Letter 255: Would that it were possible for me to write to your reverence every day! For ever since I have had experience of your affection I have had great desire to converse with you, or, if this be impossible, at least to communicate with you by letter, that I may tell you my own news and learn in what state you are. Yet we have not what we wish but what...
Basil of Caesarea→Vitus, Guardian (Defensorem )|c. 372 AD|basil caesarea
Travel & mobility
If only I could write to you every day. Ever since I experienced your affection, I have had a great desire to be in conversation with you -- or, if that is impossible, at least to stay in touch by letter, sharing my own news and learning how you are doing. But we do not always get what we want; we get what the Lord gives, and we should receive it with gratitude.
I have therefore thanked God for this opportunity to write, made possible by the arrival of our beloved and reverend brother Sanctissimus the presbyter. He has had considerable difficulty completing his journey, and he will give you an accurate account of everything he has learned in the West.
For all of this we should thank the Lord and beg Him to grant us the same peace, so that we may freely receive one another. Through you I greet all the brothers in Christ.
ST. BASIL OF CAESAREA
To Vitus, bishop of Charræ.
Would that it were possible for me to write to your reverence every day! For ever since I have had experience of your affection I have had great desire to converse with you, or, if this be impossible, at least to communicate with you by letter, that I may tell you my own news and learn in what state you are. Yet we have not what we wish but what the Lord gives, and this we ought to receive with gratitude. I have therefore thanked the holy God for giving me an opportunity for writing to your reverence on the arrival of our very well beloved and reverend brother Sanctissimus, the presbyter. He has had considerable trouble in accomplishing his journey, and will tell you with accuracy all that he has learned in the West. For all these things we ought to thank the Lord and to beseech Him to give us too the same peace and that we may freely receive one another. Receive all the brethren in Christ in my name.
About this page
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/3202255.htm>.
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If only I could write to you every day. Ever since I experienced your affection, I have had a great desire to be in conversation with you -- or, if that is impossible, at least to stay in touch by letter, sharing my own news and learning how you are doing. But we do not always get what we want; we get what the Lord gives, and we should receive it with gratitude.
I have therefore thanked God for this opportunity to write, made possible by the arrival of our beloved and reverend brother Sanctissimus the presbyter. He has had considerable difficulty completing his journey, and he will give you an accurate account of everything he has learned in the West.
For all of this we should thank the Lord and beg Him to grant us the same peace, so that we may freely receive one another. Through you I greet all the brothers in Christ.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.