Letter 88: It was needful that the Royal Image should adorn the Royal City. For this reason it wears you upon its bosom, as was fitting, with the virtues and the eloquence, and the other beauties with which the Divine Favour has conspicuously enriched you. Us it has treated with utter contempt, and has cast away like refuse and chaff or a wave of the sea.
Gregory to a friend in Constantinople.
It was fitting that the Royal Image should adorn the Royal City. For this reason Constantinople wears you upon its bosom, as is proper, along with all your virtues, your eloquence, and the other gifts with which divine favor has so richly endowed you.
As for us -- we have been treated with contempt, cast aside like refuse and chaff, like a wave driven by the wind and tossed about. But we do not complain. The quiet life suits us better than the grandeur of the capital. Let others wear the purple; we are content with our poverty and our prayers.
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