Letter 91: Thanks be to the Lord, Who has permitted me to see in your unstained life the fruit of primitive love. Far apart as you are in body, you have united yourself to me by writing; you have embraced me with spiritual and holy longing; you have implanted unspeakable affection in my soul. Now I have realized the force of the proverb, As cold water is t...

Valerianus [Bishop in Illyricum, a Roman province covering modern-day Balkans], Thank God I've been able to see in your life the kind of genuine love that the early church was known for. We may be far apart, but your letter bridged that distance — it was like a spiritual embrace, and it planted a deep affection in me. I finally understand the proverb: "Like cold water to a parched throat, so is good news from a distant land." Brother, I am truly starving for this kind of connection. You can probably guess why — wickedness keeps spreading and most people's love has gone cold. That's what makes your letter so precious. I'm sending this reply with our brother Sabinus. Through him, I'm introducing myself to you properly, and I'm asking one thing: please pray for us. Pray that God will bring some calm to the church here — that he'll rebuke the wind and waves the way he did on the Sea of Galilee — because we're caught in a storm and feel like we could go under at any moment. But even in this crisis, God has given us one enormous gift: hearing that your churches are unified and that sound doctrine is being preached freely among you with no interference. That matters more than you know. Because unless the world is already ending — and there are still days of human life ahead — it will be through you in the West that the faith gets renewed here in the East. You'll be repaying us for the gospel we once brought to you. The faithful remnant here, the ones who hold to the true faith of our fathers, are badly wounded. The devil has been clever, using all kinds of subtle attacks to fragment us. But with the prayers of people like you who love the Lord, may the wicked heresy of Arianism [the teaching that denied Christ was fully and equally God with the Father] be snuffed out. May the good teaching of the Nicene fathers [the bishops who met at the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD and affirmed the full divinity of Christ] shine again — so that glory is rightly given to the blessed Trinity, just as we confess in our baptism.

ST. BASIL OF CAESAREA To Valerianus, Bishop of Illyricum. Thanks be to the Lord, Who has permitted me to see in your unstained life the fruit of primitive love. Far apart as you are in body, you have united yourself to me by writing; you have embraced me with spiritual and holy longing; you have implanted unspeakable affection in my soul. Now I have realized the force of the proverb, As cold water is to a thirsty soul so is good news from a far country. Proverbs 5:25 Honoured brother, I really hunger for affection. The cause is not far to seek, for iniquity is multiplied and the love of many has grown cold. For this reason your letter is precious to me, and I am replying by our reverend brother Sabinus. By him I make myself known to you, and beseech you to be watchful in prayers on our behalf, that God may one day grant calm and quiet to the Church here, and rebuke this wind and sea, that so we may be freed from the storm and agitation in which we are now every moment expecting to be submerged. But in these our troubles one great boon has God given us in hearing that you are in exact agreement and unity with one another, and that the doctrines of true religion are preached among you without let or hindrance. For at some time or other, unless the period of this world is not already concluded, and if there yet remain days of human life, it must needs be that by your means the faith must be renewed in the East and that in due season you recompense her for the blessings which she has given you. The sound part among us here, which preserves the true religion of the Fathers, is sore stricken, and the devil in his wiliness has shattered it by many and various subtle assaults. But, by the help of the prayers of you who love the Lord, may the wicked and deceitful heresy of the Arian error be quenched; may the good teaching of the Fathers, who met at Nicæa, shine forth; so that the ascription of glory may be rendered to the blessed Trinity in the terms of the baptism of salvation.

