Letter 95: To the Prefect Antiochus.

To the Prefect Antiochus. You have laid down the cares of a very important government, but your reputation flourishes everywhere. Those who have tasted the fruit of your benevolence — and they are many, and scattered in all directions — persistently extol it, proclaiming your good name on every side and moving their hearers' tongues to join in the chorus of praise. When I behold worthy fruit adorning with its beauty a stem that is already famous, I am delighted. For this reason I call your Excellency to still greater and higher deeds, and I beg you to give heed to the tranquility of the churches. They have been overwhelmed with a great storm by those who have fabricated slanders against me. Under these circumstances, the devout bishops — making light of a long journey, of infirmity, and of old age — have left their own flocks without a shepherd and undertaken to travel this great distance, eager to refute the lies told against all of us. I ask your Greatness to take them under your protection, to show care for the calumniated East, and to exercise your forethought for the welfare of the apostolic faith. It is only fitting that you should add this further glory to the record of your good deeds.

Letter 95