Letter 36

From: Paulinus, bishop of Nola To: Amandus, bishop (or priest) Date: ~419 AD Context: Paulinus thanks Amandus for a brief letter, then asks for prayers for a recently deceased brother who died in spiritual disarray. To Amandus, holy and most dear, We tasted the sweetness of your words in the brief message from Your Holiness. For just as a drop of honey tastes the same as the whole honeycomb, so even a single word dripping from your tongue carries the full savor of your holy soul — because whatever is drawn from a good treasure is good and precious [Matthew 12:35]. A pearl is not cheap because it is small; on the contrary, it is all the more valuable because it holds great worth in a tiny form. So much so that, as the Gospel itself testifies, it is worth selling entire estates to acquire [Matthew 13:46]. And a mustard seed, which appears the smallest of seeds, grows into the largest of plants [Matthew 13:32]. Because the word of that seed has been sown in you and thrives in your heart — giving you a heart burning on the Lord's road [Luke 24:32] — even your briefest words carry the sweetness and strength of the heavenly word, and minister that same strength to us, seasoning us with the salt of your wisdom [Colossians 4:6]. And so in this letter we will imitate the brevity of your words, even if we cannot match the depth of your insight. We write only about the matter that weighed most heavily on our hearts as we took up the pen: the fresh grief of a brother's departure. Even though we know he has been taken from this world for only a time and that we will soon follow him, we mourn his passing all the more honestly because of the way he died. From what he did and arranged at the end of his life, we can see that his actions suited our sins more than our prayers — he chose to depart as a debtor to the Lord rather than a free man. For this reason we earnestly ask you, as the brother you are to us in the Lord, to help your fellow brothers and add this reward to the merits of your faith: share in our weakness, join your labor of prayer with ours, so that God, who is merciful and compassionate, who does all things in heaven and on earth and in the sea and in the depths [Psalm 135:6], may cool his soul with the drops of his mercy through your prayers. For just as the fire kindled by him will burn all the way down to the depths below [Deuteronomy 32:22], so without doubt the dew of his mercy will also penetrate the underworld, so that by the dewy light of his compassion, those roasting in burning darkness may find relief. Pray for us too, that we may not die in our sins. May the Lord make known to us our end [Psalm 39:4], so that we may know what we still lack and hurry to complete what remains — that we may not be swept away in the middle of empty days, weaving a spider's web with pointless labors [Job 8:14], but that our days may be found full. Let us be like children of a hundred years dying [Isaiah 65:20] — that is, infants in malice but mature in understanding [1 Corinthians 14:20]. Let it be so that when we die, we leave behind an example of wholesome repentance for the living, and let our mourning not exceed seven days — if we make peace in this life's journey with our adversary, that is, with the spirit and word of God, which opposes us when we sin. For the Spirit convicts the world of sin [John 16:8], and the word of God, as the Lord warns in the Gospel, will become our accuser if we do not obey it. It will hand us over to the judge [Matthew 5:25], who will demand an accounting of his investment down to the last penny. Unless the exercise of godliness — which is profitable for all things [1 Timothy 4:8] — returns to him his money doubled, he will assign the share of idle faith alongside the faithless, because the person who carries the empty name of Christian while holding a faith dead without works [James 2:17] is next door to an unbeliever. This is the fool whose mourning lasts forever [Sirach 22:12], because lacking the fear of the Lord he has lost the beginning of wisdom. He has been made the tail rather than the head [Deuteronomy 28:44], because the one who loves wickedness hates his own soul [Psalm 11:5] and does not dwell in the midst of God's house [Psalm 101:7], but is handed over to the jailer of hell's prison and cast into outer darkness — because he lived according to the outer man. Therefore let us have peace with the Lord — not the peace of this world, which is friendly to sin and at odds with God, but the peace of Christ, which unites us with God and conforms us to Christ. Let our souls cling to the word of God, so that we may become one with God through the mediation of him who is our peace, because he has made both one [Ephesians 2:14], joining the discordant natures of God and humanity in himself, and making the two one in us — that is, bringing the flesh into spiritual agreement with the soul. Then the fire will remain in our midst; the harmony of these two within us, or of three with the Spirit, will invite him to make in our hearts the dwelling that pleases him, with the Father and the Spirit. And in return he will lead us to where he is, saying: "Enter into the joy of your Lord" [Matthew 25:21].