[Πρός: Οὐαλεριανῷ, ἐπισκόπῳ Ἰλλυριῶν] Χάρις τῷ Κυρίῳ, τῷ δόντι ἡμῖν ἀρχαίας ἀγάπης καρπὸν ἰδεῖν ἐν τῇ σῇ καθαρότητι, ὅς γε τοσοῦτον διεστὼς τῷ σώματι, συνῆψας ἡμῖν σεαυτὸν διὰ γράμματος, καὶ τῷ πνευματικῷ σου καὶ ἁγίῳ πόθῳ περιπτυξάμενος ἡμᾶς, ἀμύθητόν τι φίλτρον ταῖς ψυχαῖς ἡμῶν ἐνεποίησας. ἔργῳ γὰρ ἐμάθομεν τῆς παροιμίας τὴν δύναμιν, ὅτι Ὥσπερ ψυχῇ διψώσῃ ψυχρὸν ὕδωρ, οὕτως ἀγγελία ἀγαθὴ ἐκ γῆς μακρόθεν. Δεινὸς γάρ ἐστι παρʼ ἡμῖν λιμὸς ἀγάπης, ἀδελφὲ τιμιώτατε. καὶ ἡ αἰτία πρόδηλος, ὅτι διὰ τὸ πληθυνθῆναι τὴν ἀνομίαν ἐψύγη τῶν πολλῶν ἡ ἀγάπη. διὰ τοῦτο καὶ πολλοῦ ἄξιον ἡμῖν ἐφάνη τὸ γράμμα, καὶ ἀμειβόμεθά σε διὰ τοῦ αὐτοῦ ἀνδρὸς τοῦ εὐλαβεστάτου συνδιακόνου ἡμῶν καὶ ἀδελφοῦ Σαβίνου· δι’ οὗ καὶ γνωρίζομέν σοι ἑαυτούς καὶ παρακαλοῦμέν σε ἐπαγρυπνεῖν ταῖς ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν προσευχαῖς, ἵνα δῷ ποτὲ ὁ ἅγιος Θεὸς καὶ τοῖς ἐνταῦθα πράγμασι γαλήνην καὶ ἡσυχίαν, καὶ ἐπιτιμήσῃ τῷ ἀνέμῳ τούτῳ καὶ τῇ θαλάσσῃ, ὥστε παύσασθαι ἡμᾶς τοῦ σάλου καὶ τῆς ἀνατροπῆς, ἐν ᾗ νῦν καθεστήκαμεν, ἀεὶ καταποντισθήσεσθαι παντελῶς ἀναμένοντες. Ἀλλὰ τοῦτο μεγάλως ἐν τοῖς παροῦσιν ὁ Κύριος ἡμῖν ἐχαρίσατο, τὸ ὑμᾶς ἀκούειν ἐν ἀκριβεῖ συμφωνίᾳ καὶ ἑνότητι εἶναι πρὸς ἀλλήλους, καὶ ἀκωλύτως παρʼ ὑμῖν τὸ κήρυγμα τῆς εὐσεβείας περιαγγέλλεσθαι. ὁτεδήποτε γὰρ (εἴπερ μὴ συγκέκλεισται λοιπὸν ὁ χρόνος τοῦ κόσμου τούτου, ἀλλʼ ἔτι ἡμέραι τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης ζωῆς ὑπολείπονται) ἀνάγκη παρʼ ὑμῶν ἀνανεωθῆναι τὴν πίστιν τῇ ἀνατολῇ, καὶ ὧν ἐλάβετε παρʼ αὐτῆς ἀγαθῶν, τούτων ἐν καιρῷ παρασχέσθαι αὐτῇ τὴν ἀντίδοσιν. τὸ γὰρ ὑγιαῖνον ἐνταῦθα μέρος καὶ τὴν τῶν πατέρων εὐσέβειαν ἐκδικοῦν ἱκανῶς κέκμηκε, πολλαῖς καὶ ποικίλαις μηχανημάτων προσβολαῖς ἐν τῇ ἑαυτοῦ μεθοδείᾳ τοῦ διαβόλου αὐτὸ κατασείσαντος. ἀλλʼ εὐχαῖς ὑμετέραις τῶν ἀγαπώντων τὸν Κύριον σβεσθείη μὲν ἡ πονηρὰ καὶ λαοπλάνος αἵρεσις τῆς Ἀρείου κακοδοξίας· ἀναλάμψειε δὲ ἡ ἀγαθὴ τῶν πατέρων ἡμῶν διδασκαλία τῶν συνελθόντων κατὰ τὴν Νίκαιαν, ὥστε σύμφωνον τῷ σωτηρίῳ βαπτίσματι τὴν δοξολογίαν ἀποπληροῦσθαι τῇ μακαρίᾳ Τριάδι.