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 THE LETTERS

OF

ST. ISIDORE OF SEVILLE

 THE LETTERS
OF

ST. ISIDORE OF SEVILLE

Translated from the Latin

with an introduction

by

GORDON B. FORD, JR.

Northwestern University

second, revised edition

AMSTERDAM
ADOLF M. HAKKERT — PUBLISHER
1970
'&% '■n&o .118 VI Ha \VfO

ISBN 90-256-0791-8

Copyright 1970 by A. M. Hakkert, Amsterdam, Netherlands

All Rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or translated

in any form, by print, photoprint, microfilm or any other means without
written permission from the publisher

Printed in the Netherlands

 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction.7

Letter I Isidore to Bishop Leudefredus.11

Letter II Isidore to Archdeacon Braulio.19

Letter III Isidore to Archdeacon Braulio.21

Letter IV Isidore to Bishop Massona.23

Letter V Isidore to Helladius and other Bishops.29

Letter VI Isidore to General Claudius.31

Letter VII Isidore to Archdeacon Redemptus.39

Letter VIII Isidore to Bishop Eugenius.47

Letter IX Isidore to Bishop Braulio.51

Letter X Bishop Braulio to Isidore.53

Letter XI Isidore to Bishop Braulio.57

Letter XII Bishop Braulio to Isidore.59

Letter XIII Isidore to Bishop Braulio.67

Letter XIV Isidore to Sisebutus.69

18346^
t
 The Letters of St. Isidore of Seville

INTRODUCTION

Isidore of Seville was born about the year 560 A.D. He was the son of
Severianus, who probably came from Cartagena. About 600 Isidore succeed¬
ed his older brother Leander as bishop of Seville and remained bishop until
his death on 4 April 636. He presided over the Synod of Seville in 619
and the important Fourth Council of Toledo in 633.
Faustino Arevalo’s edition of the Epistolae in J. P. Migne, Patrologia
Latina 83, 893-914, was used for Letters I-XIII. Letter XIV was taken
from W. M. Lindsay’s edition of the Etymologiae (Oxford, 1911). Letters
II, III, IX, X, XI, XII, XIII, and XIV in this translation correspond to
Letters A, B, I, II, III, IV, V, and VI respectively in W. M. Lindsay’s edition
of the Etymologiae. Letter V: Isidore to Helladius and other Bishops was
also edited by W. Gundlach in the Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Episto¬
lae III (Berlin, 1892), p. 661. The Letters of St. Isidore have never before
been translated in their entirety.
Letter I: Isidore to Bishop Leudefredus, Letter VI: Isidore to General
Claudius, Letter VII: Isidore to Archdeacon Redemptus, and Letter VIII:
Isidore to Bishop Eugenius are considered to be spurious by M. C. Diaz y
Diaz, Index Scriptorum Latinorum Medii Aevi Hispanorum (Madrid, 1959),
nos. 134, 453. The letter to Leudefredus was probably written in Spain in
the eighth or ninth century. The letter to Claudius is of later date according
to P. J. Mullins, The Spiritual Life according to Isidore of Seville (Washing¬
ton, 1940), p. 19. The letter to Redemptus belongs to the twelfth century;
see J. Geiselmann, Die Abendmahlslehre an der Wende der christlichen
Spatantike zum Friihmittelalter (Munich, 1933), pp. 162-163. The letter to
Eugenius, which was considered genuine by J. Madoz in the Revista Espanola
de Teologia II (1942), p. 240, was considered suspect even by Arevalo.
The fourteen letters include twelve by Isidore himself, five of which are
to his closest friend, Bishop Braulio (II, III, IX, XI, XIII), and two from
Bishop Braulio to Isidore (X, XII). Much of what little we know about
Isidore’s life comes from his correspondence with Braulio, which is also an
extremely important source of information about the composition of the
Etymologies. Letter XIV, the preface to the Etymologies, indicates that the

7
 The Letters of St. Isidore of Seville

work was the product of many years of reading and was annotated with
excerpts from previous writers. In Letter X we learn that the work was
written at the request of Braulio, and Letter XIII informs us that Isidore
sent Braulio the manuscript of the Etymologies for correcting. Charles
H. Lynch in his important book, Saint Braulio, Bishop of Saragossa
(631-651): His Life and Writings (The Catholic University of America
Studies in Mediaeval History, New Series, Volume II, Washington, 1938),
pp. 33-54, dates the correspondence between Isidore and Braulio as follows:
Letter 3 620
Letter 2 620-624
Letter 10 625
Letter 11 632
Letter 12 632
Letter 13 632
Letter 9 634-636
I am very grateful to the following reviewers of the first edition (Catania,
1966) for their helpful suggestions: Myra L. Uhlfelder in The Classical
World LX (1966-1967), pp. 306-307; Karl Langosch in the Mittellateinisches
Jahrbuch IV (1967), p. 277; Jacques Fontaine in Latomus XXVII (1968),
pp. 453-454; R. Sanchez Redondo in Emerita XXXVI (1968), p. 191; and
Paul Antin in the Revue Beige de Philologie et d’Histoire XLVI (1968),
p. 955.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Jacques Fontaine, Isidore de Seville et la culture classique dans TEspagne

wisigothique (Paris, 1959).

M. C. Diaz y Diaz, Index Scriptorum Latinorum Medii Aevi Hispanorum

(Madrid, 1959), nos. 134, 453.

Clavis Patrum Latinorum2 (Brugge/The Hague, 1961), nos. 1209, 1210,

1211, 1223, 1224.

EVANSTON, 15 JUNE 1969 GORDON B. FORD, JR.

LETTERS
 Sancti Isidori Epistolae

SANCTI ISIDORI

HISPALENSIS EPISCOPI

EPISTOL/E.

EPISTOLA PRIMA.

ISIDORI LEUDEFREDO EPISCOPO.

Domino meo Dei servo Leudefredo episcopo Isidorus.

1. Perlectis sanctitatis tuse litteris, gavisus sum quod optatam salutem
tuam earum relatu cognovi, de iis autem quae in consequentibus insinuare
eloquii tui sermo studuit, gratias ago Deo, quod sollicitudinem officii pasto¬
ralis impendis, et qualiter ecclesiastica officia ordinentur perquiris. Et licet
omnia prudentiae vestrae sint cognita, tamen quia affectu fraterno me con¬
sulis, ex parte qua valeo expediam, et de omnibus Ecclesias gradibus, quid
ad quem pertineat eloquar.

2. Ad ostiarium namque pertinent claves ecclesiae, ut claudat et aperiat

templum Dei; et omnia quae sunt intus extraque custodiat, fideles recipiat,
excommunicatos et infideles rejiciat.

3. Ad acolythum pertinet praeparatio luminariorum in sacrario, ipse ce¬

reum portat, ipse suggesta, pro Eucharistia subdiaconis calicem praeparat.

4. Ad exorcistam pertinet exorcismos memoriter retinere, manus super

energumenos et catechumenos exorcizandos imponere.

5. Ad psalmistam pertinet officium canendi, dicere benedictiones, psalmos,

laudes, sacrificii responsoria, et quidquid pertinet ad cantandi peritiam.

6. Ad lectorem pertinet lectiones pronuntiare, et ea quae prophetae annun¬

tiaverunt populis praedicare.
7. Ad subdiaconum pertinet calicem et patenam ad altarium Christi
deferre, et Levitis tradere, eisque administrare; urceolum quoque, et aqua-

10
 The Letters of St. Isidore of Seville

LETTER I

ISIDORE TO BISHOP LEUDEFREDUS

Isidore to Bishop Leudefredus, my lord and the servant of God.

1. Having read the letter of your Holiness, I rejoiced that I learned of
your desired good health in its report. Concerning those things which the
language of your letter desired me to make known in a reply, I give thanks
to God because you show concern for pastoral office and ask how ecclesiasti¬
cal offices are ordained. And although all is known by your wisdom, yet
because you consult me with fraternal affection, I shall set them forth as
much as I can, and concerning all ranks of the Church, I shall express
what pertains to each.
2. To the sexton belong the keys of the church so that he may close and
open the temple of God and may protect everything which is inside and
outside, may receive the faithful, and may reject the excommunicated and the
unfaithful.
3. To the acolyte belongs the preparation of the candles in the sanctuary;
he carries the wax, he prepares the platforms and the wine-cup of the sub¬
deacon for the Eucharist.
4. To the exorcist belong the retaining in memory of exorcisms and
placing the hands over men possessed of the devil and catechumens to be
exorcized.
5. To the psalmist belongs the duty of singing, saying blessings, psalms,
praises, the responses of the Eucharist, and whatever pertains to the skill
of singing.
6. To the reader belong the reading of Scriptures and the preaching to the
people of those things which the prophets declared.
7. To the subdeacon belongs the duty of carrying the wine-cup and
bowl to the altar of Christ and giving them to the deacons and assisting
them; also holding the pitcher and wash-basin and towel and providing water

11
 Sancti Isidori Epistolce

manilem, et manutergium tenere, et episcopo, et presbyteris, et Levitis pro

lavandis ante altarium manibus aquam praebere.
8. Ad diaconum pertinet assistere sacerdotibus, et ministrare in omnibus
quae aguntur in sacramentis Christi, in baptismo scilicet, in chrismate, in
patena et calice; oblationes inferre, et disponere in altario, componere men¬
sam Domini, atque vestire, crucem ferre, praedicare Evangelium et Aposto¬
lum. Nam sicut lectoribus Vetus Testamentum, ita diaconibus Novum
praedicare praeceptum est; ad ipsum quoque pertinet officium piecum,
recitatio nominum; ipse praemonet aures ad Dominum habere, ipse hortatur
clamore, pacem ipse annuntiat.

9. Ad presbyterum pertinet sacramentum corporis et sanguinis Domini in

altari Domini conficere, orationes dicere, et benedicere populum.

10. Ad episcopum pertinet basilicarum consecratio, unctio altaris, con¬

fectio chrismatis, ipse praedicta officia et ordines ecclesiasticos constituit,
ipse sacras virgines benedicit; et dum praesit unusquisque in singulis, hic
tamen est in cunctis. Hi sunt ordines et ministeria clericorum, quae tamen
auctoritate pontificali in archidiaconi cura, et primicerii, ac thesaurarii
sollicitudine dividuntur.
11. Archidiaconus enim imperat subdiaconibus et Levitis, ad quem ista
ministeria pertinent: ordinatio vestiendi altaris a Levitis, cura incensi, et
sacrificii deferendi ad altare, cura subdiaconorum de subinferendis ad altare
in sacrificio necessariis, sollicitudo quis Levitarum Apostolum et Evangelium
legat, quis preces dicat, seu responsorium in Dominicis diebus, aut solem-
nitatum. Sollicitudo quoque parochitanorum, et ordinatio, et jurgia ad ejus
pertinent curam; pro reparandis dioecesanis basilicis ipse suggerit sacerdoti;
ipse inquirit parochias cum jussione episcopi, et ornamenta, vel res basilica¬
rum parochitanarum, gesta libertatum ecclesiasticarum episcopo idem defert.

12. Collectam pecuniam de communione ipse accipit, et episcopo ipse

defert, et clericis partes proprias ipse distribuit. Ab archidiacono nuntiantur
episcopo excessus diaconorum; ipse denuntiat sacerdoti in sacrario jejuniorum
dies, atque solemnitatum; ab ipso publice in ecclesia praedicantur. Quando
autem archidiaconus absens est, vicem ejus diaconus sequens adimplet.

