Letter 49: To Mar Gabriel the Metropolitan

To the most honored father of all, Mar Gabriel the Metropolitan, Ishoʿyahb, in the Lord, sends greetings. A short while ago, O father, when, amid the persecution of the wicked, I was shaken, I hastened to you as to the established pillars of orthodoxy, in haste, with the face of my thoughts; and whatever was necessary, I was eager to do, and my affairs were in order. I wrote to inform you with faithful confidence, and not long after the disturbance of these things, but along with it, together with the uprightness of my epistle, a sudden event befell me from the mercy of the grace of God, by a miracle beyond words, and from the persecution of the wicked, from the snares of the field. And to distance them, I drove them away to the void of their hidden things. And I, in astonishment, was made equal to thanksgiving on behalf of the uprightness of the custom I had hastened to. And not only that, but I also have hope that a more manifest demonstration of the power of the Lord will be shown, to quell the arrogance of the wicked from the disturbance that occurred in a short time, just as also from then they began to be silent. Rejoice, therefore, in your fatherhood in these things, and give thanks for them to the Lord, as is fitting. And pray for the things that are to come, that excellent completions may be received through the grace of God for the glory of the holy Church and for the joy of the faithful. As for me, it seemed good that that letter which, a short while ago, in the midst of the furnace of afflictions, was written by me to your piety, I have sent it to you along with this letter, so that you may know more fully the constriction of the servants of the adversary and the wondrous workings of the power of God, and the slight change from the peace that lives in you from that incomprehensible mercy. And when you know more fully, you will marvel; and when you marvel, you will give thanks and praise. And along with all these things, also pray for my weakness, that the remainder of my days may be spent in a life that is pleasing to the will of God. Completed.