Письмо XLV. Тому же

In every age, God, providentially concerned about human nature and our universal salvation, has shown, as if a light, a man shining with the virtues of a holy life, containing, as if by predestination, the Divine laws, and has given him such power as was necessary for the conversion of the led people, so that other people, as if following the light of righteous deeds, would themselves put their lives in good order, [380] and no one could lead them astray thanks to their ignorance. To our age the Christ-loving governor George, a great man of such great virtue and by the grace of God, so abounding in strength, surpassing the strength of the men once prepared and sent for this purpose, was revealed to our age, as much as we - or, rather, our age, oppressed by the great oppression of vice - needed to escape from the quagmire. sins that disgrace us. The husband of all the most God-loving men of the past and present is good and philanthropic, compassionate, meek, patient, steadfast, humble-wise, prudent, kindly, uncovetous, loving, remembering no evil, virtuous, hospitable, loving of the poor, compassionate, sympathetic, zealous, vigilant, loving the Church, and - what is most precious of all - an ardent zealot of orthodox pious teaching. And everything else, accordingly, is contained in the previous letter, in which, and in another letter to my blessed master, I partially explained this. After all, speech cannot cover all the perfections of this husband, and it is impossible; and I told this only so that my God-protected master, knowing the love of God of this man, whose deeds earned him the mercy of God, would accept and honor him, and entrust him to the protection of our pious and all-merciful sovereigns, who show the image of Divine power on earth, and convince them not to accept the evil tongues of wicked men, who create deception, like a sharpened razor, and love evil more than kindness (Ps. 51:45), so that there is no place for lies against the truth, and injustice does not have the will to speak against justice, and vice in general does not have the will to speak against any virtue, due to their mutual transformation and confusion. After all, it is written: “It is not good to accuse a righteous man, and it is not right to plot against just rulers” (Proverbs 17:26). This is what is appropriate for my blessed master, who loves wisdom and prudence, for the eternal preservation of which I pray for my blessed master, for it preserves his soul and body. And the one who delivered this letter to my insignificance - a man whose mind of the soul [381] is ahead of the age of the body - I beg you to accept it properly for the sake of his outstanding mind, zeal for the Divine teaching and sincere affection for me, the wretched one, which he does not consider unworthy to nourish. You might be interested in: