Letter 35: Chrysostom blesses Alphius for steady love, explains travel delays, and declines burdensome gifts.

May God give you the reward, both in this present life and in the age to come, for your genuine and warm love for us, sincere, unfeigned, unmoved, and unchangeable. You have shown proofs of your disposition toward us that are not small, even while living so far away, but many and great, my most honored and noble lord. For this reason we are grateful to you. We wish to write continually, but cannot write as often as we wish; we write as often as we are able. You know the difficulty on the roads, caused both by winter and by the raids of bandits. Do not think us negligent when we keep a long silence. Attribute it to the scarcity of letter-carriers, not to any neglect of ours. If it were possible to write more constantly, we would not hesitate to send you frequent letters; we would be doing ourselves a favor by offering you more often the greeting owed to you. Knowing this, you too should write continually to us about your health. No one has brought here what you said you had sent us; the person who had it turned back through fear of the bandits. Nevertheless, we ask you not to do this, and not to create difficulties and trouble for yourself. Your great gifts are your genuine and warm disposition, which we continually enjoy, and the memory of your love in which we always delight.

ΛΕʹ. Ἀλφίῳ. Ὁ Θεός σοι τὸν μισθὸν δῴη, καὶ ἐν τῷ παρόντι βίῳ, καὶ ἐν τῷ μέλλοντι αἰῶνι, τῆς γνησίας καὶ θερμῆς περὶ ἡμᾶς ἀγάπης, τῆς εἰλικρινοῦς, καὶ ἀνυποκρίτου, τῆς ἀκινήτου, καὶ ἀπεριτρέπτου. Οὐ γὰρ μικρὰ δείγματα τῆς περὶ ἡμᾶς διαθέσεως, καὶ ταῦτα ἐκ τοσούτου καθήμενος διαστήματος, ἐπεδείξω, κύριέ μου τιμιώτατε καὶ εὐγενέστατε, ἀλλὰ καὶ πολλὰ καὶ μεγάλα. ∆ιὰ τοῦτό σοι χάριτας ἴσμεν, καὶ συνεχῶς ἐπιστέλλειν βουλόμεθα, ἀλλ' οὐ δυνάμεθα ὁσάκις ἂν βουλώμεθα, γράφομεν δὲ ὁσάκις ἂν δυνώμεθα. Οἶσθα γὰρ καὶ τὴν ἀπὸ τοῦ χειμῶνος, καὶ τὴν ἀπὸ τῶν λῃστρικῶν ἐφόδων γινομένην ἐν ταῖς ὁδοῖς δυσκολίαν. Μὴ τοίνυν νομίσῃς ῥᾳθυμεῖν ἡμᾶς, ὅταν μακρὰν σιγήσωμεν σιγὴν, ἀλλὰ τῇ σπάνει τῶν γραμματηφόρων τοῦτο λογίζου, μὴ τῇ ὀλιγωρίᾳ τῇ ἡμετέρᾳ. Ὡς εἴγε δυνατὸν ἦν συνεχέστερον ἐπιστέλλειν, οὐκ ἂν ὠκνήσαμεν πυκνὰ πέμποντές σοι γράμματα. Ἡμῖν γὰρ ἑαυτοῖς ἐχαριζόμεθα, τὴν ὀφειλομένην σοι πρόσρησιν συνεχέστερον ἀποδιδόντες. Ταῦτ' οὖν εἰδὼς, γράφε ἡμῖν συνεχῶς καὶ αὐτὸς τὰ περὶ τῆς ὑγιείας τῆς σῆς. Ὅπερ ἔφης ἀπεσταλκέναι ἡμῖν, τοῦτο οὐδεὶς ἐκόμισεν ἐνταῦθα, ἀλλ' ὑπέστρεψεν ὁ ἔχων διὰ τὸν τῶν λῃστῶν φόβον. Πλὴν παρακαλοῦμέν σε μὴ ποιεῖν τοῦτο, μηδὲ δυσκολίας σαυτῷ παρέχειν καὶ πράγματα. Τὰ γὰρ μεγάλα σου δῶρα, τὸ γνήσιόν σου καὶ θερμὸν τῆς διαθέσεως, οὗ διηνεκῶς ἀπολαύοντες, ἐντρυφῶμεν ἀεὶ τῇ μνήμῃ τῆς σῆς ἀγάπης.