A letter from Augustine (422?)

Translated letter:

To the most religious lady, most worthy of reverence, and his most excellent daughter, Fabiola, Augustine [sends] greetings in the lord. 1. Through my lord brother,1, I was delighted to receive the answer from your holiness — if only I could return the greeting without distress. But now truly for the first time I am tormented by sorrow and am become an importunate troubler of your holy peace; but bear me patiently so you may continue to the end in the grace of Christ. I know my letters are never a burden to you but rather a pleasure. Forgive this letter, for it has many things which will grieve you, and in mutual love for Christ share my sorrows and join my prayers to our lord god that he console us. 2. I have learned that you received my beloved son and cobishop Antoninus and his wretched pilgrimage with your customary kind piety and christian humanity. Hear therefore what I am to Antoninus and what he is to me, what I owe him and what I seek from you: when he was small, he came to Hippo with his mother and step-father; they were so poor that they lacked daily food; then when they took refuge in the power of the church and I found out that Antoninus's father was still alive and that she had separated from her husband and joined herself to another, I persuaded both of them to observe continence; and so he with the boy in a monastery and she in a house for poor women which the church maintained, all began to come under our care in god's mercy. Then as time proceeded — lest I linger over too many things — he died, she grew old, the boy grew up; among his colleagues he assumed the office of reader and began to appear such that brother Urbanus, who was then priest and provost of the monastery, now indeed is bishop of the church of Sicca, wished him to become priest in a certain large estate in our diocese while I was absent, since when I went I had enjoined him to provide someone for that place whom the neighboring bishop would ordain without awaiting my return. Which could not be done when the person refused. But I found that out afterwards just as I began to hold such a position necessary, not that he was known to me as much as was fitting, but by the testimony of his provost. 3. Meanwhile, when as necessity demanded I was not sufficient to govern so large a diocese, since not only many men had come into the city but also many commoners into the fields who were Donatists, after consulting with my brother it seemed to me that someone should be ordained bishop in the castle/town of Fussala, which was subject to the see of Hippo, to whom the care for that region would devolve. I sent to the bishop of the first see; he deigned to come; at the last minute the priest who seemed appropriate to me abandoned us. What could I do then except to put off such a large work? But fearing lest, if the holy old man who had come to us from afar went back without effect, the souls of all for whom it had been necessary to act would be broken and enemies of the church would find them and deceive them by mockery of our delayed action, I believed it was useful to offer to ordain the one who had come, since I had heard that he knew the Punic language, and when I offered it, I was believed. For they did not ask anything more, but only did not dare to refuse one of mine who pleased me. 4. I therefore imposed such a burden on a youth of not much more than twenty years not yet tested in any stages of clerical office and unknown to me in those things which I should have known about him beforehand.2 You see, I am sure, my great sin; consider what followed: the soul of the youth suddenly lifted up to the honor of the episcopacy with no previous merits of labors was frightened; then seeing that clerics and the people were subject to him, he was puffed up by the insolence of domination, as the situation taught him and teaching nothing by word but compelling to all things by command, he rejoiced to be terrible where he did not see himself amiable. 5. As to people, he sought men agreeable to himself. There was in our monastery a certain secretary of mine, not good, who had left me in distress and because he had been found by the provost of the monastery alone at an inappropriate hour speaking with some nuns was flogged and held in contempt. He left the monastery and presented himself to the bishop about whom we speak and was ordained a priest by him without my knowing or being consulted. For I heard it was done before I could believe it would happen, although someone credible had told me. Then how much sorrow invaded my heart when I feared the future overturning of the church through him, I want you to believe since I can not set it forth. Yet I tried when the thing was discovered by giving my most serious complaints against such a priest to that same bishop, to keep him from being part of his communion, and send him back to the fatherland from which he had been given to me. And it was done but he restored him to a friendly connection I do not know how and again without my being consulted; and he made another given to him by the monastery a deacon, with the right order, except that the deacon already appeared restless. 6. He commanded through these two clerics, priest and deacon, and a "defender of the church" and a certain other either exsoldier or deserter as servants and through those whom he made watchmen of that castle for nocturnal guard, and he used them where there was need for some hand a little more numerous; what evils they did to that castle/town and its neighborhood anyone can learn who is not reluctant to read the things that are gathered in petitions from the laments of many to the bishops of the church of Hippo. There one will find miserable complaints of poor men and women and what is more serious, widows whom neither the name which holy scripture especially commends to our defence nor old age could protect from the pillaging and looting and unspeakable injuries they inflicted. Anyone who fell into their hands lost money, furniture, clothes, sheep, fruit, trees, and stones; they occupied the houses of some, destroyed others, and then carried off whatever was needed for construction of new works; some things were bought but no fee was paid; the fields of some were invaded and given back after the fruit was taken for some years; certain of them were even retained and possessed by episcopal judgment. 7. Many things beyond/except those which are comprised in the records we know in some part and were made public through the lands of those who endured them not by the sighs of the grumblers but the shouts of the screamers and were poured forth to be proved, if the judges sat where poverty does not weary or those who sat were sufficient to hear everything, when those things which we heard in ecclesiastic reports scarcely anyone could bear to review. Of which indeed very few things were in any way cleared up but many, partly because of the absence of those by whom they had been done, were excused or deferred. Of those clerics, however, the priest and the deacon, how their presence was and is still removed from episcopal judgment, it would be long to say. Yet his words are preserved, where he himself confessed that he did not want them to get there, who had been admonished to come since they were with him. 8. We indeed ordered what had been plundered to be restored, but we preserved his bishopric for the bishop safe and whole, lest those evils remain altogether unpunished and be left to him to continue or to others to imitate, claiming thus far that the bishop should sit in one of his sees, lest he be said to be translated into a foreign one against the canons, yet not preside further over the reluctant Fussalans. I think this kind of defence was considered a benefit, lest he live with those not wanting him, whose bitterest hatred his presence festered in a very dangerous way. We did not judge that he could be a communicant properly unless those things had been given back. He embraced this judgment of ours without challenging it and after very few days he restored borrowed money for what had been plundered, so he would not be denied that communion any longer. And when he cleared himself with credible truth of the four great and capital crimes of dishonors which not the Fussalans but certain others injured by him in various cases either brought or took care would be brought against him, many of our brothers and sons who lamented to us for him rejoiced with fraternal exultation that he was so judged. 9. He also petitioned the holy old man who held the first see in Numidia to defer the desire of the Fussalans by which they strove most vigorously for a [new] bishop to be ordained until he was deemed worthy at a council, and he deferred. When he came to it and it pleased all who were there that our dispositions be carried out, he offered no challenge; which it would have been late for him to do, when he made no challenge some months before. Then the senior old man sent the bishops to Fussala by whose votes was chosen who would be ordained bishop and he arranged for him to be ordained and it was done. But when the day of the ordination dawned, then it came into his mind to make a challenge. But at the old man's advice he acquiesced and since he did that such a long time after the judgment was made, understanding that he was acting in vain, he agreed that eight villages which had come together to the church of Fussala for various reasons to give voice about ordaining the bishop be appointed to him. But to start disputes again, to these villages which had come to Fussala to request a bishop, he forced them to add one, ascribed to a letter of the old man, for the holding of Thagaste, where there was a see to which the others would be subject. 10. This holding is so close to the town/castle that it seemed to be seeking nothing but occasions for struggle that would disturb the peace of the church. Further, the inhabitants since they had already felt his presence in the neighborhood and had born his evils with others, wrote to the lady who possessed/held it [saying] if she permitted this to be done, that they would move away, and wrote to me similarly that I intervene for them so it would not be done; because of them both she and I wrote to the old man. 11. But when he saw that this would not be conceded to him, he thought he would travel carrying the recommendations of that great old man, not what he received then but [what had been written] earlier, when the burdened man simply believed that he was not guilty in any way and that he wished to travel in order to free men whom the provincial governor held, not yet clearly knowing the evils of the Fussalans and their just distress. Therefore he gave the petition to the venerable pope Boniface, where he lied about having been a communicant from the day of his judgment — for as I noted above he had been excommunicated until the things which were taken away from the Fussalans were given back; on account of which he restored money after a few — but still some — days so that he could return to communion; also he was silent about the whole order of things necessary to the case and clearly obtained very circumspect letters. 12. The pope of venerable memory Boniface appointed judges to determine whether the asserted argument was supported, whether it faithfully indicated the order of things, whether things were as he put them in the contents of his petition; then finally the church of Fussala would be given back to him, as if he had no guilt for which it had justly been taken away. Those who could come met in a certain village of Numidia, the church of Tegulata; there were also others whom he had not asked, who had reasons to come, and although the number of bishops he had asked was not full, yet he said those were sufficient. We were present, I and my brother Alypius, admonished by the primate's letters, not that we would convict him again — for that would be improper — but that, if asked, we would give the reason for our judgment; which would be reported to the apostolic see. What he carried was read out; the primate of Numidia, the old Aurelius, explained why he had ordained him bishop of Fussala. In which exposition he made clear what the other had passed over so that he could obtain such letters from Rome and that he had not faithfully indicated the order of things. 13. Then bishop Antoninus asked that the priest whom the Fussalans had sent come in; at his entry the letters of priests and Fussalans were read. When he saw that they were full of miserable complaints against him, because of which they refused in every way to receive him as bishop whom they were justly and rightly deprived of, he did not believe that these were sent by them and asked the holy old man that he deign to come to those places with some of the bishops who had yielded to him and investigate the souls of the priests and people under the condition that if the Fussalans refused to receive him, he would accept against his will the village of Thagaste added to the eight he had before and that the holy old man would also ask me for the five others which I had promised him at the hearing so he would not harm the Fussalans, and that I would confirm this by recording the promise. 14. Which I would have done without any difficulty, to finish in peace, expect that I saw Thagaste no less than the Fussalans resist him and that the lady who possessed it would not concede it to him as it also seemed to the venerable old Aurelius. Finally the old man promised that he would come to Fussala as asked, but no one promised the village of Thagaste; and the subsequent presentation of that same bishop Antoninus was [to be] such that the bishops would know what ought to be done in response to the Fussalans. 15. After some days as it pleased him, they came to Fussala; two bishops came with the old man whom he asked from among those who had been in the city and also those whom he could find closer to that castle; and three others accompanied the old man for his service as was customary. I was absent, since I do not dare to see the Fussalans who were agitated once again through his restlessness after our judgment when the bishop had accepted the peace, so that I also became hateful to them; so much calamity has been visited on them from him they do not just mutter with suppressed grumbling but complain with open voices and howling, and he himself mistrusts me as his enemy with a very ungrateful spirit. Brother Alypius was also absent, having returned to his own things. 16. And so assembling in the sight of six bishops, numerous and eager, the village was questioned and confirmed the letters sent through a priest to the church of Tegulata rather vigorously and bitterly. What he did, wishing to frighten them beforehand is not to be written; he will confess to you perhaps if constrained, although those who carry our letters can indicate it faithfully to your reverence. And so when the multitude was interrogated on one day when it had expressed enough that it felt about him, it demanded the presence of the [new?] bishop most grievously, since he had not been there when the inquiry was first made. And so with one day respite in the presence of the bishop they answered many things against him, they complained about many things, and everything was written out. 17. Then the old man wrote to me that I should meet him at a place where we would all see what should happen. When I set out, on the journey I received letters from the illustrious woman who possesses Thagaste indicating that her man had written to her what the holy old man had said to him he heard from bishop Antoninus that she consented to his having Thagaste; "which I," she said, "did not. Rather when he came to me, he asked me not to consent." I carried this letter of the religious woman with me, since I considered it very necessary, although I knew he had already done it, but I did not see how he could be convinced, if he denied it in the absence of that honorable woman. 18. When therefore we all came together with him at a certain place ten miles away from the town/castle of Fussala to which I did not want to go, we began to do what each could to prevent that catholic bishop from further committing disturbance and subversion against christian catholics. And when action about the Thagaste estate began, I brought out the letter of the lady who held it; when it was read and all our brothers and cobishops who were there began to shudder and seriously rebuke him, he answered that he had not said so but, when she earlier said she would not grant the place, he said with the voice not of seeking but of indigation: "if you do not wish to, do not grant it; I do not want it." From this there was a shift to other words, that he would accept two other places for that estate, if it were possible for us to do that, and there would be no further harm to those that already belonged to the bishop of Fussala; but that could not happen with all of them so vigorously accusing him. 19. We were in a certain place among the eight that had been assigned to him and where he presided without dispute. For the bailiff of his estate asked that we come together and there we went over many things with him but in vain. I had, to be sure, other letters from the lady who held Thagaste, since I had written back to her what he answered and I asked that she indicate in order through a letter how the thing had happened. She wrote however that this was first committed to her from him through her son-in-law that he ask her for this benefice to be presented to him, that she did not consent that it be Thagaste nor in that diocese if the bishop sat anywhere but Fuassala; afterward with his own mouth he confirmed that he had asked this from her/him. As witness of this not only her son-in-law but also the bishop of the place where they then were wrote quite openly. 20. When this letter was read out before the brothers he was so distressed that he answered nothing to me but a loud noise. And since the old man had said to me that he had complained because on the day that the people of Fussala were later questioned, their bishop was present, it was resolved that the inhabitants be consulted a third time with him absent, separately and each with advisors but without bailiffs. But in the crossing to Fussala through Thagaste, I was asked that their communion be restored, since when they were in a violent uproar against bishop Antoninus, he had excommunicated them; and I was very afraid that they might be altogether destroyed by rustic despair. For they were so abandoned between two bishops that I recognized that they had begun to apostatize in some things. Whence I feared a horrendous wound growing in my heart and I hastened cure it as quickly as possible. 21. When we came to vespers on another day we say them gathered in the church. But when the venerable old man began to make a sermon to them about bishop Antoninus in Punic words, they declared their will with great shouts and when he asked them what damage he had done whom they resisted with such obstinacy, one by one they began to say what they had suffered. But when they were ordered to record those acts by name, they answered that they were afraid to be known lest he pursue them one by one and destroy them. Truly when they were ordered to do what had been said, suddenly all departed leaving us behind with very hostile groans, so not even one of the nuns remained. Who could describe how we were all distressed by the fear that their perdition would weigh more heavily on our necks in Christ's judgment than that millstone that is bound around it in the gospel [Matth.18:6]. They were barely called back by the old man promising he would not give them a bishop they did not want. 22. When we left the church after the divine service, we found the two messengers from Fussala with their petition in which they said a rumor had reached them that we wished to interrogate them separately, when their will had made clear so often without discord whom they consider bishop nor would they say anything separately that they could not all say at the same time. But if it were done that their enemy knew by designated names whom he should pursue, we should understand that this ruling would hand them over to death; and it should be enough that we killed their souls by giving them Antoninus; we should not also give their bodies to be killed again by Antoninus. In the same petition they asked us if it seemed [appropriate] to order the case to be heard anew with the petitions they had submitted against Antoninus at Hippo Regius and other things it would be long to recall here. But truly since it could be said that this petition did not hold the will of the people but was addressed by one or two or at best a few of them, it did not seem that the counsel [of the bishops] should be changed. 23. While the old man reached Fussala at midday with those who were appropriate, their bishop and I remained in the same place; on the following day however that the old man questioned the people the third time, we went to a certain place through which he would pass and there we spent the whole day while he was at Fussala. After this bishops came to us with the holy old man carrying the complaints of the poor people and their recorded words, in which they did not hold that I should be spared. They complained also about me that I deserved to hear that I was the author of such calamity by giving them a man whom they did not ask for, from whom they were afflicted with so many evils. 24. Then it was written to that bishop Antoninus and he met us at a certain castle Gilva to which a necessity of the church compelled the old man; for he had left us as soon as the urging letter reached him. When he heard from those bishops whom he had requested among the other judges what they saw and heard, and we all persuaded each as he could that there was nothing else for him to do if he considered himself a bishop, except to rule those villages in peace which accepted him without any scandal or disturbance to the church, he answered that they also did not wish to have him and he did not wish to have them and that it was his certain counsel to sit in a very solitary place separated from crowds, far from envy, serving god; and he told us that he had said this before he saw us and he wished to prove it to us through witnesses if we wished. Because I did not wish to believe such good of his soul easily, I told him that if he truly thought such things and said them, it would not trouble him to also offer a sacrifice of mercy to our god so that he would express his will in episcopal records and make his church secure having removed the fear it had from him; and when he affirmed that he would say nothing on record, we said at least let him express it in writing; and when he answered that he would not do this, he heard that he should not think that he would truly serve god when he took pleasure in leaving the church of the one he would serve in such distress of fear. 25. Then truly when he saw that he was urged by the bishops' words to which he could not respond, finally what he had hidden in his heart erupted and he said with terrible face and voice that he could not be persuaded in any way that he should not strive to return to the church of Fussala in some way. Having heard that, I began to press the holy old man that something be recorded about Tegulata in the ecclesiastic records which could be referred to the apostolic see. "I say nothing," he said, "on the record," and he rose agitated and went away coming back immediately with troubled movement of body and soul and announced that he would go to the apostolic see, as if we would be sending to another see whatever had been done about him in the records. 26. And so it remained that the apostolic see should be instructed by letters and records. Which we took care to do as swiftly as possible. Behold what a long story we made for Jews and gentiles and heretics and also whatever internal enemies, without their destruction one hopes, for whom freed from heresy and breathing some light of unity, we make the catholic name odious, if their weakness will not be so far consoled at least that they do not have a bishop whom they claim they could not have for just grief. 27. I thought however that these things should be written to your eminence so that if it seemed to you that you should advise him, you would not be ignorant. Indeed you will expend much better counsel for eternal life and support in this to one so needy; for those alms are more dangerously lacking to one whose flesh is safe but whose heart is dying. Let him cease to desire to rule by the blood of others the collected members of Christ. For he did not begin to be a bishop from receiving any harm or wounds from the Donatists, he or any of the priests or clerics or whatever men placed under his guidance. But that he might find such peace there which brought such ills to us is a horror to say; let the villages whom god wished to accept him suffice for him, to guide one of whom piously and diligently obtains great reward with god. But he does not think these things who desires to rejoice in a great number of villages, with blasphemy of Christ's name and deadly sighing of poor men, not seeking to acquire many for god but to vaunt himself through many. Otherwise he would not desire to make his own with such an effort which he sees are already Christ's. 28. I beseech you let him hear this from you and do not keep silent whatever the lord gives you to say to the man for the health of whose mind I wish to rejoice. For you have age over him so that you may properly show him the affection of a parent. For if he does not live too long with god angry, he does not scorn in you the counsels of his mother; I know you have so resurrected with Christ that "you seek the things that are above not what is on earth" [Col.3:1]; do not therefore fear to give faithful counsel to the bishop who seeks what is on earth. You indeed seek god in this world, he seeks this world in the church. 29. For perhaps you would not believe if another told you, that he did not hesitate to buy farms in his own name, not for the church, the man who became a bishop from the monastery having nothing except what he wore on that day. You ask perhaps what means he had to purchase; let me not speak of the plunders which the Fussalans complain they bore: what was pillaged was immediately consumed; but I had given him for his sustenance and those who were with him the estate of the church of Hippo which was established in the territory of Fussala. He leased this for five years and accepted a price in payment which gave him the means to buy it. What however the seller complained about that in a plea to the emperor and to what danger of a charge he came or how the defender of the church of Fussala, to whom he lamented that it was in his private care, that he would sell a possession so cheaply to the bishop, scarcely avoided the punishment of public condemnation us working for it, since he had already confessed that he had done it at the bishop's order, although he said not that he pressed the man to sell the estate but kept him under custody because of another guilt, if I wished to tell [it all] when would the letter end? 30. He bought it and another little holding also in his name, but I do not know whence; truly in those things also he said in his response in our investigation, he had [mis]treated his partner with whom he possessed half, taking all the fruits and plundering the common house of its tiles. We heard, it was proved to us, we ordered it to be given back; he also offered his brother's letter to us and it was read out as we wrote in our investigation that he had been pressured by the bishop to sell that part of the possession and had not got the price he should have. But since it was not shown to us whether the letter from his brother was genuine, though we resolved the dispute among those present, we reserved action for the absent. 31. But he gave that possession to another whose home he had thrown down and everything that was in the construction he carried off for his own building; I myself interceded with that man lest he weigh down the bishop by his petition and complaint in our investigation. And so the case was finished between them by private discussion, so that he would receive that estate from him for his part to compensate for his losses; and thus far the bishop says to the Fussalans from a very poor monk: "give me my home which I built in your castle/town," which he seemed to construct not for himself but for the church; and would that it had come not from pillage but from good and just offerings! For there was almost nothing in the construction of that house that was not shown to be taken from another and what it was taken from could be pointed out. 32. Truly another question is this: I wished to condole with your sympathy that a youth brought up by us in the monastery who, when we took him in, gave nothing of his own, either distributed to the poor or conferred to our common society, was now glorying in his farms and home; and not only did he wish to make these things his but he wishes to be numbered in that flock of Christ about whom the apostle says: "they look after their own things, not Christ's" [Phil.2:21]; and how much of a wound this is to my heart he sees who may cure it. 33. I beseech you for Christ that by his mercy and judgment you help me in this cause for him and the church. I wished you to be instructed for this perhaps more loquaciously than modestly, not so that you would hate him but rather that you would counsel him truly and spiritually as the lord wished you to be able to, without letting him harm himself. For who else will he harm more gravely than himself if he strives to distress and subvert the church which he ought to wish to acquire for Christ not for himself? I believe he will willingly submit to your kindness and will not arouse contempt towards you, if the fount of mercies hears my frequent and extensive weeping for him.

Original letter:

Dominae religiosissimae et reverentissimae ac praestantissimae filiae Fabiolae Augustinus in domino salutem. 1. Per dominum fratrem meum,1, exhilaratus sum rescriptis sanctitatis tuae, quibus utinam sine taedio rependerem salutationis alloquium, nunc vero primitus ipse maerore cruciatus importunus et molestus factus sum sanctae quieti tuae, sed patienter me tolera; sic proficienter usque in finem in Christi gratia perseveres, numquam enim tibi oneri litteras meas sed potius iucunditati scio. ignosce huic epistolae, habet enima multa quae doleas atque in Christo mutua caritate communica mecum dolores meos precesque ad dominum deum nostrum ut nos consoletur adiunge. 2. Filium dilectum et coepiscopum meum Antoninum quam benigna pietate susceperis comperi inopemque eius peregrinationem quam christiana fueris humanitate solata. accipe igitur quis Antonino sim et quis mihi sit Antoninus et quid ei debeam et quid a te petam: parvulus cum matre et vitrico venit Hipponem; ita pauperes erant, ut quotidiano victu indigerent; denique cum ad opem ecclesiae confugissent et comperissem, quod adhuc pater viveret Antonini atque illa se alteri a viro suo separata iunxisset, ambobus continentiam persuasi; atque ita ille cum puero in monasterio, illa in matricula pauperum quos sustentat ecclesia, ac per hoc omnes in dei misericordia sub cura nostra esse coeperunt. deinde tempore procedente -ne multis inmorer - ille obiit, illa senuit, puer crevit; inter consortes suos lectoris fungebatur officio et talis apparere iam coeperat, ut frater Urbanus qui tunc apud nos presbyter et praepositus monasterii, nunc vero est ecclesiae Siccensis episcopus, in quodam fundo amplo et in nostra diocesi constituto eum presbyterum fieri me absente voluerit, quia iniunxeram proficiscens, ut aliquem provideret quem loco illo non expectato meo reditu vicinus episcopus ordinaret. quod fieri quidem isto refugiente non potuit. veruntamen cum id postea comperissem, velut necessarium coepi habere tali muneri, non quod mihi esset quantum oportebat cognitus, sed testimonio praepositi sui. 3. Interea cum regendae sicut necessitas exigebat parrochiae latissimae non sufficerem, quoniam non solum in civitatem multi homines, verum etiam in agris multae plebes accesserant ex parte Donati, pertractato cum fratribus consilio visum mihi est, ut in quodam Fussalensi castello quod Hipponiensi cathedrae subiacebat aliquis ordinaretur episcopus, ad quem cura regionis illius pertineret. misi ad primae sedis episcopum; venire dignatus est; ad horam nos deseruit presbyter quem mihi habere paratum videbar. quid tunc si bene agerem, nisi tam magnum opus differre deberem? sed timens ne sine effectu redeunte a nobis sancto sene qui vix ad nos de longinquo venerat animi omnium, quibus illud ut fieret necessarium fuerat, frangerentur et invenirent quos inimici ecclesiae frustrati nostri operis inrisione deciperent, istum qui aderat, quia et linguam Punicam scire audieram, ordinandum ut offerrem utilem credidi, et cum offerrem creditum est mihi, neque enim eum ultro petierunt, sed tamquam unum de meis qui mihi placebat repudiare non ausi sunt. 4. Ingessi ergo tantae sarcinae adolescentem non multo amplius quam viginti aetatis annos agentem nullis ante gestis clericatus gradibus comprobatum et in his mihi quae de illo prius cognosci oportebat ignotum.2 vides nempe meum grande peccatum; quae consecuta sunt intuere: expavit adolescentis animus nullis laborum praecedentibus meritis repentino episcopatus honore subvectus; deinde videns clericos et populos sibi esse subiectos, quantum res ipsa docuit, insolentia dominationis inflatus est et nihil docens verbo, sed imperio ad cuncta compellens gaudebat se terribilem ubi amabilem non videbat. 5. Quam personam ut impleret, congruos sibi homines inquisivit. erat in monasterio nostro ex notario meo quidam qui me gemente non bonus evaserat et a praeposito monasterii eo quod inventus fuerit solus hora importuna cum quibusdam sanctimonialibus loquens plagis coercitus contemptibilis habebatur. iste deserto monasterio ad episcopum de quo agimus mox ut se contulit, ab illo presbyter ordinatus est me inconsulto atque nesciente. nam prius audivi factum quam futurum credere potuissem, etiamsi mihi aliquis cui credendum fuerat indicasset. tum vero cor meum, cum eversionem per eum quandoque adfuturam illius ecclesiae formidarem, quantus maeror invaserit credas velim, quia explicare non possum. dedi tamen operam occasione comperta eodem ipso episcopo de tali suo presbytero querelas apud me gravissimas depromente, ut illi communio non esset, sed patriae suae unde mihi fuerat datus redderetur. et factum erat, sed nescio quomodo me rursus inconsulto eum suae coniunctioni amicitiaeque restituit; alium quoque diaconum fecit recto quidem ordine de monasterio sibi datum, sed nisi iam diaconus non apparuit inquietus. 6. Per hos duos clericos, presbyterum et diaconum, et per ecclesiae defensore et per quendam alium sive exmilitem sive desertorem cui familiarius imperabat et per eos quos eiusdem castelli homines ad nocturnas custodias vigiles fecerat eisque, ubi manu aliqua paulo numerosiore opus fuerat, utebatur, quae mala castellum illud et circumquaque vicina pertulerint, potest utcumque cognoscere quem gesta legere non piguerit quae apud episcopos in ecclesia Hipponiensi, ubi et ipse consedi, multorum per libellos deploratione confecta sunt. inveniet illic querimonias miserabiles pauperum marium atque feminarum et, quod est gravius, viduarum quas nec ipsum nomen quod praecipue defendendum nobis sancta scriptura commendat nec saltem senilis aetas potuit a rapinis et depraedationibus et nefandis iniuriis quae per illos fiebant aliquantenus communire. pecuniam, suppellectilem, vestem, pecora, fructus, ligna, denique et lapides ut quisque in eorum manus incurrerat amittebat; quorundam occupabantur domus, quorundam etiam deiciebantur, ut inde auferrentur quae fabricarum novarum constructio postulabat; emebantur aliqua nec pretium reddebatur; quorundam invadebantur agri et ablatis per aliquot annos fructibus reddebantur; quidam vero eorum usque ad episcopale iudicium retenti atque possessi sunt. 7. Multa praeter illa quae comprehensa sunt gestis et nos ex aliqua parte cognovimus et per illas terras eorum qui perpessi sunt non murmurantium gemitibus sed vociferantium clamoribus iactitantur et ingeruntur probanda, si iudices ibi sedeant ubi paupertas non fatigetur illorum aut etiam qui sederint audire cuncta sufficiant, cum ista quae nos gestis ecclesiasticis audivimus recensere vix quisquam perduret. quorum quidem perpauca utcumque purgata sunt, multa vero partim propter eorum, per quos facta sunt, absentiam excusata atque dilata sunt. illorum autem clericorum, presbyteri scilicet et diaconi, quemadmodum praesentia episcopali iudicio subtracta sit et adhuc usque subtrahatur, longum est dicere. tenentur tamen verba eius, ubi eos a se admonitos ut venirent, quia cum illo erant, eoque pervenire noluisse ipse confessus est. 8. Nos vero restitui quidem direpta praecepimus, sed episcopo episcopatum suum salvum integrumque servavimus, mala illa ne omnino impunita remanerent et adhuc vel illi sequenda vel aliis relinquerentur imitanda, hactenus vindicantes ut sederet quidem episcopus in aliqua cathedrarum suarum, ne in alienam contra canones diceretur esse translatus, non tamen Fussalensibus invitis ulterius praesideret. hoc vindictae genus puto quod et beneficium deputandum est, ne cum eis nolentibus viveret quorum amarissima odia periculosissime exulceraret eius ipsa praesentia. non eum sane communicare censuimus, nisi prius redderentur ablata. hanc sententiam nostram et ipse amplexus est usque adeo, ut neque provocaverit et post paucissimos dies mutuatos pro direptis solidos reposuerit, ne illi communio diutius negaretur. et multi fratres ac filii nostri qui eum nobiscum propterea miserabantur, quia de magnis et capitalibus quattuor stuprorum criminibus quae non ei Fussalenses sed alii quidem nonnullis causis ab eo laesi vel obiecerant vel obicienda curaverant valde probabili est veritate purgatus, ita de illo esse iudicatum fraterna exultatione gratulati sunt. 9. Rogavit etiam per libellum sanctum senem qui primae sedis est in Numidia, ut Fussalensium desiderium quo sibi ordinari episcopum vehementissime flagitabant differre usque ad concilium dignaretur, et distulit. quo cum ventum esset et omnibus qui aderant impleri nostra statuta placuisset, nec inde provocavit; quod si fecisset, iam tunc sero utique fecisset, quandoquidem a nobis ante aliquot menses non provocaverat. deinde maior senex misit Fussalam episcopos, coram quibus eligeretur suffragiis quis eis ordinaretur episcopus et ad se ordinandus dirigeretur, et factum est. sed ubi dies ordinationis illuxit, tunc isti provocare venit in mentem. adquievit tamen reddita ei ratione a sancto sene et, quia id post tam longum tempus, ex quo de se iudicatum fuerat, faciebat, frustra se facere intelligens consensit, ut octo plebes quae ad ecclesiam Fussalensem nonnullis causis ad suffragia de ordinando episcopo ferenda convenerant sibi deputarentur. sed ut rixas iterum seminaret, ex his etiam plebibus quae ad episcopum postulandum Fussalam venerant unam sibi addendam, ut sancti senis litteris adscriberetur, extorsit fundi scilicet Thogonoetensis, ubi haberet cathedram cui suae ceterae subiacerent. 10. Iste autem fundus ita castello propinquus est, ut nihil in eo nisi occasiones litium quibus ecclesiae pacem perturbaret quaesisse videretur. porro idem coloni, quia eum de vicinitate iam senserant et cum aliis mala illa pertulerant, scripserunt ad dominam possessionis, si hoc fieri permisisset, se continuo migraturos et ad me similiter, ut pro eis intervenirem ne fieret; propter quos et illa et ego ad senem scripsimus. 11. Iste ergo ubi vidit hoc sibi non fuisse concessum, navigandum putavit portans commendaticias eiusdem maioris senis non tunc acceptas sed antea, cum ei vir gravis simpliciter credidisset, quod nullas omnino culpas haberet et propter liberandos homines quos vicarius tenebat cuperet navigare, mala vero Fussalensium et eorum iustum dolorem nondum de gestis perspicue cognovisset. dedit ergo libellum venerabili pape Bonifatio, ubi se ex die quo de illo iudicatum est communicasse mentitus est -- sicut enim supra commemoravi excommunicatus erat, donec ea quae Fussalensibus ablata fuerant redderentur; propter quod post paucos quidem, sed tamen post aliquot dies solidos reposuerat, ut ei communio redderetur -- tacuit etiam universum necessarium causae ordinem rerum et impetravit litteras plane cautissimas. 12. Iudices enim dedit venerandae memoriae papa Bonifatius qui cognoscerent utrum ratio fulciretur asserta, utrum ordinem rerum fideliter indicasset, utrum ita res essent quemadmodum in sui libelli tenore posuisset; tum demum ei Fussalensis ecclesia redderetur tamquam non habenti culpas, propter quas illi iuste fuisset ablata. convenerunt in quendam Numidiae locum, hoc est ecclesiam Tegulatensem, qui venire potuerunt; erant ibi et alii quos non petiverat alias veniendi causas habentes et, quamvis postulatus ab eo numerus episcoporum non fuisset impletus, dixit tamen eos sibi sufficere. aderamus et nos, frater scilicet Alypius et ego, litteris primatis ammoniti, non ut de illo iudicaremus iterum -- quid enim esset improbius, -- sed ut, si res posceret, rationem nostri iudicii redderemus; quae referrentur ad apostolicam sedem. recitata ergo sunt quae portavit; exposuit causam Numidiae primatus senex Aurelius cur episcopum Fussalensibus ordinasset. in qua eius expositione claruit quae ille praetermiserat, ut tales de Roma litteras impetraret, et quia non fideliter indicavit ordinem rerum. 13. Tum petivit episcopus Antoninus, ut ingrederetur presbyter quem miserant Fussalenses; quo ingresso recitatae sunt litterae presbyterorum et Fussalensium. quas ubi vidit adversum se miserabilium querelarum esse plenissimas, propter quas eum episcopum recipere modis omnibus recusarent quo iuste recte caruissent, ab eis missas esse non credidit et rogavit sanctum senem, ut ad loca ipsa cum aliquibus e numero episcoporum qui ei concessi fuerant dignaretur ipse accedere et presbyterorum ac populi animos explorare sub illa conditione ut, si Fussalenses de illo suscipiendo referrent, contra voluntatem acciperet plebem Thogonoetensem illis octo additam plebibus quas antea iam tenebat, a me etiam peteret sanctus senex, ut alias de eis quinque, quas illi citra acta promiseram ut Fussalensibus non esset infestus, etiam gestis promittendo firmarem. 14. Quod cum sine ulla difficultate fecissem, velut cum pace discessum est, nisi quod videbam Thogonoetensem locum non minus quam Fussalenses ei resistere nec eum possessionis dominam concessuram quod et venerabili seni Aurelio videbatur. denique illis gestis promisit quidem senex, sicut rogatus erat, Fussalam se esse venturum, plebem vero Thogonoetensem illis ei gestis nemo promisit; eiusdemque episcopi Antonini posterior persecutio talis fuit, ut episcopi ex Fussalensium responsione quid fieri deberet agnoscerent. 15. Post aliquot dies sicut placuerat ventum est Fussalam; aderant cum sene duo episcopi quos ex illis qui fuerant in urbe petiit, itemque concessi viciniores eidem castello potuit invenire; alii quoque tres pro obsequio sicut fieri solet comitabantur senem. ego aberam, quia nec Fussalenses videre audeo quibus post nostrum iudicium accepto episcopo iam quietis et per huius inquietudinem denuo sollicitatis etiam ipse odiosus effectus sum; a quo sibi tantam calamitatem importatam non iam presso murmure mussitant, sed apertis vocibus atque ululatibus clamant, et iste ipse me nihil aliud quam inimicum suum nimis ingrato animo suspicatur. aberat ad propria remeans etiam frater Alypius. 16. Itaque sub conspectu sex episcoporum frequenti alacritate concurrens plebs illa interrogata est et talis inventa qualis ad ecclesiam Thegulatensem presbyterum litteris miserat, immo etiam vehementior et acerbior. volens enim eos iste ante terrere quid fecerit non opus est scribere; ipse tibi si obstringatur fortasse fatebitur, quamvis et hi qui nostras litteras tradunt possunt reverentiae tuae id fideliter indicare. interrogata itaque multitudo una die cum satis expressisset quid de isto sentiret, episcopi sui praesentiam molestissime flagitavit, quia nec ipse aderat quando prima facta est inquisitio. interposito itaque uno die suo quoque episcopo iam praesente multa contra istum pro se respondereunt, multa clamaverunt, cuncta conscripta sunt. 17. Deinde scripsit ad me senex, ut ei ad aliquem locum occurrerem, ubi simul omnes quid fieret videremus. quo cum pergerem, in itinere litteras clarissimae feminae cuius est Thogonoetensis fundus accepi indicanti scripsisse sibi hominem suum quod ei sanctus senex dixerit ab episcopo Antonino se audisse eam consensisse, ut sit Thogonoeto; 'quod ego,' inquit, 'non novi. magis cum ad me venisset, ipse me rogavit, ut non consentirem.' hanc religiosae mulieris epistolam mecum portavi, cum valde necessariam perviderem, quamvis iam hoc eum fecisse cognoveram, sed quo certo indicio convinci posset, si negaret absente illa honoranda femina, non videbam. 18. Cum igitur convenissemus ad quendam locum a Fussalensi castello quo ego venire nolebam decem milibus remotum, omnes cum illo ut quisque poterat agere coepimus, ne ulterius perturbationem et eversionem catholicus episcopus christianis catholicis moliretur. et cum de illo Thogonoetensi fundo agi coeptum esset, dominae possessionis epistolam protuli; qua lecta cum omnes fratres et coepiscopi nostri qui aderant horrere coepissent eumque graviter obiurgare, respondit non se ita dixisse sed, cum illa prior diceret non se illum concessuram locum, se non petentis sed indignantis voce dixisse: 'si non vis, noli concedere; nec ego volo.' inde ad alia verba transitum est quibus agebamus, si fieri posset, ut alia duo loca pro illo fundo acciperet et ex his quae iam coeperant ad Fussalensem episcopum pertinere nemini ulterius esset molestus; sed fieri non potuit omnibus eum vehementissime recusantibus. 19. Fuimus et in quodam loco ex illis octo qui ei fuerant deputati et ubi sine ulla controversia praesidebat. conductor enim fundi eius ut conveniremus rogaverat et ibi cum illo multa sed frustra egimus. ubi sane alias dominae possessionis Thogonoetensis litteras sumpsi, quia ei rescripseram quid ille responderit atque petiveram, ut ex ordine ibi per epistolam quemadmodum res gesta fuerit indicaret. scripsit autem primum per generum suum sibi hoc ab illo esse mandatum quod eam rogaret, ut hoc ei beneficium praesentaretur, ne consentiret ut esset Thogonoeto neque ut in diocesi eius esset, si alibi praeter Fussalam sederet episcopus; postea et ore suo id eum a se petisse firmavit. huius autem testes non solum generum suum sed etiam episcopum loci ubi tunc erant apertissime scripsit. 20. Qua epistola coram fratribus recitata ita perturbatus est, ut nihil mihi praeter convitium responderet. et quoniam mihi senex dixerat eum fuisse conquestum, quia die qua posterius interrogatus est populus Fussalensis praesens eorum episcopus fuit, etiam tertio illos eo absente consuli placuit segregatim colonos uniuscuiusque cum auctoribus vel procuratoribus sine conductoribus suis. sed ad Fussalam per Thogonoetum fuerat transeundum me multum rogante ut eis communionem redderet, quia cum adversus episcopum Antoninum apud eum graviter tumultuarentur, excommunicaverat eos; et vehementer timebam ne per tristitiam rusticanam penitus interirent. sic enim relicti erant inter ambos episcopos, ut eos in aliquibus apostatare coepisse cognoverim. unde horrendum vulnus cordis mei augeri metuebam et sanari quantocius festinabam. 