And you, therefore, if you stay in your house, if you are held fast in your bed, do not think that you are living an unproductive life.

For you are enduring something more grievous than what you have suffered at the hands of public torturers, by whom you have been dragged, savagely attacked, stretched to the utmost-and that is this extreme infirmity of yours, which is like having a public torturer continually residing in your house. But do not therefore either desire your end or neglect your health; for that is not safe. Therefore Paul heartily advises Timothy to take the greatest care of himself. But about your illness—it’s enough to say these things.

—Saint John Chrysostom, Letters to Saint Olympia