1. Your devotion, my holy brethren, to our Lord Jesus Christ, well known to me and often tested, has given me, though absent, reason to place reliance in that wherein I have been wont to rejoice when present: in spirit I am always with you, not only because the great sweetness of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ ever continueth its fragrance, but also because you do not suffer me, who am your servant in the Gospel, to endure any hardship. Now, our brother Fascius was being pressed for payment of a debt of seventeen solidi b by the tribute-gatherers and found for the moment no way of escape from his entanglement; wherefore, so as not to suffer bodily injury, he fled to the protection of Holy Church. c And as those tax-collectors were compelled to take their departure and so were unable to grant him a respite, they heaped on me the most grievous abuse, declaring that I ought to hand him over to them or to furnish the means where from they could receive the debt which they proved was owing them. I made the offer to Fascius to speak to you, holy brethren, about his needs, but, deterred by shame, he implored me not to do it. So I myself, under pressure of greater needs, accepted seventeen solidi from our brother Macedonius, a and these I immediately handed over on his behoof, while he promised that on a certain day he could meet the repayment, and agreed that if he was not able to meet it, an appeal should be made for him to that compassion of yours, which it is your habit to display as a brotherly feeling for our brethren.
1. Notissima mihi et probatissima devotio sanctitatis vestrae in domino nostro Iesu Christo fiduciam dedit, ut etiam absens praesumerem unde praesens gaudere consuevi, qui semper spiritu vobiscum sum, non solum quia gratia domini nostri Iesu Christi tantae suavitatis flagrare non cessat, sed etiam quia me ipsum, qui vobis in evangelio servio, angustiam pati non permittitis. Cum enim frater noster Fascius debito decem et septem solidorum ab opinatoribus urgeretur ut redderet, quod ad praesens unde explicaret se, non inveniebat, ne corporalem pateretur iniuriam ad auxilium sanctae ecclesiae convolavit. Illi etiam exactores, cum proficisci cogerentur et ideo dilationem dare non possent, gravissimis me querelis oneraverunt, ita ut eis illum traderem aut, quod sibi deberi ostendebant, unde acciperent, providerem. Cumque obtulissem Fascio ut vestram sanctitatem de necessi- tatibus eius adloquerer, pudore deterritus, ne facerem deprecatus est. Ita ego maiore necessitate coartatus a fratre nostro Macedonio decem et septem solidos accepi, quos in causam eius continuo dedi, promittente illo quod ad certum diem cum eis reddendis posset occurrere, et consentiente, ut si non posset occurrere, sermo de illo fieret ad vestram misericordiam, quam fraternam fratribus exhibere consuestis.
2. Wherefore, now that he is absent, it remains for you to give your backing, not to him, for no one can apply compulsion to him in his absence, but to my promise, for with you my good name and fame are always present. For already the day on which he promised he would meet the debt, is past and gone, and I find no reply to make to him who gave me the amount on trust, save to do what I promised I would do. But since I had no information about this matter on the day of Pentecost, so that I might have made an appeal when the crowd at Church was greater than usual, I ask you to be good enough to take this letter as my voice, while in your hearts Our Lord and God speaks warning and exhortation; in Him you have put your trust, and He never leaves us so long as we fear and honour His name; in Him I too am united with you, although in body I seem to have departed from you; from Him comes the promise of the harvest of eternal life from this seed of good works, for the apostle says: “And let us not be weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap if we faint not. As we therefore have opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.” a Since then he is of the household of faith, a member of the Christian Church, a Catholic brother of our own, for the satisfaction of whose needs I ask you to do what the Lord bids you do, do it without grudging, without complaint, and with gladness and cheerfulness; for your trust is in God, not in man, and He has promised that you will lose nothing of the things you do in mercy, but will receive them on that day with eternal usury. b And since the apostle himself says, “But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly,”c you should understand that now is the time for us, while we are still in this life, to purchase with haste and cheerfulness the gift of eternal life: for when the end of the world comes, it will be given only to those who through faith have bought it for themselves before it was possible for them to see it.
2. Nunc ergo, quoniam absens est, restat ut subveniatis non illi, quem nemo compellat absentem, sed pollicitationi meae, cuius existimatio vobis semper est praesens. Iam enim dies ad quem se promiserat occursurum, transactus est, et ego ei qui solidos suos fidei meae commisit, quid respondeam, non invenio, nisi ut faciam quod me facturum esse promisi. Sed quoniam non sum de hac re commonitus, ut die pentecostes, quando aderat maior vestra frequentia, sermonem inde facerem, peto ut has litteras pro lingua mea praesente habere dignemini admonente vos et exhortante in cordibus vestris deo et domino nostro, cui credidistis, qui numquam discedit a nobis timentibus et honorantibus nomen suum, in quo vobis et nos semper coniuncti sumus, quamvis corpore a vobis profecti esse videamur, qui vobis de isto bonorum operum semine messem vitae aeternae promittit, dicente apostolo: Bonum autem facientes non deficiamus; tempore enim suo metemus infatigabiles. Itaque, dum tempus habemus, operemur bonum ad omnes, maxime autem ad domesticos fidei. Quoniam ergo domesticus fidei est, Christianus fidelis, catholicus frater noster, pro cuius supplenda necessitate vos peto ut faciatis quod dominus imperat, sine tristitia, sine murmuratione et cum laetitia et hilaritate facite; deo enim creditis non homini, quia ille promittit vos nihil eorum quae misericorditer facitis, perdituros, sed in illo die cum usuris inmortalibus recepturos. Et quoniam ipse apostolus dicit: Hoc autem dico: Qui parce seminat, parce et metet, intellegere debetis tempus esse, ut donum vitae aeternae, cum adhuc in ista vita sumus, festinanter et alacriter comparemus, quia, cum finis saeculi venerit, non dabitur nisi eis qui per fidem sibi hoc emerunt, antequam videre potuissent.
3. I have written to the priests as well that, if there be any deficiency after the offering made by you, my holy friends, they should make it up from the Church's store, provided that you have all made cheerful offering, each man as he will; for whether the gift come from you or from the Church, it is all God's, vet your devotedness will be far more acceptable than the treasures of the Church, as the apostle says, “Not because I desire a gift, but I desire that fruit may abound.” d Gladden my heart, then, for I wish to have joy of your fruits;. for you are God's trees which even through my ministry He deigns to water with unceasing showers. e May the Lord keep you from all evil, both in this world and in the world to come, my well-beloved lords and much longed for brethren.
3. Scripsi etiam presbyteris, ut, si quid minus fuerit post conlationem sanctitatis vestrae, compleant ex eo quod habet ecclesia, dum tamen vos, secundum quod placet, hilariter offeratis, quia sive de vestro sive de ecclesia detur, omnia dei sunt, et devotio magis vestra dulcior erit thesauris ecclesiae, sicut apostolus dicit: Non quia quaero datum, sed requiro fructum. Laetificate ergo cor meum, quia de fructibus vestris gaudere cupio; vos enim estis arbores dei. quas assiduis imbribus etiam per nostrum ministerium rigare dignatur. Tueatur vos dominus ab omni malo et hic et in futuro saeculo, domini dilectissimi et desiderantissimi fratres.