--- title: "Letters · Epistulae" author: "Augustine" translator: "James Houston Baxter" languages: [la, en] shelf: "Church Fathers" section: 8 of 62 url: https://scriptura.si/works/augustine-letters/8/ cite: "Augustine, tr. James Houston Baxter, Letters · Epistulae, section 8. Scriptura (scriptura.si), https://scriptura.si/works/augustine-letters/8/" --- # Letters · Epistulae *Augustine, tr. James Houston Baxter* Augustine’s letters in Latin beside English. > Latin: ed. James Houston Baxter, from the Perseus Digital Library (canonical-latinLit, stoa0040.stoa011, CC BY-SA 4.0). > English: James Houston Baxter, from the Perseus Digital Library (stoa0040.stoa011.perseus-eng1). Notes are not included. > Rows follow the references the two texts share (books, chapters and sections), cut where both reach the end of a sentence. ## 8. Letter 8 Source: https://scriptura.si/works/augustine-letters/8/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/augustine-letters/8/#p-N [¶0] 1. I. After long hesitation I have not discovered how most gratefully to reply to your Holiness's letter, for all my efforts were thwarted by my heartfelt emotion, which rising of its own accord was much more warmly stirred by the reading of your letter. But I east myself upon God that He might work in me according to my strength, so that I should reply to you as befitted our mutual zeal in the Lord and our care for His church, you in your exalted station and I in my subordinate post. And, first, so far from declining your assurance that you believe my prayers avail for you, I gladly welcome it, for in this way the Lord will hear and answer me. if not through my own prayers, then certainly through yours. I am more grateful to you than I can well express for your kindly approval of brother Alypius's action in remaining a member of our fellowship, as an example to the brethren who wish to withdraw from the cares of this world. May God recompense your soul for this! The whole company of brethren that has begun to form around them is therefore bound to you with great gratitude, for you looked after our interests as if very present in spirit, although our abode is so far removed from yours in space. So we devote our best strength to praying that the Lord will deign to uphold with you the flock committed to your care and that He will never leave you but be a present help in time of trouble, a showing with His Church such mercy through your ministry as spiritual men implore Him with tears and groanings to show. > Latin: 1. I. Qua gratia responderent litteris sanctitatis tuae, cum diu haesitans non reperirem—omnia enim vicit affectus animi mei, quem iam sponte surgentem lectio epistulae tuae multo ardentius excitavit,—commisi me tamen deo, qui pro viribus meis operaretur in me, ut ea rescriberem, quae utrique nostrum studio in domino et cura ecclesiastica pro tua praestantia et mea obsecundatione congruerent. Atque illud primum, quod orationibus meis te adiuvari credis, non solum non defugio, verum etiam libenter amplector. Ita enim etsi non meis, at certe tuis me dominus noster exaudiet. Quod fratrem Alypium in nostra coniunctione mansisse, ut exemplo sit fratribus curas mundi huius vitare cupientibus, benivolentissime accepisti, ago gratias, quas nullis verbis explicare possim; deus hoc rependat in animam tuam. Omnis itaque fratrum coetus, qui apud eos coepit coalescere, tanta tibi praerogativa obstrictus est, ut locis terrarum tantum longe disiunctis ita nobis consulueris tamquam praesentissimus spiritu. Quapropter precibus, quantum valemus, incumbimus, ut gregem tibi commissum tecum dominus sustinere dignetur nec te uspiam deserere, sed adesse adiutor in opportunitatibus faciens cum ecclesia sua misericordiam per sacerdotium tuum, qualem spiritales viri ut faciat lacrimis eum gemitibusque interpellant. [¶1] 2. Let me assure you, therefore, my Lord most revered, worthy of all devotion and of overflowing affection, that we are not without hope—nay, are rather strongly hopeful—that through the authority you bear, laid, as we trust, not on your flesh, but on your spirit, our Lord and God may use the weighty sword of councils and your own weight for the healing of the many carnal sores and disorders which the African Church is suffering in so many quarters and lamenting in so few. b In one passage the Apostle has set down to be hated and shunned three classes of vice from which has sprung an incalculable crop of sins. One of them, which he places only in the second rank, the Church punishes most severely; the other two, the first and the last-mentioned, appear to men to be quite tolerable, and so they may gradually come to be looked upon as not sins at all. The words of the Chosen Vessel c are these: “Not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying; but put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.” a Of these three classes, chambering and wantonness are considered so great an offence that no one who has defiled himself with that sin is considered worthy not merely of holding office in the Church, but even of participation in the sacraments. > Latin: 2. Scias itaque, domine beatissime et plenissima caritate venerabilis, non desperare nos, immo sperare nos vehementer, quod dominus et deus noster per auctoritatem personae, quam geris, quam non carni, sed spiritu tuo inpositam esse confidimus, multas carnales foeditates et aegritudines, quas Africana ecclesia in multis patitur, in paucis gemit... conciliorum gravi ense et tua gravitate posse sanari. Cum enim apostolus tria breviter genera vitiorum detestanda et vitanda uno in loco posuerit, de quibus innumerabilium peccatorum exsurrexit seges, unum horum, quod quidem secundo loco posuit, acerrime in ecclesia vindicatur; duo autem reliqua, id est primum et ultimum, tolerabilia videntur hominibus atque ita paulatim fieri potest, ut nec vitia iam putentur. Ait enim vas electionis: Non in comissationibus et ebrietatibus, non in cubilibus et inpudicitiis, non in contentione et zelo; sed induite vos dominum Iesum Christum et carnis curam ne feceritis in concupiscentiis. [¶2] 3. And quite rightly so, but why single out these? Rioting and drunkenness are considered so permissible and tolerable that they are practised not only on holy days, when the blessed martyrs are honoured,—a lamentable sight to anyone who looks on such festivities with more than a carnal eye,—but even on any and every day. Were this depravity only immoral and not sacrilegious as well, we might think of putting up with it with what power of endurance we could. And yet, what about the same Apostle's statement, when he ends his lengthy list of vices, among which drunkenness finds a place, by saying: “With such an one not even to eat bread” b? Are we to put up with it in the disgraceful debauchery of private life and of those festivities that are confined to private houses, and receive the Body of Christ in the company of those with whom we are forbidden to eat bread? At least let such a disgraceful practice be removed from the cemeteries c where the bodies of the saints are laid, and from the place where the sacraments are celebrated, and from the house of prayer. For who dare forbid the use in private of that which, when practised in holy places, is called a tribute to the martyrs? > Latin: 3. Horum ergo trium cubilia et inpudicitiae ita magnum crimen putatur, ut nemo dignus non modo ecclesiastico ministerio, sed ipsa etiam sacramentorum communione videatur, qui se isto peccato maculaverit. Et recte omnino. Sed quare solum? Comissationes enim et ebrietates ita concessae et licitae putantur. ut in honore etiam beatissimorum martyrum non solum per dies sollemnes, quod ipsum quis non lugendum videat, qui haec non carneis oculis inspicit. sed etiam cotidie celebrentur. Quam foeditatem, si tantum flagitiosa et non etiam sacrilega esset, quibuscumque tolerantiae viribus sustentandam putaremus. Quamquam ubi est illud, quod cum multa vitia enumerasset idem apostolus, inter quae posuit ebriosos, ita conclusit, ut diceret: cum talibus nec panem edere? Sed feramus haec in luxu et labe domestica et eorum conviviorum quae privatis parietibus continentur, accipiamusque cum eis corpus Christi, cum quibus panem edere prohibemur: saltem de sanctorum corporum sepulcris, saltem de locis sacramentorum, de domibus orationum tantum dedecus arceatur. Quis enim audet vetare privatim, quod cum frequentatur in sanctis locis, honor martyrum nominatur? [¶3] 4. If Africa were the first to attempt the removal of these abuses, she would be worthy of imitation by all other countries. But since they have been repressed and done away with through the greater part of Italy and in all, or nearly all, the other churches across the sea, partly because they were never in use, partly because, when they did arise or were of long standing, the scrupulousness and censure of saintly bishops, truly contemplating the life to come... how can we hesitate to correct this grave moral corruption, especially after the precedent set by so many others? We have, too, as bishop a man belonging to those regions, for which fact we heartily thank God. Yet he is of such moderation and gentleness, such wisdom and zeal in the Lord, that, even if he were an African, he would readily have been persuaded from the Scriptures to undertake the cure of the wound that this dissolute and disorderly custom has inflicted. But the disease wrought by this evil habit has become so chronic that complete recovery seems to me to be impossible, unless