Letter 503

To Cyriacus the Presbyter. I am aware of all the trials that have befallen you, and of your afflictions. Take up, then, the weapons of prayer, crying out to the Lord without relenting, and all the more so the more fiercely both demons and men assail us, gnashing their teeth against us and supposing that we shall not be helped from on high. Even if we possess no powerful men to help us, yet certainly, through hope set on what is better and through thanksgiving, we shall obtain mighty help. Consider, therefore, what Sirach [Jesus son of Sirach, author of Ecclesiasticus] says in prayer: "I will give thanks to You, O Lord and King, and I will praise God my Savior. I give thanks to Your name, because You became my shelter and helper, and You delivered my body from destruction and from the snare of a slandering tongue, and from lips that fashion lies; and against those who stood about me You became my helper, and You delivered me, according to the multitude of Your mercy and of Your name, from the gnashings of those who hated me. I was set out to be lamented over by those who sought to afflict me and to destroy my soul, and I was hemmed in on every side as by a fire kindled all around. For I was in the depth of the belly of the spiritual hades. I was encircled by an unclean tongue and by a lying word. My soul drew near to death; evils encompassed me on every side, and there was none to help me. I looked for the assistance of men, and there was none. Then I remembered Your mercy, O Lord, and Your work from of old, that You deliver those who patiently wait for You and save them from the hand of enemies; and I lifted up my supplication from the earth, and I prayed for deliverance from death. I called upon You, O Lord: do not forsake me in the day of affliction." And in another place the same Sirach, exhorting, says: "Look at the generations of old, and see: who trusted in the Lord and was put to shame? Or who continued in His fear and was forsaken? Or who called upon Him and was overlooked? For the Lord is compassionate and merciful, and He forgives sins, and saves in a time of affliction."

Ἐπίσταμαι πάντα τὰ πειρατήρια τὰ συμβεβηκότα σοι, καὶ τὰς θλίψεις. Ἀνάλαβε οὖν τὰ ὅπλα τῆς προσευχῆς, κράζων πρὸς τὸν Κύριον ἀνενδότως, καὶ τοσούτῳ μᾶλλον, ὅσῳ καὶ σφοδρότερον ἐπιτίθενται ἡμῖν δαίμονές τε καὶ ἄνθρωποι βρύχοντες καθ’ ἡμῶν τοὺς ὀδόντας, καὶ νομίζοντες μὴ βοηθήσεσθαι ἡμᾶς ἐξ ὕψους. Κἂν μὴ κεκτήμεθα δυνάστας βοηθοῦντας ἀνθρώπους, καὶ πάντως δι’ ἐλπίδος τῆς πρὸς τὸ κρεῖττον, καὶ τῆς εὐχαριστίας, τευξόμεθα βοηθείας ἰσχυρᾶς. Βλέπε τοιγαροῦν, τί φησιν ἐν προσευχῇ ὁ Σιράχ· «Ἐξομολογοῦμαί σοι, Κύριε Βασιλεῦ, καὶ αἰνέσω Θεὸν τὸν Σωτῆρά μου. Ἐξομολογοῦμαι τῷ ὀνόματί σου, ὅτι σκεπαστής, καὶ βοηθὸς ἐγένου μοι, καὶ ἐλυτρώσω τὸ σῶμά μου ἐξ ἀπωλείας καὶ ἐκ παγίδος διαβολῆς γλώσσης, καὶ ἐναντίον τῶν περιεστηκότων με ἐγένου μοι βοηθός, καὶ ἐλυτρώσω με κατὰ τὸ πλῆθος τοῦ ἐλέους σου, καὶ τοῦ ὀνόματός σου ἐκ βρυγμῶν μισούντων με. Προεκείμην πρὸς τὸ θρηνεῖσθαι ὑπὸ τῶν ζητούντων θλῖψαι, καὶ ἀπολέσαι τὴν ψυχήν μου, καὶ ἐπειγόμην κυκλῶθεν ὥσπερ πυρὸς ἐκκαυθέντος. Ὑπῆρχον γὰρ ἐν τῷ βάθει τῆς κοιλίας τοῦ νοητοῦ ᾅδου. Ἐκυκλώθην ὑπὸ γλώσσης ἀχα- θάρτου, καὶ λόγου ψευδοῦς. Ἤγγισεν ἡ ψυχή μου ἕως θανάτου · περιέχειν με πάντοθεν κακά, καὶ οὐκ ἦν τις βοηθῶν μοι. Ἐνέβλεψα εἰς ἀντίληψιν ἀνθρώπων, καὶ οὐκ ἦν. Τότε ἐμνήσθην τοῦ ἐλέους σου, Κύριε, καὶ τῆς ἐργασίας σου τῆς ἀπ’ αἰῶνος, ὅτι λυτροῦσαι τοὺς ὑπομένοντάς σε, καὶ σῴζεις αὐτοὺς ἐκ χειρὸς ἐχθρῶν · καὶ ἀνύψωσα ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς τὴν ἱκεσίαν, καὶ ὑπὲρ θανάτου ῥύσεως ἐδεήθην. Ἐπεκαλεσάμην σε, Κύριε, μή με ἐγκαταλείπῃς ἐν ἡμέρᾳ θλίψεως. Καὶ ἐν ἑτέρῳ τόπῳ ὁ αὐτὸς Σιρὰχ παραινῶν, φησίν · Ἐμβλέψατε εἰς ἀρχαίας γενεάς, καὶ ἴδετε, τίς ἐνεπίστευσε Κυρίῳ, καὶ κατεσχύνθη; ἢ τίς ἐνέμεινε τῷ φόβῳ αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐγκατελείφθη; ἢ τίς ἐπεκαλέσατο αὐτόν, καὶ ὑπερεωράθη; Οἰκτίρμων γὰρ καὶ ἐλεήμων ἐστὶν ὁ Κύριος, καὶ ἀφίησιν ἁμαρτίας, καὶ σῴζει ἐν καιρῷ θλίψεως.