1. As soon as we heard of your well-deserved promotion, although the report that reached us was still very indefinite, we were confident that your attitude towards the Church of God, of which we rejoice that you are truly a son, is no other than what you have now revealed in your letter. Nevertheless, I write to you, my excellent and justly distinguished lord and son worthy of much honour in the love of Christ, with all the greater confidence after reading that letter in which of your own accord you deigned to send us, even if we were hesitant and backward, a very kind invitation to use our humble efforts to point out to you how, through your pious obedience, the Lord, by whose gift you have become what you are. may at this juncture come to the assistance of His Church.
1. Quamvis mox ut audivimus te merito sublimatum, cum ipsa fama nondum certissima nobis esset, nihil aliud de animo tuo credidimus erga ecclesiam dei, cuius te veraciter filium esse gaudemus, quam quod tuis litteris mox aperuisti, tamen etiam illis lectis, quibus ultro dignatus es, etiam si pigri et cunctantes essemus, exhortationem benivolentissimam mittere, ut instruente humilitate nostra per religiosam oboedientiam tuam dominus, cuius munere talis es, ecclesiae suae iam iamque subveniat, maiore fiducia tibi scribimus, domine eximie et merito praestantissime multumque in Christi caritate honorande fili.
2. And indeed, many of the brethren, my holy colleagues, have by reason of the Church's serious troubles started out almost as fugitives for the imperial court; you may have seen them or by some fortunate encounter have received a letter of theirs from Home. But for my part, although I was unable to talk over any plans with them, I could not miss the opportunity provided by this brother and fellow-priest of mine, who is driven by the urgent peril of a fellow-citizen to make the journey as best he can, even though it is mid-winter, to your part of the world, of greeting and exhorting you by that affection you have in Christ Jesus our Lord, to hasten on your good work with the most pressing attention. So shall the enemies of the Church know that those laws about the demolition of idols and the correction of heretics, which were sent to Africa while Stilicho a was still alive, were drawn up at the desire of our most godly and faithful emperor. They deceitfully allege or fondly imagine that this action was taken without his knowledge or against his will, and thus they incite the mind of the ignorant to the utmost pitch of violence and to a vehemence of hostility that is fraught with peril to us.
2. Et fratres quidem multi sancti collegae mei graviter ecclesia perturbata profecti sunt paene fugientes ad gloriosissimum comitatum, quos sive iam videris sive litteras eorum ab urbe Roma opportunitate cuiusquam occasionis acceperis, ego tamen, licet nullum consilium cum eis communicare potuerim, non potui praetermittere per hunc fratrem et conpresbyterum meum, qui urgenti necessitate pro salute civis sui etiam media hieme quomodocumque ad illas partes venire compulsus est, et salutare et admonere caritatem tuam, quam habes in Christo Iesu domino nostro, ut opus tuum bonum diligentissima acceleretur instantia, quo noverint inimici ecclesiae leges illas quae de idolis confringendis et haereticis corrigendis vivo Stilichone in Africam missae sunt, voluntate imperatoris piissimi et fidelissimi constitutas; quo nesciente vel nolente factum sive dolose iactant sive libenter putant atque hinc animos inperitorum turbulentissimos reddunt nobisque periculose ac vehementer infestos.
3. But I am quite sure that in submitting this petition or suggestion for your Eminence's consideration, I am acting agreeably to the desire of all my colleagues throughout Africa. My opinion is that steps very easily could and should be taken at the first opportunity that arises to let those vain men, whose welfare we seek even though they are our opponents, know, as I said already, that it was due to the care of Theodosius's son a rather than of Stilicho that the laws that were sent to Africa for the Church of Christ were sent at all. For this reason, then, the above-mentioned priest, the bearer of this letter, being from the district of Mileve, was ordered by his bishop, my revered brother Severus, b who joins me in sending hearty greetings to your genuine affection, to pass through Hippo Regius, where I am stationed, because, as we happened to be together in the great tribulations and anxieties of the Church, we were seeking an opportunity of writing to your Excellency and found none. I have already sent one letter about the business of my holy brother and colleague, Boniface, c the bishop of Cataquas, but this more serious news had not yet reached us to trouble us more keenly. As to the way in which you may come to our assistance in suppressing and punishing those offences with a wiser plan according to the method of Christ, that will more suitably form the subject of negotiation between the bishops who have made the voyage with that end in view, and yourself in your great and heartfelt benevolence. They have been able to bring with them some scheme that has been carefully thought out in mutual consultation, as far as the shortness of time allowed. But this other point, how to let the province know the attitude of our most gracious and godly sovereign towards the Church, should on no account be post- poned; I recommend, beg, beseech, implore you to hurry it on, even before you see the bishops who are on their way, as soon as is possible for you in your most earnest watchfulness for the members of Christ who are undergoing this very heavy trial. Amid these evils the Lord has given us no small comfort by being pleased to extend your sphere of influence much beyond what it was before, for even then we were rejoicing in the number and magnitude of your good works.