by the authority of a council; or if any one church has to begin the treatment, it appears foolish to try to change anything the Church of Carthage retains, and very presumptuous to desire to keep anything the Church of Carthage has rectified. And to carry through that reform here, what bishop could be more desirable than the one who, as a deacon, denounced such abuses? > Latin: 4. Haec si prima Africa temptaret auferre, a ceteris terris imitatione digna esse deberet; cum vero et per Italiae maximam partem et in aliis omnibus aut prope omnibus transmarinis ecclesiis, partim quia numquam facta sunt, partim quia vel orta vel inveterata sanctorum et vere de vita futura cogitantium episcoporum diligentia et animadversione extincta atque deleta sunt,... dubitare quo modo possumus tantam morum labem vel proposito tam lato exemplo emendare: Et nos quidem illarum partium hominem habemus episcopum, unde magnas deo agimus gratias. Quamquam eius modestiae atque lenitatis est, eius denique prudentiae et sollicitudinis in domino, ut, etiam si Afer esset, cito illi de scripturis persuaderetur curandum, quod licentiosa et male libera consuetudo vulnus inflixit, sed tanta pestilentia est huius mali, ut sanari prorsus, quantum mihi videtur, nisi concilii auctoritate non possit, aut, si ab una ecclesia inchoanda est medicina, sicut videtur audaciae mutare conari quod Carthaginiensis ecclesia tenet, sic magnae inpudentiae est velle servare quod Carthaginiensis ecclesia correxit. Ad hanc autem rem quis alius episcopus esset optandus, nisi qui ea diaconus execrabatur? [¶4] 5. But what at that time you could only deplore must now be repressed, not harshly, but as Scripture puts it, in the spirit of gentleness and meekness. a Your letter, revealing as it does deep brotherly affection, encourages me to talk to you as I would to myself. It is not by harshness, in my opinion, or by severity, or by overbearing methods, that such evils are removed, but by education rather than by formal commands, by persuasion rather than by intimidation. That is the kind of treatment to use with men in the mass, while severity should be employed against the sins of individuals. If there be any intimidation, let it be done with sorrow by the threats of future punishment from the Scriptures, then the fear we inspire will not be of ourselves or our authority, but of God speaking in us. In this way an impression will first be made on the spiritually minded or on those most nearly so, and by their influence and gentle, but urgent, expostulation the rest of the crowd will be subdued. > Latin: 5. Sed quod erat tunc dolendum, nunc auferendum est, non aspere sed, sicut scriptum est, in spiritu lenitatis et mansuetudinis. Dant enim mihi fiduciam litterae tuae, indices germanissimae caritatis, ut tecum tamquam mecum audeam conloqui. Non ergo aspere, quantum existimo, non duriter, non modo imperioso ista tolluntur,magis docendo quam iubendo, magis monendo quam minando. Sic enim agendum est cum multitudine, severitas autem exercenda est in peccata paucorum. Et si quid minamur, cum dolore fiat de scripturis comminando vindictam futuram, ne nos ipsi in nostra potestate, sed deus in nostro sermone timeatur. Ita prius movebuntur spiritales vel spiritalibus proximi, quorum auctoritate et lenissimis quidem sed instantissimis admonitionibus cetera multitudo frangatur. [¶5] 6. But since those drunken revels in cemeteries and those social orgies are usually considered by the carnal and ignorant laity not only to honour the martyrs but also to comfort the dead, they could. I think, be more easily prevailed upon to abandon that scandalous and vicious practice, if, besides forbidding it on Scriptural grounds, we ensure that the offerings made upon tombs for the spirits of those who have fallen asleep (and we must surely believe that they are of some avail) be not extravagant and be tendered without ostentation or reluctance to any who seek them, but be not sold. If any person wishes from religious motives to make an offering in coin, let him distribute it to the poor on the spot. In this way people will not have the appearance of neglecting their own burial-places, which might pro- duce no slight heart-soreness, and the ceremonies in church will be conducted with piety and decorum. So much then, meanwhile, for rioting and drunkenness. > Latin: 6. Sed quoniam istae in cimiteriis ebrietates et luxuriosa convivia non solum honores martyrum a carnali et inperita plebe credi solent, sed etiam solacia mortuorum, mihi videtur facilius illis dissuaderi posse istam foeditatem ac turpitudinem, si et de scripturis prohibeatur et oblationes pro spiritibus dormientium, quas vere aliquid adiuvare credendum est, super ipsas memorias non sint sumptuosae atque omnibus