XXIV. Ad virum venerabilem Anfionem presbyterum
To the Venerable Amphion, Presbyter
Man warm with devotion, blooming with gentle sweetness, whose precious mind shines in your face — when I first earned to know you by the light of your expression, I saw that the light of the mind was in you: Amphion, dear father of mine, venerable priest, love to be held always in my heart — you make any stranger you meet feel like a neighbor: even if you don't know his lineage, he becomes your kin in spirit.
Your pleasant goodwill invites everyone into conversation; you constantly draw them into harmony with yourself. Vivid in understanding, steady in the governance of your senses, fixed by the weight of good counsel — you remain stable everywhere. You govern the thoughtful reins of your mature old age well; you know how to moderate the position that your honor gives you.
Ready for every honorable thing, you overflow with generous goodness. Whoever comes to the city joins himself to you. You pour out the fruit of your humanity generously to those who come, and your house becomes the single house for all the people.
Pope Leontius himself praises you in his own words [a reference to the bishop Leontius of Bordeaux or Arles, who vouched for Amphion] — by the judgment of so great a man, I believe these things.
XXIV
Ad virum venerabilem Anfionem presbyterum
Vir pietate calens, blanda dulcedine vernans,
cuius in aspectu mens pretiosa micat,
quem prius ut merui cognoscere lumine vultus,
conspexi sensus lumen inesse tibi,
Anfion, mihi care pater, venerande sacerdos
atque meo semper corde tenendus amor;
qui quemcumque novum videas facis esse propinquum,
si genus ignores, fit tibi mente parens.
provocat alloquio cunctos iucunda voluntas,
cogis et unianimes iugiter esse tuos.
ingenio vivax, sensus moderamine firmus,
pondere consilii fixus ubique manes,
qui bene cauta regis maturae frena senectae,
cui quem praestat honor scis moderare gradum.
promptus ad omne decus larga bonitate redundas,
cui se coniungit quisquis in urbe venit.
profluus humane frugem venientibus öfters
et tua fit populis omnibus una domus;
verbis quippe suis quem papa Leontius effert:
iudicio tanti credimus ista viri.
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XXIV. Ad virum venerabilem Anfionem presbyterum To the Venerable Amphion, Presbyter
Man warm with devotion, blooming with gentle sweetness, whose precious mind shines in your face — when I first earned to know you by the light of your expression, I saw that the light of the mind was in you: Amphion, dear father of mine, venerable priest, love to be held always in my heart — you make any stranger you meet feel like a neighbor: even if you don't know his lineage, he becomes your kin in spirit.
Your pleasant goodwill invites everyone into conversation; you constantly draw them into harmony with yourself. Vivid in understanding, steady in the governance of your senses, fixed by the weight of good counsel — you remain stable everywhere. You govern the thoughtful reins of your mature old age well; you know how to moderate the position that your honor gives you.
Ready for every honorable thing, you overflow with generous goodness. Whoever comes to the city joins himself to you. You pour out the fruit of your humanity generously to those who come, and your house becomes the single house for all the people.
Pope Leontius himself praises you in his own words [a reference to the bishop Leontius of Bordeaux or Arles, who vouched for Amphion] — by the judgment of so great a man, I believe these things.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.