Letter 21: Chrysostom praises Alphius for supporting John the presbyter and asks for regular news.
You are blessed, three times blessed, and more than that, for doing this work and taking up business that lays up a great reward and treasure for you in heaven. You gave us wings when you sent the news about my lord John the presbyter, telling us that you worked hard to establish him and send him on to Phoenicia.
You kept silent about giving him gold, as was fitting for your piety, but it did not escape us. We learned about that generosity too. For this reason we do not stop admiring you and calling you blessed, because you are rich in the things in which a person ought to be rich.
We ask you to send us letters constantly. If it were possible to see you in person, we would buy that privilege at a high price. Since that is not possible for now, write to us continually with good news of your health and of your whole household. We will draw no ordinary consolation from learning this. Knowing what a favor you will do for us, do not deprive us of so great a joy.
AI-assisted translation - This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek below for scholarly use.
Latin / Greek Original
ΚΑʹ. Ἀλφίῳ.
Μακάριος καὶ τρισμακάριος εἶ, καὶ πολλάκις τοῦτο, τοιαῦτα ἐργαζόμενος, καὶ τοιαύταις ἐπιτρέχων πραγματείαις, αἳ πολὺν ἐν οὐρανοῖς προαποτίθενταί σοι τὸν μισθόν τε καὶ θησαυρόν. Οὐδὲ γὰρ ὡς ἔτυχεν ἡμᾶς ἀνεπτέρωσας, τὰ κατὰ τὸν κύριόν μου Ἰωάννην τὸν πρεσβύτερον ἀπαγγείλας, ὅτι πολλὴν ἐποίησας σπουδὴν ἀναστῆσαι αὐτὸν, καὶ ἐκπέμψαι εἰς τὴν Φοινίκην. Ὅτι δὲ καὶ χρυσίον αὐτῷ δέδωκας, αὐτὸς μὲν ἐσίγησας, καὶ τοῦτο πρέπον τῇ εὐλαβείᾳ σου ποιῶν· ἡμᾶς δὲ οὐκ ἔλαθες, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῦτο ἔγνωμεν, καὶ τὴν δαψίλειαν, ἣν παρέσχες. Καὶ διὰ τοῦτό σε θαυμάζοντες καὶ μακαρίζοντες οὐ παυόμεθα, ὅτι ἐν οἷς δεῖ πλουτεῖν, ἐν τούτοις πλουτεῖς· καί σε παρακαλοῦμεν γράμματα συνεχῶς ἡμῖν ἐπιστέλλειν. Εἰ μὲν γὰρ δυνατὸν ἦν καὶ κατ' ὄψιν σε ἰδεῖν, πολλοῦ ἂν ἐπριάμεθα τοῦτο. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ τοῦτο τέως οὐκ ἔνι, γράφε συνεχῶς ἡμῖν, περὶ τῆς ὑγιείας τῆς σῆς εὐαγγελιζόμενος, καὶ τοῦ οἴκου σου παντός. Οὐ γὰρ τὴν τυχοῦσαν καρπωσόμεθα παράκλησιν ταῦτα μανθάνοντες. Εἰδὼς οὖν ἡλίκα ἡμῖν χαριῇ, μὴ ἀποστερήσῃς ἡμᾶς τῆς τοσαύτης εὐφροσύνης.
Revision history
- 2026-05-27v2.2.34-import
Initial corpus import from modern chrysostom pg52 epistulae batch1 v1.
Fields: letter text, metadata, source links. Source: https://catholiclibrary.org/library/view?docId=/Fathers-Synchronized-OR/John_Chrysostom__Epistulae.gr.html
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