Letter 7008: I have written to you before about my health, and I write again now — not because the news has changed, but because...
Ennodius of Pavia→Euprepia|c. 499 AD|Ennodius of Pavia
illness
From: Ennodius, deacon and literary figure in Pavia
To: Euprepia [his female relative]
Date: ~499 AD
Context: Another letter to Euprepia, showing the continuing family connection that ran beneath Ennodius's public career as a churchman and literary figure.
Ennodius to Euprepia.
I have written to you before about my health, and I write again now — not because the news has changed, but because the need to tell you has not diminished. God has been merciful, and I am recovering.
The distance between us weighs on me more than the illness did. A sick man with his family around him is better off than a healthy man alone. But we are not truly alone, are we? The God who watches over both of us has not separated us in any way that matters.
Take care of yourself. I rely on your prayers more than you know, and I return them with all the force my own can muster. Farewell.
VIII. ENNODIVS EVPREPIAE.
Quam bene animum meum ad patientiam sequestrationis
absentiae uestrae usus aptauerat, dum prolixa silentia contemptum
dulcedinis rerum suarum necessitate pariebant! rescissa
. est cicatrix, quae ad medicinam pii amoris accesserat.
confiteor, soror uenerabilis, ad antiquum me desiderium litterae
tuae nimis noto conditae sapore reuocarunt. ecce uide qua
mecum arte contendis, cui nec satietatem de praesentia tua
nec obliuionem de silentio pateris subuenire. scit mentium
VII. 2 helpidio LV, hilpidio Bb, helidio T, Elpidio Sirm .
diad B 3 esaentiae LTlV dampna LTV 4 itenerum
B e. malcatnr scripsi, sequestrationẽ| minuit altatnr B r exp, et minuit
s. I . m. rec.), aequeutratione minuitur b , 5 caritate b 6 in-
iectione Llitterarum.LY7secarueYtanquam Y
8 constitum B1 domine Tb hilpidi Bb 9 ustuti| et asset B
(et 8. 1. m. rec.), astutias asset b 10 dampnandos LTV, damnas
dus B b
VIII. 16 eupraepiae BLVb, eufpie 1 17 se sequestrationis
Bb 19 rescisa L 21 me] qui me Bb; quia me fort .
22 reuocarent B quam b 23 mecum om. Sirm., equfl b
VI.
12
discussor altissimus lectione apicum tuorum animam meam
inter penetralia sua non potuisse consistere et ad praesentiam
tuam diligentiae euolasse melle conpulsam. habuit Arelatensis
habitatio, cum Mediolanensibus muris includerer, et dum ad
dulcem sedem libertas mentis excurreret, intra Italiam me
corporis captiuitas includebat. o si suppeteret sermonis abundantia
ad ea quae cupit animus exponenda aut illa, ad quae
lingua sufficit, non pudor eriperet ! paruus amor est qui oris
testimonio sufficienter aperitur: confessio est tepidae caritatis,
quotiens in ea non cedit eloquium. quod restat, deum
precor, ut ualeas et ad subleuandum maerorem meum, quem
scriptione tua nimis daedala arte geminasti, bono prosperitatis
mutuae reserueris.
◆
From:Ennodius, deacon and literary figure in Pavia
To:Euprepia [his female relative]
Date:~499 AD
Context:Another letter to Euprepia, showing the continuing family connection that ran beneath Ennodius's public career as a churchman and literary figure.
Ennodius to Euprepia.
I have written to you before about my health, and I write again now — not because the news has changed, but because the need to tell you has not diminished. God has been merciful, and I am recovering.
The distance between us weighs on me more than the illness did. A sick man with his family around him is better off than a healthy man alone. But we are not truly alone, are we? The God who watches over both of us has not separated us in any way that matters.
Take care of yourself. I rely on your prayers more than you know, and I return them with all the force my own can muster. Farewell.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.