Roman Letters

Letter 230: Chrysostom asks Elpidius to receive Libanius warmly and sends greetings to his clergy.

John Chrysostom→Elpidius, bishop and correspondent of John Chrysostom|c. 405 AD|John Chrysostom|From Cucusus (modern Goksun), Armenia Secunda|AI-assisted
clergyantiochfriendshipchurch affairs
PG 52 Epistulae 230 begins with source heading 'ΣΛʹ. Ἐλπιδίῳ ἐπισκόπῳ.'. First-time modern English translation prepared from the Greek source for Roman Letters.
◆

I owe many thanks to my dear lord Libanius because he rose from home, came here, and then returned to your Reverence. I am especially grateful to him for that. My whole concern is that you receive every honor and care from everyone, not because you yourself need these things, but because this benefits the churches, both those caught in the storm and those at peace.

Receive him kindly, my honored and most God-loving master. Learn everything from him accurately: what is happening in Antioch and also how things are with us, for he spent a little time with us and knows how we are living. Then send him away glad and cheerful. He is devoted to your Devoutness and loves us strongly. Please greet from us my dear and honored master Asyncritus the presbyter, his beloved children, and all your clergy, whom you have quickly taught to imitate your love for us.

AI-assisted translation - This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek below for scholarly use.

Latin / Greek Original

ΣΛʹ. Ἐλπιδίῳ ἐπισκόπῳ.

Πολλὰς ἔχω χάριτας τῷ κυρίῳ μου τῷ ποθεινοτάτῳ Λιβανίῳ, ὅτι καὶ οἴκοθεν ἀνέστη, καὶ ἐνταῦθα παρεγένετο, καὶ πάλιν πρὸς τὴν σὴν εὐλάβειαν ἀφίκετο, καὶ τούτῳ μάλιστα χάριτας αὐτῷ οἶδα. Ἐμοὶ γὰρ πᾶσα σπουδὴ, τιμῆς σε καὶ θεραπείας ἀπολαύειν ἁπάσης παρὰ πάντων· οὐκ ἐπειδὴ αὐτῷ σοὶ τούτων δεῖ, ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ τοῦτο συμφέρει ταῖς Ἐκκλησίαις, ταῖς τε χειμαζομέναις, ταῖς τε ἀχειμάστοις. Ἀποδεχόμενος τοίνυν αὐτὸν τῆς εὐνοίας, δέσποτά μου τιμιώτατε καὶ θεοφιλέστατε, καὶ πάντα παρ' αὐτοῦ μαθὼν μετὰ ἀκριβείας, τά τε ἐν Ἀντιοχείᾳ, καὶ τὰ ἡμέτερα καὶ γὰρ καὶ ταῦτα ἐρεῖ, ὀλίγον μὲν ἡμῖν συγγενόμενος χρόνον, μαθὼν δὲ ὅπως διάγομεν, ἔκπεμψον αὐτὸν χαίροντα καὶ εὐφραινόμενον. Καὶ γὰρ καὶ τῆς θεοσεβείας ἐκκρέμαται τῆς σῆς, καὶ ἡμῶν σφοδρός ἐστιν ἐραστής. Τὸν δεσπότην μου τὸν ποθεινότατον καὶ τιμιώτατον Ἀσυγκρίτιον τὸν πεσβύτερον προσειπεῖν παρ' ἡμῶν παρακλήθητι μετὰ τῶν ποθεινοτάτων αὐτοῦ τέκνων, καὶ πάντα σου τὸν κλῆρον, ὃν ἐπαίδευσας ἐν βραχεῖ τὸν σὸν περὶ ἡμᾶς μιμεῖσθαι ἔρωτα. Οὐδὲ γὰρ τοῦτο ἡμᾶς ἔλαθεν, ὅσην περὶ ἡμᾶς ἐπιδείκνυνται ἀγάπην, καὶ πῶς πάντα καὶ παθεῖν καὶ ποιῆσαι τούτου ἕνεκεν παρεσκευασμένοι εἰσί. Τοῦτο δὲ ὅλον κατόρθωμα τῆς θεοσεβείας τῆς σῆς.

Text source →View original manuscript →

Revision history

  1. 2026-05-27v2.2.34-import

    Initial corpus import from modern chrysostom pg52 epistulae batch7 v1.

    Fields: letter text, metadata, source links. Source: https://catholiclibrary.org/library/view?docId=/Fathers-Synchronized-OR/John_Chrysostom__Epistulae.gr.html

Related Letters

John Chrysostom→Elpidius, bishop and correspondent of John Chrysostomc. 405 AD · chrysostom #142

Chrysostom tells Elpidius that love writes in the mind even when letters are few.

John Chrysostom→Elpidius, bishop and correspondent of John Chrysostomc. 405 AD · chrysostom #114

Chrysostom praises Elpidius as a watchful pilot and reports peace and health at Cucusus.

John Chrysostom→Elpidius, bishop and correspondent of John Chrysostomc. 405 AD · chrysostom #138

Chrysostom tells Elpidius that illness and isolation caused silence of the tongue but not of the mind.

John Chrysostom→Elpidius, bishop and correspondent of John Chrysostomc. 405 AD · chrysostom #131

Chrysostom explains that raids, illness, and forced movement caused his silence to Elpidius.

John Chrysostom→Elpidius, bishop and correspondent of John Chrysostomc. 405 AD · chrysostom #25

Chrysostom explains why Cucusus limits correspondence and asks Elpidius for news of his health.