Letter 57: If your holiness only knew the greatness of the happiness you cause me whenever you write to me, I know that you would never have let slip any opportunity of sending me a letter; nay, you would have written me many letters on each occasion, knowing the reward that is kept in store by our loving Lord for the consolation of the afflicted. Everythi...
To Meletius, Bishop of Antioch.
If your holiness would condescend to accept a word from me — and I say this with all the deference owed to your position and your sufferings — I believe the time has come to take a decisive step toward reuniting the faithful in Antioch. The division there has gone on long enough. It demoralizes our people, delights our enemies, and creates a scandal visible to the whole Christian world.
I know the obstacles. The personal resentments run deep, and each faction believes it is in the right. But someone must take the first step, and who better than the man whose orthodoxy no one questions and whose pastoral heart is known to all?
I am writing simultaneously to others who share our concern, and I hope we may coordinate our efforts. But the initiative must come from Antioch itself, and from you above all. I commend the matter to your prayers and your wisdom, confident that the same God who preserved your faith under persecution will guide you now in the harder work of reconciliation.
Human translation — New Advent (NPNF / ANF series)
Latin / Greek Original
[Πρός: Μελετίῳ, ἐπισκόπῳ Ἀντιοχείας.]
Εἴ πως ἐγένετο φανερὸν τῇ θεοσεβείᾳ σου τῆς εὐφροσύνης τὸ μέγεθος, ἣν ἐμποιεῖς ἡμῖν ὁσάκις ἂν ἐπιστέλλῃς, οἶδα ὅτι οὐκ ἄν ποτε παραπεσοῦσαν γραμμάτων πρόφασιν ὑπερέβης· ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐπενόησας ἂν πολλὰς ἡμῖν ποιεῖν ἑκάστοτε τὰς ἐπιστολάς, γνωρίζων τὸν ἐπὶ τῇ ἀναπαύσει τῶν θλιβομένων παρὰ τοῦ φιλανθρώπου Δεσπότου μισθὸν ἀποκείμενον. πάντα γὰρ ὀδύνης τὰ τῇδε πεπλήρωται, καὶ μόνη ἡμῖν ἐστιν ἀποστροφὴ τῶν δεινῶν ἡ τῆς σῆς ὁσιότητος ἔννοια· ἣν ἐναργεστέραν ἡμῖν ἐμποιεῖ ἡ διὰ τῶν πάσης σοφίας καὶ χάριτος πεπληρωμένων γραμμάτων σου ὁμιλία. ὥστε ὅταν λάβωμεν εἰς χεῖρας τὴν ἐπιστολήν σου, πρῶτον μὲν τὸ μέτρον αὐτῆς ἐπισκοποῦμεν, καὶ τοσοῦτον αὐτὴν ἀγαπῶμεν, ὅσῳπερ ἂν περισσεύῃ τῷ πλήθει. ἔπειτα διεξίοντες, τῷ μὲν ἀεὶ προστυγχάνοντι τοῦ λόγου χαίρομεν, τῷ τέλει δὲ τῆς ἐπιστολῆς προσεγγίζοντες, δυσχεραίνομεν. οὕτω πᾶν ὅτιπερ ἂν εἴπῃς τοῖς γράμμασιν ἔνεστιν ἀγαθόν. ἀπὸ γὰρ ἀγαθῆς καρδίας ἀγαθόν ἐστι τὸ περισσεῦον.
Εἰ δὲ καταξιωθείημεν ταῖς σαῖς προσευχαῖς, ἕως ἐσμὲν ἐπὶ γῆς, καὶ τῆς κατʼ ὀφθαλμοὺς συντυχίας, καὶ παρʼ αὐτῆς τῆς ζώσης φωνῆς λαβεῖν ὠφέλιμα διδάγματα, ἢ ἐφόδια πρός τε τὸν ἐνεστῶτα αἰῶνα καὶ τὸν μέλλοντα, τοῦτο ἂν μέγιστον τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἐκρίναμεν, καὶ προοίμιον τῆς παρὰ Θεοῦ εὐμενείας ἑαυτοῖς ἐτιθέμεθα. καὶ ἤδη γε τῆς ὁρμῆς εἰχόμεθα ταύτης, εἰ μὴ οἱ γνησιώτατοι καὶ τὰ πάντα φιλάδελφοι ἀδελφοὶ ἐπέσχον ἡμᾶς, ὧν ἵνα μὴ γράμμασι δημοσιεύσω τὴν προαίρεσιν, διηγησάμην τῷ ἀδελφῷ Θεοφράστῳ τῇ σῇ τελειότητι τὰ καθʼ ἕκαστον ἀπαγγεῖλαι.
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