Letter 165

165. To Ascholius, bishop of Thessalonica

The holy God has fulfilled an old prayer of mine, in counting me worthy to read the letters of your true Godliness. For the greatest thing, and worthy of the greatest eagerness, would be to see you yourself and to be seen by you, and to enjoy in person the gifts of the Spirit that are in you; but since the distance of place takes this away, and the circumstances that hold each of us privately, it is worth a second prayer that my soul be nourished by frequent letters of your love in Christ. And this has now fallen to me, when I received into my hands the letter of your Understanding; for I was made more than doubled in the enjoyment of what you wrote. For it was truly possible to behold even your very soul, showing through, as it were through some mirror of words. And it made my gladness many times greater not only that you are such as the testimony of all presents you to be, but that the good things in you are the boasts of our homeland. For like some flourishing branch, springing from a noble root, you have filled the land beyond the border with spiritual fruits. So that our homeland fittingly delights in her own offspring. And when you were striving through the contests for the faith, she glorified God, hearing that the good inheritance of the fathers was kept safe in you.

And what are your present doings too? By a martyr, lately a contender against the barbarian who is your neighbour, you honoured the land that bore you, like some grateful husbandman sending the firstfruits of his harvest to those who supplied the seeds. Truly the gifts are fitting for an athlete of Christ: a witness of the truth who has just bound on the crown of righteousness; whom we received with joy, and glorified God, who has now fulfilled in all the nations the Gospel of His Christ. And be entreated to remember in your prayers us also who love you, and earnestly to pray to the Lord for our souls, that we too may one day be counted worthy to begin to serve God along the way of His commandments, which He gave us for salvation.