PL 61 · cols. 164–177

Paulinus of Nola, Letters

Letters IV–V

conspicuus. Eloquia tua lumen semitis nostris erunt, et oleo lucernae tuae impinguabitur caput nostrum. Et accendetur fides, cum spiritu oris tui cibum mentis et lumen animae sumserimus.

conspicuous. Your words will be a light to our paths (Ps. 118:105), and with the oil of your lamp our head will be made fat (Matt. 6:17). And faith will be kindled, when by the spirit of your mouth we have taken food for the mind and light for the soul.

6. Pax et gratia Dei tecum, et corona justitiae tibi maneat in die illo, domine, pater merito dilectissime, et venerabilis, et exoptatissime. Benedictos sanctitatis tuae comites et aemulatores in Domino, fratres, si dignantur, nostros tam in ecclesiis quam in monasteriis, Carthagini, Thagastae, Hipponeregio et totis parochiis tuis, atque omnibus cognitis tibi per Africam locis Domino catholice servientes, multo affectu et obsequio salutari rogamus. Si ipsam membranam sancti Domnionis acceperis, transcriptam nobis remittere dignaberis. Et hoc rogo scribas mihi, quem hymnum meum cognoveris. Panem unum sanctitati tuae unitatis gratia misimus, in quo etiam Trinitatis soliditas continetur. Hunc panem eulogiam esse tu facies dignatione sumendi.

6. Peace and the grace of God be with you, and may the crown of justice await you on that day, lord, father deservedly most beloved, and venerable, and most longed-for. The blessed companions and imitators of your holiness in the Lord, our brethren (if they deign [to be so]), both in the churches and in the monasteries, at Carthage, at Thagaste, at Hippo Regius and in all your parishes, and those serving the Lord in the catholic way in all the places known to you throughout Africa, we ask you to greet with much affection and respect. If you receive the parchment itself of holy Domnio, you will deign to send it back to us copied. And this I ask, that you write to me which hymn of mine you have come to know. We have sent your holiness one loaf for the sake of unity, in which the solidity of the Trinity also is contained. This loaf you will make a blessing (eulogia) by deigning to receive it.

EPISTOLA IV.

LETTER IV.

Domino fratri unanimo et venerabili AUGUSTINO, PAULINUS et THERASIA peccatores.

To their lord, their brother of one mind and venerable, Augustine, Paulinus and Therasia, sinners.

1. Caritas Christi quae urget nos, et absentes licet per unitatem fidei alligat, ipsa fiduciam ad te scribendi pudore depulso praestitit, teque per litteras tuas visceribus meis intimavit, quas et de scholasticis facultatibus affluentes, et de coelestibus favis dulces, ut animae meae medicas, et altrices, in quinque libris interim teneo, quos munere benedicti et venerabilis nobis episcopi nostri Alypii, non pro nostra instructione tantum, sed etiam pro Ecclesiae multarum urbium utilitate suscepimus. Hos igitur nunc libros lectioni habeo, in his me oblecto, de his cibum capio, non illum qui perit, sed qui operatur vitae aeternae substantiam per fidem nostram, qua adcorporamur in Christo Jesu Domino nostro; cum fides nostra, quae visibilium negligens invisibilibus inhiat, per caritatem omnia secundum veritatem omnipotentis Dei credentem, litteris et exemplis fidelium roboretur. O vere sal terrae, quo praecordia nostra, ne possint seculi errore vanescere, condiuntur! O lucerna digne supra candelabrum Ecclesiae posita, quae late catholicis urbibus de septiformi lychno pastum oleo laetitiae lumen effundens, densas licet haereticorum caligines discutis, et lucem veritatis a confusione tenebrarum splendore clarifici sermonis enubilas.

1. The charity of Christ which urges us (2 Cor. 5:14), and binds us, though absent, by the unity of faith, has itself, putting shame to flight, given me the confidence to write to you, and has made you intimate to my inmost heart through your writings; these, rich in the resources of the schools and sweet with heavenly honeycombs, I hold for the present in five books, as physicians and nurses of my soul, and we received them by the gift of our blessed and venerable bishop Alypius, not for our own instruction only, but also for the benefit of the Church of many cities. These books, then, I now have for reading; in them I take delight, from them I take food, not that which perishes, but that which works the substance of eternal life (John 6:27) through our faith, by which we are incorporated in Christ Jesus our Lord; since our faith, which, neglecting things visible, gapes after things invisible (2 Cor. 4:18), and believes all things through charity according to the truth of almighty God, is strengthened by the writings and examples of the faithful (1 Cor. 13:7). O truly salt of the earth, by which our hearts are seasoned, so that they may not vanish away through the error of the world (Matt. 5:13)! O lamp worthily set upon the lampstand of the Church (Matt. 5:15; Mark 4:21), who, shedding far and wide over the catholic cities a light fed with the oil of gladness from a sevenfold lamp, scatter the darkness of the heretics, dense though it be, and by the splendour of your shining speech clear the light of truth from the confusion of darkness.

2. Vides, frater unanime, admirabilis in Christo

2. You see, brother of one mind, admirable in Christ

Editors' notes and page, col. 164

Footnotes

(h) ‹anchor: quae urget nos› · call in col 164

II Cor. V, 14.

2 Corinthians 5:14.

(printed under page 85)

(i) ‹anchor: per fidem nostram› · call in col 164

Johan. VI, 27.

John 6:27.

(printed under page 85)

(j) ‹anchor: invisibilibus inhiat› · call in col 164

II Cor. IV, 18.

2 Corinthians 4:18.

(printed under page 85)

(k) ‹anchor: fidelium roboretur› · call in col 164

I Cor. XIII, 7.

1 Corinthians 13:7.

(printed under page 85)

(l) ‹anchor: condiuntur› · call in col 164

Matth. V, 13.

Matthew 5:13.

(printed under page 85)

(m) ‹anchor: candelabrum Ecclesiae posita› · call in col 164

Matth. V, 15; Marc. IV, 21.

Matthew 5:15; Mark 4:21.

(printed under page 85) (*) ‹anchor: EPISTOLA IV.› · call in col 164 Alias 41; quae autem 4 erat, nunc 25. Scripta cum superiore, anno 394 in autumno.

Formerly 41; the letter that was 4 is now 25. Written with the preceding one, in the year 394, in the autumn.

(printed under page 85)

(f) ‹anchor: libros lectioni› · call in col 164

Ms. Big., in lectione.

Bigot's manuscript: "in lectione" ("in reading").

(printed under page 85)

Editors' prose

Augustino scribit, exquisitis eum laudibus exornans pro quinque ejus adversus Manichaeos libris, quos ab Alypio acceperat. Panem ipsi dono mittit.

He writes to Augustine, adorning him with choice praises for his five books against the Manichaeans, which he had received from Alypius. He sends him a loaf as a gift.

Page

running head: S. PAULINI NOLANI EPISCOPI 164 (spanning both columns)
marginal letters: A ‹conspicuus. Eloquia tua lumen›; B ‹hymnum meum cognoveris›; C ‹libris interim teneo, quos munere›; D ‹lychno pastum oleo laetitiae›
old-edition numerals: 13 before the italic argumentum of Epistola IV

PL 61:165

Domino, et suscipiende, quam familiariter agnoverim te, quanto admirer stupore, quam magno amore complectar, qui quotidie colloquio litterarum tuarum fruor et oris tui spiritu vescor. Os enim tuum fistulam aquae vivae et venam fontis aeterni merito dixerim, quia fons in te aquae salientis in vitam aeternam Christus effectus est. Cujus desiderio sitivit in te anima mea, et ubertate tui fluminis inebriari terra mea concupivit. Ideoque cum hoc Pentateucho tuo contra Manichaeos me satis armaveris, si qua in alios quoque hostes catholicae fidei munimina comparasti, quia hostis noster, cui mille nocendi artes (Virgil. VII Aeneid., v. 334), tam variis expugnandus est telis, quam oppugnat insidiis; quaeso promere mihi de armamentario tuo, et conferre non abnuas arma justitiae. Sum enim laboriosus, etiam nunc sub magno honore peccator; veteranus in numero peccatorum, sed aeterno Regi novus incorporeae tyro militiae. Sapientiam mundi miser hucusque miratus sum, et per inutiles litteras reprobatamque prudentiam Deo stultus et mutus fui. Postquam inveteravi inter inimicos meos, et evanui in cogitationibus meis, levavi oculos meos in montes, ad praecepta Legis, et gratiae dona suspiciens, unde mihi auxilium venit a Domino, qui non secundum iniquitates retribuens, illuminavit caecum, solvit compeditum, humiliavit erectum male, ut erigeret humiliatum pie.

the Lord, and worthy to be welcomed, how intimately I have come to know you, with what amazement I admire you, with what great love I embrace you, I who daily enjoy the converse of your letters and feed on the breath of your mouth. For I might rightly call your mouth a pipe of living water and a vein of the eternal fountain, because Christ has become in you a fountain of water springing up into eternal life (John 4:14). In longing for Him my soul has thirsted in you, and my earth has desired to be made drunk with the abundance of your river. And so, since you have armed me well enough with this Pentateuch of yours against the Manichees, if you have prepared any defences against the other enemies of the Catholic faith as well (for our enemy, who has a thousand arts of harming (Virgil, Aeneid VII, 334), must be fought down with weapons as various as the snares with which he attacks), I beg you not to refuse to bring out for me from your armoury and to bestow on me the arms of justice. For I am one who labours, even now a sinner under great honour; a veteran in the ranks of sinners, but a new recruit to the eternal King in a bodiless warfare. Wretch that I was, I admired the wisdom of the world until now, and through useless letters and a reprobate prudence I was foolish and dumb before God (Rom. 1:22). After I had grown old among my enemies (Ps. 6:8), and had become vain in my thoughts (Rom. 1:21), I lifted up my eyes to the mountains (Ps. 120:1), looking up to the precepts of the Law and the gifts of grace, whence my help comes from the Lord, Who, not repaying according to my iniquities (Ps. 102:10), has given light to the blind (Ps. 145:8), loosed the fettered, humbled what was wrongly lifted up, so as to lift up in mercy what had been humbled.

3. Sequor igitur non aequis adhuc passibus magna justorum vestigia, si possim orationibus vestris apprehendere, in quo Dei miserationibus apprehensus sum. Rege ergo parvulum in terra reptantem, et tuis gressibus ingredi doce. Nolo enim me corporalis ortus magis quam spiritalis exortus aetate consideres: quippe aetas mihi secundum carnem ea jam est, qua fuit ille ab apostolis in porta Speciosa verbi potestate sanatus; in natalibus autem animae, illius adhuc mihi tempus infantiae est, quae intentatis Christo vulneribus immolata, digno sanguine Agni victimam praecucurrit, et Dominicam auspicata est passionem. Atque ideo ut infantem adhuc verbo Dei et spiritali aetate lactentem educa, verbis tuis, uberibus fidei, sapientiae (forte spei), caritatis, inhiantem. Si officium commune consideras, frater

3. So I follow, with steps not yet equal, the great footprints of the just, if by your prayers I may lay hold of that for which I have been laid hold of by the mercies of God. Guide, then, a little one crawling on the ground, and teach him to walk in your steps. For I would not have you consider me by the age of my bodily birth rather than of my spiritual rising: for my age according to the flesh is already that of the man who was healed by the apostles at the Beautiful Gate by the power of the word (Acts 4:22); but in the birthdays of the soul, mine is still the time of that infancy which, sacrificed by the wounds aimed at Christ, ran before as a victim worthy of the blood of the Lamb and inaugurated the Lord's passion. And therefore bring me up as an infant still suckled on the word of God and in spiritual age, gaping after your words, the breasts of faith, of wisdom (perhaps "of hope"), of charity. If you consider our common office, brother

Editors' notes and page, col. 165

Footnotes

(printed under page 86)

(a) ‹anchor: in vitam aeternam› · call in col 165

Joan. IV, 14.

John 4:14.

(printed under page 86)

(b) ‹anchor: stultus et mutus fui› · call in col 165

Rom. I, 22.

Romans 1:22.

(printed under page 86)

Psal. VI, 8.

Psalm 6:8.

(printed under page 86)

(d) ‹anchor: evanui in cogitationibus meis› · call in col 165

Rom. I, 21.

Romans 1:21.

(printed under page 86)

(e) ‹anchor: oculos meos in montes› · call in col 165

Psal. CXX, 1.

Psalm 120 (121):1.

(printed under page 86)

(f) ‹anchor: iniquitates retribuens› · call in col 165

Psal. CII, 10.

Psalm 102 (103):10.

(printed under page 86)

(g) ‹anchor: illuminavit caecum› · call in col 165

Psal. CXLV, 8.

Psalm 145 (146):8.

(printed under page 86)

(h) ‹anchor: verbi potestate sanatus› · call in col 165

Act. IV, 22, dicitur annorum amplius quam 40.

Acts 4:22, where he is said to have been more than forty years old.

