Letter 6033: I know that the weight of your shared responsibilities leaves little room for the claims of private friendship.
Ennodius of Pavia→Hormisdas and Dioscorus|c. 518 AD|Ennodius of Pavia
friendship
From: Ennodius, bishop of Pavia
To: Hormisdas and Dioscorus [Pope Hormisdas and the deacon Dioscorus]
Date: ~520 AD
Context: A letter to the pope and his deacon, perhaps during the final negotiations to end the Acacian Schism — a tantalizing connection between two correspondences in this database.
Ennodius to Hormisdas and Dioscorus.
I know that the weight of your shared responsibilities leaves little room for the claims of private friendship. But I write anyway, because the bond between us predates the burdens you now carry and will, I trust, outlast them.
May God bless your labors. The work you do is His work, and those of us who watch from a distance pray daily for its success. Farewell.
XXXIII. ENNODIVS HORMISDAE ET DIOSCORO.
Scio conscientiam religiosam grande aestimare compendium,
si praestandi nascatur occasio, his maxime quos deuotos extitisse
meminerunt. ergo quamuis prima reuerentiae uestrae
causa sit scripta mittendi et utilitatis adlegatio sit subicienda
diligentiae, attamen anxius animus saepe necessaria praeponit
affectui. retinet fraternitas uestra domnum papam de expensa,
quam episcopus meus apud Rauennam pro eius utilitate me
spondente fecerat, restitutionem fuisse pollicitum. sed actum
est, ut uix ad uos dirigendi praestaret indutias, et de mea
sibi satisfaciendum esse substantia protestatur. nunc quia
grandis summa non est quae reposcitur et summum est beneficium
me ab ingratitudine eius, quae uidetur iusta, subtrahere,
ordinate quod uobis retributio superna compenset. domini mi,
salutem abundantissimam reddens deum quaeso, qui animis
uestris quod me subleuare possit inspiret. ego autem adfui
partibus meis, qui cum contestatione maeroris per paginas indicati
direxi fidelissimum perlatorem, qui nobis perferenda sine
inminutione suscipiat.
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From:Ennodius, bishop of Pavia
To:Hormisdas and Dioscorus [Pope Hormisdas and the deacon Dioscorus]
Date:~520 AD
Context:A letter to the pope and his deacon, perhaps during the final negotiations to end the Acacian Schism — a tantalizing connection between two correspondences in this database.
Ennodius to Hormisdas and Dioscorus.
I know that the weight of your shared responsibilities leaves little room for the claims of private friendship. But I write anyway, because the bond between us predates the burdens you now carry and will, I trust, outlast them.
May God bless your labors. The work you do is His work, and those of us who watch from a distance pray daily for its success. Farewell.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.