XXXVI. SANCTO ET MERITO VENBBABILI AC DLLECTISSIMO AMANDO PAVLINVS. Dulcissimum oris uestri gustum in breui sanctitatis uestrae sermone libauimus. nam sicut mellis gutta idem sapit quod totus fauus, sic et in uno licet uerbo stillicidium linguae uestrae totum sanctae animae uestrae saporem refert, quia quicquid de bono thesauro promitur bonum atque pretiosum est. nec ideo margarita uilis est, quia exigua, sed ideo magis pretiosa, _3] (Luc. 16, 24). 5] Luc. 15, 18. 17] (Matth. 12, 35; Luc.6,45). 2 anima FOPU 3 destillans 0 5 post . in] coram M 7 perabsumpta b scripsi, per assumpta P, per adsumpta 0, per absumtam (b in ras.) L, per absumptam FMU, pro absumpta v 8 substantiam LM 9 commorati ut scripsi, commorantium FOPU, commorati LM, commorantes ScAot . 10 indigna 0 11 nephas FPU deducamur] ualere te opto add. PIU . — explicit L, finit ad delfinum V 0, explicit liber tertius epistolarum paulini episcopi nolani U FLMOpU . — item epistola s paulini ad amandu • XIII. L, ad amandum epm • XX ■ I • M, incipit ad amandum episcopum prima 0, meropii paulini episcopi nolani liber quartus epistolarum ad amandum presbiterum incipit feliciter. epistola sancti paulini episcopi ad amandum presbiterum ubi ei gratias refert pro missa epistola: et deprecatur eum munere kritatis pro fratre suo iam defuncto, ut ab etternis penis eruatur dominum exorare dignetur U 13 merito et L Paulinus salutem F 14 sanctitati U 15 sermone om. FPU quo L 16 sit F quia et in exiguo modo magnum pretium habet, ita ut, sicut euangelica quoque testatur auctoritas, profligatis etiam conparanda patrimoniis adpetatur. sed et granum sinapis, quod minimum uidetur in semine, maximum tamen extat in olere. cuius seminis uerbum quia in uobis satum est et in corde uestro uiget, unde cor ardens habetis in uia domini, ideo etiam breuis sermo uester dulcedinem simul ac uigorem uerbi caelestis tenet et nobis ministrat, ut nos etiam uestrae prudentiae sale condiamur. Et ideo nos quoque imitabimur in hac epistola parsimoniam sermonis uestri, etsi plenitudinem sensus uestri non ualeamus imitari, hoc tantum respondentes, quod praecipue, cum haec scriberemus, curae nobis erat ex recenti dolore fraternae diuulsionis, quem etiamsi temporaliter ab hoc saeculo sciamus adsumptum, in illo nobis cito consequendum, tamen ea uerius causa obisse lugemus, quia ex his, quae gesta ab ipso in finem eius uel ordinata sunt, peccatis magis nostris quam uotis congrua egisse perspeximus, ut mallet ad dominum debitor transire quam liber. ob hoc inpense rogamus, ut quasi frater, quod nobis in domino esse dignaris, unanimos fratres iuuans et hanc meritis fidei tuae mercedem accumules, ut pro eo infirmitati nostrae conpatiaris et orandi labore conspires, ut misericors et miserator deus, qui facit omnia in caelo et in terra et in mari et abyssis, refrigeret animam eius stillicidiis misericordiae suae per orationes uestras. quia sicut ignis accensus ab eo ardebit usque ad inferos deorsum, ita procul dubio etiam ros indulgentiae eius inferna 2] (Matth. 13, 32. 46). 6] (Luc. 24, 32). 8] (Col. 4, 6). 20] (Prou. 18,19). 23] Ps. 134, 6. 26] (Deut. 32, 22). 1 et om. F sicut et Fi LpU 2 etiam] et F 3 adpetatnr M, uerbi pltiti adpetitur 0, appetitur cet . 