E00776: A late 4th c. Greek text ascribed to Basil of Caesarea (appended to his Letter 197 to Ambrose of Milan) describes the transfer of the relics of *Dionysius (bishop of Milan, ob. 360/362, S00473), who had died in exile, from Cappadocia (central Asia Minor) to Milan (northern Italy). The author reassures his correspondent of the authenticity of the relics. Written in Cappadocia.

Basil of Caesarea, Letters (CPG 2900), Letter 197

ΑΜΒΡΟΣΙῼ ΕΠΙΣΚΟΠῼ ΜΕΔΙΟΛΑΝΟΥ

(……)
Ἡ δὲ περὶ τὸν μακαριώτατον Διονύσιον τὸν ἐπίσκοπον φιλοτιμία σου καὶ σπουδὴ πᾶσάν σοι μαρτυρεῖ ἀγάπην πρὸς τὸν Κύριον, τιμὴν εἰς τοὺς προλαβόντας, σπουδὴν περὶ τὴν πίστιν. Ἡ γὰρ πρὸς τοὺς εὔνους τῶν ὁμοδούλων διάθεσις τὴν ἀναφορὰν ἐπὶ τὸν Δεσπότην ἔχει ᾧ δεδουλεύκασι, καὶ ὁ τοὺς διὰ πίστιν ἠθληκότας τιμῶν δῆλός ἐστι τὸν ἴσον ζῆλον ἔχων τῆς πίστεως, ὥστε μία αὕτη πρᾶξις πολλῆς ἀρετῆς ἔχει τὴν μαρτυρίαν. Γνωρίζομεν δέ σου τῇ ἐν Χριστῷ ἀγάπῃ ὅτι οἱ σπουδαιότατοι ἀδελφοί, οἱ παρὰ τῆς εὐλαβείας σου εἰς τὴν τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ ἔργου διακονίαν προτιμηθέντες, πρῶτον μὲν παντὶ τῷ κλήρῳ ἔπαινον ἤνεγκαν διὰ τῆς ἐμμελείας τῶν τρόπων· ἐν γὰρ τῇ καθ’ ἑαυτοὺς εὐσχημοσύνῃ τὸ κοινὸν πάντων εὐσταθὲς κατεμήνυον. Ἔπειτα πάσῃ σπουδῇ καὶ ἐμμελείᾳ χρησάμενοι κατετόλμησαν μὲν χειμῶνος ἀβάτου, ἔπεισαν δὲ μετὰ πάσης εὐτονίας τοὺς πιστοὺς φύλακας τοῦ μακαρίου σώματος τὰ φυλακτήρια τῆς ἑαυτῶν ζωῆς παραχωρῆσαι τούτοις. Καὶ γίνωσκε ὅτι οὔτε ἀρχαὶ οὔτε δυναστεῖαι ἀνθρώπων ἐξίσχυσαν ἄν ποτε βιάσασθαι τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ἐκείνους, εἰ μὴ τὸ εὔτονον τῆς προαιρέσεως τῶν ἀδελφῶν τούτων ἐξεδυσώπησεν αὐτοὺς πρὸς τὴν συγχώρησιν. Συνήργησε δὲ μάλιστα πρὸς τὸ καταπραχθῆναι τὰ σπουδαζόμενα καὶ ἡ παρουσία τοῦ ποθεινοτάτου καὶ εὐλαβεστάτου υἱοῦ ἡμῶν Θηρασίου τοῦ συμπρεσβυτέρου, ὃς αὐθαιρέτως τὸν κόπον τῆς ὁδοιπορίας ὑποδεξάμενος ἔπαυσε μὲν τὸ σφοδρὸν τῆς ὁρμῆς τῶν ἐκεῖ πιστῶν, λόγῳ δὲ συμπείσας τοὺς ἀντεχομένους, ἐπὶ πρεσβυτέρων καὶ διακόνων καὶ ἄλλων πολλῶν τῶν φοβουμένων τὸν Κύριον μετὰ τῆς πρεπούσης εὐλαβείας ἀνελόμενος τὰ λείψανα, συνδιέσωσε τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς· ἃ μετὰ τοσαύτης χαρᾶς ὑποδέξασθε μεθ’ ὅσης λύπης προέπεμψαν οἱ φυλάσσοντες. Μηδεὶς διακρινέσθω, μηδεὶς ἀμφιβαλλέτω· οὗτός ἐστιν ἐκεῖνος ὁ ἀήττητος ἀθλητής. Ταῦτα γνωρίζει τὰ ὀστᾶ ὁ Κύριος τὰ συνδιαθλήσαντα τῇ μακαρίᾳ ψυχῇ. Ταῦτα μετ’ αὐτῆς στεφανώσει ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῆς ἀνταποδόσεως αὐτοῦ τῇ δικαίᾳ, κατὰ τὸ γεγραμμένον· ὅτι δεῖ ἡμᾶς παραστῆναι τῷ βήματι τοῦ Χριστοῦ, ἵνα κομίσηται ἕκαστος πρὸς ἃ ἔπραξε διὰ τοῦ σώματος. Μία λάρναξ ἦν ἡ ὑποδεξαμένη τὸ τίμιον ἐκεῖνο σῶμα, οὐδεὶς ὁ πλησίον αὐτοῦ κατακείμενος, ἐπίσημος ἡ ταφή, μάρτυρος ἡ τιμή. Χριστιανοί, οἱ ξενίσαντες, ταῖς ἰδίαις χερσὶ καὶ κατέθεντο τότε καὶ ἀνείλοντο νῦν. Οὗτοι ἔκλαυσαν μὲν ὡς πατέρος καὶ προστάτου στερούμενοι, προέπεμψαν δὲ τὴν ὑμετέραν χαρὰν τῆς ἰδίας παρακλήσεως προτιμοτέραν θέμενοι. Οἱ παραδόντες τοίνυν εὐλαβεῖς, οἱ ὑποδεξάμενοι ἀκριβεῖς. Οὐδαμοῦ ψεῦδος, οὐδαμοῦ δόλος, μαρτυροῦμεν ἡμεῖς· ἀσυκοφάντητος ἔστω παρ’ ὑμῶν ἡ ἀλήθεια.

