Letter 132

To Amphilochius the Younger. Will I display the slack indulgences of youthful age to a leper [i.e. to one already corrupted] for the present, and then later, at the very end of old age, put forth the blossoms of self-control, and of courage, and of righteousness? For what heavenly angel promised you that you would grow old? Why are you not afraid of dying wretchedly amid lewdness, and pleasures, and vainglory, while your age is still in its prime, but the term of your life has swiftly grown old?

Μὴ λεπρῷ τὸν τέως ἐνδείξομαι τὰ βλακεύματα τῆς νέας ἡλικίας, εἶθ’ ὕστερον ἐπ’ ἐσχάτων τοῦ γήρως τὰ τῆς σωφροσύνης, καὶ τῆς ἀνδρείας, καὶ τῆς δικαιοσύνης ἀναβλαστήσω ἄνθη. Τίς γάρ σοι οὐράνιος ἄγγελος γηράσειν ὑπέσχετο; Διὰ τί μὴ φοβῇ τὸ ἐν λαγνείαις, καὶ τέρψεσι, καὶ ταῖς κενοδοξίαις ἐναποθανεῖν κακῶς, νεαζούσης μὲν τῆς ἡλικίας, παλαιωθείσης δὲ ὀξέως τῆς πολιτείας;