Daniel And Service

Χρή σε τὰς ἱερὰς ἀναπτσσοντα Βιβλους, καὶ τῇ αὐτῶν ἐγκαρτεροῦτα, ὥς φασιν, ἀναγνώσκει, τὴν κατὰ τὸν θαυμάσιον Δανιὴλ ἱστορίαν εἰδέναι, ὅτι μέσος τοῦ κλύδδωνος τῆς πλάμης ἱστάμενος, οὐδὲν ὑπέμεινε πάθος αἰχμάλωτον, οὐδὲ μέχρι σιτίων τῶν κοινῶν εἰς μετάληψιν, καὶ μὴ κοινούντων κατὰ περίστασιν τοὺς μετέχοντας. Καὶ ἐπειδὴ οὐ μόνον διάκονος τυγχάνεις τῆς βασιλείας, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἅγεις αὐτὴν καθὼς βούλει, σπεῦσον ἀναῥῥῶσαι τὸ δίκαιον καταπερὸν πρὸς ἀσθένειαν, ἤ μᾶλλον πρὸς αὐτὸν ὑπάρχον τὸν θάανατον, ἵνα τὸ δίκαιον εὕρῃς εὐμενὲς δικαστήριον, εἰ καὶ νῦν αὐτοῦ πολλάκις σοι ἐνθύμησις οὐχ ὑπέρχεται, ὑπὸ τῆς ὑπερφυοῦς φαντασίας ἐπτοημένῳ. Ἅγιος Ἰσίδωρος Του Πηλουσιώτου, Βιβλιον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολή ΛϚ', Ἀντιοχῳ Εὐνουχῳ Παλατιου Source: Migne PG 78.204c

It is necessary that having unfolded the the Holy Scriptures, you be strengthened, as it is said, by the reading of them, as seen in the story of the wondrous Daniel, for he standing in the midst of the waves of error, was not at all subjected by the desires of his captors, nor did he partake of prohibited food lest by possession of those things enjoyed by others he be contaminated. And because you are not only a minister of the Empire but even because you desire to be holy, you should be zealous to avoid any profane service, or rather you should prefer to die than to do it, that you might then find yourself before a just and benign court, even if now there come frequently before your mind things hardly to be borne on account of the distractions of the immodesty of human pomp. Saint Isidore of Pelusium, Book 1, Letter 36, To Antiochus A Eunuch of the Palace