Letter 62

62. To the Church of Parnassus, a letter of consolation.

Following an ancient custom that has prevailed from a long succession, and showing forth to you the fruit of the Spirit, the love that is according to God, we visit your reverence by letter, sharing with you both the grief over what has befallen and the anxiety over the matters in hand. Concerning your griefs, then, we say only this much: that it is time for us to look to the precepts of the Apostle, and not to grieve "as do the rest, who have no hope"; yet neither to be unfeeling toward what has happened, but to feel the loss, while not sinking down under grief — counting the shepherd blessed in his end, as one who closed his life in a ripe old age and rests in the highest honours from the Lord.

Concerning the rest, we have this to exhort: that it is fitting, laying aside all dejection, to come to yourselves, and to rouse yourselves to the necessary provision for the Church, so that the holy God may take care of his own flock, and may grant you a shepherd according to his will, who will shepherd you with knowledge.