Letter 25: I cannot delay sharing with you this great joy, for you are surely eager to learn what our father in Christ and...

Sidonius to his dear Domnulus, greetings. 1. I cannot put off making haste to share with you a great portion of my joy, since you are no doubt eager to know what our father in Christ and likewise our bishop Patiens has done at Cabillonum [Chalon-sur-Saone], journeying there in the manner of his religion and in the manner of his own steadfastness. When he had come to the aforementioned town, preceded in part and in part accompanied by the college of the provincial bishops, namely so that some supreme prelate might be ordained for the municipality whose ecclesiastical discipline was tottering after the younger bishop Paul had departed and died, the episcopal council was met by the differing inclinations of the townspeople, 2. as well as by those private ambitions which always overturn the public good; and a certain triumvirate of rival candidates had kindled them. Of these, the one, destitute of every other endowment of character, kept belching forth the ancient prerogative of his birth; the second was being thrust forward by the support of kitchens, by Apician applause procured through the clamor of parasites; the third, if he should win the longed-for summit, had promised by a tacit bargain that the property of the Church would be plunder for his backers. 3. When the holy Patiens and the holy Euphronius saw this -- men who, beyond hatred and favor, held first place in the rigor and firmness of a saner judgment -- having first secretly shared their plan with their fellow bishops before disclosing it openly, and scorning the uproar of the raging crowd, they suddenly joined hands and seized the holy John, a man distinguished by his honesty, his humanity, and his gentleness, who at that moment wished and suspected nothing less than what was being done 4. (here he had first been a lector, then a minister of the altar, and that from infancy; afterward, with the advance of his labors and years, an archdeacon, in which rank or ministry he was long held back on account of his diligence and could not for a long time be advanced in dignity, lest he might be released from office): yet this man, now a priest of the second order, amid the dissonant voices of the factions -- which hesitated to praise one who was not canvassing, but did not dare to blame one who was praiseworthy -- with the factious dumbfounded, the wicked blushing, the good acclaiming, and none objecting, they consecrated as a colleague for themselves. 5. Now therefore, if the Juran monasteries already release you -- those into which you have been wont gladly to ascend, where you are now rehearsing in advance for the heavenly and celestial dwellings -- it is fitting that you rejoice over the concord of our common fathers, or patrons, whether thus agreeing in their judgment or thus judging in their agreement. Exult also in the name of him whom Euphronius created by his testimony, Patiens by his hand, both by their judgment. In this matter Euphronius did what befitted not only his old age but also the long span of his dignity, and Patiens too -- a man equal even to the greatest praises -- did what well became the person who is the head of our city through his priesthood, and indeed of the province through the city. Farewell.

EPISTULA XXV Sidonius Domnulo suo salutem. 1. Nequeo differre, quin grandis communione te gaudii festinus inpertiam, nimirum nosse cupientem, quid pater noster in Christo pariter et pontifex Patiens Cabillonum profectus more religionis, more constantiae suae fecerit. cum venisset in oppidum suprascriptum provincialium sacerdotum praevio partim, partim comitante collegio, scilicet ut municipio summus aliquis antistes ordinaretur, cuius ecclesiae disciplina nutabat, postquam iunior episcopus Paulus discesserat decesseratque, exceperunt pontificale concilium variae voluntates oppidanorum, 2. nec non et illa, quae bonum publicum semper evertunt studia privata; quae quidam triumviratus accenderat conpetitorum, quorum hic antiquam natalium praerogativam reliqua destitutus morum dote ructabat, hic per fragores parasiticos culinarum suffragio comparatos Apicianis plausibus ingerebatur, hic, apice votivo si potiretur, tacita pactione promiserat ecclesiastica plosoribus suis praedae praedia fore. 3. quod ubi viderunt sanctus Patiens et sanctus Euphronius, qui rigorem firmitatemque sententiae sanioris praeter odium gratiamque primi tenebant, consilio cum coepiscopis prius clam communicato quam palam prodito strepituque despecto turbae furentis iunctis repente manibus arreptum nihilque tum minus quam quae agebantur optantem suspicantemque sanctum Iohannem, virum honestate humanitate mansuetudine insignem 4. (lector hic primum, sic minister altaris, idque ab infantia, post laborum temporumque processu archidiaconus, in quo seu gradu seu ministerio multum retentus propter industriam diu dignitate non potuit augeri, ne potestate posset absolvi): attamen hunc iam secundi ordinis sacerdotem dissonas inter partium voces, quae differebant laudare non ambientem sed nec audebant culpare laudabilem, stupentibus factiosis erubescentibus malis, acclamantibus bonis reclamantibus nullis collegam sibi consecravere. 5. nunc ergo Iurensia si te remittunt iam monasteria, in quae libenter solitus escendere iam caelestibus supernisque praeludis habitaculis, gaudere te par est de communium patrum vel patronorum seu sic sentiente concordia seu sic concordante sententia. illius quoque nomine exulta, quem creaverunt Euphronius testimonio, manu Patiens, ambo iudicio. in quo fecit Euphronius quod conveniret non senectutis modo suae verum etiam dignitatis longaevitati, fecit et Patiens, vir quamlibet magnis par tamen laudibus, quod satis decuit facere personam, quae caput est civitati nostrae per sacerdotium, provinciae vero per civitatem. vale. Apollinaris Sidonius The Miscellany The Latin Library The Classics Page