Letter 810

To Eugenius the Monk. Tyre is interpreted as "constraint," that is, "affliction." [Tyre, the Phoenician city; Nilus draws on a Hebrew etymology of its name.] And after the constraint and the affliction that is brought upon us by the demons, when we bear it nobly, we shall see a noble condition born for us, one that gives us rest from our preceding toil, since God grants it from on high. Such a thing, indeed, I consider the saying of the Psalm to be, that "the daughter of Tyre comes with gifts." [Psalm 44:13 LXX (45:12 in modern numbering).] For perhaps after the constraint and the affliction we find a great many divine graces conceived within the soul.

Τύρος ἑρμηνεύεται συνοχή, ἤτοι θλίψις. Μετὰ δὲ τὴν συνοχὴν καὶ τὴν θλίψιν τὴν παρὰ τῶν δαιμόνων ἐπαγομένην ἡμῖν, ὅταν γενναίως ἐνέγκωμεν, ὀψόμεθα τικτομένην ἡμῖν γενναίαν κατάστασιν, ἀναπαύουσαν ἡμᾶς ἐκ προλαβόντος κόπου, Θεοῦ ταύτην ἐξ ὕψους δωρουμένου. Τοιοῦτον δή τι νομίζω τὸ Ψαλτικὸν ὑπάρχειν, ὅτι « Θυγάτηρ Τύρου ἐν δώροις. » Τάχα γὰρ πλεῖστα χαρίσματα θεῖα μετὰ τὴν συνοχὴν καὶ τὴν θλίψιν εὑρίσκομεν ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ κυισκόμενα.