A letter from Egburg/Egburga/Ecburg (716-20)

Translated letter:

To Winfred, holy father and true friend, worthy of honor, filled with the grace of piety and sacred learning Egburga, least of your disciples, whether men or women, wishes eternal welfare in the Lord. As I acknowledge the bonds of your affection for me, my very inmost soul is filled with a sweetness as of honey. And though, for a while, having but just gained sight of you, I am deprived of your bodily presence, yet I ever clasp your neck in a sisterly embrace. And so, beloved, once my brother, you are now both father and brother in the Lord of Lords. For since cruel and bitter death has taken from me one whom I loved beyond all others, my own brother Oshere, I have cherished you in my affection above almost all other men. Not to waste further words: not a day nor a night goes by without some remembrance of your instruction. Believe then, as God is my witness, that I hold you in deepest affection and trust that you are never unmindful of the friendship you surely had for my brother. Though I am far behind him in learning and far below him in character, yet in my regard for your affection I am his equal. Although the dark cloud of grief has grown lighter with the passage of time, it has never left me, rather the longer the time, the greater the sum of my sorrows, as it is written: "The love of man brings sorrow, but the love of Christ enlightens the heart." And when at the same time my dearest sister Wethburga vanished from my sight — a new wound and a new grief; she with whom I had grown up, whom I adored and who was nursed at the same mother's breast — Christ be my witness, everywhere was grief and terror and the dread of death. Gladly would I have died if it had so pleased God from whom no secrets are hid, or if slow-coming death had not deceived me. But what shall I say now? It was not bitter death but a still more bitter and unexpected separation that divided us one from the other, leaving her, as I think, the happier and me the unhappy one to go on, like something cast aside, in my earthly service, while she, whom, as you know, I loved so tenderly, is reported to be in a Roman cell as a recluse. But the love of Christ, which grew and flourished in her breast, is stronger than all bonds, and "perfect love casteth out fear." So I say: the lord of high Olympus wishes you happiness with joy unspeakable because he has endowed you with sacred learning: and in his law shalt thou meditate day and night. And it is written: "How beautiful are the feet of them that bring glad tidings of good things." She treads the hard and narrow way, while I lie here below, bound by the law of the flesh as it were in shackles. She, the happy one, shall declare in the day of judgment, as our Lord did: "I was in prison and ye visited me." You, on the resurrection day, when the twelve Apostles shall sit upon their twelve seats, shall sit there also, and as many as you shall have redeemed, over so many shall you wear a crown of gold before the judgment seat of the King Eternal. But I here in this vale of tears lament my own sins as I deserve, because through them God has made me unworthy to join with such companions. Wherefore, believe me, more than the storm-tossed sailor longs for the harbor, more than the thirsty fields desire rain, or the anxious mother watches by the shore for her son, do I long for the sight of you. But I am so oppressed by the tyranny of my sins and weighed down by my countless faults that the hope of salvation from impending danger cannot be mine, and I am plunged in despair. Wherefore, I, a sinner, cast myself at the feet of Your Eminence and call to you out of the depths of my heart and from the ends of the earth, O, my blessed master, to set me up upon the rock of your prayers; for you are become my hope, my tower of strength against my foes within and without. Comfort, I beseech you, my unmeasured sorrow, quiet the waves of my grief, support my weakness by your sustaining favor that it may not give way. I beg you earnestly to send me some little remembrance, perhaps a holy relic or at least a few written words, that so I may always have you with me. Farewell, and may you prosper continually, making intercession with God for me. I too, Ealdbeoreth, a poor servant of Christ, salute you with all affection in the Lord. I beg you to remember in your inspired prayers the friendship you once promised me, and though we are separated in the body, may we be united in our memories.

Original letter:

