Letter 639

To Sabinus the Presbyter. "The Lord shall enlarge Japheth" [Genesis 9:27], it is written. And we too pray for you that very same thing, O man of the Lord: "The Lord shall enlarge," and may He increase and make bright, may God magnify your house and make it glorious, and fill it with countless good things, and make it conspicuous before all men, and render it renowned. May the Lord lodge in your provision [cf. "the Lord shall dwell in thy preparation"], inasmuch as the things that belong to you are a rest for those in need. Your fruit is good, and kindly, and everlasting, and from it indeed our Savior Christ eats the more abundantly. For when the servants who are in want both eat and feed, the Master Himself, Christ, is reckoned to eat, making His own the goods of His own household servants. Do not, then, grieve, nor be distressed, when from outside certain men and women who love what is good and are devout bring you their affairs to administer; for you suffer no loss, nor do you cut short your own reward, when you supply your own goods to those in need and dispense the offerings of others together with your own possessions cheerfully and eagerly; for by these things you rather multiply, you do not diminish, the divine recompense, and a more splendid crown is woven for you. For the Lord, beholding your sincere and guileless and blessed disposition, persuades those who are worthy both to give to you while they live and to leave to you lavishly when they die, so that they too may obtain mercy, and you yourself may be glorified, and may be crowned for distributing, together with your own possessions, also the good things brought to you from outside.

Πλατύνα Κύριος τῷ Ἰάφεθ, γέγραπται. Καὶ ἡμεῖς πάνυ τὸ αὐτὸ ἐπευχόμεθά σοι, ἀνθρώπε τοῦ Κυρίου. Πλατύνα: Κύριος, καὶ αὐξήσαι, φαιδρύναι τε. μεγαλύναι τὸν οἶκον σου, λαμπρῦναι τοῦτον ὁ Θεός, ἀ καὶ ἐμπλῆσαι τῶν μυρίων ἀγαθῶν, καὶ πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις περιφανῆ ποιῆσαι, καὶ καταστῆσαι ὀνομαστόν, ἀὐλισθείη Κύριος ἐν διετοιμασίᾳ σου, καθότι τοῖς δεομένοις ἀνάπαυσις ὑπάρχει τὰ διαφέροντα σοί, ὁ καρπός σου ἀγαθός, καὶ χρηστός, καὶ αἰώνιος, καὶ ἐξ αὐτοῦ μέντοι ὁ Σωτὴρ ἡμῶν Χριστὸς ἐσθίει πυκνότερον. Τῶν γὰρ δούλων τῶν χρηζόντων, καὶ τρωγόντων, αὐτὸς ὁ Δεσπότης Χριστὸς ἐσθίειν λελόγισται, τὰ τῶν ἰδίων οἰκετῶν οἰκειούμενος. Μὴ τοίνυν λυποῦ, μηδὲ θλίβου, ἔξωθεν τινων προσφερόντων σοι φιλοχρήστων, καὶ θεοσεβῶν ἀνδρῶν τε καὶ γυναικῶν πράγματα εἰς διοίκησιν· οὐδὲν γὰρ ζημιοῦσαι, οὐδὲ παράκοπτη τὴν σεαυτοῦ μισθῶν, τὰ ἴδια χορηγῶν τοῖς ἐπιδεομένοις, καὶ τὰς ἀλλοτρίας προσκομιδὰς σὺν τοῖς σοῖς ὑπάρχουσι ἱλαρῶς καὶ προθύμως· πολυπλασιάζεις γὰρ μᾶλλον διὰ τούτων, οὐκ ἐλαττοῖς τὴν θείαν ἀντίδοσιν, καὶ λαμπρότερος σοι ὁ στέφανος πλέκεται. Θωρῶν γὰρ ὁ Κύριος τὴν εἰλικρινῆ σου, καὶ ἄδολον, καὶ μακαρίαν γνώμην, πληροφορεῖ τοὺς ἀξίους, καὶ ζῶντας διδόναι σοι, καὶ τελευτῶντας καταλιμπάνειν δαψιλῶς, ὅπως καὶ αὐτοὶ ἐλεηθῶσι, καὶ αὐτὸς δοξασθῇς, καὶ στεφανωθῇς ρογεύων σὺν τοῖς σοῖς ὑπάρχουσι καὶ τὰ ἔξωθεν ἀγαθὰ προσφερόμενα.