Letter 6035: Amid the cares and difficulties that press upon us all, the consolation of correspondence is one of the few...
Ennodius of Pavia→Domnina|c. 519 AD|Ennodius of Pavia
women
From: Ennodius, bishop of Pavia
To: Domnina [a woman, possibly a nun or widow]
Date: ~521 AD
Context: A letter written amid cares and difficulties, offering encouragement to a woman facing her own trials.
Ennodius to Domnina.
Amid the cares and difficulties that press upon us all, the consolation of correspondence is one of the few pleasures that remains. I write to you in that spirit, offering what encouragement my own words can carry.
Be strong. The God who sustains us in our trials has not forgotten you. Farewell.
XXXV. ENNODIVS DOMNINAE.
Inter curas et molestias, quibus pro peccatorum fasce subicior,
elegi singulare subsidium, ut ad uos domnas meas litteras
destinarem, quarum precibus omnia mihi secunda contingerent
et ad serena laetitiae depositis angustiarum nubibus reformarer.
prima enim maeroris causa est, quod prospera uestra,
dum in longinquo degitis, uix datur agnosci, ex qua nascitur
circa personam meam omnis aduersitas. adeste ergo supplici
precibus uestris, ut per sanctorum dei suffragia aegro animo
medela tribuatur. domina mi, seruitium salutationis inpendens
deprecor et per deum uos, quem colitis, obtestor, ut continuis
me postulationibus et lacrimis, quibus regnum caeleste uim
patitur, domino commendetis, quia hoc munus speciale conputo
et omnibus commodis antepono.
28 cf. Matth. 11, 12
4 perductua L b 5 partus L 6 domine b 8 plenam
b 10 domini fort . mi Schottus et Sirm., mihi BLVb, michi T
XXXV. 15 dominicae b, domniane T 17 dnaa T 18 distinarem
B 19 dopositia L a 20 meroris BLTV 21 degetis
B asnosci B 22 omnes B adest Bb, adesto
T 24 medella Bl, medeli L mihi BLVb seruitionum
B, Berortia b 2b coletis B optestor B 26 postolationibus
B caelestem B1 27 munos Bl
◆
From:Ennodius, bishop of Pavia
To:Domnina [a woman, possibly a nun or widow]
Date:~521 AD
Context:A letter written amid cares and difficulties, offering encouragement to a woman facing her own trials.
Ennodius to Domnina.
Amid the cares and difficulties that press upon us all, the consolation of correspondence is one of the few pleasures that remains. I write to you in that spirit, offering what encouragement my own words can carry.
Be strong. The God who sustains us in our trials has not forgotten you. Farewell.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.