Letter 143 (373)
THE FATHERS SPEAK
SAINT BASIL TO ANOTHER TREASURER,
LETTER 143 (373)
If I had been able to present myself personally to Your Excellency, I would have made a complete list of matters I wanted to treat, and I would have taken care of the poor, but ill health and the hindrance of business have detained me.
I am sending in my stead, and I recommend to you this brother, a chorepiscopos, so that you give him full attention and consult with him as a lover of truth and a wise adviser on business matters. If you deign to have a look at the hospice of the poor [']"[-((J.)XOTPOCPElOV] which he administers
-you will do this, I am sure, and not just pass by, for you are not ignorant of this business and, as I was told, you support the hospice of Amaseia with what the Lord gives youif, therefore, you see also his hospice, you will provide everything it needs. Your colleague has already promised to look with interest after the hospices of the poor. I say this not in order that you imitate him, since you are yourself unto others a sure guide toward the good, but in order that you know how others have already solicited me with regard to those things.
Letter 199 of Gregory of Nazianz.us was written to endorse the petition of Theodosios, director of an orphonnge
(6PCPavO'tPOq>ElOV) . It would be better 10 keep him in this charge, rather than having him transferred to another post.
Priests and Hierarchs: Shepherds of Sheep
GREGORY OF NAZIANZUS TO NEMESlOS, GOVERNOR
OF CAPPADOCIA, LETTER 199.
(written in Gregory's later years) If I seem to be importunate with my frequent letters, do not wonder, or else I will charge you before the just judgewhich you are-and I know you will acquit me. You are responsible for my daring because of your readiness to grant motions submitted to you, and no wonder! Many are the reasons for readily granting the favor I beg from you: my advanced age, my ill health, our common love of the belles let/res-if I may be counted among the literati-my desire to meet you, and the infirmities that hinder me from attaining that goal.
But what is my request? If it were not right, it would make me ashamed to apply; if it is right, be ready to grant it. Our son most desired, Theodosius, appeals once more to Your
Prudence; he is both yours and mine: mine as a "supervisor"
[aKoTCoc;, text uncertain], yours as a petitioner. He comes as a petitioner in a cause of mercy. Orphans are in danger, human beings are at stake, one does not know how it will all turn out. We apprehend the transfer of a father who has helped many orphaned children in need. Grant one single favor to all! Stretch your hand to a misfortune which you will appreciate yourself! You need not increase in glory, being in your charge, no more than <Ecuacpopoc;, the brightest Morning Star! But if you still seek some increment, nothing can be better, know it well, nor shine brighter than the present occasion, ts many truthful men will tell Your
Nobility.
Not all civil servants were cooperative. Basil wrote to lfias, the eparch, who had some qualms about expenses involved in the building project of Basil and his collaborators: a church center, a combination hospital-hospice for the poor, a hostelry for travelers, all deemed too costly.