Letter 2011: I returned from the feast to which I had traveled with the greatest haste.

From: Avitus, bishop of Vienne To: King Sigismund of the Burgundians Date: ~502 AD Context: Avitus laments missing Sigismund's departure after a feast and expresses devotion to the prince in lavishly deferential terms. Bishop Avitus to the lord King Sigismund. I returned from the feast to which I had traveled with the greatest haste. But since you had already departed under Christ's guidance — destined, as we trust in God, to gladden us with your return — I was left deeply shaken by your departure. At the very moment of what will surely be a prosperous return, I did not deserve to throw myself at my lord's knees, to cover his hands with kisses, or to adore in that holy breast the seat of our faith. Yet I dare not say that my sins cheated me of this — lest I seem to fear some divine displeasure rather than trust in God's grace. What I can say is that my longing for you exceeds all measure, and that every day of your absence feels like a year to the flock that watches for its shepherd.

Avitus episcopus domno Sigismundo regi. De festivitate, ad quam profectus fueram, summa quidem festinatione reversus sum. Sed quia iam duce Christo processeratis, laetificandus, ut de deo credimus, reditu vestro, inmodice tamen attonitus reddor abscessu, quod scilicet in ipso succes- surae prosperitatis regressu advolvi genibus domini mei, permulcere ab osculis manus et in sancto illo pectore sedem fidei nostrae adorare non merui. Nec tamen dicere audeam istud mihi peccato fraudante cessisse: ne divinae gratiae, quae mihi taliter vestram praesentet, reddar ingratus. Nam cum omnibus generale iustumque sit, in gloriae vestrae cultum quod debemus ambire, illud singulariter accepisse me gaudeo, ut pro effectu voluntatum tenente secum a me servitii debitum impossibilitas non sit porrigi, apud vos si pietas censet impendi. Sed ego solus damno percellor, quotiens consolationi meae interesse non mereor: quotiens accensus tribulationum aestus intra me solum ac sermonis vestri refrigerio exclusus includitur: quotiens mihi dolores in- ternos medici illius manus experta non confovet. Qui pro tuendo inter talia famulo suo pietate studens, virtute persistens cum satis esset, si fautorem vellet offerre, la- borem dignatur apponere. Sed praesumo de maiestate divina hinc respectum mei sensibus vestris tenacius adhaesurum, quo eum vobis amor catholicae legis infudit. Sub cuius occasionis sancto proventu tam penes vos impossibile erit quem suscepistis servum reicere, quam quem cognovistis dominum non amare. Quod superest, egressi felices, ite sospites, redite victores. Fidem vestram telis inserite, promissionem divi- nam promittendo admonete; auxilia caeli precibus exigite, iacula vestra votis armate. Dabit deus, ut bellorum trophaea, quae vobis ipse praestiterit, cuiuscumque sermonis obsequio sub materia eius, quem dudum expecto, triumphi pretiosioris exaggerem.