Letter 11023

From: Pope Gregory I To: Barbara and Antonina Date: ~601 AD Context: Gregory consoles the two women as their father Venantius lies dying My dear daughters, I have heard that your father Venantius is gravely ill, and that your grief is great. I write not to diminish your sorrow — for a dying father is a loss that admits no consolation from words alone — but to remind you of what lies beyond that grief. Your father has lived a life of faith, and he goes to God not as a stranger. The separation is not permanent; it is the kind that a long journey imposes, not the kind that death alone can make. Weep as you must, but do not weep as those who have no hope. I will remember Venantius in my prayers, and you also.

Susceptis» gloriae vestrae epistolis, quae pro verbis** lacrimis*' loquebantur, non minor nos de^ dilectissimi filii nostri^ quam vos de patris® aegritudine maeror' afficit. Nec enim extraneam^ possumus reputare tristitiam, quippe quae nobis caritatis lege fit^ propria. Sed quia in nulla desperatione* de redemptoris^ nostri est misericordia diffidendum, animos vestros ad consolationem patris erigite, spem vestram in omni- potentis Dei manu ponite; et in ipsius protectione confidimus, quia et ab onmi vos adversitate custodit atque tribulationem vestram exhilarat^ et secundum patema desi- deria propitius vos ordinari concedit. Si vero debitum humanae sortis impleverit, nec tunc'° desperatio vos aliqua comprimat vel quorundam vobis verba terrorem incutiant. Nam post Deum, qui orfanorum gubemator atque protector est, sic de dulcissima'' gloria erimus vestra® solliciti atque utilitati vestrae providere, ut possumus, adiuvante Domino festinamus, ut nec vos iniustorum hominum concussio ulla perturbet et nos debitum, quod de parentum vestrorum bonitate contraximus, vobis per omnia repense- mus. Gratia itaque caelestis suo vos favore nutriat, sua protectione a malis omnibus defendat, ut vitae vestrae incolumitas gaudium nostrum^ fiat.