Letter 202: Chrysostom sharply rebukes Cyriacus for failing to write during the crisis.

Is this tolerable? Is it bearable? Do you think you have even a shadow of an excuse? While we have been in such despondency, for so long, amid so much uproar, confusion, pressure, and misery, you have not thought us worthy of even one letter. We have written once, twice, many times, and you have remained silent. I cannot find a reason for your silence. I know your warm and genuine love, which you always showed us. I cannot call it laziness, because I know your sleepless soul; nor cowardice, because I know your courage; nor hesitation, because I know your active spirit; nor illness, since those who come from there say you are healthy and strong. What the cause is, I cannot say. I only know that I am grieved and pained. Free us from both grief and perplexity. If, even after this letter, you are unwilling to write quickly, you will wound us so deeply that much labor will be needed to heal the pain.

ΣΒʹ. Κυριακῷ ἐπισκόπῳ. Ταῦτα ἀνεκτά; ταῦτα φορητά; οἴει κἂν σκιὰν ἀπολογίας ἔχειν; Ἐν τῇ τοσαύτῃ ἀθυμίᾳ, ἐν οὕτω χρόνῳ μακρῷ, ἐν τοσούτῳ θορύβῳ, καὶ ταραχῇ, καὶ συντριβῇ, καὶ ταλαιπωρίᾳ καθεστώτων ἡμῶν, οὐδὲ ἅπαξ ἡμῖν ἐπιστεῖλαι κατεδέξω· ἀλλ' ἡμεῖς μὲν καὶ ἅπαξ, καὶ δὶς, καὶ πολλάκις ἐπεστάλκαμεν, σὺ δὲ σιγᾷς χρόνον οὕτω μακρὸν, καὶ νομίζεις τὸ τυχὸν ἡμαρτηκέναι ἁμάρτημα, οὕτως ἀγνώμων περὶ ἡμᾶς γεγενημένος; Ἐμὲ εἰς πολλὴν ἀπορίαν κατέστησας. Οὐδὲ γὰρ δύναμαι τῆς σιγῆς τὴν αἰτίαν εὑρεῖν, ὅταν ἐννοήσω σου τὴν θερμὴν ἀγάπην καὶ γνησίαν, ἣν ἀεὶ περὶ ἡμᾶς ἐπεδείξω. Οὐδὲ γὰρ ῥᾳθυμίαν λογίσασθαι ἔχω· οἶδα γάρ σου τὴν ἄγρυπνον ψυχήν· οὔτε δειλίαν· οἶδα γάρ σου τὴν ἀνδρείαν· οὐκ ὄκνον· οἶδα γάρ σου τὸ διεγηγερμένον καὶ ἐντρεχές· ἀλλ' οὐδὲ ἀῤῥωστίαν· καίτοι γε οὐδὲ αὕτη ἱκανὴ ἦν σε κωλῦσαι· πλὴν ἀλλὰ μανθάνω παρὰ τῶν ἐκεῖθεν ἐρχομένων, ὅτι ὑγιαίνεις καὶ ἔῤῥωσαι. Τί οὖν ἐστι τὸ αἴτιον, εἰπεῖν οὐκ ἔχω, ἀλλ' ἓν μόνον, ἀλγῶ καὶ ὀδυνῶμαι. Πάντα τοίνυν ποίησον ὥστε ἀπαλλάξαι ἡμᾶς καὶ τῆς λύπης, καὶ τοῦ διαπορεῖν. Ἐπεὶ εἰ καὶ μετὰ τὰ γράμματα ταῦτα μὴ μετὰ πολλοῦ τοῦ τάχους ἡμῖν βουληθείης ἐπιστεῖλαι, οὕτως ἡμᾶς ἔχεις λυπῆσαι, ὡς πολλοῦ δεηθῆναι πόνου εἰς τὸ θεραπεῦσαι ἡμῶν τὴν ἀθυμίαν.