Letter 37
Unknown→Parthenius and Papianilla|c. 499 AD|ruricius limoges
From: Ruricius, bishop of Limoges
To: Parthenius and Papianilla (his grandchildren)
Date: ~499 AD
Context: A tender letter to his grandchildren after their departure, expressing the old bishop's longing in terms both classical and Christian.
Bishop Ruricius to his sweetest grandchildren Parthenius and Papianilla.
Since your devotion departed, I feel myself cut in half. The greater part of me — the inner man — has gone walking with you, while only the body remains behind. And yet I also see that you remain in this heart of mine that stayed here. I send my greetings to your sweetness and remind you to remember my words — for it is certain, as Solomon says, that you can make progress in what is good with God's guidance, if you take the counsel of your elders to heart.
XXXVII. RURICIUS EPIBCOPUS DULCISSIMIS NEPOTIBUS PARTHENIO BT PAPIANILLAE.
Postquam pietas uestra discessit, dimidium esse me sentio,
quia maximam mei partem, hoc est interiorem hominem residente
corpore uobiscum ambulasse cognosco, ita tamen, quod
et uos in pectore meo, quod hic remansit, manere conspicio.
saluto itaque dulcedinem uestram et, ut uerborum meorum
memores sitis, admoneo, quia certum est uos iuxta Salomonis
sententiam posse in bonis deo dirigente proficere, si seniorum
consilia et amori habeantur et usui. opto bene agatis.
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From: Ruricius, bishop of Limoges
To: Parthenius and Papianilla (his grandchildren)
Date: ~499 AD
Context: A tender letter to his grandchildren after their departure, expressing the old bishop's longing in terms both classical and Christian.
Bishop Ruricius to his sweetest grandchildren Parthenius and Papianilla.
Since your devotion departed, I feel myself cut in half. The greater part of me — the inner man — has gone walking with you, while only the body remains behind. And yet I also see that you remain in this heart of mine that stayed here. I send my greetings to your sweetness and remind you to remember my words — for it is certain, as Solomon says, that you can make progress in what is good with God's guidance, if you take the counsel of your elders to heart.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.