12
 The Letters of St. Isidore of Seville

to the bishop and presbyters and deacons for washing their hands before the
altar.
8. To the deacon belongs the duty of assisting the priests and assisting
in everything which is done in the sacraments of Christ, that is, in baptism,
in the anointing, in the bowl and wine-cup; bringing in offerings and placing
them on the altar, prepering and covering the table of the Lord, bearing the
cross, preaching the Gospel and the Apostle Paul. For just as it is prescribed
to the readers to preach the Old Testament, so it is prescribed to the deacons
to preach the New Testament: to him also belong the duty of prayers, the
recitation of names; he advises people to have ears for the Lord; he exorts
by shouting; he preaches peace.
9. To the presbyter belong the performance of the sacrament of the body
and the blood of the Lord at the altar of the Lord, saying prayers, and
blessing the people.
10. To the bishop belong the consecration of churches, the anointing of
the altar, the performance of the anointing. He establishes the aforesaid
duties and ecclesiastical orders; he blesses the sacred virgins; and whereas
each one is present in individual duties, he is present in all of them. These
are the orders and the duties of the clerics, which are divided by episcopal
authority among the archdeacon and the secretary and the treasurer.
11. For the subdeacons and deacons are under the authority of the arch¬
deacon, to whom the following duties belong: the responsibility for the
covering of the altar by the deacons, the care of bringing incense and the
Eucharist to the altar, the care of the subdeacons in bringing to the altar
those things which are necessary in the Eucharist, the care as to who of the
deacons is to read the Apostle and Gospel, recite prayers or the response
on Sundays or on holidays. Also the concern and responsibility for parish¬
ioners and the settlement of disputes belong to his care; he gives suggestions
to the priest for repairing the churches of the diocese; he inspects the parish¬
es at the order of the bishop and defers to the bishop the decorations or
property of the churches of the parish and matters of ecclesiastical liberties.
12. He receives the money collected from the congregation and gives it to
the bishop and distributes to the clerics their own shares. Excesses of deacons
are reported to the bishop by the archdeacon; he tells the priest in the sanc¬
tuary the days of fasting and the holidays; they are publicly announced by
him in church. When the archdeacon is away, the next deacon fills his place.

13
 Sancti Isidori Epistolce

13. Ad primicerium pertinent acolythi, et exorcistae, psalmistae, atque

lectores, signum quoque dandum pro officio clericorum, pro vitae honestate,
et officium meditandi, et peragendi sollicitudo. Lectiones, benedictiones,
psalmum, laudes, offertorium, et responsoria quis clericorum dicere debeat;
ordo quoque et modus psallendi in choro pro solemnitate et tempore, ordina¬
tio pro luminariis deportandis; si quid etiam necessarium pro reparatione
basilicarum, quae sunt in urbe, ipse denuntiat sacerdoti; epistolas episcopi
pro diebus jejuniorum parochitanis per ostiarios iste dirigit; clericos quos
delinquere cognoscit iste distringit: quos vero emendare non valet, eorum
excesssus ad agnitionem episcopi defert. Basilicarios ipse constituit, et matri¬
culas ipse disponit. Quando autem primicerius absens est, ea, quae praedicta
sunt, ille exsequitur, qui ei aut loco est proximus, aut eruditione in his
expediendis intentus.

14. Ad thesaurarium pertinet basilicarii et ostiarii ordinatio, incensi cura,

chrismatis cura conficiendi, baptisterii ordinandi, praeparatio sacrificii de his
quae immolanda sunt; ad eum venient de parochiis pro chrismate; cereos et
oblationes altaris ipse accipit a populo; ipse colligit per ecclesias cereos in
festivitatibus. Ad eum pertinent ornamenta, et vestimenta altaris, quidquid
in usu templi est, sub ejus ordinatione existit, vela et ornamenta basilicarum
quae in urbe sunt, et non habent presbyterum, ipse custodit. De candelis
autem et cereolis quotidianis quidquid superest in basilicis, basilicarius per
singulos menses huic deportat. Ex quibus thesaurarius dat quartam basilicario,
tres reliquas partes divident aequaliter sibi cum primicerio et presbytero, qui
missam celebrat in eamdem basilicam.

15. Ad oeconomum pertinet reparatio basilicarum, atque constructio,

actiones ecclesiae in judiciis vel in proferendo, vel in respondendo, tributi
quoque acceptio, et rationes eorum quae inferuntur. Cura agrorum et culturae
vinearum, causae possessionum, et servitialium stipendia clericorum, vidua¬
rum, et devotarum pauperum; dispensatio vestimenti, et victus domesticorum
clericorum, servitialium quoque, et artificum, quae omnia cum jussu et arbitrio
sui episcopi ab eo implentur.

16. Haec sunt quae vel a majoribus per officiorum ordines distributa sunt,

14
 The Letters of St. Isidore of Seville

13. To the secretary belong the responsibility for the acolytes and exor¬
cists, psalmists, and readers, also the giving of the sign of the Cross for the
office of the clerics and for honesty of life; the duty of meditating and
the care of acting; the care as to who of the clerics should recite Scriptures,
blessings, psalms, praises, the offertory, and responses; also the order and
way of chanting in the choir in accordance with the solemnity and the time;
the responsibility for carrying the candles; also he reports to the priest
whatever is necessary for the repair of the churches which are in the city;
he sends through the sextons letters of the bishop for the days of fasting of
the parish; he punishes the clerics who he knows are delinquent; but he
brings the excesses of those whom he cannot correct to the attention of the
bishop. He appoints the custodians and is in charge of the registers. When
the secretary is away, he who is closest to him in rank or is skilled by
erudition in accomplishing these things performs the above-mentioned duties.
14. To the treasurer belong the responsibility for the custodian and the
sexton, the care of incense, the care of consecrating the sacrament of the
anointing, the care of arranging the baptistery, the preparation of the
Eucharist from what is to be offered; it will come to him from the parishes
for the anointing; he receives wax tapers and the offerings of the altar from
the people; he gathers wax tapers through the churches on days of festivals.
To him pertain the decorations and vestiments of the altar; whatever is
used by the church is under his authority; he has custody of the coverings
and decorations of the churches which are in the city and do not have a
presbyter. The custodian brings to him each month what is left over from
the candles and daily candlesticks in the churches. The treasurer gives a
fourth to the custodian, the three remaining parts are divided equally with
the secretary and the presbyter, who celebrates the mass in the same church.
15. To the steward belong the repair and construction of the churches,
actions of the church both in initiating and in answering lawsuits, also
the receipt of tribute, and accounts of those things which are brought in;
the care of fields and the cultivation of vineyards; matters concerning prop¬
erty and the salaries of clerics who are servants, of widows, and of poor
devout women; the distribution of clothing and of food for domestic clerics
and also for clerics who are servants and craftsmen, all of which things are
accomplished by him at the order and decision of his bishop.
16. These are the things which are assigned by the elders among the

15
 Sancti lsidori Epistolce

vel consuetudine ecclesiarum in unumquemque servata. Nec aliquid ex his

nostri judicii deputes, nisi quod aut ratio docuit, aut vetustatis antiquitas
sanxit.
17. Patrem autem monasterii, unde innotuistis, illum praeferri oportet,
quem sancta vita et probitas morum commendat, quique dum subjectus ex¬
stitit, fraus in illo non fuit. Huic juste gratia cumulatur, dicente Domino:
Quia in pauca fuisti fidelis, in multa te constituam (Matth. xxv, 21). Qui
vero adhuc sub regimine positus improbe vixit, et fratribus fraudem facere
non pertimuit, hic praelatus licenter ac libere majora et deteriora committet,
dum se in potestate et libertate aspexerit.

18. De talibus enim dicit Apostolus: Sed vos injuriam facitis, et hoc fra¬
tribus. An nescitis quia iniqui regnum Dei non possidebunt (/ Cor. vi, 8)?
Sed nobis ista sufficiat dicere tibi, quod Deo dignum existimas adimple.
Post haec autem precari tuam sanctitatem non desino, ut pro me intercessor
apud Dominum existas, ut, quia meo vitio lapsus sum, per te remissionem
consequar peccatorum.

16
 The Letters of St. Isidore of Seville

ranks of offices or are preserved for each one by the custom of churches.
You should not think that any of them results from our decision unless
either reason taught it or the antiquity of age sanctioned it.
17. But it is fitting that he whom a holy life and goodness of character
commend, in whom there was no deceit when he was under authority, be
preferred as the father of the monastery, from which you became known.
On him is grace justly heaped, for the Lord says: «Because you have been
faithful over a few things, I shall make you ruler over many things.»
(Matthew 25, 21). But a prelate who lived evilly, when still placed under
authority, and was not afraid to be deceitful to his brothers, will commit
greater and worse things willingly and freely when he beholds himself in
power and liberty.
18. For the Apostle says about such persons: «But you do harm even to
your brothers. Do you not know that the unrighteous will not possess
the kingdom of God?» (I Corinthians 6, 8). But let it be sufficient for me
to say this to you: perform what you think is worthy of God. After this
I do not cease to pray to your Sanctity that you may be an intercessor with
the Lord for me so that I may obtain through you remission of my sins
because I have slipped on account of my vice.

17
 Sancti Isidori Epistolce

EPISTOLA II.

ISIDORI BRAULIONI ARCHIDIACONO.

In Christo charissimo, et dilectissimo filio, Braulioni archidiacono, Isidorus.

1. Dum amici litteras, charissime fili, suscipis, eas pro amico amplecti
non moreris. Ipsa est enim secunda inter absentes consolatio, ut si non est
praesens qui diligitur, pro eo litterae amplexentur. Direximus tibi annulum
propter nostrum animum, et pallium pro amicitiarum nostrarum amictu, unde
antiquitas hoc traxit vocabulum. Ora igitur pro me, inspiret tibi Dominus ut
merear adhuc in vita videre te. Et quem moestificasti abeundo, aliquando
iterum laetifices te praesentando. Quaternionem regularum per Maurentionem
primicerium direximus. De caetero autem opto tuam semper cognoscere salu¬
tem, dilectissime mi domine, et charissime fili.

18
 The Letters of St. Isidore of Seville

LETTER II

ISIDORE TO ARCHDEACON BRAULIO

Isidore to Archdeacon Braulio, dearest and most beloved son in Christ.

1. When you receive a letter of a friend, dearest son, you should not delay
to embrace it as a friend. For it is a fine consolation among the absent that
if one who is loved is not present, a letter may be embraced instead. I sent
you a ring on account of my love and a cloak as a cover of our friendship,
from which word for cloak (amictus) the ancients derived the word for
friendship (amicitia). Therefore, pray for me. May the Lord inspire you so
that I may deserve to see you again in my lifetime. May you some day make
happy again by your presence one whom you made sad by your departure.
I sent you by Maurentio, my chief secretary, a quire of rules. Moreover, I
desire always to know of your health, my most beloved lord and dearest son.

19
 Sancti lsidori Epistolce

EPISTOLA III.

ISIDORI BRAULIONI ARCHIDIACONO.

In Christo charissimo et dilectissimo fratri Braulioni archidiacono Isidorus.

1. Quia non valeo te frui oculis carnis, perfruar saltem alloquiis, ut ipsa
amici sit consolatio incolumem litteris cognoscere quem cupio videre. Utrum¬
que bonum esset, si liceret; sed vel mente de te reficiar, si corporali obtutu
non valeo. Dum pariter essemus, postulavi te, ut mihi decadem sextam sancti
Augustini transmitteres; posco ut quoquomodo me cognitum ei facias.

2. Misimus vobis Synonymorum libellum, non pro id quod alicujus

utilitatis sit, sed quia eum volueras. Commendo autem hunc puerum, com¬
mendo et memetipsum, ut ores pro me misero, quia valde langueo et in¬
firmitatibus carnis, et culpa meritis. In utroque tuum praesidium posco, quia
per me nihil mereor; de caetero peto ut dum vita comite portitori ad nos
regredi fuerit opportunitas, vestris nos jubeatis laetificare eloquiis.

20
 The Letters of St. Isidore of Seville

LETTER III

ISIDORE TO ARCHDEACON BRAULIO

Isidore to Archdeacon Braulio, dearest and most beloved brother in Christ.

1. Because I cannot enjoy your presence with my eyes in the flesh, may
I at least enjoy your letters so that it may be a consolation of a friend to
learn through a letter that the one whom I want to see is well. Both would
be good if it were permitted; but may I be refreshed by you in mind if
I cannot have the sight of your person. When we were together, I asked
you to send me the sixth decad of St. Augustine. I ask that in some way
you make me acquainted with him.
2. I sent you a book of synonyms, not because it may be of some use
but because you wanted it. I commend, moreover, this boy and I commend
myself, so that you may pray for me in my misery because I am very weak
both with infirmities of the flesh and with fault of mind. In both I ask your
protection because I deserve nothing on my own merits. Moreover, I ask that
when there is an opportunity for a messenger to return to me in my lifetime,
you may bid me to rejoice in your letter.

21
 Sancti Isidori Epistolce

EPISTOLA IV.

ISIDORI MASSON/E EPISCOPO.

Domino sancto meritisque beato Massonae episcopo Isidorus.

