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we choose others, and the revenues from necessity; love of wandering is fruitless and dissolves the soul. Knowing these things, keep yourself safe for me. 237 {1To Bassianus, my child}1 I visit you again through this letter, my child Bassianus, and I greet you in the Lord. Live, rejoice, be glad, because you have been deemed worthy for Christ's sake to be in prison, in isolation, in affliction, in distress; a little later an unspeakable joy will dawn upon you at the completion of your struggles. Therefore, child, be content, persevere in the Lord, considering the eternal rewards, when you will leap for joy eternally; see that the devil lies in wait for everyone, seeking our destruction, that he might trip us up, that he might darken our mind. Give him no room; be vigilant even in prison, for here he becomes even more savage towards us, since we are isolated and do not have anyone to distract us this way and that. So you, then, occupy yourself with manual labor, reading, psalmody, prayer, heavenly thoughts, so that finding you idle and inactive he might not strike you; but as often as he wounds, so often let him be counter-attacked by the fear of God and by no means let him hold us down. To be saved is a great thing, and there is need for great struggles. May your deeds up to the present be forgiven; "Now I have begun," say you also, "this is the change of the right hand of the Most High." Remember my lowliness. Your brothers with me greet you. The Lord be with you. 238 {1To Euodius and John, my children}1 And now having received your letter, my beloved child, I accepted it, recognizing your true faith and love, and not only that but also your noble and sacred purpose, which you have on behalf of God's truth, being ready to suffer all things for His sake. Blessed is the Lord who has so prepared and made you ready; this made me very glad, this brought me to a greater affection for you, and then it strengthened me also; for when you are poured out as a libation for Christ's sake, I, the lowly one, am strengthened. In such a disposition, then, may the Holy Spirit preserve you (I speak in common because I have learned that brother John, my equally beloved child, is with you); for this is why "for your sake we are killed all the day long," such, I say, is our preparation and readiness. But pray, I beseech you, also for me, the lowly one, that I may complete in the Lord the struggle that lies before us, not only the visible one, but also the one of the mind. Your brothers with me greet you; grace be with you. Amen. 239 {1To Dorotheus, my child}1 And again I begin to write to you, my beloved child; for