Letter 69: You care for Pentapolis — you truly do.

Synesius of CyreneTheophilus|c. 412 AD|Synesius of Cyrene|Human translated
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To Theophilus.

You care for Pentapolis — you truly do. You will therefore read the official correspondence. But beyond what those letters contain, the messenger will tell you that the disasters that have already occurred are greater and more numerous than those the letters threaten.

He was sent to request military reinforcements, but the enemy did not even wait for his departure. They have already spread across the entire country. Everything is lost. Everything is destroyed. At the moment I write this, nothing remains but the cities themselves — and what may happen tomorrow, God alone knows.

Your prayers are needed: the kind of prayers that have power to move the Almighty. As for me, I have prayed many times, in private and in public, and always in vain. Why do I say "in vain"? Everything is turning against me. Our sins are too many and too heavy.

Human translationLivius.org

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