194. К готским монахам, в имении Промота 141

Even before receiving your letter, I learned what kind of oppression, what intrigues, what temptations, what kind of insulting treatment you are experiencing, and therefore I especially please you, bearing in mind the rewards, rewards and crowns that await you for this. Just as those who intrigue you and trouble you expose themselves to heavy condemnation and bring the fire of Gehenna upon their heads, so you, having endured this, will be worthy of great retribution, a great reward. Therefore, do not be embarrassed and do not worry, - on the contrary, rejoice and be glad, inspired by the feelings of the apostle, expressed in his words: “Now I rejoice in my sufferings” (Col. 1:24), or again: “And not only this, but we glory in our tribulations, knowing that from tribulation comes patience, and from patience experience” (Rom. 5:3-4). Having thus become tempted and gradually becoming rich in heavenly riches, rejoice all the more the more severely your sufferings will be if you have to experience even more severe persecution: “The sufferings of this present time are not worth anything in comparison with the glory that will be revealed in us” (Rom. 8:18). We are not unaware of how much patience, courage, firmness, sincere and ardent disposition you have shown towards us, inflexibility, immutability and steadfastness in your way of thinking. We express our great gratitude to you for this on our part. We constantly care about you with all our hearts, and the distance does not make us in the least indifferent to your love. I also thank you for the diligence with which you tried to prevent any confusion in the Gothic church and postponed the matter. Not only do I not condemn you for not sending anyone, but I praise and approve. What is especially commendable is that you all agree that it is difficult for you to accept this proposal at this time. Try and forward, as much as depends on you, both directly and through others, through whomever is possible, to postpone the matter until the deadline. Whether you succeed in this or not, in any case you will earn the fullest reward for your intention and goodwill. The paragraphs in the text were arranged by us. – Editorial staff of “ABC of Faith” Toí_s en toí_s Promw'tou. St. John Chrysostom formed in Constantinople a society of monks from Gothic natives, who, under his leadership, prepared themselves for missionary activity among the Goths. To this end, the Gothic monks studied the Holy Scriptures and practiced preaching the word of God in the Gothic language. From a conversation delivered by Chrysostom in the presence of a large gathering of Constantinople residents in the church of St. Paul, after at the liturgy celebrated by the Goths, readings from the Apostle and the Gospel were read in Gothic and the Gothic presbyter spoke in his natural language, it is clear how close this matter was to the soul of the great saint. Some of the missionaries he prepared, one must think, had already acquired fame among the Goths and importance in the Gothic church through their labors. Meanwhile, St. John Chrysostom was convicted by a church court and deposed. His excommunication and condemnation should have been recognized by the Gothic Church, the establishment of which he was so fatherly concerned; especially since the Gothic missionaries, who were more or less supposed to be under the authority of the Bishop of Constantinople, had, therefore, to act on the instructions of Bishop Arsacius, the successor of St. John Chrysostom. But this excommunication against the saint in the churches founded by him, and among Christians whom he converted to the faith, obviously could create temptation and harm the spread of Orthodoxy among the Goths. The most unfortunate thing was that the instruments for the execution of this sad deed should have been those very persons already known to the Gothic church, who owed their education to the illegally excommunicated archpastor. In the life of St. John Chrysostom Palladius mentions Mars, the widow of Promotus, among the persons hostile to the saint. It is very likely that the Gothic missionary monks (oí en toí_s Promw'tou) had their own monastery on her land, or some lands on her estate, and that the ruler, at the slander of others, or even at the insistence of the authorities, in accordance with her own feelings, made all sorts of oppressions against them for their adherence to St. John Chrysostom in order to encourage them to go to the Goths, first of all, of course, to continue their missionary activities, but also in order to officially announce the excommunication of their enlightener there. At least, by accepting this kind of convergence of the above fragmentary historical indications, one can clearly determine the meaning of unspoken expressions, both in this and in the previous letter. You might be interested in: