Letter 369: Theodore Studite, Letter 369; Greek heading: Κωνσταντίνῳ λαϊκῷ.

The blessing of the Lord be upon you and upon all your house, in return for what you send to our lowliness [a self-abasing reference to himself], O man of God, lily of orthodoxy [right belief], ardent friend. If you acquire a friend, as the saying goes, acquire him in trial, since he is a sharer of affliction, a guardian of the faith, of whose beauty there is no measuring. Such are you, confirming the saying by what you do and say. But ease off, I beg you, do not press yourself down too hard. And if you will not relent, may the good God not press you down either, who does good to you invisibly; may he keep you yet unharmed, with all your household.