Letter 132: Ever since the autumn I have been quite ignorant of the whereabouts of your reverence; for I kept hearing uncertain rumours, some saying that you were stopping at Samosata, and some in the country, while others maintained that they had seen you at Batnæ. This is the reason of my not writing frequently. Now, on hearing that you are staying at Ant...
Basil of Caesarea→Abramius, of Batnæ|c. 365 AD|basil caesarea
friendship
I've been completely in the dark about where you are since last autumn. I kept hearing conflicting reports — some people said you were in Samosata [a major city on the Euphrates, in modern southeastern Turkey], others said you were in the countryside, and still others claimed they'd seen you at Batnæ [a town in the province of Osrhoene, near modern Suruç, Turkey]. That's why I haven't written.
Now I hear you're in Antioch [the great metropolis of Roman Syria, modern Antakya, Turkey], staying at the house of Count Saturninus. So I'm sending this letter with our dear brother Sanctissimus, a fellow priest.
I send you my warmest greetings — and wherever you end up, please remember two things: first, God; and second, me. You decided from the very beginning to count me among your closest friends. Don't forget that.
ST. BASIL OF CAESAREA
To Abramius, bishop of Batnæ.
Ever since the autumn I have been quite ignorant of the whereabouts of your reverence; for I kept hearing uncertain rumours, some saying that you were stopping at Samosata, and some in the country, while others maintained that they had seen you at Batnæ. This is the reason of my not writing frequently. Now, on hearing that you are staying at Antioch, in the house of the honourable Count Saturninus, I have been glad to give this letter to our beloved and reverend brother Sanctissimus, our fellow presbyter, by whom I salute you, and exhort you, whereever you be, to remember firstly God, and secondly myself, whom you determined from the beginning to love and to reckon among your most intimate friends.
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Source. Translated by Blomfield Jackson. From Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, Vol. 8. Edited by Philip Schaff and Henry Wace. (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1895.) Revised and edited for New Advent by Kevin Knight. <https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/3202132.htm>.
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I've been completely in the dark about where you are since last autumn. I kept hearing conflicting reports — some people said you were in Samosata [a major city on the Euphrates, in modern southeastern Turkey], others said you were in the countryside, and still others claimed they'd seen you at Batnæ [a town in the province of Osrhoene, near modern Suruç, Turkey]. That's why I haven't written.
Now I hear you're in Antioch [the great metropolis of Roman Syria, modern Antakya, Turkey], staying at the house of Count Saturninus. So I'm sending this letter with our dear brother Sanctissimus, a fellow priest.
I send you my warmest greetings — and wherever you end up, please remember two things: first, God; and second, me. You decided from the very beginning to count me among your closest friends. Don't forget that.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.