Letter 254: May the Lord grant me once again in person to behold your true piety and to supply in actual intercourse all that is wanting in my letter. I am behindhand in beginning to write and must needs make many excuses. But we have with us the well beloved and reverend brother Sanctissimus, the presbyter.

May the Lord grant me to see you again in person and to supply through our meeting everything that is lacking in this letter. I am late in writing and owe you many apologies. But we have with us the beloved and reverend brother Sanctissimus the presbyter. He will tell you everything -- both our news and the news from the West. What you hear will cheer you. But when he describes the troubles in which we are involved, he may add fresh distress to the anxiety that already weighs on your kind heart. Yet your affliction on our behalf is not wasted -- you are a man able to move the Lord. Your concern will turn to our benefit, and I know we will receive help from God for as long as we have the support of your prayers. Pray with me for relief from my troubles, and ask for some increase in my bodily strength. Then the Lord may speed me on my way to the fulfillment of my desires -- and to a meeting with you.

ST. BASIL OF CAESAREA To Pelagius, bishop of the Syrian Laodicea. May the Lord grant me once again in person to behold your true piety and to supply in actual intercourse all that is wanting in my letter. I am behindhand in beginning to write and must needs make many excuses. But we have with us the well beloved and reverend brother Sanctissimus, the presbyter. He will tell you everything, both our news and the news of the West. You will be cheered by what you hear; but when he tells you of the troubles in which we are involved he will perhaps add some distress and anxiety to that which already besets your kindly soul. Yet it is not to no purpose that affliction should be felt by you, able as you are to move the Lord. Your anxiety will turn to our gain, and I know that we shall receive succour from God as long as we have the aid of your prayers. Pray, too, with me for release from my anxieties, and ask for some increase in my bodily strength; then the Lord will prosper me on my way to the fulfilment of my desires and to a sight of your excellency.

[Πρός: Πελαγίῳ, ἐπισκόπῳ Λαοδικείας Συρίας] Παράσχοι ὁ Κύριός ποτε καὶ αὐτῷ μοι εἰς ὄψιν ἐλθεῖν τῇ ἀληθινῇ σου θεοσεβείᾳ, καὶ ὅσα ἐνελίπομεν τῷ γράμματι ταῦτα ἀναπληρῶσαι ἡμᾶς τῇ παρουσίᾳ. ὀψὲ γὰρ τοῦ γράφειν ἠρξάμεθα, καὶ πολλὴ ἡμῖν τῆς ἀπολογίας χρεία. ἐπειδὴ δὲ πάρεστιν ὁ ποθεινότατος καὶ εὐλαβέστατος ἀδελφὸς Σαγκτίσσιμος ὁ συμπρεσβύτερος, αὐτὸς πάντα διηγήσεταί σοι, τά τε ἡμέτερα καὶ τὰ ἀπὸ τῆς δύσεως. καὶ ἐπʼ ἐκείνοις μὴν εὐφρανεῖ, τὰς δὲ ἡμᾶς κατασχούσας ταραχὰς εἰπών, ἴσως προσθήσει τινὰ λύπην καὶ φροντίδα τοῖς ἤδη ἐναποκειμένοις τῇ ἀγαθῇ σου καρδίᾳ. οὐ μὴν ἄχρηστον τὸ λυπεῖσθαι ὑμᾶς τοὺς δυναμένους δυσωπεῖν τὸν Κύριον. εἰς δέον γὰρ ἡμῖν ἀποβήσεται ἡ ὑμετέρα μέριμνα, καὶ οἶδα ὅτι τευξόμεθα τῆς παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀντιλήψεως, ἔχοντες τὴν παρὰ τῶν προσευχῶν ὑμῶν συνεργίαν. ἐὰν δὲ συνεύξῃ ἡμῖν ἀπαλλαγὴν τῶν φροντίδων, καὶ προσθήκην τινὰ τῇ δυνάμει τοῦ σώματος ἡμῶν αἰτήσῃ, κατευοδώσει ἡμᾶς ὁ Κύριος πρὸς τὸ τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν ἡμῖν ἐκπληρωθῆναι, καὶ εἰς ὄψιν ἐλθεῖν τῇ κοσμιότητί σου.