Letter 50042: To Paulinus and Therasia, my brother and sister in Christ, worthy of honor and admiration, most eminent in piety —...
Augustine of Hippo→Paulinus of Nola|c. 405 AD|Augustine of Hippo
barbarian invasionfamine plagueproperty economics
To Paulinus and Therasia, my brother and sister in Christ, worthy of honor and admiration, most eminent in piety — Augustine sends greetings in the Lord.
Could anyone have hoped or imagined that we would now have to use our brother Severus [context: likely Severus of Mileve, a fellow North African bishop and friend] as a go-between to chase down the reply your love has still not written to us — we who have been waiting so long, so impatiently? Why have we been condemned to endure this thirst through two full summers, and those summers in the parched earth of Africa? What more can I say? You are a generous man — you give away your own possessions every day — so be just, and pay what you owe us.
Perhaps the reason for your long delay is that you wanted to finish and send me that book against pagan worship I had heard you were writing, and for which I had expressed such eager desire. Oh, if only you could satisfy with so rich a feast the hunger that has been sharpened by more than a year of fasting — as far as your pen goes! But if that work is not yet ready, our complaints will not stop unless you at least keep us from starving before it is done.
Greet our brothers, especially Romanus and Agilis. Everyone here with me sends you their greetings — and they would be less agitated by your silence in writing if they loved you less than they do.
Letter 42 (A.D. 397)
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To Paulinus and Therasia, My Brother and Sister in Christ, Worthy of Respect and Praise, Most Eminent for Piety, Augustine Sends Greeting in the Lord.
Could this have been hoped or expected by us, that now by our brother Severus we should have to claim the answer which your love has not yet written to us, so long and so impatiently desiring your reply? Why have we been doomed through two summers (and these in the parched land of Africa) to bear this thirst? What more can I say? O generous man, who art daily giving away what is your own, be just, and pay what is a debt to us. Perhaps the reason of your long delay is your desire to finish and transmit to me that book against heathen worship, in writing which I had heard that you were engaged, and for which I had expressed a very earnest desire. O that you might by so rich a feast satisfy the hunger which has been sharpened by fasting (so far as your pen was concerned) for more than a year! But if this be not yet prepared, our complaints will not cease unless meanwhile you prevent us from being famished before that is finished. Salute our brethren, especially Romanus and Agilis. From this place all who are with me salute you, and they would be less provoked by your delay in writing if they loved you less than they do.
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To Paulinus and Therasia, my brother and sister in Christ, worthy of honor and admiration, most eminent in piety — Augustine sends greetings in the Lord.
Could anyone have hoped or imagined that we would now have to use our brother Severus [context: likely Severus of Mileve, a fellow North African bishop and friend] as a go-between to chase down the reply your love has still not written to us — we who have been waiting so long, so impatiently? Why have we been condemned to endure this thirst through two full summers, and those summers in the parched earth of Africa? What more can I say? You are a generous man — you give away your own possessions every day — so be just, and pay what you owe us.
Perhaps the reason for your long delay is that you wanted to finish and send me that book against pagan worship I had heard you were writing, and for which I had expressed such eager desire. Oh, if only you could satisfy with so rich a feast the hunger that has been sharpened by more than a year of fasting — as far as your pen goes! But if that work is not yet ready, our complaints will not stop unless you at least keep us from starving before it is done.
Greet our brothers, especially Romanus and Agilis. Everyone here with me sends you their greetings — and they would be less agitated by your silence in writing if they loved you less than they do.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.