Letter 176: God grant that when this letter is put into your hands, it may find you in good health, quite at leisure, and as you would wish to be. For then it will not be in vain that I send you this invitation to be present at our city, to add greater dignity to the annual festival which it is the custom of our Church to hold in honour of the martyrs. For ...
Basil of Caesarea→Amphilochius, of Iconium|c. 367 AD|basil caesarea
friendshiptravel mobility
Persecution or exile; Travel & mobility
From: Basil, Bishop of Caesarea
To: Amphilochius, Bishop of Iconium
Date: ~367 AD
Context: Basil invites Amphilochius to Caesarea for the annual festival honoring the martyrs, asking him to come a few days early so they can talk at leisure.
God grant that when this letter reaches your hands, it finds you healthy, at leisure, and just as you would wish to be -- for then my invitation will not be in vain.
I am asking you to come to our city, to add greater dignity to the annual festival our church holds in honor of the martyrs. Let me assure you, my most honored and dear friend, that although our people here have experienced many visitors, they desire no one's presence as eagerly as yours. The brief time you spent with them has left a remarkably warm impression.
So then -- that the Lord may be glorified, the people delighted, the martyrs honored, and that I in my old age may receive the attention due me from my true son -- do not refuse to come with all speed. I would ask you to arrive three days before the assembly, on September 5th, so that we may have time to talk at leisure and comfort one another by sharing spiritual gifts.
Please also honor with your presence the church at the Hospital [Basil's famous charitable institution, the Basiliad, which included a hospital, hospice, and church].
May you be kept in good health and good spirits by the grace of the Lord, praying for me and for the Church of God.
ST. BASIL OF CAESAREA
To Amphilochius, Bishop of Iconium.
God grant that when this letter is put into your hands, it may find you in good health, quite at leisure, and as you would wish to be. For then it will not be in vain that I send you this invitation to be present at our city, to add greater dignity to the annual festival which it is the custom of our Church to hold in honour of the martyrs. For be sure my most honoured and dear friend, that our people here, though they have had experience of many, desire no one's presence so eagerly as they do yours; so affectionate an impression has your short intercourse with them left behind. So, then, that the Lord may be glorified, the people delighted, the martyrs honoured, and that I in my old age may receive the attention due to me from my true son, do not refuse to travel to me with all speed. I will beg you too to anticipate the day of assembly, that so we may converse at leisure and may comfort one another by the interchange of spiritual gifts. The day is the fifth of September. Come then three days beforehand in order that you may also honour with your presence the Church of the Hospital. May you by the grace of the Lord be kept in good health and spirits in the Lord, praying for me and for the Church of God.
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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/3202176.htm>.
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From:Basil, Bishop of Caesarea
To:Amphilochius, Bishop of Iconium
Date:~367 AD
Context:Basil invites Amphilochius to Caesarea for the annual festival honoring the martyrs, asking him to come a few days early so they can talk at leisure.
God grant that when this letter reaches your hands, it finds you healthy, at leisure, and just as you would wish to be -- for then my invitation will not be in vain.
I am asking you to come to our city, to add greater dignity to the annual festival our church holds in honor of the martyrs. Let me assure you, my most honored and dear friend, that although our people here have experienced many visitors, they desire no one's presence as eagerly as yours. The brief time you spent with them has left a remarkably warm impression.
So then -- that the Lord may be glorified, the people delighted, the martyrs honored, and that I in my old age may receive the attention due me from my true son -- do not refuse to come with all speed. I would ask you to arrive three days before the assembly, on September 5th, so that we may have time to talk at leisure and comfort one another by sharing spiritual gifts.
Please also honor with your presence the church at the Hospital [Basil's famous charitable institution, the Basiliad, which included a hospital, hospice, and church].
May you be kept in good health and good spirits by the grace of the Lord, praying for me and for the Church of God.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.