Letter CCLIII.1381    Placed in 376.

To the presbyters of Antioch.1382    This and the three following letters are complimentary and consolatory epistles conveyed by Sanctissimus on his return to Rome.  It does not appear quite certain whether they are to be referred to the period of his return from his second journey to the East in 376, or that of his earlier return in 374.  cf. Letters cxx. and ccxxi.

The anxious care which you have for the Churches of God will to some extent be assuaged by our very dear and very reverend brother Sanctissimus the presbyter, when he has told you of the love and kindness felt for us by all the West.  But, on the other hand, it will be roused afresh and made yet keener, when he has told you in person what zeal is demanded by the present position of affairs.  All other authorities have told us, as it were, by halves, the minds of men in the West, and the condition of things there.  He is very competent to understand men’s minds, and to make exact enquiry into the condition of affairs, and he will tell you everything and will guide your good will through the whole business.  You have matter before you appropriate to the excellent will which you have always shewn in your anxiety on behalf of the Churches of God.

ΤΟΙΣ ΠΡΕΣΒΥΤΕΡΟΙΣ ΑΝΤΙΟΧΕΙΑΣ

[1] Τὴν μέριμναν ἣν ἔχετε ὑπὲρ τῶν Ἐκκλησιῶν τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐν μέρει μὲν διαναπαύσει ὁ ποθεινότατος καὶ εὐλαβέστατος ἡμῶν ἀδελφὸς Σαγκτήσιμος ὁ συμπρεσβύτερος διηγησάμενος πάσης τῆς Δύσεως τὴν περὶ ἡμᾶς ἀγάπην τε καὶ διάθεσιν: ἐν μέρει δὲ καὶ διαναστήσει καὶ πλέον παροξυνεῖ, ὅσην σπουδὴν ἐπιζητεῖ τὰ παρόντα πράγματα ἐναργῶς ὑμῖν δι' ἑαυτοῦ παραστήσας. Καὶ γὰρ τῶν μὲν ἄλλων ἕκαστος, ὥσπερ ἐξ ἡμισείας, ἡμῖν ἀπήγγειλε καὶ τὰς γνώμας τῶν ἐκεῖσε ἀνδρῶν καὶ τὴν κατάστασιν τῶν πραγμάτων: αὐτὸς δέ, ἱκανὸς ὢν καὶ προαίρεσιν ἀνδρῶν καταμαθεῖν καὶ κατάστασιν πραγμάτων ἀκριβῶς διερευνήσασθαι, πάντα ὑμῖν ἐρεῖ καὶ πρὸς πάντα χειραγωγήσει τὴν ἀγαθὴν σπουδὴν ὑμῶν. Ὥστε ἔχετε ὕλην πρέπουσαν τῇ τελείᾳ ὑμῶν προαιρέσει ἣν ἀεὶ ἐν ταῖς ὑπὲρ τῶν Ἐκκλησιῶν τοῦ Θεοῦ μερίμναις ἐδείξατε.