Letter 82: I had hoped at this time to receive frequent letters from Your Holiness.
To Eusebius, Bishop of Ancyra.
I had hoped at this time to receive frequent letters from Your Holiness. Suffering as I do under charges that are pure slander, I am in need of the consolation of a brother's voice. For those who are now reviving the heresy of Marcion, Valentinus, Manes, and the other Docetists — provoked by my open exposure of their heresy — have endeavored to deceive the imperial ears by calling me a heretic and falsely accusing me of dividing our one Lord Jesus Christ, the divine Word made flesh, into two sons.
Their efforts did not succeed as they expected. A dispatch was then written to the most honorable and glorious commander and consul — containing, indeed, no accusation of heresy, but certain other charges no less groundless. They alleged that I was attempting to convene frequent synods at Antioch, that this had given offense to certain parties, and that for this reason I ought to desist and confine myself to managing the churches entrusted to my care. When this communication was shown to me, I seized on the sentence as an opportunity for good. In the first place, it has given me the rest I so much longed for. And beyond this, I trust it will help to wipe away some of the many stains of the errors I have committed — because a wrong is being done to me by the enemies of truth.
Even in this present life our supreme Ruler makes plain what care he takes of those who suffer injustice. While I have been confined within the boundaries of my own district, the Lord has stooped from heaven and convicted my calumniators in the sight of all. I do not cease to give thanks for his protection, even in this. And I trust that your holiness will pray for the peace of the churches, which is the one thing I genuinely mourn.
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