Letter 9

From: Desiderius of Cahors, bishop To: Eligius, Bishop of Noyon Date: ~648 AD Context: Desiderius writes to Eligius [former goldsmith to King Dagobert who became Bishop of Noyon, one of the most celebrated saints of the Frankish church] on their close friendship and shared concerns for the church. To the most holy Lord Eligius, bishop of Noyon, my dear friend and brother in Christ, from Desiderius of Cahors, The letter you sent about your work among the Flemish peoples reached me and gave me a mixture of admiration and concern. Admiration because the kind of missionary work you are doing — building churches, forming communities, bringing the gospel to people who have not heard it in any serious way — is among the most important work the church does. Concern because you describe yourself as tired, and you are not a man who admits to tiredness easily. Take care of yourself. I say this not as a formula but as a genuine request from a friend who does not want to outlive you. The church in the north needs you. The poor of Noyon need you. I need you — or at least I need your letters, which are among the things that sustain my spirit when the episcopal work is grinding and I have lost sight of why I am doing it. On the specific question you raised about the approach to take with peoples whose engagement with Christianity is entirely external — who have accepted baptism but show no signs of having internalized what they have accepted — I do not have a better answer than patient pastoral presence. This is slow work and its results are often invisible in a single generation. But the results accumulate. Your loving brother in Christ, Desiderius