιστολὴν βραχεῖαν ἐκαλέσατε. Τοιοῦτον γὰρ οἱ ἐρῶντες· οὐκ ἴσασι κόρον, οὐ δέχονται πλησμονὴν, ἀλλ' ὅσα ἂν λάβωσι παρὰ τῶν ἐρωμένων, πλείονα ἐπιζητοῦσι. ∆ιά τοι τοῦτο εἰ καὶ δεκαπλασίων ὑμῖν ἦλθεν ἐπιστολὴ τῆς ἔμπροσθεν, οὐκ ἂν οὐδὲ ἐκείνη τὸ τῆς βραχύτητος διέφυγεν ὄνομα, ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐτὴ μικρὰ ἂν ἐκλήθη· μᾶλλον δὲ οὐκ ἐκλήθη μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ μικρὰ ἂν ὑμῖν ἐφάνη. Ἐντεῦθεν καὶ ὑμεῖς, ὅπουπερ ἂν ἀφίκησθε φιλοῦντες ἡμᾶς, οὐδὲ αὐτοὶ κόρον λαμβάνομεν· ἀλλ' ἀεὶ προσθήκας ἐπιζητοῦμεν ὑμῶν τοῦ φίλτρου, καὶ τὸ χρέος τῆς ἀγάπης τὸ ἀεὶ μὲν ἐκτιννύμενον, ἀεὶ δὲ ὀφειλόμενον Μηδενὶ γὰρ, φησὶ, μηδὲν ὀφείλετε, εἰ μὴ τὸ ἀλλήλους ἀγαπᾷν, καθ' ἑκάστην παρ' ἡμῶν ἀπαιτοῦμεν ἡμέραν· ἀεὶ μὲν αὐτὸ μετὰ πολλῆς λαμβάνοντες τῆς δαψιλείας, οὐδέποτε δὲ ἀπειληφέναι τὸ πᾶν ἡγούμενοι. Μὴ δὴ παύσησθε κατατιθέντες ἡμῖν τὸ καλὸν τοῦτο ὄφλημα, καὶ διπλῆν ἔχον ἡδονήν. Οἵ τε γὰρ καταβάλλοντες, οἵ τε ὑποδεχόμενοι τὴν ἴσην καρποῦνται εὐφροσύνην, ἐπειδήπερ ἀμφότεροι τῇ καταβολῇ ὁμοίως γίνονται εὔποροι. Ὅπερ ἐπὶ τῶν χρημάτων οὐκ ἔνι, ἀλλ' ὁ μὲν καταθεὶς, πενέστερος ταύτῃ γίνεται, ὁ δὲ ὑποδεξάμενος, εὐπορώτερος. Ἀλλ' οὐκ ἐπὶ τοῦ συμβολαίου τῆς ἀγάπης τοῦτο συμβαίνειν εἴωθεν. Οὐδὲ γὰρ ἀφίησιν ἔρημον αὐτῆς τὸν καταθέντα· ὅπερ ποιεῖ τὸ ἀργύριον πρὸς τὸν ὑποδεχόμενον μεταστάν· ἀλλὰ τότε μᾶλλον αὐτὸν εὐπορώτερον καθίστησιν, ὅταν αὐτὴν καταβάλῃ. Ταῦτ' οὖν εἰδότες, κύριοί μου τιμιώτατοι καὶ εὐλαβέστατοι, μὴ διαλίπητε διηνεκῶς ἀκμάζουσαν περὶ ἡμᾶς τὴν διάθεσιν ἐπιδεικνύμενοι. Εἰ γὰρ καὶ μηδὲν δεῖσθε εἰς τοῦτο τῆς παρ' ἡμῶν παρακλήσεως, ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ σφόδρα ἐρῶμεν ὑμῶν τῆς ἀγάπης, καὶ μὴ δεομένους ἀναμιμνήσκομεν τούτου ἕνεκεν, καὶ τοῦ συνεχῶς ἐπιστέλλειν. καὶ τὰ περὶ τῆς ὑγιείας τῆς ὑμετέρας δηλοῦν. Εἰ γὰρ μηδὲ τούτου χάριν δεῖσθε τοῦ ἀναμνήσοντος, ἀλλ' ἡμεῖς καὶ τοῦτο, ἐπειδὴ σφόδρα περισπούδαστον ἡμῖν, οὐ παυσόμεθα 52.625 