1. Veniente ad nos famulo vestro viro religioso Nicetio, litteras honorifi¬
centia vestrae nobis detulit, in quibus agnitio salutis vestrae nihilominus
perpatuit maxime per eum portitorem, cujus lingua epistola vivens erat.
Unde pro salute vestra gratiarum actionibus Deo nostro repensis, in quantum
valuit mediocritas nostra vice inquisitionis studio poscentes meritorum vestro¬
rum suffragiis divinis vos commendare conspectibus.
2. Verum quod sequenter in epistolis venerabilis fraternitas vestra innotuit,
nulla est in hujusmodi sententiis decretorum diversitas intelligenda, quod
alibi legitur in lapsu corporali restaurandum honoris gradum post poeniten¬
tiam, alibi, post hujusmodi delictum, nequaquam reparandum antiqui ordinis
meritum.
3. Haec enim diversitas hoc modo distinguitur: illos enim ad pristinos
officii gradus redire canon praecipit, quos poenitentiae praecessit satisfactio,
vel digna peccatorum confessio; at contra ii qui neque a vitio corruptionis
emendantur, atque hoc ipsum carnale delictum quod admittunt etiam vindi¬
care quadam superstitiosa temeritate nituntur, nec gradum utique honoris,
nec gratiam communionis recipiunt.
4. Ergo ita est utraque dirimenda sententia, ut necesse sit illos restaurari
in locum honoris, qui per poenitentiam reconciliationem meruerunt divinae
pietatis. Illi neque immerito consequuntur ademptae dignitatis statum, qui per
emendationem poenitentiae recepisse noscuntur vitae remedium. Id enim, ne
forte magis ambiguum sit, divinae auctoritatis sententia confirmetur.

5. Ezechiel enim propheta sub typo praevaricatricis Jerusalem ostendit post

poenitentiae satisfactionem pristinum posse restaurari honorem. Confundite
(inquit), o Juda, et porta ignominiam tuam. Et post paululum. Et tu, inquit,
et filice tuce revertimini ad antiquitatem vestram (Ezech. xvi, 52). Quod dixit,
confundere, ostendit post confusionem, id est, peccati opus, debere quemque

22
 The Letters of St. Isidore of Seville

LETTER IV

ISIDORE TO BISHOP MASSONA

Isidore to Bishop Massona, a holy lord blessed in merits.

1. When your servant Nicetius, a religious man, came to me, he brought
to me the letter of your honor, in which the knowledge of your health was
especially clear through that messenger, in whose speech the letter was living.
Whence acts of thanks are repaid to our God for your health to the extent
that our mediocrity could by reason of approval of your merits commend to
divine sight you who ask me questions with eagerness of inquiry.
2. But concerning what your venerable fraternity made known in the
letter, no difference of decrees should be understood in judgments of this
kind, because somewhere it is said that the rank of honor should be restored
in a lapse of the body after penitence, whereas elsewhere it is said that the
merit of old rank should by no means be restored after a sin of this kind.
3. For this difference is determined in this way: the canon bids
those whom the satisfaction of penitence or worthy confession of sins pre¬
ceded to return to the old ranks of office; but on the other hand, those who
are not corrected from the vice of corruption and strive with some super¬
stitious temerity even to defend this very carnal sin which they admit,
receive neither a rank of honor nor the grace of communion.
4. Therefore, each judgment should so be separated that it be necessary
for those to be restored to a place of honor who through repentance have
deserved the reconciliation of divine piety. Those who are known to have
obtained the improvement of their lives through the correction of repentance
do not undeservedly obtain the status of their deprived dignity. Let this
be confirmed by the judgment of divine authority lest by chance it be
more uncertain.
5. For the prophet Ezekiel with the example of Jerusalem as a sinner
pointed out that its old honor could be restored after the satisfaction of
penitence: «Be confounded,» he said, «0 Juda, and bear your shame.» And
a little afterward he said: «You and your daughters return to your former
estate» (Ezekiel 16, 52). What he said, «be confounded,» indicates that after

23
 Sancti Isidori Epistolce

erubescere, et pro admissis sceleribus verecundam frontem humi prostratam

demergere, pro eo quod dignum confusionis perpetraverit opus.

6. Deinde praecipit ut portet ignominiam, id est, dehonorationem nominis,

sive dignitatis, et revertatur ad antiquitatem suam. Ergo dum quisque post
opera confusionis suae confunditur, atque ignominiam depositionis suae cum
humilitate portaverit, revocari secundum prophetam ad priorem statum
poterit. Item Joannes evangelista angelo Ephesi Ecclesiae inter caetera simile
quiddam scribit: Memor esto unde cecideris, et age poenitentiam, et prima
opera tua fac, alioquin veniam tibi, et movebo candelabrum tuum de loco
suo (Apoc. ii, 5).

7. In angelo Ecclesiae praepositum utique, id est, sacerdotem ostendit,

juxta Malachiam, qui dicit: Labia sacerdotis custodiunt scientiam, et lex re¬
quiritur ex ore ejus, quia angelus Domini exercituum est (Malach. ii, 7).
Praepositus ergo lapsus in vitium per evangelistam monetur, ut memor sit
unde ceciderit, et agat poenitentiam, et prima opera faciat, ut non moveatur
candelabrum ejus.

8. Nam candelabrum doctrina sacerdotalis, vel honor potestatis, quem

gestat, intelligitur, juxta quod scriptum est apud Samuelem in damnationem
Heli: Oculi ejus caligaverant, nec poterant videre lucernam Dei, antequam
exstingueretur (I Reg. iii, 2); lucerna quippe Dei fuerat, quod dignitate
sacerdotali pollens, justitiae claritate fulgebat; exstinctam propheta asserit,
dum ob scelera filiorum sacerdotii potestatem meritorumque lumen amisit.
Candelabrum ergo, sive lucerna sacerdotis (quae intelliguntur charismata
honoris) tunc penitus juxta Joannem exstinguitur, vel movetur, quando post
delicti casum, neglecta poenitentia, admissa scelera non deflentur.

9. Non enim dicit: Pro eo quod cecidisti, commovebo candelabrum tuum;

sed, nisi poenitentiam egeris, movebo candelabrum tuum. Ergo ad quemque
praepositum peccantem, si praevenerit poenitentia delicti, utique sequitur
venia, et reparatio meriti. Et in Proverbiis scriptum est: Qui abscondit scelera
sua, non dirigetur; qui vero confessus fuerit, et dereliquerit ea, misericor¬
diam consequetur (Proverb. xxviii, 13).

24
 The Letters of St. Isidore of Seville

shame, that is, after a deed of sin each one should blush and for sins which
he has admitted cast a shameful face prostrate on the ground because he
committed a deed worthy of shame.
6. Then he orders that one should bear his shame, that is, dishonor of his
name or of his dignity, and return to his former estate. Therefore, when
each one is ashamed after the deeds of his shame and bears the shame of his
position with humility, he will be able to be recalled to his former estate
knowledge, and the law is sought from his mouth because he is the angel
of the church of Ephesus a certain simile among other things: «Be mindful
whence you have fallen and be repentant and do your first works; otherwise
I shall come to you and shall move your candlestick from its place» (Rev¬
elation 2, 5).
7. By the angel he is referring to the head of the church, that is, the
priest, in accordance with Malachi, who says: «The lips of the priest preserve
knowledge, and the law is sought from his mouth because he is the angel
of the Lord of hosts» (Malachi 2, 7). Thus a priest who has fallen into
vice is warned by the evangelist so that he may be mindful of whence he
has fallen and be repentant and do the first works so that his candlestick
may not be moved.
8. For by the candlestick is meant the doctrine of the priest or the honor
of the power which he bears, according to what is written in Samuel in
condemnation of Eli: «His eyes had grown dim and could not see the lamp
of God before it was extinguished» (I Samuel 3, 2); it was the lamp of God
because strong with priestly dignity, it shone with the clarity of justice;
the prophet asserts that it was extinguished when he lost the power of the
priesthood and the light of his merits on account of the sins of his sons.
Thus the candlestick or lamp of the priest (which are considered divine
gifts of honor) is completely extinguished according to John or moved when
after the lapse into sin repentance is neglected and the admitted sins are
not lamented.
9. For he does not say: «Because you fell I shall move your candlestick,»
but «unless you are repentant, I shall move your candlestick.» Thus if repen¬
tance of the sin comes to each sinning priest, then pardon and restoration
of merit follow. And it is written in Proverbs: «He who covers his sins shall
not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them shall obtain mercy»
(Proverbs 28, 13).

25
 Sancti Isiclori Epistolcc

10. Nam et ipsum, quod canonum censura post septem annos remeare
pcenitentem in statum pristinum praecipit, non ex electione proprii arbitrii
sancti Patres, sed potius ex sententia divini judicii sanxerunt. Nam legitur
quod Maria soror Moysi prophetissa, dum obtrectationis adversus Moysen
incurrisset delictum, illico stigmate leprae perfusa est; cumque peteret Moyses
ut emundaretur, praecepit eam Deus extra castra septem diebus egredi, atque
post emendationem rursus eam in castra admitti (Num. xii).

11. Maria ergo, soror Aaron, caro intelligitur sacerdotis, quas dum super¬
bis dedita, sordidissimis corruptionum contagiis maculatur, extra castra sep¬
tem diebus, id est, extra collegium sanctaee Ecclesiae septem annis projicitur,
qui post emundationem vitiorum loci, sive pristinae dignitatis recipit meritum.

12. Ecce in quantum valui, concilii Ancyritani antiquam et plenam aucto¬

ritate sententiam sacris testimoniis plane explanavi, ostendens eum posse
restaurari in proprio honore, qui per poenitentiae satisfactionem novit propria
delicta deflere: qui vero neque luget quae gessit, sed lugenda sine ullo pudore
religionis, vel timore judicii divini committit, eum nullo modo posse ad
pristinum gradum restaurari.
13. In finem autem epistolae hujus hoc adjiciendum putavi, ut quotiescun-
que in gestis conciliorum discors sententia invenitur, illius concilii magis te¬
neatur sententia, cujus antiquior aut potior exstat auctoritas. Datum pridie
Kal. Mart., anno tertio regni domini nostri gloriosissimi Witerici regis.

26
 The Letters of St. Isidore of Seville

10. For the holy fathers, not from the choice of their own judgment, but
rather from the decision of divine judgment, consecrated him because the
decree of the canons prescribes that the repentant man return to his former
estate after seven years. For it is written that the prophetess Maria, the
sister of Moses, when she committed the crime of detraction against Moses,
was inflicted with the stigma of leprosy; and when Moses asked that she be
purified, God ordered her to go outside the camp for seven days and ordered
that she be admitted to the camp again after correction (Numbers 12).
11. Thus Maria, the sister of Aaron, is considered the flesh of a priest.
When, given to pride, she is stained with the most sordid contagion of cor¬
ruption, she is cast outside the camp for seven days, that is, outside the body
of the Holy Church for seven years. After the purification of his vices the
priest receives the merit of his rank or of his former dignity.
12. I have, then, insofar as I could, fully explained by holy testimony the
old and authoritative opinion of the council of Ancyra, showing that he who
through the satisfaction of repentance knows how to lament his own sins
can be restored to his own honor; but he who does not lament what he has
committed but commits grievous things without any reverence for religion or
fear of divine judgment cannot be restored to his former estate in any way.
13. But at the end of this letter I thought that I should add that as often
as a discordant decision is found in the acts of councils, the opinion of that
council should be held whose authority is older or stronger. Written on the
last day of February in the third year of the reign of our most glorious lord,
King Witteric.

27
 Sancti lsidori Epistolce

EPISTOLA V.

ISIDORI HELLADIO ALIISQUE EPISCOPIS.

Dominis meis et Dei servis Helladio caeterisque qui cum eo sunt coadunati

episcopis Isidorus.
I Afficimur lacrymis, compungimur stimulis peccatorum nostrorum, cum
ruinam fratris agnoscimus, quia sicut de salute laetitia, ita de periculo animae
gemitus est. Cognovimus enim Hispalensem Cordubensis ecclesiae sacerdotem
in pontificali culmine carnali labe dilapsum, et de altitudine honoris in pro¬
fundo flagitiorum flenda ruina demersum; et quia vobis sollicitudo pastoralis
incumbit, vestroque judicio delinquentium errores discutiendos censura divina
disposuit, dicens: Sacerdotes stabunt in judiciis meis, et judicabunt inter
sanctum et pollutum (Ezech, XL1V, 24), hanc igitur vocem Domini cognos¬
centes, cum effusione lacrymarum vestram sanctitatem deposcimus, ut idem
lapsus sancto coetui vestro praesentatus, agnito a vobis confessionis eloquio,
synodali sententia a gradu sacerdotii deponatur.

