Letter 181: Your reverence is, I know, no less distressed than myself at the removal of the very God-beloved bishop Eusebius. We both of us need comfort. Let us try to give it to one another.
Basil of Caesarea→Otreius, of Melitene|c. 367 AD|basil caesarea
arianismimperial politics
From: Basil, Bishop of Caesarea
To: Otreius, Bishop of Melitene
Date: ~367 AD
Context: Basil writes to a fellow bishop about the exile of their mutual friend Bishop Eusebius of Samosata, proposing they exchange intelligence and comfort each other with news.
Your reverence is, I know, no less distressed than I am at the removal of our deeply beloved bishop Eusebius [Eusebius of Samosata, exiled by the Arian emperor Valens for his staunch Nicene faith]. We both need comfort. Let us try to give it to each other.
You write to me whatever you hear from Samosata, and I will report to you anything I learn from Thrace.
It is no small relief in our present distress to know of the constancy of his people. It will be the same for you to have news of our common father. I cannot, of course, put everything in a letter, but I commend to you the man who carries this -- he is fully informed and will tell you in what condition he left Eusebius, and how he bears his troubles.
Pray for him, and for me, that the Lord will grant him a swift release from his suffering.
ST. BASIL OF CAESAREA
To Otreius, bishop of Melitene.
Your reverence is, I know, no less distressed than myself at the removal of the very God-beloved bishop Eusebius. We both of us need comfort. Let us try to give it to one another. Do you write to me what you hear from Samosata, and I will report to you anything that I may learn from Thrace.
It is to me no slight alleviation of our present distress to know the constancy of the people. It will be the same to you to have news of our common father. Of course I cannot now tell you this by letter, but I commend to you one who is fully informed, and will report to you in what condition he left him, and how he bears his troubles. Pray, then, for him and for me that the Lord will grant him speedy release from his distress.
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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/3202181.htm>.
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From:Basil, Bishop of Caesarea
To:Otreius, Bishop of Melitene
Date:~367 AD
Context:Basil writes to a fellow bishop about the exile of their mutual friend Bishop Eusebius of Samosata, proposing they exchange intelligence and comfort each other with news.
Your reverence is, I know, no less distressed than I am at the removal of our deeply beloved bishop Eusebius [Eusebius of Samosata, exiled by the Arian emperor Valens for his staunch Nicene faith]. We both need comfort. Let us try to give it to each other.
You write to me whatever you hear from Samosata, and I will report to you anything I learn from Thrace.
It is no small relief in our present distress to know of the constancy of his people. It will be the same for you to have news of our common father. I cannot, of course, put everything in a letter, but I commend to you the man who carries this -- he is fully informed and will tell you in what condition he left Eusebius, and how he bears his troubles.
Pray for him, and for me, that the Lord will grant him a swift release from his suffering.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.