Letter 8013: I would be lying about my affection if I did not confess that your departure left a wound.

From: Ennodius, deacon and literary figure in Pavia To: Aurelianus, priest Date: ~503 AD Context: A letter to the priest Aurelianus, expressing the pain of parting — Ennodius frames his affection in spiritual terms that elevate personal friendship to a religious duty. Ennodius to Aurelianus the priest. I would be lying about my affection if I did not confess that your departure left a wound. When those we love leave, they take something with them that no letter can fully restore. But I do not complain — not really. The God who brings friends together also separates them for reasons we cannot always see, and the faith that binds us survives every parting. What I miss in your presence I find, at least in part, in the knowledge that you pray for me as I pray for you. Write to me when you are settled. Let the bond that distance has stretched be tightened again by the thread of correspondence. Farewell.

XIII. ENNODIVS AVRELIANO PRESBVTERO. Affectionem mentior, si uobiscum digrediens non remansi et beatitudinem uestram mecum quamuis locatam in statione non detuli. quia animus in me, ut in ceteris, imperator est corporis, ipse circa diligentiam uestram est tota intentione captiuus. ergo salutationis honorificentiam debita humilitate persoluens nihil ualitudini meae de itineris confractione indico decessisse. ecce qua sollicitudinem uestram benigni studii cura remuneror: facite, quod scriptum est, accepta restituentes de prosperitatis uestrae me significatione gratulari.