2. Melius est illi ut temporaliter judicetur a vobis, quam aeterno damnetur

judicio. Levior est illi praesentis temporis ignominia, quam futura gehennae
tormenta. Sciat enim se amisisse nomen, et officium sacerdotis, qui meritum
perdidit sanctitatis. Quapropter judicii vestri decreto poenitentiae perpetim
flagitia perpetrata lamentatione deploret; plangat sacerdotii cultum, quem
male vivendo perdidit; lugeat animae suae statum, quem tanto putredinis
coeno coinquinavit; fortasse porriget illi manum quandoque Spiritus sanctus,
ut per dignam satisfactionem mereatur peccatorum remissionem. Pro me
quoque deprecor, sanctissimi sacerdotes, ut pietatem divinam exorare dig¬
nemini, ut immemor malorum meorum, quibus et ipse collapsus sum, a pecca¬
torum vinculo, quibus huc usque sum colligatus, dissolvat, et fructum indul¬
gentiae vestris meritis tribuat.

28
 The Letters of St. Isidore of Seville

LETTER V

ISIDORE TO HELLADIUS AND OTHER BISHOPS

Isidore to Helladius and all other bishops who are united with him, my
lords and the servants of God.
1. I am moved to tears, I am struck with the goads of my sins when
I see the ruin of a brother, because just as there is joy for salvation of the
soul, so there is lamentation for danger to it. For I know that the priest of
Seville of the church of Cordova at the episcopal summit slipped with a
carnal sin and submerged from a height of honor to the depth of sins
with mournful ruin; and because the pastoral care falls on you, and a divine
decree ordained that the errors of those delinquent should be punished with
your judgment, saying/ «Priests will stand in my judgments and will judge
between the holy and profane» (Ezekiel 44, 24);/ihus recognizing this voice
of the Lord, with a shedding of tears, I ask your Holiness that the same
sinner be presented to your holy company, that the speech of confession be
acknowledged by you, and that he be deposed from the rank of priesthood by
synodal opinion.
2. It is better for him that he be judged temporally by you than be
condemned to eternal judgment. Easier for him are the ignominies of the
present time than the future torments of hell. For let him who has lost the
merit of sanctity know that he has lost the name and office of a priest.
Therefore, by a decree of your judgment, let him forever deplore with the
lamentation of repentance the sins he has committed, let him mourn the
honor of the priesthood which he has lost by living evilly; let him mourn
the condition of his soul which he defiled with such filth of putridity;
perhaps the Holy Spirit shall extend to him a hand some time so that he may
obtain remission of sins through worthy satisfaction. I pray for myself also,
most holy priests, that you deign to beseech divine piety that it, unmindful
of my evil deeds with which I also have slipped, free me from the chain
of sins to which I have been tied up to now and grant me the fruit of
indulgence by reason of your merits.

29
 Sancti Isidori Epistolce

EPISTOLA VI.

ISIDORI CLAUDIO DUCI.

Dilecto in Christo filio Claudio duci Isidorus.

1. Catholicae strenuitatis tuae suscipiens schedulas, Domini nostri Jesu
Christi omnipotentiam collaudamus, qui de prosperis tuis successibus et
triumphis Ecclesiae sanctae suae misericorditer in praesenti de inimicis trium¬
phare largitur. Te quidem me piis urgente petitionibus, tuis inquisitionibus
respondere, laetor in Domino, quia ea quae sunt de fide catholica, sollicite
perquiris. Ad id ergo quod objecisti primo, praetermissis plurimis rationibus,
tibi rationabiliter ac simpliciter respondemus.

2. Sic nos scimus praeesse Ecclesiae Christi, quatenus Romano pontifici

reverenter, humiliter et devote, tanquam Dei vicario, prae caeteris Ecclesiae
praelatis specialius nos fateamur debitam in omnibus obedientiam exhibere.
Contra quod quemquam procaciter venientem, tanquam haereticum, a con¬
sortio fidelium omnino decernimus alienum. Hoc vero non ex electione
proprii arbitrii, sed potius auctoritate Spiritus sancti habemus firmum,
ratumque credimus, et tenemus.
3. Si vero (quod absit) infidelis sit non manifeste, in nullo laeditur
obedientia nostra, nisi praeceperit contra fidem. Praeterea pravis praelatis
obediendum in jussionibus bonis Dominus praecipit, ubi dicit: Quod dicunt,
facite, eorum prava opera praecipit evitanda, cum subjungit: Quod autem
faciunt, nolite facere (Matth. xxiii, 3). In dubiis etiam praeceptis, pravis
praelatis obediendum est, quandiu eos Ecclecia toleraverit, nisi ex manifesta
praelati infamatione in praecepto juste possit haeresis suspicio provenire. De
similibus quoque illaqueationibus idem videtur. In praeceptis manifeste malis
nullatenus est obediendum, etiam bonis praelatis, quia quandoque Deus occul¬
tat majori quod revelat minori.

4. Item nobis insinuare curasti quorumdam Graecorum objectionem, quod

in Nicaena vel Constantinopolitana synodo sub anathemate prohibitum legitur
in Symbolo, et in illo sancti Athanasii de fide catholica diminuere vel addere

30
 The Letters of St. Isidore of Seville

LETTER VI

ISIDORE TO GENERAL CLAUDIUS

Isidore to General Claudius, beloved son in Christ.

1. Receiving the letter of your Catholic strength, I praise the omnipotence
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who through your prosperous successes and
triumphs mercifully bestows upon his Holy Church the glory of triumphing
over its enemies at the present time. When you urge me with pious requests
to reply to your questions, I rejoice in the Lord because you eagerly inquire
about that which pertains to the Catholic faith. Thus to that which you
first mentioned, I shall reply rationally and simply to you, omitting many
things.
2. Thus I know that I am at the head of the Church of Christ as long as
I confess to show due obedience reverently, humbly, and devotedly in every¬
thing to the Roman pontiff in particular, as the vicar of God, before all
other prelates of the Church. On the other hand, I decide that someone
coming boldly as a heretic is completely foreign to the body of the faithful.
I hold this belief firmly and consider it valid not from the choice of my
own judgment but rather with the authority of the Holy Spirit.
3. But if (may it not be) he is not manifestly unfaithful, our obedience
is harmed in no way unless he teaches against the faith. Besides, the Lord
prescribes that bad prelates should be obeyed in good orders when he says:
«Do what they say»; he orders that their bad works should be avoided when
he adds: «But do not do what they do» (Matthew 23, 3). Bad prelates should
also be obeyed in doubtful orders as long as the Church tolerates them
unless a suspicion of heresy can justly result from the prelate’s manifest
defamation in his teaching. Concerning similar situations the same also
appears true. In manifestly bad orders even good prelates should by no means
be obeyed because God sometimes hides to the greater what he reveals to
the lesser.
4. Likewise, you took care to make known to me the objection of some
Greeks that in the synod of Nicea and Constantinople it is said that it
was prohibited under pain of anathema in the Apostles’ Creed and in that

31
 Sancti Isidori Epistolce

aliquid; atque ideo quidam ex Graecis Latinos proterve nituntur reprehendere,

quod in professione sancte fidei Deo corde et ore decantent: Qui ex Patre
Filioque procedit, cum in praedictis conciliis fuerit positum ex Patre procedit,
et sancta Romana Ecclesia ex Patre Filioque Spiritum sanctum procedere

approbat atque credit.

5. Quae supradicta prohibitio, si subtiliter et recte perspictur, omnis am¬

biguitas removetur; cum enim addere, seu diminuere prohibuit, de re contraria
intellexit, cui sententiae illud Apostoli congruit: Si quis vobis aliud evangeli-
zaverit, prceter id quod accepistis a nobis, anathema sit (Galat. i, 9). Et
Joannes Apostolus ait: Si quis venerit ad vos, aliam doctrinam afferens, non
eum recipiatis, neque ei ave dixeritis (II Joan, i, 10). Cum dixit aliam doctri¬
nam, haeresim praecavendo, absque ambiguitate de doctrinae contrarietate
nobis voluit demonstrare.

6. Plura quidem alia praedicaverunt apostoli, martyres et Ecclesiae ortho¬

doxi doctores; sed quia non contraria, prohibitio apostolica hujusmodi non
intelligitur contraire, eo quod sint ad unum veritatis finem tendentia. Cum
ergo de similibus idem constet esse judicium, patet procul dubio praedictarum
sententiarum prohibitiones de contrarietate haereseum esse recipiendas.

7. Spiritum vero sanctum esse Patris, et Filii, et a Patre, et a Filio mitti,

atque procedere ab utroque, sanctae Scripturae testimoniis clarius demonstre¬
mus. Apostoli verba sunt haec: Si spiritus ejus, qui suscitavit Jesum a mortuis,
habitat in vobis, et caetera (Colos, ii, 12). Et alibi: Misit Deus Spiritum Filii
sui in corda nostra (Galat. iv, 6). Ecce manifeste patet apostolicis verbis
Spiritum sanctum esse Dei Patris suscitantis a morte, et Dei Filii suscitati,
qui non tres dii, sed unus est credendus, et adorandus, sicut Moyses testatur:
Audi, inquit, Israel, Dominus Deus tuus, Deus unus est (Deut. vi, 4).

8. A Patre Spiritum sanctum mitti, Dominus in Evangelio loquitur dicens:

Paracletus Spiritus sanctus, quem mittet Pater in nomine meo, ille vos docebit
omnia (Joan, xiv, 26). Et quod mittatur a Filio, ipsa veritas dicit: Cum

32
 The Letters of St. Isidore of Seville

of holy Athanasius to take away or add something concerning the Catholic

faith; and so some of the Greeks boldly strive to reprehend the Romans be¬
cause in the profession of holy faith they sing with heart and mouth to
God: «Who proceeds from the Father and the Son,» although in the afore¬
mentioned councils it was stated: «Who proceeds from the Father,» and the
Holy Roman Church approves and believes that the Holy Spirit proceeds
from the Father and the Son.
5. If this abovementioned prohibition is considered subtly and rightly,
all ambiguity will be removed; for when it prohibited one to add or take
away something, it meant a different thing, with which opinion the follow¬
ing statement of the Apostle agrees: «If any man preaches any other thing
to you besides that which you have received from us, let him be accursed»
(Galatians 1, 9). And the Apostle John says: «If anyone comes to you,
bringing another doctrine, do not receive him and do not greet him»
(II John 1, 10). When he said «another doctrine», warning against heresy,
without ambiguity he wished to point out to us the difference of doctrine.
6. Indeed, the apostles, martyrs, and orthodox teachers of the Church
preached many other things; but as they are not contradictory, an apostolic
prohibition of this kind is not considered to be contradictory because they
are tending to one end of truth. Thus since it is known that the same judg¬
ment concerns similar things, it is clear and far from doubt that prohibitions
of the aforesaid opinions should be accepted concerning the difference of
heresies.
7. But let us show clearly by evidence of Holy Scripture that the Holy
Spirit belongs to the Father and to the Son and is sent from the Father and
from the Son and proceeds from both. The words of the Apostle are these:
«If his spirit, which aroused Jesus from the dead, dwells in you,» etc. (Colos-
sians 2, 12). And elsewhere: «God sent the spirit of his Son into our hearts»
(Galatians 4, 6). And so, it is manifestly obvious by the words of the Apostle
that the Holy Spirit belongs to God the Father raising from death, and to
God the raised Son, who are not three gods. One is to be believed and wor¬
shipped, as Moses testifies: «Hear», he says, «0 Israel, the Lord your God
is one God» (Deuteronomy 6, 4).
8. The Lord says in the Gospel that the Holy Spirit is sent by the Father,
saying: «The Comforter, which is the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send
in my name, will teach you all things» (John 14, 26). And the same truth

33
 Sancti Isidori Epistolce

venerit Paracletus, quem ego vobis mittam a Patre (Joan, xv, 26)._ His> itaqu
plenarie declaratur, sancti Spiritus missionem a Patre esse, et a Filio. A Patre
nempe Spiritus sanctus procedere ostenditur, cum dicitur: Spiritus ventatis,
qui a Patre procedit (.Joan xv, 26); a Filio vero, cum post resurrectionem
suam insufflavit, et discipulis suis dixit: Accipite Spiritum sanctum (Joan.

xx, 22).