(printed under page 86)

(i) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 165 or 166

Matth. VI, 34.

Matthew 6:34.

(printed under page 86)

(j) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 165 or 166

II Cor. X, 17.

2 Corinthians 10:17.

(printed under page 86)

(a) ‹anchor: fons in te› · call in col 165

Sic mss. 12 et edit. Bened. At editi cum mss. 2 Big., vitae.

So twelve manuscripts and the Benedictine edition. But the printed editions, with Bigot's two manuscripts: "vitae" ("of life").

(printed under page 86)

(b) ‹anchor: hoc Pentateucho› · call in col 165

Per hanc vocem Paulinus designat quinque libros S. Augustini contra Manichaeos: quod patet ex ejusdem epist. n. 1, ex epist. 6. n. 2, et epist. 3 ad Alypium. n. 2.

By this word Paulinus means St Augustine's five books against the Manichees, as is clear from the same letter, no. 1, from letter 6, no. 2, and from letter 3 to Alypius, no. 2.

(printed under page 86)

Ita mss. septem et edit. Bened. et Rosv. At mss. codices quatuor et tres edit., onere. Et quadrat, inquit Sacchinus, cum sententia Evangelii, Qui laboratis et onerati estis. Tamen et libri et sententiae vetustas suadet magis honore, quia se infra n. 5 presbyterum profitetur, et addit, tanto indignus honore.

So seven manuscripts and the Benedictine and Rosweyde editions. But four manuscript codices and three editions: "onere" ("by the burden"). "And it fits," says Sacchini, "with the Gospel's saying, 'You who labour and are burdened.'" Yet both the antiquity of the books and the sense favour "honore" ("by the honour"), because below, at no. 5, he declares himself a priest and adds, "so unworthy of the honour".

(printed under page 86)

(d) ‹anchor: Nolo enim› · call in col 165

Sic mss., codices Vaticani, Big. duo, et edit. Bened. Editi, in me aetatem.

So the manuscripts, the Vatican codices, Bigot's two, and the Benedictine edition. The printed editions: "in me aetatem" ("the age in me").

(printed under page 86)

(e) ‹anchor: digno sanguine Agni› · call in col 165

Mss. 4 Vaticani, victima. Non displiceat, si et digna legatur.

Four Vatican manuscripts: "victima" ("victim", nominative). It would not displease if "digna" ("worthy") were read as well.

(printed under page 86)

(f) ‹anchor: uberibus fidei› · call in col 165

Ita in editis et mss. omnibus. Pronum fuit cum Sacchino emendare, spei, quod legendum ostendit tum res, tum epistola 27 S. Augustini, qua huic respondens, eademque verba usurpans n. 3, spei scribit.

So in all the printed editions and manuscripts. It was natural to emend, with Sacchini, to "spei" ("of hope"), which must be the reading, as both the matter shows and St Augustine's letter 27, where, answering this one and using the same words at no. 3, he writes "spei".

(printed under page 86)

(g) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 165 or 166

Sic mss. duo Vaticani et Bigotianus unus cum edit. Bened. At mss. novem, honore seniorum.

So two Vatican manuscripts and one of Bigot's, with the Benedictine edition. But nine manuscripts: "honore seniorum" ("by the honour of the elders").

(printed under page 86)

(h) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 165 or 166

Sic tres mss. codices Big. Editi, adjuvante.

So Bigot's three manuscript codices. The printed editions: "adjuvante" ("helping").

(printed under page 86)

Editors' prose

(none)

Page

running head: 165 EPISTOLA IV.
marginal letters: A ‹Domino, et suscipiende›; B ‹tiae. Sum enim laboriosus›; C ‹gressibus ingredi doce›; D (beside footnote (a), no text line)
old-edition numerals: 14 after ‹comparasti›

PL 61:166

es: si maturitatem ingenii tui et sensuum, pater mihi es: etsi forte sis aevo junior, quia te ad maturitatem meriti et honorem seniorum provexit et juvenem cana prudentia. Fove igitur et corrobora me in sacris litteris et spiritalibus studiis, tempore, ut dixi, recentem; et ob hoc post longa discrimina, post multa naufragia, usu rudem, vixdum a fluctibus seculi emergentem, tu, qui jam solido littore constitisti, tuto excipe sinu, ut in portu salutis, si dignum putas, pariter navigemus. Interea me de periculis vitae istius et profundo peccatorum evadere nitentem, orationibus tuis tamquam tabula sustine; ut de hoc mundo quasi de naufragio nudus evadam.

you are [my brother]; if the ripeness of your mind and understanding, you are my father, even though you may perhaps be younger in years, because a hoary prudence has advanced you, young as you are, to ripeness of merit and to the honour of elders. Cherish me, then, and strengthen me in the sacred letters and in spiritual studies, recent as I am in time, as I have said; and therefore, unskilled in practice after long dangers and many shipwrecks, scarcely emerging from the waves of the world, receive me, you who already stand on the solid shore, into your safe bosom, so that, if you think it fitting, we may sail together into the harbour of salvation. Meanwhile, as I strive to escape from the perils of this life and from the deep of sins, hold me up by your prayers as by a plank, that I may escape naked from this world as from a shipwreck.

4. Idcirco enim levare me sarcinis, et vestimentis onerantibus exuere curavi, ut undosum hoc, quod inter nos et Deum peccatis interlatrantibus separat, praesentis vitae salum, omni amictu carnis, et cura diei sequentis, jubente et juvante Christo, expeditus enatem. Neque id perfecisse me glorior: quod etsi gloriari possem, in Domino gloriarer, cujus est perficere, quod nobis adjacet velle. Sed concupiscit adhuc anima mea desiderare judicia Domini. Vide quando assequatur effectu Dei voluntatem, qui adhuc ipsum desiderare desiderat. Quod in me tamen est, dilexi decorem domus sanctae; et quantum in me fuit, elegeram abjectus esse in domo Domini. Sed cui placuit segregare me ab utero matris meae, et ab amicitia carnis et sanguinis ad gratiam suam trahere, eidem placuit inopem me omnis boni meriti suscitare de terra, et de lacu miseriarum, ac de luto faecis educere, ut collocaret me cum principibus populi sui, et partem meam in tua sorte poneret, ut te praestante meritis, officio sociatus aequarer.

4. For this reason I have taken care to lighten myself of baggage and to strip off burdensome garments, so that, unencumbered of every covering of the flesh and of care for the following day (Matt. 6:34), at Christ's command and with His help, I might swim across this billowy sea of the present life, which separates us from God with our sins barking between. Nor do I boast that I have accomplished it: and even if I could boast, I would boast in the Lord (2 Cor. 10:17), to Whom it belongs to accomplish what is present with us to will (Rom. 7:18). But my soul still longs to desire the judgements of the Lord (Ps. 118:40). See when it may attain to the will of God in deed, which still desires to desire it! Yet as far as lies in me, I have loved the beauty of the holy house; and as far as was in me, I had chosen to be abject in the house of the Lord (Ps. 25:8; Ps. 83:14). But He Who was pleased to set me apart from my mother's womb (Gal. 1:15), and to draw me from the friendship of flesh and blood to His grace, was pleased also to raise me up from the earth, poor in every good merit, and to lead me out of the pit of miseries and from the mire of dregs, that He might set me with the princes of His people (Ps. 112:8), and place my portion in your lot, so that, though you excel in merits, I might be made your equal as your partner in office.

5. Praesumtione igitur non mea, sed placito et ordinatione Domini, fraternitatis tuae mihi foedus usurpans, tanto indignus honore me dignor, quia te pro tua sanctitate certo scio, nam veritate sapis, non alta sapere, sed humilibus congruere. Ideoque promte et intime recepturum spero caritatem humilitatis nostrae: quam quidem jam recepisse te per beatissimum sacerdotem Alypium, quia dignatur,

5. So, not by my own presumption but by the good pleasure and ordinance of the Lord, claiming for myself the bond of your brotherhood, I, unworthy of so great an honour, deem myself worthy of it, because I know for certain that you, in your holiness (for you are wise in the truth), are not high-minded but consent to the humble (Rom. 12:16). And therefore I hope that you will receive readily and inwardly the charity of our lowliness: which indeed I trust you have already received through the most blessed priest Alypius, since he deigns,

Editors' notes and page, col. 166

Footnotes

(k) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 166

Rom. VII, 18.

Romans 7:18.

(printed under page 86)

(l) ‹anchor: desiderare judicia Domini› · call in col 166

Psal. CXVIII, 40.

Psalm 118 (119):40.

(printed under page 86)

(m) ‹anchor: in domo Domini› · call in col 166

Psal. XXV, 8; Ps. LXXXIII, 11.

Psalm 25 (26):8; Psalm 83 (84):11.

(printed under page 86)

(n) ‹anchor: ab utero matris meae› · call in col 166

Gal. I, 15.

Galatians 1:15.

(printed under page 86)

(o) ‹anchor: principibus populi sui› · call in col 166

Psal. CXII, 8.

Psalm 112 (113):8.

(printed under page 86)

(p) ‹anchor: humilibus congruere› · call in col 166

Rom. XII, 16.

Romans 12:16.

(printed under page 86)

(i) ‹anchor: Vide quando assequatur› · call in col 166

Ante erat in editis, effectum Dei voluntatum. Mss. duo, effectum Dei voluntate. Alii duo, effectum Dei voluntatem. Unus e Vaticanis, effectu Dei voluntatem. Hunc sequimur.

The printed editions formerly had "effectum Dei voluntatum". Two manuscripts: "effectum Dei voluntate". Two others: "effectum Dei voluntatem". One of the Vatican manuscripts: "effectu Dei voluntatem" ("[attains] God's will in effect"). This one we follow.

(printed under page 86)

(j) ‹anchor: nam veritate› · call in col 166

Sic emendavimus ex mss. tribus Bigotianis et edit. Bened. Ante erat in editis, veritatem.

So we have emended from Bigot's three manuscripts and the Benedictine edition. The printed editions formerly had "veritatem".

(printed under page 86)

Page

running head: EPISTOLA IV. 166
marginal letters: A ‹es: si maturitatem›; B ‹tis onerantibus exuere›; C ‹meriti suscitare de terra›; D (beside footnote (e), no text line)
old-edition numerals: 15 after ‹nitentem›

PL 61:167

patrem nostrum, confido. Is enim sine dubio de se tibi exemplum praebuit nos ante notitiam et supra meritum diligendi, qui incognitos sibi nos, et longinqua soli vel sali intercapedine disparatos, spiritu verae dilectionis, qui ubique et penetrat, et effunditur, et videre diligendo potuit, et alloquendo pertingere. Hic nobis prima affectus sui documenta, et caritatis tuae pignora in supradicto digno munere librorum dedit. Et quanto studuit impendio, ut sanctitatem tuam non ipsius tantum verbis, sed plenius eloquentia et fide tua cognitam non possemus amare mediocriter, tantopere curasse eumdem credimus, ut nos vicissim ipsius imitatione plurimum diligas. Gratia Dei tecum, ut est, in aeternum maneat, optamus, frater in Christo Domino unanime, venerabilis, desiderantissime. Totam domum, et omnem comitem, et aemulatorem in Domino sanctitatis tuae, plurimo fraternitatis unanimae salutamus affectu. Panem unum, quem unanimitatis indicio misimus caritati tuae, rogamus accipiendo benedicas.

to do [so], our father. For he has without doubt given you an example from himself of loving us before acquaintance and beyond our merit, he who, though we were unknown to him and parted by a long stretch of land or sea, was able by the spirit of true love, which both penetrates and pours itself out everywhere, both to see us by loving and to reach us by addressing us. He gave us the first proofs of his affection, and the pledges of your charity, in the aforesaid worthy gift of the books. And with as much effort as he took that we should not love your holiness only moderately, once known not by his words alone but more fully by your own eloquence and faith, with just as much care, we believe, has he seen to it that you in turn, imitating him, should love us very greatly. May the grace of God remain with you for ever, as it is, we pray, brother of one mind with us in Christ the Lord, venerable, most longed-for. We greet your whole household, and every companion and emulator of your holiness in the Lord, with the fullest affection of a brotherhood of one mind. One loaf, which we have sent to your charity as a token of unanimity, we ask you to bless by receiving it.

EPISTOLA XXVII (Al. XXXII)

LETTER XXVII (formerly XXXII)

AUGUSTINI AD PAULINUM.

OF AUGUSTINE TO PAULINUS.

EPISTOLA V.

LETTER V.

SEVERO fratri PAULINUS.

To his brother Severus, Paulinus.

