Letter 5010: While the apostolic see is graced by the care of Your Holiness's crown, and the heavenly governance of the Church...
Ennodius of Pavia→Quintus Aurelius Symmachus|c. 501 AD|Ennodius of Pavia
grief deathpapal authority
From: Ennodius, deacon and literary figure in Pavia
To: Pope Symmachus
Date: ~501 AD
Context: A second letter to Pope Symmachus, written as the papal schism intensified — Ennodius expresses loyalty while the crown of the apostolic see was being contested by the rival claimant Laurentius.
To Pope Symmachus, from Ennodius.
While the apostolic see is graced by the care of Your Holiness's crown, and the heavenly governance of the Church proceeds under your direction, those of us who serve the faith from a distance take comfort in knowing that the head is sound.
The attacks you face are known to me, and they cause me grief — not because I doubt the outcome, but because I mourn that such attacks are possible at all against a man whose innocence should be his shield. But God, who placed you where you are, will defend what He established.
I offer you my obedience, my pen, and my prayers. Whatever the world may say, the truth has not changed, and neither has my loyalty. Farewell.
X. SVMMACHO PAPAE ENNODIVS.
Dum sedem apostolicam coronae uestrae cura moderatur et
caelestis imperii apicem regitis, blanditur profectibus parentum
quod meis promissum tenetur officiis. spem sine labe obtinet
apud constantem uirum fideliter obsecutus. grandis est pompa
praestantis, quotiens quod unus meruit plurimis repensatur.
1 con inualescant V, coninualescant L liberalis B 4 tendent
Pb nisi ex tibi T m . % germinae B 5 qua. (t eras.)
L 8 genuB Tl eziget B 9 hortum B 10 beniflcium
B 11 uniueraus B 12 diBceditis Pb, discedetis B, disciditis
LTV 13 statutus L alius B 14 iubet B, iiuuet (b eras.)
L munus b sed minus m mg . 15 mihi BL V repraesentas
L 17 prozimitatiB Pb
X. 19 Bymacho B 20 cum T sedem ex secundum T
i
tn. 2 moderatur Bb, modoretur LPTV 21 regetis B, regatis
e.
T 22 quid B tenet B labe] labore Pb 28 fedeliter
B 24 prestantis B pluribus Sirm .
superorum instituta sectantur per quos generatio recipit quod
persona condiderit. sic Israelitici delicta populi propter Dauid
poena non tetigit, dum genti opitulata est praecessoris integritas,
et fides hominis aut eripuit de errore populum aut
iuuit in gratia. Partenius igitur praesentium portitor germanae
filius hac ad coronam uestram fiducia animante directus est,
quem sollicitudo liberalis Romam coegit expetere. sancta sunt
\'studia litterarum, in quibus ante incrementa peritiae uitia
dediscuntur. hoc itinere cana ad annos pueriles solent uenire
consilia, dum quod aetas refugit norunt instituta praestare.
fouete ergo cuius ueniendi causas patefacta [consanguinitate
didicistis. habetis obsidem, in quo dilucide meritorum apud
uos meorum qualitas innotescat. domine, ut supra salutationis
reuerentiam obsequiorum deuotione restituens precor, ut perlator
praesentium famulus uester felici sorte peregrini apud
uos nomen excipiat, quia quod adtributum fuerit precibus
meis uestrum supra dotes suas ornat officium.
◆
From:Ennodius, deacon and literary figure in Pavia
To:Pope Symmachus
Date:~501 AD
Context:A second letter to Pope Symmachus, written as the papal schism intensified — Ennodius expresses loyalty while the crown of the apostolic see was being contested by the rival claimant Laurentius.
To Pope Symmachus, from Ennodius.
While the apostolic see is graced by the care of Your Holiness's crown, and the heavenly governance of the Church proceeds under your direction, those of us who serve the faith from a distance take comfort in knowing that the head is sound.
The attacks you face are known to me, and they cause me grief — not because I doubt the outcome, but because I mourn that such attacks are possible at all against a man whose innocence should be his shield. But God, who placed you where you are, will defend what He established.
I offer you my obedience, my pen, and my prayers. Whatever the world may say, the truth has not changed, and neither has my loyalty. Farewell.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.