Letter 101: This is my first letter to you, and I could have prayed that its subject were a brighter one. Had it been so, things would have fallen out as I desire, for it is my wish that the life of all those who are purposed to live in true religion should be happily spent. But the Lord, Who ordains our course in accordance with His ineffable wisdom, has a...

Dear friend, This is my first letter to you, and I wish it were about something happier. But the Lord, in his wisdom, arranges everything for the good of our souls — bringing sorrow into your life while stirring up compassion in mine. When my brothers told me what happened to you, I knew I had to write. I would have come in person, but my health is poor and the business I'm currently dealing with has already pulled me away from my church more than it should. So a letter will have to do. I want to remind you: God doesn't send suffering to his people without purpose. It's a test of how genuinely we love him. Athletes win their crowns through struggle in the arena [the Greek athletic competitions that were still a familiar cultural reference in Basil's time]. In the same way, Christians grow through trials — but only if we learn to accept what comes with patience and gratitude. Everything is ordered by God's love. We shouldn't treat anything that happens to us as a disaster, even when it hits us hard in the moment. We may not understand why a particular thing happens, but we should trust that it's for our good — either as a reward for our endurance, or as mercy for the soul we've been given, so that it isn't corrupted by lingering too long in this world's wickedness. If Christian hope ended at death, then yes — being torn from this life early would be a bitter thing. But if, for those who love God, the separation of the soul from the body is actually the *beginning* of real life, then why should we grieve like people who have no hope? [A reference to 1 Thessalonians 4:13, where Paul tells the early Christians not to mourn their dead as pagans do.] Take heart. Don't collapse under your troubles. Show that you are stronger than what has happened to you.

ST. BASIL OF CAESAREA Consolatory. This is my first letter to you, and I could have prayed that its subject were a brighter one. Had it been so, things would have fallen out as I desire, for it is my wish that the life of all those who are purposed to live in true religion should be happily spent. But the Lord, Who ordains our course in accordance with His ineffable wisdom, has arranged that all these things should come about for the advantage of our souls, whereby He has, on the one hand, made your life sorrowful, and on the other, roused the sympathy of one who, like myself, is united to you in godly love. Therefore on my learning from my brothers what has befallen you it has seemed to me that I could not but give you such comfort as I can. Had it indeed been possible to me to travel to the place in which you are now living I would have made every effort to do so. But my bad health and the present business which occupies me have caused this very journey, which I have undertaken, to be injurious to the interests of my Church. I have, therefore, determined to address your excellency in writing, to remind you that these afflictions are not sent by the Lord, Who rules us, to the servants of God to no purpose, but as a test of the genuineness of our love to the divine Creator. Just as athletes win crowns by their struggles in the arena, so are Christians brought to perfection by the trial of their temptations, if only we learn to accept what is sent us by the Lord with becoming patience, with all thanksgiving. All things are ordained by the Lord's love. We must not accept anything that befalls us as grievous, even if, for the present, it affects our weakness. We are ignorant, perhaps, of the reasons why each thing that happens to us is sent to us as a blessing by the Lord but we ought to be convinced that all that happens to us is for our good, either for the reward of our patience, or for the soul which we have received, lest, by lingering too long in this life, it be filled with the wickedness to be found in this world. If the hope of Christians is limited to this life, it might rightly have been reckoned a bitter lot to be prematurely parted from the body; but if, to them that love God, the sundering of the soul from these bodily fetters is the beginning of our real life, why do we grieve like them which have no hope? 1 Thessalonians 4:12 Be comforted then, and do not fall under your troubles, but show that you are superior to them and can rise above them.

