Nicene and Post-Nicene Church Fathers Series 2 - The Still Small ...

To Eusebius of Samosata.
Letter XXX. 2004
If I were to write at length all the causes which, up to the present time, have kept me at
home, eager as I have been to set out to see your reverence, I should tell an interminable
story. I say nothing of illnesses coming one upon another, hard winter weather, and press
of work, for all this has been already made known to you. Now, for my sins, I have lost my
Mother, 2005 the only comfort I had in life. Do not smile, if, old as I am, I lament my
orphanhood. Forgive me if I cannot endure separation from a soul, to compare with whom
I see nothing in the future that lies before me. So once more my complaints have come back
to me; once more I am confined to my bed, tossing about in my weakness, and every hour
all but looking for the end of life; and the Churches are in somewhat the same condition as
my body, no good hope shining on them, and their state always changing for the worse. In
the meantime Neocæsarea and Ancyra have decided to have successors of the dead, and so
far they are at peace. Those who are plotting against me have not yet been permitted to do
anything worthy of their bitterness and wrath. This we make no secret of attributing to
your prayers on behalf of the Churches. Weary not then in praying for the Churches and
in entreating God. Pray give all salutations to those who are privileged to minister to your
Holiness.
2004 Placed in 369.
2005 Emmelia. Vide account of Basil’s family in the prolegomena.
To Eusebius of Samosata.
417