Letter 2019: Avitus, bishop, to the most distinguished Messianus.

From: Avitus, Bishop of Vienne To: Messianus, a distinguished layman Date: ~505 AD Context: Avitus corresponds with a Roman aristocrat — this is the kind of literary-pastoral letter for which Avitus was celebrated, combining elegant Latin with genuine pastoral concern. Avitus, bishop, to the most distinguished Messianus. The letter you sent has given me what you intended it to give — the pleasure of knowing that someone I respect is thinking about the same questions I am, and the additional pleasure of thinking that perhaps my own work has contributed something to those thoughts. You asked about the relationship between the classical literary tradition and the Christian faith — whether a bishop should feel guilty about the enjoyment he takes in Virgil and Cicero, or whether that enjoyment can be sanctified and made part of the Christian life. My view: the guilty conscience about classical literature is misplaced, but it is pointing at a real danger, which is the danger of treating literary excellence as an end in itself. The problem with the pagan literary tradition is not that it is beautifully written — it is that, in its finest examples, it is beautiful in the service of things that are ultimately insufficient. Virgil is magnificent, and the Rome he celebrates is worth celebrating as a human achievement. But it is a human achievement, not the City of God, and the bishop who loves Virgil more than he loves God has his priorities wrong. What I have tried to do — with what success I leave to others to judge — is to love the tradition for what it genuinely is (a treasury of human wisdom and beauty) and to use it in the service of what it is not (the proclamation of a faith that exceeds it). Your brother in Christ and in letters, Avitus

Avitus episcopus viro illustrissimo Messiano. Maximus desiderio nostro cumulus optata gaudiorum ubertate confertur, si magni- ficum vestrae pietatis statum florenti prosperitate pollentem avida sollicitudinis nostrae vota cognoverint: quia hoc proventibus nostris compendio indubitatae felicitatis ad- crescit, quicquid clementiae vestrae caelestium beneficiorum pietas diffusa contulerit. Nam in eo metimur felicibus incrementis nostrum prosperari successum, in quo actionis vestrae crescit sine fine suffragium. Qua propter honorificum salve persolvens quaeso, ut cupimus, si felicia cuncta erga vos geruntur, magnitudo vestra percurrentis pa- ginae eloquio pandendo perdoceat.