Letter 211: Theodore Studite, Letter 211; Greek heading: Εἰρήνῃ καὶ Καλῇ, δυσὶν ἀδελφαῖσ.

O the calamity! For it is from a groan that I begin this letter, downcast together with you over your suffering and weeping together with you, even if it is a daring thing to say, as the good Christ was with the two sisters of Martha at the death of Lazarus [John 11]. For the man was a friend, a friend near in blood, a good man of God, a worker of the commandments of the Lord, a calf both in name and in deed by reason of the fragrance of his righteous works. At that time, then, many of the Jews came to Bethany on account of Lazarus, to lament together with the sisters because of the virtue of the man; for if he was a friend of Christ, how was he not beloved by all? But now, alas for what has befallen, not even was death before the eyes, the very thing that is wont to bring much consolation: parting words and farewell whispers; for the one who is departing is kissed and is wept over by those standing by, and he turns his eye and moves his hand and utters something feeble, things which send forth no small comfort to the mourners even after death. But here there was nothing of the kind. Therefore I also suppose your mourning to be inconsolable, for you have been left alone, without a protector, without a helper. Heavy is the suffering, deep the wound, uncomforted the separation; for indeed you both lived a kind of unusual life in the world, a brother to two sisters, an unyoked one [unmarried] to unyoked ones, a virgin to virgins, bearing the marks of noble birth in splendor, those of age at its prime, those of appearance in comeliness, those of substance in abundance, those of revenues in plenty. And yet nothing was held more precious than your love for one another, which forced you toward separation [namely] by marriage among you; behold then, what is good or what is delightful but for brethren to dwell together [Psalm 133:1]? And I have not yet spoken of the well-doing handed down from your mother in almsgiving, in prayers, in psalmody, in self-control, in dignity, in piety, in hospitality, and, last and first, in orthodoxy. Where shall we pass over the rearing of orphans, and all that is seen in it: to assign an inheritance and provide a dowry at every age, and whatever else? O the wonder! At his departure from life he left forty orphans to you who do the same things; a strange thing to hear, a work of saints, these together with many others are the mourners of the father who was truly a father of the orphans. The accomplishment is God-imitating. Such were his deeds and yours, and such was also his shroud, through which even after death he rears orphans, shows mercy, fills the souls of the poor with good things. Let these things empty out the suffering of your grief, changing it into joy, in the hope of the eternal recompenses laid up for him; in which may you also share well, and in like manner, as you pass the life remaining to you in Christ Jesus, who guards you as the two pupils of the eyes of godliness.