Letter 367: Theodore Studite, Letter 367; Greek heading: Εὐοδίῳ καὶ Ἰωάννῃ τέκνοισ.

By a brief syllable [i.e. a short note] we have seen your good health and your preserved pair [the two of you, addressed together] as though with our own eyes, and we rejoice that you are living in the Lord, even if affliction attends you (for how could it not?) in the persecution. But let hope lighten what grieves you: no one who rejoices in the joy of the world will rejoice in the heavens, and no one who is afflicted for the Lord's sake will here fail to attain the eternal gladness. Strengthen yourselves, exhort one another, close ranks together, make yourselves known [to one another], so that in deed and word you may be reckoned servants of God, deemed worthy of the blessing spoken of God [the beatitude declared by Christ in the Gospel]. Write always, so that you too may always receive letter in answer to letter. Pray also for us sinners, that we may be saved.