9. Isaias etiam in persona Patris dicit: Spiritus a facie mea egredietur

(Isai. lvii, 56). Dei Patris verbum, vel facies Unigenitus ejus est, homo enim
per faciem a nobis agnoscitur, et Deus Pater per Filium innotuit mundo;
unde Filius ait: Pater, manifestavi nomen tuum hominibus, quos dedisti mihi
(Joan, xvii, 6). Et illud: Notum feci eis nomen tuum, et notum faciam (Joan.
xvii, 26). Possumus ad haec latius probanda plura inducere; sed forsitan, cui
non sufficiunt ista, multa non proderunt ad salutem, quia animalis homo non
percipit ea qua: Dei Spiritus sunt (1 Cor. ii, 14), arbitrans esse stultitiam
quae dicuntur, et quia profecto hoc ex contemptu ignorantiae provenit, igno¬
rans ignorabitur.

10. Dum autem sanctae Trinitatis personas loquendo distinguimus, sum¬

mopere curemus ne individuam, ac simplicissimam essentiam unius Dei divi¬
dere videamur. Sed quid sit illud ineffabile Patris generare, illud etiam
inaestimabile Filii nasci, generari, vel exire; atque illud incomprehensibile
Spiritus sancti a Patre et Filio mitti, vel procedere, et caetera, quae hujusmodi
de personarum varietate dicuntur, si non capimus mente, capiamus fide, ut
salvi esse perpetuo mereamur.

11. Ecce brevitate qua valui tuis inquisitionibus satisfeci. Sed quod sub¬
jecisti, habere te haereticos, cum quibus assidue disputas, et quos ad fidem
catholicam studes revocare, laudamus zelum, sed audaciam reprehendimus.
Dicit namque Scriptura divina. Qui tetigerit picem, inquinabitur ab ea (Eccli.
xiii, 1). Cave igitur, dilectissime fili, ut quia Deus triumphalibus trophaeis
armorum strenuitate prostratis inimicis te fecit victoriosum, haereticis suasio¬
nibus ignominiose ne victus succumbas; te enim laborante eos ab errore
mortis eruere, ipsi invigilant te in praecipitium erroris demergere, a quorum
confabulatione vel solatio quemlibet Christicolam, tanquam a lethifero

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 The Letters of St. Isidore of Seville

says that he is sent by the Son: «When the Comforter comes, whom I shall
send to you from the Father» (John 15, 26). Thus it is declared fully in
these statements that the Holy Spirit is sent by the Father and by the Son.
The Holy Spirit is certainly shown to come from the Father, when it is said:
«The Spirit of truth, which proceeds from the Father» (John 15, 26); but
from the Son, when he breathed after his resurrection and said to his
disciples: «Receive the Holy Spirit» (John 20, 22).
9. Isaiah also says in the person of the Father: «The Spirit will depart
from my countenance» (Isaiah 57, 56 [LXX]). The only-begotten is the word
of God the Father and his face, for a man is recognized by us by his face, and
God the Father was known to the world through his Son; whence the Son
says: «Father, I have manifested your name to the men whom you gave to
me» (John 17, 6). And this: «I have made known your name to them and
I shall make it known» (John 17, 26). We can adduce more statements to
prove these things more fully, but perhaps many examples will not benefit
the salvation of one to whom these are not sufficient since «the natural man
does not perceive those things which are of the Spirit of God» (I Corinthians
2, 14), thinking that what is said is stupid. Because this certainly results
from contemptible ignorance, being ignorant, he will be ignored.
10. But when in speaking we distinguish the persons of the Holy Trinity,
we should greatly take care that we do not appear to divide the individual
and most simple essence of one God. But if we do not understand the meaning
of that inexpressible «begetting» by the Father, that «birth», «being begotten»,
or «death» of the Son, which cannot be appraised, or that incomprehensible
«being sent» or «procession» of the Holy Spirit «from the Father and the Son»
and other things of this kind which are said about the difference of the
persons, let us take them on faith so that we may deserve to be saved forever.
11. And so, with as much brevity as I could, I have answered your
questions. But concerning your statement that you have heretics with whom
you constantly disagree, and whom you desire to recall to the Catholic faith,
I praise your zeal but reprehend your audacity. For the divine Scripture
says: «Whoever has touched pitch will be defiled by it» (Ecclesiastes 13, 1).
Thus beware, beloved son, lest because God has made you victorious with
triumphal victories and strength of arms over fallen enemies, you succumb,
conquered ignominiously by heretical persuasions; for while you labor to
rescue them from the error of death, they themselves stay awake to submerge

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 Sancti Isidori Epistolce

veneno, sub obtestatione divini judicii praecipimus abstinere, nisi fuerit in

divinis praeceptis experientia operum probatus, et sacris eruditus Scripturis.

12. Testamur igitur coram Deo, monemus, et quidquid possumus, hortando

praecipimus, ut quam citius eos, zelum Dei legis exercens, nisi catholicam
professi fuerint veritatem, a te repellas, atque dicta eorum et objectiones nobis
scribendo mittere non moreris. Deo teste fraternitatem dilectionis tuae in
visceribus Jesu Christi amplectimur charius; et singula, quantum Deus dede¬
rit, ad salutem animae et tui corporis honestatem determinabimus, sacris ea
fulciendo auctoritatibus, ut falsitas veritati cedat, et Ecclesiae Christi gloria
roboretur, et crescat. Memento communis nostri doctoris Leandri, et ejus
fidem atque doctrinam pro viribus imitare, ut in praesenti bonis perfrui, et in
futuro coelestium bonorum participationem valeas adipisci. Amen. Ora pro
me; donet Dominus ut animae, corporis, fidei et honoris tibi servata inte¬
gritate, merear te videre de caetero, mi Domine et charissime fili.

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 The Letters of St. Isidore of Seville

you in the abyss of error; from their conversation or solace I advice every
Christian to abstain under the threat of divine judgment, as if from lethal
poison, unless he is proven in divine precepts by experience of works and
is erudite in the Holy Scriptures.
12. Thus I beseech in the presence of God, I advise, and as much as I
can, I order and exhort that you drive them from yourself as quickly as
possible, exercising the zeal of God’s law, unless they have professed the
Catholic truth, and that you do not delay to send in writing to me their words
and objections. With God as a witness, I dearly embrace the fraternity of
your beloved self in the bosom of Jesus Christ; and I shall indicate indivi¬
dual things, as far as God may grant it, for the salvation of your soul and
the health of your body, supporting them with holy authorities, so that false¬
hood may yield to truth and the glory of the Church of Christ may be
strengthened and grow. Remember our common teacher Leander, and imitate
his faith and doctrine in accordance with your strength so that you may
be able to enjoy good at the present and obtain a share of celestial goods in
the future. Amen. Pray for me. May the Lord grant that wholeness of mind,
body, faith, and honor may be preserved by you and that I may deserve
to see you in the future, my lord and dearest son.

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 Sancti Isidori Epistolcc

EPISTOLA VII.

ISIDORI REDEMPTO ARCHIDIACONO.

Dilecto filio in Christo Redempto archidiacono Isidorus.

1. Multis non modo ecclesiasticis, verum etiam hujus perituri regni praepe¬
ditus negotiis, prout optamus, tuse charitatis quaestionibus ad praesens satis¬
facere non valemus. Verum, quia, impellente charitate, omnibus sumus debi¬
tores, ex parte qua valeo pareo dilectioni tuse, ad inquisita compendiose
respondere paratus. Innotuisti quippe nobis, in animo tibi versari scrupulum,
eo quod orientalis Christi Ecclesia ex fermentato pane, occidentalis ex
azymo sacratissimi corporis sacramentum conficere consuevit; et quia ipsi
Orientales Latinos super hoc reprehendere non verentur, illud etiam animo
tuo insedit, quod illi sericos pannos, nos autem lineos, quos corporalia
dicimus, ad ornamenta tanti sacrificii exhibemus.

2. Scias itaque eorum jam dictis consuetudinibus minime nos opponere

reprehensionis obstaculum, quandiu eas Romana Ecclesia duxerit tolerandas,
maxime cum non sint de essentia, sive substantia sacramenti. De substantia
sacramenti sunt verba Dei a sacerdote in sacro prolata ministerio, scilicet,
Hoc est corpus meum, panisque frumenti et vinum, cui consuevit aqua ad¬
hiberi, quia utrumque de latere Christi, videlicet, sanguis et aqua profluxit.
Csetera vero pertinent ad decorem sacramenti, futurorum exemplum, ad
nostram et eorum humiliationem, atque in Dei laude exercitationem, et cum
praedictorum facta fuerit consecratio, non, ut quidam putant indocti, sub
panis specie sola caro Christi, et in calice tantummodo sumitur sanguis; sed
in utroque Deus et homo, in corpore glorificato totus et integer Christus,
integer Christus in calice, panis vivus, qui de coelo descendit, totus est in
utroque.

3. Ipse est panis qui reficit, non deficit; panis qui totus a singulis sumitur,
et in nulla sui parte minuitur; visibilis angelis, fide non dubia creditur a
nobis miraculose et invisibiliter totus in sumentibus singulis, et integra sui

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 The Letters of St. Isidore of Seville

LETTER VII

ISIDORE TO ARCHDEACON REDEMPTUS

Isidore to Archdeacon Redemptus, a beloved son in Christ.

1. Prevented not only by many ecclesiastical tasks but also by tasks of
this kingdom which is about to perish, I cannot answer the questions of
your beloved self at the present as I desire. But because we are debtors to
all, love impelling us, I obey your beloved self to the extent that I can,
prepared to respond briefly to your questions. Indeed you have made known
to me that doubt is raised in your mind because the Eastern Church of Christ
is accustomed to make the sacrament of the most sacred body from leavened
bread, the Western Church from unleavened bread; and because the Eastern¬
ers themselves are not afraid to reprehend the Romans about this, the fact
also arose in your mind that they wear silken garments for ornaments of such
a great sacrament, whereas we wear linen garments, which we call «bodily».
2. You should know that we by no means oppose an obstacle of repre¬
hension to their already mentioned customs inasmuch as the Roman Church
considers that they should be tolerated, especially since they are not of the
essence or substance of the sacrament. Concerning the substance of the
sacrament are the words of God uttered by the priest in the holy ministry,
that is, «This is my body,» and the bread of grain and the wine, to which
it has been the custom to add water because both, that is, blood and water,
flowed from the side of Christ. But the other things belong to the glory of
the sacrament, to the example of the future, to our and their humiliation,
and to exercise in praise of God, and when a consecration of the aforesaid
is made, the body of Christ is not taken alone, as some unlearned people
think, under the appearance of bread nor is only blood taken in the cup;
but God and man are in both; Christ is whole and entire in the glorified
body; Christ is whole in the cup, the living bread, which descended from
heaven, is whole in both.
3. He himself is the bread which revives us and is not wanting; the
bread which is taken whole by individuals and is diminished in no part;
visible to the angels, he is believed by us with undoubtful faith to be miracu-

39
 Sancti Isidori Epistolce

essentia visibiliter totus semper regnat in coelis; quia vero Orientales Roma¬
norum, sive nostras consuetudines impudenter obtrectando reprehensionis
abolitione impugnare nituntur, ad arma divini oraculi concurrentes nos,
quantum potuerimus, easdem defendere veritate praevia insurgemus.

4. Dominus enim noster Jesus Christus, quando discipulis corporis sui

mysterium agendum tradidit, non legitur accepisse panem fermentatum, vel
azymum, sed accepit panem, et dedit discipulis suis, dicens: Hoc est corpus
meum; hoc facite, quotiescunque sumitis, in meam commemorationem (Luc.
xxii, 19). Legitur tamen praecepisse Dominum Moysi ut pascha cum azymis
panibus et lactucis agrestibus manderetur, et apud quemcunque Hebraeorum
fermentatus panis per septem dies paschae inveniri posset, occideretur (Exod.
xii). Dominus igitur noster pascha secundum legem celebravit, et in coena
suum corpus sub panis et vini specie discipulis edendum tradidit, et eis
eumdem conficiendi tradidit potestatem, atque panem azymum cum quo
pascha agebatur obtulit.

5. Similiter sacratissimum corpus ejus non legitur pannis sericis, vel

laneis, sed mundis linteaminibus in sepultura involutum fuisse. Ergo, cujus
mysterium passionis et sepulturae, eum quotidie immolando, geritur in altare,
a tramite recto deviare non possunt, qui in pane azymo, vino et aqua, additis
et mundis, sanctisque linteaminibus, secundum consuetudinem Ecclesiae
Romanae corporis et sanguinis Domini sacrosanctum sacrificium student con¬
ficere. Videtur etiam Dominus nobis favere in Exodo dicens: Non immolabis,
inquit, super fermento sanguinem hostice mece.

