PL 61 · cols. 308–311

Paulinus of Nola, Letters

Letter XXVIII

virtutis, et servus Deo, liber mammonae, totum in te spirare Martinum, florere Clarum, maturari Evangelium praedicabant. Impinguarunt omnino oleo laetitiae caput nostrum; propter hoc benedixerunt omnia interiora nostra Dominum duplici causa gratulationis: quod et tibi plurimum praestitisse nos intelligeremus de agnitione dilectissimorum, ut probasti, fratrum; et illos gratulari sibi de notitia et caritate tua, ut divino munere, videremus. Quantum illi praeterea inter opera et munera in te Dei admirati sunt etiam pueros tuos, qui in circuitu tuo sicut novellae olivarum virent: quibus te Deus noster idem fecit, quod ipse cunctis est, ut te et quasi dominum vereantur, et quasi patrem diligant. In hoc tamen sermone eorum, fatemur gemuisse nos ad infelicitatem nostram, quibus ab ejusmodi filiis sterilitatem graviora peccata fecissent: sed facti sumus quasi consolati, quia vicinum esse nobis tuae felicitatis bonum judicamus.

of virtue, and a servant to God, free of mammon, they declared that Martin wholly breathes in you, Clarus flowers, the Gospel ripens. They have altogether anointed our head with the oil of gladness (Ps. 22:5); for this all that is within us has blessed the Lord (Ps. 102:1), with a twofold cause for thanksgiving: that we understood we had done you a very great service in your coming to know these brothers, most beloved, as you have proved them; and that we saw them congratulating themselves on your acquaintance and love as on a divine gift. How much besides did they admire, among the works and gifts of God in you, your boys too, who flourish round about you like the young shoots of olives (Ps. 127:3): to whom our God has made you the same as He Himself is to all, so that they both revere you as a master and love you as a father (Mal. 1:6). In this account of theirs, however, we confess we groaned at our own unhappiness, for whom heavier sins had brought barrenness of such sons: but we were made as men consoled (Ps. 125:1), because we judge the good of your happiness to be near to us.

4. Verum ne longiore intervallo nostra iniquitas inter nos et te separet, totum hunc quo diebus et noctibus Deum mulces, sacrae pubis accinge delectum, ut adversum peccata nostra pro nobis aciem orationum dirigant et exorent, ut confirmet hoc Dominus quod operatus est nobis: id est, ut caritate tua, in qua nunc acquiescimus, et qua gloriamur, in illa die refrigeremur et gaudeamus.

4. But lest our iniquity separate us and you by a longer interval, gird for battle the whole of this levy of holy youth with which you soothe God by day and night, that they may draw up the battle line of prayers against our sins on our behalf, and may obtain by prayer that the Lord confirm this which He has wrought for us (Ps. 67:29): that is, that by your love, in which we now find rest and in which we glory, we may be refreshed and rejoice on that day.

EPISTOLA XXVIII.

LETTER XXVIII.

Sancto fratri et unanimo commilitoni SEVERO PAULINUS.

To his holy brother and fellow soldier of one mind, Severus, Paulinus.

1. Redit a me tibi Victor, ut redeat a te mihi: Victor commune pignus, et fidele contubernium, et solemne solatium nobis: Victor in te meus, et in me tuus: Victor epistolarum nostrarum veredarius pedes, aut veredus bipes; victor longissimarum viarum; bene idem dicendus simul et victor et victus; quia vincitur caritate, qua vincit vias duras et magnos labores, qui in sudore vultus sui edit panem suum, ut nos reficiat annuis inter utrumque discursibus, ferens indefessus ac referens commercia litterarum, quibus mutuam visitationem animis ac visceribus invicem nostris, tamquam vectigal officii debiti, pensitamus. Sit benedictus Domino puer Victor; neque illi spinas et tribulos sua terra parturiat,

