Sender
Geoffrey of Vendôme, abbot
Receiver
Ermengarde of Anjou, countess of Brittany
Translated letter:
Geoffrey of the monastery of Vendôme, humble servant, to his beloved daughter in Christ Ermengard, countess of Brittany, not to follow the world, nor wish to be delighted by its flower which swiftly wilts.
The one we should follow, instead, whose beauty should delight us, is Jesus Christ our Lord, who loved us so that he took on body and soul for us; and to keep us from being damned to perpetual death, gave himself over to death with incalculable charity. If you had, I say, diligently considered his gifts, o creature for whom the author of life died, you would not have allowed yourself to be separated from him by the tongues of flatterers. You would not have returned to the world you had renounced and where you will find only what is deadly. For only false happiness and true misery are met in this world, so whoever embraces it can scarcely or never possess God.
Fare well and reflect wisely on my words.
Original letter:
Goffridus Vindocinensis monasterii humilis servus, dilectae in Christo filiae Ermengardi Britannorum comitissae, nec mundum sequi, nec ejus flore, quia cito marcescit, velle delectari.
Est utique quem sequi, cujus pulchritudine debemus potius delectari, Jesus Christus videlicet Dominus noster, qui adeo nos dilexit quod pro nobis corpus et animam suscepit; et ne perpetua morte damnaremur, inaestimabili charitate in mortem se tradidit. Ejus, inquam, beneficia, si diligenter considerare voluisses, o creatura, pro qua auctor vitae mortuus est, adulantium linguae non te a Creatore tuo separassent, nec unde semel recesseras, iterum sociassent mundo, in quo nihil praeter id quod est funestum reperies. Praesentem namque mundum sic vera miseria, et falsa beatitudo comitatur ut vix aut nunquam Deum habere valeat, quicunque illum amplectitur. Vale, et quae dicta sunt, sapienter considera.
Historical context:
Geoffrey criticizes Ermengard for leaving the cloister and returning to the world and accuses her of being swayed by flatterers.
Printed source:
PL157, ep.5.23, c.205-206
Date:
1117?