1. Et excusandum putasti, frater dilectissime, quod ad nos non ipse venisses, secundum sponsionem tuam, exspectationemque nostram? Tu vero potiore tui parte quam manseris, solo corpore domi residens, voluntate ad nos, et spiritu et sermone, venisti: quamquam ne corporaliter quidem penitus abfueris, quando in pueris tuis sancta in Domino tibi servitute connexis, corporis ad nos tui membra venerunt. Quamobrem, frater vere sancte, merito dilectissime, et in Christo nobis unanime, tibi reposita jam in coelis est corona pietatis, quam justus Judex reddet in illa die tibi, et omnibus juxta te, caritate

1. And did you think you had to excuse yourself, dearest brother, for not having come to us yourself, according to your promise and our expectation? But you came to us with a better part of yourself than that in which you stayed, residing at home in the body alone, while in will, in spirit and in speech you came to us: although you were not wholly absent even in body, since in your servants, bound to you in a holy servitude in the Lord, the members of your body came to us. Therefore, brother truly holy, deservedly most beloved, and one in mind with us in Christ, there is already laid up for you in heaven the crown of piety, which the just Judge will render on that day (2 Tim. 4:8) to you, and to all who, like you, by charity

Editors' notes and page, col. 167

Footnotes

(printed under page 87)

(a) ‹anchor: reddet in illa die› · call in col 167

II Tim. IV, 8.

2 Timothy 4:8.

(printed under page 87)

(b) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 167 or 168

I Petr. I, 8.

1 Peter 1:8.

(printed under page 87)

Johan. XIII, 1, et X, 15.

John 13:1, and 10:15.

(printed under page 87)

(a) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 167 or 168

Hanc vocem addidimus ex mss. duobus Big. et edit. Bened.

We have added this word from Bigot's two manuscripts and the Benedictine edition.

(printed under page 87)

(b) ‹anchor: SEVERO fratri PAULINUS› · call in col 167

Ms. Vien. addit. et Therasia peccatores.

The Vienna manuscript adds "et Therasia peccatores" ("and Therasia, sinners").

(printed under page 87)

Ms. Vien., qua manseris. Fortasse melius, quam qua manseris.

The Vienna manuscript: "qua manseris" ("in which you remained"). Perhaps better: "quam qua manseris" ("than that in which you remained").

(printed under page 87)

(d) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 167 or 168

Abest a ms. Reg. et edit. Bad. et Schot., a Deo.

"A Deo" ("from God") is missing from the Royal manuscript and the editions of Badius and Schott.

(printed under page 87)

Editors' prose

Augustinus Paulino, amplectens illius benevolentiam, et mutuum declarans amorem; nonnulla de Romaniano et Alypio, necnon de Licentio, cujus aetati metuebat, ne vergeret ad ea quae sunt mundi.

Augustine to Paulinus, embracing his goodwill and declaring their mutual love; with some words about Romanianus and Alypius, and also about Licentius, for whose youth he feared, lest he incline towards the things of the world.

(Vide hanc epistolam inter Augustinianas sub numero 27, tomo XXXIII nostrae Patrologiae, col. 107.)

(See this letter among Augustine's letters as number 27, volume XXXIII of our Patrologia, col. 107.)

Paulinus Severum laudat, et majore miraculo conversum ad Deum ostendit. Deinde hortatur ut ad se veniat, mittitque panem ac buxeam scutellam, mutuum amicitiae symbolum.

Paulinus praises Severus, and shows that he was turned to God by a greater miracle. Then he urges him to come to him, and sends a loaf and a small boxwood dish as a token of their mutual friendship.

Page

running head: 167 S. PAULINI NOLANI EPIS[...] (running head cut at the image edge)
marginal letters: A ‹patrem nostrum, confido›; B ‹venerabilis, desiderantissime. Totam›; C ‹EPISTOLA * V.›; D ‹dilectissime, et in Christo nobis›
old-edition numerals: 16 after ‹Totam›; 20 before the argumentum of Ep. V

PL 61:168

perfecta proximum in Christo, vel Christum in proximo diligentibus. Spiritualia enim carnalibus intuentes, facile colligimus ex dilectione perspicua, quam fratri, quem vides, exhibes, coelestem illam, fidelem, atque perfectam, qua Deum, quem non vides, diligis. Quod probamus obedientia fidei, si scilicet invicem diligendo, probemus nos, sicut tu probas, illius magistri esse discipulos, qui usque ad finem dilexit suos, et animam suam pro amicis suis posuit potestate eadem qua et sumsit.

perfect, love their neighbour in Christ, or Christ in their neighbour. For, viewing spiritual things through carnal ones, we readily gather from the evident love which you show to the brother whom you see, that heavenly, faithful and perfect love with which you love God, Whom you do not see. This we prove by the obedience of faith, if, that is, by loving one another (1 Pet. 1:8) we prove ourselves, as you prove yourself, to be disciples of that Master Who loved His own to the end, and laid down His life for His friends (John 13:1; 10:15) by the same power by which He also took it up again.

2. Ergo tibi, frater vere sanctissime, et merito benedicte, in regione vivorum supra reginam Austri locus et merces erit. Illa enim peccatrix, utpote adhuc invisitatarum a Deo gentium socia, jam tamen visitandarum praevia, non habens legem litterae, sed habens fidem legis in tabulis cordis carnalibus spiritu consilii et pietatis incisam, utilitatis suae causa, et magni ac salutaris lucri studio, tantis ab intervallis ultimi orbis excita, divinam audire sapientiam concupivit; ut, quod non habebat, acciperet, et lucem scientiae, qua carebat, hauriret. Jam tunc scilicet sponsum suum ventura de gentibus regina desiderans, in odorem spirantis late a Propheta suo Christi circumamicta varietate in vestitu deaurato, et populi et paternae domus oblita, currebat: barbara natione, non animo; et in aperto peregrina, sed in occulto Judaea, sanctorum fieri civis optabat. Unde non solum coelesti praemio resurrectionis beatae, sed etiam potestate apostolorum de Judaeis adulteris judicandi, ipsius ore Judicis digna censetur: quia Christum in Solomone mirata, verum reginae coelestis affectum in imagine mystica Ecclesiae providentis impleverat. Ergo si illam in futuro divina remuneratio manet, cum tamen et ipsa istic illo quoque tempore magna ex parte receperit mercedem suam compotita desideratum sapientiae coelestis auditum: quae tandem praemia rependentur tibi, qui me pari gratia, et majore opera, quia minore utilitatis ad praesens tuae spe, desiderasti? Quid enim, quaeso, in me desiderandum habuisti? Quid, quod non haberes, a me sumendum sperasti? Quod bonum tibi de colloquio imperiti? quae utilitas in aspectu peccatoris foret? quid ab insipiente sapiens, rectus a pravo, beatus a misero, ab infirmo fortis, ab inope dives in Domino capere potuisti?

2. Therefore for you, brother truly most holy and deservedly blessed, there will be a place and a reward in the land of the living above the queen of the South (3 Kgs. 10:1; 2 Chr. 9:1; Matt. 12:42; Luke 11:31). For she, a sinner, as one still a companion of the nations not yet visited by God, yet already the forerunner of those to be visited, having not the law of the letter, but having the faith of the law engraved on the fleshly tablets of the heart by the spirit of counsel and piety, for the sake of her own profit and in eagerness for a great and saving gain, roused across such distances from the ends of the world, longed to hear the divine wisdom; so that she might receive what she did not have, and drink in the light of knowledge which she lacked. Already then, that is, desiring her Bridegroom, as the queen who was to come from the nations, she ran towards the fragrance of Christ, breathing far and wide by His Prophet, clothed round with variety in a garment of gold, forgetful of her people and her father's house: barbarian by nation, not in mind; and a foreigner in the open but a Jewess in secret, she longed to become a citizen with the saints. Hence by the mouth of the Judge Himself she is judged worthy not only of the heavenly reward of the blessed resurrection, but also of the apostles' power of judging the adulterous Jews: because, marvelling at Christ in Solomon (Matt. 12:42), she had fulfilled the true disposition of the heavenly queen, the Church, foreseen in a mystical image. If, then, a divine recompense awaits her in the future, although she too, even there and at that time, received her reward in great part, having gained the hearing of heavenly wisdom she had desired: what rewards, pray, will be paid back to you, who have desired me with like grace and greater effort, because with less hope of present profit for yourself? For what, I ask, did you find to be desired in me? What that you did not have did you hope to take from me? What good was there for you in the converse of an unlearned man? what profit would there be in the sight of a sinner? what could you, wise, take from a fool, upright from a crooked man, happy from a wretched one, strong from a weak one, rich in the Lord from a poor one?

3. Vere tu non quae tua sunt quaeris, sed quae Christi: quia non meritum, nec emolumentum ex me tuum, sed solam illam, quae plenitudo est Evangelii

3. Truly you seek not the things that are your own, but those that are Christ's (Phil. 2:4): because not merit, nor your own profit from me, but only that which is the fullness of the Gospel

Editors' notes and page, col. 168

Footnotes

(d) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 168

III Reg. X, 1; II Par. IX, 1; Matth. XII, 42; Luc. XI, 31.

1 Kings (3 Kingdoms) 10:1; 2 Chronicles 9:1; Matthew 12:42; Luke 11:31.

(printed under page 87)

(e) ‹anchor: Solomone mirata› · call in col 168

Matth. XII, 42.

Matthew 12:42.

(printed under page 87)

(f) ‹anchor: sed quae Christi› · call in col 168

Philip. II, 4.

Philippians 2:4.

(*) ‹anchor: EPISTOLA V› · call in col 167 Alias 1; quae autem erat 5, nunc 11. Scripta anno 395.

Formerly 1; the letter that was 5 is now 11. Written in the year 395.

(printed under page 87)

(e) ‹anchor: Christum in› · call in col 168

Solomone. Ita ms. Reg. et edit. Bad., Grav., Grin. et Schot. et alibi. Sic etiam legitur in textu Graeco Σολομών, et ubique ita locutus est Paulinus; similiter et Prudentius Hamartigen. vers. 576 et 579, Psychomach. vers. 809, in Diptycho, n. 2 et 46. Gregorius Nazianzenus in carminibus non semel, et Drepanius Florus carm. ad Moduinum.

"Solomone". So the Royal manuscript and the editions of Badius, Gravius, Gryphius and Schott, and elsewhere. So too it is read in the Greek text, Σολομών, and Paulinus everywhere spoke so; likewise Prudentius, Hamartigenia lines 576 and 579, Psychomachia line 809, in the Dittochaeon, nos. 2 and 46; Gregory Nazianzen more than once in his poems; and Drepanius Florus in his poem to Moduin.

(printed under page 87)

(f) ‹anchor: receperit mercedem suam› · call in col 168

Ms. Reg., cum polita. Edit. Schot. in margine, cum polita est desiderare.

The Royal manuscript: "cum polita". Schott's edition in the margin: "cum polita est desiderare".

(printed under page 87)

(g) ‹anchor: ab infirmo fortis, ab› · call in col 168

Ita ms. Vien. Ante erat, inopi.

So the Vienna manuscript. Formerly the reading was "inopi" (dative, "to the poor man").

(printed under page 87)

Page

running head: [S. PAUL]INI NOLANI EPISCOPI 168
marginal letters: A ‹perfecta proximum in Christo›; B ‹terae, sed habens fidem›; C ‹Christum in Solomone mirata›; D ‹3. Vere tu non quae tua›
old-edition numerals: 21 after ‹solum›

PL 61:169

caritatem, vel in tuae peregrinationis cogitatu, vel in vexatione tuorum causam habuisti. Beatus es, quod non habeo unde retribuam tibi: retribuetur autem tibi in resurrectione justorum ab eo, qui et in minimis suis se diligi testatur et recipi. Unde et illud ait (pro quolibet nominis sui vel falso aut inutili servo, verbis suis debitorem se faciens): Qui recipit prophetam in nomine prophetae, mercedem prophetae accipiet. Mihi scilicet non decessura ob hoc sarcina mea, licet a justo honorem justi peccator accipiam: tibi vero in remunerationem boni accepto ferenda ipsa opinionis tuae justitia; quia sancto errore, sed vero pietatis affectu, bonum Dominum honoraveris et in malo servo.

charity (Rom. 13:10), you had as your reason, both in the thought of your journey and in troubling your people. Blessed are you, because I have nothing with which to repay you: but you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just (Luke 14:14) by Him Who testifies that He is loved and received even in His least ones (Matt. 25:40). Hence He says this too (making Himself a debtor by His own words on behalf of any servant of His name, even a false or useless one): He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward. For me, of course, my burden will not be lessened on this account, though I, a sinner, receive from a just man the honour of the just: but to you the very justice of your opinion is to be credited as the reward of the good; because by a holy error, but with a true affection of piety, you will have honoured the good Lord even in a bad servant.

4. Quid igitur miseri faciemus, hinc etiam rationem et poenam debituri, quod honores accipiamus immeritos: et qui auditores tantum legis sumus, a factoribus praedicemur? Quo magis scilicet exprobretur nobis condemnandae torpor ignaviae, sterilium jejunitas animarum, et in operibus bonis aridae manus; cum audiendo per sermonem tuum vera dignis, ut tu es, Christi servis, atque ideo nobis falsa praeconia, quanto debito constringamur agnoscimus: quando judicium tuum nostris actibus conferentes, quae de nobis audimus, non inveniamus in nobis. Quid enim simile gloriari possumus? etsi in Domino gloriandum sit, quia nihil nisi ejus munere acceptum habemus: attamen mihi aetas provectior, et a primis jam annis honorata persona potuit maturare gravitatem, praeterea corpus infirmius, et decoctior caro obterere studia voluptatum, ad hoc vita ipsa mortalis in laboribus et aerumnis frequenter exercita, odium rerum inquietantium parere, et de spei necessitate ac dubiorum metu, cultum religionis augere. Postea denique ut a calumniis et peregrinationibus requiem capere visus sum, nec rebus publicis occupatus, et a fori strepitu remotus, ruris otium, et Ecclesiae cultum placita in secretis domesticis tranquillitate celebravi: ut paulatim subducto a secularibus turbis animo, praeceptisque coelestibus accommodato, proclivius ad contemtum mundi, comitatumque Christi, jam quasi de finitima huic proposito via demigraverim.

4. What then shall we wretches do, who will owe an account and a penalty on this score too, that we accept honours undeserved: and that we, who are only hearers of the law, are proclaimed as doers of it (Rom. 2:13; Jas. 1:22)? So that the sluggishness of a damnable idleness, the barrenness of sterile souls, and hands withered in good works (Luke 6:6) may be all the more cast in our teeth; since, hearing through your words praises true of servants of Christ who are worthy, as you are, and therefore false of us, we recognize by how great a debt we are bound: when, comparing your judgement with our deeds, we do not find in ourselves what we hear said of us. For what like this can we boast of? even though our boast is to be in the Lord, since we have received nothing except by His gift: yet in my case a more advanced age, and a position honoured from my earliest years, could ripen gravity; besides, a weaker body and a more worn-out flesh could crush the pursuits of pleasure; moreover life itself, mortal and often exercised in labours and hardships, could beget a hatred of disquieting things, and, out of the need for hope and the fear of uncertainties, increase the practice of religion. Then at last, when I seemed to take rest from false charges and from travels, neither occupied with public affairs and removed from the din of the forum, I enjoyed the leisure of the country and the worship of the Church in the pleasing tranquillity of domestic retirement: so that, my mind being gradually withdrawn from the turmoils of the world and fitted to the heavenly precepts, I passed over more readily to contempt of the world and to the company of Christ, as if by a road already bordering on this purpose.

5. Tu frater dilectissime, ad Dominum miraculo majore conversus es, quia aetate florentior, laudibus abundantior, oneribus patrimonii levior, substantia

5. You, dearest brother, were turned to the Lord by a greater miracle, because you were more flourishing in age, more abundant in praises, lighter in the burdens of patrimony, in substance

Editors' notes and page, col. 169

Footnotes

(printed under page 88)

(a) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 169

Rom. XIII, 10.

Romans 13:10.

(printed under page 88)

(b) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 169

Luc. XIV, 14.

Luke 14:14.

(printed under page 88)

Matth. XXV, 40.

Matthew 25:40.

(printed under page 88)

(d) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 169

Rom. II, 13; Jac. I, 22.

Romans 2:13; James 1:22.

(printed under page 88)

(e) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 169

Luc. VI, 6.

Luke 6:6.

(printed under page 88)

(f) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 169

P. CXV, 17.

Psalm 115 (116):17.

(printed under page 88)

(g) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 169

Matth. VII, 13.

Matthew 7:13.

(printed under page 88)

(h) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 169 or 170

Jac. I, 22.

James 1:22.

(printed under page 88)

(a) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 169

Ms. Vien., in remuneratione boni accepta.

The Vienna manuscript: "in remuneratione boni accepta" ("received in the repayment of good").

(printed under page 88)

(b) ‹anchor: corpus› · call in col 169

Ms. Vien., infirmum.

The Vienna manuscript: "infirmum" ("weak", instead of "infirmius", "weaker").

(printed under page 88)

Ita mss. Reg. et Vien. et editi 4. Edit. Rosv. ad haec.

So the Royal and Vienna manuscripts and four printed editions. Rosweyde's edition: "ad haec" ("besides these things").

(printed under page 88)

(d) ‹anchor: cultum religionis augere› · call in col 169

Sic ms. Reg. et edit. Bad. et Grav. Ante erat, potest. Denique.

So the Royal manuscript and the editions of Badius and Gravius. Formerly the reading was "potest. Denique" ("can. Finally").

(printed under page 88)

(e) ‹anchor: finitima huic proposito via› · call in col 169

Ms. Reg., demicaverim. Editi tres, dimicaverim.

The Royal manuscript: "demicaverim". Three printed editions: "dimicaverim" ("I have fought").

(printed under page 88)

(f) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 169 or 170

Ita mss. codices. Editi, vincula.

So the manuscript codices. The printed editions: "vincula" ("bonds").

(printed under page 88)

(g) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 169 or 170

Sic juventas pro juventus dixit Prudentius lib. contra Symmachum vers. 1082. . . . quibus est famulata juventas. De qua voce vide N. Heinsium ad Maronem et Claudianum. Ms. Vien. et edit. Grin. et Schot., juventa.

Prudentius likewise said "juventas" for "juventus" ("youth") in his book against Symmachus, line 1082: "... whom youth has served". On this word see N. Heinsius on Virgil and on Claudian. The Vienna manuscript and the editions of Gryphius and Schott: "juventa".

(printed under page 88)

Page

running head: 169 EPISTOLA V.
marginal letters: A ‹gelii, caritatem›; B ‹nem et poenam debituri›; C ‹decoctior caro obterere›; D ‹abundantior, oneribus patrimonii›
old-edition numerals: 22 after ‹praeconia›

PL 61:170

facultatum non egentior, et in ipso adhuc mundi theatro, id est, fori celebritate diversans, et facundi nominis palmam tenens; repentino impetu discussisti servile peccati jugum, et letalia carnis et sanguinis vincla rupisti. Neque te divitiae de matrimonio familiae consularis aggestae, neque post conjugium peccandi licentia, et caelebs juventas ab angusto salutis introitu, et arduo itinere virtutis in mollem illam et spatiosam multorum viam revocare potuerunt. Beatus, qui refugisti de consilio impiorum, et in via peccatorum persistere noluisti, et sedere in cathedra pestilentiae dedignatus es, ut humilitate praecelsa pedibus Crucifixi accubares.

no more needy in resources, and still moving in the very theatre of the world, that is, in the throng of the forum, and holding the palm of an eloquent name; with a sudden onset you shook off the servile yoke of sin, and broke the deadly chains of flesh and blood (Ps. 115:17). Neither the riches heaped up from your marriage into a consular family, nor the licence to sin after wedlock, and an unwed youth, could call you back from the narrow entrance of salvation and the steep road of virtue into that soft and spacious way of the many (Matt. 7:13). Blessed are you, who fled from the counsel of the ungodly, and would not stand in the way of sinners, and disdained to sit in the chair of pestilence, so that in a lofty humility you might recline at the feet of the Crucified.

6. Tu ergo verus factor legis, et Evangelii non surdus auditor, qui corpus et mundum configens cruci, delicias juventutis, et vitae praesentis mala gaudia pro venenis et luctibus aversatus es, respuens patrimoniorum onera ceu stercorum: merito socrum sanctam omni liberaliorem parente in matrem sortitus aeternam, quia coelestem Patrem anteverteras terreno parenti; exemplo apostolorum, relicto patre in navicula fluctuante, scilicet in hujus vitae incerto cum retibus rerum suarum, et implicatione patrimonii derelicto, Christum secutus. Nec minoris domesticis opibus ingenii facultatis laudem ab hominibus non accipiens, et inanis gloriae sublimiter negligens, piscatorum praedicationes Tullianis omnibus e tuis litteris praetulisti. Confugisti ad pietatis silentium, ut evaderes iniquitatis tumultum. Mutescere voluisti mortalibus, ut ore puro divina loquereris; et pollutam canina facundia linguam, Christi laudibus, et commemoratione ipsa pii nominis expiares.

6. You, then, a true doer of the law, and no deaf hearer of the Gospel (Jas. 1:22), who, nailing body and world to the cross, turned away from the delights of youth and the evil joys of the present life as from poisons and sorrows, spitting out the burdens of patrimonies as so much dung: deservedly have you obtained as your eternal mother a holy mother-in-law more generous than any parent, because you had put the heavenly Father before your earthly parent; following the example of the apostles, leaving your father in the tossing boat, that is, in the uncertainty of this life, with the nets of his possessions, and forsaking the entanglement of patrimony, you followed Christ (Matt. 4:22; Mark 1:20; Luke 5:11). And not accepting from men the praise for a wealth of talent no less than your household riches, and loftily disregarding empty glory, you have preferred the preaching of fishermen to all the Ciceronian works among your books. You fled for refuge to the silence of piety, to escape the tumult of iniquity. You chose to fall silent to mortals, that with a pure mouth you might speak divine things; and that you might expiate a tongue polluted by doggish eloquence with the praises of Christ and with the very remembrance of His holy name.

7. O vere Israelita, qui Deum Jacob tam fida mente vidisti: et tamquam ipsius Domini colluctatione firmatus, praevaluisti adversus principem hujus mundi, et spiritalia nequitiae in coelestibus debellasti scuto fidei, armisque justitiae: praeoptans Christo placere, quam hominibus: hominibus stultus esse, quam Deo: omni facundiae, omnique sapientiae hujus mundi praetulisti scandalum crucis; ut quod pereuntibus stultitia est, tu in patrem salutis adscitus, ut omnibus salvis futuris patescit, virtutem et sapientiam Dei esse cognosceres. Beatus es, frater, quia non caro et sanguis revelavit tibi haec, sed Pater qui in coelis est, per Dominum

7. O true Israelite, who with so faithful a mind have seen the God of Jacob (John 1:47): and, as if strengthened by wrestling with the Lord Himself (Gen. 32:24), you have prevailed against the prince of this world, and have vanquished the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places (Eph. 6:2) with the shield of faith and the arms of justice: choosing rather to please Christ than men (Gal. 1:10): to be foolish to men rather than to God: you have preferred the scandal of the cross to all the eloquence and all the wisdom of this world; so that what is foolishness to those who perish (1 Cor. 1:18), you, admitted to a share in salvation, might know to be the power and wisdom of God, as it lies open to all who are to be saved. Blessed are you, brother, because flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but the Father Who is in heaven (Matt. 16:17), through the Lord

Editors' notes and page, col. 170

Footnotes

(i) ‹anchor: Christum secutus› · call in col 170

Matth. IV, 22; Marc. I, 20; Luc. V, 11.

Matthew 4:22; Mark 1:20; Luke 5:11.

(printed under page 88)

(j) ‹anchor: fida mente vidisti› · call in col 170

Johan. I, 47.

John 1:47.

(printed under page 88)

(k) ‹anchor: collucatione firmatus› · call in col 170

Genes. XXXII, 24.

Genesis 32:24.

(printed under page 88)

(l) ‹anchor: nequitiae in coelestibus› · call in col 170

Eph. VI, 2.

Ephesians 6:2 [so printed; the words are Ephesians 6:12].

(printed under page 88)

(m) ‹anchor: quam hominibus› · call in col 170

Gal. I, 10.

Galatians 1:10.

(printed under page 88)

(n) ‹anchor: pereuntibus stultitia est› · call in col 170

I Cor. I, 18.

1 Corinthians 1:18.

(printed under page 88)

(o) ‹anchor: qui in coelis est› · call in col 170

Matth. XVI, 17.

Matthew 16:17.

(printed under page 88)

(h) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 170

Ms. Vien., Tu vere verus.

The Vienna manuscript: "Tu vere verus" ("You truly true").

(printed under page 88)

(i) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 170

Deest relicto in edit. Schot.

"Relicto" ("having left") is wanting in Schott's edition.

(printed under page 88)

(j) ‹anchor: inanis gloriae› · call in col 170

Ms. Vien. addit cupiditatem, sed perperam; sic enim loqui amat Paulinus in epistola 38 ad Aprum, n. 11, tui diligentem; in epist. 39, n. 1, nostri diligentior, et n. 3, sui deligens.

The Vienna manuscript adds "cupiditatem" ("the desire"), but wrongly; for this is how Paulinus likes to speak: in letter 38 to Aper, no. 11, "tui diligentem" ("careful of yourself"); in letter 39, no. 1, "nostri diligentior" ("more careful of us"), and no. 3, "sui deligens" ("careful of himself").

(printed under page 88)

(k) ‹anchor: et tamquam› · call in col 170

Sic mss. Reg. et Vien. et editi Grin. et Schot. Alii, vir.

So the Royal and Vienna manuscripts and the editions of Gryphius and Schott. Others: "vir" ("a man").

