Letter 2019: Ruricius, your humble client, to his holy patron —
19. To holy Ruricius [bishop of Limoges], his patron, the client,
obedient and submitting to fatherly admonitions,
sings grateful praise in unison and returns a greeting.
Him he entreats with coaxing prayers, in fear,
lest perhaps this slight song-of-the-Muse displease,
being less worthy in the judgment of so great a master.
This do you gladly run over with your eyes,
this with holy hands frequently turn again,
and while you reread it, remember me.
May your tongue ever recall me and sing of me,
and may your mind hold me, may sleep keep me in mind,
may your lips ever sing me again.
These verses store away in your devout heart,
these, whether seated under your roof or making your way on the road,
these, while reclining at the table among the cups
and sparing fare and sweet foods,
in the cave of your breast and the marrow of your heart
enclose, and recite them with a singing mind.
So may He grant that we behold each other's faces in turn
and return in living words
those things which now weary the depths of my breast,
God the bestower of all good things,
Christ reigning with the eternal Father,
deeming worthy the hymns to the Holy Spirit.
AI-assisted translation - This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek below for scholarly use.
Latin / Greek Original
XVIIII. SANCTO RURICIUS CLIENS PATRONO
sedato monitis parens paternis
Grates concinit et refert salutem.
Quem blandis precibus rogat timendo,
1 ut] et 11 promeretur Momtnsenus, promitur S, promatur v 2 silet v
4 offitiorum S 6 persentit ita Luetjohann, persententia S, persentiat
ita v 9 ab alio-eum nos om. v 14 es S dispectui S 15 iuditio S
19 auribus uestris addidi praeeunte Kruschio coll. p . 362, 9, om. S
20 certi sumus v, certissimus S deserta S 21 forcia S tantu S,
tam r 23 sacietatem S 29 ragat S
26*
Ne fors displiceat leuis camena
Tanti iudicio minor magistri.
Hoc tu luminibus libens recurre,
Hoc sanctis manibus frequens reuolue,
Hoc tu dum relegis, mei memento.
Me semper recolat canatque lingua
Et mens me teneat, sopor retentet,
Me semper recinat tuum labellum.
Hos tu uisceribus piis reconde,
Hos tecto residens uiamque carpens,
Hos inter calices toro recumbens
Et parcas epulas cibosque dulces,
Antro pectoris et medulla cordis
Inclusos recita canente mente.
Sic nos et mutuos uidere uultus
Et uiuis tribuat referre uerbis,
Quae nunc intima pectoris fatigant,
Largitor deus omnium bonorum
Christus cum patre sempiterno regnans
Sancto spiritui dignantes hymnos.
Revision history
- 2026-05-27v2.2.34-import
Initial corpus import from modern ruricius limoges retranslated v1.
Fields: letter text, metadata, source links. Source: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/OpenGreekAndLatin/csel-dev/master/data/stoa0245a/stoa001/stoa0245a.stoa001.opp-lat1.xml
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