1. Victor goes back from me to you, so that he may come back from you to me: Victor, our common pledge, faithful companion of our tent, and our customary comfort: Victor, mine in you and yours in me: Victor, the courier of our letters on foot, or a two-legged post-horse; victor over the longest roads; rightly to be called at once both victor and vanquished; for he is vanquished by love, through which he vanquishes hard roads and great toils, he who eats his bread in the sweat of his face (Gen. 3:19), so that he may refresh us by his yearly journeys between the two of us, tirelessly carrying and carrying back the traffic of letters, by which we pay to each other's souls and hearts a mutual visit, as the tax of a duty owed. Blessed be the boy Victor by the Lord; and may his earth not bring forth thorns and thistles for him,

Editors' notes and page, col. 308

Footnotes

(b) ‹anchor: vincitur caritate,› · call in col 308

Ms. Reg., quia. Ms. Vatic., qui.

The Regius manuscript has quia; the Vatican manuscript, qui.

(printed under page 157)

Ita ms. Vien. et ed. Schot. et Latinius, favente ms. Vat. in quo indefessim.

So the Vienna manuscript, Schott's edition and Latini, with the support of the Vatican manuscript, which has indefessim ("tirelessly"). [The word favente is partly lost in the gutter of the scan.]

(printed under page 157)

Editors' prose

Victorem, per quem invicem litteras mittebant, Severo laudat, et quod serius remittatur excusat. Totam epistolam, sensibus et verbis sanctissimis texit, insertis emblematibus pulcherrimis de Christo ut igne, fundamento, janua, pane, etc. Et quia Severus aliquid Paulini operum postulaverat, ei duos libellos mittit, quorum alter erat tantopere a S. Hieronymo (Ep. 13 ad Paulin.) laudata Theodosii Defensio, quam intercidisse nemo non dolet: alter vero, natalitia carmina de S. Felice.

He praises to Severus Victor, by whom they used to send letters to each other, and apologizes that he is being sent back rather late. He weaves the whole letter from most holy thoughts and words, setting in it very beautiful figures of Christ as fire, foundation, door, bread, and so on. And because Severus had asked for something of Paulinus's works, he sends him two little books: one of them was the Defence of Theodosius, so highly praised by St Jerome (Ep. 13 to Paulinus), whose loss everyone regrets; the other, the birthday poems on St Felix.

Page

running head: INI NOLANI EPISCOPI 308 (left part cut off; S. PAULINI NOLANI EPISCOPI)
marginal letters: A ‹mitate virtutis›; B ‹infelicitatem nostram›; C ‹tam epistolam (in the argumentum)›; D ‹magnos labores›
old-edition numerals: 171 before ‹Victorem› (first word of the argumentum)
other: EDITORS' PROSE: the italic argumentum of Ep. XXVIII, "Victorem, per quem invicem litteras mittebant ... natalitia carmina de S. Felice.", not set. Asterisk after EPISTOLA is a call to the editors' note on 307's page foot (omitted). Inline editors' cross-reference "(V. not. 124)" after "Clarum" omitted. Superscript 5 and calls (b), (c) omitted. Address: "SEVERO" read with final O faint at the image edge (could be printed "SEVER"). Scripture refs from foot notes e-k (note i read "Psal. CXXV, 1" and j "Psal. LXVII, 29" from the left part on 307's images).

PL 61:309

quia impiger est. Viae enim pigrorum spinis stratae sunt. Victor vero noster non dicit: Leo est in viis; quia ita simplex est ut ambulet confidens, fidelis et castus, ut non timeat a timore nocturno, et jaculo volante per diem. Propterea Dominus custodit illum in omnibus viis suis; et angelicis mandat excubiis, ne usquam offendat ad lapidem pedem suum; neque mordeat calcaneum ejus observans coluber in via, quem calceatis ad Evangelii cursum pedibus impune calcabit et conteret. Laudabo igitur et benedicam in Domino Victoris nostri pedes, et de his quoque pedibus audebo dicere: Quam speciosi pedes qui evangelizant mihi pacem de te, cum incolumitatem tuam, et pacem in te, cum fidem tuam nuntiant, per quam in te manet Christus pax nostra: qui et de nobis vel in nobis facit utraque unum; sive qua duo sumus in corde uno; sive qua utramque substantiam animae et corporis unum facimus, conflante nos Christo per ignem Spiritus sui, de quo ait: Ignem veni mittere in terram; et quid vult bonus Dominus, nisi ut accendatur in nobis, et illuminet tenebras nostras, et peccata consumat? Quia Dominus Deus noster ignis consumens est. Tribuat hic mihi Dominus, ut et in me pro me fiat ignis consumens. Ardeat hoc igne cor meum in lumen aeternum mihi, ne eodem ardeat anima mea in poenam perennem. In hoc enim igne revelabitur dies Domini, et uniuscujusque nostrum opus quale sit, ignis probabit.

