Letter 20: 1. As letters are due to you by two of us, a part of our debt is repaid with very abundant usury when you see one of the two in person; and since by his voice you, as it were, hear my own, I might have refrained from writing, had I not been called to do it by the urgent request of the very person whose journey to you seemed to me to make this un...

Augustine to Antoninus — Greetings. 1. Since letters are owed to you by two of us, part of the debt is repaid with generous interest when you see one of us in person. And since through his voice you hear, in effect, my own, I might have dispensed with writing entirely — had I not been urged to write by the very person whose visit to you seemed to make a letter unnecessary. So it turns out I am now conversing with you even more satisfactorily than if I were there myself: you are reading my letter while also listening to someone in whose heart you know I dwell. I have studied your letter with great joy, because it reveals both a Christian spirit unspoiled by the deceitfulness of a corrupt age, and a heart full of genuine warmth toward me. 2. I congratulate you, and I give thanks to our God and Lord for the hope, faith, and love that are in you. And I thank you, in him, for thinking so well of me as to believe I am a faithful servant of God, and for the guileless affection you bear toward what you commend in me — though this deserves congratulation more than thanks. For it is profitable to you yourself that you love goodness for its own sake: anyone who loves another because he believes that other person to be good reaps the reward of that love, whether or not the person actually is what he is believed to be. The one error to guard against is not a mistaken estimate of a particular individual, but a mistaken understanding of what true goodness actually is. But my dear brother, since you are not in the slightest mistaken in believing — indeed, in knowing — that the great good for human beings is to serve God with a cheerful and pure heart, when you love any person because you believe he shares in that good, you receive the reward even if the person falls short of what you suppose. On that account, you deserve congratulation. The person you love, meanwhile, deserves congratulation not because he is loved, but only if he truly is what the person who loves him believes him to be. As for what I really am and whatever progress I may have made in the spiritual life — that is seen by the One whose judgment about both true goodness and each person's character cannot err. For your own attainment of blessedness in this matter, it is sufficient that you embrace me wholeheartedly because you believe me to be the kind of servant of God I ought to be. And yet I owe you abundant thanks for this as well: by praising me as though I had already arrived, you inspire me wonderfully to aspire to that very excellence. And I shall owe you more still, if you not only ask for my prayers but never cease praying for me — for intercession on behalf of a brother is more acceptable to God when it is offered as a sacrifice of love. 3. I send warm greetings to your little son, and I pray that he may grow up in obedient response to the wholesome demands of God's law. I also desire and pray that the one true faith and worship — which alone is Catholic — may prosper and increase in your household. If you think any effort on my part could help advance this, do not hesitate to call on me, relying on the Lord we share and on the law of love that binds us both. Above all, I would recommend to your thoughtful care this: that through reading God's word and through earnest conversation with your wife, you either plant or nurture in her heart a true reverence for God. For it is hardly possible that anyone who genuinely cares about the soul's welfare, and is therefore willing without prejudice to learn the Lord's will, should fail — with the guidance of a good teacher — to see the difference between every form of schism and the one Catholic Church.

Letter 20 (A.D. 390) To Antoninus Augustine Sends Greeting. 1. As letters are due to you by two of us, a part of our debt is repaid with very abundant usury when you see one of the two in person; and since by his voice you, as it were, hear my own, I might have refrained from writing, had I not been called to do it by the urgent request of the very person whose journey to you seemed to me to make this unnecessary. Accordingly I now hold converse with you even more satisfactorily than if I were personally with you, because you both read my letter, and you listen to the words of one in whose heart you know that I dwell. I have with great joy studied and pondered the letter sent by your Holiness, because it exhibits both your Christian spirit unsullied by the guile of an evil age, and your heart full of kindly feeling towards myself. 2. I congratulate you, and I give thanks to our God and Lord, because of the hope and faith and love which are in you; and I thank you, in Him, for thinking so well of me as to believe me to be a faithful servant of God, and for the love which with guileless heart you cherish towards that which you commend in me; although, indeed, there is occasion rather for congratulation than for thanks in acknowledging your goodwill in this thing. For it is profitable for yourself that you should love for its own sake that goodness which he of course loves who loves another because he believes him to be good, whether that other be or be not what he is supposed to be. One error only is to be carefully avoided in this matter, that we do not think otherwise than truth demands, not of the individual, but of that which is true goodness in man. But, my brother well beloved, seeing that you are not in any degree mistaken either in believing or in knowing that the great good for men is to serve God cheerfully and purely, when you love any man because you believe him to share this good, you reap the reward, even though the man be not what you suppose him to be. Wherefore it is fitting that you should on this account be congratulated; but the person whom you love is to be congratulated, not because of his being for that reason loved, but because of his being truly (if it is the case) such an one as the person who for this reason loves him esteems him to be. As to our real character, therefore, and as to the progress we may have made in the divine life, this is seen by Him whose judgment, both as to that which is good in man, and as to each man's personal character, cannot err. For your obtaining the reward of blessedness so far as this matter is concerned, it is sufficient that you embrace me with your whole heart because you believe me to be such a servant of God as I ought to be. To you, however, I also render many thanks for this, that you encourage me wonderfully to aspire after such excellence, by your praising me as if I had already attained it. Many more thanks still shall be yours, if you not only claim an interest in my prayers, but also cease not to pray for me. For intercession on behalf of a brother is more acceptable to God when it is offered as a sacrifice of love. 3. I greet very kindly your little son, and I pray that he may grow up in the way of obedience to the salutary requirements of God's law. I desire and pray, moreover, that the one true faith and worship, which alone is catholic, may prosper and increase in your house; and if you think any labour on my part necessary for the promotion of this end, do not scruple to claim my service, relying upon Him who is our common Lord, and upon the law of love which we must obey. This especially would I recommend to your pious discretion, that by reading the word of God, and by serious conversation with your partner, you should either plant the seed or foster the growth in her heart of an intelligent fear of God. For it is scarcely possible that any one who is concerned for the soul's welfare, and is therefore without prejudice resolved to know the will of the Lord, should fail, when enjoying the guidance of a good instructor, to discern the difference which exists between every form of schism and the one Catholic Church. About this page Source. Translated by J.G. Cunningham. From Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, Vol. 1. Edited by Philip Schaff. (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1887.) Revised and edited for New Advent by Kevin Knight. <https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/1102020.htm>. Contact information. The editor of New Advent is Kevin Knight. My email address is feedback732 at newadvent.org. (To help fight spam, this address might change occasionally.) Regrettably, I can't reply to every letter, but I greatly appreciate your feedback — especially notifications about typographical errors and inappropriate ads.