(printed under page 88)

Page

running head: EPISTOLA V. 170
marginal letters: A ‹facultatum non egentior›; B ‹cruci, delicias juventutis›; C ‹mortalibus, ut ore puro›; D ‹tibi haec, sed Pater›
old-edition numerals: 23 after ‹merito›

PL 61:171

nostrum Jesum Christum, qui convertit sapientiam eorum, et stultam fecit; et elegit infirma ac stulta mundi, ut mundum istum his ipsis, propter quae Deum dedignatur nosse, confundat. Memento ergo tu nostri magis, qui locupletioribus meritis ad exorandi potentiam niteris. Nos enim licet jam accensa in lumine Christi lucerna, tamen adhuc sub modio peccatorum latentes, vestra, qui tam fidei et gratiae, quam operum luce conspicui per septena Domini candelabra fulgetis, educi manu, vestroque oleo impinguari caput cupimus; ut non fumigante lino, quod nec ipsum tamen misericors Dominus exstinguit, obscuri ardeamus, sed puro, et ceteris etiam praeferendo fidelis exempli lumine luceamus: quamquam Domini gratia de tenebris relucente, non obscuri per nominis ipsius claritatem, etsi remoti, ut audistis, agamus. In coenaculo enim nostro secreti silemus, quia bonum est viro, ut propheta, ait sedere singulariter, et tacere. Unde etiam in causis vociferandis silere nos docuit ipse Dominus, qui sicut agnus coram tondente se non aperuit os suum; qui tamen dixit; Tacui, numquid semper tacebo? Ipsius ergo voluntatem et judicium taciti sustinemus, qui potens est et nunc in nobis tacere, et cum voluerit, interpellare pro nobis.

our Jesus Christ, Who turned their wisdom and made it foolish; and chose the weak and foolish things of the world, so that by these very things, on account of which the world disdains to know God, He might confound this world (1 Cor. 1:27). Remember us, then, all the more, you who rely on richer merits for power in prayer. For we, though the lamp has now been lit in the light of Christ, still lie hidden under the bushel of sins, and long to be brought out by the hand of you who, conspicuous as much by the light of faith and grace as of works, shine through the seven candlesticks of the Lord (Rev. 1:20), and to have our head made fat with your oil; so that we may not burn dim with a smoking wick, which even so the merciful Lord does not quench, but may shine with a pure light of faithful example that should be held up even to others (Matt. 6:22): although, by the grace of the Lord shining again out of the darkness, we are not obscure, through the brightness of His very name (Isa. 42:3), even if we live withdrawn, as you have heard. For in our upper room we keep silent in seclusion, because it is good for a man, as the prophet says, to sit alone and be silent (Lam. 3:28). Hence the Lord Himself taught us to keep silent even in causes that cry out, He Who as a lamb before its shearer did not open His mouth (Isa. 53:7); Who yet said: I have kept silent; shall I always keep silent? (Isa. 42:14). So we silently await His will and judgement, Who is able both to keep silent in us now and, when He wills, to intercede for us (Rom. 8:34).

8. Verum interim in hoc nobis nostra nocuisse peccata persensimus, quod nec meruimus te videre: et insuper hoc ad mala nostra cumulatum putamus quod et tentationum tibi causa fuerimus; quibus geminas, ut indicasti, aegritudines pertulisti, toties verberatus, quoties ad nos venire conatus es. Sed quia saepe Dominus ipse, ut scriptum est, Deus noster tentat nos, ut caritatem nostram probet, qua nos in ipsius pace diligimus; de tua potius fide, quam de nostra speramus; ut si praemissa tentatio probationem in te operata est, non ultra valeat probata in Deo caritatis vota frustrari. Ita enim tibi promptum inesse spiritum scimus, ut non vereamur, ne ad impedimentum communis desiderii caro semper infirma praevaleat, quam fide roborans, animo subjugabis: ut quod ex se non potest, in Christo posse cogatur. Si dicas ei: Ne pugnes adversus spiritum, esto consentiens adversario tuo in via, et erit pax ossibus tuis, et cum exsultaverit cor meum in Deum vivum, tunc etiam caro mea requiescet in spe.

8. But meanwhile we have felt that our sins have harmed us in this, that we did not deserve to see you: and over and above this we count it heaped on our ills that we were also the cause of trials to you; in which, as you have told us, you suffered two illnesses, beaten as often as you tried to come to us. But since often the Lord Himself, as it is written, our God tests us, to prove our charity (Deut. 13:3), with which we love one another in His peace; we hope from your faith rather than from our own; that if the trial that went before has worked proving in you (Rom. 5:4), it may no longer be able to frustrate the wishes of a charity proved in God. For we know that the spirit in you is so ready that we do not fear lest the flesh, ever weak, should prevail to hinder our common desire, the flesh which, strengthening it by faith, you will subdue by your spirit: so that what it cannot do of itself it may be compelled to be able to do in Christ. If you say to it: Do not fight against the spirit, agree with your adversary while on the way (Matt. 5:25), and there will be peace to your bones, and when my heart has leapt for joy in the living God, then my flesh too shall rest in hope (Ps. 37:4; 83:3; 15:9).

9. Tene ergo, frater, quod tenes, ne coronam tuam

9. Hold fast, then, brother, what you hold, lest another take your crown

Editors' notes and page, col. 171

Footnotes

(printed under page 89)

(a) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 171

I Cor. I, 27.

1 Corinthians 1:27.

(printed under page 89)

(b) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 171

Apoc. I, 20.

Revelation 1:20.

(printed under page 89)

Matth. VI, 22.

Matthew 6:22.

(printed under page 89)

(d) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 171

Isai. XLII, 3.

Isaiah 42:3.

(printed under page 89)

(e) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 171

Thren. III, 28, juxta LXX.

Lamentations 3:28, according to the Septuagint.

(printed under page 89)

(f) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 171

Isa. LIII, 7.

Isaiah 53:7.

(printed under page 89)

(g) ‹anchor: numquid semper tacebo› · call in col 171

Isai. XLII, 14, sec. LXX.

Isaiah 42:14, according to the Septuagint.

(printed under page 89)

(h) ‹anchor: interpellare pro nobis› · call in col 171

Rom. VIII, 34.

Romans 8:34.

(printed under page 89)

(i) ‹anchor: caritatem nostram probet› · call in col 171

Deut. XIII, 3.

Deuteronomy 13:3.

(printed under page 89)

(j) ‹anchor: in te operata est› · call in col 171

Rom. V, 4.

Romans 5:4.

(printed under page 89)

(k) ‹anchor: adversario tuo in via› · call in col 171

Matth. V, 25.

Matthew 5:25.

(printed under page 89)

(l) ‹anchor: requiescet in spe› · call in col 171

Psal. XXXVII, 4, et LXXXIII, 3, et XV, 9.

Psalm 37 (38):4, and 83 (84):3, and 15 (16):9.

(printed under page 89)

(m) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 171

Apoc. III, 11.

Revelation 3:11.

(printed under page 89)

(n) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 171 or 172

Rom. VIII, 28.

Romans 8:28.

(printed under page 89)

(o) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 171 or 172

I Cor. XII, 26.

1 Corinthians 12:26.

(printed under page 89)

(a) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 171

Ita iidem mss. et editi codices. Ceteri, noscere.

So the same manuscripts and printed copies. The others: "noscere" ("to know").

(printed under page 89)

(b) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 171

Sic mss. Editi, deduci.

So the manuscripts. The printed editions: "deduci" ("to be led down").

(printed under page 89)

Ita ms. Vien. et edit. Schot. Alii, tacens, nullo sensu.

So the Vienna manuscript and Schott's edition. Others: "tacens" ("being silent"), which makes no sense.

(printed under page 89)

(d) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 171

Sic LXX interpretes, Tertullianus lib. de Pudicitia paulo post initium, Cyprianus lib. II Testimon., cap. 27 et Paulinus noster epist. 38 ad Aprum, n. 4.

So the Seventy translators; Tertullian, book On Modesty, shortly after the beginning; Cyprian, Testimonies book II, chapter 27; and our Paulinus, letter 38 to Aper, no. 4.

(printed under page 89)

(e) ‹anchor: aegritudines pertulisti› · call in col 171

Mss. et editi vetustiores constanter habent totiens, quotiens: quod semel observasse sufficiat.

The manuscripts and the older printed editions consistently have "totiens, quotiens" (for "toties, quoties", "as often as"): it is enough to have noted this once.

(printed under page 89)

(f) ‹anchor: probata in Deo› · call in col 171

Ita ms. Vat. et edit. Grin. Alii, ideo.

So the Vatican manuscript and Gryphius's edition. Others: "ideo" ("therefore").

(printed under page 89)

Page

running head: 171 S. PAULINI NOLANI E[PISCOPI] (running head cut at the image edge)
marginal letters: A ‹nostrum Jesum Christum›; B ‹tenebris relucente›; C ‹verberatus, quoties›; D ‹etiam caro mea requiescet› (UNSURE: set between this line and "9. Tene ergo")
old-edition numerals: 24 after ‹propheta,›

PL 61:172

accipiat alter. Cui simile est, ut quod volueras, velle non desinas, et immutabilem ad nos veniendi sententiam teneas. Religiosa conamina ipse ad voti fructum pervehet, in cujus potestate est ac favore, ut possimus prospere, quod pie volumus. Scimus enim, quia desideranti bonum, omnia procedunt in bonum. Verum et nos, quod quidem nobis gratissimum signum concordiae in omnibus nostrae fuit, infirmitatum tuarum indices litteras aegrotantes accepimus; probavimusque in nobis secundum Apostoli dictum et affectum, compati sibi unius corporis membra. Nam et eo ipso nos refectos sensimus, quod revaluisse te scripseras; ut in diversis licet terris positi, operantis in nobis spiritus unitatem tacita in corporibus separatis connexione, paribus aut incommodis, aut remediis congruentes experiremur.

(Rev. 3:11). Like this it is that you should not cease to will what you had willed, and should hold to an unchangeable resolve of coming to us. He will carry religious endeavours through to the fruit of their wish, in Whose power and favour it lies that we may do prosperously what we piously will. For we know that for one who desires the good, all things turn out for good (Rom. 8:28). But we too, and this was indeed to us a most welcome sign of our concord in all things, received the letter that told of your infirmities while we ourselves were sick; and we proved in ourselves, according to the Apostle's word and feeling, that the members of one body suffer with one another (1 Cor. 12:26). For we felt ourselves restored by the very fact that you had written that you had recovered; so that, though set in different lands, we experienced the unity of the spirit working in us, by a silent bond in bodies apart, agreeing in like ills or like remedies.

10. Pone igitur et tu, frater unanime, meliorque in Christo nostri portio, si quam ex nostrae castigationis indicio tristitiam pia mente duxeris: Quia castigans castigavit nos Dominus, et morti non tradidit nos. Visitati enim medica Omnipotentis manu, in spem sanitatis a praesenti aegritudine fovebamur: flagella invicem nostra mutuis consolationibus mollientes. Nam solatium nobis magnum et dulce praebebat ipsa conjunctio passionis; quod non sine Domini numine, cujus injussu nec passeris casus in terram est, concurrisse in nobis ipsa unitas verberum videbatur. Sic et commoditas coeperat ambobus una procedere: seu quod alter alterius levamine respirabat, sive quod Dominus unitatis operator, individuo spiritu omnes suos nectens, neque carnalem in nobis substantiam discrepare pateretur.

10. Lay aside, then, you too, brother of one mind, and the better portion of us in Christ, whatever sadness you may have drawn in your loving mind from the news of our chastisement: For the Lord has chastened us sorely, and has not given us over to death (Ps. 117:18). For, visited by the healing hand of the Almighty, we were cherished by the present sickness into hope of health: softening our scourges for one another with mutual consolations. For the very fellowship of suffering gave us a great and sweet solace; since the very oneness of the strokes seemed to have fallen on us together not without the will of the Lord, without Whose command not even a sparrow falls to the ground (Matt. 10:29). So too relief had begun to come to us both together: whether because each breathed again by the other's easing, or because the Lord, the worker of unity, binding all His own in an undivided spirit, would not suffer even the fleshly substance in us to be at variance.

11. Non haec tamen tantum causa pueros nostros morata est. Nam Vigilantius quoque noster in Campania, et antequam ad nos perveniret, et posteaquam pervenit, vi febrium laboravit: et aegritudini nostrae, quia et ipse sociale membrum erat socio labore compassus est. Denique ille catechumenus, qui necdum nostri corporis erat membrum, vulnera nostra non sensit, et sanus fuit, atque expers languorum nostrorum, quia non suae compaginis dolorem caro adhuc aliena sentire non poterat. Ergo ut coepit Vigilantius noster progredi posse, tum demum censui scripta esse reddenda. Fatemur enim, ambos multo ante properasse: sed cum ante virium receptionem

11. Yet this was not the only cause that delayed our servants. For our Vigilantius too, in Campania, both before he reached us and after he arrived, suffered from the violence of fevers: and since he too was a fellow member, he suffered with our sickness in a shared affliction. That catechumen, on the other hand, who was not yet a member of our body, did not feel our wounds, and stayed well, free of our ailments, because flesh still foreign could not feel the pain of a frame not its own. So when our Vigilantius began to be able to walk, then at last I decided that the letter should be delivered. For we confess that both were in haste long before: but since, before the recovery of strength

Editors' notes and page, col. 172

Footnotes

(p) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 172

Psal. CXVII, 18.

