Letter 157: You may well imagine how disappointed I was not to meet you in the summer; not that our meeting in former years was enough to satisfy me, but even to see loved objects in a dream brings those who love some comfort. But you do not even write, so sluggish are you, and I think your absence can be referred to no other cause than that you are slow to...
Basil of Caesarea→Amiochus|c. 366 AD|basil caesarea
Travel & mobility; Personal friendship; Miracles & relics
From: Basil, Bishop of Caesarea
To: Antiochus
Date: ~366 AD
Context: A short, affectionate complaint to a friend who has been neglecting to write or visit.
You can imagine how disappointed I was not to see you this past summer. Not that our meetings in previous years ever quite satisfied me -- but even seeing the people we love in a dream brings some comfort to those who miss them.
Yet you don't even write. You really are that sluggish. I can only conclude that you're simply too lazy to make a journey for friendship's sake. But I'll say no more on that point.
Pray for me. Ask the Lord not to abandon me, but just as he has brought me through past trials, to deliver me from whatever lies ahead -- for the glory of the name in which I place my trust.
ST. BASIL OF CAESAREA
To Amiochus.
You may well imagine how disappointed I was not to meet you in the summer; not that our meeting in former years was enough to satisfy me, but even to see loved objects in a dream brings those who love some comfort. But you do not even write, so sluggish are you, and I think your absence can be referred to no other cause than that you are slow to undertake journeys for affection's sake. On this point I will say no more. Pray for me, and ask the Lord not to desert me, but as He has brought me out of bygone temptations so also to deliver me from those that I await, for the glory of the name of Him in Whom I put my trust.
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Source. Translated by Blomfield Jackson. From Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, Vol. 8. Edited by Philip Schaff and Henry Wace. (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1895.) Revised and edited for New Advent by Kevin Knight. <https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/3202157.htm>.
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From:Basil, Bishop of Caesarea
To:Antiochus
Date:~366 AD
Context:A short, affectionate complaint to a friend who has been neglecting to write or visit.
You can imagine how disappointed I was not to see you this past summer. Not that our meetings in previous years ever quite satisfied me -- but even seeing the people we love in a dream brings some comfort to those who miss them.
Yet you don't even write. You really are that sluggish. I can only conclude that you're simply too lazy to make a journey for friendship's sake. But I'll say no more on that point.
Pray for me. Ask the Lord not to abandon me, but just as he has brought me through past trials, to deliver me from whatever lies ahead -- for the glory of the name in which I place my trust.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.