Letter 145: Chrysostom asks Nicholas for health news as consolation in daily fear and illness.

I myself wanted very much to see and embrace your good order. You know this even before my letter, because you know how to love genuinely and how to recognize those who love genuinely. Since that is not possible, I do what is possible for now: I write, greet you, and ask for letters that will tell us more often about your health. Grant us this favor. Even if you need no encouragement, we will not stop reminding you. Learning that you who love us are well, healthy, and that everything goes smoothly for you is no small consolation for us amid the wilderness, daily fears from bandit attacks, bodily illness, and other pressures. You may tell us of countless storms, and still this news will comfort us. A noble, awake, sober person can sail with a fair wind even on a troubled sea of affairs, while a slack and fallen person can be disturbed even in calm.

ΡΜΕʹ. Νικολάῳ πρεσβυτέρῳ. Ἐβουλόμην καὶ αὐτὸς, καὶ σφόδρα ἐπεθύμουν ἰδεῖν σου τὴν ἐμμέλειαν, καὶ περιπτύξασθαι· καὶ τοῦτο οἶσθα καὶ πρὸ τῶν ἡμετέρων γραμμάτων. Φιλεῖν γὰρ εἰδὼς γνησίως καὶ τοὺς γνησίως φιλοῦντας διαγινώσκειν ἐπίστασαι. Ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ τοῦτο οὐκ ἔνι, ὅπερ ἔνι ποιῶ, τέως γράφω, προσαγορεύω, γράμματα ἀπαιτῶ, τὰ περὶ τῆς ὑγείας τῆς σῆς ὑμῖν πυκνότερον δηλοῦντα. Χαρίζου δὴ ταύτην ἡμῖν τὴν χάριν. Εἰ γὰρ καὶ μὴ δεῖ σοι παρακλήσεως εἰς τοῦτο, οὐ παυσόμεθά σε ἀναμιμνήσκοντες ὑπὲρ τούτου. Οὐ γὰρ μικρὰ παράκλησις ἡμῖν καὶ παραμυθία καὶ τῆς ἐρημίας καὶ τῶν φόβων τῶν καθημερινῶν, τῶν ἀπὸ τῆς ἐφόδου γινομένων τῆς λῃστρικῆς, καὶ τῆς τοῦ σώματος ἀῤῥωστίας, καὶ τῶν ἄλλων περιστάσεων, τὸ μανθάνειν περὶ τῶν ἀγαπώντων ἡμᾶς ὑμῶν, ὅτι τε ἔῤῥωσθε, καὶ ὑγιαίνετε, καὶ κατὰ ῥοῦν ὑμῖν ἅπαντα φέρεται, κἂν μυρίους ἡμῖν λέγῃς χειμῶνας. Πῶς καὶ τίνι τρόπῳ; Ὅτι ἔνι τὸν γενναῖον, καὶ ἐγρηγορότα, καὶ νήφοντα καὶ ἐν ταραττομένῳ πραγμάτων πελάγει ἐξουρίας πλεῖν, ὥσπερ καὶ τὸν χαῦνον καὶ ἀναπεπτωκότα καὶ κείμενον ὕπτιον, καὶ ἐν γαλήνῃ διαταράττεσθαι καὶ θορυβεῖσθαι.