ΕΠΙΣΤΟΛΗ Γʹ
The Storm and the Prize
John observes the weeping crowds and uses the storm metaphor to encourage Olympias that greater trials bring greater rewards if borne with gratitude and skill.
Whenever I see crowds of men and women pouring out along the roads, at the stations, and through the cities, watching us and weeping, I think of how things must be for you. For if these people, who have only now seen us for the first time, are so broken by despondency that they can hardly even recover—and when we plead with them, encourage them, and counsel them they only let hotter streams of tears fall—it's clear that the storm is fiercer among you. But the fiercer the storm, the greater the prizes too—if you keep bearing it gratefully and with fitting courage, just as you already are.✦1 For when a strong wind is blowing, if helmsmen spread their sails beyond measure, they overturn the ship; but if they do so in due measure and as they should, they steer it through with great safety.
Exhortation to Steadfastness
John urges Olympias not to succumb to despondency but to steer her soul with reason and to write letters reflecting her steadfastness, noting that he wrote this near Caesarea.
So knowing this, my lady most dear to God, don't surrender yourself to the tyranny of despondency, but master the storm with your reason—for you can, and the swell is not greater than your skill. And send us letters that report this, so that even while we live in a foreign land we may reap great joy, learning that you have borne this despondency with the fitting prudence and spiritual wisdom.2 I have written these things to your honor now that I have at last come near Caesarea.3
Read the original Greek
Ὅταν ἴδω δήμους ἀνδρῶν καὶ γυναικῶν κατὰ τὰς ὁδούς, κατὰ τοὺς σταθμούς, κατὰ τὰς πόλεις ἐκχεομένους καὶ ὁρῶντας ἡμᾶς καὶ δακρύοντας, ἐννοῶ ἐν τίσι τὰ ὑμέτερα. Εἰ γὰρ οὗτοι νῦν πρῶτον ἡμᾶς ἑωρακότες οὕτω κατακλῶνται ὑπὸ τῆς ἀθυμίας ὡς μηδὲ ἀνενεγκεῖν ῥᾳδίως, ἀλλὰ ἱκετευόντων ἡμῶν καὶ παρακαλούντων καὶ συμβουλευόντων, θερμοτέρους ἤφιον δακρύων κρουνούς, εὔδηλον ὅτι παρ' ὑμῖν σφοδρότερος ὁ χειμών. Ἀλλ' ὅσῳ σφοδρότερος ὁ χειμών, τοσούτῳ καὶ μείζονα τὰ βραβεῖα, εἰ διηνεκῶς αὐτὸν εὐχαρίστως ἐνέγκοιτε καὶ μετὰ τῆς προσηκούσης ἀνδρείας, ὥσπερ οὖν καὶ φέρετε. Ἐπεὶ καὶ κυβερνῆται ἀνέμου σφοδροῦ πνέοντος, ἂν μὲν πέρα τοῦ μέτρου τὰ ἱστία ἀναπετάσωσιν, περιτρέπουσι τὸ σκάφος· ἂν δὲ συμμέτρως καὶ ὡς προσῆκεν, ἰθύνουσιν αὐτὸ μετὰ ἀσφαλείας πολλῆς. Ταῦτ' οὖν εἰδυῖα, δέσποινά μου θεοφιλεστάτη, μὴ ἐκδῷς σεαυτὴν τῇ τῆς ἀθυμίας τυραννίδι, ἀλλὰ κράτει τῷ λογισμῷ τοῦ χειμῶνος· δύνασαι γάρ, καὶ οὐ μεῖζόν σου τῆς τέχνης τὸ κλυδώνιον· καὶ πέμπε γράμματα ἡμῖν τοῦτο ἀπαγγέλλοντα ἵνα καὶ ἐν ἀλλοτρίᾳ διατρίβοντες πολλὴν καρπωσώμεθα τὴν εὐφροσύνην, μαθόντες ὅτι μετὰ τῆς προσηκούσης σοι συνέσεως καὶ φιλοσοφίας ἤνεγκας τὴν ἀθυμίαν ταύτην. Ταῦτα ἐγγὺς Καισαρείας λοιπὸν ἐλθὼν ἐπέσταλκά σου τῇ τιμιότητι.
Scripture echoes
- ↩1Cor.9.24;Phil.3.14 — Do you not know that those who run in a stadium all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. Phil.3.14 — I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
Notes
Letters to Olympias (Letters of St. John Chrysostom) companion
Rule yourself daily, not just on retreat
Chosen Portion turns the mirror into a daily practice — a short reading and examining question each morning before you lead anyone.
Chosen Portion makes the mirror daily: the ruler-formation questions this collection preserves become a two-minute morning examination in the app.
- A daily formation reading drawn from centuries of counsel to those in authority
- One pointed examination question a day — two minutes, before the meetings start
- Track your practice over weeks and watch the examined life become a habit