6. Quod etiam de vase agitur ligneo fictili, vel metallino, quo agitur
immolatio sacrificii, quia nullus evangelistarum expresse ostendit cujusmodi
fuerit, ad legis videtur recurrendum potius auctoritatem, quia in ministerio
tabernaculi, aut domus Dei nulla vasa sacrae unctionis oleo delibuta leguntur
lignea, vel fictilia, sed magis ex metallo erant. Dominus etiam quaeque de
melioribus sibi offerri praecepit, et tabernaculum testimonii cum maxima
diligentia auri et argenti mira pulchritudine adornare. De Salomonico templo
quid? Re vera idem. Quod si caeremonialia illa, quae umbra erant veritatis

40
 The Letters of St. Isidore of Seville

lously and invisibly whole in individuals receiving him, and with his whole
essence he visibly rules ever whole in heaven; but because the Easterners, by
impudently maligning the customs of the Romans or our customs, strive to
impugn us, unmindful of reprehension, we shall have recourse to the arms
of the divine oracle and shall rise to defend them as much as we can with
truth leading the way.
4. For it is not written that our Lord Jesus Christ, when he declared to
his disciples that the mystery of his body should be celebrated, received
leavened or unleavened bread, but he received some bread and gave it to
his disciples, saying: «This is my body; do this as often as you take it in my
remembrance» (Luke 22, 19). Yet it is written that the Lord prescribed to
Moses that the Passover should be eaten with unleavened bread and wild
lettuce and that if leavened bread might be found in the house of any of the
Hebrews during the seven days of the Passover, he should be killed (Exodus
12). Thus our Lord celebrated the Passover according to the law, and at
the Last Supper entrusted his body to his disciples to be eaten under the
appearance of bread and wine and granted the same power of making bread
to them, and offered the unleavened bread with which the Passover was
celebrated.
5. Similarly, it is not written that his most sacred body was wrapped
in burial with silken or woolen garments but with clean linen cloths. Thus
they sacrifice daily the one the mystery of whose passion and burial takes
place at the altar, and those cannot deviate from the right path who are
zealous in making the sacrosanct sacrifice of the body and blood of the Lord
with unleavened bread, wine, and water, clean and holy linen cloths being
added, according to the custom of the Roman Church. For the Lord seems
to favor us, saying in Exodus: «Thou shalt not offer,» he says, «the blood
of my sacrifice with leavened bread» (Exodus 23, 18).
6. Concerning the wooden, earthen, or metal vessel, with which the
offering of the sacrifice is made, since none of the evangelists expressly
indicates of what kind it was, recourse must be had rather to the authority of
law, because it is written that in the ministry of the tabernacle or the house
of God no vessels besmeared with the oil of sacred unction were wooden
or earthen but rather were of metal. The Lord also ordered that whatever
vessels were best should be offered to him and that the tabernacle of testi¬
mony should be adorned with the wonderful beauty of gold and silver with

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 Sancti Isidori Epistolce

futuras, quibus pecudum carnes immolabantur, vel sanguis, tanto voluit Deus
decore perfrui, quanto magis sacrum altare, sanctumque vas, in quo ipsa
veritas, scilicet unigenitus Deus, quotidie Deo Patri offertur, quanto honore,
reverentia, gloria et decore debent studio et diligentia adornari!

7. Liquide patet tam inaestimabile sacrificium in vase luteo, vel ligneo,

nisi necessitate urgente, vel cogente inopia, offerre turpe ac vile, praesump-
tuosum esse et temerarium, quod potest justo examine reprobari. Sed forsan
objicis pannum sericum pretiosiorem esse lineo, et idcirco magis divinis
usibus aptum. Ad quod nos in utroque Testamento dicimus candorem vestium
maxime approbari, eo quod in eo mentis sinceritas requiratur, quam constat
inter caeteras virtutes Deo esse gratiosiorem, ad quam pervenire cupienti
charitati vestrae, ut pateat clarius, sacrae Scripturae testimoniis ostendamus.

8. Dicit enim, omni tempore sint vestimenta tua candida, et Domini sacer¬
dotes Ephod lineo excellentiae causa erant superinduti. Evangelium etiam in
transfiguratione Dominica, quod apparuerint vestimenta Domini tanquam
nix, evidenter testatur; et in Apocalypsi, qui in conspectu Agni stabant, et
qui sequuntur ipsum quocunque ierit, stolis albis perhibentur amicti, et quam
plurima alia. Quis inter pannos mundus ut lineus, cui ex ablutione frequenti
candor angetur, cum in sericis magis ex eadem offuscari videatur? Mentis
autem munditiam nullatenus esse intelligas ubi infidel tas viget: non enim
est conventio Christi ad Belial.

9. De incongruitate vero grammaticae locutionis, quae in Veteri Testamento

reputatur, vel Novo, respondemus, verba coelestis oraculi non subjacent
Prisciani regulis, vel Donati, et quamvis sit analogia scienda, usus prae om¬
nibus aemulandus est. Dummodo sententia a veritate non discrepet, et a sanc¬
torum Patrum vestigiis nullatenus recedendum. Lucide habes, fili charissime,
in quam partem tui animi intellectum debeas inclinare, atque tui cordis
scrupulum super hoc omnino deponere. Diligenter per omnia inspice, et

42
 The Letters of St. Isidore of Seville

very great dilligence. What of Solomon’s temple? Truly the same is written.
Concerning those ceremonies which were a shadow of future truth, with
which the flesh or blood of cattle was offered, God wanted to enjoy great
glory. With how much the more honor, reverence, glory, and grace the sacred
altar and holy vessel, in which truth, that is, the only-begotten God, is
daily offered to God the Father, ought to be adorned with eagerness and
diligence!
7. It is manifestly clear that to offer such an invaluable sacrifice in an
earthen or wooden vessel, unless necessity presses upon us or want compels
us, is base and vile, presumptuous and rash because it can be reproved
with just examination. But perhaps you may object that silken cloth is
more precious than linen and thus more suited for divine uses. To this
we say that in both Testaments the whiteness of garments is especially
approved, since sincerity of mind is required by it, which, as is well known,
is the most pleasing of all virtues to God. Let us show your eager beloved
self how to reach this by testimony of sacred Scripture so that it may be
clearer.
8. For he says, «let your garments always be white,» and the priests of
the Lord were clothed in linen clothing for the sake of excellence. The Gospel
also in the Lord’s transfiguration manifestly testifies that the garments of the
Lord appeared as snow; and in Revelation, those who stood in the sight of
the Lamb and who follow him wherever he goes are said to be described as
dressed in white garments; and many other things are written. Which among
cloths is as pure as linen, to which whiteness is increased by frequent wash¬
ing, whereas with silken cloths the whiteness seems to be more darkened from
washing? You should understand that purity of mind is nowhere where in¬
fidelity flourishes. For there is no agreement of Christ with Belial.
9. But concerning the disagreement of grammatical expression which is
found in the Old and New Testaments, we reply that the words of the
heavenly oracle do not obey the rules of Priscian or of Donatus, and although
analogy should be known, usage must be emulated above all things. Provided
the judgment does not depart from truth, there must by no means be a
departure from the examples of the holy fathers. You know clearly, dearest
son, where you should direct the understanding of your mind and set aside
completely the anxiety of your heart concerning this. Consider everything
carefully, and you will find that the customs of the Holy Roman Church

43
 Sancti Isidori Epistolce

reperies sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae consuetudines a divinis auctoritatibus

in nullo aliquatenus deviare. Pro me ad Dominum orare, quaeso digneris.

44
 The Letters of St. Isidore of Seville

do not differ at all from the divine authorities. I ask that you deign to pray
to the Lord for me.

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 Sancti Isidori Epistolce

EPISTOLA VIII.

ISIDORI EUGENIO EPISCOPO.

Domino charissimo et virtutibus inclyto Eugenio episcopo Isidorus.

1. Vestrae sanctitatis litteras per nuntium suscipiens Verecundum, rerum
omnium Conditori grates impendimus, quod Ecclesiae sanctae suae mentis
et corporis vestri valetudinem conservare dignatur, atque ad inquisita pro
modulo parati satisfacere, exoramus orationum vestrarum suffragiis ab
aerumnis opprimentibus a Domino sublevari. Verum quod in quibusdam
quaestionibus venerabilis vestra fraternitas, licet vos non ignoremus peritos,
me compulit respondere, majoris sententiae innodatio, nisi ex dispensationis
articulo a minori nequaquam valeat enodari, sed potius ab inferiori prolata, a
superiore jure mediante cassetur. Orthodoxi quidem Patres Spiritus sancti
auctoritate praevia sanxerunt; aliter autem quolibet astruente, sicut est vestrae
prudentiae cognitum, pravum suborietur, scilicet gloriatio securis contra eum
qui secat in eam (Isai. x, 15).

2. Quod vero de parilitate agitur apostolorum, Petrus praeeminet caeteris,

quia a Domino audire meruit: Tu vocaberis Cephas, tu es Petrus (Joan, i,
42), et caetera, et non ab alio aliquo, sed ab ipso Dei et virginis filio hono¬
rem pontificatus in Christi Ecclesia primus suscepit. Cui etiam post resur¬
rectionem Filii Dei ab eodem dictum est: Pasce agnos meos (Joan, xxi, 15),
agnorum nomine Ecclesiarum praelatos notans. Cujus dignitas potestatis
etsi ad omnes catholicarum episcopos est transfusa, specialius tamen Romano
antistiti singulari quodam privilegio, velut capiti, caeteris membris celsior per¬
manet in aeternum.

3. Qui igitur debitam ei non exhibet reverenter obedientiam, a capite

sejunctus, Acephalorum schismati se reddit obnoxium, quod sicut illud sancti
Athanasii de fide sanctae Trinitatis sancta Ecclesia approbat, et custodit,
quasi sit fidei catholicae articulus: Quod nisi quisque fideliter firmiterque

46
 The Letters of St. Isidore of Seville

LETTER VIII

ISIDORE TO BISHOP EUGENIUS

Isidore to Bishop Eugenius, dearest lord renowned for virtues.

1. Receiving through a venerable messenger the letter of your Holiness,
I pay thanks to the Creator of all things that he deigns to preserve for his
Holy Church the health of your mind and body; and being prepared to
answer your questions to some extent, I pray that you be relieved by the
Lord from oppressing difficulties through favorable hearings of your prayers.
But as for what your venerable fraternity compelled me to answer with
regard to certain questions, although I know that you are learned, the con¬
nection of major opinion can in no way be disconnected from minor opinion
except by an article of dispensation; rather an opinion resulting from an
inferior law is nullified by a superior law intervening. Indeed the orthodox
fathers sanctioned previous matters with the authority of the Holy Spirit;
but when someone adds something else, as is known by your wisdom, evil
will arise, that is, the boasting of the ax against him who cuts with it
(Isaiah 10, 15).
2. But concerning the question of the equality of the apostles, Peter takes
precedence over the others because he deserved to hear from the Lord:
«You will be called Cephas; you are Peter» (John 1, 42) and other things;
and he first received in the Church of Christ the honor of the priesthood not
from any other but from the very Son of God and the Virgin. It was said
to him even after the resurrection of the Son of God by the same: «Feed my
lambs» (John 21, 15). Christ designated the prelates of the churches by the
name of lambs. Although his dignity of power is transferred to all Catholic
bishops, yet in a special way and with a singular privilege it remains forever
higher to the bishop of Rome as the head than to all the other members.
3. Thus whoever, separated from the head, does not reverently exhibit the
due obedience to him, renders himself subject to the schism of the Acephali,
inasmuch as the Holy Church approves and defends the following statement
of holy Athanasius concerning the belief in the Holy Trinity, as if it were
an article of the Catholic faith: «Unless everyone believes this faithfully and

47
 Sancti Isidori Epistolce

crediderit, salvus esse non poterit. Haec vestrae dulcissimae charitati breviter
praelibavi, considerans illud philosophi pauca sufficere sapienti.

48
 The Letters of St. Isidore of Seville

firmly, he will not be able to be saved.» I briefly mentioned this to your very
sweet charity, considering the saying of the philosopher that only few things
are sufficient for a wise man.

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 Sancti Isidori Epistolce

EPISTOLA IX.

ISIDORI BRAULIONI EPISCOPO.

