Letter 82: Chrysostom says a brief meeting created lasting friendship and asks Cytherius for health news.
Our time with you there was brief, but the love born from it is great, high-minded, and noble. People who know how to love genuinely do not need a long season for it; even a short meeting can accomplish everything. That is what happened with us. We have become your devoted friends as if we had lived together for years.
For this reason we write to tell you our news: we are well and live in quiet and peace. We know that this will make you glad. Send us the same kind of good news in return. Do not hesitate to write often and tell us about your health, for by doing so you will grant a very great favor to people living far from home who long continually to hear it.
AI-assisted translation - This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed.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
ΠΒʹ. Κυθηρίῳ.
Ἡ μὲν συνουσία ἡμῖν ἡ αὐτόθι βραχεῖα γέγονε πρὸς ὑμᾶς· ἡ δὲ ἐντεῦθεν τεχθεῖσα ἀγάπη μεγάλη καὶ ὑψηλὴ καὶ γενναία. Τοῖς γὰρ γνησίως εἰδόσι φιλεῖν οὐ δεῖ εἰς τοῦτο χρόνου μακροῦ, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν βραχεῖ δυνατὸν κατορθῶσαι τὸ πᾶν. Ὃ δὴ καὶ ἐφ' ἡμῶν γέγονε· καὶ γεγόναμεν ὑμῶν ἐρασταὶ σφοδροὶ, ὡς πολλῷ συγγενόμενοι τῷ χρόνῳ. Ὅθεν δὴ καὶ ἐπιστέλλομεν τὰ καθ' ἡμᾶς δηλοῦντες, ὅτι τε ὑγιαίνομεν, καὶ ἐν ἡσυχίᾳ καὶ ἀπραγμοσύνῃ διάγομεν. Ἴσμεν γὰρ ὅτι χαριούμεθα ταῦτα ὑμῖν ἀπαγγέλλοντες. Καὶ τὰ παρ' ὑμῶν αἰτοῦμεν γράμματα τὰ αὐτὰ ἡμῖν εὐαγγέλια καμίζοντα. Μὴ δὴ κατοκνεῖτε γράφειν ἡμῖν συνεχῶς, καὶ τὰ περὶ τῆς ὑγείας ὑμῶν εὐαγγελίζεσθαι. Οὕτω γὰρ τὰ μέγιστα καὶ ἐν ἀλλοτρίᾳ διατρίβουσι χαριεῖσθε ταῦτα ἐπιστέλλοντες, ἅπερ συνεχῶς ἐπιθυμοῦμεν μαθεῖν.
Revision history
- 2026-05-27v2.2.34-import
Initial corpus import from modern chrysostom pg52 epistulae batch3 v1.
Fields: letter text, metadata, source links. Source: https://catholiclibrary.org/library/view?docId=/Fathers-Synchronized-OR/John_Chrysostom__Epistulae.gr.html
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