Letter 446
Isidore of Pelusium→Unknown|isidore pelusium
From: Isidore of Pelusium, monk at Pelusium
To: Pepios
Date: ~410 AD
Context: Isidore urges that meditating on the coming glory transforms the present burden of virtue into something that can be borne lightly — the wings of hope.
If you were to dwell on the memory of the coming glory, Pepios, it would put wings on your soul. For what presses down the man who endures the present for the sake of what lies ahead is not the weight of the endurance but the poverty of the imagination. He who sees clearly what awaits him is not burdened; he is eager.
The virtues acquired in this life are not left behind — they are carried across. What nature has not provided, grace provides. What was difficult in the struggle becomes the material of eternal praise. Meditate on this, and let it lighten what now seems heavy.
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From: Isidore of Pelusium, monk at Pelusium
To: Pepios
Date: ~410 AD
Context: Isidore urges that meditating on the coming glory transforms the present burden of virtue into something that can be borne lightly — the wings of hope.
If you were to dwell on the memory of the coming glory, Pepios, it would put wings on your soul. For what presses down the man who endures the present for the sake of what lies ahead is not the weight of the endurance but the poverty of the imagination. He who sees clearly what awaits him is not burdened; he is eager.
The virtues acquired in this life are not left behind — they are carried across. What nature has not provided, grace provides. What was difficult in the struggle becomes the material of eternal praise. Meditate on this, and let it lighten what now seems heavy.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.