Letter 124: Theodore Studite, Letter 124; Greek heading: Δωροθέῳ τέκνῳ.

It is a fitting moment for me to write to you individually, beloved child, now that for God's sake you have been set apart, alone, from your brothers. O the beauty of your confession [public profession of faith under persecution], O your imprisonment for the Lord's sake! That which you long ago sought, in your love for Christ, you have now attained: be glad, rejoice. For what indeed could be more delightful than to suffer together with Christ? You have shone forth among your brothers; you contend on equal terms with those who are truly bishops and abbots. That which no one among the subordinate monks has been deemed worthy of, except for those who share the common life with you, you have been granted in glory. There have fallen away from you the pitiable Orestes and Aphrates; and it is no wonder, since both of them were faithless from of old, and the second is moreover an outright denier [of the faith]. You then, my child, be strengthened in the Lord, just as you have begun by God's calling, and complete your course. Bear with good courage the hardships of imprisonment, awaiting day after day the salvation of God. If it is necessary even to die for Christ, let us die, that we may live. O good Dorotheus, stand nobly, since you are a gift of God [a play on the name Dorotheus, which means 'gift of God']. Pray also for me, the lowly one, that I may be saved in the Lord. The brother Nicholas greets you. May the grace of the Lord be with your spirit.