3. Hoc autem quod petendo vel suggerendo admoneo praestantiam tuam, non dubito omnium per Africam collegarum meorum fieri voluntate. Arbitror quacumque primitus exorta occasione facillime posse ac debere maturari, ut noverint, sicut dixi, homines vani, quorum et adversantium salutem requirimus, et leges quae pro ecclesia Christi missae sunt, magis Theodosii filium quam Stilichonem curasse mittendas. Propterea quippe memoratus presbyter harum perlator, cum de regione sit Milevitana, ab episcopo suo venerabili fratre meo Severo, qui tuam mecum sincerissimam dilectionem multum salutat, per Hipponem-Regium. ubi ego sum, transire iussus est, quia, cum forte simul essemus in magnis ecclesiae tribulationibus et perturbationibus, quaerebamus occasionem scribendi ad eximietatem tuam et non inveniebamus. Iam quidem unam epistulam miseram in negotio sancti fratris et collegae mei Bonifatii episcopi Cataquensis; sed nondum ad nos pervenerat graviora, quae nos vehementius agitarent, quibus comprimendis vel corrigendis quem ad modum meliore secundum viam Christi consilio succurratur, commodius episcopi qui propterea navigaverunt, cum tanta benignitate tui cordis acturi sunt, qui potuerunt communi consilio diligentius deliberatum aliquid ferre, quantum temporis permittebat angustia. Illud tamen quo animum clementissimi et religiosissimi principis erga ecclesiam provincia noverit, nullo modo esse differendum, sed etiam antequam episcopos qui profecti sunt, videas, quam primum tua praestantissima pro Christi membris in tribulatione maxima constitutis vigilantia potuerit, accelerandum suggero, peto, obsecro, flagito. Neque enim parvum in his malis solatium dominus obtulit, quod te voluit multo amplius posse quam poteras, quando iam de tuis multis et magnis bonis operibus gaudebamus.
4. We have indeed much cause for rejoicing in the firm and steadfast faith of some, and they are not a few, who were converted to the Christian religion and to Catholic peace by the opportuneness of those laws; for their eternal welfare we are glad even to risk our temporal welfare. For on this account we are enduring more violent outbreaks of hostility especially from men of excessive and obdurate perversity; and these some of the converts endure most patiently with us. But we have very great fears for their weakness until by the help of the Lords compassionate favour they acquire the wisdom and the strength to despise the present age and the day of men a with sturdier and stouter spirit. The letter of instructions I am sending with this for my brother-bishops will your Excellency hand to them when they arrive, if. as I imagine, they have not yet come? Such confidence we place in your most unfeigned devotion that with the help of the Lord our God we wish to have you not only bestow assistance, but also take a share in our counsels.
4. Multum sane de quorundam neque paucorum fide firma et stabili gratulamur, qui ex occasione legum ipsarum ad Christianam religionem vel catholicam pacem conversi sunt, pro quorum salute sempiterna nos in hac temporali etiam periclitari delectat. Propterea enim maxime ab hominibus nimium durumque perversis nunc inimicitiarum graviores impetus sustinemus, quos nonnulli eorum nobiscum patientissime sustinent; sed plurimum infirmitati metuimus, donec discant et valeant adiuvante misericordissima gratia domini saeculum praesens et hominum diem robore cordis valentiore contemnere. Commonitorium quod misi, fratribus episcopis, si, ut puto, nondum ibi sunt, ab eximietate tua illis tradatur, cum venerint. Tantam quippe tui sincerissimi pectoris habemus fiduciam, ut adiuvante domino deo nostro non solum impertitorem auxilii te velimus verum etiam consilii participem.