Letter 177

Isidore of PelusiumSymus|isidore pelusium
From: Isidore of Pelusium, monk at Pelusium
To: Didymus the Presbyter
Date: ~410 AD
Context: Isidore writes to commemorate Aphrodisios, Didymus's brother and fellow presbyter, who has recently died — describing the full range of virtues that made him remarkable.

On the blessed Aphrodisios, your brother, presbyter in the faith.

You have asked me to respond to your five questions in a single letter — and friendship requires that I do so. But first let me say this about your brother.

Reverence dwelt in his eyes. Persuasion was in his lips. Wisdom was on his tongue. Contentment governed his appetite; self-control governed everything that follows appetite. He was, in short, a common treasury and dwelling place of almost all the virtues.

Since he has now been called to the courts of heaven, receiving what was worthy of his labors — let the memory of him be not a source of grief but a rule for imitation. He has shown what is possible. Now we must show what we do with the example.

Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.