Letter 11002: SENATOR, PRAETORIAN PREFECT, TO POPE JOHN, MOST BLESSED FATHER

II. Senator, Praetorian Prefect, to Pope John. [1] We must beseech you, most blessed father, that the joy which we have received through you by God's bounty we may feel to be guarded for us by your prayers. For who would doubt that our prosperity is to be attributed to your merits, since we attain an honor though we do not deserve to be loved by the Lord, and we receive good things in exchange for office, although we do not perform such deeds? Indeed, by ecclesiastical fasts the famine of the people has been shut out: by becoming tears foul sadness has departed, and through holy men it was hastened, lest that which weighed upon us should drag on any longer. [2] And therefore, greeting you with the deference that is fitting, we pray that you may pray more earnestly for the safety of those who reign, so that the heavenly Prince may make their life to be long, may diminish the enemies of the Roman commonwealth, and may grant tranquil times: and then, that which adorns peace, may He bestow upon us the necessary abundance from the storehouses of His plenty: and may He open to me, your son, the perception of understanding, that I may follow the things which are truly useful, and flee the things which must be avoided. [3] May that reasonable vigor of the soul furnish us counsel: may the face of truth grow bright, lest a bodily darkness cloud our mind: may we follow that which is within, lest we be outside of ourselves: may that instruct us which has a taste of true wisdom: may that illuminate us which shines with heavenly brightness. May the public office, in short, receive such a judge as the catholic Church sends forth as her son. May holy virtue guard us also among its own gifts, because we undergo the more grievous snares of the ancient adversary at the very time when we receive his gifts. [4] Do not cast upon me alone the care of that city, which is rather made secure by your praise. For you, as watchmen, preside over the Christian people: you, under the name of father, love all things. The security of the people therefore looks to your fame, to which by divine appointment the guardianship has been committed. Wherefore it befits us to think upon certain things, but you upon all. You feed indeed spiritually the flock committed to you: yet you cannot neglect even those things which seem to contain the substance of the body. For just as man consists of a duality, so it belongs to a good father to cherish both. First, to remove by holy prayers the want of the season, which our sins deserve. If, however, anything (which God forbid) should occur, then is necessity well shut out, when it is dealt with under plenty as a defense against it. [5] Admonish me carefully as to what things must be done. I long to act well even when corrected, because a sheep errs the more rarely which desires to hear the voice of its shepherd, nor is one easily made faulty whom a constant admonisher attends. I am indeed a Palatine judge, but I shall not cease to be your disciple: for we then carry out these duties rightly, if we depart not in the least from your rules. But since I desire both to be admonished by your counsels and to be aided by your prayers, it now falls to you, if anything in me shall have been found otherwise than was hoped. [6] May that See, wondrous throughout the whole world, shelter with affection its own worshippers, which, although it has been bestowed upon the world in general, is known to be assigned also to us in particular. We hold something proper to the holy apostles, provided that, our sins making division, it be not rendered alien to us, since those confessions which the whole world longs to behold, Rome, more fortunate, has deserved to possess in her own bosom. [7] We therefore fear nothing with such patrons, if the prayer of the prelate does not cease. It is indeed an arduous thing to satisfy the desires of many, but the Divine Power knows how to bestow great things. May that same Power blunt the envious: may that same Power make us citizens most pleasing by heavenly inspiration, and by your supplications grant us times in which the granting of supernal grace may be proclaimed.

II. IOHANNI PAPAE SENATOR PPO. [1] Supplicandum vobis est, beatissime pater, ut laetitiam quam per vos deo largiente percepimus, custodiri nobis vestris orationibus sentiamus. quis enim dubitet prosperitatem nostram vestris meritis applicandam, quando honorem adipiscimur, qui a domino diligi non meremur, et permutatione officii bona recipimus, dum talia non agamus? ecclesiasticis siquidem ieiuniis fames est exclusa popularis: decoris lacrimis tristitia foeda discessit et per sanctos viros acceleratum est, ne traheret diutius quod gravabat. [2] Et ideo salutans officiositate, qua dignum est, precor ut vivacius oretis pro salute regnantium, quatenus eorum vitam caelestis princeps faciat esse longaevam, Romanae rei publicae hostes imminuat, tempora tranquilla concedat: deinde, quod ornat pacem, necessariam nobis copiam de abundantiae suae horreis largiatur: mihique filio vestro intellegentiae sensus aperiat, ut quae vere sunt utilia, sequar, quae vitanda, refugiam. [3] Vigor ille rationabilis animae nobis consilium praestet: facies veritatis albescat, ne mentem nostram innubilet caligo corporea: sequamur quod intus est, ne foris a nobis simus: instruat quod de vera sapientia sapit: illuminet quod caelesti claritate resplendet. talem denique iudicem publicus actus excipiat, qualem filium catholica mittit ecclesia. in suis nos etiam muneribus virtus sancta custodiat, quia graviores insidias antiqui adversarii tunc subimus, quando eius dona suscipimus. [4] Nolite in me tantum reicere civitatis illius curam, quae potius vestra laude secura est. vos enim speculatores Christiano populo praesidetis: vos patris nomine universa diligitis. securitas ergo plebis ad vestram respicit famam, cui divinitus est commissa custodia. quapropter nos decet cogitare aliqua, sed vos omnia. pascitis quidem spiritaliter commissum vobis gregem: tamen nec ista potestis neglegere, quae corporis videntur substantiam continere. nam sicut homo constat ex dualitate, ita boni patris est utraque refovere. primum penuriam temporis, quam delicta promerentur, orationibus sanctis amovere. si quid tamen, quod absit, acciderit, tunc bene necessitas excluditur, quando contra eam sub ubertate tractatur. [5] Monete me quae sunt gerenda sollicite. bene agere vel correptus exopto, quia difficilius errat ovis, quae voces desiderat audire pastoris nec facile efficitur vitiosus, cui ammonitor insistit assiduus. sum quidem iudex Palatinus, sed vester non desinam esse discipulus: nam tunc ista recte gerimus, si a vestris regulis minime discedamus. sed cum me a vobis desiderem et moneri consiliis et orationibus adiuvari, iam vobis est applicandum, si quid in me fuerit aliter quam optabatur inventum. [6] Sedes illa toto orbe mirabilis proprios tegat affectione cultores, quae licet generalis mundo sit praestita, nobis etiam cognoscitur et localiter attributa. tenemus aliquid sanctorum apostolorum proprium, si peccatis dividentibus non reddatur alienum, quando confessiones illas, quas videre universitas appetit, Roma felicior in suis sinibus habere promeruit. [7] Nihil ergo timemus talibus patronis, si oratio non desistat antistitis. arduum est quidem multorum desideriis satisfacere, sed novit divinitas magna praestare. ipsa retundat invidos: ipsa nobis faciat cives caelesti aspiratione gratissimos et supplicationibus vestris tempora tribuat, quibus superna gratia praedicetur indulta.