Letter 142: Chrysostom tells Elpidius that love writes in the mind even when letters are few.

With the tongue we have written rarely to your God-loving Reverence, but with the mind often. We are with you every day, and neither length of time, distance of road, nor pressure of affairs can deprive us of this companionship. Such is the nature of love: it yields to none of these things, but stands higher than them all. Do not measure the affection we have for your good order by the number of letters. Knowing our mind and the disposition we have always shown toward your Reverence, suspect nothing from this long silence. We, though we have received few letters from your affection, do not think from this that you have grown careless toward us. We know and trust that you keep your affection for us in bloom, becoming not weaker but more fervent through the succession of troubles. Since I know you also want to hear about our affairs: we enjoy health, much quiet, and safety, being for the moment free from Isaurian disturbances. I have learned now to bear the Armenian winter, suffering only the amount of harm expected for so weak a body, and managing it by staying shut indoors when the cold is unbearable and only rarely looking out from the doorway. The other seasons have been very pleasant, enough to help correct the illness that winter brings.

ΡΜΒʹ. Ἐλπιδίῳ ἐπισκόπῳ. Γλώττῃ μὲν ὀλιγάκις, γνώμῃ δὲ πολλάκις ἐπεστάλκαμέν σου τῇ θεοσεβείᾳ καὶ καθ' ἑκάστην συγγινόμεθα τὴν ἡμέραν, καὶ ταύτης οὐκ ἰσχύει τῆς συνουσίας ἡμᾶς ἀποστερῆσαι οὐ χρόνου πλῆθος, οὐχ ὁδοῦ μῆκος, οὐ πραγμάτων περίστασις. Τοιαύτη γὰρ τῆς ἀγάπης ἡ φύσις· οὐδενὶ τούτων εἴκει, οὐδὲ παραχωρεῖ, ἀλλ' ἕστηκε πάντων ὑψηλοτέρα γινομένη. Μὴ τοίνυν τῷ τῶν ἐπιστολῶν ἀριθμῷ, δέσποτά μου τιμιώτατε καὶ εὐλαβέστατε, μέτρει τὸ φίλτρον, ὃ περὶ τὴν σὴν ἔχομεν ἐμμέλειαν, ἀλλ' εἰδὼς ἡμῶν τὴν γνώμην καὶ τὴν διάθεσιν, ἣν ἀεὶ περὶ τὴν εὐλάβειαν ἐπεδειξάμεθα τὴν σὴν, μηδὲν ἀπὸ τῆς μακρᾶς ταύτης σιγῆς ὑπόπτευε. Ἐπεὶ καὶ ἡμεῖς ὀλιγάκις δεξάμενοι γράμματα παρὰ τῆς σῆς διαθέσεως, οὐδὲ ἐντεῦθεν ῥᾳθυμότερόν σε περὶ ἡμᾶς γεγενῆσθαι νομίζομεν, ἀλλ' ἴσμεν σαφῶς καὶ πεπιστεύκαμεν, ὅτι μένεις ἀνθοῦσαν διατηρῶν τὴν περὶ ἡμᾶς διάθεσιν, οὐ μόνον οὐκ ἀναπίπτων ἐκ τῆς συνεχείας τῶν ἐπαγομένων δεινῶν, ἀλλὰ καὶ σφοδρότερος γινόμενος περὶ ἡμᾶς· καὶ τούτου σοι χάριν ἴσμεν πολλήν. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ εὖ οἶδ' ὅτι καὶ τὰ ἡμέτερα βούλει μανθάνειν, ὑγείας ἀπολαύομεν καὶ ἀπραγμοσύνης πολλῆς, καὶ ἡσυχίας, καὶ ἐν ἀσφαλείᾳ διάγομεν, τῶν Ἰσαυρικῶν τέως ἀπηλλαγμένοι θορύβων. Τὸν γὰρ χειμῶνα λοιπὸν τῆς Ἀρμενίας φέρειν ἐμελέτησα, βλαπτόμενος μὲν ἠρέμα βλάβην, ὅσην εἰκὸς οὕτως ἀσθενεῖ σώματι κεχρημένον· περιγενόμενος δὲ τῷ διηνεκῶς οἴκοι κατακεκλεῖσθαι, ὅταν ἀφόρητος ὁ κρυμὸς ᾖ, καὶ ὀλιγάκις τῶν προθύρων προκύπτειν. Ὡς τῶν γε ἄλλων ὡρῶν τοῦ ἔτους σφόδρα ἡδίστων ἀπολελαύκαμεν, ὡς δυνηθῆναι εὐκόλως καὶ τὴν ἐκ τοῦ χειμῶνος ἐγγινομένην ἡμῖν διορθώσασθαι ἀῤῥωστίαν.