Letter 145

145. To Eusebius, Bishop of Samosata

I know the countless toils you have endured for the churches of God, and I am not ignorant of the multitude of cares you have, managing your stewardship not carelessly but according to the will of the Lord. And I bear in mind the one settled near you as your neighbour, before whom you must, like birds cowering before an eagle, each run not far from your shelter. None of these things has escaped me. But longing is a forceful thing, both to hope for what is not possible and to attempt the impossible; or rather, hope in the Lord is the strongest of all. For not by unreasoning desire, but by the strength of faith, I expect both that a way will appear amid impossibilities, and that you will easily overcome all hindrances, so as to see the most beloved of churches, and indeed to be seen by it — which to it is most precious of all good things, to look upon your face and to hear your voice. Do not, then, leave its hopes unfulfilled. For last year, when I returned from Syria and brought it the promise I had received, how, do you think, I raised it up with hopes! Do not, then, defer its visitation to another time, O admirable man. For even if it be possible to see it sometime, yet it will not be along with us, whom our sickness presses now at last to depart from this painful life.