Letter 44: Chrysostom asks Theodotus to forward letters or explain his silence to Carteria through mutual friends.

I know myself that you would not have been with us through letters if you could have been with us in person. You would have left everything and been with us, if there were not an obstacle, and a very great one: the season of the year, the difficulty of affairs, and the solitude here, which grows worse every day. I do not need to learn this from you. Since I knew at once that you are a warm lover of us, I knew this too. Even without your reminding us, then, we would have written to everyone. But we admired you for this affection toward us as well, that at the end of your letter you added an exhortation to do it. This belongs to a soul deeply concerned for our affairs, caring, watchful, and knowing how to love genuinely. I have written to all the others. But since we had already written to my lady Carteria, and then learned that she is not staying there but has gone on a long journey, if our letters can be sent on to her, let that also be done, if you approve. If it is not possible, at least meet and speak with my most honored and noble lords around Marcellianus, so that if they ever write to her they may make our apology: we have not been careless, nor have we stayed silent in the meantime, but her long journey has prevented us from writing to her more often.

Μ∆ʹ. Θεοδότῳ διακόνῳ. Οἶδα καὶ αὐτὸς, ὅτι οὐκ ἂν ἡμῖν διὰ γραμμάτων συνεγένου, εἰ διὰ παρουσίας ἐξῆν· ἀλλὰ πάντα ἀφεὶς μεθ' ἡμῶν ἔμελλες εἶναι, εἰ μὴ κώλυμα ἦν, καὶ κώλυμα μέγιστον, καὶ ἡ τοῦ ἔτους ὥρα, καὶ τῶν πραγμάτων ἡ δυσκολία, καὶ τῶν ἐνταῦθα ἡ καθ' ἑκάστην ἡμέραν ἐπιτεινομένη πρὸς τὸ χεῖρον ἐρημία. Καὶ οὐδὲν δέομαι τοῦτο παρὰ σοῦ μανθάνειν. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἔγνων ἅπαξ, ὅτι σφοδρὸς ἡμῶν ἐραστὴς εἶ, ἔγνων καὶ τοῦτο καλῶς. Ἡμεῖς μὲν οὖν, καὶ μὴ ἀναμνήσαντός σου, πρὸς πάντας ἂν ἐπεστάλκαμεν· ἐθαυμάσαμεν δέ σε καὶ ταύτης τῆς περὶ ἡμᾶς φιλοστοργίας, ὅτι καὶ τῷ τέλει τῆς ἐπιστολῆς παράκλησιν ὑπὲρ τούτου προσέθηκας. Τοῦτο γὰρ ψυχῆς σφόδρα μεριμνώσης τὰ ἡμέτερα, φροντιζούσης, κηδομένης, γνησίως ἀγαπᾷν ἐπισταμένης. Τοῖς μὲν οὖν ἄλλοις ἅπασιν ἐπέσταλκα· ἐπειδὴ δὲ καὶ τῇ κυρίᾳ μου Καρτερίᾳ πρώην ἦμεν ἐπεσταλκότες, ἔγνωμεν δὲ αὐτὴν μὴ διατρίβειν ἐκεῖσε, ἀλλὰ μακρὰν ὁδὸν ἀποδεδημηκέναι· εἰ μὲν οἷόν τε ἐκπεμφθῆναι τὰ γράμματα τὰ ἡμέτερα ἐκεῖ, καὶ τοῦτο γενέσθω, ἐὰν δοκιμάσῃς· εἰ δὲ μὴ δυνατὸν, τοῖς γοῦν κυρίοις μου τιμιωτάτοις καὶ εὐγενεστάτοις τοῖς περὶ Μαρκελλιανὸν συντυχὼν διαλέχθητι, ὥστε αὐτῇ εἴ ποτε ἐπιστέλλοιεν, ἀπολογήσασθαι ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν, ὡς οὐκ ἐῤῥᾳθυμηκότων, οὐδὲ τὸν μεταξὺ χρόνον σεσιγηκότων, ἀλλ' ὑπὸ τῆς μακρᾶς αὐτῆς ἀποδημίας κωλυθέντων συνεχέστερον ἐπιστέλλειν πρὸς αὐτήν.