petentibus sine typho et cum alacritate praebeantur neque vendantur; sed si quis pro religione aliquid pecuniae offerre voluerit, in praesenti pauperibus eroget. Ita nec deserere videbuntur memorias suorum, quod potest gignere non levem cordis dolo- rem, et id celebrabitur in ecclesia, quod pie honesteque celebratur. Haec interim de comissationibus et ebrietatibus dicta sint. [¶6] 7. II. Then again, concerning strife and envying, what right have I to speak, since such sins are more serious among ourselves than among the laity? These evils are the offspring of pride and eagerness for the praise of men, which often begets hypocrisy as well. The only way they can be resisted is by instilling the fear and love of God with repeated arguments from the holy books, provided that one who follows this method shows himself a pattern of patience and humility, arrogating to himself less honour than is offered him and yet accepting from those who pay him honour neither everything nor nothing, but accepting whatever honour and praise is offered him. not on his own behalf, since he ought to be living with a sole eye to God and to despise merely mortal rewards, but for their sakes whose welfare he cannot promote if he depreciate himself so much that he loses men's esteem. That is the point of the saying, “Let no man despise thy youth,” a although he who said those words remarks in another place, “If I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.” b It is a great matter not to rejoice in human praise and honours but to discard all empty ostentation, and, if any of it must be kept, to turn it all to the use and the well-being of those who honour us. > Latin: 7. II. De contentione autem et zelo quid me attinet dicere, quando ista vitia non in plebe, sed in nostro numero graviora sunt? Horum autem morborum mater superbia est et humanae laudis aviditas, quae etiam hypocrisin saepe generat. Huic non resistitur, nisi crebris divinorum librorum testimoniis incutiatur timor et caritas dei, si tamen ille, qui hoc agit, se ipsum praebeat patientiae atque humilitatis exemplum minus sibi adsumendo, quam offertur, sed tamen ab eis, qui se honorant, nec totum nec nihil accipiendo et id, quod accipitur laudis aut honoris, non propter se, qui totus coram deo esse debet et humana contemnere, sed propter illos accipiatur, quibus consulere non potest, si nimia deiectione vilescat. Ad hoc enim pertinet, quod dictum est: Nemo iuventutem tuam contemnat, eum ille hoc dixerit, qui alio loco ait: Si hominibus placere vellem, Christi servus non essem. [¶7] 8. Not for nothing has it been said, “God will break the bones of those who seek to please men” c; for what is more feeble, more lacking in steadfastness and strength (for this is what " bones " symbolize), than an individual who is unnerved by the voice of slander, when he knows that what is being said against him is untrue? The pain of receiving such treatment would certainly not rend his inmost soul, unless the love of praise were “breaking his bones.” I have every confidence in your strength of mind, so what I am discussing with you I am applying to myself; still, you are good enough, I think, to consider with me how serious and difficult a matter this is. Only one who has declared war on that foe realizes his power, for, although it is easy to do without praise, when it is denied us, it is hard not to take pleasure in it, when it is offered. And yet our minds ought to be so completely uplifted to God that, if we are undeservedly praised, we may correct those we can, lest they should think we possess gifts that are not ours, or that the gifts we have from God are our own, or praise qualities we do possess and even possess in a marked degree, but which are in no way matters for praise, for example all those advantages we share with animals or with unchristian men. But if we are deservedly praised for God's sake, we should congratulate those who find pleasure in what is truly good, and not ourselves for pleasing men, and that only if we are in the eyes of God what they take us to be and offer the praise not to us, but to God; for everything that is truly and deservedly praised is a gift from Him. This is what I keep on saying to myself each day, or rather He does, from whom come whatever salutary counsels are found in Scripture readings or are suggested to the mind from within. Yet, strenuously as I struggle with the adversary, I often receive wounds from him, since I cannot rid myself of delight in the praise that is offered me. > Latin: 8. Magnum est de honoribus et laudibus hominum non laetari, sed et omnem inanem pompam praecidere et, si quid inde necessarium retinetur, id totum ad utilitatem honorantium salutemque conferre. Non enim frustra dictum est: Deus