Letter 3011: Were it not for the constant obstacles that sins throw in the way of our shared hopes, I would have obeyed the...

Were it not that our shared prayers are so often hindered by the obstacle of our sins, I would have wished to obey the command of your habitual charity with my customary service. For although it would have been a doubly profitable thing to attend both the festival and yourselves, you see that the loss pertains to me alone, in that I am unable to fulfill the instruction. For here among us the arrival of the secular powers is awaited from one moment to the next, so that, unless I take care to be present when they come, my absence, however innocent, will be reckoned by those who are wont to find fault in us over even slighter matters not only as negligence but even as defiance. Therefore, since you perceive our common constraint, mercifully forgive my inability, and pray that we may be able to satisfy our desires, if not continually, then at least from time to time.

Avitus episcopus Viventiolo episcopo. Nisi frequenter vota communia peccatorum impedirentur obiectu, iussioni consuetu- dinariae caritatis solito volueram parere servitio. Nam cum festivitati vobisque occur- rere duplicis compendii res fuisset, videtis ad mei solius pertinere dispendium, quod nequeo implere praeceptum. Ita namque apud nos per momenta singula potestatum speratur adventus, ut, nisi illis venientibus praesens esse curavero, ab eis, qui solent in nobis etiam leviora culpare, quamlibet simplex abscessus meus non solum negle- gentiae, sed etiam contumaciae deputetur. Quapropter communi necessitate perspecta impossibilitati meae clementer ignoscite et ut desideriis nostris si non iugiter, vel in- terdum satisfacere possimus, orate. Viventiolus episcopus Avito episcopo. Ad similitudinem divinae benignitatis deliberatio vestra cultorum suorum petitio- nibus temperetur, ut in sollemnitate sancti Iusti plebeculam suam apostolatus vestri visitatio benedicat.