Letter 1647
Isidore of Pelusium→Unknown|isidore pelusium
From: Isidore of Pelusium, monk
To: An unnamed person
Date: ~410 AD
Context: Isidore writes on matters of general.
The spiritual life is a journey with a beginning, a middle, and an end. The beginning is difficult, the middle uncertain, and the end glorious. Persevere. What matters in the end is not what we knew but what we did with what we knew.
; Ππ ἃ ρεϑοη θι8 δορθηυμίογο Τοργϑιθηιὶ- υγ, ἰδὲς οἰἰλιῃ ἀὐδθι οδὲ αὐαπηἰγαιίοηϊ- [ Π] ἱξπΐὶβ γορϑράϊ ϑοπρ ΓΒ : ἢ] δ γθγ0 γερπυπι οαοτυμι ἰεἰθυΐτυτ, ΗΪ5 [εἶξαν δηίπηο δχίιαιῖς, Πἰυἀ,Ὁ αἱ πιολβίγυην, οἱ υϑὶυιὶ οοἰαθού, (ἀφ᾽ Θηάσηι ; ἢδδὲ υἱ ἀὐνίηδ δίψφιι διθα ϑι πὰ 68ὲ διηρίοοιοπάδ. Θιεΐ (αι πὲὶ [Β δοϑυύίυη δθηθδι οοη᾽υσὶ δηῖ6 ὌΠΧΥΙ. --- ΡΕΤΈΟ. Ψενί αἰ φναπία οἶδ. ΠοΥαίμαγ μα ἐφπϑίαμεὶ απῖτιθ [ἐταὶ απϊδείοποπε δοποτιιπι (ρα ροταίἑκηι. Ὶ66 "εἰ εἴιρτα ἐρῖδι. Ἰσχυρὸν μὲν τἀληθὲς, χαὶ σιγητὸ" πολλάχις " χαὶ τοὺς χρύπτειν θέλοντας τὰ ἀπόῤῥητα χατήφεια προ-- “δίδωσι χαὶ στεναγμὸς οὐχ ἐχούσιος " ἀλλ᾽ οὐ λανθά- γουσι τοὺς σοφοὺς, οἵτινές δὲ χαὶ ἐπιῤῥῶσαι δίχαιον ἡγουμένους ἡμᾶς ἐπὶ τὸ γράψαι παρώρμησαν. Οὐχ- οὖν, ὦ φίλε, ἐννοῶν τὸ ἐπίκηρον τῶν βιωτιχῶν “πραγμάτων, μὴ λυποῦ ἀποστὰς αὐτῶν, μηδὲ ἐντύγ- χανε συνεχῶς τοῖς εἰς αὐτὰ ἐγχαλινδουμένοις. χαὶ «πολλὰ τῶν ἰδίων παθῶν ταῖς ὁμιλίαις ἀναμιγνύου- σιν, ἀλλὰ τοῖς ἀῤ«-τῇ μηδενὶ τῶν χαθ᾽ ἑαυτοὺς ὕφιε- “μένοις.
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From: Isidore of Pelusium, monk
To: An unnamed person
Date: ~410 AD
Context: Isidore writes on matters of general.
The spiritual life is a journey with a beginning, a middle, and an end. The beginning is difficult, the middle uncertain, and the end glorious. Persevere. What matters in the end is not what we knew but what we did with what we knew.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.