Letter 158: My sins have prevented me from carrying out the wish to meet you, which I have long entertained. Let me apologise by letter for my absence, and beseech you not to omit to remember me in your prayers, that, if I live, I may be permitted to enjoy your society. If not, by the aid of your prayers may I quit this world with good hope.
My sins have kept me from visiting you — something I've wanted to do for a long time. Accept this letter as my apology for the absence, and please don't forget to pray for me. If I'm still alive, I hope those prayers will bring us together in person. If not, may your prayers help me leave this world with a good conscience.
I'm also putting in a word for our brother the camel-master [likely a lay official managing transport logistics] — I commend him to your care.
Human translation - New Advent (NPNF / ANF series)
Latin / Greek Original
[Πρός: Ἀντιόχῳ]
Ἐπειδὴ ἀντέστησάν μοι αἱ ἁμαρτίαι μου πρὸς τὸ μὴ δυνηθῆναί με ἣν πάλαι εἶχον ἐπιθυμίαν τῆς ὑμετέρας συντυχίας ἀγαγεῖν εἰς πέρας, γράμμασι γοῦν παραμυθοῦμαι τὴν ἀπόλειψιν· καὶ παρακαλοῦμεν μὴ διαλιπεῖν μεμνημένους ἡμῶν ἐν ταῖς προσευχαῖς, ἵνα, ἐὰν ζῶμεν, καταξιωθῶμεν ὑμῶν ἀπολαῦσαι, εἰ δὲ μή, διὰ τῆς βοηθείας τῶν προσευχῶν ὑμῶν μετὰ ἀγαθῆς ἐλπίδος μεταναστεύσωμεν ἀπὸ τοῦ κόσμου τούτου. τὸν δὲ ἀδελφὸν τὸν ἐπὶ ταῖς καμήλοις παρατιθέμεθα ὑμῖν.
Revision history
- 2026-05-27v2.2.34-import
Initial corpus import from New Advent / NPNF.
Fields: letter text, metadata, source links. Source: https://github.com/PerseusDL/canonical-greekLit/blob/master/data/tlg2040/tlg004/tlg2040.tlg004.perseus-grc2.xml
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