Letter 196: Theodore Studite, Letter 196; Greek heading: Εὐχαρίστῳ τέκνῳ.
Since you sought, my beloved child, to have a letter from me, behold your desire is granted you; but what will you gain from it, pitiable as it is and worthy of nothing? Except that it is a work of your faith and your sincere love, through which the true obedient one is recognized and the journey toward the better things is made manifest. May you therefore be preserved for me, being made better in both of these and advanced to the glory of the virtues, you who are truly grateful [Eucharistos, the recipient's name, meaning "grateful"] and named for joy; and may I see you numbered among the holy ones and shining together with the righteous. Pray for me, sweetest child.
AI-assisted translation - This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek below for scholarly use.
Latin / Greek Original
Ἐπειδὴ ἐπεζήτησας, τέκνον μου ἠγαπημένον, γράμμα μου
ἔχειν, ἰδού σοι τὸ ἐπιθύμιον· ἀλλὰ τί ὀνήσῃ ἐξ αὐτοῦ, οἰκτροῦ ὄντος καὶ οὐδενὸς
ἀξίου; πλὴν πίστεώς σου καὶ ἀγάπης εἰλικρινοῦς ἔργον, δι' ὧν ὁ ἀληθινὸς ὑπήκοος
γνωρίζεται καὶ ἡ πρὸς τὰ κρείττονα πορεία ἐμφανίζεται. φυλαχθείης μοι τοίνυν ἐν
ἀμφοτέροις βελτιούμενος καὶ εἰς κλέος ἀρετῶν προαγόμενος, ὁ ὡς ἀληθῶς
εὐχάριστος καὶ χαρᾶς ἐπώνυμος, καὶ ἴδοιμί σε ὁσίοις συναρίθμιον καὶ δικαίοις
συνεκλάμποντα. Προσεύχου περὶ ἐμοῦ, γλυκύτατον τέκνον.
Revision history
- 2026-05-27v2.2.34-import
Initial corpus import from modern theodore studite workflow v1.
Fields: letter text, metadata, source links. Source: https://greekdownloads3.files.wordpress.com/2014/09/epistulae2.pdf
Related Letters
Theodore Studite, Letter 337; Greek heading: Λέοντι.
Theodore Studite, Letter 39; Greek heading: Θεοφίλῳ ἡγουμένῳ.
Theodore Studite, Letter 40; Greek heading: Ναυκρατίῳ τέκνῳ.
Theodore Studite, Letter 380; Greek heading: Ναυκρατίῳ τέκνῳ.
Theodore Studite, Letter 326; Greek heading: Κληδονίῳ τέκνῳ.