Letter 87: Chrysostom remembers Eulogius's virtue from Cucusus and praises his stand for the churches.

John ChrysostomEulogius, bishop and correspondent of John Chrysostom|c. 405 AD|John Chrysostom|From Cucusus (modern Goksun), Armenia Secunda|AI-assisted
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PG 52 Epistulae source-specific import; English is a new modern rendering from Greek.

Even if we reached the farthest edges of the inhabited world, we could not forget your love. We carry it everywhere. Sitting now in Cucusus, perhaps the most desolate place in the world, we still think continually of your kindness, sweetness, gentleness, sincerity, zeal, and every other virtue, and we take delight in that memory.

We also proclaim the firmness of the stand you took against those who warred on the churches and filled the world with scandals. You hardly need our tongue for this; by your deeds you have sounded it more clearly than a trumpet throughout the East and beyond. For this we thank you, bless you, and admire you.

Do not grow weary now. Continue in the same courage, and write to us when you can about your health. Your letters will comfort us greatly in this wilderness.

AI-assisted translation - This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed.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

ΠΖʹ. Εὐλογίῳ ἐπισκόπῳ.

Ἡμεῖς κἂν πρὸς αὐτὰς ἀφικώμεθα τῆς οἰκουμένης τὰς ἐσχατιὰς, ἐπιλαθέσθαι σου τῆς ἀγάπης οὐ δυνάμεθα, ἀλλὰ πανταχοῦ περιφέροντες ἄπιμεν· οὕτως ἡμᾶς εἷλες καὶ ἐχειρώσω, δέσποτά μου τιμιώτατε καὶ εὐλαβέστατε, ἐπεὶ καὶ νῦν ἐν Κουκουσῷ καθήμενοι, τῷ πάσης τῆς καθ' ἡμᾶς οἰκουμένης ἐρημοτάτῳ χωρίῳ, οὐ παυόμεθα διηνεκῶς τὴν χρηστότητα, τὴν γλυκύτητα, τὴν τῶν τρόπων ἐπιείκειαν, τὸ γνήσιον τῆς διαθέσεως, τὸ πεπυρωμένον, τὸ σφοδρὸν, τὸν ζῆλον τὸν φλογὸς σφοδρότερον, τὴν ἄλλην ἅπασάν σου ἀρετὴν ἀναλογιζόμενοι, καὶ τῶν λογισμῶν τούτων τῇ μνήμῃ ἐντρυφῶντες, καὶ πρὸς ἅπαντας ἀνακηρύττοντες τὸ στεῤῥὸν τῆς γνώμης, τὸ ἀπερίτρεπτον, ὅπερ ἐπεδείξω πρὸς τοὺς πολεμήσαντας ταῖς Ἐκκλησίαις καὶ τοσούτων σκανδάλων τὴν οἰκουμένην ἐμπλήσαντας· εἰ καὶ τὰ μάλιστα τοῦτο οὐ δεῖται τῆς ἡμετέρας γλώττης· σάλπιγγος γὰρ λαμπρότερον αὐτὸς πᾶσι τοῖς κατὰ τὴν ἀνατολὴν καὶ ποῤῥωτάτω οὖσι διὰ τῶν ἔργων αὐτῶν ἀνεβόησας. Ὑπὲρ τούτων χάριτας ὁμολογοῦμεν, μακαρίζομεν, θαυμάζομεν καὶ παρακαλοῦμεν τὸν αὐτὸν παραμεῖναι ζῆλον ἐπιδεικνύμενον. Οὐδὲ γὰρ ἴσον ἐστὶ, κατὰ ῥοῦν τῶν πραγμάτων φερομένων, ὀρθότητα ἐπιδείκνυσθαι, καὶ πολλῶν ὄντων τῶν ἐπιχειρούντων καταλῦσαι τὰς Ἐκκλησίας μηδὲν ἐκεῖθεν παραλογίζεσθαι, ἀλλὰ μένειν ἀκλινῆ, τούτους ἀποστρεφόμενον μετὰ τῆς προσηκούσης ἀνδρείας. Οὐ γὰρ μικρὰ αὕτη, ἀλλὰ καὶ σφόδρα μεγίστη τῶν κακῶν διόρθωσις. Ὅτι δὲ τῆς σῆς εὐλαβείας οὕτω διακειμένης πάντες οἱ κατὰ τὴν Παλαιστίνην κύριοί μου τιμιώτατοι καὶ εὐλαβέστατοι ἐπίσκοποι ἕψονταί σου τοῖς ἴχνεσιν, οὐδὲν οἶμαι δεῖν ἀμφιβάλλειν. Οἶδα γὰρ σαφῶς ὅτι ἐν τοῖς τοιούτοις κατορθώμασιν ὥσπερ σῶμα συνεχὲς κεφαλῇ, οὕτως αὐτοὺς τῇ γλυκύτητί σου τῆς ἀγάπης συνῆψας καὶ συνδεδέσθαι παρεσκεύασας, ὅπερ καὶ τοῦτο μέγιστον δεῖγμα τῆς σῆς ἀρετῆς.

Revision history

  1. 2026-05-27v2.2.34-import

    Initial corpus import from modern chrysostom pg52 epistulae batch3 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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