Letter 14: Chrysostom urges Olympias to stop measuring her troubles only by their pain and to see them as brief trials that produce lasting reward.

Both things show God's inexpressible kindness: he allows so many trials to come upon you, one after another, so that your crowns may become brighter, and he also brings them quickly to an end, so that the continued pressure of these troubles will not break you down. This is how God guided the lives of those noble men, the apostles and the prophets. At one moment he allowed the waves to rise; at another he rebuked the sea of troubles and turned a harsh storm into bright calm. So stop weeping and wearing yourself down with grief. Do not look only at the troubles that keep coming, one after another, without pause. Look also at the swift release from them, and at the inexpressible reward and return that they produce for you. Compared with the prizes that will be given you because of these sufferings, all the terrible things brought against you are no more than a spider's web, a shadow, smoke, or anything still cheaper than these. What is it, after all, to be driven from a city, to move from place to place, to be hounded on every side, to have property seized, to be dragged into court, to be handled roughly by soldiers, to receive the opposite of gratitude from people who have been helped in countless ways, and to be insulted by slaves and free people alike, when the prize for all this is heaven and those pure goods that no words can explain, that have no end, and that give immortal joy? Set aside, then, the plots, the insults, the losses of money, the repeated removals, and life in a foreign land. Trample them down as things worth less than mud, and think instead of the treasures born for you in heaven from these things, the investment that cannot be spent away, the wealth no one can plunder. But perhaps your body has suffered badly from these labors and hardships, and your enemies' plots have made your illness worse. Then you are telling me about another great and inexpressible field of profit. You know, you know very clearly, how great a thing it is to bear bodily illness bravely and with thanksgiving. This is what crowned Lazarus, as I have often said. This, in Job's contests, put the devil to shame and made that athlete of endurance shine more brightly. More than his love for the poor, more than his contempt for wealth, more than the sudden loss of his children and the countless plots against him, this shut the shameless mouth of that wicked spirit with abundance to spare. Keep thinking about these things. Rejoice and be glad, because you have completed the greatest contest, because you are bearing the chief trial gently, and because through all this you glorify the God who loves humanity. He could destroy everything at once, but he allows these things to happen so that this noble business of yours may become still more radiant. For this reason we do not stop calling you blessed. I was glad, too, to hear that you have freed yourself from lawsuits and affairs, and that you brought the matter to settlement in a way worthy of you. You did not give things up weakly; nor did you cling to them and tangle yourself again in courts and the evils that come from them. You took the middle road. You gained the freedom that suited you, showed great understanding, patience, endurance, and steadiness, and proved that your judgment cannot be deceived.

