John Chrysostom, Letters

to learn this with great eagerness, and this will be no small consolation for us in the wilderness in which we sit. 167. To the same. We are very grateful to you for such vigor, and zeal, and care, and for the labors, and the toils and this long journey abroad, which you have made on behalf of the interests of the Church. For by as much as 52.709 the judgment is greater for those who trouble all things, by so much is your reward greater, having used such patience and zeal for the correction of the evil things done by others. And we wished indeed, being present, to meet with your reverence face to face; but since we have been deprived of this by the necessity of our exile, having late and with difficulty met with the one arriving to you, my most honored and most reverent presbyter, we have sent this letter, both rendering the due salutation, and giving thanks for things past, for things present, and for the entire correction of the evils. For even if nothing more comes of it, you have done your part. Therefore also you have your complete reward from the philanthropic God, having used all the time with such zeal and eagerness to heal the things that have been badly done. 168. To Proba, a free woman, in Rome. Even if we are separated by a great distance on the road, yet of your genuine and warm love we have received such accurate experience, as if we were present and seeing all your affairs, from those arriving to us from there reporting these things about your diligence, which we desired to learn. Because of this we are very and greatly thankful to you, and we take pride, and we are adorned by the disposition of your nobility; and the beloved, the most reverent presbyter John, and the most honored deacon Paul, we entrust to your decorum, sending them into your hands as into a harbor. Therefore be pleased to see them as is fitting for you, my most honored and most noble lady. For you know how great will be your reward for this kindness. And whenever it may be possible, inform us more frequently about your health, about which we are very eager to learn, since indeed we are very concerned for it. 169. To Juliana, and those with her. By how much more severe the judgment has become for those who have committed such transgressions, by so much greater will your reward be, for being zealous to undo such transgressions, and for showing such labor and toil. For the good deed of your disposition has not escaped our notice, and the zeal, which you have shown both in the present matter, and in the kindness toward those who have arrived there from us. Therefore we are also thankful to you, and we exhort you to persist with the same eagerness, and to show stronger vigor and courage. For you know how great the magnitude of the achievement is, and how great a reward you will receive, in so far as it pertains to you, for calming such a disturbance and such wild waves, and for bringing the fitting correction to the evils that have occurred. 