Psalm 117 (118):18.

(printed under page 89)

(q) ‹anchor: casus in terram est› · call in col 172

Matth. X, 29.

Matthew 10:29.

(printed under page 89)

(g) ‹anchor: sociale membrum erat› · call in col 172

Sic ms. codex Vatic. ed. Schot. et edit. Grin. in marg. ms. Reg. proxime accedit, solacio. Alii solativo, minus bene. Lectio hic restituta confirmatur ex sequentibus, post aegritudinem communi labore toleratam, n. 12, et ex epist. 2 ad Amandum, n. 3, ut sociali in vicem membro nobis collaboremus; et ep. 13, n. 3, socialia membra, et commune membrum.

So the Vatican manuscript codex, Schott's edition, and Gryphius's edition in the margin; the Royal manuscript comes very close, with "solacio" ("with comfort"). Others have "solativo", less well. The reading restored here is confirmed by what follows, "after the sickness borne with shared labour", no. 12, and by letter 2 to Amandus, no. 3, "that we may labour together for one another as fellow members"; and letter 13, no. 3, "fellow members" and "a common member".

(printed under page 89)

Page

running head: [S. PAU]LINI NOLANI EPISCOPI 172
marginal letters: A ‹accipiat alter›; B ‹paribus aut incommodis›; C ‹alter alterius levamine›; D ‹scripta esse reddenda›
old-edition numerals: 25 before ‹10. Pone›

PL 61:173

temere festinaret, qui non poterat; impie, qui valebat; ambos, quia non poteramus volentes consilio, retinuimus invitos silentio.

rashly hastening, the one who could not; impiously, the one who was able; both of them, since we could not hold them back by counsel while they were willing, we held back by silence against their will.

12. Itaque, ut supra scripsimus, post aegritudinem communi labore toleratam, orationibus sanctorum atque carorum, parte etiam, ut credimus, maxima tuis, respiciente clementius Domino, recreati, adhuc tamen exhaustis corporibus infirmi. In quo quidem nos gloriari Apostolus docet, quem potentem, ut praedicat, faciebat infirmitas; quia scilicet caro, quae adversus spiritum militat, cum adversa valetudine frangitur, pariter, infractis viribus, spiritalem non valeat expugnare virtutem. Carne igitur infirmi ad profectum spiritus, qui damno carnis exsultat, et tanquam inimicae materiae tribulatione laetatur, atque infirmatione domiti corporis convalescit, sana et valida caritate, quam erga te per Dominum Jesum magnam habemus, dedimus has litteras in solatium tui, ut nos interim tenemus tuas: donec te ipsum, ut spopondisti, et quod nunquam desinimus a Domino sperare, videamus.

12. And so, as we wrote above, after an illness borne with common labour, restored by the prayers of saints and of dear ones, and in the greatest part, as we believe, by yours, the Lord looking upon us more mercifully, we are nevertheless still weak, our bodies exhausted. In this indeed the Apostle teaches us to glory, whom, as he proclaims, weakness made strong (2 Cor. 12:10); since, that is, the flesh, which wars against the spirit (Gal. 5:17), when it is broken by ill health, likewise, its strength broken, is unable to overcome the virtue of the spirit. Weak, then, in the flesh for the advancement of the spirit, which exults at the loss of the flesh, and rejoices at the tribulation of a matter that is, as it were, its enemy, and grows strong through the weakening of the subdued body, but sound and strong in the charity, great as it is, which we have towards you through the Lord Jesus, we have given this letter for your comfort, so that meanwhile we hold yours: until we see you yourself, as you have promised, and as we never cease to hope from the Lord.

13. Multa sunt, quae ad nos invitare te, et de patria parumper debeant sevocare; prae ceteris amor pacis, et zeli fuga, qui maxime conspectu aut vicinia aemulae conversationis accenditur. Denique a nobis Romae †zelotyporum incendia clericorum longinquitas Urbis exstinguit, et omnis illic iniquitas obstruit os suum: quia per absentiam inde nostram quasi subducto fomite, segnis odiorum flamma frigescit; nec in vocem audet erumpere, licet dentibus frendat invidia, dum iniquitatis suae conscia ipsa se erubescit, nec in promptu habet ubi faces lividae mentis accendat. Pax tamen Dei, quae praecellit omnem sensum, abundat in cordibus plurimorum, et opus Dei Salvatoris in nobis Campania tota veneratur. Romae quoque pauci etiam in clero ipso, a quo solo videmur scandalizari, morsu invidiae commoventur. Sed Domino gratias, qui et mihi miserrimo peccatori suo dedit dicere: Quoniam oderunt me gratis. Quod tamen ad me pertinet, cum ipsis quoque, qui oderunt pacem meam, mente pacificus sum. Si quis enim vult contentiosus esse, hoc nostra consuetudo non recipit. Horum tamen ipsorum, qui nos odisse, et a consortio sanctitatis suae segregare dicuntur, vix ad nos tenuis fama perlabitur, et ab auribus nostris spinarum sepe munitis, ut aura frigida, vel importunum vacui culicis murmur excluditur.

13. There are many things which ought to invite you to us and call you away from your homeland for a little while; above all, the love of peace and the flight from jealousy, which is kindled chiefly by the sight or the nearness of a rival way of life. Thus for us the distance of the City puts out the fires of the jealous clergy at Rome, and all iniquity there stops its mouth (Ps. 106:42): since through our absence from there, the fuel being as it were withdrawn, the sluggish flame of hatreds grows cold; nor does envy dare to break out into speech, though it gnashes its teeth, while, conscious of its own iniquity, it blushes at itself, and has nothing at hand where it may light the torches of a livid mind. Yet the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, abounds in the hearts (Phil. 4:7) of very many, and all Campania reveres the work of God the Saviour in us. At Rome too only a few, even in the clergy itself, by which alone we seem to be given offence, are stirred by the bite of envy. But thanks be to the Lord, who granted even to me, His most wretched sinner, to say: Because they have hated me without cause (Ps. 34:19). As far as concerns me, however, even with those who hate my peace I am peaceable in mind (Ps. 119:7). For if anyone wishes to be contentious, our custom does not admit it (1 Cor. 11:16). Yet of those very men who are said to hate us and to separate us from the fellowship of their holiness, scarcely a faint rumour slips through to us, and from our ears, fenced with a hedge of thorns (Sir. 28:28), it is shut out like a chill breeze, or like the troublesome whine of an empty gnat.

14. Sed plenius indicare poterunt conservi nostri,

14. But our fellow servants will be able to show more fully,

Editors' notes and page, col. 173

Footnotes

(printed under page 90)

(a) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 173

II Cor. XII, 10.

2 Corinthians 12:10.

(printed under page 90)

(b) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 173

Gal. V, 17.

Galatians 5:17.

(printed under page 90)

Psal. CVI, 42.

Psalm 106 (107):42.

(printed under page 90)

(d) ‹anchor: abundat in cordibus› · call in col 173

Philip. IV, 7.

Philippians 4:7.

(printed under page 90)

(e) ‹anchor: oderunt me gratis› · call in col 173

Psal. XXXIV, 19.

Psalm 34 (35):19.

(printed under page 90)

(f) ‹anchor: mente pacificus sum› · call in col 173

Psal. CXIX, 7.

Psalm 119 (120):7.

(printed under page 90)

(g) ‹anchor: consuetudo non recipit› · call in col 173

I Cor. XI, 16.

1 Corinthians 11:16.

(printed under page 90)

(h) ‹anchor: spinarum sepe munitis› · call in col 173

Eccl. XXVIII, 28.

Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) 28:28.

(printed under page 90)

(i) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 173 or 174

II Cor. V, 6.

2 Corinthians 5:6.

(printed under page 90)

(a) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 173

Ita mss. Belgic. et Reg. Vide not. 13.

So the Belgian and Royal manuscripts. See note 13.

(printed under page 90)

(b) ‹anchor: licet dentibus› · call in col 173

Sic mss. Reg. et Vien. et editi 4. Sic frendit apud Prudentium lib. Peristephanon, hymno 5 de S. Vincentio martyre, vers. 393. Eadem quoque voce usus est Plautus. Edit. Rosv., frendeat.

So the Royal and Vienna manuscripts and four printed editions. "Frendit" ("gnashes") is so used in Prudentius, Peristephanon, hymn 5 on St Vincent the martyr, line 393. Plautus too used the same word. Rosweyde's edition: "frendeat".

(printed under page 90)

Deest meam, in ms. Vien.

"Meam" ("my") is wanting in the Vienna manuscript.

(printed under page 90)

(d) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 173 or 174

Cognomen est inditum ab urbe Roma. Hinc Zephyrinus Urbicus papa dicitur ab Optato lib. I; uti et in concilio Arelat. de diaconis Urbicis agitur, id est Romanis.

The surname is given from the city of Rome. Hence Pope Zephyrinus is called "Urbicus" by Optatus, book I; as also in the Council of Arles the "Urbic" deacons are treated of, that is, the Roman ones.

(printed under page 90)

Page

running head: 173 EPISTOLA V.
marginal letters: A ‹temere festinaret, qui non poterat›; B ‹atque infirmatione domiti corporis›; C ‹bus (b) frendat invidia›; D ‹ribus nostris spinarum sepe›
old-edition numerals: 26 after ‹damno›

PL 61:174

pueri tui, quantum nobis gratiae dominicae detrimentum faciat Urbici papae superba discretio: qui paucis ipsis diebus, quibus interfuere, viderunt quam assidua nos, quam sedula sollicitorum fratrum monachorum, antistitum, clericorum, atque etiam ipsorum saepe secularium officia, toto illo nostrae aegritudinis tempore celebraverint. Quod apud unanimitatem tuam, de dominica tamen gratia, cujus hoc quoque opus et munus est, gloria licet, nemo propemodum tota Campania episcoporum non visitare nos fas existimavit sibi. Et quos infirmitas vel necessitas aliqua devinxerat, missis vice sua clericis et litteris adfuerunt. Afri quoque ad nos episcopi revisendos prima aestate miserunt. Quod cum ita sit, vides quantopere ad humilitatem nostram festinare debeas, ut et paululum occasionem auferas quaerentibus occasionem, et pro gratiae vel caritatis augmento peregrineris a patria dum adhuc hospes corporis peregrinaris a Christo, quia Veritas ipsa testatur neminem prophetam acceptum esse in patria sua.

your servants, how much loss of the Lord's grace the proud discrimination of the pope of the City is causing us: they who, in the very few days they were present, saw how assiduous, how diligent were the services which anxious brothers, monks, bishops, clerics, and often even seculars themselves rendered us through the whole time of our illness. As to which, before your unanimity, though of the Lord's grace, whose work and gift this also is, I may boast that almost no one of the bishops in all Campania thought it right not to visit us. And those whom infirmity or some necessity had held back were present by clerics and letters sent in their stead. The African bishops too sent [men] to us in early summer to visit us. Since this is so, you see how greatly you ought to hasten to our lowliness, so that you may both take away for a little the occasion from those who seek occasion, and for the increase of grace or of charity be a pilgrim from your homeland while, still a guest of the body, you are a pilgrim from Christ (2 Cor. 5:6), since the Truth Himself testifies that no prophet is accepted in his own country (Luke 4:24).

15. Fateor autem, licet mihi nihil praesentia tua gratius dari possit, accensum esse desiderium meum flagrantius in praesentiam tuam, quod multos fratres spiritales tecum nobis adfore spopondisti. Eritne quaeso tempus illud, et illucescet ille aliquando dies, quo fraternitatem tuam comite electorum Dei cohorte venientem, in gremio jam communis patroni Dominaedii mei Felicis excipiam; et, quod nunc ipsius orationibus impetrari rogo, id impetratum coram, apud ipsum pariter in Domino gratulemur? cum ego vos simul et vicissim complexus omnes, merito dicam concinentibus vobis: Haec plane dies, quam fecit Dominus; exsultemus et laetemur in ea: quia bonum et jucundum habitare fratres in unum. Tum ego te non in monasterio tantum vicini Martyris inquilinum, sed etiam in horto ejusdem colonum locabo, sed gratis; quia jam a patrefamilias accepisti denarium tuum: praeter illos, quos idem Dominus jam pro vulneribus tuis largus stabulario dedit, ut curatus oleo misericordiae, et vino gratiae, utilius ad dominicam vineam integrato corpore locareris.

