Letter 85: The brothers not only met the request but surpassed it.

The speed of your zeal amazed me so much that I counted the days from the moment I sent the decrees and nearly found that you had defeated time. This is what it means to be surrounded by the eagerness of good brothers: each treats whatever he can provide for another's cheer as a gain. And when you not only meet the need that was asked but surpass it and provide more than the petitioner wanted, what measure of goodwill does that not display? So do not stop doing such things, and do not expect me to stop taking pride in them.

Ζαχαρίαι καὶ Φιλίππωι Τοσοῦτον ἡμᾶς τὸ τάχος κατέπληξε τῆς ὑμετέρας σπουδῆς, ὡς τὰς ἡμέρας ἀριθμεῖν ἐξ οὗ πεπόμφαμεν τὰ ψηφίσματα, καὶ μικροῦ δεῖν ὑμᾶς νικῶντας τὸν χρόνον εὑρεῖν. τοσοῦτόν ἐστιν ἀγαθῶν ἀδελφῶν περιέπεσθαι σπουδῇ, κέρδος ἡγουμένων ἅπερ ἂν ἀλλήλοις πρὸς εὐθυμίαν πορίσωνται. τὸ δὲ καὶ νικῆσαι τῶν αἰτηθέντων τὴν χρείαν καὶ πλείω παρασχεῖν ἢ ὁ αἰτήσας ἐβούλετο, πόσην οὐκ ἐμφαίνει τὴν εὔνοιαν; μήτ' οὖν ὑμεῖς παύσησθε τοιαῦτα ποιοῦντες, μήτε μέγα φρονῶν ἐπὶ τούτοις ἐγώ.