From: Ennodius, deacon and literary figure in Pavia
To: Maximus, vir spectabilis [a Roman official of distinguished rank]
Date: ~501 AD
Context: A letter apparently connected to a wedding — offering good wishes and invoking divine blessing on the marriage, as was customary in late antique correspondence between churchmen and the aristocracy.
To Maximus, vir spectabilis, from Ennodius.
May the supreme Judge order your prayers favorably. May He Himself attend the nuptials with His blessing, so that the union begun under heaven's auspices may flourish under heaven's protection.
A marriage that has the prayers of good men behind it has already received the best dowry the world can offer. I add my own to the others, humbly but sincerely. May the couple prosper, and may you — who arranged this happiness — share in its fruits.
My warmest congratulations. Farewell.
X. MAXIMO V. S. ENNODIVS.
Bene disponantur superno uota uestra iudicio: ipse ad nuptias
tuas ueniat qui primo parenti, dum adhuc natiua inmortalitate
gauderet, benedictionis munus indulsit. faciat tibi
Christus noster nec custoditae integritatis fructum perire nec
munera nuptiarum. sic uirginitas prosit ad subolem, ut castitati
tuae fecunditas nil decerpat et miro dispensationis arcano
nec saeculo, dum pater es, pereas nec dei gratiae, dum pudicus.
ueniat super te quod Isaac iuniori filio pie inductus optauit.
illis domum socrus auspiciis uxor introeat, quibus Tobiae
penetralia nurus accessit. sit tibi perfectae causa dilectionis
in coniuge, in te uirginitas custodita. solam illam tibi deputatam
noueris, cui te, quasi non esses ex Mundi faece, seruasti.
ecce quia uenire non potui, oratione non desum. domine mi,
spero, ut honore salutationis accepto quae a me directa sunt
dignanter accipias.
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From:Ennodius, deacon and literary figure in Pavia
To:Maximus, vir spectabilis [a Roman official of distinguished rank]
Date:~501 AD
Context:A letter apparently connected to a wedding — offering good wishes and invoking divine blessing on the marriage, as was customary in late antique correspondence between churchmen and the aristocracy.
To Maximus, vir spectabilis, from Ennodius.
May the supreme Judge order your prayers favorably. May He Himself attend the nuptials with His blessing, so that the union begun under heaven's auspices may flourish under heaven's protection.
A marriage that has the prayers of good men behind it has already received the best dowry the world can offer. I add my own to the others, humbly but sincerely. May the couple prosper, and may you — who arranged this happiness — share in its fruits.
My warmest congratulations. Farewell.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.