To Domnulus.
I cannot wait to share some wonderful news with you — knowing how eager you must be to hear what our father in Christ, Bishop Patiens [of Lyon, a major ecclesiastical figure in 5th-century Gaul], has accomplished on his recent trip to Chalon-sur-Saone [Cabillonum], acting with his usual piety and firmness.
He arrived at the town in question with an escort of provincial bishops — some going ahead, some following — to ordain a new bishop for a church whose discipline had been wavering ever since the younger Bishop Paulus had left and then died. What greeted the episcopal council was a tangle of competing factions,
along with the private ambitions that always undermine the public good. A triumvirate of candidates had whipped things up: one kept belching about his ancient pedigree while possessing no other moral qualification; another had bought his applause through kitchen politics, pushing his way in on the back of parasites and dinner-party cheers worthy of Apicius [the legendary Roman gourmand]; the third had made a secret pact that if he won the bishop's throne, he would hand over church properties as plunder to his supporters.
When the holy Patiens and the holy Euphronius [Bishop of Autun] saw all this — both men holding to the firm line of sound judgment, free of hatred and favoritism — they quietly consulted with their fellow bishops, then suddenly, before the plan could leak, joined hands and seized upon the holy John. He was a man distinguished by his integrity, his kindness, and his gentleness.
He had been a lector [reader of Scripture in church services] since childhood, then a minister of the altar, and after long years of labor had become archdeacon — an office he held for so long, precisely because of his competence, that he could not be promoted in rank for fear of losing his services.
Now, already a priest of the second order, this man was consecrated as their colleague amid the discordant cries of the factions — who hesitated to praise a man who had not sought the office but did not dare criticize one so praiseworthy. The schemers were stunned, the wicked blushed, the good cheered, and no one objected.
So if the monastery at Jura [a famous monastic center in the mountains of eastern Gaul] has released you — where you willingly retreat to practice for the heavenly dwelling-places that await — you have every reason to rejoice at the harmony of our common fathers and patrons: Euphronius providing the testimony, Patiens laying on his hands, and both exercising their judgment. In this, Euphronius did what befitted not only his old age but the longevity of his dignity, and Patiens — a man equal to any praise, however great — did what was fitting for the person who is head of our city through his priesthood and head of the province through his city. Farewell.
EPISTULA XXV
Sidonius Domnulo suo salutem.
1. Nequeo differre, quin grandis communione te gaudii festinus inpertiam, nimirum nosse cupientem, quid pater noster in Christo pariter et pontifex Patiens Cabillonum profectus more religionis, more constantiae suae fecerit. cum venisset in oppidum suprascriptum provincialium sacerdotum praevio partim, partim comitante collegio, scilicet ut municipio summus aliquis antistes ordinaretur, cuius ecclesiae disciplina nutabat, postquam iunior episcopus Paulus discesserat decesseratque, exceperunt pontificale concilium variae voluntates oppidanorum,
2. nec non et illa, quae bonum publicum semper evertunt studia privata; quae quidam triumviratus accenderat conpetitorum, quorum hic antiquam natalium praerogativam reliqua destitutus morum dote ructabat, hic per fragores parasiticos culinarum suffragio comparatos Apicianis plausibus ingerebatur, hic, apice votivo si potiretur, tacita pactione promiserat ecclesiastica plosoribus suis praedae praedia fore.
3. quod ubi viderunt sanctus Patiens et sanctus Euphronius, qui rigorem firmitatemque sententiae sanioris praeter odium gratiamque primi tenebant, consilio cum coepiscopis prius clam communicato quam palam prodito strepituque despecto turbae furentis iunctis repente manibus arreptum nihilque tum minus quam quae agebantur optantem suspicantemque sanctum Iohannem, virum honestate humanitate mansuetudine insignem
4. (lector hic primum, sic minister altaris, idque ab infantia, post laborum temporumque processu archidiaconus, in quo seu gradu seu ministerio multum retentus propter industriam diu dignitate non potuit augeri, ne potestate posset absolvi): attamen hunc iam secundi ordinis sacerdotem dissonas inter partium voces, quae differebant laudare non ambientem sed nec audebant culpare laudabilem, stupentibus factiosis erubescentibus malis, acclamantibus bonis reclamantibus nullis collegam sibi consecravere.
5. nunc ergo Iurensia si te remittunt iam monasteria, in quae libenter solitus escendere iam caelestibus supernisque praeludis habitaculis, gaudere te par est de communium patrum vel patronorum seu sic sentiente concordia seu sic concordante sententia. illius quoque nomine exulta, quem creaverunt Euphronius testimonio, manu Patiens, ambo iudicio. in quo fecit Euphronius quod conveniret non senectutis modo suae verum etiam dignitatis longaevitati, fecit et Patiens, vir quamlibet magnis par tamen laudibus, quod satis decuit facere personam, quae caput est civitati nostrae per sacerdotium, provinciae vero per civitatem. vale.
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To Domnulus.
I cannot wait to share some wonderful news with you — knowing how eager you must be to hear what our father in Christ, Bishop Patiens [of Lyon, a major ecclesiastical figure in 5th-century Gaul], has accomplished on his recent trip to Chalon-sur-Saone [Cabillonum], acting with his usual piety and firmness.
He arrived at the town in question with an escort of provincial bishops — some going ahead, some following — to ordain a new bishop for a church whose discipline had been wavering ever since the younger Bishop Paulus had left and then died. What greeted the episcopal council was a tangle of competing factions,
along with the private ambitions that always undermine the public good. A triumvirate of candidates had whipped things up: one kept belching about his ancient pedigree while possessing no other moral qualification; another had bought his applause through kitchen politics, pushing his way in on the back of parasites and dinner-party cheers worthy of Apicius [the legendary Roman gourmand]; the third had made a secret pact that if he won the bishop's throne, he would hand over church properties as plunder to his supporters.
When the holy Patiens and the holy Euphronius [Bishop of Autun] saw all this — both men holding to the firm line of sound judgment, free of hatred and favoritism — they quietly consulted with their fellow bishops, then suddenly, before the plan could leak, joined hands and seized upon the holy John. He was a man distinguished by his integrity, his kindness, and his gentleness.
He had been a lector [reader of Scripture in church services] since childhood, then a minister of the altar, and after long years of labor had become archdeacon — an office he held for so long, precisely because of his competence, that he could not be promoted in rank for fear of losing his services.
Now, already a priest of the second order, this man was consecrated as their colleague amid the discordant cries of the factions — who hesitated to praise a man who had not sought the office but did not dare criticize one so praiseworthy. The schemers were stunned, the wicked blushed, the good cheered, and no one objected.
So if the monastery at Jura [a famous monastic center in the mountains of eastern Gaul] has released you — where you willingly retreat to practice for the heavenly dwelling-places that await — you have every reason to rejoice at the harmony of our common fathers and patrons: Euphronius providing the testimony, Patiens laying on his hands, and both exercising their judgment. In this, Euphronius did what befitted not only his old age but the longevity of his dignity, and Patiens — a man equal to any praise, however great — did what was fitting for the person who is head of our city through his priesthood and head of the province through his city. Farewell.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.