Salmos 69

Salmos 69:20

Since the holy God has promised those who hope in him a means of escape from every affliction, we, even if we have been cut off in the midst of a sea of evils and are racked by the mighty waves stirred up against us by the spirits of wickedness, nevertheless endure in Christ who strengthens us, and we have not slackened the intensity of our zeal for the churches, nor do we, as in a storm when the waves rise high, expect destruction. We still hold fast to our earnest endeavors as much as is possible, sensible of the fact that he who was swallowed by the whale was considered deserving of safety because he did not despair of his life but cried out to the Lord. So, then, when we have reached the uttermost limit of evils, we do not stop hoping in the Lord, but we watch and see his help on all sides. Therefore, we have now turned also to you, our most honored brothers, whom we frequently expected to come to our aid in the time of tribulations. When we were disappointed in our hope, we also said to ourselves, "I looked for one that would pity me, but there was none, and for those that would comfort me, but I found none." Our sufferings are such as to have reached even to the limits of our inhabited world; if, when one member suffers, all the members suffer along with it, surely it was proper for you in your mercy also to be compassionate toward us who have been suffering for a long time. Not the nearness of the places, but the union of spirit, is apt to engender the friendship that we believe is entertained for us by your charity. — LETTER 242