Letter 165: God has fulfilled my old prayer in deigning to allow me to receive the letter of your veritable holiness. What I most of all desire is to see you and to be seen by you, and to enjoy in actual intercourse all the graces of the Spirit with which you are endowed. This, however, is impossible, both on account of the distance which separates us, and ...

God has answered an old prayer of mine in allowing me to receive a letter from your true holiness. What I desire most of all is to see you and be seen by you, and to enjoy in person all the graces of the Spirit with which you are endowed. But this is impossible, both because of the distance between us and the demands pressing upon each of us. So my second prayer is that my soul may be nourished by frequent letters from you in Christ's love. And this has now been granted. Taking your letter in my hands, I was doubly delighted. I felt as though I could see your very soul shining through your words as in a mirror, and I was moved to great joy -- not only because you prove to be everything people say of you, but because your noble qualities are an ornament to my own country. You have filled the land beyond our borders with spiritual fruit, like a vigorous branch sprung from a glorious root. Rightly, then, does our homeland rejoice in her own offspring. When you were fighting for the faith she heard that the heritage of the Fathers was preserved in you, and she glorified God. And now see what you have done: you have honored the land that gave you birth by sending her a martyr who has just fought his good fight in the barbarian country on your borders -- like a grateful gardener sending his first fruits back to those who gave him the seeds. The gift is truly worthy of Christ's athlete: a witness to the truth, just crowned with the crown of righteousness, whom we have gladly welcomed, glorifying God who has now fulfilled the gospel of his Christ in all the world. Remember me in your prayers, and earnestly beseech the Lord on my soul's behalf that one day I too may be found worthy to begin truly serving God according to his commandments.

ST. BASIL OF CAESAREA To Ascholius, bishop of Thessalonica. God has fulfilled my old prayer in deigning to allow me to receive the letter of your veritable holiness. What I most of all desire is to see you and to be seen by you, and to enjoy in actual intercourse all the graces of the Spirit with which you are endowed. This, however, is impossible, both on account of the distance which separates us, and the engrossing occupations of each of us. I therefore pray, in the second place, that my soul may be fed by frequent letters from your love in Christ. This has now been granted me on taking your epistle into my hands. I have been doubly delighted at the enjoyment of your communication. I felt as though I could really see your very soul shining in your words as in some mirror; and I was moved to exceeding joy, not only at your proving to be what all testimony says of you, but that your noble qualities are the ornament of my country. You have filled the country beyond our borders with spiritual fruits, like some vigorous branch sprung from a glorious root. Rightly, then, does our country rejoice in her own offshoots. When you were engaging in conflicts for the Faith she heard that the goodly heritage of the Fathers was preserved in you, and she glorified God. And now what are you about? You have honoured the land that gave you birth by sending her a martyr who has just fought a good fight in the barbarian country on your borders, just as a grateful gardener might send his first fruits to those who had given him the seeds. Verily the gift is worthy of Christ's athlete, a martyr of the truth just crowned with the crown of righteousness, whom we have gladly welcomed, glorifying God who has now fulfilled the gospel of His Christ in all the world. Let me ask you to remember in your prayers me who love you, and for my soul's sake earnestly to beseech the Lord that one day I, too, may be deemed worthy to begin to serve God, according to the way of His commandments which He has given us to salvation.

