Letter 129: Theodore Studite, Letter 129; Greek heading: Τίτῳ καὶ Φίλωνι τέκνοισ.

I visit you, my beloved children, even now through this letter, longing to learn how you fare, how you are enduring your imprisonment in the Lord. Thanks be to God that you have been shown forth as confessors of Christ, pillars and foundations of the Church. For even though you are little among your brethren and are reckoned as nothing by the pious, yet before God you are great and numbered among the saints. Look, then, brethren, upon your calling, what its height is, of what kind the gift. Enduring, endure for the Lord, awaiting from day to day his mercy, conducting yourselves with one another as brothers. Look, you, Titus, my brother; look, Philo, my child: your imprisonment is for God and with God. Having Christ, do not grow slack. You will go out from the prison, when Christ wills, like gold from the smelting-furnace, wholly pure, honored, glorified, crowned victors. Pondering this end, be content, bear up, rejoice; the Lord is near to those who endure for him. Pray also for me, your humble father, that I may be saved. The brother Nicholas sends his greetings.