Letter 5013: We know that the sacraments of a religious vocation free those who hold them from the entanglements of sin — not...
Ennodius of Pavia→Hormisdas|c. 503 AD|Ennodius of Pavia
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From: Ennodius, deacon and literary figure in Pavia
To: Hormisdas [the future pope, at this point still a deacon or priest]
Date: ~503 AD
Context: A letter to the future Pope Hormisdas on the sacred obligations of the religious life, balancing spiritual reflection with the warm personal tone of their long friendship.
Ennodius to Hormisdas.
We know that the sacraments of a religious vocation free those who hold them from the entanglements of sin — not because the holy are immune to temptation, but because the commitment itself provides both armor and direction.
I write to you, brother, not as a teacher but as a fellow traveler who looks to your example for guidance. The path you walk is the one I aspire to, and the constancy of your devotion is a rebuke to my own inconsistency.
May God, who called us both to this service, strengthen in us what He began. And may the friendship between us — grounded in faith as well as affection — continue to bear the fruit that only honest correspondence can produce. Farewell.
XIII. ENNODIVS HORMISDAE.
Scimus religiosi sacramenta propositi ab obnoxia peccatis
multitudine innocentia et fide separari et titulos uenerabilis
officii mores potius insignire quam corpora. quis bonum conscientiae
inter homines quaerat, si mundi adhibenda est circa
pontificum statuta necessitas, si sacerdotum promissio circumspecta
cautione seruabitur? jnumquam habuit in affectu constantiam
cui facere aliud de pollicitatione non licuit. saeculi
conuersatio legum metu retinetur: dei famulos quod bonum
est exhibere conuenit non formidini sed amori. dudum dum
nobis metus instaret et de clementia pii regis dubio meritorum
aestimatione penderemus incerto, camelos nostros tot dandos
domno papae tali reuerentiae uestrae condicione tradidimus,
ut, si nobis animalia ipsa non essent necessaria, iustum pro
ipsis pretium mitteretur, et quia nouit optime sanctitas uestra,
nos dum potuimus per allegationem tuam utilitates sanctae
Romanae ecclesiae subleuasse, nunc uicissitudine facite de
ueritate beneficium. quaesumus etiam salutatione praefata, ut
quid super hac parte deliberatio uestra habeat indicetis, quia
4 mihi BL V 5 uel om. T hac LV 6 desederati Bl
formam L eloquii P; eiplc add. B
XIII. 13 querat BLl 14 ponticum T\' 16 pollitione T1
17 famulus B 18 formidinisad (s in ras.) B 20 penderimus
B nostros om. Sirm . 21 domino Bb ueatra L 22 ne-
I
cessara B 24 nos L in ras., fuerat primo fort . n tuam] no-
stram Pb utilitatis B 26 su quaemus L su 8. 2. m. atIt .
27 deliberatio (at in ras.) Y
credimus nec praefatum sedis apostolicae praesulem nec uos,
qui mediatores existitis, aliud cogitare, nisi quod et proposito
et iustitiae sine dubitatione conueniat.
◆
From:Ennodius, deacon and literary figure in Pavia
To:Hormisdas [the future pope, at this point still a deacon or priest]
Date:~503 AD
Context:A letter to the future Pope Hormisdas on the sacred obligations of the religious life, balancing spiritual reflection with the warm personal tone of their long friendship.
Ennodius to Hormisdas.
We know that the sacraments of a religious vocation free those who hold them from the entanglements of sin — not because the holy are immune to temptation, but because the commitment itself provides both armor and direction.
I write to you, brother, not as a teacher but as a fellow traveler who looks to your example for guidance. The path you walk is the one I aspire to, and the constancy of your devotion is a rebuke to my own inconsistency.
May God, who called us both to this service, strengthen in us what He began. And may the friendship between us — grounded in faith as well as affection — continue to bear the fruit that only honest correspondence can produce. Farewell.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.