Letter 17: HE ENCOURAGES HIM TO WRITE THE LIFE OF SAINT AMATOR

Letter to Abbot Stephanus. He encourages him to write the Life of Saint Amator. To my most beloved and most dear friend, bound to me by the chain of charity, the priest Stephanus — Aunarius, bishop by the grace of God, sends eternal greetings in the Lord. Your holiness knows well the ancient and venerable traditions of this church of Auxerre, which the blessed Amator founded and adorned with his virtues. Since the memory of so great a bishop deserves to be preserved for posterity, and since you possess both the literary skill and the intimate knowledge of our church's traditions that such a work requires, I urge and exhort you to undertake the writing of the Life of Saint Amator. Let the deeds of this holy man, which have been preserved in our records and in the living memory of our community, be set down in worthy prose, so that future generations may know the founder of our church and be inspired by his example.

EPISTOLA AD STEPHANUM ABBATEM (Ex Bolland., prima die Maii.) HUNC HORTATUR UT VITAM SANCTI AMATORIS CONSCRIBAT. Dilectissimo atque amantissimo et interno mihi C quidam autem numeris se rhythmisve ac cantibus vinculo choritatis connexo Stephano presbylero , Aunarius gratia Dei episcopus, in Domino z#ternam salulem. Tuz nobis doctrine multis jam experimentis com- probata prudentia compulit nos, quamdam tuis humeris imperiosam ssuperponere sareinulam; ed eam que tibi non sit oneris, sed honoris; nec que. deorsum iniquo pondere premat, sed que potius celum usque sustollat. Cognitum 1ibi est, charissime ſrater, et quz sit humanarum mentium diversitas, et quemadmoduia in sstudia contraria non solum inane vulgus, verum eliam universa Scindatur nobi- litas. Et quidam quidem prosaico oblectantur sylo, versuun delectlari faientur. Ergo, ut omnium votis occurrerem , ct nullus 8uo desiderio ſraudaretur , placuit mihi ut vitas beatissimorum conſessorum quasdam pede libero describeres, quasdam vero lege metrica in:peditas digereres : ob quam rem obsecro unitam mihi tuz dilectionis amicitiam, ut beatissimi Germa!j episcopi vilam in versuum qua- litatem, commulare non desistas ; sancti vero Ama- toris prosaica modulatione. describas; ut sectatores apostolics praxdicaiionis effecti, omnibus omnia eſliciamur, et nulli quidquam debeamus, nisi ut invicem diligamus. Individuam mili charitatem ve- sIram divina custodiat pietas, venerabilis ſrater. STEPHANI ABBATIS