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the other fathers, strengthening us the faint-hearted through themselves. Greet our acquaintances. Those with me greet you warmly. Farewell in the Lord, but also take careful care of your body; for having learned of the affliction of your bowels, I was distressed not a little. 225 {1To the same}1 Unexpectedly I saw your letters, beloved child, and the brothers; for you did not, as I wrote before, wait until September. But nevertheless I approved of your zeal, the unbearable quality of your love, the ardor of your longing, your love for God in all things, and I would add also your love for your father. You are my joy and comfort, you are my foundation in the Lord in all dangers and afflictions and a crown of boasting with all your fellow-contestants and before all our brothers and children in Christ Jesus. Therefore I also rejoice, blessing the God of my father, that you are healthy in soul and body, it having been so arranged by God for you to be released from bonds, so that you might anoint those in bonds, and strengthen those who have been released, binding them together; which you also do by the grace of Christ, exhorting, admonishing, comforting each one, as a true steward of God. I ask therefore this very thing, that you not grow weary in working for the glory of Christ, for the obtaining of your salvation, for a boast for me who am destitute therefore of every good thing. Nevertheless, brother, we have not run and are not running in vain, both of old and now, nor do we labor in vain; for it is for Christ's sake and through Christ, for whose sake to suffer is a Passover, for whose sake to be afflicted is a joy. If indeed we suffer with him, he says, that we may also be glorified with him; for I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. And rightly so; for the affliction here, of whatever kind, is shadowy and dream-like, but the reward there is life unending with eternal glory. Let us not then be ashamed, O child, of the present testimony; for it is the Lord's. Many out of love for Christ desired to see this, but did not attain it, but we have been deemed worthy. What is this? To suffer for his sake, to be persecuted, to be taken captive, to be imprisoned, to be confined from place to place or perhaps even to be beaten, to become a spectacle both to angels and to men. But if they have also cast out our name as evil, anathematizing us both privately and publicly with saints, is there not joy? Is there not cause to leap for joy? You know, child, the blessing of the Lord; in these things rejoice yourself, delight with all the children. For you are the body of Christ and members in particular; and whether one member suffers, all the members suffer with it, or