Letter 651

To Hephaestion the Presbyter. You asked me: For what reason do certain good men fall into various afflictions, such as bodily pains even unto death, or derangement of the mind, like Callitychus the Silentiary [an imperial usher of the silentiarii]; or are seized and racked by a demon, like Tagerios, the son of the truly rich man, a man of modest mind, contrite, and devout? Some, too, have been taken captive by barbarians; others, when an earthquake occurred, were buried beneath their fallen house; others were consumed and burned up by fire, or fell into certain other unexpected calamities. Know, then, that such things befall the righteous so that, through them, those who are contemptuous may become fearful, and may cast down their own gaze, and may come to a remembrance of the Lord of all and the Judge of all things; and so that those who do base deeds may cease from their evil practice, and may run to the healing of repentance, and may give heed to the soul-profiting virtue. Only mark this: that the grievous things which befall the righteous in no way at all harm the soul, but rather procure for them an increase of eternal rewards.

Ἠρώτησάς με· Τίνος ἕνεκεν ἀγαθοί τινες ἄνδρες ἃ πυκτέοις τισὶ περιπίπτουσιν, οἷον, ἀλγήμασι σώ- α ματος μέχρι θανάτου, ἢ ἐκστάσει φρενῶν, ὥσπερ Καλλίτυχος ὁ Σελεντιάριος· ἢ δαίμονι συνεχομένους καὶ στρεβλοῦντι, ὥσπερ Ταγήριος, ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀληθι νοῦ πλουσίου, ἄνθρωπος μετριόφρων, καὶ καται νυγμένος, καὶ εὐλαβής; Τινὲς δὲ καὶ ὑπὸ βαρβάρων ἐλήφθησαν, ἄλλοι δὲ σεισμοῦ γενομένου, κατεχώσθη σαν πεπτωκότος τοῦ οἴκου, ἕτεροι δὲ ἐπυρπολή θησαν κατεφλέχθησαν, ἢ ἄλλοις τισὶν ἀπροσδοκήτοις ἐνέπε θησαν δεινοῖς. Γίνωσκε τοίνυν, ὅτιπερ τὰ τοιαῦτα συμβαίνει τοῖς δικαίοις, ἵνα διὰ τούτων οἱ καταφρο νοῦντες κατάφοβοι γένωνται, καὶ τὴν ἑαυτῶν ὄψιν κατασπάσωσιν, καὶ εἰς ὑπόμνησιν ἔλθωσι τοῦ Κυρίου τῶν ὅλων καὶ κριτοῦ τῶν ἁπάντων, καὶ παύσωνται οἱ τὰ φαῦλα πράσσοντες τῆς κακῆς ἐργασίας, καὶ δράμωσι πρὸς τὴν θεραπείαν τῆς μετανοίας, καὶ ἐπιμελήσωνται τῆς ψυχωφελοῦς ἀρετῆς. Πλὴν αὕτη σημείωσαι, ὅτι τὰ συμβαίνοντα σκυθρωπὰ τοῖς δι καίοις, οὐδὲν μὲν παντελῶς λυμαίνεται τῇ ψυχῇ, προσθήκην δὲ προξενεῖ τούτοις αἰωνίων μισθῶν.