15. I confess, moreover, that although nothing could be given me more welcome than your presence, my longing for your presence has been kindled more ardently because you promised that many spiritual brothers would be with us along with you. Will that time come, I pray, and will that day at last dawn, on which I shall receive your fraternity, coming with a company of God's elect as escort, in the lap now of our common patron, my lord Felix; and that we may rejoice together in the Lord, face to face in his presence, at the obtaining of what I now ask to be obtained by his prayers? when, embracing you all together and in turn, I shall rightly say, while you sing with me: This is plainly the day which the Lord has made; let us exult and rejoice in it (Ps. 117:24): for it is good and pleasant for brothers to dwell in one (Ps. 132:1). Then I shall place you not only as a lodger in the monastery of the neighbouring Martyr, but also as a husbandman in his garden, but without pay; since you have already received your denarius from the householder (Matt. 20:9): besides those which the same Lord, in His generosity, has already given to the innkeeper for your wounds (Luke 10:35), so that, healed with the oil of mercy and the wine of grace, you might be hired more usefully for the Lord's vineyard with your body made whole.

16. Videre ergo jam mihi videor hortulum meum adventantibus tecum Domini mercenariis, et cooperantibus cultiorem. Neque enim difficile existimari, quam facile depleturi sint levioris culturae laborem, quos in vineam suam Christus elegit

16. I seem, then, already to see my little garden made more cultivated by the Lord's hired labourers arriving with you and working with us. For it is not difficult to judge how easily they will get through the labour of a lighter cultivation whom Christ has chosen into His vineyard (Matt. 20:4)

Editors' notes and page, col. 174

Footnotes

(j) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 174

Luc. IV, 24.

Luke 4:24.

(printed under page 90)

(k) ‹anchor: laetemur in ea› · call in col 174

Psal. CXVII, 24.

Psalm 117 (118):24.

(printed under page 90)

(l) ‹anchor: fratres in unum› · call in col 174

Psal. CXXXII, 1.

Psalm 132 (133):1.

(printed under page 90)

(m) ‹anchor: denarium tuum› · call in col 174

Matth. XX, 9.

Matthew 20:9.

(printed under page 90)

(n) ‹anchor: largus stabulario dedit› · call in col 174

Luc. X, 35.

Luke 10:35.

(printed under page 90)

(e) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 174

Ita ms. Vien. Alii codices, nostro.

So the Vienna manuscript. Other copies: "nostro" ("our").

(printed under page 90)

(f) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 174

Ms. Vatic., peregrinari, sublata particula et, quae etiam abest a ms. Reg. et edd. Bad. et Schot., quod commodum sensum reddit.

The Vatican manuscript: "peregrinari" ("to sojourn abroad"), with the particle "et" ("and") removed; it is also missing from the Royal manuscript and the editions of Badius and Schott, which gives a fitting sense.

(printed under page 90)

(g) ‹anchor: bonum et› · call in col 174

Mss. codices et vetustiores editi constanter habent jocundum.

The manuscript codices and the older printed editions consistently have "jocundum" (for "jucundum", "pleasant").

(printed under page 90)

(h) ‹anchor: idem Dominus› · call in col 174

Sic mss. Reg. et Vien. Alii codices, tam.

So the Royal and Vienna manuscripts. Other copies: "tam" ("so").

(printed under page 90)

Page

running head: EPISTOLA V. 174
marginal letters: A ‹pueri tui, quantum nobis›; B ‹stinare debeas›; C ‹impetratum coram›; D ‹rantibus cultiorem›
old-edition numerals: 27 after ‹licet›

PL 61:175

et otiosos Deo, in vano hujus seculi foro stare non passus est. Jam et domestica mihi post osculum sanctum gaudia mente et cogitatione propono, cum inebriante spiritu caritatis sobriam misceamus per pocula casta laetitiam; nec in fermento nequitiae, sed in azymis sinceritatis pia festa celebremus, psallentes Domino in hymnis et canticis spiritualibus, cantantes linguis et cordibus Deo, omne quodcumque agimus in verbo vel in facto, in nomine Jesu Christi, gratias agentes Deo Patri, per ipsum. Qui facit unius moris habitare in domo, ut spero, nos faciet inter nos in semetipso habitare. Qui fecit utrumque unum, et exaltatus omnia traxit ad se, qui humiliatus ipse pacificaverat omnia, reconcilians mundum Deo, cum repleverit gaudio os nostrum praesentia vestrae unanimitatis, dicemus: Magnificavit Dominus facere nobiscum: et in abundantia laetitiae nostrae benedicemus vos de domo Domini, quia benedicti vos Domino, qui venistis in nomine Domini. Calicem salutaris accipiatis, et edatis panem beatorum in regno Dei; vos enim estis coram Domino Jesu satietas nostra et gaudium.

and did not suffer those who were idle for God to stand in the vain marketplace of this world. Already I set before my mind and thought the joys of home after the holy kiss, when, the spirit of charity inebriating us, we shall mingle a sober gladness through chaste cups; and keep the holy feasts not in the leaven of wickedness but in the unleavened bread of sincerity (1 Cor. 5:8), singing to the Lord in hymns and spiritual canticles, chanting to God with tongues and hearts, whatever we do in word or in deed, in the name of Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God the Father through Him (Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16–17; 1 Cor. 10:31). He who makes those of one manner to dwell in a house (Ps. 67:7) will, as I hope, make us dwell among ourselves in Himself. He who made both one (Eph. 2:14), and, lifted up, drew all things to Himself (John 12:32), who, humbled Himself, had made peace for all things (Col. 1:20), reconciling the world to God, when He has filled our mouth with joy by the presence of your unanimity, we shall say: The Lord has done great things with us (Ps. 125:3): and in the abundance of our gladness we shall bless you from the house of the Lord, because you are blessed by the Lord, you who have come in the name of the Lord. May you take the cup of salvation (Ps. 117:26 and 115:13, 15), and eat the bread of the blessed in the kingdom of God (Luke 14:15); for before the Lord Jesus you are our fullness and our joy.

17. Aude igitur erumpere non tuis opibus et viribus, sed fretus et nixus in Christo: quia virga ejus et baculus ipsius nos consolatur, et sustinet, et gubernat. Qui portat aegrimonias nostras, et infirmitates nostras suscepit, dat lasso virtutem, confortat genua debilia, ipse statuet et immaculatam et inoffensam viam tuam; praecinget te virtute, et perficiet pedes tuos tamquam cervi, ut exsultes sicut gigas ad currendam viam, ne impedire te possit trepidae carnis infirmitas: qui non in carne, sed in spiritu incedis. Servientes enim Christo corporis servitio, animi imperio magis utimur. Atque ideo voluntatem nostram Christo autore directam caro jussa comitatur, trahitque corpus ab animi fortitudine firmitatem: et ad domini habitum famulus componit obsequium. Atque ita virtus in infirmitate perficitur, dum anima consensu carnis edomitae Deo serviens, per infirmitatis ministerium implet officia virtutis.

17. Dare, then, to break out, not by your own resources and strength, but relying and leaning on Christ: because His rod and His staff comfort us (Ps. 22:4), and sustain and govern us. He who carries our sorrows and has taken up our infirmities (Isa. 53:4), gives strength to the weary, strengthens feeble knees (Isa. 35:3); He will make your way both spotless and free of stumbling; He will gird you with strength, and make your feet like a hart's, that you may exult as a giant to run the way (Ps. 17:33 and 18:6), lest the infirmity of the trembling flesh be able to hinder you: you who walk not in the flesh but in the spirit. For in serving Christ with the bondage of the body, we make the greater use of the command of the mind (Rom. 8:9). And therefore the flesh, as it is bidden, attends our will directed by Christ as its author, and the body draws firmness from the fortitude of the mind: and the servant shapes his obedience to the bearing of his master. And so strength is made perfect in weakness (2 Cor. 12:9), while the soul, serving God with the consent of the tamed flesh, fulfils the offices of strength through the ministry of weakness.

18. Intende igitur, et prospere procede, et deducet te mirabiliter dextera Dei. Misericordia ejus et gratia praeibunt faciem tuam: et si infirmus domo prodeas, robur acquires eundo. Sperantes enim in Domino mutabunt fortitudinem, assument pennas sicut aquilae.

18. Set out, then, and proceed prosperously, and the right hand of God will lead you wonderfully. His mercy and grace shall go before your face (Ps. 44:5 and 88:15): and if you go forth from home weak, you will gain strength by going. For those who hope in the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall take wings like eagles (Isa. 40:31).

Editors' notes and page, col. 175

Footnotes

(printed under page 91)

(a) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 175

Matth. XX, 4.

Matthew 20:4.

(printed under page 91)

(b) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 175

I Cor. V, 8.

1 Corinthians 5:8.

(printed under page 91)

Eph. V, 19; Col. III, 16, 17; I Cor. X, 31.

Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16, 17; 1 Corinthians 10:31.

(printed under page 91)

(d) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 175

Psal. LXVII, 7.

Psalm 67 (68):7.

(printed under page 91)

(e) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 175

Eph. II, 14.

Ephesians 2:14.

(printed under page 91)

(f) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 175

Joan. XII, 32.

John 12:32.

(printed under page 91)

(g) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 175

Col. I, 20.

Colossians 1:20.

(printed under page 91)

(h) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 175

Psal. CXXV, 3.

Psalm 125 (126):3.

(printed under page 91)

(i) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 175

Psal. LXVII, 26 et LXV, 13, 15.

Psalm 67 (68):26, and 65 (66):13, 15.

(printed under page 91)

(j) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 175

Luc. XIV, 15.

Luke 14:15.

(printed under page 91)

(k) ‹anchor: ipsius nos consolatur› · call in col 175

Psal. XXII, 4.

Psalm 22 (23):4.

(printed under page 91)

(l) ‹anchor: infirmitates nostras suscepit› · call in col 175

Isai. LIII, 4.

Isaiah 53:4.

(printed under page 91)

(m) ‹anchor: confortat genua debilia› · call in col 175

Isai. XXXV, 3.

Isaiah 35:3.

(printed under page 91)

(n) ‹anchor: ad currendam viam› · call in col 175

Psal. XVII, 33, et XVIII, 6.

Psalm 17 (18):33, and 18 (19):6.

(printed under page 91)

(o) ‹anchor: corporis servitio› · call in col 175

Rom. VIII, 9.

Romans 8:9.

(printed under page 91)

(p) ‹anchor: in infirmitate perficitur› · call in col 175

II Cor. XII, 9.

2 Corinthians 12:9.

(printed under page 91)

(q) ‹anchor: praeibunt faciem tuam› · call in col 175

Psal. XLIV, 5, et LXXXVIII, 15.

Psalm 44 (45):5, and 88 (89):15.

(printed under page 91)

(r) ‹anchor: pennas sicut aquilae› · call in col 175

Isai. XL, 31.

Isaiah 40:31.

(printed under page 91)

(a) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 175

Ita et alibi Paulinus. Vulgata, utraque

So Paulinus elsewhere too. The Vulgate: "utraque" ("both").

(printed under page 91)

(b) ‹anchor: pedes tuos tamquam› · call in col 175

Eodem modo Paulinus in epistola 13 ad Pammachium, n. 23. Sic libri Graeci, LXX interpretes, Augustinus in commentario super psalmos; Psalteria vetus et Romanum.

In the same way Paulinus in letter 13 to Pammachius, no. 23. So the Greek books, the Seventy translators, Augustine in his commentary on the Psalms, and the Old and the Roman Psalters.

(printed under page 91)

Ita ms. Vatic. Alii codd. carent praepositione in, quam ideo restituimus, quia reperitur apud Paulum; et praeterea consimili locutione haec lectio confirmatur ex mss. duobus Bigotianis in epist. 50 Paulini ad Augustinum, n. 3, ubi legitur quia non in carne, sed in spiritu ambulat.

So the Vatican manuscript. The other copies lack the preposition "in", which we have therefore restored, because it is found in Paul; and besides, this reading is confirmed by a very similar expression, from Bigot's two manuscripts, in Paulinus's letter 50 to Augustine, no. 3, where we read "because he walks not in the flesh but in the spirit".

(printed under page 91)

(d) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 175 or 176

Sic ms. Regius. Alii codices, lassaberis. Verum lectio hic restituta confirmatur ex carm. 32, vers. 118.

So the Royal manuscript. Other copies: "lassaberis" ("you will grow weary"). But the reading restored here is confirmed by poem 32, line 118.

(printed under page 91)

Page

running head: 175 S. PAULINI NOLANI EPISCOPI
marginal letters: A ‹git; et otiosos Deo›; B ‹nimitatis, dicemus›; C ‹currendam viam, ne›; D ‹tabunt fortitudinem›
old-edition numerals: 28 after ‹sed in›

PL 61:176

Si ergo habeas cor ardens in via, renovabitur sicut aquilae juventus tua. Curres, et non lassabis: ambulabis, et non deficies: non te virga, non pera, non sacculus praegravabit: non calciamenta, nec duplex vestis impediet; sed exuto carnalibus vinculis, ut in terra sancta liceat stare, vestigio, lumbisque praecinctis, nullo aere, gravi zona, festinanter, ut Pascha Domini, et opus Christi in tempore collecto gerendum est, viam tuam curres: prosperum iter faciet Deus salutarium nostrorum: omnis tibi vallis implebitur, et omnis collis humiliabitur: ut fiant aspera iniquitatum in vias planas, ne usquam itineris offendas pedem tuum: quia angelis suis mandavit, ut custodiant te in omnibus viis tuis: et ipse Dominus protectio tua scuto pacis suae circumibit te, praelucens tibi in lumine vultus sui, et praetendens in umbra alarum suarum: ut per diem sol non urat te, neque luna per noctem. Ubique loci custodiet atque benedicet introitus et exitus tuos, ut in omni loco filium pacis invenias, et super omnem hospitem pax tua veniat.