because he is not idle (Gen. 3:18). For the ways of the idle are strewn with thorns (Prov. 15:19). But our Victor does not say: There is a lion in the ways (Prov. 22:13; 26:13); for he is so single-hearted that he walks confidently (Prov. 10:9), faithful and chaste, so that he does not fear the terror of the night, and the arrow that flies by day (Ps. 90:6). Therefore the Lord guards him in all his ways; and charges the angelic watches that he never strike his foot against a stone; nor shall the serpent lying in wait in the way bite his heel (Gen. 49:17), whom, with feet shod for the course of the Gospel (Eph. 6:15), he will tread on and crush with impunity. I will therefore praise and bless in the Lord the feet of our Victor, and of these feet too I will dare to say: How beautiful are the feet of those who bring me the good news of peace (Isa. 52:7; Rom. 10:15) about you, when they announce your safety, and the peace in you, when they announce your faith, through which Christ our peace abides in you: who of us too, or in us, makes both one (Eph. 2:14); whether in that we are two in one heart, or in that we make both substances, of soul and body, one, Christ fusing us together by the fire of His Spirit, of which He says: I came to cast fire on the earth; and what does the good Lord will, but that it be kindled (Luke 12:49) in us, and light up our darkness, and consume our sins? For the Lord our God is a consuming fire (Deut. 4:24; Heb. 12:29). May the Lord grant me here that He become a consuming fire in me too, for my good. May my heart burn with this fire into everlasting light for me, lest my soul burn with the same fire into perpetual punishment. For in this fire the day of the Lord will be revealed, and the fire will test what sort of work each one of us has done (1 Cor. 3:13).

2. Oremus hunc Dominum, ut doceat nos facere voluntates suas, et spiritus ejus bonus deducat nos in viam rectam, ne labor noster inveniatur ligna, fenum, stipula: sed potius argentum, aurum, lapides pretiosi et vivi inveniamur in muris Hierusalem illius coelestis et liberae, quae aedificatur ut civitas, cujus participatio ejus in idipsum. Hujus enim civitatis habitator in tribus unus ostenditur; unde dicitur civitas Regis magni, civitas Dei nostri, civitas Domini virtutum: quam ipse Dominus, ut scriptum est, fundavit in aeternum: cujus quidem civitatis non solum fundamentum, sed et turris et porta factus est Christus. Fundamentum enim, inquit, nemo potest aliud ponere quam eum qui est nobis turris fortitudinis a facie inimici: qui dicit: Ego sum janua ovium: nemo potest venire ad Patrem nisi per me. Si igitur in hoc domus et mens nostra fundetur, et digna tanto fundamento superaedificetur operatio; erit nobis in aditum civitatis suae porta ipse qui reget nos in saecula, et in loco pascuae collocabit nos, quos jam per aquam refectionis sibi genuit, et nutrit epulis salutaribus

2. Let us pray this Lord to teach us to do His will, and that His good spirit may lead us into the right way (Ps. 142:10, 11), lest our labour be found wood, hay, stubble: but rather that we may be found silver, gold, precious and living stones (1 Cor. 3:12; 1 Pet. 2:5) in the walls of that heavenly and free Jerusalem (Gal. 4:31), which is built as a city, whose sharing is in unity (Ps. 121:3). For the inhabitant of this city is shown to be One in Three; whence it is called the city of the great King, the city of our God, the city of the Lord of hosts: which the Lord Himself, as it is written, has founded for ever (Ps. 47:2, 9): of which city Christ has become not only the foundation, but also the tower and the gate. For no one, he says, can lay any other foundation than Him (1 Cor. 3:11), who is for us a tower of strength against the face of the enemy (Ps. 60:4): who says: I am the door of the sheep (John 10:7): no one can come to the Father except through Me (John 14:6). If then our house and mind be founded on this, and a work worthy of so great a foundation be built upon it, He Himself who will rule us for ever (Ps. 47:15) will be for us the gate of entry into His city, and He will set us in a place of pasture, us whom He has already begotten for Himself through the water of refreshment (Ps. 22:2), and whom He nourishes with saving feasts