one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. Seek, he says, the remaining things, the spittings, the buffetings, finally the cross, the sweet nails of my Christ. Alas, who might be deemed worthy to be crucified with, to be pierced with the spear with, a slave with his master, a man to mix his blood with the blood of the living God? Proceeding with such a disposition the saints rejoiced when beaten, sang when their limbs were cut off. Therefore our joy has also arrived; in part we have been tried (if indeed we might even be tried completely) by the grace and love for mankind of Jesus Christ our Lord; for by grace be the victory in whatsoever, that no one might boast of having anything from himself. So that we draw the mercy of God in Christ Jesus through humility and active confidence. If therefore there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of faith, if any bowels and mercies, fulfill my joy, to say with the apostle, I the wretched one, that you be like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind, doing nothing through strife or vainglory, opposing and setting yourselves against one another; for the love of being first and of contention are wont to creep in even in contests for piety's sake. But you as ministers of God (for in your person I include the preeminent ones, who might also read the letter), give no offense in anything, that your ministry be not blamed; so be it. Concerning those about whom you wrote to me as having been in repentance, as to those of our body, even if we are unworthy, still we are physicians. The penance, therefore, that we gave to Orestes when he came here through

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οἱ λοιποὶ πατέρες, στηρίζοντες ἡμᾶς τοὺς ὀλιγώρους δι' ἑαυτῶν. προσειπὲ τοὺς συνήθεις. προσαγορεύουσί σε οἱ σὺν ἐμοὶ πάνυ. ἔρρωσο ἐν Κυρίῳ, ἀλλὰ γὰρ καὶ σώματι ἐπιμελῶς ἔχε· μαθὼν γὰρ τὴν τῶν σπλάγχνων σου κάκωσιν ἠνιάθην οὐ μετρίως. 225 {1Τῷ αὐτῷ}1 Παρὰ προσδοκίαν εἶδον τὰ γράμματά σου, τέκνον ἠγαπημένον, καὶ τοὺς ἀδελφούς· οὐ γάρ, ὡς προέγραψα, ἐπέσχες μέχρι Σεπτεμβρίου. ἀλλ' ὅμως ἀπεδεξάμην σου τὸ πρόθυμον, τὸ οὐκ ἀνεκτὸν τῆς ἀγάπης, τὸ διάπυρον τοῦ πόθου, τὸ περὶ πάντα φιλόθεον, προσθείην δ' ἂν καὶ φιλοπάτριον. σύ μου χαρὰ καὶ παραμύθιον, σύ μου ἐν Κυρίῳ ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς κινδύνοις καὶ θλίψεσιν ἕδρασμα καὶ στέφανος καυχήσεως μετὰ πάντων τῶν συνάθλων σου καὶ πρὸ πάντων ἀδελφῶν ἡμῶν ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ καὶ τέκνων. διὸ καὶ χαίρω, εὐλογῶν τὸν θεὸν τοῦ πατρός μου, ὅτι ὑγιάζῃ ψυχῇ καὶ σώματι, οὕτως ὑπὸ θεοῦ οἰκονομηθέντος εἶναί σε ἄφετον ἐκ δεσμῶν, ἵνα τοὺς ἐν δεσμοῖς ἀλείφῃς, τοὺς ἀφεμένους συνδέων ἐπιστηρίζοις· ὃ καὶ ποιεῖς χάριτι Χριστοῦ, παρακαλῶν, νουθετῶν, παραμυθούμενος ἕνα ἕκαστον, ὡς ἀληθῶς θεοῦ οἰκονόμος. δέομαι