Letters — Letter 186 — To Nectarius, Archbishop of Constantinople

Letter 186 — To Nectarius, Archbishop of Constantinople

Source: Translated by Charles Gordon Browne and James Edward Swallow. From Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series , Vol. 7. Edited by Philip Schaff and Henry Wace. ( Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1894. ) Revised and edited for New Advent by Kevin Knight. <https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/3103c.htm>.

(A letter of introduction for a relative.)

What would you have done if I had come in person and taken up your time? I am quite certain you would have eagerly done everything possible to clear me from the slander, if I may judge by what has happened before. Do me this favor, then, through my most prudent kinswoman who comes to you on my recommendation. Show respect first for the age of the one making this request, and then for her character and piety, which exceed what is commonly found in a woman. Consider also her inexperience in business matters and the troubles now brought upon her by her own relatives, and above all, my request. The greatest favor you can do me is to act quickly in granting what I am asking. For even the unjust judge in the Gospel showed kindness to the widow, though only after long pleading and persistence. But from you I ask for speed, so that she may not be crushed by being long weighed down with worries and hardships in a foreign land—though I know very well that Your Piety will make that foreign land a homeland to her.

What would you have done if I had come in person and taken up your time? I am quite certain you would have undertaken with all zeal to deliver me from the slander, if I may take as a token what has happened before. Do me this favour, then, through my most discreet kinswoman who approaches you through me, reverencing first the age of your petitioner, and next her disposition and piety, which is more than is ordinarily found in a woman; and besides this, her ignorance in business-matters, and the troubles now brought upon her by her own relations; and above all, my entreaty. The greatest favour you can do me is speed in the benefit for which I am asking. For even the unjust judge in the Gospel showed kindness to the widow, though only after long beseeching and importunity. But from you I ask for speed, that she may not be overwhelmed by being long burdened with anxieties and miseries in a foreign land; though I know quite well that Your Piety will make that alien land to be a fatherland to her.

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