170. To Italica. In the case of external matters, just as by nature, so also in practice and in management these sexes are divided, I mean man and woman. For to the one it is customary to keep house, but to the other to engage in political and 52.710 public matters. But in the case of the contests for God, and the labors on behalf of the Church, this is not so, but it is possible also for a woman to take part in these noble contests and labors more vigorously than a man. And Paul, making this clear in the epistle to your fatherland, proclaims many women, saying that they have labored not a little in correcting men, and leading them to what is fitting. For what reason do I say these things? So that you may not think it is foreign to you to engage in zeal, and in the labors that contribute to ecclesiastical correction, but as is fitting for you, both through yourselves, and through others whom it may be possible, you may bring fitting zeal to resolve the common storm and disturbance that has seized the Churches of the East, For by how much more severe the storm has become,

περισπούδαστον τοῦτο μανθάνειν, καὶ οὐ μικρὰ τῆς ἐρημίας, ἐν ᾗ καθήμεθα, τοῦτο ἡμῖν ἔσται παράκλησις. ΡΞΖʹ. Τοῖς αὐτοῖς. Χάριν ὑμῖν ἴσμεν πολλὴν τῆς τοσαύτης εὐτονίας, καὶ σπουδῆς, καὶ φροντίδος, καὶ τῶν πόνων, καὶ τῶν ἱδρώτων καὶ τῆς μακρᾶς ταύτης ἀποδημίας, ἣν ὑπὲρ τῶν συμφερόντων τῇ Ἐκκλησίᾳ πεποίησθε. Ὅσῳ 52.709 γὰρ τοῖς ταράττουσιν ἅπαντα μεῖζον τὸ κρῖμα, τοσούτῳ καὶ ὑμῖν πλείων ὁ μισθὸς, τοσαύτῃ κεχρημένοις ὑπομονῇ καὶ σπουδῇ εἰς διόρθωσιν τῶν κακῶς παρ' ἑτέρων γεγενημένων. Καὶ ἐβουλόμεθα μὲν καὶ παρόντες κατὰ πρόσωπον συντυχεῖν ὑμῶν τῇ εὐλαβείᾳ· ἐπειδὴ δὲ τοῦτο ἀφῃρήμεθα ἀπὸ τῆς κατὰ τὴν ἐξορίαν ἀνάγκης, ὀψέ ποτε καὶ μόλις ἐπιτυχόντες τοῦ πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἀφικνουμένου, τοῦ κυρίου μου τοῦ τιμιωτάτου καὶ εὐλαβεστάτου πρεσβυτέρου, διεπεμψάμεθα ταυτὶ τὰ γράμματα, τήν τε ὀφειλομένην ἀποδιδόντες πρόσρησιν, καὶ εὐχαριστοῦντες ὑπέρ τε τῶν παρελθόντων, ὑπέρ τε τῶν νῦν, ὑπέρ τε ὁλοκλήρου τῆς διορθώσεως τῶν κακῶν. Κἂν γὰρ μηδὲν γένηται πλέον, ὑμεῖς τὸ ὑμέτερον πεποιήκατε. ∆ιὸ καὶ ἀπηρτισμένον ἔχετε παρὰ τοῦ φιλανθρώπου Θεοῦ τὸν μισθὸν, τοσαύτῃ καὶ σπουδῇ καὶ προθυμίᾳ πρὸς τὸ τὰ κακῶς γεγενημένα ἰάσασθαι διὰ παντὸς χρησάμενοι τοῦ χρόνου. ΡΞΗʹ. Πρόβῃ ἐλευθέρᾳ, ἐν Ῥώμῃ. Εἰ καὶ πολλῷ διῳκίσμεθα