51 surviving letters between Isidore of Pelusium and Paul, spanning 406-432 AD.
The things of this life are fleeting and shadowy.
The work of virtue is done slowly, Paul — so slowly that it sometimes seems nothing is happening.
Wealth, Paul, does not belong to its possessor in the way that his virtues belong to him.
“To Paul.”
“To Paul, a monk.”
“To Paul, presbyter.”
“To the same person.”
“To Paul, the Subdeacon.”
“To Paul the Archimandrite [head of a monastery] That one must turn away from idleness, and the proof-texts he sets forth.”
“On almsgiving.”
“To Paul the Presbyter.”
“On feasts.”
“To the same.”
“To Paul It is no wonder if those who are inflamed by envy do not become better even through acts of kindness.”
“To the Same Person Indulgence, my excellent friend, not only banishes that most beloved health, more to be prized than …”
“On what is written in the law: "You shall not show pity to a poor man in his lawsuit.”
“To Paul the Tribune.”
“To Paul, subdeacon On the same subject.”
“On the words "An eye for an eye," and what follows.”
“To Paul the deacon.”
This much is enough for me: your holiness has testified that your anger was not the ill-temper of a man making much...