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...
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.
Human translation — New Advent (NPNF / ANF series)
Latin / Greek Original
[Πρός: Ἀντιόχῳ]
Πῶς οἴει βαρέως ἤνεγκα διαμαρτών σου τῆς συντυχίας κατὰ τὸ θέρος; καίτοι οὐδὲ ἡ τῶν ἄλλων τοιαύτη γέγονεν, ὥστε μέχρι κόρου ἡμῖν προελθεῖν· ἀλλʼ οὖν καὶ ὄναρ ἰδεῖν τὰ ποθούμενα φέρει τινὰ τοῖς ἀγαπῶσι παραμυθίαν. σὺ δὲ οὐδὲ ἐπιστέλλεις, οὕτως ἀργὸς εἶ, ὥστε μηδὲ τὴν ὑπόλειψιν ἄλλῃ τινὶ αἰτίᾳ μᾶλλον ἢ τῷ ἀργῶς ἔχειν πρὸς τὰς ὑπὲρ τῆς ἀγάπης ἀποδημίας λογίζεσθαι. ἀλλὰ τοῦτο μὲν πεπαύσθω ἡμῖν. εὔχου δὲ ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν καὶ παρακάλει τὸν Κύριον μὴ ἐγκαταλιπεῖν ἡμᾶς, ἀλλʼ ὡς ἐκ τῶν ἐπελθόντων παρήγαγεν ἡμᾶς πειρασμῶν, οὕτω καὶ ἐκ τῶν προσδοκωμένων ῥύσασθαι εἰς δόξαν τοῦ ὀνόματος αὐτοῦ, ἐφʼ ᾧ ἠλπίσαμεν.
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