Letter 8015: You have been urging me, with the highest praise for the holy Anianus [Bishop of Orleans, who rallied the city...

To Bishop Prosper. You have been urging me, with the highest praise for the holy Anianus [Bishop of Orleans, who rallied the city during Attila's siege in 451] — a supreme and consummate bishop, the equal of Lupus and not inferior to Germanus — to engrave his character, his merits, and his virtues on the hearts of the faithful. You want him celebrated, and rightly so, since among his other glories it is justly said that he had you as his successor. You had asked me to promise I would write up for posterity the story of Attila's war — the siege and assault and breach of Orleans, and that famous prophecy of the bishop, answered from heaven. I began writing. But when I saw the full weight of the task I had taken on, I was disgusted with myself for having started. So I committed it to no one's ears, having first condemned it by my own judgment. But the time will come, I hope, answering both your prayer and the merit of that great bishop, when I can render proper service to his fame on some swift occasion. For now, you are a just creditor, and you will generously forgive the rashness of a reckless debtor: what seems to me an impossible debt, I hope will seem so to you as well. Farewell.

EPISTULA XV Sidonius domino papae Prospero salutem. 1. Dum laudibus summis sanctum Annianum, maximum consummatissimumque pontificem, Lupo parem Germanoque non imparem, vis celebrari fideliumque desideras pectoribus infigi viri talis ac tanti mores merita virtutes, cui etiam illud non absque iustitia gloriae datur, quod te successore decessit, exegeras mihi, ut promitterem tibi Attilae bellum stilo me posteris intimaturum, quo videlicet Aurelianensis urbis obsidio oppugnatio, inruptio nec direptio et illa vulgata exauditi caelitus sacerdotis vaticinatio continebatur. 2. coeperam scribere; sed operis arrepti fasce perspecto taeduit inchoasse; propter hoc nullis auribus credidi quod primum me censore damnaveram. dabitur, ut spero, precatui tuo et meritis antistitis summi, quatenus praeconio suo sub quacumque et quidem celeri occasione famulemur. ceterum tu creditor iustus laudabiliter hoc imprudentiae temerarii debitoris indulseris, ut quod mihi insolubile videtur tibi quoque videatur inreposcibile. memor nostri esse dignare, domine papa.