[Πρός: Παραμυθητική] Εὐχῆς ἄξιον ἦν, πρώτην διαπεμπομένους ἐπιστολήν, εὐθυμοτέραν ἔχειν τὴν τῶν γραμμάτων ὑπόθεσιν. οὕτω γὰρ ἂν ἡμῖν τὰ κατὰ γνώμην ὑπῆρξε, διότι πᾶσι βουλόμεθα τοῖς ἐν εὐσεβείᾳ ζῇν προαιρουμένοις πάντα τὸν βίον εἰς ἀγαθὸν εὐοδοῦσθαι. ἀλλʼ ἐπειδὴ ὁ διοικῶν τὴν ζωὴν ἡμῶν Κύριος, κατὰ τὴν ἄρρητον αὐτοῦ σοφίαν πάντως πρὸς τὸ σύμφερον τῶν ψυχῶν τῶν ἡμετέρων ταῦτα ᾠκονόμησε γενέσθαι, δι’ ὧν σοι μὲν ὀδυνηρὰν κατέστησε τὴν ζωήν, ἡμᾶς δέ, τοὺς τῇ κατὰ Θεὸν ἀγάπῃ συνημμένους, εἰς συμπάθειαν ἤγαγε, μαθόντας παρὰ τῶν ἀδελφῶν ἡμῶν ἐν οἷς γέγονας, ἀναγκαῖον ἡμῖν ἐφάνη τὴν ἐνδεχομένην παράκλησιν προσαγαγεῖν σοι. εἰ μὲν οὖν ἦν δυνατὸν καὶ διαβῆναι μέχρι τοῦ τόπου ἐν ᾧ συμβαίνει διάγειν σου τὴν εὐγένειαν, περὶ παντὸς ἂν τοῦτο ἐποιησάμην. ἐπεὶ δὲ καὶ ἡ τοῦ σώματος ἀρρωστία καὶ τῶν συνεχόντων ἡμᾶς πραγμάτων τὸ πλῆθος καὶ αὐτὴν ταύτην ἣν ὑπέστημεν ὁδὸν ἐπὶ πολλῇ τῶν καθʼ ἡμᾶς ἐκκλησιῶν ζημίᾳ παρεσκεύασε, διὰ γραμμάτων ἐπισκέψασθαί σου τὴν σεμνότητα προεθυμήθημεν, ὑπομιμνήσκοντες, ὅτι αἱ θλίψεις αὗται οὐκ ἀργῶς τοῖς δούλοις τοῦ Θεοῦ παρὰ τοῦ ἐπισκοποῦντος ἡμᾶς Κυρίου γίνονται, ἀλλὰ ἐπὶ δοκιμασίᾳ τῆς ἀληθινῆς πρὸς τὸν κτίσαντα ἡμᾶς Θεὸν ἀγάπης. ὡς γὰρ τοὺς ἀθλητὰς οἱ τῶν ἀγώνων κάματοι τοῖς στεφάνοις προσάγουσιν, οὕτω καὶ τοὺς Χριστιανοὺς ἡ ἐν τοῖς πειρασμοῖς δοκιμασία πρὸς τὴν τελείωσιν ἄγει, ἐὰν μετὰ τῆς πρεπούσης ὑπομονῆς ἐν εὐχαριστίᾳ πάσῃ τὰ οἰκονομούμενα παρὰ τοῦ Κυρίου καταδεξώμεθα. Ἀγαθότητι Δεσπότου διοικεῖται τὰ πάντα. οὐδὲν τῶν συμβαινόντων ἡμῖν ὡς λυπηρὸν ὑποδέχεσθαι χρή, κἂν πρὸς τὸ παρὸν ἅπτηται τῆς ἀσθενείας ἡμῶν. εἰ γὰρ καὶ τοὺς λόγους ἀγνοοῦμεν, καθʼ οὓς ἕκαστον τῶν γινομένων ὡς καλὸν παρὰ τοῦ Δεσπότου ἡμῖν ἐπάγεται, ἀλλʼ ἐκεῖνο πεπεῖσθαι ὀφείλομεν, ὅτι πάντως συμφέρει τὸ γινόμενον ἢ ἡμῖν διὰ τὸν τῆς ὑπομονῆς μισθὸν ἢ τῇ παραληφθείσῃ ψυχῇ, ἵνα μή, ἐπὶ πλέον τῇ ζωῇ ταύτῃ ἐπιβραδύνασα τῆς ἐμπολιτευομένης τῷ βίῳ κακία ἀναπλησθῇ. εἰ μὲν γὰρ ἐν τῇ ζωῇ ταύτῃ ἡ τῶν Χριστιανῶν ἐλπὶς περιώριστο, εἰκότως χαλεπὸν ἂν ἐνομίσθη τὸ θᾶττον διαζευχθῆναι τοῦ σώματος· εἰ δὲ ἀρχὴ τοῦ ἀληθινοῦ βίου τοῖς κατὰ Θεὸν ζῶσίν ἐστι τὸ τῶν δεσμῶν τούτων τῶν σωματικῶν τὴν ψυχὴν ἐκλυθῆναι, τί λυπούμεθα, ὡς καὶ οἱ μὴ ἔχοντες ἐλπίδα; παρακλήθητι οὖν μὴ ὑποπεσεῖν τοῖς πάθεσιν, ἀλλὰ δεῖξαι ὅτι ὑπέρκεισαι καὶ ὑπερῆρας.