οὖν αὐτὸ τοῦτο, μὴ ἐκκακεῖν ἐργάζεσθαί σε εἰς δόξαν Χριστοῦ, εἰς περιποίησιν σωτηρίας σου, εἰς καύχημα ἐμοὶ τῷ ἠπορημένῳ ἐν παντὶ οὖν ἀγαθῷ. Πλήν, ἀδελφέ, ὅτι οὐκ εἰς κενὸν ἐδράμομεν καὶ τρέχομεν πάλαι τε καὶ νῦν οὐδ' εἰς κενὸν κοπιῶμεν· ὑπὲρ Χριστοῦ γὰρ καὶ διὰ Χριστόν, ὑπὲρ οὗ τὸ πάσχειν πάσχα, ὑπὲρ οὗ τὸ θλίβεσθαι χαρά. εἴπερ συμπάσχομεν, φησίν, ἵνα καὶ συνδοξασθῶμεν· λογίζομαι γὰρ ὅτι οὐκ ἄξια τὰ παθήματα τοῦ νῦν καιροῦ πρὸς τὴν μέλλουσαν δόξαν ἀποκαλυφθῆναι εἰς ἡμᾶς. καὶ εἰκότως· ἡ γὰρ ἐνταῦθα σύνθλιψις ὁποιαοῦν σκιώδης καὶ ὀνειρώδης, ἡ δὲ ἐκεῖσε ἀντάμειψις ζωὴ ἀπέραντος μετὰ δόξης αἰωνίου. μὴ οὖν ἐπαισχυνθῶμεν, ὦ τέκνον, τὸ παρὸν μαρτύριον· τοῦ Κυρίου γάρ ἐστιν. πολλοὶ ἐπεθύμησαν ἐξ ἀγάπης Χριστοῦ τοῦτο ἰδεῖν, ἀλλ' οὐκ ἐπέτυχον, ἡμεῖς δὲ κατηξιώμεθα. τί τοῦτο; ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ πάσχειν, διώκεσθαι, αἰχμαλωτίζεσθαι, φυλακίζεσθαι, ἐκ τόπου εἰς τόπον περιορίζεσθαι ἢ τάχα καὶ τύπτεσθαι, θέατρον γίνεσθαι καὶ ἀγγέλοις καὶ ἀνθρώποις. Εἰ δὲ ὅτι καὶ τὸ ὄνομα ἡμῶν ὡς πονηρὸν ἐξέβαλον, ἀναθεματίζοντες ἰδίᾳ τε καὶ δημοσίᾳ σὺν ἁγίοις, οὐκ ἔνι χαρά; οὐκ ἔνι σκιρτᾶν; οἶδας, τέκνον, τὸν μακαρισμὸν Κυρίου· τούτοις καὶ αὐτὸς γήθου, τέρπου σὺν ὅλοις τέκνοις. ὑμεῖς γάρ ἐστε σῶμα Χριστοῦ καὶ μέλη ἐκ μέρους· καὶ εἴτε πάσχει ἓν μέλος, συμπάσχει πάντα τὰ μέλη, εἴτε δοξάζεται ἓν μέλος, συγχαίρει πάντα τὰ μέλη. ζήτει, φησί, τὰ λειπόμενα, ἐμπτύσματα, κολαφίσματα, τέλος τὸν σταυρόν, τοὺς γλυκεῖς μου Χριστοῦ ἥλους. οἴ, τίς ἂν καταξιωθείη συσταυρωθῆναι, συλλογχευθῆναι δοῦλος δεσπότῃ, μῖξαι αἷμα αἵματι ἄνθρωπος θεοῦ τοῦ ζῶντος; τοιαύτῃ διαθέσει χωροῦντες οἱ ἅγιοι ἔχαιρον κοπτόμενοι, ᾖδον μελοτομούμενοι. ἔφθασεν τοιγαροῦν καὶ ἡ ἡμετέρα χαρά· ἐκ μέρους ἐπειράθημεν (εἴ γε καὶ πειραθείημεν τέλεον) χάριτι καὶ φιλανθρωπίᾳ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν· τῇ γὰρ χάριτι εἴη τὸ νῖκος ἐφ' ὁτῳοῦν, ἵνα μή τις καυχήσηται οἴκοθέν τι ἔχειν. ὥστε ἕλκομεν τὸν ἔλεον θεοῦ ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ διὰ τῆς ταπεινοφροσύνης καὶ ἐνεργοῦς πεποιθήσεως. εἴ τις οὖν παράκλησις ἐν Χριστῷ, εἴ τι παραμύθιον ἀγάπης, εἴ τις κοινωνία πίστεως, εἴ τις σπλάγχνα καὶ οἰκτιρμοί, πληρώσατέ μου τὴν χαράν, σὺν τῷ ἀποστόλῳ ὁ τάλας λέγειν, τὸ αὐτὸ φρονεῖν, τὴν αὐτὴν ἀγάπην ἔχοντες, σύμψυχοι τὸ ἓν φρονοῦντες, μηδὲν κατ' ἐριθείαν ἢ κενοδοξίαν ἀντιπράττοντες καὶ ἀντικαθιστάμενοι ἀλλήλοις· πέφυκεν γὰρ καὶ ἐπ' αὐτῶν τῶν ὑπὲρ εὐσεβείας ἀγώνων τὸ φιλόπρωτον καὶ φιλόνεικον παρεισδύειν. ἀλλ' ὑμεῖς ὡς θεοῦ διάκονοι (συμπαραλαμβάνω γὰρ τῷ προσώπῳ σου τοὺς ὑπερέχοντας, οἳ καὶ ἀναγνοῖεν τὴν ἐπιστολήν), μηδεμίαν ἐν μηδενὶ δοίητε προσκοπήν, ἵνα μὴ μωμηθῇ ἡ διακονία ὑμῶν· γένοιτο. Περὶ ὧν ἔγραψάς μοι ἐν μετανοίᾳ γεγονέναι, εἰς τοὺς τοῦ σώματος ἡμῶν, εἰ καὶ ἀνάξιοι, ἀλλ' οὖν ἡμεῖς ἰατροί. ὃ τοίνυν ἐδώκαμεν ἐπιτίμιον τῷ Ὀρέστῃ ἐλθόντι ἐνταῦθα διὰ