If then you have a heart burning on the way (Luke 24:32), your youth shall be renewed like the eagle's (Ps. 102:5). You shall run and not grow weary: you shall walk and not faint (Isa. 40:31): no rod, no wallet, no purse shall weigh you down: no shoes nor double garment shall hinder you (Matt. 10:10); but with your foot stripped of fleshly bonds, so that you may stand on holy ground, and with loins girded (Exod. 12:11), your belt heavy with no money, in haste, as the Pasch of the Lord and the work of Christ is to be done in a shortened time, you shall run your way: the God of our salvation will make your journey prosperous (Ps. 67:20): every valley shall be filled for you, and every hill brought low: that the rough places of iniquities may become plain ways (Isa. 40:4; Luke 3:5), lest anywhere on the journey you strike your foot (Ps. 90:11 and 12): for He has given His angels charge, to keep you in all your ways (Ps. 120:5): and the Lord Himself, your protection, will encircle you with the shield of His peace, shining before you in the light of His countenance (Ps. 88:16), and spreading over you in the shadow of His wings (Ps. 16:8): that the sun may not burn you by day, nor the moon by night (Ps. 120:6). In every place He will guard and bless your coming in and your going out, that in every place you may find a son of peace, and your peace may come upon every host (Luke 10:6).

19. Quod si forte proficiscens, cogitata carorum hominum, vel assuetorum locorum divulsione lacrymaveris, temporalis tristitia tua in aeternam laetitiam convertetur. Euntes, inquit, ibant et flebant, mittentes semina sua; venientes autem venient cum exsultatione portantes manipulos suos. Ita tu, etsi veniendo fleveris, redeundo gaudebis, et in gaudio metes, quae in lacrymis seminaveris. Gratia Domini Jesu Christi, et caritas Dei Patris, et communicatio Spiritus sancti cum tota domo tua non manufacta: quia vos estis templum Dei vivum, aedificatum in fundamentis apostolorum in Christo Deo, mihi unanime, venerabilis, dilectissime, et desiderantissime. Sanctam parentem nostram, matrem in Christo coheredem tuam veneratione, qua digna est, salutari peto. Conserva in Domino mea fraternitatem tuam, quo veneratur affectu, salutat. Et vos a nobis omnem sanctam fraternitatem, qualem agere vobiscum certi sumus, multo obsequio salutate. Salutant vos omnes, qui in Domino nobiscum sunt: ut ex Hebraeis Proforus, et Restitutus amans Dominum, et te in Christo compertum diligens, et multum desiderans.

19. But if perhaps, as you set out, you shed tears at the thought of being torn from dear people or familiar places, your temporal sadness will be turned into eternal gladness. Going, it says, they went and wept, casting their seeds; but coming they shall come with exultation, carrying their sheaves (Ps. 125:6). So you, even if you weep in coming, will rejoice in returning, and will reap in joy what you have sown in tears. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the charity of God the Father, and the communion of the Holy Spirit (2 Cor. 13:13) [be] with your whole house not made with hands: because you are the living temple of God, built on the foundations of the apostles in Christ God (1 Cor. 3:16 and 6:19; Eph. 2:20), you who are of one mind with me, venerable, most beloved and most longed for. I ask that our holy parent, your mother and co-heir in Christ, be greeted with the veneration of which she is worthy. My fellow servant in the Lord greets your fraternity with the affection with which she reveres it. And do you greet from us, with much deference, all the holy brotherhood which we are sure lives with you. All who are with us in the Lord greet you: such as Proforus, from among the Hebrews, and Restitutus, who loves the Lord, and loves you, whom he has come to know in Christ, and greatly longs for you.

20. In epistolae titulo imitari praestantem in omnibus

20. To imitate in the title of the letter one who surpasses in all things

Editors' notes and page, col. 176

Footnotes

(s) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 176

Luc. XXIV, 32.

Luke 24:32.

(printed under page 91)

(t) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 176

Psal. CII, 5.

Psalm 102 (103):5.

(printed under page 91)

(u) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 176

Isai. XL, 31.

Isaiah 40:31.

(printed under page 91)

(v) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 176

Matth. X, 10.

Matthew 10:10.

(printed under page 91)

(x) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 176

Exod. XII, 11.

Exodus 12:11.

(printed under page 91)

(y) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 176

Psal. LXVII, 20.

Psalm 67 (68):20.

(printed under page 91)

(z) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 176

Isa. XL, 4; Luc. III, 5.

Isaiah 40:4; Luke 3:5.

(printed under page 91)

(aa) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 176

Psal. XC, 11 et 12.

Psalm 90 (91):11 and 12.

(printed under page 91)

(bb) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 176

Psal. CXX, 5.

Psalm 120 (121):5.

(printed under page 91)

(cc) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 176

Psal. LXXXVIII, 16.

Psalm 88 (89):16.

(printed under page 91)

(dd) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 176

Psal. XVI, 8.

Psalm 16 (17):8.

(printed under page 91)

(ee) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 176

Psal. CXX, 6.

Psalm 120 (121):6.

(printed under page 91)

(ff) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 176

Luc. X, 6.

Luke 10:6.

(printed under page 91)

(gg) ‹anchor: portantes manipulos suos› · call in col 176

Psal. CXXV, 6.

Psalm 125 (126):6.

(printed under page 91)

(hh) ‹anchor: communicatio Spiritus sancti› · call in col 176

II Cor. XIII, 13.

2 Corinthians 13:13.

(printed under page 91)

(ii) ‹anchor: apostolorum in Christo› · call in col 176

I Cor. III, 16, et VI, 19; Eph. II, 20.

1 Corinthians 3:16, and 6:19; Ephesians 2:20.

(printed under page 91)

(e) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 176

Ita LXX interpretes. Vulgata exaltabitur.

So the Seventy translators. The Vulgate: "exaltabitur" ("will be exalted").

(printed under page 91)

Page

running head: S. PAULINI NOLANI EPISCOPI 176
marginal letters: A ‹Si ergo habeas cor›; B ‹te, praelucens tibi›; C ‹cum tota domo tua›; D ‹20. In epistolae titulo›
old-edition numerals: 29 after ‹praegravabit:›

PL 61:177

mihi fraternitatem tuam timui: quia tutius credidi vere scribere. Cave ergo posthac servus Christi in libertatem vocatus, hominis et fratris et conservi inferioris servum te scribere: quia peccatum adulationis est magis, quam humilitatis justificatio, honorem uni Domino, uni magistro super terram, uni Deo debitum, homini cuilibet, ne dicam miserrimo peccatori, deferre. Sufficit caritas de corde puro, et fide non ficta: quod autem abundantius est, a malo est. Obsecro te frater per Dominum, ut praesumtionem de te meam spiritu revelationis (forte relevationis) inspicias; alioquin et offensam tuam possum vereri de epistola tam loquaci: sed apud caritatem, quae omnia sustinet, ex eo ipso gratia debet augeri, quo fastidium comparari solet, ubi nulla caritas taedium temperat. In dictando enim dum te cogito, et totus in te sum, quasi apud praesentem longo intervallo loquar, obliviscor impositum finire sermonem.

me, your fraternity, I feared: because I thought it safer to write truly. Take care, then, hereafter, servant of Christ called into liberty, not to write yourself the servant of a man, a brother, and an inferior fellow servant: because it is rather the sin of flattery than the justification of humility to pay to any man whatever, not to say to a most wretched sinner, the honour owed to the one Lord, the one master upon earth, the one God. Charity from a pure heart and faith unfeigned suffices (1 Tim. 1:5): but what is more than these is of evil (Matt. 5:37). I beseech you, brother, by the Lord, to regard my boldness towards you with the spirit of revelation (perhaps "of relief"); otherwise I might fear even your displeasure at so talkative a letter: but with charity, which bears all things (1 Cor. 13:7), favour ought to be increased by the very thing by which weariness is usually incurred where no charity tempers tedium. For in dictating, while I think of you and am wholly in you, as though I were speaking with you present after a long separation, I forget to end the discourse I had undertaken.

21. Panem Campanum de cellula nostra tibi pro eulogia misimus, tantum meritis in Domino tuis freti, ut plena ad te perferendum sui gratia crederemus: tu licet uberioribus micis a Domini mensa jam saturatus sis, dignare et a peccatoribus acceptum in nomine Domini panem in eulogiam vertere. Ac ne panis siligineus tibi modum nostrae humilitatis excedere videretur, misimus testimonialem divitiarum nostrarum scutellam buxeam; ut apophoretum voti spiritalis accipies, habiturus exemplo, si necdum simili argento uteris. Quod si nigellatum habes, mitte nobis per ea vascula, quae pueris tuis, filiis nostris, demandavimus. Amamus enim vasa fictilia, quia et secundum Adam cognata nobis sunt, et Domini thesaurum in talibus vasis commissum habemus.

21. We have sent you a Campanian loaf from our little cell as a eulogia, relying so far on your merits in the Lord that we believed it full of grace for its being brought to you: though you are already filled with richer crumbs from the Lord's table, deign also to turn into a blessing the bread received from sinners in the name of the Lord. And lest a loaf of fine wheat should seem to you to exceed the measure of our lowliness, we have sent a boxwood dish as a witness of our riches; you will receive it as a keepsake of a spiritual vow, to keep as a pattern, if you do not yet use silver of the same kind. But if you have niello ware, send it to us by way of those little vessels which we have entrusted to your servants, our sons. For we love earthen vessels, because according to Adam they are akin to us, and we have the Lord's treasure entrusted to such vessels (2 Cor. 4:7).

22. Praeterea peto, quia summum animi tui jus habere me confido; ut si necesse fuerit, deficientibus a me et libertis, et servis, et fratribus, tuam curam impendas, et ordinare digneris, qualiter ad nos vinum vetus, quod Narbone adhuc nos habere credimus, pervehatur. Ne timeas, frater sancte, damnum, si nos feceris etiam pecuniae debitores. Omnes enim nostri a nobis declinaverunt, simul impii facti sunt, et inimici hominis domestici ejus.

22. Moreover I ask, since I trust that I hold the highest claim on your heart, that if need be, freedmen and servants and brothers having failed me, you would apply your care, and deign to arrange how the old wine which we believe we still have at Narbonne may be conveyed to us. Do not fear loss, holy brother, if you make us debtors even for money. For all our own have turned aside from us, together they have become impious (Ps. 13:3 and 52:4), and a man's enemies are those of his own household (Matt. 10:36).

Editors' notes and page, col. 177

Footnotes

(printed under page 92)

(a) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 177

I Tim. I, 5.

1 Timothy 1:5.

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(b) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 177

Matth. V, 37.

Matthew 5:37.

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I Cor. XIII, 7.

1 Corinthians 13:7.

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(d) ‹anchor: commissum habemus› · call in col 177

II Cor. IV, 7.

2 Corinthians 4:7.

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(e) ‹anchor: impii facti sunt› · call in col 177

Psal. XIII, 3, et LII, 4.

Psalm 13 (14):3, and 52 (53):4.

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(f) ‹anchor: hominis domestici ejus› · call in col 177

Matth. X, 36.

Matthew 10:36.

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(a) ‹anchor: ut› · call in col 177

Mss. duo et ed. Bad., apophoritam, mendose. Vide not. 19.

Two manuscripts and Badius's edition: "apophoritam", wrongly. See note 19.

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(b) ‹anchor: quae pueris› · call in col 177

Ms. Vien. addit tuis. Ita saepe Paulinus. Vide n. 1 hujusce epist. et carm. 32, vers. 599.

The Vienna manuscript adds "tuis" ("your"). So Paulinus often. See no. 1 of this letter and poem 32, line 599.

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Ita ms. Bigotianus unus. Optima lectio, quae confirmatur ex epist. 13 ad Pammachium, n. 2, ut te spiritali aditu visitarem, et epist. 11 ad Sever., n. 3, nos litteris adeas. Ceteri codices, audire.

So one of Bigot's manuscripts. The best reading, confirmed by letter 13 to Pammachius, no. 2, "that I might visit you by a spiritual approach", and letter 11 to Severus, no. 3, "that you approach us by letter". The other copies: "audire" ("to hear").

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(d) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 177 or 178

Sic mss. codices. At editi, spiritaliter.

So the manuscript codices. But the printed editions: "spiritaliter" ("spiritually").

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