Editors' notes and page, col. 309

Footnotes

Scripture references ᵃ ‹anchor: not visible on the page foot› · call in col 309 (upper part) Gen. III, 18.

Genesis 3:18.

ᵇ ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 309 (upper part) Prov. XV, 19, sec. LXX.

Proverbs 15:19, according to the Septuagint.

ᶜ ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 309 (upper part) Prov. XXII, 13, et xxvi, 13.

Proverbs 22:13 and 26:13.

ᵈ ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 309 (upper part) Prov. X, 9.

Proverbs 10:9.

ᵉ ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 309 (upper part) Psal. XC, 6.

Psalm 90 (91):6.

ᶠ ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 309 (upper part) Gen. XLIX, 17.

Genesis 49:17.

ᵍ ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 309 (upper part) Eph. VI, 15.

Ephesians 6:15.

ʰ ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 309 (upper part) Isai. LII, 7; Rom. X, 15.

Isaiah 52:7; Romans 10:15.

ⁱ ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 309 (upper part) Eph. II, 14.

Ephesians 2:14.

ʲ ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 309 (upper part) Luc. XII, 49.

Luke 12:49.

ᵏ ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 309 (upper part) Deut. IV, 24; Heb. XII, 29.

Deuteronomy 4:24; Hebrews 12:29.

ˡ ‹anchor: ignis probabit› · call in col 309 I Cor. III, 13.

1 Corinthians 3:13.

ᵐ ‹anchor: in viam rectam› · call in col 309 Psal. CXLII, 10 et 11, sec. Psalter. Rom.

Psalm 142 (143):10 and 11, according to the Roman Psalter.

ⁿ ‹anchor: fenum, stipula› · call in col 309 I Cor. III, 12; I Petr. II, 5.

1 Corinthians 3:12; 1 Peter 2:5.

ᵒ ‹anchor: coelestis et liberae› · call in col 309 Gal. IV, 31.

Galatians 4:31.

ᵖ ‹anchor: in idipsum› · call in col 309 Psal. CXXI, 3.

Psalm 121 (122):3.

ᑫ ‹anchor: in aeternum› · call in col 309 Psal. XLVII, 2 et 9.

Psalm 47 (48):2 and 9.

ʳ ‹anchor: a facie inimici› · call in col 309 I Cor. III, 11; Psal. LX, 4.

1 Corinthians 3:11; Psalm 60 (61):4.

ˢ ‹anchor: janua ovium› · call in col 309 Johan. x, 7.

John 10:7.

ᵗ ‹anchor: nisi per me› · call in col 309 Johan. xiv, 6.

John 14:6.

ᵘ ‹anchor: reget nos in saecula› · call in col 309 Psal. XLVII, 15.

Psalm 47 (48):15.

ᵛ ‹anchor: sibi genuit› · call in col 309 Psal. XXII, 2.

Psalm 22 (23):2.

ˣ ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 309/310 (upper part) Luc. XIV, 15.

Luke 14:15.

ʸ ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 310 (upper part) Johan. vi, 35.

John 6:35.

ᶻ ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 310 (upper part) Philip. iii, 20.

Philippians 3:20.

ᵃᵃ ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 310 (upper part) Colos. iii, 1.

Colossians 3:1.

ᵇᵇ ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 310 (upper part) Gen. III, 14; Psal. LXXIII, 14.

Genesis 3:14; Psalm 73 (74):14.

ᶜᶜ ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 310 (upper part) I Cor. XV, 53.