διηνεκῶς παρ' ὑμῶν ἐπιζητοῦντες. Ὅτι μὲν γὰρ ἐργῶδες τοῦτο λοιπὸν, καὶ διὰ τὴν τοῦ ἔτους ὥραν, καὶ διὰ τὴν τῆς ὁδοῦ δυσκολίαν, οὐ πολλῶν φαινομένων τῶν ὁδοιπόρων, τῶν πρὸς τοῦτο διακονησομένων ὑμῖν, οὐδὲ ἡμεῖς ἀγνοοῦμεν· πλὴν ἀλλ' ὡς ἔνι, καὶ οἷόν τέ ἐστι καὶ ἐν τοσαύτῃ δυσκολίᾳ, συνεχῶς ἐπιστέλλειν παρακαλοῦμεν, καὶ παρὰ τῆς ὑμετέρας ἀγάπης ταύτην αἰτοῦμεν τὴν χάριν. Καὶ τῷ κυρίῳ δέ μου τῷ εὐλαβεστάτῳ πρεσβυτέρῳ Ῥωμανῷ, καθὼς ἐκελεύσατε, ἀπεστάλκαμεν καὶ τούτου χάριν ὑμῖν εἰδότες πολλήν. Ἐπεὶ καὶ τοῦτο σφόδρα ἡμᾶς ἀγαπώντων ἐστὶ, καὶ μεθ' ὑπερβολῆς φιλούντων, τὸ τηλικούτοις ἀνδράσι καὶ διὰ τῶν γραμμάτων πειρᾶσθαι, καὶ πολλὴν ποιεῖσθαι σπουδὴν ἀκριβέστερον συνάπτειν ἡμᾶς. ∆εξάμενοι τοίνυν ἡμῶν τὴν πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐπιστολὴν, καὶ δοῦναι παρακλήθητε, καὶ χωρὶς τῆς ἐπιστολῆς προσειπεῖν αὐτὸν πάλιν ἐξ ἡμῶν. Καὶ γὰρ οὐχ ὡς ἔτυχεν ἄνωθεν καὶ ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἐρασταὶ γεγόναμεν αὐτοῦ σφοδρότατοι· καὶ τοῦτο μανθανέτω διὰ τῆς γλώττης τῆς ὑμετέρας, ὅτι τὴν αὐτὴν ἀγάπην μένομεν διατηροῦντες, ἡμῖν αὐτοῖς τὰ μέγιστα χαριζόμενοι· καὶ ὅτι τὴν μεταξὺ σιγὴν οὐ ῥᾳθυμίᾳ πεποιήκαμεν, ἀλλὰ τῷ γράμματα ἀναμένειν δέξασθαι παρὰ τῆς εὐλαβείας αὐτοῦ. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ προτέρους ἡμᾶς ᾔτησεν ἐπιστεῖλαι, ἰδοὺ καὶ τοῦτο ποιοῦμεν, καὶ παρακαλοῦμεν καὶ αὐτὸν συνεχῶς τοῦτο πρὸς ἡμᾶς ποιεῖν. ΚΓʹ. Ῥωμανῷ πρεσβυτέρῳ. Οἶσθα καὶ αὐτὸς, κύριέ μου τιμιώτατε καὶ εὐλαβέστατε, πῶς ἀεὶ περὶ τὴν σὴν εὐλάβειαν διετέθημεν, καὶ πῶς ἀεὶ συνδεδεμένοι σοι τῷ νόμῳ τῆς ἀγάπης διετελέσαμεν, θαυμάζοντές σου τὴν τῶν τρόπων ἐπιείκειαν, καὶ ἐκπληττόμενοι τῆς ἀρετῆς σου τὴν εὐμορφίαν, δι' ἧς πάντας τοὺς ἐντυγχάνοντας χειροῦσαι. ∆ιὰ δὴ τοῦτο καὶ ἐκ μακροῦ καθήμενοι διαστήματος, ἀεί σε ἐπὶ τῆς διανοίας περιφέρομεν, καὶ ὅπουπερ ἂν ἐρημίας ἀπενεχθῶμεν, ἐπιλαθέσθαι σου τῆς ἀγάπης οὐ δυνάμεθα· ἀλλ' ὡς παρόντα καὶ πλησίον ὄντα, οὕτω καὶ ὁρῶμεν