Letter 189: Chrysostom says he carries Antiochus's warm love with him even at the world's edge.

How could we ever forget your sweet and warm disposition, your genuine and sincere love, your free and lofty mind, your soul full of confidence? Even if we were to go to the very ends of the world, we would carry you everywhere with us as a fervent friend bound closely to us by the law of love. Because of this, though we are settled in the wilderness of our region, in Cucusus, and cannot easily find letter-carriers, we hurried to seek out and find the bearer of this letter so that we could greet your wonderfulness and give your Magnificence the salutation owed. I do not think you need us to remind you to write often and tell us of your health. Letters from one who loves us so warmly will give us no ordinary consolation, renewing your love and making us imagine your presence.

ΡΠΘʹ. Ἀντιόχῳ. Πότε γάρ σου ἐπιλαθέσθαι δυνάμεθα τῆς γλυκείας καὶ θερμῆς διαθέσεως, τῆς γνησίας καὶ εἰλικρινοῦς ἀγάπης, καὶ ἐλευθέρας γνώμης καὶ ὑψηλῆς, τῆς πεπαῤῥησιασμένης ψυχῆς; Κἂν γὰρ πρὸς αὐτὰς ἀπέλθωμεν τὰς ἐσχατιὰς τῆς οἰκουμένης, πανταχοῦ σε περιφέροντες ἄπιμεν, τὸν θερμὸν ἡμῶν ἐραστὴν, καὶ σφόδρα ἡμῖν τῷ τῆς ἀγάπης νόμῳ συνδεδεμένον. ∆ιὸ καὶ πρὸς αὐτὴν τὴν ἐρημίαν τῆς καθ' ἡμᾶς οἰκουμένης ἀπῳκισμένοι, τὴν Κουκουσὸν λέγω, καὶ οὐ ῥᾳδίως ἐπιτυχεῖν τῶν τὰ γράμματα διακομιζόντων δυνάμενοι, πολλὴν ἐποιησάμεθα σπουδὴν ἐπιζητῆσαί τε καὶ εὑρεῖν τὸν ταύτην ἡμῶν τὴν ἐπιστολὴν διακομίζοντα, ὥστε σου προσειπεῖν τὴν θαυμασιότητα, καὶ τὴν ὀφειλομένην πρόσρησιν ἀποδοῦναι τῇ μεγαλοπρεπείᾳ τῇ σῇ. Ὅτι δὲ καὶ αὐτὸς, ἐξ ὧν ἤδη πεποίηκας, οὐ δεήσῃ τῆς παρ' ἡμῶν ὑπομνήσεως εἰς τὸ συνεχῶς ἡμῖν ἐπιστέλλειν, καὶ τὰ περὶ τῆς ὑγείας τῆς σῆς εὐαγγελίζεσθαι, οὐδὲν οἶμαι δεῖν ἀμφιβάλλειν. Καὶ γὰρ οὐ τὴν τυχοῦσαν καρπωσόμεθα παράκλησιν, ὅταν παρ' ὑμῶν τῶν σφόδρα ἡμᾶς ἀγαπώντων δεχώμεθα γράμματα, περὶ τῆς ῥώσεως τῆς ὑμετέρας δηλοῦντα, καὶ τὴν ἀγάπην διὰ τῶν ἐπιστολῶν συνεχῶς ἀνανεοῦντα, καὶ τὴν παρουσίαν τῆς ὑμετέρας ἀγάπης ποιοῦντα φαντάζεσθαι. Ἀρκεῖ γὰρ πυκνότης ἐπιστολῶν, ὅταν παρὰ φίλων γνησίων φέρηται, καὶ τῆς παρουσίας σοφίσασθαι τὴν ἡδονήν.