1 Corinthians 15:53.

ᵈᵈ ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 310 (upper part) Rom. VIII, 29.

Romans 8:29.

ᵉᵉ ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 310 (upper part) Luc. X, 19.

Luke 10:19.

ᶠᶠ ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 310 (upper part) Johan. i, 12.

John 1:12.

ᵍᵍ ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 310 (upper part) Philip. ii, 9; Matth. V, 14.

Philippians 2:9; Matthew 5:14.

ʰʰ ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 310 (upper part) Psal. LXXXVI, 1 et 5.

Psalm 86 (87):1 and 5.

ⁱⁱ ‹anchor: aedificavit domum› · call in col 310 Prov. IX, 1.

Proverbs 9:1.

ʲʲ ‹anchor: opus nostrum› · call in col 310 II Cor. V, 1; Eph. II, 19.

2 Corinthians 5:1; Ephesians 2:19.

ᵏᵏ ‹anchor: in refrigerium› · call in col 310 Ps. LXV, 12.

Psalm 65 (66):12.

[Two numerals in this series are blurred on the scan (k, o); they are set as best read.] Editors' notes (printed under page 158)

(a) ‹anchor: not visible on the page foot› · call in col 309 (upper part)

Sic LXX interpretes, Aquila et Theodotio, et Paulinus in epist. 21, ad Amandum, n. 5.

So the Seventy translators, Aquila and Theodotion, and Paulinus in Letter 21, to Amandus, n. 5.

(printed under page 158)

(b) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 309 (upper part)

Ms. Vatic. codex, quia, semel et iterum.

The Vatican manuscript codex has quia, once and again.

(printed under page 158)

Page

running head: 309 EPISTOLA XXVIII.
marginal letters: A ‹quia impiger est›; B ‹bis vel in nobis›; C ‹viam rectam›; D ‹tum civitatis suae›
old-edition numerals: 172 after ‹ignem›
other: calls (a), (b) (the latter printed as a bare italic "b" before "qua") and superscript 1 omitted. Scripture refs from the page's foot notes a-v (right halves read in column 310's images). Note e read "Psal. XC, 6"; note o read "Gal. IV, 31" (faint; the phrase is Gal 4:26), given as printed. "Hierusalem": first letter blurred (looks like B).

PL 61:310

in eam mensam, quam praeparavit nobis adversus eos qui tribulant nos. De qua dicit: Beatus qui manducabit panem in regno Dei: quia Christus idem et regnum et panis est quo nos saginamur, et serpens tabescit; cujus fames et poena est cibus vitae nostrae Christus Jesus, qui factus est nobis in escam, ut eo pane viventes, et secundum eum ambulantes, possimus juxta Apostolum dicere: Nostra autem conversatio in coelis est. Cum enim quae sursum sunt sapimus et quaerimus, terreni esse desinimus, ut jam non simus esca serpentis, qui vicissim datus est in escam populis Aethiopum, ut ab his edatur quos edit. Quod nobis e contrario salutare est, qui Christum edimus, et absorbemur a Christo, qui absorbet mortale nostrum, quia vita est, ut induat nos immortalitate, et conformes imagini suae faciat, qui dedit nobis potestatem super omnem virtutem inimici impune calcandi per eamdem gratiam, qua dedit potestatem filios Dei fieri credentibus in nomine ejus, quod est supra omne nomen. In hoc habitemus, quia ipse etiam civitas est quae non potest abscondi, quia super montem posita, et cujus fundamenta sunt in montibus sanctis. Hanc civitatem ipse fundavit Altissimus, sicut scriptum est quia Sapientia sibi aedificavit domum. Haec est domus illa non manufacta, in qua si habitemus iis operibus, quibus cives sanctorum fieri mereamur, non ardebit opus nostrum; et ignis ille sapiens transeuntes nos per examen suum, non severo ardore ambiet puniendos; sed ut commendatos suscipiens, blando lambet attactu, ut possimus dicere: Transivimus per ignem et aquam, et induxisti nos in refrigerium.

