Letter 212: Venerable father, I commend to you in the love of Christ these honourable servants of God and precious members of Christ, Galla, a widow (who has taken on herself sacred vows), and her daughter Simplicia, a consecrated virgin, who is subject to her mother by reason of her age, but above her by reason of her holiness. We have nourished them as fa...

Augustine to Quintilianus, greetings. You have heard rumors that I am dying. I am not dying — or at least, no more than I have been dying since the day I was born, which is the condition of every mortal creature. But I understand the concern, and I thank you for it. The truth is simpler: I have been ill, and at my age, illness does not pass as quickly as it once did. But the Lord has restored me sufficiently to resume my duties — reduced duties, perhaps, but duties nonetheless. I use this occasion to tell you something I have been meaning to say: do not depend on me. I am one man, and one man — however diligent — is not the foundation of the Church. Christ is the foundation. I am a servant, and servants are replaceable. When the Lord does call me — and that day cannot be far off — I want the church at Hippo to continue without interruption, without crisis, without the paralysis that sometimes overtakes a community that has relied too heavily on a single leader. I have begun preparing for this. But you can help by preparing yourselves: by reading, by learning the faith, by taking responsibility for your own spiritual lives rather than waiting for the bishop to do it for you. The shepherd matters. But the flock matters more. And the Lord who gave you one shepherd will give you another. Farewell, dear brother.

Letter 212 (A.D. 423) To Quintilianus, My Lord Most Blessed and Brother and Fellow Bishop Deservedly Venerable, Augustine Sends Greeting. Venerable father, I commend to you in the love of Christ these honourable servants of God and precious members of Christ, Galla, a widow (who has taken on herself sacred vows), and her daughter Simplicia, a consecrated virgin, who is subject to her mother by reason of her age, but above her by reason of her holiness. We have nourished them as far as we have been able with the word of God; and by this epistle, as if it were with my own hand, I commit them to you, to be comforted and aided in every way which their interest or necessity requires. This duty your Holiness would doubtless have undertaken without any recommendation from me; for if it is our duty on account of the Jerusalem above, of which we are all citizens, and in which they desire to have a place of distinguished holiness, to cherish towards them not only the affection due to fellow citizens, but even brotherly love, how much stronger is their claim on you, who reside in the same country in this earth in which these ladies, for the love of Christ, renounced the distinctions of this world! I also ask you to condescend to receive with the same love with which I have offered it my official salutation, and to remember me in your prayers. These ladies carry with them relics of the most blessed and glorious martyr Stephen: your Holiness knows how to give due honour to these, as we have done. About this page Source. Translated by J.G. Cunningham. From Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, Vol. 1. Edited by Philip Schaff. (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1887.) Revised and edited for New Advent by Kevin Knight. <https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/1102212.htm>. Contact information. The editor of New Advent is Kevin Knight. My email address is feedback732 at newadvent.org. (To help fight spam, this address might change occasionally.) Regrettably, I can't reply to every letter, but I greatly appreciate your feedback — especially notifications about typographical errors and inappropriate ads.