Letter 8002: Gregory to Anastasius, Patriarch of Antioch. I have received the letters of your most sweet Blessedness, which flowed with tears for words. For I saw in them a cloud flying aloft as clouds do; but, though it carried with it a darkness of sorrow, I could not easily discover at its commencement whence it came or whither it was going, since by reas...

Gregory to Anastasius, Patriarch of Antioch. I received the letter of your most gracious Blessedness -- it was written more in tears than in words. I saw in it a cloud rising high, as clouds do, but it carried such a darkness of sorrow that I could not easily tell at first where it came from or where it was heading. The grief obscured its meaning. But you, most holy one, should always keep in mind what the apostle Paul says: "In the last days perilous times will come, and there will be people who love themselves, who are greedy, who are puffed up" (2 Timothy 3:1-2) -- and what follows, which would pain me to recite and which you hardly need to hear. Here you are, in your venerable old age, laboring under so many tribulations. But consider whose seat you occupy. Is it not the seat of him to whom the Lord said, "When you are old, another will dress you and lead you where you do not wish to go" (John 21:18)? Yet as I say this, I recall that your Holiness has toiled under adversity since your youth. So say with the good king Hezekiah, "I will reflect on all my years in the bitterness of my soul" (Isaiah 38:15). Many people, as you note in your letter, make sport of our sufferings. But we know who said, "You will weep and mourn while the world rejoices; you will grieve" -- and then immediately added, "but your grief will turn to joy" (John 16:20). Since we are already enduring what was foretold, it remains for us to hope in what was promised. As for those you describe -- the ones who pile on burdens instead of lightening them -- I know exactly who they are: "They come in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves" (Matthew 7:15). They must be endured, all the more because they persecute us not only with malice but with seeming authority.

Book VIII, Letter 2 To Anastasius, Bishop of Antioch. Gregory to Anastasius, Patriarch of Antioch. I have received the letters of your most sweet Blessedness, which flowed with tears for words. For I saw in them a cloud flying aloft as clouds do; but, though it carried with it a darkness of sorrow, I could not easily discover at its commencement whence it came or whither it was going, since by reason of the darkness I speak of I did not fully understand its origin. Yet it becomes you, most holy ones, ever to recall to mind what the preacher to the Gentiles says; In the last times perilous times shall be at hand, and there shall be men loving themselves, covetous, lifted up 1 Timothy 4:1; and what follows, which it would be a trouble for me to speak, and which is not necessary for you to hear. Lo, in your holy old age, your Blessedness labours under many tribulations; but consider in whose seat you sit. Is it not in his to whom it was said by the voice of the truth, When you shall be old, another shall gird you and carry you whether you would not John 21:18? But in saying this I recollect that your Holiness even from your youth has toiled under many adversities. Say then with the good king, I will think again over all my years in the bitterness of my soul Isaiah 38:15. For there are many who, as you say in your letter, make to themselves pastime over our wounds: but we know who said, You shall lament and weep, but the world shall rejoice; and you shall be sorrowful John 16:20: where also he immediately adds, But your sorrow shall be turned into joy. But, since we already suffer what was foretold, it remains that we should also hope for what was promised. For as to these of whom you say that they themselves lay on the burdens which they ought to have lightened, I know that they are those who come in sheep's clothing, and inwardly are ravening wolves Matthew 7. But they are so much the more to be endured as they persecute us not only with a malicious mind, but also in religious guise. And in that they desire to have to themselves above others what it were not fit that they should have even with their brethren, we are in no wise disturbed at this, since we trust in Almighty God that those who desire what belongs to others will be the sooner deprived even of what is their own. For we know who said, That every one that exalts himself shall be abased Luke 14:11. And again it is written, Before a fall the heart is exalted Proverbs 16:18. But in these days, as I find, new wars of heretics are arising, about whom I have before now written to your Blessedness, in such sort that they attempt to invalidate the prophets, the Gospels, and all the sayings of the Fathers. But, while the life of your Holiness endures, we trust in the favour of our Protector that their mouths which have been opened against the solidity of the truth may be the sooner stopped, inasmuch as, however sharp may be the swords that are employed, they recoil broken when they strike the rock. Moreover there is this by the great favour of Almighty God; that among those who are divided from the doctrine of Holy Church there is no unity, since every kingdom divided against itself shall not stand Luke 11. And holy Church is always more thoroughly equipped in her teaching when assaulted by the questionings of heretics; so that what was said by the Psalmist concerning God against heretics is fulfilled, They are divided from the wrath of his countenance, and his heart has drawn near Psalm 54:22. For while they are divided in their wicked error, God brings His heart near to us, because, being taught by contradictions, we more thoroughly learn to understand Him. Further, what ills we suffer from the swords of barbarians, and what from the perversity of judges, I shrink from relating to your Blessedness, lest I should increase your groaning, which I ought to diminish by consolation. But in all these things the precepts of our Master comfort me, who says, These things have I spoken unto you, that in me you might have peace. In the world you shall have tribulation John 16:33. For I consider to whom it was said, This is your hour, and the power of darkness Luke 22:53. If, then, the hour of light will be afterwards, since it is said to the elect, You are the light of the world Matthew 5:14, and as it is written, The righteous shall have dominion over them in the morning Psalm 48:15 , whatever we suffer in the hour of the power of darkness is not to be deplored. Moreover your most sweet Holiness tells me that you would have wished, if it could have been so, to converse with me without paper and pen, and grieves that a distance almost as far as the East is from the West lies between us. But this which I feel I declare is true; that on paper your soul speaks to me without paper, since in the words of your Holiness charity alone sounds, and we are not divided by distance of place who, of the gift of Almighty God, are joined together in the bond of love. Why then seek you to have given you the wings of a dove covered with silver, when you already have them? For indeed these wings are love of God and of our neighbour. For by these holy Church flies aloft, and by these transcends all that is earthly; which if your Holiness had not, you would not have come to me by letter with so great charity. Further, I beg you to pray earnestly in behalf of the weakness of my heart, to the end that Almighty God may through your intercession defend my soul from all evils, and the sooner snatch me away from the hurricanes of this time, which are so many, and bring me to the shores of eternal rest. I have received all the very rich blessings , directed to me, which you, as a man of God poor in spirit, hast sent me, saying of them, For what can a poor man give but what is poor? But had you not been poor through a spirit of humility, your blessings would not have been rich. May Almighty God guard you by His protection from all evils; and, since your life is very necessary for all good men, bring you after many years yet to come to the joys of the heavenly country.