21. Quo cum ad vesperam veniremus, alio die vidimus eos in ecclesia congregatos. sed ubi eis de Antonino episcopo sermonem facere venerandus senex verbis Punicis coepit, voluntatem illam suam magnis clamoribus ediderunt et, cum ab eis quaesisset quid eos laeserit cui tanta obstinatione resisterent, singuli quae passi fuerant coeperunt dicere. qui cum iuberentur nominatim gestis id agere, responderunt se timere ne innotescerent ei quos singillatim persequeretur et perderet. verum cum id potius quod dictum fuerat facere iuberentur, repente omnes relictis nobis cum invidiosissimis gemitibus abscesserunt, ita ut nec feminarum saltem sanctimonialium aliqua remaneret. quis effari valeat quanto sumus omnes timore turbati ne nobis in Christi iudicio perditio eorum gravior ad collum quam mola illa asinaria quae in evangelio est ligaretur. vix revocati sunt promittente sene de dando eis episcopo nihil facturum se esse quod nollent. 22. Cum igitur de ecclesia post divina peracta egressi fuissemus, invenimus et Fussalenses duos cum libello eorum missos, per quem dixerunt rumore ad se pervenisse, quod eos segregatim interrogare vellemus, cum voluntas eorum iam totiens sine discrepantia claruisset quem episcopum teneant nec aliud se singillatim esse dicturos quam quod simul universi dicere potuerunt. sed si hoc ideo fieret, ut eorum noverit inimicus nominibus designatis quos persequi debeat, intelligendum esse nobis hac regula se morti esse tradendos; et utique debere sufficere quod eorum animas occiderimus dando eis Antoninum; non etiam corpora eorum a nobis esse tradenda, ut per Antoninum iterum moriantur. in eodem libello id quoque posuerunt ut, si hoc nobis videretur, denuo causam iuberemus audiri redditis libellis suis quos adversus Antoninum Hippone Regio tradiderunt et cetera quae commemorare longum est. verum quia dici potuit libellum istum non habuisse populi voluntatem, sed ab aliquo uno vel duobus vel certe a paucissimis esse directum, veniendi ad eos non visum est mutandum esse consilium. 23. Proinde senex cum quibus oportebat Fussalam meridie perrexit, ego et episcopus eorum in eodem loco mansimus; sequenti autem die quo populum tertio interrogabat senex nos ad quendam locum, per quem fuerat inde transiturus, occurrimus atque ibi totum diem illo apud Fussalam constituto peregimus. post haec venerunt inde ad nos episcopi cum sancto sene portantes miserorum gemitus vocesque conscriptas, in quibus nec mihi putaverunt esse parcendum. clamaverunt enim etiam de me ipso quae merebar audire, quod ego auctor fuerim tantae calamitatis illorum dando eis hominem quem non petierunt, a quo tantis affligerentur malis. 24. Deinde scriptum est ad eundem Antoninum episcopum et nobis ad quoddam Giluense castellum quo senem certa ecclesiae necessitas venire cogebat occurrit; sic enim a nobis recesserat, ut quocumque litteris ammonitus esset occurreret. ubi cum audisset ab ipsis etiam episcopis quos inter alios iudices postulavit quae praesentes viderint et audierint, cumque nihil aliud eum facere debere, si se episcopum cogitaret, omnes ut quisque poterat suaderemus nisi ut quietus regeret eas plebes quae illum sine ullo ecclesiae scandalo et sine ulla perturbatione susceperant, ille respondit etiam ipsas habere se nolle certumque sibi esse consilium sedere quodam secretissimo loco segregatum a turbis, remotum ab invidia, servientem deo; idque nobis etiam per testes, quibus hoc prius quam nos videret dixisse narravit, si vellemus, probare cupiebat. quod animi eius tantum bonum cum facile credere noluissem, dixi ei ut, si veraciter talia cogitaret et diceret, non eum pigeret etiam id offerre misericordiae sacrificium deo nostro, ut eius ecclesiam faceret ablato quem de illo haberet timore securam istam voluntatem suam episcopalibus exprimens gestis; cumque affirmasset nihil se omnino gestis esse dicturum, saltem scriptis suis id exprimeret diximus; cumque ne hoc quidem se responderet esse facturum, audivit quod debuit non eum veraciter cogitare serviturum se deo, quando eum delectaret eius cui serviturus esset ecclesiam in tanta timoris perturbatione relinquere. 25.Tum vero cum se verbis episcoporum quibus respondere non poterat videret urgeri, tandem aliquando in id quod corde abscondebat erupit atque ait vultu et voce terribili nullo modo sibi persuaderi posse, ut non quocumque modo potest ad ecclesiam Fussalensem redire moliatur. quo audito instare sancto seni coepi, ut aliquid cum illo secundum gesta Tegulatensia gestis ecclesiasticis ageretur quod referri posset ad apostolicam sedem. 'nihil ego,' inquit, 'gestis loquor' et turbulentus surrexit atque abiit continuoque rediens turbido corporis et animi motu ad apostolicam sedem se denuntiavit iturum, quasi nos ad aliam missuri fueramus quidquid cum illo gestis actum fuisset. 26. Restabat itaque, ut apostolica sedes directis litteris instrueretur et gestis, quod ut fieret quanta potuimus celeritate curavimus. ecce quam longa fabula facti sumus Iudaeis et gentilibus et haereticis et quibuscumque etiam interioribus inimicis utinam sine interitu eorum, ex quibus ab haeresi liberatis iamque in aliquod unitatis lumen respirantibus catholicum nomen facimus odiosum, si eorum infirmitas non saltem hactenus consolabitur, ut episcopum non habeant quem se habere non posse iustis doloribus clamant. 27. Haec autem ideo scribenda existimavi ad eximietatem tuam ut, si te viderit quid eum monere debeas, non ignores. multo quippe consilium vitae aeternae quam praesentis sustentaculum tali inopi melius erogabis; illa namque elemosyna periculosius indiget cuius egestate etiam salva carne cor moritur. desinat cupere membris Christi aliorum collectis sanguine dominari. neque enim ex quo illic episcopus esse coepit, aliqua pertulit a Donatistis vel damna vel vulnera sive ipse sive quispiam presbyterorum aut clericorum aut quorumcumque hominum sub eius regimine positorum. sed ut talem pacem illic inveniret, quae ibi mala nostri pertulerint horroris est dicere; sufficiant ei plebes quas eum voluit deus sine scandalo accipere, quarum vel unam pie diligenterque regere magnum apud deum comparat praemium. sed haec iste non cogitat qui cupit cum blasphemia nominis Christi et letali gemitu hominum miserorum plebium numerositate gaudere non quaerens adquirere deo multos, sed se iactare per multos. alioquin non tanto molimine cuperet facere suos quos videt esse iam Christi. 