Letter 154: You have done well, and in accordance with the law of spiritual love, in writing to me first, and by your good example challenging me to like energy. The friendship of the world, indeed, stands in need of actual sight and intercourse, that thence intimacy may begin. All, however, who know how to love in the spirit do not need the flesh to promot...

To Ascholius, bishop of Thessalonica [Thessalonica: major city in Macedonia, modern Thessaloniki, Greece] You were right to write first — that's exactly what spiritual friendship calls for. Ordinary friendships need face-to-face contact to get started. But those who know how to love in the Spirit don't need physical proximity; faith itself is the bond. So I thank God, who has encouraged me by showing that love hasn't entirely gone cold in the world. There are still people out there who actually live like disciples of Christ. In times like these, people like you remind me of stars on a dark night — scattered, few, but all the more beautiful and welcome for being rare. You are lights in the churches, a handful at most, shining in what feels like a moonless darkness. Your scarcity makes you all the more precious. Your letter showed me exactly where you stand. It was short — but it said everything I needed to hear. Your wholehearted support for the blessed Athanasius [Athanasius: bishop of Alexandria, champion of Nicene orthodoxy against the Arians, exiled five times for his faith] tells me you're sound on what matters most. Your letter reached me through my son Euphemius, and I'm deeply grateful to him for that. Please join me in praying that he returns soon, along with his wife — whom I count as my daughter in the Lord — and that God blesses them both. One request: don't let this be the end. Write whenever you can. Correspondence is how friendship grows. And tell me how things stand with your churches — are they holding together in unity? Pray for us here. We need the Lord to calm the winds and the sea, and give us peace.

ST. BASIL OF CAESAREA To Ascholius, bishop of Thessalonica. You have done well, and in accordance with the law of spiritual love, in writing to me first, and by your good example challenging me to like energy. The friendship of the world, indeed, stands in need of actual sight and intercourse, that thence intimacy may begin. All, however, who know how to love in the spirit do not need the flesh to promote affection, but are led to spiritual communion in the fellowship of the faith. Thanks, then, to the Lord Who has comforted my heart by showing me that love has not grown cold in all, but that there are yet in the world men who show the evidence of the discipleship of Christ. The state of affairs with you seems to be something like that of the stars by night, shining some in one part of the sky and some in another, whereof the brightness is charming, and the more charming because it is unexpected. Such are you, luminaries of the Churches, a few at most and easily counted in this gloomy state of things, shining as in a moonless night, and, besides being welcome for your virtue, being all the more longed for because of its being so seldom that you are found. Your letter has made your disposition quite plain to me. Although small, as far as regards the number of its syllables, in the correctness of its sentiments it was quite enough to give me proof of your mind and purpose. Your zeal for the cause of the blessed Athanasius is plain proof of your being sound as to the most important matters. In return for my joy at your letter I am exceedingly grateful to my honourable son Euphemius, to whom I pray that all help may be given by the Holy One, and I beg you to join in my prayers that we may soon receive him back with his very honourable wife, my daughter in the Lord. As to yourself, I beg that you will not stay our joy at its beginning, but that you will write on every possible opportunity, and increase your good feeling towards me by constant communication. Give me news, I beg you, about your Churches and how they are situated as regards union. Pray for us here that our Lord may rebuke the winds and the sea, and that with us there may be a great, calm.

