Letter 100: When I saw your affectionate letter, in the country bordering on Armenia, it was like a lighted torch held up at a distance to mariners at sea, especially if the sea happen to be agitated by the wind. Your reverence's letter was of itself a pleasant one, and full of comfort; but its natural charm was very much enhanced by the time of its arrival...

To Eusebius, Bishop of Samosata [a city on the Euphrates in southeastern Turkey, and one of Basil's closest allies] I received your letter near the Armenian border, and it was like spotting a lighthouse in a storm. Your words were a comfort on their own, but the timing made them especially welcome — I was going through one of the worst stretches I can remember, though I've resolved not to dwell on it. My deacon can fill you in on the details. My health has completely broken down. Even the smallest movement causes me pain. Still, I'm praying — with your prayers behind me — that I can make the journey to see you. The trip has already cost me dearly: I've been away so long that my own church's affairs have suffered from the neglect. If God grants me the chance to welcome you to my church while I'm still alive, I'll take it as a sign that he hasn't entirely given up on me. If you can manage it, I'd love for us to meet at the annual synod we hold on September 7th in honor of the blessed martyr Eupsychius [a local Caesarean martyr executed under Julian the Apostate around 362]. I'm dealing with problems that need your help and counsel — particularly around appointing new bishops, and the headache that Gregory of Nyssa [Basil's younger brother] is causing me. He's called his own synod at Ancyra [modern Ankara] and seems to be doing everything he can to undermine my efforts. His naïveté is maddening.

ST. BASIL OF CAESAREA To Eusebius, Bishop of Samosata When I saw your affectionate letter, in the country bordering on Armenia, it was like a lighted torch held up at a distance to mariners at sea, especially if the sea happen to be agitated by the wind. Your reverence's letter was of itself a pleasant one, and full of comfort; but its natural charm was very much enhanced by the time of its arrival, a time so painful to me, that I hardly know how to describe it, after once making up my mind to forget its troubles. However, my deacon will give you a full account. My bodily strength completely failed me, so that I was not even able to bear the slightest movement without pain. Nevertheless I do pray that, by the aid of your prayers, my own longing may be fulfilled; although my journey has caused me great difficulties, in consequence of the affairs of my own Church having been neglected through its occupying such a long time. But if, while I yet live, God grants me to see your reverence in my Church, then truly I shall have good hope, even for the future, that I am not wholly excluded from the gifts of God. If it be possible, I beg that this meeting between us may take place at the Synod which we hold every year, in memory of the blessed martyr Eupsychius, now about to be held on the 7th of September. I am compassed with anxieties which demand your help and sympathy, both in the matter of the appointment of bishops anti in the consideration of the trouble caused me by the simplicity of Gregory of Nyssa, who is summoning a Synod at Ancyra and leaving nothing undone to counteract me.

[Πρός: Εὐσεβίῳ, ἐπισκόπῳ Σαμοσάτων] Οὕτως εἶδον τὰ γράμματα τῆς ἀγάπης σου ἐν τῇ γείτονι χώρᾳ τῆς Ἀρμενίας, ὡς ἂν ἴδοιεν οἱ θαλαττεύοντες πυρσὸν ἐν πελάγει πόρρωθεν φρυκτωρούμενον, ἄλλως τε κἂν ἀγριαίνουσά πως τύχοι ἡ θάλασσα ὑπʼ ἀνέμων. καὶ γὰρ φύσει μὲν ἡδὺ καὶ παρηγορίαν ἔχον πολλὴν τὸ τῆς σῆς σεμνότητος γράμμα, τότε δὲ μάλιστα τὴν ἀπʼ αὐτοῦ χάριν ὁ καιρὸς συνηύξησεν, ὃν ὁποῖος ἦν, καὶ ὅπως ἡμᾶς λυπήσας, ἐγὼ μὲν οὐκ ἂν εἴποιμι, κρίνας ἅπαξ ἐπιλαθέσθαι τῶν λυπηρῶν· ὁ μέντοι συνδιάκονος ἡμῶν διηγήσεταί σου τῇ θεοσεβείᾳ. Ἐμὲ δὲ ἐπέλιπε παντελῶς τὸ σῶμα, ὥστε μηδὲ τὰς σμικροτάτας κινήσεις δύνασθαι ἀλύπως φέρειν. πλὴν ἀλλʼ εὔχομαι δυνηθῆναί μοι τὴν παλαιὰν ἐπιθυμίαν νῦν γοῦν διὰ τῆς βοηθείας τῶν σῶν προσευχῶν ἐκπληρωθῆναι· εἰ καὶ ὅτι πολλήν μοι πεποίηκε τὴν δυσκολίαν ἡ ἀποδημία αὕτη, τοσούτῳ χρόνῳ ἀμεληθέντων τῶν κατὰ τὴν ἡμετέραν ἐκκλησίαν πραγμάτων. ἐὰν δὲ ὁ Θεός, ἕως ἐσμὲν ὑπὲρ γῆς, καταξιώσῃ ἡμᾶς ἰδεῖν ἐπὶ τῆς ἐκκλησίας ἡμῶν τὴν σὴν θεοσέβειαν, ὄντως ἀγαθὰς ἐλπίδας καὶ ἐπὶ τοῖς μέλλουσιν ἕξομεν, ὡς οὐ πάντη ἐσμὲν ἀπόβλητοι τῶν δωρεῶν τοῦ Θεοῦ. τοῦτο γοῦν, ἐὰν ᾖ δυνατόν, παρακαλοῦμεν ἐπὶ τῆς συνόδου γενέσθαι, ἣν δι’ ἔτους ἄγομεν ἐπὶ τῇ μνήμῃ τοῦ μακαρίου μάρτυρος Εὐψυχίου προσεγγιζούσῃ λοιπὸν κατὰ τὴν ἑβδόμην ἡμέραν τοῦ Σεπτεμβρίου μηνός. καὶ γὰρ καὶ φροντίδος ἄξια ἡμῖν περίκειται πράγματα τῆς παρὰ σοῦ δεόμενα συνεργίας, εἴς τε κατάστασιν ἐπισκόπων καὶ εἰς βουλὴν καὶ σκέψιν τῶν μελετωμένων καθʼ ἡμῶν παρὰ τῆς χρηστότητος Γρηγορίου τοῦ Νυσσαέως ὃς συνόδους συγκροτεῖ κατὰ τὴν Ἀγκύραν καὶ οὐδένα τρόπον ἐπιβουλεύων ἡμῖν ἀφίησιν.