Letter 975

To Athanasius the Deacon. As many as have cast themselves into a hopeless condition, having conceived a complete forgetfulness of the Lord, from these utterly has the saving spirit of repentance been taken away from their inward parts; concerning whom it is also written, that not the dead in Hades, whose spirit was taken from their inward parts, will give glory to God [Baruch 2:17]. But as for those who grieve over their sins and over their sluggishness, and who take some account of their own salvation insofar as it is possible, and who lean upon their hope in Christ the Savior, perhaps these shall be numbered together with the living unto eternal life. Praise the Lord! But the soul that grieves on account of the greatness of its evils, and the one who walks bent over and weak, and the failing eyes, and the soul that hungers and is humbled and brought to nothing, these shall give glory and righteousness to the Lord [Baruch 2:18].

Ὅσοι εἰς ἀνέλπιστον ἑαυτοὺς κατάστασιν ἔῤῥιψαν, λήθην παντελῆ τοῦ Κυρίου νοήσαντες, τούτων πάντως ἐλήφθη ἀπὸ τῶν σπλάγχνων τὸ σωτήριον τῆς ἐπιστροφῆς πνεῦμα, περὶ ὧν καὶ γέγραπται, ὅτι οὐχ οἱ τεθνηκότες ἐν τῷ ᾅδῃ, ὧν τὸ πνεῦμα ἐλήφθη ἀπὸ τῶν σπλάγχνων αὐτῶν, δώσουσι δόξαν τῷ Θεῷ· ὅσον. δὲ λυποῦνται ἐπὶ ταῖς ἁμαρτίαις· καὶ τῇ νωχελείᾳ καὶ λόγον ποιοῦνται τῆς σωτηρίας ἑαυτῶν, καθ’ ὅσον ἐνδέχεται, καὶ ἐρείδονται τῇ εἰς Χριστὸν τὸν Σωτῆρα ἐλπίδι, τάχα τοῖς ζῶσι τὴν αἰώνιον ζωὴν συναριθμηθήσονται, αἰνέσατ τὸν Κύριον. Ἀλλ’ ἡ ψυχὴ ἡ λυπουμένη διὰ τὸ μέγεθος τῶν κακῶν, καὶ ὁ βαδίζων, κύπτων, καὶ ἀσθενὴς, καὶ οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ οἱ ἐκλείποντες, καὶ ἡ ψυχὴ πεινῶσα, καὶ τεταπεινωμένη, καὶ ἐξουδενωμένη, Κυρίῳ δώσουσι δόξαν δικαιοσύνης.