14.t ΕΠΙΣΤΟΛΗ Ι∆ʹ 14.1 Ἀμφότερα τῆς ἀφάτου τοῦ Θεοῦ φιλανθρωπίας, καὶ τὸ συγχωρεῖν τοσούτους ἐπάγεσθαί σοι πειρασμοὺς καὶ ἐπαλλήλους οὕτως ὥστε λαμπροτέρους σοι γίνεσθαι τοὺς στεφάνους, καὶ τὸ ταχίστην αὐτῶν ποιεῖσθαι τὴν ἀπαλλαγὴν ὥστε σε μὴ κατατείνεσθαι πάλιν τῇ παραμονῇ τῶν ἐπαγομένων κακῶν. Οὕτω καὶ τῶν γενναίων ἀνδρῶν ἐκείνων τῶν ἀποστόλων λέγω καὶ τῶν προφητῶν τὸν βίον ἐκυβέρνησεν ὁ Θεός, νῦν μὲν ἀφιεὶς τὰ κύματα διεγείρεσθαι, νῦν δὲ ἐπιτιμῶν τῷ τῶν κακῶν πελάγει καὶ ἀπὸ χαλεποῦ τοῦ χειμῶνος λευκὴν ἐργαζόμενος τὴν γαλήνην. Παῦσαι τοίνυν δακρύουσα καὶ κατατεινομένη τῇ λύπῃ, μηδὲ τὰ ἐπαγόμενά σοι δεινὰ σκόπει μόνον τὰ ἐπάλληλα καὶ συνεχῆ, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὴν ταχίστην αὐτῶν ἐλευθερίαν καὶ τὴν ἄφατον ἐντεῦθεν τικτομένην σοι ἀμοιβὴν καὶ ἀντίδοσιν. Ὅπερ γάρ ἐστιν ἀράχνη καὶ σκιὰ καὶ καπνὸς καὶ εἴ τι τούτων εὐτελέστερον, τοῦτό ἐστι τὰ ἐπενεχθέντα σοι πάντα δεινὰ πρὸς τὰ μέλλοντα δίδοσθαί σοι ἐντεῦθεν βραβεῖα. Τί γάρ ἐστι πόλεως ἐκπεσεῖν καὶ τόπους ἐκ τόπων ἀμείβειν καὶ πάντοθεν ἐλαύνεσθαι καὶ δημεύεσθαι καὶ εἰς δικαστήρια περιέλκεσθαι καὶ ὑπὸ στρατιωτῶν σπαράττεσθαι καὶ ὑπὸ τῶν μυρία εὐεργετηθέντων τὰ ἐναντία νῦν ὑπομένειν καὶ παρ' οἰκετῶν καὶ παρ' ἐλευθέρων ἐπηρεάζεσθαι, ὅταν τὸ τούτων ἔπαθλον ὁ οὐρανὸς ᾖ καὶ τὰ ἀκήρατα ἀγαθὰ ἐκεῖνα τὰ μηδὲ λόγῳ ἑρμηνευθῆναι δυνάμενα καὶ πέρας οὐκ ἔχοντα, ἀλλ' ἀθάνατον παρέχοντα τὴν ἐξ αὐτῶν ἀπόλαυσιν; Ἀφεῖσα τοίνυν τὰς ἐπιβουλάς, τὰς ἐπηρείας, τὰς τῶν χρημάτων ζημίας, τὰς μεταναστάσεις τὰς συνεχεῖς, τὴν ἐν ἀλλοτρίᾳ διαγωγὴν λογίζεσθαι καὶ πηλοῦ παντὸς εὐτελέστερον ταῦτα καταπατοῦσα, ἐννόει τοὺς ἐκ τούτων σοι τεχθέντας ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς θησαυροὺς καὶ τὴν ἀνάλωτον πραγματείαν καὶ τὸν ἄσυλον πλοῦτον. Ἀλλὰ τὸ σῶμά σοι κακῶς ἐκ τῶν πόνων τούτων καὶ ταλαιπωριῶν διετέθη καὶ τὰ τῆς ἀρρωστίας ἐπέτριψαν αἱ τῶν ἐχθρῶν ἐπιβουλαί; Πάλιν ἑτέρας μοι λέγεις ἐμπορίας ὑπόθεσιν μεγάλης καὶ ἀφάτου. Οἶσθα γάρ, οἶσθα σαφῶς ἡλίκον ἐστὶ σώματος ἀρρωστίαν γενναίως καὶ μετὰ εὐχαριστίας ἐνεγκεῖν. Τοῦτο ὃ πολλάκις εἶπον, τὸν Λάζαρον ἐστεφάνωσε, τοῦτο ἐπὶ τῶν ἀγώνων τῶν τοῦ Ἰὼβ τὸν διάβολον κατῄσχυνε καὶ τὸν ἀθλητὴν τῆς καρτερίας ἐκείνης λαμπρότερον ἀπέφηνε. Τοῦτο καὶ φιλοπτωχίας καὶ τῆς τῶν χρημάτων ὑπεροψίας καὶ τῆς ἀθρόας ἐκείνης τῶν παίδων ἀποβολῆς καὶ τῶν μυρίων ἐπιβουλῶν μᾶλλον αὐτὸν ἀνεκήρυξε καὶ τὸ ἀναίσχυντον τοῦ πονηροῦ δαίμονος ἐκείνου στόμα ἔφραξε μετὰ πολλῆς τῆς περιουσίας. Ταῦτ' οὖν ἀναλογιζομένη συνεχῶς καὶ αὐτὴ χαῖρε καὶ εὐφραίνου τὸν μέγιστον ἆθλον διανύσασα καὶ κεφάλαιον τῶν πειρασμῶν πρᾴως φέρουσα καὶ ὑπὲρ τούτων δοξάζουσα τὸν φιλάνθρωπον Θεὸν τὸν δυνάμενον μὲν ἀθρόον ἀφανίσαι πάντα, ἀφιέντα δὲ γίνεσθαι ὥστε σοι λαμπροτέραν τὴν καλὴν ταύτην γενέσθαι πραγματείαν. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο καὶ ἡμεῖς σε μακαρίζοντες οὐ παυόμεθα. Ἥσθημεν δὲ ὅτι καὶ δικῶν ἀπαλλαγεῖσα καὶ πραγμάτων, ὥς σοι πρέπον ἦν, οὕτω τῷ πράγματι τέλος ἐπέθηκας τὸ κατὰ τὴν διάλυσιν, οὔτε ἀνάνδρως αὐτὰ προϊεμένη, οὐδ' αὖ κατασχοῦσα πάλιν καὶ ἐμπείρασα σαυτὴν δικαστηρίοις καὶ τοῖς ἐκ τούτων κακοῖς, ἀλλὰ μέσην ὁδεύσασα ὁδὸν καὶ τήν σοι πρέπουσαν ἐλευθερίαν καρπωσαμένη καὶ πολλὴν τὴν σύνεσιν ἐπιδειξαμένη καὶ τὴν μακροθυμίαν καὶ τὴν καρτερίαν καὶ τὴν ὑπομονὴν καὶ τὸ ἀνεξαπάτητον δείξασα τῆς σῆς συνέσεως.