‘(………)
Now your warm interest and zeal regarding the most blessed bishop Dionysios bear witness to all your love for the Lord, your respect for your predecessors, and your zeal for the faith. For a man’s disposition toward the loyal among his fellow-servants is directed toward the Master whom they have served, and he who honours those who have contended for the faith shows that he has an equal zeal for the faith, so that this act alone of yours bears witness to much virtue. But we are informing your Charity in Christ that the most zealous brethren who have been chosen by your Piety for the execution of the good work have first of all brought praise upon all the clergy by reason of the consistency of their character; for in the decorum that has characterised them they have revealed the steadfastness common to all. Secondly, employing all zeal and propriety, they braved an impassable winter, and persuaded the faithful guardians of the blessed body with all persistency to yield to them those things which protected their own lives. And rest assured that no human authority or coercion would ever have availed to overpower those men, had the commitment in these brethren’s behaviour not bent them to consent. But in accomplishing the object of their zeal, the presence of our most beloved and pious son Thērasios, their fellow-presbyter, contributed especially, for, after voluntarily assuming the toils of the journey, he put down the violent attacks of the faithful there, and, after persuading the refractory by his words, in the presence of presbyters and deacons and many others of those who feared the Lord, he took up the relics with becoming piety, and helped the brethren to preserve them. Receive these relics with joy as great as the grief with which their guardians have sent them on. Let no one stagger. Let no one be uncertain: this is that invincible athlete [i.e. Dionysios]; the Lord recognises these bones which shared the contest with that blessed soul; He will crown them together with it [the soul] on the just day of His requital, according to what is written: “We must stand before the judgement seat of Christ that everyone may receive according as he hath done in the body.” It was one single coffin that received that venerable body; no one else lay beside it; its burial was distinguished; the reverence it received was that of a martyr. His hosts were Christians, and with their own hands they both laid him away then and took him up now. They wept as though they were being bereft of a father and protector: but they sent him on, considering your joy of greater worth than their own consolation. So, they who surrendered him were pious; they who received him got precisely what they had been searching for. Nowhere was there deceit, nowhere fraud. We ourselves bear witness to this. Let the truth be free from all calumny on your part.’

Text: Courtonne, vol. 2 (1961), 151-152.
Translation: Deferrari, vol. 3, 95-99 (modified).