Domino meo et Dei servo, Braulioni episcopo, Isidorus.

1. Omni desiderio desideravi nunc videre faciem tuam, et utinam aliquan¬
do impleret Deus votum meum, antequam moriar. Ad praesens autem depre¬
cor ut commendes me Deo orationibus tuis, et, ut in hac vita spem meam
impleat, et in futura beatitudinis tuae consortium mihi concedat. Et manu sua.
Ora pro nobis, beatissime domine et frater.

50
 The Letters of St. Isidore of Seville

LETTER IX

ISIDORE TO BISHOP BRAULIO

Isidore to Bishop Braulio, my lord and the servant of God.

1. With all longing I have desired to see your face, and I wish that God
would fulfill my prayer some time before I die. At the present, however, I
pray that you may commend me to God in your prayers so that both in this
life he may fulfill my hope and in the future may grant to me the fellowship
of your blessedness. With my own hand: Pray for me, very blessed lord and
brother.

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 Sancti Isidori Epistolce

EPISTOLA X.

BRAULIONIS EPISCOPI ISIDORO.

Domino meo ct vere domino, Christique electo, Isidoro, episcoporum

summo, Braulio servus inutilis sanctorum Dei.
1. O pie domine, et virorum praestantissime, sera est inquisitio et tarde
data mihi scribendi optio, quia peccatis meis ingruentibus non modo sterili¬
tatis vel inopiae malo, verum etiam luis et hostilitatis, quominus inquirerem,
horribili sum praepeditus incursu.
2. Nunc autem etsi mille necessitatibus, mille curis attritus, post longum
miseriae tempus, veluti ab improbi soporis, ut ita dixerim, gravedine suscita¬
tus, istius meae suggestionis affatibus dependere praesumo salutis obsequium,
et cordis et corporis humilitate prostratus, imprecans excellentissimam tuae
beatitudinis potestatem, ut peculiarem famulum, quem pio illo sacrae digna¬
tionis intuitu semper habuisti susceptum, usque in finem habere jubeas
commendatum.
3. Nam et ego (Christus novit) gravi dolore discrucior, quod, emenso
tempore tam prolixo, vel nunc vestrum non mereor videre conspectum, sed
spero in illum qui non obliviscitur misereri, nec repellit in finem, quia ex¬
audiet precem pauperis, et vestro me miserum repraesentabit aspectui.
Suggero sane, et omnimoda supplicatione deposco, ut librum Etymologiarum,
quem jam, favente Domino, audivimus consummatum, promissionis vestrae
memores, servo vestro dirigere jubeatis, quia, ut mihi sum conscius, magna
ibi ex parte servi tui postulatione sudasti. Et ideo in me primum existe
munificus; sic in sanctorum coetibus et felix habearis, et primus.

4. Gesta etiam synodi, in qua Sintharius examinis vestri igni etsi non
purificatus, invenitur tamen decoctus, quaeso ut vestro instinctu a filio vestro
domino rege nobis dirigantur cito. Nam et nostra ejus sic flagitavit gloriam
suggestio, quia multum in concilio pro investiganda opus est veritate. De
caetero Creatoris altissimi pietatem efflagito, ut coronam beatitudinis vestrae
pro integritate fidei et statu Ecclesiae suae longo tempore praecipiat conser¬
vare, meque inter oblatrantia praesentis mundi varia et innumerabilia dis-

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 The Letters of St. Isidore of Seville

LETTER X

BISHOP BRAULIO TO ISIDORE

Braulio a useless servant of the holy men of God, to Isidore, supreme

bishop, my lord and truly my lord, and a man chosen by Christ.
1. O pious lord and most excellent man, late is the inquiry and tardily
given to me is the desire of writing because with my sins attacking me, not
only with the misfortune of sterility or of want but also of pestilence and
of hostility, I am hindered from inquiry by a horrible attack.
2. Now although worn out by a thousand needs and a thousand cares after
a long period of misery, as if aroused from the heaviness of bad sleep, so to
speak, I presume that the service of health depends upon the utterances of
my suggestion. I am prostrate with humility both of heart and of body,
imploring the most excellent power of your blessedness to bid that a special
servant whom you have always received with your dutiful regard of sacred
dignity be commended to the end.
3. For I, as Christ knows, am tortured with severe pain because I do not
even get to see your face now after such a long period has passed. But I
trust in him, who does not forget to pity and does not repel me to the end
since he will listen to the prayer of a poor man and will represent me in my
wretchedness to your face. I suggest certainly and ask with every kind of
supplication that you, mindful of your promise, bid that the book of Etymo¬
logiae, which I have heard is now finished with the Lord’s favor, be sent
to your servant because, as I am aware, you sweated on it in great part at
the request of your servant. And thus be kind toward me first; may you
thus be considered in the assemblies of the holy both fortunate and first.
4. I request also that the records of the proceedings of the synod, in
which Sintharius is found boiled, although not purified by the fire of your
examination, be sent to me soon by reason of the suggestion of your son,
a lord and king. For my suggestion thus summoned his glory because there
is much need in the council for investigating the truth. Moreover, I pray
to the piety of the highest Creator that he bid that the crown of your
blessedness be preserved for a long time for the integrity of faith and

53
 Sancti lsidori Epistolce

crimina munitum reddat tuae intercessionis gratia, ac, reconditum in gremium

memorias tuae, tutum ab omni tempestate peccati oratu vestro efficiat Trinitas
sacratissima. Et manu sua. Ego servus Domini Braulio Isidoro: in Domino
fruar te, lucerna ardens, et non marcescens!

54
 The Letters of St. Isidore of Seville

stability of his Church, and that he return me strengthened amid the varied
and innumerable railing crises of the present world, thanks to your interces¬
sion, and that the most Holy Trinity by your prayer may restore me to the
bosom of your memory, safe from every storm of sin. With my own hand:
I, Braulio, a servant of the Lord, to Isidore: May I enjoy your presence in
the Lord, O burning and unwaning lamp!

55
 Sancti Isidori Epistolce

EPISTOLA XI.

ISIDORI BRAULIONI EPISCOPO.

Domino meo, et Dei servo Braulioni episcopo Isidorus.

1. Quia te incolumem cognovi, gratias Christo egi; et utinam cujus cog¬
novi salutem in hoc corpore aspicerem et visionem! Quid autem mihi evenit
pro peccatis meis, manifestabo, quia non fui dignus tua perlegere eloquia;
statim ut accepi pittatium tuum, puer regius ad me venit; dedi cubiculario
meo illud pittatium et confestim ambulavi ad principem, ut postea perle¬
gerem et rescriberem.
2. Reversus e palatio regis, non solum scripta tua non inveni, sed etiam
quidquid aliud in chartis fuit periit. Et idcirco, scit Dominus, luxi meritum
meum, quia non perlegi eloquium tuum, sed rogo ut quaecunque occasio
venerit, rescribe mihi. Et gratiam verbi tui non auferas, ut quod ex meo
delicto perdidi, iterum gratia tua recipiam. Et manu sua. Ora pro nobis,
beatissime domine.

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 The Letters of St. Isidore of Seville

LETTER XI

ISIDORE TO BISHOP BRAULIO

Isidore to Bishop Braulio, my lord and the servant of God.

1. Because I learned that you were well I gave thanks to Christ. I wish
that I might also behold in person the sight of the one whose health I
learned about! I shall reveal what has happened to me on account of my sins
because I was not worthy of reading your letter. As soon as I received your
letter, a royal page came to me. I gave the letter to my chamber servant so
that I might read it and reply to it later, and immediately went to the king.
2. Returning from the palace of the king, not only did I not find your
letter, but also whatever else was in the tablets was lost. Therefore, as the
Lord knows, I mourned my misfortune because I did not read your letter.
But I ask that whenever an opportunity comes, you reply to me. And do not
remove the grace of your word so that by your grace I may receive again
what I lost through my own fault. Written in my own hand: Pray for me,
very blessed lord.

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 Sancti Isidori Epistolce

EPISTOLA XII.

BRAULIONIS EPISCOPI ISIDORO.

Domino meo et vere domino, Christique electo, Isidoro episcoporum

summo, Braulio servus inutilis sanctorum Dei.
1. Solet repleri laetitia homo interior ac spiritualis, cum inquisitione fun¬
gitur amantis. Ob id velle meum est, mi domine reverentissime, nisi culparum
maceria mearum obsistat, et benigne te inquisitionem meam amplecti, et que¬
relarum calumniam patienter accipere. Utrumque enim ago, et officium in¬
quisitionis persolvo, et tibi contra te causarum mearum necessitates dirigo,
quod ut benignissime tuo auditui admittas, in ingressu hujus dictationis por¬
taque prostratus, peto a culmine vestri apostolatus; et quanquam vacillet
calumniae objectio, ubi lacrymarum est intercessio, cum lacrymae non sint
signa calumniae, tamen sint, opto, et lacrymabiles calumniae, et calumniabiles
lacrymae. Sed utrumque pro licentiosa amoris praesumptione, non autem pro
arrogantiae temeritate. Sed jam causam exordiar.

2. Septimum, ni fallor, annum tempora gyrant ex quo me memini libros a

te conditos Originum postulasse, et vario diversoque modo praesentem vos me
frustratum esse, et absenti nihil inde vos rescripsisse, sed subtili dilatione
modo necdum esse perfectos, modo necdum scriptos, modo meas litteras
intercidisse, aliaque multa opponentes, ad hanc usque diem pervenimus, et
sine petitionis effectu manemus. Ob hoc et ego vertam preces in querelam,
ut quod supplicatione nequivi, vel calumnia lacessendo valeam adipisci.
Saepe namque solet mendico prodesse vociferatio.

3. Quocirca cur, quaeso te, mi domine, non tribuas quod rogaris? Unum
scias, non dimittam, quasi fingens me nolle negata. Sed quaeram, et instanter
quaeram, quousque autem accipiam, aut eliciam, piissimo Redemptore juben¬
te: Queer it e, et invenietis, et adjiciente: pulsate, et aperietur vobis (Luc. xi,
9). Quaesivi, et quaero, etiam pulso. Unde et clamito, ut aperias. Nam hujus
argumenti me consolatur inventio, quia qui contempsisti postulantem, ex¬
audies forte calumniantem.

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 The Letters of St. Isidore of Seville

LETTER XII

BISHOP BRAULIO TO ISIDORE

Braulio, a useless servant of the holy men of God, to Isidore, supreme

bishop, my lord and truly my lord, a man chosen by Christ.
1. An inward and spiritual man is wont to be filled with joy when he
responds to the inquiry of a loved one. Concerning this it is my wish, my
most revered lord, that you receive my inquiry kindly and receive patiently
the insult of complaints unless the wall of my sins stands in the way. For
I do both: I both carry out the duty of inquiry and I direct toward you the
needs of my business with you, and in order that you might admit it most
kindly to your hearing, I, prostrate at the entrance and gate of this letter,
make my request from the summit of your episcopal dignity; and although the
objection of insult totters when there is a shedding of tears, since tears are
not signs of insult, nevertheless, I wish that there be both tearful insults
and insulting tears—both for the unrestrained presumption of love, but not
for temerity of arrogance. But now I shall begin my business.
2. The seventh year, if I mistake not, has passed since the time when I
recall that I asked you for the books of Origines put together by you and
you in a varied and diverse way frustrated me in person; you then replied
nothing to me in my absence but with subtle delay alleged now that they
were not yet finished, now that they were not written, now that my letter
was lost and many other things. I have now come to this day and remain
without success in my request. Therefore, I shall turn my request to com¬
plaint so that I may obtain even by insult and attack what I could not obtain
by entreaty. For often an outcry is wont to benefit a beggar.
3. Why, I ask, my lord, do you not give what you are asked for? You
should know one thing: I shall not dismiss it as if imagining that I do not
want what has been denied me, but I shall ask and ask pressingly until I
receive or obtain it at the bidding of the most pious Redeemer, who says,
«Seek and you shall find» and adds, «Knock and it will be opened unto
you» (Luke 11, 9). I sought and I seek, I even knock. Therefore, I also shout
for you to open. For the discovery of this argument consoles me because you
who despised my request perhaps may listen to my insult.
59
 Sancti Isidori Epistolce

4. Hinc et ego scienti tua ingero, nec styli jactatione novi aliquid sugge¬
rere insipiens perfecto praesumo. Nec tamen erubesco imperitus disertissimo
loqui, apostolici memor praecepti, quo praeciperis libenter sufferre insipien¬
tem. Ouamobrem accipe clamores calumniae. Cur rogo talentorum distribu¬
tionem et cibariorum dispensationem tibi creditam hucusque retentas? Jam
solve manum, impertire familiis, ne inopia pereant famis. Nosti quid creditor
veniens reposcat a te. Non minuetur tibi quidquid dederis nobis. Memor esto
parvis panibus multitudinem satiatam, et superasse reliquias fragmentorum
magnitudine panum.