at that table which He has prepared for us against those who afflict us. Of which He says: Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God (Luke 14:15): for Christ is at once both the kingdom and the bread by which we are fattened and the serpent wastes away; whose hunger and punishment is the food of our life, Christ Jesus, who has become food for us, so that living by that bread (John 6:35), and walking according to Him, we may say with the Apostle: But our way of life is in heaven (Phil. 3:20). For when we savour and seek the things that are above (Col. 3:1), we cease to be earthly, so that we are no longer food for the serpent, who in his turn has been given as food to the peoples of the Ethiopians (Gen. 3:14; Ps. 73:14), so that he is eaten by those whom he eats. Which by contrast is our salvation, we who eat Christ and are swallowed up by Christ, who swallows up what is mortal in us, because He is life, so as to clothe us with immortality (1 Cor. 15:53), and make us conformed to His image (Rom. 8:29), He who has given us power over all the strength of the enemy, to tread on it with impunity (Luke 10:19), by the same grace by which He gave power to become sons of God to those who believe in His name (John 1:12), which is above every name. Let us dwell in this, since He Himself is also the city that cannot be hidden, because it is set on a mountain (Phil. 2:9; Matt. 5:14), and whose foundations are in the holy mountains (Ps. 86:1, 5). This city the Most High Himself has founded, as it is written that Wisdom has built herself a house (Prov. 9:1). This is that house not made with hands, in which, if we dwell with those works by which we may deserve to become fellow citizens of the saints, our work will not burn (2 Cor. 5:1; Eph. 2:19); and that wise fire, as we pass through its testing, will not surround us with severe burning as men to be punished; but, receiving us as commended, will lick us with a gentle touch, so that we may say: We have passed through fire and water, and Thou hast brought us into refreshment (Ps. 65:12).

3. Sed ut eodem nomine quo inchoata est epistola terminetur, ad Victorem nostrum recurram, pro quo excusationem debeo. Quod ad te tardius pacto redit, ne imputes pedibus ejus, qui non pigritiae vitio, sed obedientiae studio apud nos diutius restiterunt. Reputa tamen tempus, non quo dimissum eum indicasti, sed quo misisti; et videbis de placita inter nos retinendi Victoris vicissitudine stare rationem mihi. Non enim ad hiemem apud nos, ut scripseras, exigendam adfuit; sed ut asseruit, de Narbonensi, ubi fratri Posthumiano occurrerat, remissus ad te, tunc a te iterum profectus est, cum ad me directus pervenire potuisset. Jam igitur hieme decedente susceptum, necesse habui vernis mensibus detinere: et quia breve spatium videbatur, quod illico solemnitas Paschalis concluderet, cum et infirmissimus per idem tempus fuissem, ut ad rescribendi negotium non

3. But so that the letter may end with the same name with which it began, I shall return to our Victor, for whom I owe an excuse. That he is returning to you later than agreed, do not charge to his feet, which stayed longer with us not through the fault of sloth but through zeal for obedience. Consider, however, the time, not when you indicated that he had been sent off, but when you sent him; and you will see that my account stands with the agreed arrangement between us for keeping Victor in turn. For he did not come to spend the winter with us, as you had written; but, as he declared, having been sent back to you from Narbonensis, where he had met our brother Posthumianus, he then set out again from you at a time when, had he been sent straight to me, he could have arrived. Having received him, then, as winter was already departing, I found it necessary to keep him through the spring months: and because the interval seemed short, which the Paschal solemnity would at once close, since I had also been very ill during the same time, so that for the business of writing back I did not

Editors' notes and page, col. 310

Footnotes

Sic ms. Reg. et editi 4. Verissima lectio. Edit. Rosv., nunc. Ms. Vien., remissus a te, tunc ad te iterum profectus est, mendose.

So the Regius manuscript and four editions: the truest reading. Rosweyde's edition has nunc. The Vienna manuscript has remissus a te, tunc ad te iterum profectus est, wrongly.

