Letter 9005: The dispensation of heaven joins in affection through the gift of letters those whom it has united in love.
Ennodius of Pavia→Hormisdas, Rome|c. 497 AD|Ennodius of Pavia
friendshipillnesstravel mobility
From: Ennodius, deacon and literary figure in Pavia
To: Hormisdas, deacon [the future Pope Hormisdas, r. 514-523]
Date: ~497 AD
Context: An early letter to the man who would become Pope Hormisdas — celebrating the power of correspondence to sustain friendships across distance, a favorite theme of Ennodius.
To Hormisdas the deacon, from Ennodius.
The dispensation of heaven joins in affection through the gift of letters those whom it has united in love. For those separated by the length of roads, divine providence has found a remedy in correspondence — so that distance, which afflicts the body, cannot reach the bonds of the soul.
I write to you, brother, not because duty requires it but because my heart demands it. The page that carries my greeting carries also the proof that neither time nor miles have weakened what we share. May this exchange continue, and may the God who gave us this friendship preserve it through every separation.
I send you my warmest regards and ask for yours in return. Farewell.
V. HORMISDAE DIACONO ENNODIVS.
Caelestis dispensatio epistolaribus beneficiis iunctos caritate
consociat, dum quos discernit itinerum prolixitas in remedio
IIII. 2 prouino ennodius B, ennodiua prouino LTV 4 quo∗s (o
cras . uid.) B 5 opliuio B 6 separantur fort . 7 praeetatee
B 9 conditio BTV a] simplex a B 10 praestnlentur B, praeatolarentnr
L, praestolantor b quaerillam B discendi BLPTVb
11 debnistes B 18 putow L 14 sepulchris LPTV 15 tam B
garrolns B 16 fidnam B propinquus B 18 parentem B
19 neo (eo in ras,) L debit B alia B 21 domne T et
Sirm. m T, mihi BLV 22 epistolares B manifeetit B
V. 24 hormisde BLT diacs B 25 ceclestis (1 ex e corr.)
L benefitiis B iunctns B, inntos L, disiunctos (t. e . loco
diuisos) fort . 26 itinereram B
sollicitudinis iungit affectio, si sit cura sermonis. silentium
tamen uestrum nimis admiror, quod post depositae sarcinas
aegritudinia nulla me adlocutione subleuastis. sed quia loquendo
opportune cogimus, ut loquaris, uel garruli, imitatione responde.
bene enim res desiderii et poscitur et inpetratur exemplis.
ergo honorem salutationis inpendens indico me deo propitio
iam ualere, subplicans, ut uicaria mihi stili promulgatione
benedicas.
◆
From:Ennodius, deacon and literary figure in Pavia
To:Hormisdas, deacon [the future Pope Hormisdas, r. 514-523]
Date:~497 AD
Context:An early letter to the man who would become Pope Hormisdas — celebrating the power of correspondence to sustain friendships across distance, a favorite theme of Ennodius.
To Hormisdas the deacon, from Ennodius.
The dispensation of heaven joins in affection through the gift of letters those whom it has united in love. For those separated by the length of roads, divine providence has found a remedy in correspondence — so that distance, which afflicts the body, cannot reach the bonds of the soul.
I write to you, brother, not because duty requires it but because my heart demands it. The page that carries my greeting carries also the proof that neither time nor miles have weakened what we share. May this exchange continue, and may the God who gave us this friendship preserve it through every separation.
I send you my warmest regards and ask for yours in return. Farewell.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.