τῷ μέσῳ τῆς ὁδοῦ, ἀλλὰ τῆς γνησίας σου καὶ θερμῆς ἀγάπης, ὡς παρόντες, καὶ πάντα τὰ σὰ ὁρῶντες, οὕτως ἀκριβῆ πεῖραν εἰλήφαμεν, τῶν ἐκεῖθεν ἀφικνουμένων πρὸς ἡμᾶς ἀπαγγελλόντων περὶ τῆς σῆς ἐμμελείας ταῦτα, ἅπερ ἐπεθυμοῦμεν μανθάνειν. ∆ιὰ τοῦτό σοι χάριτας ἴσμεν πολλὰς καὶ μεγάλας, καὶ ἐναβρυνόμεθα, καὶ καλλωπιζόμεθα ἐπὶ τῇ διαθέσει τῆς εὐγενείας σου· καὶ τοὺς ἀγαπητοὺς, τὸν εὐλαβέστατον πρεσβύτερον Ἰωάννην, καὶ τὸν τιμιώτατον διάκονον Παῦλον παρακατατιθέμεθά σου τῇ κοσμιότητι, ὡς εἰς λιμένα τὰς σὰς αὐτοὺς παραπέμποντες χεῖρας. Ἰδεῖν τοίνυν αὐτοὺς ὥς σοι πρέπον ἐστὶ, δέσποινά μου τιμιωτάτη καὶ εὐγενεστάτη, παρακλήθητι. Οἶσθα γὰρ, ὅσος ἔσται σοι τῆς φιλοφροσύνης ταύτης ὁ μισθός. Καὶ ἡνίκα ἂν ἐξῇ, συνεχέστερον ἡμῖν δήλου τὰ περὶ τῆς ὑγείας τῆς σῆς, περὶ ἧς σφόδρα περισπούδαστον ἡμῖν μανθάνειν, ἐπειδήπερ σφόδρα αὐτῆς ἀντεχόμεθα. ΡΞΘʹ. Ἰουλιανῇ, καὶ ταῖς σὺν αὐτῇ. Ὅσῳ χαλεπώτερον τὸ κρῖμα γεγένηται τοῖς τὰ τοιαῦτα παρανομήσασι, τοσούτῳ πλείων ὑμῖν ἔσται ὁ μισθὸς, τοῖς τοσαύτας παρανομίας λύειν ἐσπουδακόσι, καὶ τοσοῦτον ἐπιδεικνυμένοις πόνον καὶ κάματον. Οὐδὲ γὰρ ἔλαθεν ἡμᾶς τῆς ὑμετέρας διαθέσεως ἡ εὐποιία, καὶ ἡ σπουδὴ, ἣν καὶ εἰς τὴν προκειμένην ὑπόθεσιν ἐπεδείξασθε, καὶ εἰς τὴν φιλοφροσύνην τῶν παρ' ἡμῶν ἐκεῖσε ἀφιγμένων. ∆ιὸ καὶ χάριτας ὑμῖν ἔχομεν, καὶ παρακαλοῦμεν τῇ αὐτῇ ἐπιμένειν προθυμίᾳ, καὶ ἐῤῥωμενεστέραν ἐπιδείξασθαι εὐτονίαν τε καὶ ἀνδρείαν. Ἴστε γὰρ ἡλίκον τοῦ κατορθώματος τὸ μέγεθος, καὶ ὅσον λήψεσθε τὸν μισθὸν, τοσαύτην ταραχὴν, καὶ οὕτω κύματα ἄγρια, τό γε εἰς ὑμᾶς ἧκον, καταστέλλουσαι, καὶ τὴν προσήκουσαν εἰς τὴν τῶν γεγενημένων κακῶν εἰσφέρουσαι διόρθωσιν. ΡΟʹ. Ἰταλικῇ. Ἐπὶ μὲν τῶν ἔξωθεν πραγμάτων, ὥσπερ τῇ φύσει, οὕτω καὶ τῇ πράξει καὶ τῇ μεταχειρίσει διῄρηται ταῦτα τὰ γένη, ἀνὴρ λέγω καὶ γυνή. Τῇ μὲν γὰρ οἰκουρεῖν νενόμισται, τῷ δὲ τῶν πολιτικῶν καὶ τῶν 52.710 ἐν ἀγορᾷ πραγμάτων ἅπτεσθαι. Ἐπὶ δὲ τῶν τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀγώνων, καὶ τῶν ὑπὲρ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας πόνων οὐκ ἔνι τοῦτο, ἀλλ' ἔστι καὶ γυναῖκα ἀνδρὸς ἐῤῥωμενέστερον τῶν καλῶν τούτων ἀντέχεσθαι ἀγώνων καὶ πόνων. Καὶ τοῦτο δηλῶν ὁ Παῦλος ἐν τῇ πρὸς τὴν πατρίδα τὴν ὑμετέραν ἐπιστολῇ, πολλὰς ἀνακηρύττει γυναῖκας, λέγων αὐτὰς οὐ μικρὰ πεπονηκέναι ἐν τῷ ἄνδρας διορθοῦν, καὶ ἐνάγειν ἐπὶ τὰ προσήκοντα. Τίνος ἕνεκεν ταῦτά φημι; Ἵνα μὴ νομίσητε ἀλλότριον ὑμῶν εἶναι τὸ τῆς σπουδῆς ἅπτεσθαι, καὶ τῶν πόνων τῶν εἰς τὴν ἐκκλησιαστικὴν διόρθωσιν συντελούντων, ἀλλ' ὡς πρέπον ὑμῖν ἐστι, καὶ δι' ἑαυτῶν, καὶ δι' ἑτέρων, ὧν ἂν οἷόν τε ᾖ, τὴν προσήκουσαν εἰσενέγκητε σπουδὴν, εἰς τὸ λῦσαι τὴν κοινὴν ζάλην καὶ ταραχὴν τὴν τὰς Ἐκκλησίας τῆς Ἀνατολῆς καταλαβοῦσαν, Ὅσῳ γὰρ χαλεπωτέρα γέγονεν ἡ ζάλη,