(printed under page 158)

Page

running head: EPISTOLA XXVIII. 310
marginal letters: A ‹in eam mensam›; B ‹talitate, et conformes›; C ‹ctu, ut possimus›; D ‹susceptum, necesse habui›
old-edition numerals: 173 before ‹impune›
other: superscripts 2, 3, 4, 5 and call (c) omitted. Scripture refs from the page's foot notes x-kk (left halves read in column 309's images); note gg read "Philip. II, 9; Matth. V, 14", hh "Psal. LXXXVI, 1 et 5", cc "I Cor. XV, 53" (last digit faint). Section numeral "3." printed faintly (looks like 5). Column ends mid-sentence at "non".

PL 61:311

valerem, apposui de diebus aestivis moras ejus, ut compensarem tecum, si tantum in eo tui temporis usurparem, quantum tu in eodem occupaveras de diebus hibernis: unde concedam, si autumno pervenerit ad unanimitatem tuam, ut hiemem rursus impendat tibi; quia vides ita placito Domini procuratum, ut tempora communis unanimi, quae nobis mutua cesseramus, salva fide pacti, majori istius commodo mutarentur: nunc enim apte conversum est ut verius fieret, quod contra meritum indulgens mihi, et tibi detrahens, scripseras. Tu enim vere spiritu fervens salubrius eum in tempore frigoris ignito fidei tuae fovebis calore; at ego frigidus ad aestivam illi stationem aptior ero.

have strength, I added to his stay some of the summer days, so as to settle accounts with you, if I took over as much of your time in him as you had taken up of the winter days in the same: and so I shall grant, if he reaches you, my other self, in the autumn, that he spend the winter with you again; for you see that it has been so arranged by the Lord's good pleasure that the seasons of our common friend of one mind, which we had ceded to each other, should be exchanged, with the faith of the pact kept, to his greater advantage: for now it has fittingly turned out that what you had written, indulging me beyond my desert and disparaging yourself, should come truer. For you, truly fervent in spirit (Rom. 12:11), will more healthfully warm him in the time of cold with the fiery heat of your faith; while I, being cold, shall be the more suitable for his summer quarters.

4. Sed utinam vel frigidus magis quam tepidus essem, nec Domino meo vomitum facerem, et proximi mei aestum levarem! nunc vero fastidium potius de satietate mei facio utentibus tempore incolatus mei, nec algentibus, nec aestuantibus necessarius, modicae fidei tepore revomendus ab his qui saporem societatis meae spe dulcedinis spiritalis gustare tentaverint. Quo magis miror vel concupiscentiam tuam in desiderandis, vel patientiam in perferendis ineptiarum mearum molestiis. Sed utinam mihi tam nullum de multiloquio peccatum accedat, quam tibi magna merces de tam infatigabili caritate cumulatur. Tamquam enim non defatigatus, sed potius et refectus tantis antehac per Victorem nostrum numero et copia voluminibus, iterum postulasti per eumdem librigerum, ut tibi pluribus, si possim, scriptis essem molestior.

4. But would that I were even cold rather than lukewarm (Rev. 3:16), and did not make my Lord vomit, and might relieve my neighbour's heat! But as it is I rather cause disgust from surfeit of myself to those who make use of the time of my sojourn, being necessary neither to those who are cold nor to those who burn, to be spewed out for the lukewarmness of my little faith by those who have tried to taste the savour of my company in the hope of spiritual sweetness. All the more do I wonder at either your eagerness in desiring, or your patience in enduring, the annoyances of my trifles. But would that as little sin from much speaking may come upon me (Prov. 10:19) as great is the reward heaped up for you from so tireless a love. For as though not wearied, but rather even refreshed by the volumes so great in number and abundance sent before this through our Victor, you have asked again through the same book-carrier that I should be the more burdensome to you with more writings, if I can.

