Letter 571

To Dioscoria the Widow. The all-seeing God said to the prophet Elijah, when he was in need of necessary food: "Go to Sarepta of Sidon, and there I will command a certain widow to feed you" [1 Kings 17:9]. Not that the Master spoke openly to the widow with lips and mouth, but he put pious thoughts into her mind and [made her] take thought, alongside her own children, for the prophet. Therefore you too must not lose heart, but only pray, bearing your poverty with thanksgiving; and the Lord of all will direct you to the hearts of the wealthy, so that they may supply you not only with your need, but even beyond your need.

Ὁ παντέφορος Θεὸς ἔλεγε τῷ προφήτῃ Ἠλίᾳ, χρήζοντι τῆς ἀναγκαίας τροφῆς· « Πορεύου εἰς Σαραπτὰ τῆς Σιδῶνος, κἀκεῖ ἐντελοῦμαι χήρᾳ τινὶ, ὥστε διατρέφειν σε »· οὐχ ὅτι χείλεσι καὶ στόματι φανερῶς ἐλάλησε τῇ χήρᾳ ὁ Δεσπότης, ἀλλὰ λογισμοὺς εὐσεβεῖς ὑπέβαλε τῇ διανοίᾳ αὐτῆς καὶ τὴν τέκνων φροντίσει τοῦ προφήτου. Οὐκοῦν καὶ σὺ μὴ ὀλιγώρει, ἀλλ’ εὔχου μόνον μετὰ εὐχαριστίας φέρουσα τὴν πενίαν, καὶ ὁ Κύριος τῶν ὅλων ἐπαγγελεῖ σε ταῖς καρδίαις τῶν εὐπόρων χορηγῆσαι, οὐ μόνον τὴν χρείαν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὑπὲρ χρείαν.