Sidonius to his lord, Bishop Fonteius.
I now dread recommending anyone to you at all, because when I commend someone, I give them words while you give them gifts — as though the real generosity should not be counted as mine, since it is I, a sinner, who opens to them the sharing of holy communion as they depart. Our friend Vindicius is witness to this: he returned home more slowly on account of the burden of your generosity, declaring firmly wherever he goes that while you are great in reputation and supreme in rank, you deserve to be praised even more for your graciousness than for your dignity.
He speaks of the sweet, holy, and blooming kindnesses that flow from your temperate fellowship — and yet nothing of the episcopal person is diminished by the fact that you do not break the loftiness of your priesthood with your approachability but rather bend it. Learning all this, I burn with the desire to count myself most blessed on the day when, face to face and under God's protection, I am allowed to embrace — even presumptuously — that heart so confident in its God.
I confess it openly: I am somewhat wary of the excessively severe, and, conscious of my own weakness, I bear it patiently when people are harsh with me. But — and this must be admitted — with such characters, we are more easily brought to submit through humility than to join through familiarity. In short, let whoever puffs himself up in the richness of his conscience and makes himself rigid to those who approach him look to himself; I, for my part, would rather imitate the character of the man who actively kindles affection even in those who are far away.
There is this too that touches my heart deeply: I have learned that the abundant patronage of your apostolate is lavished through unceasing intercession upon the truest lords of my soul — Simplicius and Apollinaris [Sidonius's sons]. If this is true, I beg that your love have no end. If it is false, I ask that it not delay in having a beginning. I also commend the bearer of this letter, for whom a certain urgent matter has arisen there — that is, in the town of Vaison — which can be resolved by the weight of your authority and reverence. Please remember me in your prayers, my lord bishop.
EPISTULA IV
Sidonius domino papae Fonteio salutem.
1. Insinuare quoscumque iam paveo, quia commendatis nos damus verba, vos munera; tamquam non principalitas sit censenda beneficii, quod a me peccatore digressis sanctae communionis portio patet. testis horum est Vindicius noster, qui segnius domum pro munificentiae vestrae fasce remeavit, quoquo loco est, constanter affirmans, cum sitis opinione magni, gradu maximi, non tamen esse vos amplius dignitate quam dignatione laudandos.
2. praedicat melleas sanctas et floridas, quae procedunt de temperata communione, blanditias; nec tamen ex hoc quicquam pontificali deperire personae, quod sacerdotii fastigium non frangitis comitate, sed flectitis. quibus agnitis sic inardesco, ut tum me sim felicissimum iudicaturus, cum mihi coram posito sub divina ope contigerit tam securum de deo suo pectus licet praesumptiosis, artis tamen fovere complexibus.
3. accipite confitentem: suspicio quidem nimis severos et imbecillitatis meae conscius aequanimiter fero asperos mihi; sed, quod fatendum est, hisce moribus facilius humilitate submittimur quam familiaritate sociamur. in summa, viderit, qua conscientiae dote turgescat, qui se ambientibus rigidum reddit; ego tamen morum illius aemulator esse praeelegerim, qui etiam longe positorum incitare in se affectat affectum.
4. illud quoque mihi inter maxima granditer cordi est, quod apostolatus vestri patrocinium copiosum verissimis dominis animae meae, Simplicio et Apollinari, intermina intercessione conferre vos comperi. si verum est, rogo, ut non habeat vestra caritas finem; si falsum est, peto, ut non differat habere principium. praeterea commendo gerulum litterarum, cui istic, id est in Vasionensi oppido quiddam necessitatis exortum sanari vestrae auctoritatis reverentiaeque pondere potest. memor nostri esse dignare, domine papa.
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Sidonius to his lord, Bishop Fonteius.
I now dread recommending anyone to you at all, because when I commend someone, I give them words while you give them gifts — as though the real generosity should not be counted as mine, since it is I, a sinner, who opens to them the sharing of holy communion as they depart. Our friend Vindicius is witness to this: he returned home more slowly on account of the burden of your generosity, declaring firmly wherever he goes that while you are great in reputation and supreme in rank, you deserve to be praised even more for your graciousness than for your dignity.
He speaks of the sweet, holy, and blooming kindnesses that flow from your temperate fellowship — and yet nothing of the episcopal person is diminished by the fact that you do not break the loftiness of your priesthood with your approachability but rather bend it. Learning all this, I burn with the desire to count myself most blessed on the day when, face to face and under God's protection, I am allowed to embrace — even presumptuously — that heart so confident in its God.
I confess it openly: I am somewhat wary of the excessively severe, and, conscious of my own weakness, I bear it patiently when people are harsh with me. But — and this must be admitted — with such characters, we are more easily brought to submit through humility than to join through familiarity. In short, let whoever puffs himself up in the richness of his conscience and makes himself rigid to those who approach him look to himself; I, for my part, would rather imitate the character of the man who actively kindles affection even in those who are far away.
There is this too that touches my heart deeply: I have learned that the abundant patronage of your apostolate is lavished through unceasing intercession upon the truest lords of my soul — Simplicius and Apollinaris [Sidonius's sons]. If this is true, I beg that your love have no end. If it is false, I ask that it not delay in having a beginning. I also commend the bearer of this letter, for whom a certain urgent matter has arisen there — that is, in the town of Vaison — which can be resolved by the weight of your authority and reverence. Please remember me in your prayers, my lord bishop.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.