Letter 108: Chrysostom tells Urbicius that genuine love is not dimmed by time or the dangers around Cucusus.

John ChrysostomUrbicius, bishop and correspondent of John Chrysostom|c. 405 AD|John Chrysostom|From Cucusus (modern Goksun), Armenia Secunda|AI-assisted
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PG 52 Epistulae source-specific import; English is a new modern rendering from Greek.

Although a long time has passed since I met your Reverence, I have not grown careless in loving you. Genuine love is not withered by time or dimmed by difficult affairs; it remains continually in bloom.

So even though we have been caught in many troubles and carried to the farthest wilderness, even though we live in constant fear of the bandits and under a strange kind of siege, with Cucusus surrounded every day because the Isaurians have blocked the roads, none of this has made us neglect your Reverence. We write, offer the greeting we owe, and ask you, if it is not burdensome, to write to us as well. Letters from one who loves us so sincerely will give us great pleasure and let us imagine your presence.

AI-assisted translation - This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek below for scholarly use.

Latin / Greek Original

ΡΗʹ. Οὐρβικίῳ ἐπισκόπῳ.

Εἰ καὶ πολὺν ἔχω χρόνον μὴ συγγενόμενός σου τῇ εὐλαβείᾳ, ἀλλ' οὐδὲν ἐντεῦθεν ῥᾳθυμότερος περὶ τὸ φιλεῖν γέγονα. Τοιαύτη γὰρ τῆς γνησίας ἀγάπης ἡ φύσις· οὐ χρόνῳ μακρῷ μαραίνεται, οὐ δυσκολίᾳ πραγμάτων ἀμαυροῦται, ἀλλὰ μένει διηνεκῶς ἀκμάζουσα. ∆ιὸ δὴ καὶ ἡμεῖς, καὶ ἐν πολλαῖς περιστάσεσι γενόμενοι, καὶ νῦν εἰς τὴν ἐσχάτην τῆς οἰκουμένης ἐρημίαν ἀπενεχθέντες, καὶ φόβῳ συζῶντες διηνεκεῖ τῷ τῶν λῃστῶν, καὶ πολιορκίᾳ καινῇ καθ' ἑκάστην γὰρ ἡμέραν ἡ Κουκουσὸς πολιορκεῖται, τὰς ὁδοὺς τῶν λῃστῶν ἀποτειχισάντων, οὐδενὶ τούτων γεγόναμεν ῥᾳθυμότεροι περὶ τὴν σὴν εὐλάβειαν, ἀλλὰ καὶ γράφομεν, καὶ τὴν ὀφειλομένην ἀποδιδόαμεν πρόσρησιν, καί σε παρακαλοῦμεν, εἰ μὴ βαρὺ, μηδὲ ἐπαχθὲς, καὶ αὐτὸν ἡμῖν ἐπιστέλλειν. Οὕτω γὰρ καὶ ἡδονὴν πολλὴν καρπωσόμεθα, παρ' ὑμῶν τῶν οὕτω γνησίως ἀγαπώντων ἡμᾶς δεχόμενοι γράμματα, καὶ διὰ τούτων τὴν παρουσίαν φανταζόμενοι τὴν ὑμετέραν.

Revision history

  1. 2026-05-27v2.2.34-import

    Initial corpus import from modern chrysostom pg52 epistulae batch3 v1.

    Fields: letter text, metadata, source links. Source: https://catholiclibrary.org/library/view?docId=/Fathers-Synchronized-OR/John_Chrysostom__Epistulae.gr.html

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