Letter 121: Chrysostom praises Arabius's grief over the church crisis and asks for continued prayer and letters.

Your letter showed us clearly the furnace of grief you carry in your soul over what has happened to us. We already knew it, for we could never forget the spring of tears you poured out when these troubles first began. Still, your letter revealed the flame of sorrow in your heart no less than those earlier lamentations did. Expect a reward for this from the God who loves humankind. There is a reward even for grief, and a great one. When evils were being done among the Jews, some people could not correct what was happening, but they groaned and mourned. While the rest perished, those who sighed over the evil were marked out and escaped wrath. So do not stop groaning over these things, my masters, and begging the merciful God to bring an end to the common shipwreck of the world. You know well that everything is full of disorder and turmoil. We must pray not only for Constantinople, but for the whole inhabited world, since the evil that began there has poured out like a foul stream and is ruining churches everywhere. What you asked from us, we ask from you: as long as we are separated in body, write to us often and do not hesitate to send us good news of your health. In soul we are always bound to your nobility and your household. I hear that, because you asked for us to be brought to your own estates, they no longer meant to carry us to Sebasteia, but to a deserted place instead. If you have friends near Cucusus, please write to them on our behalf.

ΡΚΑʹ. Ἀραβίῳ. Τὴν κάμινον τῆς ἀθυμίας, ἣν ἐπὶ τῆς ψυχῆς περιφέρεις ὑπὲρ τῶν εἰς ἡμᾶς γεγενημένων, σαφέστατα ἔδειξεν ἡμῖν τὸ γράμμα τὸ σὸν, καὶ πρὸ τούτου μὲν ἐπισταμένοις. Οὐ γὰρ δυνησόμεθα ἐπιλαθέσθαι τῆς πηγῆς τῶν δακρύων, ἣν ἐν ἀρχῇ τῶν κακῶν τούτων ὑφαινομένων ἠφίεις. Πλὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ ἡ ἐπιστολὴ τῶν δακρύων οὐκ ἔλαττον καὶ τῶν ὀδυρμῶν ἐκείνων ἀπεκάλυψε τὴν φλόγα τῆς λύπης ἡμῖν, τῆς ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ τῇ σῇ. Τούτων προσδόκα τὰς ἀμοιβὰς παρὰ τοῦ φιλανθρώπου Θεοῦ. Ἔστι γὰρ καὶ λύπης μισθὸς καὶ μέγας καὶ πολύς. Ἐπεὶ καὶ ἐπὶ Ἰουδαϊκῶν κακῶν ἦσάν τινες, οἳ τὰ γινόμενα παρ' αὐτῶν διορθῶσαι μὲν οὐκ ἠδύναντο, ἔστενον δὲ μόνον καὶ ἐθρήνουν, καὶ τοιαύτην ἐκαρπώσαντο τὴν ἀμοιβὴν, ὡς τῶν ἄλλων ἁπάντων ἀπολλυμένων, καὶ πανωλεθρίᾳ παραδιδομένων, ἐκείνους διαφυγεῖν τὴν ὀργήν. ∆ὸς γὰρ, φησὶ, τὸ σημεῖον ἐπὶ τὰ πρόσωπα τῶν στεναζόντων καὶ ὀδυρομένων. Καίτοι γε οὐκ ἐκώλυον τὰ γινόμενα, ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ οὗπερ κύριοι ἦσαν ἐποίουν, ἕστενον, ἐθρήνουν τὰ γινόμενα, μεγίστην ἐντεῦθεν τὴν ἀσφάλειαν ἐκτήσαντο. Μὴ οὖν διαλίπητε καὶ ὑμεῖς, δεσπόται μου, στένοντες ταῦτα καὶ τὸν φιλάνθρωπον Θεὸν παρακαλοῦντες δοῦναι λύσιν τῷ κοινῷ τῆς οἰκουμένης ναυαγίῳ. Ἴστε γὰρ, ἴστε σαφῶς, ὡς πάντα θορύβων καὶ ταραχῆς πεπλήρωται, καὶ οὐχ ὑπὲρ Κωνσταντινουπόλεως χρὴ μόνον παρακαλεῖν, ἀλλ' ὑπὲρ τῆς οἰκουμένης ἁπάσης· ἐπειδήπερ ἐντεῦθεν ἀρξάμενον τὸ κακὸν, καθάπερ ῥεῦμα πονηρὸν ἐκχυθὲν, πανταχοῦ τῆς γῆς τὰς Ἐκκλησίας λυμαίνεται. Ὅπερ δὲ ἡμᾶς παρεκάλεσας, τοῦτο καὶ αὐτὸς παρ' ἡμῶν παρακλήθητι, ἕως ἂν ὑμῶν ὦμεν κεχωρισμένοι τῷ σώματι τῇ γὰρ ψυχῇ ἀεὶ καὶ τῇ σῇ εὐγενείᾳ καὶ τῷ οἴκῳ σου συνδεδέμεθα, συνεχῶς ἡμῖν ἐπιστέλλειν, καὶ τὰ περὶ τῆς ὑγείας σου εὐαγγελίζεσθαι μὴ κατόκνει. Οἶδας γὰρ ἡλίκην ἡμῖν δώσεις τὴν χάριν. Ἐπειδὴ ἐκέλευσας ἡμᾶς ἐν τοῖς σοῖς καταχθῆναι, καθὼς ἔμαθον ἐξελθὼν, οὐκ ἔτι ἔδοξεν ἡμᾶς εἰς Σεβάστειαν ἀπενεχθῆναι, ἀλλ' εἰς ἐρημότατον χωρίον τῆς Ἀρμενίας Κουκουσὸν, καὶ σφαλερώτατον τῆς τῶν Ἰσαύρων ἐπιδρομῆς ἕνεκεν. Χάριν μέντοι ἴσμεν τῇ εὐγενείᾳ τῇ σῇ, καὶ δεδέγμεθα τὴν τιμὴν, ὅτι καὶ ἀπόντων οὕτως ἐφρόντισας, ὥστε εὐτρεπίσαι τὸ καταγώγιον ἡμῖν, καὶ παρακαλέσαι ἐν τοῖς σοῖς ἡμᾶς καταχθῆναι. Ἀλλ' εἴ τινες εἶέν σοι φίλοι κατὰ τὴν Κουκουσὸν, ἐκείνοις ἐπιστεῖλαι παρακλήθητι.