the letter which I received from you was a reply to my former letters. So I ask how you are, how you are spending your days. Well, I know (I speak according to God; for what is sweeter than to suffer for the truth?), but with respect to the body, very afflictively, since it is a prison and a most wretched one at that, and then also since the bread given to you is difficult to eat, as was reported to me. But what can be done about the one who holds you, a harsh soldier-guard, but not a monk, thinking it a great thing to say? But nevertheless the time has come for the people of God to be revealed and the tares in opposition. At the adulterous synod they were making excuses for their sins; they have now been convicted that they were doing those things impiously. So much for them. But you, O my beloved child, as you suffered in the past for Christ, so also do you suffer now, inhabiting a prison for his sake, being alone in it, yet not alone; for Christ is with you and the angel who guards your life. Let us endure, I beseech you, him who prepares for us the crowns of patience; even if we are choked by neglect, let us be sweetened by hope; even if we are constrained by needs, let us be of good courage in earnest expectation. For what? Is not the Lord able to rain down bread by an unseen power, and any other edible thing? But he awaits our endurance, that he may crown it, so that he may glorify and gladden us for ever. Yes, my child, I pray, bear it nobly, passing day by day and not through length of time despondency

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προαιρούμεθα ἄλλους, καὶ τὰς προσόδους ἐξ ἀναγκαίου· τὸ φιλογύρευτον ἄκαρπον καὶ διαλυτικὸν ψυχῆς. ταῦτα γινώσκων φύλασσέ μοι ἑαυτὸν σῶον. 237 {1Βασσιανῷ τέκνῳ}1 Ἐπισκέπτομαί σε καὶ αὖθις διὰ τοῦ γράμματος, τέκνον μου Βασσιανέ, καὶ χαιρετίζω σε ἐν Κυρίῳ. ζῆθι, γήθου, εὐφραίνου, ὅτι ἠξίωσαι διὰ Χριστὸν ἐν φυλακῇ εἶναι, ἐν μονώσει, ἐν θλίψει, ἐν στενοχωρίᾳ· ἀνατελεῖ σοι μικρὸν ὕστερον χαρὰ ἀνεκλάλητος ἐπὶ τέλει τῶν ἀγώνων. διό, τέκνον, στέρξον, καρτέρησον ἐν Κυρίῳ, τὰς αἰωνίους ἀμοιβὰς ἀναλογιζόμενος, ὅτε σκιρτήσεις αἰώνια· βλέπε ὅτι ὁ διάβολος παντί ἐστιν ἐφεδρεύων, ζητῶν τὴν ἀπώλειαν ἡμῶν, ἵνα συμποδίσῃ, ἵνα σκοτώσῃ τὸν νοῦν. μὴ δῷς αὐτῷ χώραν· γρηγόρει καὶ ἐν τῇ φυλακῇ, ὅτι καὶ μᾶλλον ὧδε ἀγριώτερος καθίσταται ἡμῖν, μεμονωμένοις οὖσι καὶ οὐκ ἔχουσιν ὑπό τινων περιέλκεσθαι ὧδε κἀκεῖσε. σὺ οὖν χρῶ ἐργοχείρῳ, ἀναγνώσει, στιχολογίᾳ, προσευχῇ, ἐννοίαις οὐρανίοις, ἵνα μὴ ἀργὸν καὶ ἄπρακτον εὑρίσκων σε βάλλοι· ἀλλὰ καὶ ὁσάκις τιτρώσκει, τοσαυτάκις ἀνταναιρείσθω φόβῳ θεοῦ καὶ μηδαμῶς κάτω ἡμᾶς ἐχέτω. μέγα τὸ σωθῆναι, μεγάλων καὶ ἀγώνων χρεία. συγχωρηθείη σοι τὰ ἕως τοῦ παρόντος· νῦν ἠρξάμην, εἰπὲ καὶ αὐτός, αὕτη ἡ ἀλλοίωσις τῆς δεξιᾶς τοῦ Ὑψίστου. Μνημόνευε τῆς ταπεινώσεώς μου. προσαγορεύουσίν σε οἱ σὺν ἐμοὶ ἀδελφοί σου. ὁ Κύριος μετὰ σοῦ. 238 {1Εὐοδίῳ καὶ Ἰωάννῃ τέκνοισ}1 Καὶ νῦν δεξάμενος τὴν ἐπιστολήν σου, τέκνον μου ἠγαπημένον, ἀπεδεξάμην, ἐπιγνοὺς τὴν ἀληθινὴν πίστιν σου καὶ ἀγάπην, οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ εὐγενῆ καὶ ἱεράν σου πρόθεσιν, ἣν ἔχεις ὑπὲρ ἀληθείας θεοῦ, ἕτοιμος ὢν πάντα παθεῖν ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ. εὐλογητὸς Κύριος ὁ οὕτως ἑτοιμάσας καὶ παρασκευάσας σε· τοῦτό με μάλα εὔφρανεν, τοῦτό με εἰ φίλτρον σου περισσότερον ἤγαγεν, εἶτα κἀμὲ ἐστερέωσεν· ὑμῶν γὰρ σπενδομένων διὰ Χριστὸν ἐγὼ ἐστερέωμαι ὁ ταπεινός. ἐν τῇ τοιαύτῃ οὖν διαθέσει συντηρήσειεν ὑμᾶς τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ Ἅγιον (κοινῶς λέγω διὰ τὸ μαθεῖν με σὺν σοὶ εἶναι καὶ τὸν ἀδελφὸν Ἰωάννην, τὸ ἐξ ἴσου ἠγαπημένον μου τέκνον)· τοῦτο γάρ ἐστιν ὅτι ἕνεκά σου θανατούμεθα ὅλην τὴν ἡμέραν, ἡ τοιαύτη, λέγω, παρασκευὴ καὶ ἑτοιμασία. Ἀλλὰ προσεύχεσθε, παρακαλῶ, καὶ ὑπὲρ ἐμοῦ τοῦ ταπεινοῦ τελειῶσαί με ἐν Κυρίῳ τὸν προκείμενον ἡμῖν ἀγῶνα, οὐ μόνον τὸν ὁρώμενον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸν νοούμενον. ἀσπάζονται ὑμᾶς οἱ σὺν ἐμοὶ ἀδελφοὶ ὑμῶν· ἡ χάρις μεθ' ὑμῶν. ἀμήν. 239 {1∆ωροθέῳ τέκνῳ}1 Καὶ πάλιν κατάρχω τοῦ γράφειν σοι, τέκνον μου ἠγαπημένον· ἣν γὰρ ἐδεξάμην ἐπιστολήν σου, ἀπόδοσις ἦν προτέρων μου γραμμάτων. πῶς οὖν ἔχεις ἐρωτῶ, πῶς διαβιβάζεις σου τὰς ἡμέρας. καλῶς, οἶδ' ὅτι (λέγω δὲ κατὰ θεόν· τί γὰρ ἡδύτερον τοῦ ὑπὲρ ἀληθείας πάσχειν;), πρὸς δὲ τὸ σῶμα καὶ λίαν θλιπτικῶς, φυλακῆς οὔσης καὶ ταύτης κακίστης, ἔπειτα καὶ τοῦ διδομένου σοι ἄρτου δυσβρώτου ὄντος, καθὼς ἀπηγγέλη μοι. ἀλλὰ τί πρὸς τὸν κατέχοντά σε ἀτεράμονα καὶ στρατοφύλακα, ἀλλ' οὐ μονάζοντα, πολλοῦ γε εἰπεῖν ἡγούμενον; ἤνεγκεν δὲ ὅμως ὁ καιρὸς ἵνα φανῶσιν οἱ τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ τὰ ζιζάνια ἐξ ἐναντίας. ἐπὶ τῆς μοιχοσυνόδου προεφασίζοντο προφάσεις ἐν ἁμαρτίαις· ἀπηλέγχθησαν τανῦν ὅτι κἀκεῖνα ἀσεβοῦντες ἐποίουν. Ἐκεῖνοι μὲν οὕτως. σὺ δέ, ὦ τέκνον μου ἠγαπημένον, ὡς τὰ πάλαι διὰ Χριστὸν οὕτω τε καὶ τανῦν πάσχεις, φρουρὰν οἰκῶν δι' αὐτόν, μόνος ὢν ἐν αὐτῇ, ἀλλ' οὐ μόνος· ὁ Χριστὸς γὰρ μετὰ σοῦ καὶ ὁ φύλαξ τῆς ζωῆς σου ἄγγελος. ὑπομείνωμεν, παρακαλῶ, τὸν τῆς ὑπομονῆς τοὺς στεφάνους ἡμῖν ἑτοιμάζοντα· εἰ καὶ πνιγόμεθα τῇ ὀλιγωρίᾳ, ἀλλὰ γλυκανθῶμεν τῇ ἐλπίδι· εἰ καὶ στενούμεθα ταῖς χρείαις, ἀλλ' εὐψυχῶμεν τῇ ἀποκαραδοκίᾳ. τί γάρ; οὐ δυνατὸς ὁ Κύριος ὀμβρίσαι ἀορασίᾳ ἄρτους, πᾶν εἴ τι ἐδώδιμον ἄλλο; ἀλλὰ ἀναμένει τὴν ὑπομονὴν ἡμῶν, ἵνα στεφανώσῃ, ὅπως δοξάσῃ καὶ εὐφράνῃ εἰς αἰῶνας. ναί, τέκνον, δέομαι, φέρε γενναίως, ἡμέραν ἐξ ἡμέρας διαβιβάζων καὶ μὴ μακροτονίᾳ χρόνου ἀκηδίαν