Letter 220

220. To Those in Beroea.

The Lord has given a great consolation to those who are deprived of meeting face to face, namely, converse through a letter, by which one may learn not the bodily form, but the very disposition of the soul itself. Hence now too, having received the letter of your Reverence, we both recognized you at once, and took up the love of you into our hearts, not needing long time to build up acquaintance in us. For from the very mind laid up in the letter we were kindled to a fondness for the beauty of your soul. For besides the things written, being of such a kind, the fitness of the brethren who mediated showed us your affairs still more clearly. For our most beloved and most reverend fellow presbyter Acacius, recounting more than what was written, and bringing before our eyes your daily contest and your vigorous stand on behalf of piety, wrought in us so great an admiration, and roused so great a longing for the enjoyment of the good things in you, that we pray to the Lord that there may at some time be an opportunity to know your affairs also through our own experience. For he reported to us not only the exactness of you who have been entrusted with the ministry of the altar, but also the harmony of the whole people, and the nobility of character of those who lead the city and govern it, and the genuineness of their disposition toward God, so that we counted blessed the church filled out of such men, and pray that now still more there be given to you spiritual calm, that the things you have displayed in this time of contest you may in the time of rest reap the enjoyment of. For somehow the things difficult in the experience naturally bring pleasure to those who remember them. But for the present we beg you not to grow weary, nor to give up before the continuance of the afflictions. For the crowns are near, and near is the succor of the Lord. Do not pour away what you have labored for in advance; do not render useless the toil that is noised abroad through all the inhabited world. Short-lived are the conditions of human affairs: "All flesh is grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withered, and the flower fell away; but the word of the Lord abides forever."

Holding fast the abiding commandment, let us despise the passing phantom. Many churches has your example set upright. Much reward, in secret, you have gathered for yourselves, by which you have summoned the more inexperienced to the like zeal. Rich is the rewarder, able to grant you the prizes worthy of your contests.