Letter 231: Our nature pulls us toward excess — this is one of the consequences of the fall.
To Timothy the Lector.
On why the leper was commanded to offer the gift which the Law prescribed.
You search the Scriptures well, O merchant of precious pearls. And I will tell you briefly what you seek. For this reason the leper was commanded to offer the gift which the Law prescribed: so that the harmony of the two Testaments might be shown, and so that the one who now performed the healing might be revealed as the same one who also established the Law.
AI-assisted translation — This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed.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
PMG΄. – ΤΙΜΟΘΕΩ ΑΝΑΓΝΩΣΤΗ.
Διὰ τὶ τὸ δῶρον προσενεγκεῖν. ὁ λεπρὸς ἐκε-
λεύετο ὅπερ ὁ νόμος προσέταξεν.
Καλῶς ἐρευνᾷς τὰς Γραφὰς ὁ τῶν τιμίων ἔμπο-
ρος μαργαριτῶν. Καὶ συντόμως ἐρῶ [τοῦτο] (41) 8
ζητεῖς. Τούτου χάριν, τὸ δῶρον προσενεγκεῖν ὁ λε-
πρὸς ἐκελεύετο, ὅπερ ὁ νόμος προσέταξεν, ἵνα
δειχθῇ τῶν δύο Διαθηκῶν ἡ ὁμόνοια · καὶ ὅτι ὁ νῦν
τὴν ἴασιν ἐργασάμενος, αὐτὸς ἐστιν ὁ καὶ τὸν νόμον,
ἐνθέμενος.
Related Letters
The holy bishops and the guides of the monastic discipline, from the conflicts and struggles which they underwent,...
For those of moderate virtue, suspicion is an inconvenience.
Concerning the food of the Precursor[17] and asceticism[18].
Your earlier silence was more creditable than your current defense.
To my Brother.