Letter 40: The corrections of love are sweet because love joins the mind to Christ and to friends.

The rebuke of love is very great. Its corrections are sweet, and its acts of discipline are pleasant and sweet. Rightly, then, the Lord set love above every virtue and made it the sign of his disciples when he said, "By this everyone will know that you are my disciples." I receive your letters with complete joy. Through gladness I dissolve my sadness, and I bring my mind into a harbor of life from the disturbance caused by thoughts. You write to me the kinds of things that the love of Christ has suggested to you. Because of this I become an obedient child, receiving correction from a true father. I rejoice because I am made rich by your love: its memory consoles me, and your letters greatly delight me, even though they keep my mind from drawing near to bodily things. I urge it instead to run freely toward you, so that it may become like your love. To hold it back from you would be to sin against love; and the one who sins against love sins against Christ, because he is our love and joins the mind, in freedom from passion, to his companion through the knowledge of the truth of the holy Trinity.

Greek retroversion from Syriac transmission (Frankenberg 1912, TAN/TEI CC BY 4.0): πανυ μεγαλη η επιτιμησις της αγαπης, γλυκεις οι ελεγμοι αυτης ηδειαι και γλυκειαι αι εκδικησεις αυτης· δικαιως αρα υπερ πασαν αρετην αυτην εθηκε ο κυριος και σημειον των μαθητων αυτου αυτην απεδειξε λεγων — —. πασηι χαραι δεχομαι τας επιστολας σου και την κατηφειαν δια ιλαροτητος λυω και ως εις λιμενα ζωης (= σωτηριας) τον νουν μου εκ της δια των νοηματων ταραχης καταγω· τοιαυτα γαρ γραφεις μοι οια σοι η Χ. αγαπη υπεθηκε. δια τουτο γιγνομαι παις υπακουων επιτιμησιν παρα πατρος γνησιου δεχομενος, χαιρω δε εκ της αγαπης σου πλουτων οτι η μνημη αυτης με παρακαλει και τα γραμματα σου σφοδρα με ευφραινει καιπερ κωλυοντα τον νουν τοις σωματικοις πλησιαζειν, προς δε υμας αυτον προτρεπω αφθονως τρεχειν ινα τηι υμων αγαπηι ομοιωται· απερυκειν γαρ αυτον αφ' υμων εστιν πλημμελειν εις την αγαπην, ο δε εις την αγαπην πλημμελων εις Χ. αμαρτανει οτι αυτος εστιν η αγαπη ημων τε και τον νουν εν απαθειαι δια γνωσεως της αληθειας της αγιας τριαδος τωι αυτου εταιρωι προσδει Syriac transmission available in the linked TAN/TEI source. The complete corpus is Syriac-transmitted; Greek survives only fragmentarily, so this display text is a retroversion witness.