Letter 140: Theodore Studite, Letter 140; Greek heading: Λογοθετίσσῃ.

The time is difficult for a letter of my humility to be conveyed to those in your parts; but nonetheless the love according to God of your lordship [the recipient is the wife of a Logothete, a high imperial financial official] has persuaded us to write and to make known to you that your piety is unforgettable to us, as is the rich confidence which you have held toward us, the unworthy, who possess nothing inviting to draw anyone toward faith. Yet nonetheless you have not lost your reward in our uselessness, since God measures and accepts the work of your confidence. Therefore we also pray that you be in health and untroubled, in the peace of the Lord, in your soul. It is not possible for a human being to be without afflictions, for they are permitted to us by God as a place of schooling, so that the proof of our love and faith toward Him may thereby be made manifest. Bear, then, the things that befall, and rejoice in your endurance, because it procures for you the hope of salvation. And guard also your orthodoxy, I beseech you, that you not be carried away together with those who disobey the truth through the insolence done to the holy icon [eikon: the sacred image, the central object of dispute in the iconoclast controversy] of Christ, or of the Theotokos [the God-bearer, the Virgin Mary], or of any one whatsoever of the saints; for I know your rectitude in all things. May God guard you, my lady, in all things as a holy treasure of His own.