Letter 35: I have written to you about many people as belonging to myself; now I mean to write about more. The poor can never fail, and I can never say, no. There is no one more intimately associated with me, nor better able to do me kindnesses wherever he has the ability, than the reverend brother Leontius.

I've written to you on behalf of many people I consider my own, and here I am again with another. The poor never run out, and I can never say no. No one is closer to me, or more ready to help me when he can, than my dear brother Leontius. So please treat his household as if it were mine — not the poverty I'm currently living in, by God's grace, but as if I were a man of wealth and property. I know you wouldn't have let me go without. You'd have looked after what I had, maybe even added to it. That's exactly how I'm asking you to treat Leontius's house. You'll get your usual payment from me: my prayers to God for the trouble you take in being a good and honest person, and for helping those in need before they even have to ask.

ST. BASIL OF CAESAREA Without address. I have written to you about many people as belonging to myself; now I mean to write about more. The poor can never fail, and I can never say, no. There is no one more intimately associated with me, nor better able to do me kindnesses wherever he has the ability, than the reverend brother Leontius. So treat his house as if you had found me, not in that poverty in which now by God's help I am living, but endowed with wealth and landed property. There is no doubt that you would not have made me poor, but would have taken care of what I had, or even added to my possessions. This is the way I ask you to behave in the house of Leontius. You will get your accustomed reward from me; my prayers to the holy God for the trouble you are taking in showing yourself a good man and true, and in anticipating the supplication of the needy.

[Πρός: Ἀνεπίγραφος, ὑπὲρ Λεοντίου] Περὶ πολλῶν μὲν ὡς διαφερόντων μοι ἐπέστειλά σοι, περὶ πλειόνων δὲ καὶ ἐπιστελῶ. οὔτε γὰρ τοὺς δεομένους ἐπιλιπεῖν δυνατόν, οὔτε ἡμᾶς ἀρνεῖσθαι τὴν χάριν οἷόν τε. οὐ μήν ἐστί τις οἰκειότερός μοι, οὔτε μᾶλλον ἀναπαῦσαί με ἐφʼ οἷς ἂν εὖ τι πάθοι δυνάμενος, τοῦ αἰδεσιμωτάτου ἀδελφοῦ Λεοντίου. οὗ τὴν οἰκίαν οὕτω διάθες, ὡς ἂν εἰ αὐτὸν ἐμὲ καταλάβοις, μὴ ἐν τῇ πενίᾳ ταύτῃ, ἐν ᾗ νῦν εἰμὶ σὺν Θεῷ, ἀλλʼ εὐπορίας τινὸς ἐπειλημμένον καὶ ἀγροὺς κεκτημένον. δῆλον γὰρ ὅτι οὐκ ἂν ἐποίησάς με πένητα, ἀλλʼ ἐφύλαξας ἂν τὰ παρόντα, ἢ ἐπέτεινας τὴν εὐπορίαν. τοῦτο οὖν ποιῆσαί σε καὶ ἐν τῇ προειρημένῃ μοι οἰκίᾳ τοῦ ἀνδρὸς παρακαλοῦμεν. μισθὸς δέ σοι ὑπὲρ πάντων ὁ συνήθης παρʼ ἐμοῦ, εὐχὴ πρὸς τὸν ἅγιον Θεὸν ὑπὲρ ὧν κάμνεις, καλός τε καὶ ἀγαθὸς ὢν καὶ προλαμβάνων τὰς αἰτήσεις τῶν δεομένων.