Letter 33: My blessed and venerable brother Alethius,

Paulinus to Alethius, his blessed and deservedly venerable and most beloved brother. Thanks be to God, who has made manifest to me the fragrance of His grace in you through the eloquence of your letter. For through my most dear brother in God, Victor, who serves God in this duty, so that he may minister to brotherly love and provide for us, separated as we are by the long distances of the earth, a tireless courier in his yearly journeys, and may in most devout services expend bodily labor with spiritual affection upon those who visit one another in turn -- through this brother, then, and fellow servant in the Lord, our common and one-souled friend (for he too glories that he is most acceptable to you by that same grace which has been implanted in us), through him, I say, holy and venerable brother, I received from you a gift as sweet as it was unhoped for: your letter, in which the good treasure of your heart appeared to us, so that I rightly rejoiced at the blessing I received of your kind office, when, having beheld the face of your inner self in your most chaste eloquence, I recognized how great a help is bestowed upon me by the Lord in you. But in those things which you, a rich appraiser of poverty, thought ought to be enjoined upon me, you indeed displayed the holy confidence of a most pure love; yet, as far as I understand, you were led on, persuaded by report of the Lord's work, so that, in accordance with the work of the Lord -- who deigned to inspire in us care for our own redemption -- you supposed that the resources of mind and mouth too were available to me. But a hope deluded by empty notions has cheated a good longing held in great faith. For whence have I so much water as your thirst requires, or such a cup as you might worthily drink? Whence so many loaves as you ask for? But you yourself will be the author of your own injury, that you should hunger the longer, you who, desiring the gospel food of light and life in the deep night of this world, knock at the needy storeroom of a drowsy and poor friend; you who, thirsting for rivers of living water, scratch at a dry little vein and try to wring moisture from pumice stone. For either there is within me no spring at all, by reason of the dryness of inspiration, or a bitter one, from the gall of malice -- a spring which I would that your prayers and letters, frequently lavished upon me, might make to overflow and to grow sweet, by the wood of your faith and the sweetness of your eloquence, so that, with the word of God which you, a good minister, have drawn forth from your devout mouth, as though by the rod of the prophet, my heart being struck [...]

XXXIII. BEATO ET MERITO VENERABILI AC DILECTISSIMO FRATRI ALETHIO PAVLINVS. Deo gratias, qui odorem gratiae in te suae per eloquium litterarum tuarum manifestauit mihi. per fratrem enim carissimum in deo Victorem meum hoc munere militantem deo, ut fraternae seruiat caritati hisque nobis per longinqua terrarum interualla discretis inpigrum annuis discursibus tabellarium praebeat et religiosissimis officiis mutuo uisitantium corporalem laborem spiritali inpendat affectu, per hunc ergo fratrem et conseruum in domino et communem unanimum (nam 4] (Es. 53, 4). 5] I Ps. 106, 9; II Cor. 5, 1; Ps. 117, 15. 9] I Thess. 4, 16. 14] (II Cor. 2,14). 4 mirando FU 6 ut] quam M 8 et rex erit ex erexerit P m. 2 9 qui U 10 secula] bene ualeas add. FP*, bene uale add. U . — finit ad seuerum de fabricis 0, eiplicit de fabricis ad seuerum P. FLMOPU . — ad aletium epm frem ipsius florentis • XLI. M, ad aletium epm frem supra scripti • xxxm. L, incipit ad aletium epm fratrem supra scripti 0, epistola sancti paulini episcopi ad aletium: ubi pro transmissis epistolis plurimum gratulatur et de elemosinis: et earum utilitate longa sermonis congerie eum commendans ipsam intexit et com- plet epistolam U 12 beato-Pauilnus om. O aletio FLMPU Meropius Paulinus salutem epistola XXVIII F 14 eloquium O, eloquia cet . 17 hisque FOPU, isque LM, seque v 18 annius U 21 et] L, qui Chiffl . communem M, communis cet . unanimum M, nobis unanituus (nobis in ras.) L, unanimus cet., et unanimus Chiffl . et uobis ea se, qua nobis insitus est, acceptissimum gratia gloriatur), per hunc, inquam, mihi sancte uenerabilis frater, tam dulce quam insperatum mihi munus accepi, epistolam tuam, in qua nobis bonus cordis tui thesaurus apparuit, ut merito percepta officii tui benedictione gauderem, cum faciem interioris tui castissimo speculatus eloquio, quantum in te mihi a domino adiutorium conferatur, agnoscerem. Sed in his, quae mihi iniungenda diues inopiae aestimator putasti, sanctam quidem purissimae caritatis fiduciam demonstrasti, fama tamen, quantum intellego, dominici operis persuadente inductus es, ut secundum opus domini, qui nobis curam redemptionis nostrae inspirare dignatus est, ingenii quoque et oris opes subpetere nobis arbitrareris. sed bonam concupiscentiam magna fide uacuis opinionibus spes inlusa decepit. unde enim mihi tantum aquae, quantum sitis, aut tale poculum, quod digne bibas? unde tantos panes, quantos postulas? sed ipse tibi auctor iniuriae tuae eris diutius esurire, qui euangelicos lucis et uitae cibos in alta huius saeculi nocte desiderans somnolenti et pauperis amici egenam penum pulsas, qui flumina aquae uiuae sitiens arentem uenulam scalpis et humorem de pumice conaris exprimere. aut enim nullus mihi de inspirantiae siccitate aut amarus de malitiae felle fons intus est, quem utinam orationes et litterae tuae saepius inpensae mihi exundare et dulcescere faciant fidei tuae ligno et eloquii suauitate, ut et uerbo dei, quod bonus minister 4] (Matth. 12, 35). 16] (Luc. 11, 5). 20] (Ioh. 7, 38). 24] (Ex. 15, 25). 2 mihi om. LM 3 minus 0 5 percepti F, percepto PU 6 tui] tui hominis M 7 conferatur scripsi, conferam FOPU, conferat LM, conferant Schot . 8 hiis U, iis Schot . inopia 0 9 sanctum U, sêIi1 0 11 qui 0, quo cet . 13 arbitraris FU 15 tantum aquae mihi M aut] ut 0, unde M Schot . 16 tanti LM Chtffl . 17 esuriens M 18 euangelicus 0 19 somnulenti 0 20 aq. 0 scalpis M Schot., scalpes FOPU, calpes L 21 pumitetonaris erpremere 0 22 inspirantiae] insipientiae coni. Latinius et Sacch . 23 orationis 0 24 exuodare et scripsi, exundarent FOPU, eiundare ac LM, exundanter Bosto . 25 ut et — p . 303, 1 cordis om. M pio ore deprompseris, quasi uirga prophetae percusso cordis