Letter 17: The generosity that distinguishes your pontificate has been felt throughout the church, and I want to acknowledge it...

Ennodius to the most holy Pope Symmachus. The generosity that distinguishes your pontificate has been felt throughout the church, and I want to acknowledge it directly: the resources you have devoted to the care of the poor in Rome, and the restoration of churches damaged in the recent disorders, reflect a genuine pastoral priority rather than a merely ceremonial one. I write also to commend to your paternal care the heirs of Laurentius, a distinguished man whose family has found itself in reduced circumstances. They are known to me personally; their need is genuine; and their situation is the kind that a charitable impulse naturally wishes to remedy. I leave it entirely to your judgment whether and how to respond — I make no claims on your resources on their behalf, and I will not repeat the request — but I wanted you to know of their situation from someone who knows it at first hand. I hold you in my prayers and in my deepest affection. Your devoted son in Christ, Ennodius

Ennodii ad Symmachum papam. 13. famulatus sui ohsequium exhibens de quadam legatione litteras ipsas episcopi referentis indicat. Ennodius domno papae. Pervigil beatitudinis vestrae cura quasi coram positos, in quo- cunque loci sint, obsequentes attendit, et sine uUis feriis dum gratiae suflragium praestat expertis, invitat extraneos. Etenim plu- res de spectaculo fructus capiuntur laboris alieni: quia discit ope- ram navare, in cujus oculis redduntur praemia sudoris et fidei. Atque utinam par votis esset effiectus, et quod didici pro religione, cuperem, daretur implere! Domine mi, famuUitus mei humilitatem exhibens, parca in maximis elocutione contentus, quid domnus epi- scopus frater vester supei directa legatione^) senserit, patefacien- dum praefati litteris derelinquo.