A letter from Peter the Venerable (1144)

Translated letter:

To our venerable and dearest sister in Christ, the handmaid of God, Heloise, guide and mistress of the handmaids of God, brother Peter, humble abbot of Cluny: the fullness of God's salvation and of our love in Christ. I was happy, very happy, to read the letter from your Sanctity, where I learned that my visit to you was no transitory call, and which made me realize that I have not only been with you, but in spirit have never really left you. My stay, I see, was not one to be remembered as that of a passing guest for a single night, nor was I treated as 'a stranger and a foreigner among you' [Gen.23:4], but as 'a fellow-citizen of God's people and member of God's household' [Ephes.2:19]. Everything I said and did on that fleeting or flying visit of mine has remained so firmly in your holy mind and made such an impression on your gracious spirit that, to say nothing of my carefully-chosen phrases on that occasion, not even a chance, unconsidered word of mine fell to the ground unheeded. You noted all, you committed all to your retentive memory in the warmth of your unbounded sincerity, as if all were the mighty, the heavenly, the sacrosanct words or deeds of Jesus Christ himself. You may have been propmpted to remember them in this way by the injunctions on receiving guests in our common Rule, which belongs to us both: 'Let Christ be worshipped in them, who is received in their persons' [Bened.Rule, 53.7]. Perhaps you were also reminded of the Lord's words concerning those given authority, though I have no authority over you: 'Whoever listens to you listens to me' [Luke 10:16]. May I ever be granted this grace from you: that you will think me worthy to be remembered, and will pray for the mercy of the Almighty upon me, along with the holy community of the flock entrusted to your care. I am repaying you now as far as I can, for long before I saw you, and particularly since I have come to know you, I have kept for you in the innermost depths of my heart a special place of real and true affection. I am therefore sending you, now that I have left you, a ratification of the gift of a trental I made you in person, in writing and under seal, as you wished. I am also sending the absolution for Master Peter you asked for, similarly written on parchment and sealed. As soon as I have an opportunity, I will gladly do my best to obtain a prebend in one of the great churches for your Astralabe, who is also ours for your sake. It will not be easy, for the bishops, as I have often found, are apt to show themselves extremely difficult when occasions have arisen for them to give prebends in their churches. But for your sake I will do what I can as soon as I can.

Original letter:

Venerabili et carissimae sorori nostrae, deique ancillae, Heloisae ancillarum dei ductrici ac magistrae, frater Petrus humilis Cluniacensium abbas, salutis a deo, amoris a nobis in Christo plenitudinem. Gavisus sum et hoc non parum, legens sanctitatis vestae litteras, in quibus agnovi adventum meum ad vos non fuisse transitorium, ex quibus adverti non solum me apud vos fuisse, sed et a vobis nunquam postmodum recessisse. Non fuit ut video illud hospitium meum, velut memoria hospitis unius noctis pretereuntis, nec factus sum advena et peregrinus apud vos [Gen.23:4], sed civis sanctarum et domesticus utinam dei [Ephes.2:19]. Sic sacrae menti vestrae cuncta inheserunt, sic benigno spiritui vestro omnia impressa sunt, quae in illo fugaci seu volatico adventu meo dixi, quae feci ut non dicam ea quae studiose a me tunc dicta sunt, sed nec verbum forte negligenter prolatum, ad terram caderet. Ita notastis omnia, ita tenaci memoriae ex sinceritatis affectu dirivatae commendastis, quasi magna, quasi caelestia, quasi sacrosancta, quasi ipsius verba vel opera Ihesu Christi. Forte moverunt vos ad illa sic retinenda verba communis regulae, hoc est tam nostrae quam vestrae, quae de hospitibus praecipit: Christus in eis adoretur, qui et suscipitur [Bened.Rule 53.7]. Forsitan et illa de praepositis, licet ego praepositus vobis non sim: Qui vos audit, me audit [Luke 10:16]. Utinam haec michi semper gratia detur apud vos, ut mei memor esse dignemini, ut pro me omnipotentis misericordiam cum sacro gregis vobis commissi collegio, deprecemini. Rependo et ego in hoc vobis vicem quam possum, quia et longe antequam vos viderem, et maxime ex quo vestri notitiam habui, singularem vobis in intimis mentis meae recessibus verae non fictae caritatis locum servavi, donum quod de tricenario vobis praesens feci, absens ut voluistis, scriptum et sigillatum transmitto. Mitto etiam sicut mandastis magistri Petri absolutionem, in carta similiter scriptam et sigillatam. Astralabio vestro, vestrique causa nostro, mox ut facultas data fuerit, in aliqua nobilium aecclesiarum praebendam libens adquirere laborabo. Res tamen difficilis est, quia ut sepe probavi, ad dandas in aecclesiis suis praebendas variis obiectis occasionibus valde se difficiles prebere episcopi solent. Faciam tamen causa vestri quod potero, mox ut potero.

Historical context:

This letter answers the one from Heloise (ep. 167 in The Letters of Peter the Venerable), grateful for her attention to him and sending what she had asked him for.

Printed source:

The Letters of Peter the Venerable, ed. Giles Constable, 2v (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1967), ep.168, v1, p.401-02; trans. Betty Radice, The Letters of Abelard and Heloise (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1974), p.286-7.

Date:

1144