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to seek what was lacking, behold, we now write with confidence and shall indeed write in the future, praying to holy God that the reward for your honor towards us be given to you. But on behalf of the Church you anticipated our requests, having done all that we would have sought. And you do this not to gratify men, but God who has honored you, who has given good things in this present life, and will give them in the age to come, in return for which you have walked in His way with truth, having preserved your heart unwavering in the orthodoxy of the faith from beginning to end.

153. To Victor, ex-consul

153.1 As often as it is our lot to read a letter from your excellency, so often do we give thanks to God, that you continue to be mindful of us and diminish by no slander the love which you once deigned to take up, by a most correct judgment or a good habit. We pray therefore to holy God that you may also continue in the same disposition towards us and that we may be worthy of the honor from you with which you honor us through your letter.

154. To Ascholius, monk and presbyter

154.1 You have done well and in accordance with the law of spiritual love, in initiating

correspondence with us and by your good example summoning us to a like zeal. For the friendship of the world needs eyes and meeting, so that from these a beginning of intimacy may be made; but those who know how to love spiritually do not use the flesh as an agent of friendship, but are led to spiritual union by the fellowship of faith. Thanks, therefore, to the Lord who has comforted our hearts by showing that love has not grown cold in all, but that there are some in the world who show the character of Christ's discipleship. And so it seemed to me that your situation resembled stars in a night of clouds, shining forth, some in some parts of the heavens, others in others, whose brilliance is graceful, but their unexpectedness is surely more graceful. Such are you also, the luminaries of the Churches, very few and easily numbered in this gloomy condition, appearing as it were in a great darkness, possessing, in addition to the grace that comes from virtue, also desirability from the rarity of your discovery. And your letter has made your disposition sufficiently known to us. For though it was small in the number of its syllables, yet in the correctness of its thought it gave us sufficient proof of your purpose. For to have been zealous concerning the most blessed Athanasius is the clearest sign of being sound in the most important matters. Therefore, for the joy over the letter, we are very grateful to our most honorable son Euphemius, for whom I myself also pray that all help will come from the Holy One, and I ask you to pray with us that we may receive him back quickly with his most decorous wife, our daughter in the Lord. And be entreated yourself not to stop your cheerfulness at the preliminaries, but to write on every occasion that arises and to increase your disposition towards us by frequent communication and to signify how things are concerning the Churches there according to the agreement, and to pray concerning matters here, so that a great calm may come to be among us also, when our Lord has rebuked the wind and the sea.

155. Untitled. Concerning an anointer.

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ἐλλειφθέντα ἐπιζητεῖν, ἰδοὺ καὶ γράφομεν νῦν τεθαρρηκότως καὶ γράψομέν γε πρὸς τὸ ἐφεξῆς εὐχόμενοι τῷ ἁγίῳ Θεῷ δοθῆναί σοι τὴν ἀμοιβὴν τῆς περὶ ἡμᾶς τιμῆς. Ὑπὲρ δὲ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας προέλαβες ἡμῶν τὰς παρακλήσεις πάντα ποιήσας ὅσα ἂν ἡμεῖς ἐπεζητήσαμεν. Ποιεῖς δὲ οὐκ ἀνθρώποις χαριζόμενος, ἀλλὰ Θεῷ τῷ τιμήσαντί σε, ὃς τὰ μὲν ἔδωκεν ἐν τῇ νῦν ζωῇ ἀγαθά, τὰ δὲ δώσει ἐν τῷ μέλλοντι αἰῶνι, ἀνθ' ὧν μετὰ ἀληθείας ἐπορεύθης τὴν ὁδὸν αὐτοῦ, ἀκλινῆ τὴν καρδίαν ἐν τῇ ὀρθότητι τῆς πίστεως ἀπ' ἀρχῆς εἰς τέλος διασωσάμενος.

153.τ ΒΙΚΤΟΡΙ ΑΠΟ ΥΠΑΤΩΝ

153.1 Ὁσάκις ἂν ἡμῖν ὑπάρξῃ γράμμασιν ἐντυχεῖν τῆς κοσμιότητός σου,

τοσαυτάκις χάριν ὁμολογοῦμεν τῷ Θεῷ, ὅτι διαμένεις καὶ μεμνημένος ἡμῶν καὶ ὑπ' οὐδεμιᾶς διαβολῆς τὴν ἀγάπην ἐλαττῶν ἣν ἅπαξ κρίσει τῇ ὀρθο τάτῃ ἢ συνηθείᾳ χρηστῇ ἀναλαβεῖν κατεδέξω. Εὐχόμεθα οὖν τῷ ἁγίῳ Θεῷ καὶ σὲ διαμεῖναι ἐν τῇ ὁμοίᾳ πρὸς ἡμᾶς διαθέσει καὶ ἡμᾶς ἀξίους εἶναι τῆς παρὰ σοῦ τιμῆς ἣν τιμᾷς ἡμᾶς διὰ τοῦ γράμματος.