[Πρός: Ἀσχολίῳ, ἐπισκόπῳ Θεσσαλονίκης] Καλῶς ἐποίησας, καὶ κατὰ τὸν τῆς πνευματικῆς ἀγάπης νόμον, κατάρξας τῶν πρὸς ἡμᾶς γραμμάτων καὶ τῷ ἀγαθῷ ὑποδείγματι πρὸς τὸν ὅμοιον ζῆλον ἡμᾶς ἐκκαλεσάμενος. καὶ γὰρ ἡ μὲν τοῦ κόσμου φιλία ὀφθαλμῶν δεῖται καὶ συντυχίας, ὥστε ἐκεῖθεν ἀρχὴν τῆς συνηθείας γενέσθαι, οἱ δὲ πνευματικῶς ἀγαπᾷν εἰδότες οὐ τῇ σαρκὶ προξένῳ κέχρηνται τῆς φιλίας, ἀλλὰ τῇ τῆς πίστεως κοινωνίᾳ πρὸς τὴν πνευματικὴν συνάφειαν ἄγονται. χάρις οὖν τῷ Κυρίῳ τῷ παρακαλέσαντι ἡμῶν τὰς καρδίας ἐν τῷ δεῖξαι ὅτι οὐκ ἐν πᾶσι κατέψυκται ἡ ἀγάπη, ἀλλʼ εἰσί που τῆς οἰκουμένης οἱ τῆς Χριστοῦ μαθητείας τὸν χαρακτῆρα δεικνύντες. καὶ τοίνυν ἔδοξέ μοι τὸ καθʼ ὑμᾶς ἐοικέναι πρᾶγμα ἄστροις ἐν νυκτερινῇ συναφείᾳ· ἄλλοις κατʼ ἄλλα μέρη τοῦ οὐρανοῦ διαλάμπουσιν, ὧν χαρίεσσα μὲν ἡ λαμπρότης, χαριέστερον δὲ δήπου τὸ ἀπροσδόκητον. τοιοῦτοι δὲ καὶ ὑμεῖς οἱ τῶν ἐκκλησιῶν φωστῆρες, ὀλίγοι παντελῶς καὶ εὐαρίθμητοι ἐν τῇ σκυθρωπῇ ταύτῃ καταστάσει, οἷον ἐν σκοτομήνῃ διαφαινόμενοι, πρὸς τῷ ἐκ τῆς ἀρετῆς χαρίεντι, ἔτι καὶ τῷ σπανίῳ τῆς εὑρέσεως τὸ περιπόθητον ἔχοντες. Ἐγνώρισε δέ σου τὴν διάθεσιν ἡμῖν τὸ γράμμα αὐτάρκως. εἰ γὰρ καὶ μικρὸν ἦν τῷ πλήθει τῶν συλλαβῶν, ἀλλὰ τῇ γε ὀρθότητι τῆς διανοίας ἀρκοῦσαν ἡμῖν τῆς προαιρέσεως τὴν ἀπόδειξιν ἔδωκε. τὸ γὰρ περὶ τὸν μακαριώτατον Ἀθανάσιον ἐσπουδακέναι δεῖγμα ἐναργέστατον τοῦ ὑγιῶς ἔχειν περὶ τὰ μέγιστα. ἀντὶ οὖν τῆς ἐπὶ τοῖς γράμμασιν εὐφροσύνης πολλὴν οἴδαμεν χάριν τῷ τιμιωτάτῳ υἱῷ ἡμῶν Εὐφημίῳ· ᾧ καὶ αὐτὸς εὔχομαι πᾶσαν ὑπάρχειν βοήθειαν ἐξ ἁγίου· καὶ σὲ συνεύχεσθαι ἡμῖν παρακαλῶ, ὅπως ἂν ἀπολάβοιμεν αὐτὸν ἐν τάχει μετὰ τῆς κοσμιωτάτης ὁμόζυγος αὐτοῦ, θυγατρὸς δὲ ἡμῶν ἐν Κυρίῳ. παρακλήθητι δὲ καὶ αὐτὸς μὴ ἐν προοιμίοις ἡμῖν στῆσαι τὴν εὐφροσύνην, ἀλλὰ διὰ τῆς ἀεὶ παραπιπτούσης προφάσεως ἐπιστέλλειν καὶ τὴν πρὸς ἡμᾶς διάθεσιν τῷ πυκνῷ τῆς ὁμιλίας αὔξειν, καὶ τὰ περὶ τῶν αὐτοῦ ἐκκλησιῶν, ὅπως ἔχει κατὰ τὴν συμφωνίαν, σημαίνειν· περὶ δὲ τῶν ἐνταῦθα προσεύχεσθαι, ὥστε γενέσθαι καὶ παρʼ ἡμῖν γαλήνην μεγάλην, ἐπιτιμήσαντος τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν τῷ ἀνέμῳ καὶ τῇ θαλάσσῃ.