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

To the Westerns.
Letter CCLXIII. 3189
1. May the Lord God, in Whom we have put our trust, give to each of you grace sufficient
to enable you to realize your hope, in proportion to the joy wherewith you have filled my
heart, both by the letter which you have sent me by the hands of the well-beloved fellowpresbyters,
and by the sympathy which you have felt for me in my distress, like men who
have put on bowels of mercy, 3190 as you have been described to me by the presbyters aforementioned.
Although my wounds remain the same, nevertheless it does bring alleviation
to me that I should have leeches at hand, able, should they find an opportunity, to apply
rapid remedies to my hurts. Wherefore in return I salute you by our beloved friends, and
exhort you, if the Lord puts it into your power to come to me, not to hesitate to visit me.
For part of the greatest commandment is the visitation of the sick. But if the good God and
wise Dispenser of our lives reserves this boon for another season, at all events write to me
whatever it is proper for you to write for the consolation of the oppressed and the lifting up
of those that are crushed down. Already the Church has suffered many severe blows, and
great has been my affliction at them. Nowhere is there expectation of succour unless the
Lord sends us a remedy by you who are his true servants.
2. The bold and shameless heresy of the Arians, after being publicly cut off from the
body of the Church, still abides in its own error, and does not do us much harm because its
impiety is notorious to all. Nevertheless men clad in sheep’s clothing, and presenting a mild
and amiable appearance, but within unsparingly ravaging Christ’s flocks, find it easy to do
hurt to the simpler ones, because they came out from us. It is these who are grievous and
hard to guard against. It is these that we implore your diligence to denounce publicly to all
the Churches of the East; to the end that they may either turn to the right way and join with
us in genuine alliance, or, if they abide in their perversity, may keep their mischief to
themselves alone, and be unable to communicate their own plague to their neighbours by
unguarded communion. I am constrained to mention them by name, in order that you
may yourselves recognise those who are stirring up disturbance here, and may make them
known to our Churches. My own words are suspected by most men, as though I had an ill
will towards them on account of some private quarrel. You, however, have all the more
credit with the people, in proportion to the distance that separates your home from theirs,
besides the fact that you are gifted with God’s grace to help those who are distressed. If
more of you concur in uttering the same opinions, it is clear that the number of those who
have expressed them will make it impossible to oppose their acceptance.
3189 Placed in 377.
3190 Col. iii. 12.
To the Westerns.
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