Letter 4003: Thanks be to God, the Holy Trinity — who sustains, through the vigor of a strong man at his side, the weight of sins...
Ennodius to Bishop Eulalius.
Thanks be to God, the Holy Trinity — who sustains, through the vigor of a strong man at his side, the weight of sins by which I am crushed. He has woven the memory of me into that temple of your holy heart where Christ, the subtle architect, delights to dwell — so that what I have darkened by the cloud of my own conduct may be wiped clean by the radiant serenity of your conscience.
I know now that the tears of sinners are not poured out in vain. This is what my prayer has given me, this is what my weeping has accomplished: that a powerful intercessor has risen on my behalf, and that you have placed a hand fortified by heavenly aid beneath my failing shoulders. It is true that before God, only despair destroys the one who strays. Already our tares, our thorns and thistles, give promise of barley, wheat, and vines.
Go on, chosen one of God — do for me, a humble man, what you have begun, and lend your support while, through the constancy of your prayers, you wash from me what I have accumulated through an abundance of faults. Nourish also the one you have taken in with frequent conversation, so that you may strengthen with the salt of your counsel a heart that is tasteless and propped up by no steadfastness of virtue.
I return to the duties of greeting you, and — having exceeded the limits proper to a letter — I add one thing more, like a man who chatters, yes, but is insistent out of genuine need: that you help me with your prayers just as much as you strengthen me with your words. Farewell.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.
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