83. К диакониссе Ампрукле и находящимся с ней 53

Waves hitting the rocks cannot shake them at all, but the stronger the pressure of the blow, the more terribly they break and disappear. The same can now be seen in you and in those who are vainly and vainly plotting against you. Hence you have greater boldness before God and more glory among people; and for them - condemnation, shame and disgrace. This is what virtue means, this is what evil means: it flourishes even more when it is attacked; and this, even attacking itself, gradually loses its strength and with corresponding speed dies completely. Having thus the greatest consolation for yourself in the very cause of what happened to you, rejoice, be glad and strengthened. You know what rewards you have earned for your courage in this struggle and what benefits await you for your firm and complacent enduring of adversity: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man” (“which eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has entered into the heart of man”) (1 Cor. 2:9). Moreover, all real sorrows pass and end with real life; the rewards they acquire are immortal. Moreover, even before receiving rewards, you already have considerable bliss here, nourished by the trust in your clear conscience and the expectation of future crowns. However, I am sure that you know all this without our letter, and have spread exhortations in order to make your message longer. I know well how ardently, extremely ardently, you love our letters, and this, of course, is the reason for your constant reproaches to us for the fact that we do not write often. Due to your extraordinary passion for our letters, we would not be able to satisfy your desire even if we wrote to you every day. May God grant you reward and reward for such love for us both in this life and in the next century. Be sure that we will write to you constantly, without missing a single occasion, because by doing this and constantly turning to you with our sincere greetings, we give ourselves the greatest pleasure through this. In addition, we always keep in full force the love that you aroused in us from the very beginning, and it will not weaken in us even if we had to be separated from you for even longer than now. We continually carry you in our hearts, marveling at your unshakable firmness and your great courage. Write to us yourself constantly, delighting us with news about your health and that of your entire home, and we will draw the greatest consolation from here. The paragraphs in the text were arranged by us. – Editorial staff of “ABC of Faith” You might be interested in: