81. К диакониссе Пентадии

I knew about your love for us before, seeing it from your very deeds; but now I am convinced of it even more clearly based on what you wrote to us. We highly praise you for this - not only because you sent us a letter, but also because you described in it everything that happened to you. This is a sign of complete trust in us and concern for our business. We rejoice, have fun, triumph and, despite our life in such a desert, we feel the greatest consolation, seeing your courage, your steadfastness, inflexibility, extraordinary prudence, freedom of speech, high boldness with which you put your opponents to shame, dealt a fatal blow to the devil, and at the same time inspired those who strive for the truth, acquired for yourself, like a valiant hero in battle, a magnificent trophy, having won a brilliant victory, and rejoiced us to such an extent that we, forgetting about exile, about the foreign side, about the desert in which we live, imagine that we are now there, among you, and enjoy your spiritual valor. Rejoice and be merry, having won such a victory, having easily blocked the mouths of such beasts, having closed their shameless tongues and clamped their furious lips. This is what the truth means, for which you fought and for which you repeatedly offered yourself to the slaughter: with a few words it triumphs over slander, while a lie, even if it is covered with countless twists of verbose speeches, despite it comes out, falls by itself and turns out to be weaker than a spider’s web. Rejoice and be merry (I will not stop repeating these words constantly), take courage, strengthen yourself and look with ridicule at all the slander they are making against you! The more fiercely they rage, the deeper the wounds they inflict on themselves, not harming you at all, just as waves are not able to harm a rock, but weakening and destroying themselves and piling up excessive torment for themselves in the future. Do not be at all afraid of their threats, even if they gnashed their teeth, went mad with rage and thirsted for blood, out of anger falling into the ferocity of wild animals. The one who has hitherto pulled you out of their various and varied intrigues will keep you completely safe, vigorous and courageous in the future, and you yourself will say: “But God will strike them with an arrow: suddenly they will be wounded; with their tongue they will smite themselves; all who see them will be removed" ("the child's arrows were their wounds, and their nations were crushed") (Ps. 63:8-9). What has happened is what will happen: you will gain yourself an even greater reward and deserve even more brilliant crowns; and they, remaining unrepentant, will subject themselves to even greater punishment. What intrigues did they not resort to? What kind of means were not taken, hoping to shake your strong, faithful to God, noble and courageous soul? You, who knew nothing except the church and your mansion, were taken to the square, from the square to the court, from the court to the dungeon. They sharpened the tongues of false witnesses, weaved shameless slander, carried out murders, let out streams of blood, destroyed young people with fire and iron, tormented adults, without counting the number and without considering dignity, with beatings, torments and countless tortures - they used everything to force and force you out of fear to say something that you undoubtedly knew. But you, like an eagle soaring upward, having broken their nets, rose to the height of freedom characteristic of you, and not only did not allow them to knock you down, but you convicted them of slander on the real charge of arson, which these pitiful and poor creatures especially counted on. Having thus turned your gaze to everything that has passed and taken into account that, no matter what waves and no matter what storm they raised against you, no matter what hurricane and whirlpool they created, you still sailed peacefully among this raging sea, hope that you will soon reach the pier where numerous crowns await you. Do you want to have information about us too? We are alive, healthy and no longer suffering from any disease. Yes, even if we fell ill, then the sincere, ardent, strong and unchanging love of your reverence would serve us as a completely sufficient medicine for recovery. Since the opportunity to constantly know about your prosperity and complete well-being is thus an unusually great joy for us, we earnestly ask you (which, incidentally, you always do without our request) to notify us as often as possible about the health of yours, your entire home and your loved ones. You know how much we care for you and all your blessed home. The paragraphs in the text were arranged by us. – Editorial staff of “ABC of Faith” You might be interested in: