Letter 48: Evagrius asks Theophorus for prayer and urges care for the image of God.

Write to us again now, sober-minded Theophorus, and rejoice. We have been commanded to rejoice in the Lord. Pray for me, too, so that I may not become food for foxes, but may be part of the Lord, who saved us from many masters and brought us under the lordship of his Father. Despise the bodily nature, whose first beginning is corruptible and which ends again in corruption. Care instead for the image of God, so that it may leave the body unstained.

Greek retroversion from Syriac transmission (Frankenberg 1912, TAN/TEI CC BY 4.0): γραψον ημιν και νυν ω σωφρον Θεοφορε χαιρων· χαιρειν γαρ εν χυριωι παρηγγελμεθα, και προσευχον υπερ εμου ινα μη γενωμαι βρωμα αλωπεξιν αλλα μερος κυριου του ημας απο πολλων κυριοτητων σωσαντος τε και τηι του πατρος αυτου κυριοτητι προσαγαγοντος. καταφρονει δε της σαρκικης φυσεως της απαρχης φθαρτης και παλιν εις φθοραν καταληγουσης επιμελου δε της θεου εικονος ινα ασπιλος του σωματος εξελθηι Syriac transmission available in the linked TAN/TEI source. The complete corpus is Syriac-transmitted; Greek survives only fragmentarily, so this display text is a retroversion witness.