Letter 560
To Lucas the Deacon.
What is the thorn that was given to the flesh of the Apostle [Paul, see 2 Corinthians 12:7], lest he be unduly exalted by the greatness and the multitude of the revelations? The daily afflictions, brought upon him by the most wicked men who hated him, are said to be the thorn; for it is after the manner of a thorn that the adversities, and the buffetings, and the many distresses prick the blessed man, in such a way that they did not permit him ever to be exalted.
AI-assisted translation - This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed.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
Τίς ἐστιν ὁ σκόλοψ ὁ δεδομένος τῇ σαρκὶ τοῦ Ἀπο-
στόλου, μή ποτε ὑπερῃρθη τῷ μεγέθει καὶ τῷ πλή-
θει τῶν ἀποκαλύψεων; Αἱ καθ’ ἡμέραν θλίψεις, αἱ
παρὰ τῶν μισούντων αὐτὸν πονηροτάτων ἀνθρώπων
ἐπαγόμεναι αὐτῷ σκόλοψ λέγονται εἶναι· σκόλοψ
γὰρ δίκην αἱ περιστάσεις, καὶ οἱ κολαφισμοὶ, καὶ αἱ
πολλαὶ ἀνάγκαι νύττουσαι τὸν μακάριον ἄνδρα, ὡς
συνεχώρουν ὑπερῃρῆσθαι ποτε.
Revision history
- 2026-05-27v2.2.34-import
Initial corpus import from modern nilus ancyra workflow v1.
Fields: letter text, metadata, source links. Source: project source import