Letter CLXXXII.860    Placed in 374.

To the presbyters of Samosata.

Grieved as I am at the desolation of the Church,861    Specially the exile of Eusebius. I none the less congratulate you on having been brought so soon to this extreme limit of your hard struggle.  God grant that you may pass through it with patience, to the end that in return for your faithful stewardship, and the noble constancy which you have shewn in Christ’s cause, you may receive the great reward.

ΠΑΥΛΙΝῼ ΠΡΕΣΒΥΤΕΡῼ

[1] Ὅσον λυπούμεθα ἐνθυμούμενοι τὴν ἐρημίαν τῆς Ἐκκλησίας, τοσοῦτον μακαρίζομεν ὑμᾶς εἰς τοῦτο φθάσαντας τὸ μέτρον τῆς ἀθλήσεως, ὃ παράσχοι ὑμῖν ὁ Κύριος μακροθύμως παρελθεῖν, ἵνα καὶ τῆς πιστῆς οἰκονομίας καὶ τῆς γενναίας ἐνστάσεως ἣν ὑπὲρ τοῦ ὀνόματος τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐπεδείξασθε τὸν μέγαν μισθὸν ὑποδέξησθε.