5. Praeterea autem jussisti, nimium opulenter tibi de paupere tuo blandiens, ut quae te de annalibus non unius gentis, sed generis humani fugerent, ego videlicet quasi peritior edocerem: sed sibi imputet famem, qui pauperis amici forem pulsat, et promptuarium inane scrutatur. Numquam enim in haec investiganda et colligenda mihi contentum studium fuit. Nam etiam in tempore veteri, quo videbar legere nec legenda, ab historicis scriptoribus peregrinatus sum. Attamen nunc operis tui curam gerens, quo te pro utilitate fidei nostrae inspiciendis et conferendis praeteritorum temporum rationibus occupatum indicasti, quod de me non habui, de fratris unanimi opulentiore thesauro petivi; et ipsam adnotationem, quam commonitorii vice miseras litteris meis inditam, direxi ad Rufinum presbyterum, sanctae Melani spiritali in via comitem, vere sanctum et pie doctum, et ob hoc intima mihi affectione conjunctum. Si ille has, quae merito te permovent, de annorum sive regnorum non congruente calculo, hiantis historiae

5. Besides this, you bade me, flattering yourself far too lavishly about your poor friend, that I, forsooth, as one more expert, should teach you the things that escaped you from the annals not of one nation but of the human race: but let him blame himself for his hunger who knocks at the door of a poor friend and searches an empty storeroom. For I have never applied earnest study to investigating and collecting these things. For even in the old days, when I seemed to read even what was not worth reading, I was a stranger to the historical writers. Nevertheless, taking care now for your work, on which you indicated you were occupied for the profit of our faith in examining and comparing the reckonings of past times, what I did not have of my own I sought from the richer treasury of a brother of one mind; and the very note which you had sent enclosed in my letter by way of a memorandum I directed to Rufinus the priest, companion of the holy Melania on the spiritual way, truly holy and devoutly learned, and for this reason joined to me in the closest affection. If he these difficulties, which rightly trouble you, about the inconsistent reckoning of years or reigns, of a gaping history

Editors' notes and page, col. 311

Footnotes

Scripture references ᵃ ‹anchor: not visible on the page foot› · call in col 311 (upper part) Rom. XII, 11.

Romans 12:11.

ᵇ ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 311 (upper part) Apoc. III, 16.

Revelation 3:16.

ᶜ ‹anchor: peccatum accedat› · call in col 311 Prov. X, 19.

Proverbs 10:19.

ᵈ ‹anchor: Altissimo vota mea› · call in col 312 Psal. XLIX, 14.

Psalm 49 (50):14.

Note on the letter * ‹anchor: EPISTOLA XXIX› · call in col 312 Alias 10; quae autem 29 erat, nunc 38. Scripta anno 402 exeunte aestate.

Formerly 10; and the one that was 29 is now 38. Written in the year 402, at the end of summer.

Editors' notes (printed under page 159)

(a) ‹anchor: not visible on the page foot› · call in col 311 (upper part)

Ms. Vatic., concedo.

The Vatican manuscript has concedo.

(printed under page 159)

(b) ‹anchor: multiloquio peccatum› · call in col 311

Mss. Reg. et Vien., accederet.

The Regius and Vienna manuscripts have accederet.

(printed under page 159)

Ms. Vien., possem.

The Vienna manuscript has possem.

(printed under page 159)

(d) ‹anchor: videbar legere› · call in col 311

Ms. Vien. et edit. Schot., negligenda.

The Vienna manuscript and Schott's edition have negligenda ("to be neglected").

(printed under page 159)

(e) ‹anchor: presbyterum, sanctae› · call in col 311

Ante erat, Melaniae. Ex ms. Reg. emendavimus Melani. Nostra correctio ex pluribus epistolarum S. Paulini locis confirmatur. Vide not. 138.

Previously the text read Melaniae. From the Regius manuscript we have corrected it to Melani. Our correction is confirmed by several passages of St Paulinus's letters. See note 138.

(printed under page 159)

Page

running head: 311 S. PAULINI NOLANI EPISCOPI (right part cut off)
marginal letters: A ‹valerem, apposui›; B ‹essem, nec Domino›; C ‹sem molestior›; D ‹tiore thesauro petivi›
old-edition numerals: 174 after ‹vomitum›
other: superscripts 6, 7 and calls (a)-(e) omitted. Inline editors' cross-reference "(V. carm. 24, v. 613, et ep. 52, n. 12.)" after "forem" omitted. "Melani spiritali" set as two words (break after "Melani" uncertain in the type). Column ends mid-sentence at "historiae"; English of the last clause necessarily incomplete.