154.τ ΑΣΧΟΛΙΩ ΜΟΝΑΖΟΝΤΙ ΚΑΙ ΠΡΕΣΒΥΤΕΡΩ

154.1 Καλῶς ἐποίησας καὶ κατὰ τὸν τῆς πνευματικῆς ἀγάπης νόμον κατάρξας

τῶν πρὸς ἡμᾶς γραμμάτων καὶ τῷ ἀγαθῷ ὑποδείγματι πρὸς τὸν ὅμοιον ζῆλον ἡμᾶς ἐκκαλε σάμενος. Καὶ γὰρ ἡ μὲν τοῦ κόσμου φιλία ὀφθαλμῶν δεῖται καὶ συντυχίας. ὥστε ἐκεῖθεν ἀρχὴν τῆς συνηθείας γενέσθαι· οἱ δὲ πνευματικῶς ἀγαπᾶν εἰδότες οὐ τῇ σαρκὶ προξένῳ κέχρηνται τῆς φιλίας, ἀλλὰ τῇ τῆς πίστεως κοινωνίᾳ πρὸς τὴν πνευματικὴν συνάφειαν ἄγονται. Χάρις οὖν τῷ Κυρίῳ τῷ παρακαλέσαντι ἡμῶν τὰς καρδίας ἐκ τοῦ δεῖξαι ὅτι οὐκ ἐν πᾶσι κατέψυκται ἡ ἀγάπη, ἀλλ' εἰσί που τῆς οἰκουμένης οἱ τῆς Χριστοῦ μαθητείας τὸν χαρακτῆρα δεικνύντες. Καὶ τοίνυν ἔδοξέ μοι τὸ καθ' ὑμᾶς ἐοικέναι πρᾶγμα ἄστροις ἐν νυκτερινῇ συννεφίᾳ ἄλλοις κατ' ἄλλα μέρη τοῦ οὐρανοῦ διαλάμπουσιν, ὧν χαρίεσσα μὲν ἡ λαμπρότης, χαριέστερον δὲ δήπου τὸ ἀπροσδόκητον. Τοιοῦτοι δὲ καὶ ὑμεῖς, οἱ τῶν Ἐκκλησιῶν φωστῆρες, ὀλίγοι παντελῶς καὶ εὐαρίθμητοι ἐν τῇ σκυθρωπῇ ταύτῃ κατα στάσει, οἷον ἐν σκοτομαίνῃ διαφαινόμενοι, πρὸς τῷ ἐκ τῆς ἀρετῆς χαρίεντι ἔτι καὶ τῷ σπανίῳ τῆς εὑρέσεως τὸ περι πόθητον ἔχοντες. Ἐγνώρισε δέ σου τὴν διάθεσιν ἡμῖν τὸ γράμμα αὐτάρκως. Εἰ γὰρ καὶ μικρὸν ἦν τῷ πλήθει τῶν συλλαβῶν, ἀλλὰ τῇ γε ὀρθότητι τῆς διανοίας ἀρκοῦσαν ἡμῖν τῆς προαιρέσεως τὴν ἀπόδειξιν ἔδωκε. Τὸ γὰρ περὶ τὸν μακαριώτατον Ἀθανάσιον ἐσπουδακέναι δεῖγμα ἐναργέστατον τοῦ ὑγιῶς ἔχειν περὶ τὰ μέγιστα. Ἀντὶ οὖν τῆς ἐπὶ τοῖς γράμμασιν εὐφροσύνης πολλὴν οἴδαμεν χάριν τῷ τιμιωτάτῳ υἱῷ ἡμῶν Εὐφημίῳ, ᾧ καὶ αὐτὸς εὔχομαι πᾶσαν ὑπάρξειν βοήθειαν ἐξ Ἁγίου, καὶ σὲ συνεύχεσθαι ἡμῖν παρακαλῶ ὅπως ἀπολάβοιμεν αὐτὸν ἐν τάχει μετὰ τῆς κοσμιωτάτης συζύγου αὐτοῦ, θυγατρὸς δὲ ἡμῶν ἐν Κυρίῳ. Παρακλήθητι δὲ καὶ αὐτὸς μὴ ἐν προοι μίοις στῆσαι τὴν εὐφροσύνην, ἀλλὰ διὰ τῆς ἀεὶ παρα πιπτούσης προφάσεως ἐπιστέλλειν καὶ τὴν πρὸς ἡμᾶς διάθεσιν τῷ πυκνῷ τῆς ὁμιλίας αὔξειν καὶ τὰ περὶ τῶν αὐτοῦ Ἐκκλησιῶν ὅπως ἔχει κατὰ τὴν συμφωνίαν σημαί νειν, περὶ δὲ τῶν ἐνταῦθα προσεύχεσθαι, ὥστε γενέσθαι καὶ παρ' ἡμῖν γαλήνην μεγάλην, ἐπιτιμήσαντος τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν τῷ ἀνέμῳ καὶ τῇ θαλάσσῃ.

155.τ ΑΝΕΠΙΓΡΑΦΟΣ ΕΠΙ ΑΛΕΙΠΤΗ