Letter 8

From: Desiderius of Cahors, bishop To: Dado (Audoenus), Bishop of Rouen Date: ~645 AD Context: Desiderius writes to Audoenus [also known as Dado or Ouen, bishop of Rouen and hagiographer, one of the leading figures of the Frankish church], on friendship and the shared life of Christian leadership. To the most holy Lord Dado, bishop of Rouen, dear friend and brother in Christ, from Desiderius of Cahors, Friendship is one of the great goods of this life, and the friendship between bishops — who share the same calling, the same burdens, and the same ultimate accountability — is something I value beyond my ability to express. You have been a correspondent and a spiritual companion since the years when we were both younger and less certain of ourselves than we now appear. The letters we have exchanged over the decades are among the things I would most wish to preserve if I had to choose. They are a record of two men trying to be faithful to an extraordinarily demanding calling and helping each other in the attempt. I write now partly to maintain the friendship and partly because I have a question that I want to think through with someone whose judgment I trust. You are writing the life of our Lord Eligius [Bishop Eligius of Noyon, d. 660, Dado wrote the famous Life of Saint Eligius], and I assume you are finding what I always find when I try to understand another person: that the closer you look, the more complex and the more surprising they become. Is this your experience? What are you learning about him that you did not know before you began? Your affectionate brother and friend, Desiderius