28. Audiat a te ista obsecro te et quanta dominus dicenda donaverit non taceas homini, de cuius mentis cupio sanitate laetari. hanc enim prae illo aetatem geris, ut ei decenter exhibeas parentis affectum. si enim non nimis irato deo vivit, non in te contemnit consilia matris suae; scio te sic resurrexisse cum Christo, ut quae sursum sunt quaeras non quae super terram [Col.3:1]; quaerenti ergo episcopo quae sunt super terram dare non trepides consilium fidele. tu quippe in hoc saeculo quaeris deum, ille in ecclesia quaerit hoc saeculum. 29. Nam quod forte non crederes, si tibi alius indicasset, non dubitavit villas emere suo nomine, non ecclesiae, homo qui de monasterio episcopus factus est nihil habens praeter quod ipso die vestiebatur. quaeris fortassis unde emerit; absit ut dicam de illis rapinis quas se Fussalenses queruntur esse perpessos: illa quae ita rapiebantur continuo consumebantur; sed ei dederam propter suam sustentationem et eorum qui cum illo erant fundum Hipponiensis ecclesiae in eodem Fussalensi territorio constitutum. hunc locavit et quinquennii totius accepta pensione pretium quo emere posset invenit. quid autem de illo venditor apud imperatorem supplicatione conquestus sit et ad quod periculum causae devenerit quove modo defensor ecclesiae Fussalensis, apud quem se in custodia deploravit fuisse privata, ut episcopo possessionem vilissime venderet, vix laborantibus nobis poenam publicae damnationis evaserit, quia iam confessus fuerat se id episcopo iubente fecisse, quamvis iste non ut premeret ad vendendum sibi praedium sed propter aliam culpam, ut illa custodia teneretur, iussisse se diceret, si velim narrare, litterarum quis erit finis? 30. Emit et aliam possessiunculam etiam ipsam nomine suo, sed unde nescio; verum in ea quoque ipsa consortem suum, cum quo pro indiviso dimidium possidebat, per libellum eius in nostro iudicio sic tractasse dictus est, ut totos fructus iste caperet domumque communem tegulis exspoliaret. audivimus, probatum est nobis, iussimus reddi; fratris etiam sui litteras protulit nobis et in nostro iudicio recitate sunt scribentis, quod ipsam partem possessionis ut venderet ab episcopo fuisset oppressus nec pretium quantum debuerat accepisset. sed quia nobis non ostendebatur utrum re vera fratris eius esset epistola, inter praesentes utcumque finivimus litem, absenti servavimus actionem. 31. Sed iste illam possessionem alteri dedit cuius domum deiecit et omnia quibus constructa fuerat ad aedificium suum transtulit; apud quem hominem ego ipse intercessi, ne in nostro iudicio libello et querela sua gravaret episcopum. atque ita inter illos privata disceptatione causa finita est, ut ab isto pro eius parte praedium illud unde sua damna compensaret acciperet; et adhuc Fussalensibus dicit ex monacho pauperrimo episcopus: 'reddite mihi domum meam quam in vestro castello aedificavi,' quam non sibi utique sed ecclesiae construere videbatur; atque utinam de bono et de iustis oblationibus, non rapinis! nam nihil paene in illius domus fabrica esse perhibetur quod non de alieno ablatum esse doceatur et unde ablatum fuerit digito demonstretur. 32. Verum hinc alia quaestio est: illud ego apud tuam sinceritatem congemiscere volui, quod invenis in monasterio nutritus a nobis qui, quando eum suscepimus, nulla sua reliquit vel pauperibus distribuit vel in communem societatem contulit, nunc tamquam de villis suis domoque gloriatur; et non tantum ista vult facere sua sed ipsum etiam gregem Christi, dum vult esse de numero eorum, de quibus apostolus ait: quae sua sunt quaerunt, non quae Iesu Christi [Phil.2:21]; et quantum hoc vulnus sit cordis mei videt qui sanet. 33. Per Christum te obsecro et per eius misericordiam et iudicium, ut adiuves me in hac causa et pro ipso et pro ecclesia. ad hoc enim te instructam esse volui fortasse loquacius quam modestius, non ut eum oderis, sed potius ut ei veraciter et spiritaliter consulas quantum te dominus posse voluerit non eum sinendo nocere sibi. nam cui alteri gravius nocebit quam sibi, si perturbare et subvertere tendit ecclesiam quam Christo debet adquiri velle, non sibi? credo illum obtemperaturum sanctae benignitati tuae nec erecturum adversum te fastus suos, si fons misericordiarum exaudiat pro illo tam crebros et largos fletus meos.

Historical context:

Augustine solicits Fabiola's help with Antoninus of Fussala, whom he had unwisely and improperly made bishop of Fussala, about forty miles east of Hippo, at too young an age. Antoninus became an oppressive tyrant, and when his people complained and Augustine condemned him, he refused to step down and went to Rome to seek support from the pope, taking refuge with Fabiola in Rome. Augustine wrote about the situation to the new pope Celestine (ep.209) and wrote in much greater detail to Fabiola, purportedly asking her to give salutary advice to Antoninus, but also filling her in on all his crimes and machinations.

Scholarly notes:

1. The name of the man who carried the letter seems to have been removed, according to Divjak.
2. In his zeal to prevent the people from relapsing into Donatism, Augustine rushes the ordination of an untested man who is far too young according to canonical procedures then in effect, see William Frend, "Fussala: Augustine's crisis of credibility, (ep.20*)," Les Lettres de Saint Augustin decouvertes par Johannes Divjak (Paris: Etudes Augustiniennes, 1983), 254. The collection includes three essays on the events described in this letter to Fabiola and its value in understanding church governance in North Africa in this period.

Printed source:

Sancti Aureli Augustini Opera, Epistolae ex duobus codicibus nuper in lucem prolatae, ed. Johannes Divjak (Vienna: Tempsky, 1981), CSEL 88.94-112, ep.20.

Date:

422?