Letter 5015: Prayer offered to God in earnest is never stripped of the outcome it hopes for.
Ennodius of Pavia→Senarius, an man (a Roman official at Burgundian court)|c. 505 AD|Ennodius of Pavia
friendship
From: Ennodius, deacon and literary figure in Pavia
To: Senarius [court official in Ravenna]
Date: ~504 AD
Context: A letter reminding Senarius that prayer offered to God is never wasted — blending the language of friendship with the language of devotion.
Ennodius to Senarius.
Prayer offered to God in earnest is never stripped of the outcome it hopes for. The man who prays with a sincere heart is never left empty-handed, even when the answer comes in a form he did not expect.
I say this not to preach but to encourage — both you and myself. The times demand prayer as urgently as they demand action, and I trust that you, who serve both God and the king, understand this better than most.
Continue your work. Continue your prayers. And continue to write. Farewell.
XV. ENNODIVS SENARIO.
Numquam apud deum fusa deprecatio uotiuo nudatur effectu,
apud quem hilaritas lacrimis obtinetur et maeror transit in
1 presulem B 2 oxsistetis B
XIIII. 7 prestnlantur B 9 instruentem L 10 dedicertint
BV 11 quanquam LV poritiae B 12 degeneri|re ̃ te B
13 cominisse L 14 naleant B 15 redhibere BT1, redibere LP
T1V, reddere b segitem B1 16 auertit L\', aduertat T
17 feconditatis T\' plantam L cualuit L \' 18 pulsione
L 19 p ̃ ∗∗iudicio ex preiuditio L m. ant . 20 salutationem Ll
21 poroperes L 22 accedant L\', adcedunt B
XV. 26 dum L\' uotiua B 27 optinetur V meror BLTV
laetitiam. adfuit diuinitatis auxilium desideriis meis et te,
animae meae maior portio, de prolixis gentium finibus misericordia
duce reuocauit. uere non possum epistulam in multa
uerba diffundere inpeditus fletibus, quos gaudia in cumulum
adducta pepererunt. fac, mi domine, paruitati meae caelestis
doni plenitudinem non perire. unum uterque habeamus hospitium
nec de parietum angustia sollicitudo generetur, quando
unum pectus sufficiens animabus nostris praestat habitaculum.
◆
From:Ennodius, deacon and literary figure in Pavia
To:Senarius [court official in Ravenna]
Date:~504 AD
Context:A letter reminding Senarius that prayer offered to God is never wasted — blending the language of friendship with the language of devotion.
Ennodius to Senarius.
Prayer offered to God in earnest is never stripped of the outcome it hopes for. The man who prays with a sincere heart is never left empty-handed, even when the answer comes in a form he did not expect.
I say this not to preach but to encourage — both you and myself. The times demand prayer as urgently as they demand action, and I trust that you, who serve both God and the king, understand this better than most.
Continue your work. Continue your prayers. And continue to write. Farewell.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.