[Πρός: Ἀσχολίῳ, ἐπισκόπῳ Θεσσαλονίκης] Παλαιὰν ἡμῖν εὐχὴν ὁ ἅγιος Θεὸς ἐξεπλήρωσε, καταξιώσας ἡμᾶς γράμμασι τῆς ἀληθινῆς σου θεοσεβείας ἐντυχεῖν. τὸ μὲν γὰρ μέγιστον καὶ τῆς μεγίστης σπουδῆς ἄξιον αὐτόν σε ἰδεῖν καὶ ὀφθῆναί σοι, καὶ τῶν ἐν σοὶ τοῦ Πνεύματος χαρισμάτων δι’ ἑαυτῶν ἀπολαῦσαι· ἐπειδὴ δὲ τοῦτο ἥ τε τοῦ τόπου διάστασις ἀφαιρεῖται, καὶ αἱ ἰδίᾳ ἑκάτερον ἡμῶν κατέχουσαι περιστάσεις, δευτέρας εὐχῆς ἄξιον γράμμασι συνεχέσι τῆς ἐν Χριστῷ σου ἀγάπης τρέφεσθαι τὴν ψυχήν. ὃ καὶ νῦν ἡμῖν ὑπῆρξεν, ὅτε ἐλάβομεν εἰς χεῖρας τὴν ἐπιστολὴν τῆς συνέσεώς σου· πλέον γὰρ ἢ διπλασίους ἐγενόμεθα τῇ ἀπολαύσει τῶν ἐπεσταλμένων. καὶ γὰρ ἦν τῷ ὄντι καὶ αὐτήν σου καθορᾷν τὴν ψυχήν, οἷον δι’ ἐσόπτρου τινὸς τῶν λόγων διαφαινομένην. πολυπλασίονα δὲ ἡμῖν τὴν εὐφροσύνην ἐποίει οὐ μόνον τὸ τοιοῦτον εἶναί σε ὁποῖον ἡ πάντων μαρτυρία παρίστησιν, ἀλλʼ ὅτι τὰ ἐν σοὶ καλὰ τῆς πατρίδος ἡμῶν ἐστὶ σεμνολογήματα. οἷον γὰρ εὐθαλής τις κλάδος ῥίζης γενναίας ἀφορμηθεὶς τῶν πνευματικῶν καρπῶν τὴν ὑπερορίαν ἐνέπλησας. ὥστε εἰκότως ἡ πατρὶς ἡμῶν τοῖς οἰκείοις βλαστήμασιν ἐπαγάλλεται. καὶ ἡνίκα τοὺς ὑπὲρ τῆς πίστεως ἀγῶνας διήθλεις, ἐδόξαζε τὸν Θεόν, ἀκούουσα τὴν τῶν πατέρων ἀγαθὴν κληρονομίαν διαφυλαττομένην ἔν σοι. Οἷα δέ σου καὶ τὰ παρόντα; μάρτυρι, νέον ἀθλήσαντι ἐπὶ τῆς γείτονος ὑμῖν βαρβάρου, τὴν ἐνεγκοῦσαν ἐτίμησας, οἷόν τις εὐγνώμων γεωργὸς τοῖς παρασχομένοις τὰ σπέρματα τὰς ἀπαρχὰς τῶν καρπῶν ἀποπέμπων. ὄντως πρέποντα ἀθλητῇ Χριστοῦ τὰ δῶρα· μάρτυς τῆς ἀληθείας ἄρτι τὸν τῆς δικαιοσύνης ἀναδησάμενος στέφανον· ὃν καὶ ὑπεδεξάμεθα χαίροντες, καὶ ἐδοξάσαμεν τὸν Θεὸν τὸν ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς ἔθνεσι πληρώσαντα λοιπὸν τὸ εὐαγγέλιον τοῦ Χριστοῦ αὐτοῦ. παρακέκλησο δὲ καὶ ἡμῶν τῶν ἀγαπώντων σε μεμνῆσθαι ἐν ταῖς προσευχαῖς, καὶ σπουδαίως ὑπὲρ τῶν ψυχῶν ἡμῶν προσεύχεσθαι τῷ Κυρίῳ, ἵνα καταξιωθῶμέν ποτε ἄρξασθαι καὶ αὐτοὶ δουλεύειν τῷ Θεῷ κατὰ τὴν ὁδὸν τῶν ἐντολῶν αὐτοῦ, ἃς ἔδωκεν ἡμῖν εἰς σωτηρίαν.