Abbate sancto veroque amigo, iure ac merito honorando, divinae scientiae ac relegionis gratia repleto Wynfrido Egiburg ultima discipulorum seu discipularum tuarum aeternam in domino sospitatis salutem. Karitatis tuae copulam fateor; ast dum per interiorem hominem gustavi, quasi quiddam mellitae dulcedinis meis visceribus hic sapor insidet. Et licet interim, ut nancta sum, ab aspectu corporali visualiter defraudata sim, sororis tamen semper amplexibus collum tuum constrinxero. Quam ob rem, mi amande, iam olim frater, nunc autem ambo pariter in Domino dominorum: abba atque frater appellaris, quia, postquam a me separavit amara mors et crudelis illum, quem supra omnes alios amare consueveram, germanum meum Osberem, te poene ceteris omnibus masculini sexus caritatis amore praeferebam. Et ne diutius varie verba protelarem, non volvitur dies neque nox elabitur ulla sine memoria magisterii tui. Idcirco crede mihi, Deo teste, quia te summo conplector amore. Et de te confido, quod numquam inmemor sis illius amicitiae, quam cum fratre meo te certum fuit habere. Ego autem, licet scientia tardiora, meritis viliora illo sim, tamen erga tuae caritatis obsequium dispar non sum. Et quamvis temporum series, ocius currendo decrescerit, meroris tamen numquam me nebula atra deseruit; sed maiorum spatia temporum maiorum mihi addiderunt lucra iniuriarum, ut scriptum est: “Amor hominis deducit dolorem, amor autem Christi inluminat cor.” Et postquam mihi simul carissima soror Wethburg, quasi inflicto vulnere iteratoque dolore, subito ab oculis evanuit, cum qua adolevi, cum qua adoravi idem nutricum sinus; una mater ambobus in Domino et dereliquid; Iesum testor: ubique dolor, ubique pavor, ubique mortis imago. Malui mori, si sic Deo auspice, cui arcana non latent, placuisset, vel tarda Mors non tricaverit. Sed quid dicam nunc? Ante inprovida tandem nos non amara mors, sed amarior divisio separavit ab invicem; illam, ut reor, felicem; me vero infelicem, quasi quoddam depositum, huic saeculo servire permisit, sciens enim, quantum illam dilexi, quantum amavi, quam nunc, ut audio, Romana carcer includit. Sed amor Christi, qui in eius pectore viruit floruitque, omnibus vinculis fortior et validior est, et “perfecta caritas foras mittit timorem.” En, inquam, ille superi rector Olimpi ineffabili gratulatur tripudio, qui taliter te doctrina exornat divina; et in lege eius die noctuque meditaberis; ut scriptum est: “Quam speciosi pedes evangelizantium, evangelizantium autem bona.” Illa arduam et arctam iam greditur callem; ego autem adhuc in infimis lege carnali ceu quadam compede praepedita iaceo. Illa gratulabunda in iudicio futuro pariter cum Domino decantans dicit: “In carcere fui, et visitastis me.” Tu autem in regeneratione, cum sederint duodecim apostoli in sedibus duodecim, sedebis et ibi; et quantos labore proprio adquaesieris, de tantis ante tribunal aeterni regis, dux futurus deauratus, gaudebis. Ego autem adhuc in valle lacrimarum, ut emeritum est, lugeo propria peccata, eo quod talibus me indignam fecisset Deus adherere comitibus. Quapropter, crede mihi, non sic tempestate iactatus portum nauta desiderat, non sic sitientia imbres arva desiderant, non sic curvo litore anxia filium mater expectat, quam ut ego visibus vestris fruere cupio. Sed quia, peccatis meis exigentibus et innumeris delictis adgravata, ut hoc evenire queat, ut ab inminentibus periculis absoluta sim, in disperationem deducta sum; idcirco ego peccatrix vestigiis celsitudinis tuae provoluta, ex intimis precordiorum penetralibus inplorans, a finibus terrae ad te clamavi, o beatissime domine, dum anxie requirit cor meum, ut in petra orationum tuarum exaltabis me; quia factus es spes mea, turris fortitudinis a facie visibilis et invisibilis inimici. Et ad consolationem inmensi doloris, ad sedandam meroris undam obsecro, ut tuo suffragio mea fragilitas quasi quibusdam sustentaculis, ut non prorsus corruat, fulciatur. Similiter supplex rogito, ut mihi aliquod solacium vel in reliquiis sanctis vel paucula saltim per scripta beatitudinis tue verba distinare digneris, ut in illis tuam praesentiam semper habeam. Vale iugiter prosperis successibus, vivens Deo, terque quaterque interpellans pro me. Ego autem similiter Ealdbeorcth pauperculus Christi in Domino cum omni affectu saluto te. Deprecor te, ut illius amicitiae, quam olim spopondisti, in tuis deificatis orationibus recorderis; et licet corpore separemur, tamen recordatione iungamur.

Historical context:

Egburg describes her affection for Boniface and her need for his sympathy and guidance, after the death of her brother, his friend, and separation from her sister who may be living happily as a recluse in Rome, while she is bound by law of the flesh, lege carnali, weighed down by her sins, presumably means simply that she is still alive.

Printed source:

MGH, Epistolae Merovingici et Karolini Aevi, 6, S.Bonifacii et Lulli Epistolae, ep.13; translation, Ephraim Emerton, The Letters of Saint Boniface (New York: Columbia University Press, 1940, repr.2000), pp.12-4. Reprinted by permission of the publisher.

Date:

716-20