5 nobis FPU 8 celestis L 11 et similitudinem 0 12 ualemus FPU 14 deuulsionis L etsi M 15 absumptum FPU in-consequendum om. M 16 obiisse F, abiisse U ipso iis PU 17 ę9 0 eius om. M 20 unanimo FPU 21 uiuamus F 22 laborem 0 23 miserator et misericors M penetrabit, ut roscido pietatis eius lumine in tenebris ardentibus aestuantes refrigeremur. Ora et pro nobis, ne in peccatis nostris moriamur; notum faciat nobis dominus finem nostrum, ut sciamus quid desit nobis et properemus adinplere quod restat, ut non reuoluamur in medio dierum inanium, texentes operibus uacuis araneae telam, sed dies pleni inueniantur nobis, ut simus pueri centum annorum morientes, id est malitia paruuli et sensibus perfecti; ita fiat, ut mortui superstitibus exemplo bono salubrem paenitentiam relinquamus, neque septem dies luctus noster excedat, si consentiamus in huius uitae uia aduersario nostro id est spiritui ac uerbo dei, quod nobis peccantibus aduersatur. nam et spiritus arguit mundum de peccato, et sermo dei, ut dominus in euangelio contestatur, si ei non pareamus, accusator noster erit et tradet nos iudici uerbo, qui rationem talenti sui usque ad nouissimum quadrantem exiget et nisi exercitio pietatis, quae ad omnia utilis est, duplicatum pecuniae suae fenus receperit, otiosae fidei partem cum infidelibus ponet, quia proximus infideli est qui mortuam sine operibus fidem uacuo Christiani nomine gerit. et hic est insipiens, cuius luctus omnis temporis est, quia timorem domini non habens caput sapientiae non tenuit. et factus in cauda est, quia non habitat in medium domus qui diligens iniquitatem odit animam suam et traditus 4] (Ps. 38, 5). 5] (Ps. 101, 25). 6] (Iob 8, 14). 7] (Ps. 39, 9. 72,10). (Es. 65, 20). 8] I Cor. 14, 20. 10] (Eccli. 22, 13). 11] (Matth. 5,25). 13] Ioh. 15, 22. 16, 8. 15] (Matth. 5, 25). 17] I Tim. 4, 8. 18] (Matth. 24,51. 25,27). (Luc. 19,23). 20] (Iacob. 2,17). 21] Eccli. 22, 13). 22] (Deut. 28, 44). 24] Ps. 10, 6. 101, 7. 1 penetrauit FPU ruscido FPU 2 refrigent (nt in ras.) M 3 et om. F nec 0 5 et] ut F proponeremus F 6 teientis FU are- : neae 0 7 inuenięntur M in nobis LM 9 fiat F 8. I . 10 aeque FPU 11 eicidat FOPU 13 spiritu F arguet F 14 ut] et FPU 15 traddit P, tradidit U non F 17 exigit FLU 18 recepit 01 19 ponet M, ponit cet . proximum PU infidelis O1 20 uacuo LMt uacuam cet . 21 cuius 0 v, huius cet . 23 medio M v . ministro inferni carceris mittitur in tenebras exteriores, quia secundum exteriorem hominem uixerit. propterea hic sine fine lugendus est, quia in ignem damnandus aeternum sine fine morietur. Pacem ergo habeamus ad dominum, pacem non huius mundi, quae amica peccatis deo dissidet, sed pacem Christi, quae cum deo conserit et nos Christo conformat, si adhaereat uerbo dei anima nostra, ut efficiamur unum cum deo per interuentum mediatoris, qui est pax nostra, quia fecit utraque unum, naturas discordes dei et hominis in se copulans, et in nobis duo unum faciens, id est carnem animae spiritali consentientem; et tunc ignis in medio nostrum manebit, seu horum in nobis duorum uel cum spiritu trium consensus inuitet, ut faciat in corde nostro sibi placitam cum patre et spiritu mansionem et uicissim nos ubi ipse est ducat, dicens: intrate in gaudium domini uestri.