confringet ossa hominibus placere volentium. Quid enim languidos, quid tam sine stabilitate ac fortitudine, quod ossa significant, quam homo quem male loquen- tium lingua debilitat, cum sciat falsa esse quae dicuntur? Cuius rei dolor nullo modo animae viscera dilaniaret, si non amor laudis eius ossa confringeret. Praesumo de robore animi tui; itaque ista quae tecum confero, mihi dico; dignaris tamen, credo, mecum considerare quam sint gravia, quam difficilia. Non enim huius hostis vires sentit, nisi qui ei bellum indixerit, quia, etsi cuiquam facile est laude carere, dum denegatur, difficile est ea non delectari, cum offertur. Et tamen tanta mentis in deum debet esse suspensio, ut, si non merito laudemur, corrigamus eos, quos possumus, ne arbitrentur aut in nobis esse, quod non est, aut nostrum esse, quod dei est, aut ea laudent, quae quamvis non desint nobis aut etiam supersint, nequaquam tamen sint laudabilia, velut sunt bona omnia, quae vel cum pecoribus habemus communia vel cum impiis hominibus. Si autem merito laudamur propter deum, gratulemur eis quibus placet verum bonum, non tamen nobis quia placemus hominibus, sed si coram deo tales sumus, quales esse nos credunt, et non tribuitur nobis sed deo, cuius dona sunt omnia quae vere meritoque laudantur. Haec mihi ipse canto cotidie vel potius ille cuius salutaria praecepta sunt, quaecumque sive in divinis lectionibus inveniuntur sive quae intrinsecus animo suggeruntur. Et tamen vehementer cum adversario dimicans saepe ab eo vulnera accipio, cum delectationem oblatae laudis mihi auferre non possum. [¶8] 9. Your Holiness may have no further need for counsels of this kind, either because your own reflection has suggested a richer store of beneficial principles, or else because your Holiness has passed the stage of requiring remedies of this kind. My purpose in writing as I have done is to make you aware of my vices and to let you know what, in view of my weakness, you might ask God for. I beseech you by the humanity of Him who has laid down the rule that we should bear each other's burdens, a to do this most earnestly. There is much in my life and conduct that I deplore, but I should prefer that it should not reach you by letter; between my heart and your heart there should be no intermediary save my mouth and your ears. If our venerated Senior, Saturninus, whom we all regard with very genuine affection, and whose really brotherly kindness and concern for you I saw when I was with you, will deign to visit us when he sees it convenient, any conversation I may have with that holy and warm-hearted and spiritually-minded man will be little, if any, different from what I might have with your Grace. With entreaties that surpass all expression I urge you to be good enough to join me in asking and obtaining a visit from him. The people of Hippo are much afraid, indeed excessively so, to let me go so far away from them, and they are in no wise willing to trust me, as I trust you. Before your letter reached me, I learned through our saintly brother and fellow-servant, Parthenius, of the ground provided for our brethren by your forethought and generosity. He gave us besides much news that we were anxious to have. The Lord will grant the fulfilment of the other things also for which we are still anxious. > Latin: 9. Haec propterea scripsi, ut, si tuae sanctitati iam non sunt necessaria, sive quod plura ipse huius modi cogites atque utiliora sive quod tuae sanctitati medicina ista non opus sit, mala tamen mea nota sint tibi sciasque, unde pro mea infirmitate deum rogare digneris. Quod ut inpensissime facias, obsecro per humanitatem illius, qui praeceptum dedit, ut invicem onera nostra portemus. Multa sunt, quae de nostra vita et conversatione deflerem, quae nollem per litteras ad te venire, sed inter cor meum et cor tuum nulla essent ministeria praeter os meum et aures tuas. Si autem venerabilis nobis omniumque nostrum tota sinceritate carissimus, cuius in te vere fraternam, cum praesens essem, benignitatem studiumque perspexi, senex Saturninus si dignatus fuerit, quando opportunum videbit, ad nos venire, quicquid cum eius sanctitate et spiritali affectu conloqui potuerimus. aut nihil aut non multum distabit, ac si cum tua dignatione id ageremus. Quod ut nobiscum ab eo petere atque impetrare digneris, tantis precibus posco, quantis verba nulla sufficiunt. Absentiam enim meam tantum longe Hipponienses vehementer nimisque formidant neque ullo modo mihi sic volunt credere ut et ego vobis. Agrum fratribus datum pro visione et liberalitate tua didicimus ante epistulam tuam per sanctum fratrem et conservum nostrum Parthenium, a quo multa alia, quae audire desiderabamus, audivimus. Praestabit dominus, ut etiam cetera, quae adhuc desideramus, impleantur.