5. An putas donum tibi collatum pro te solummodo esse datum? Et

vestrum est, et nostrum commune est, non privatum. Et quis dicere vel
insanus praesumat, ut privato tuo gaudeas, qui de communi tantum inculpa¬
biliter gaudere scias? Nam cum Deus tibi oeconomiam sui thesauri et divi¬
tiarum, salutis, sapientiae et scientiae tenere concesserit, cur larga manu non
effundis quod dando non minues? An cum in membris superni capitis unus¬
quisque quod non accepit sic in altero possideat, ut alteri quod habet possi¬
dendum sciat, tu forsitan ideo nobis parcus existis, quia quod mutuo a nobis
resumas non invenis?

6. Sed si habenti das, tantillae mercedis fructum reportas. Sin vero non
habenti tribuis, praeceptis evangelicis satisfacis, ut reddatur tibi in retribu¬
tione justorum. Proinde et ego remordeor conscientia, eo quod in me com-
municabile nihil boni sentiam, quoniam jubemur per charitatem servire in¬
vicem, et unusquisque quam accepit gratiam in alterum illam administrare,
sicut boni dispensatores multiformis gratiae Dei (7 Petri iv, 10); atque unicui¬
que, sicut divisit Deus mensuram fidei, in unam compagem membrorum
debeat eam caeteris partibus communicare, quia haec omnia operatur unus,
atque idem spiritus dividens singulis prout vult (Rom. xii, 3).

7. Sed ad unum ac peculiare subsidium quod praemisi recurro, ad impor¬

tunitatem scilicet amicam amicitia destitutis, ac nulla membrorum honestorum
gratia decoratis. Idcirco audi vocem meam tot interjacentibus terris. Redde,

60
 The Letters of St. Isidore of Seville

4. Hence I declare your business to you who know it, nor do I presume
foolishly to suggest something new with boasting of language. Nevertheless,
I do not blush because, though unskilled, I speak to a most eloquent man,
being mindful of the apostle’s precept whereby you are ordered to endure a
foolish man gladly. Therefore, receive the shouts of insult. Why, I ask, do
you still hold back the distribution of talents and the dispensation of foods
granted to you? Now free your hand, give to the servants lest they perish
from the want of hunger. You know what a coming creditor asks of you.
Whatever you give me will not be a loss to you. Be mindful that the multi¬
tude is sated with small loaves and that the remains of the pieces are left
over because of the size of the loaves.
5. Do you think that a gift conferred on you was given for you alone?
It is both yours and mine; it is common, not private. And who, even if he is
insane, would dare to say that you who know how to rejoice with such
impunity in public property, rejoice in your private property? For although
God allowed you to have a supply of his treasure and riches, of health, wis¬
dom, and knowledge, why do you not pour out with an abundant hand what
you will not lessen by giving? When each one among the members of the
supreme head thus possesses in another’s hands that which he did not him¬
self receive so that he knows that what he has should be possessed by
another, do you perchance remain stingy to me because you do not know
what you may receive from me in return?
6. But if you give to one who has, you get back the fruit of such a small
reward. But if you give to one who does not have, you satisfy the precepts
of the Gospel that it should be returned to you in the retribution of just men.
Therefore, I grieve in my conscience because I feel that I possess no good
which I can share since we are ordered to serve each other through love
and everyone is ordered to administer that grace which he received to
another, as good dispensers of the varied grace of God (I Peter 4, 10); and
just as God distributed a measure of faith to each one among a group of
members, he should give this to all the other parts since one and the same
Spirit does all these things, distributing to individuals as he wishes (Romans
12, 3).
7. But 1 return to the one and special aid which I mentioned at first,
that is, you deprive me of friendship with a friendly rudeness and honor
none of the honest members with grace. Thus hear my voice though so

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 Sancti Isidori Epistolce

redde quod debes. Nam servus, servus es Christi et Christianorum, ut illic

sis major omnium nostrum, et quia nostri causa tibi collatam praesentis
gratiam, sitientibus animis scientiaeque fame cruciatis impertiri non dedig-

neris.

8. Non sum saltem pes, qui ad injuncta discurrens possim alvo ecclesiae,
membrorum scilicet judici, obedientiae discursu parere, nec principatui capitis
imperanti obsequendo placere. Quin etsi de inhonestioribus membris me
esse sciam, sufficiat, quia quae te constat a capite percepisse, per me est
dignum egerere, nec te me non egerere, quamvis minimum, Christi tamen
sanguine redemptum. Nam nec dicit caput pedibus: Non estis mihi necessarii,
quoniam quae videntur membra corporis infirmiora esse, necessariora sunt;
et quae putantur ignobiliora esse, his honorem abundantiorem circumdamus;
et quae inhonestiora sunt nostra, majorem honestatem habent.

9. Sic itaque creator noster ac dispensator cuncta dispensat, ut cum in

altero alteri dona divina, quae in se non percipit, possidenda tribuuntur,
charitas cumuletur. Denique tum bene multiformis gratia dispensatur, quando
acceptum donum et eis qui hoc non habent creditur, quando propter eum cui
impenditur datum putatur. Hoc Apostoli capitulum a nobis in parte praemis¬
sum optime novit prudentia charitatis vestrae huic rei congruere totum; et
quidquid summatim tetigi, te procul dubio nosse melius, latet nullum.

10. Itaque hoc solum superest, quod et magnopere peto, ut praestes postu¬
lata, etsi non pro me, saltem pro ipsa charitate divinitus impertita. Pro qua
jubemur et nosse et praestare omnia, et sine qua nihil sunt omnia. Sed et si
qua superflua, si qua negligenter, si qua minus humiliter, aut inutiliter potius
effudi quam dixi, cuncta, quaeso, benigne suscipias, cuncta ignoscas, cuncta
ores, ut Deus ignoscat. Ergo et hoc notesco, libros Etymologiarum, quos a
te domino meo posco, etsi detruncatos corrososque, jam a multis haberi.

11. Inde rogo ut eos mihi transcriptos integros, emendatos et bene coap¬
tatos digneris mittere, ne raptus aviditate in perversum cogar vitia pro virtu¬
tibus ab aliis sumere. Ego autem opto, quamvis nullius egeas, et ultroneae

62
 The Letters of St. Isidore of Seville

many lands lie between: Pay back, pay back what you owe, for you are a
servant, a servant of Christ and of Christians, so that you may be greater
than all of us therein and because you do not deign for the sake of us
present to bestow upon minds thirsting and tortured with hunger for know¬
ledge the grace granted to you.
8. I am at least not a foot which can run at commands and obey the
stomach of the Church, namely, the judge of members, with the discourse
of obedience, nor can please the ordering principate of the head by flattery.
Although I know that I am among the more unworthy members, let it be
enough that you do not expel me, being insignificant, yet redeemed with the
blood of Christ, because what you, as is well known, perceived from the
head is worthy for me to carry out. For the head does not say to the feet:
you are not necessary to me, since what appear to be the weaker limbs of
the body are more necessary; and what are thought to be more lowly, we
surround with more abundant honor; and those that are our more dishonor¬
able limbs have the greater honor.
9. Thus our Creator and Dispenser dispenses everything so that when
divine gifts in one person, which he does not perceive in himself, are given
as possessions to another, charity will be accumulated. Indeed, varied grace
is dispensed well when a gift is believed acceptable to those who do not have
it and is thought given on account of him on whom it is bestowed. The
prudence of your charity best knows how to add to this thing that whole
chapter of the apostle mentioned by me in part; and whatever I touched
upon summarily, it escapes no one that you undoubtedly know it better.
10. Therefore, this alone, which I desire greatly, remains, that you
furnish what I have asked for, even if not provided for me, at least divinely
for charity itself. According to this we are bidden to know and to furnish
everything, and without this everything is nothing. But if I have poured out
rather than said everything superfluously, neglectfully, not humbly, or use¬
lessly, I beg that you receive everything kindly and excuse everything and
pray that God may excuse everything. Therefore, I make known that the
books of Etymologiae which I ask from you, my lord, although destroyed and
mutilated, are now possessed by many.
11. Thus I ask that you deign to send them to me transcribed, entire,
corrected, and well integrated lest, carried by eagerness into wrong, I be
compelled to take vices instead of virtues from others. Moreover, I wish,

63
 Sancti Isidori Epistolce

dicuntur putere mercedes, ut dignatio vestrae benignitatis imperet nobis in id

quod possumus et valemus, tantum ut obsequio nostro utaris, imo charitate,
quae Deus est, perfruaris.
12. His igitur expletis, erunt mihi quaestiones de sacris divinisque paginis,
quarum mihi expositionem cordis vestri lumen aperiret, si tamen et nobis
jubes resplendere, et divinae legis obscura reserare. Nec si ista quae peto per¬
cepero, de illis silebo, sed viam reseras capiendae fiduciae. Cum in hac prima
fronte non me confoderis stimulis verecundiae, et ignaviae meae, locum dederis
veniae, quod quem diligebas, quamlibet immeritum, non jusseris reprobare,
quia ignominiosum valde videtur, ac vile, si necdum satiatus quis charitate
ab eo quem amabat invenitur secedere.

13. Obsequio autem meae servitutis dependo jura salutis, et quaeso pieta¬
tem sanctissimae vestrae potestatis, ut pro me orare digneris; quatenus quo¬
tidie fluctuantem animam in malis tuo intercessu lucreris, et ad portum
tranquillitatis aeternae deducas, erutam a miseriis et a scandalis. Dulce mihi
fuit diu ad te loqui, quasi coram positus vultum viderem tuae faciei. Ideo nec
verbositatem cavi, et temeritatem fortassis incurri. Sed aut hoc aut aliud
agere debui, tantum ut quod noluisti per humilitatem saltem tribuas per
tumultuantem improbitatem.

14. Ecce quantum audaciae dedit mihi gratia vestrae benevolentiae. Et ideo
si quid in hoc displicuerit, sibi imputet, quae tantum amat, ut timorem tollat.
Nam perfecta charitas foras mittit timorem. Speciali quoque gratia fretus
speciali domino, in quo vires sanctae Ecclesiae consistunt, suggero ut, quia
Eusebius noster metropolitanus decessit, habeas misericordiae curam. Et hoc
filio tuo nostro domino suggeras, ut utilem illi loco praeficiat, cujus doctrina
et sanctitas caeteris sit vitae forma. Hunc autem filium praesentem beatissimae
potestati vestrae per omnia commendo, et tam de his quae hic suggessimus,
quam etiam de his quae supra questi sumus, eloquio vestro per eum illustrari
mereamur.

64
 The Letters of St. Isidore of Seville

although you lack nothing and voluntary gifts are said to stink, that the
dignity of your benignity command me to do that which I can, that you
make use of my subservience and indeed enjoy the charity which is God.
12. These matters having been finished, I shall have questions about
sacred and divine pages whose exposition the light of your heart might
open to me, if you bid it to shine for me and to unlock the obscurities of
divine law. If I receive what I seek, I shall not be silent about it; but you
open a way of getting hope. When you do not pierce me on my forehead
with the goads of my shame and cowardice, you give place to pardon
because you do not order that one whom you loved, although undeserving,
be reproached; because it seems very ignominious and vile if someone not
yet sated with charity is found to withdraw from him whom he loved.
13. I hang the rights of health on the obedience of my servitude and I ask
the piety of your most holy power to deign to pray for me, that you daily
mourn with your intercession a fluctuating soul in misfortunes and lead it to
the harbor of eternal tranquility, freed from miseries and from scandals. It
has been pleasant for me to speak to you for a long time, as if placed in
your presence I saw the countenance of your face. Therefore, I did not
beware of verbosity and perhaps incurred temerity. But I should have done
either this or something else so that you may grant at least through tumul¬
tuous wickedness what you would not grant through humility.
14. Look how much audacity the grace of your benevolence gave me. And
thus if anything in this is displeasing, let one consider what he loves so that
he may remove fear. For perfect charity drives fear away. Relying on a
special lord with a special grace, in whom is the strength of the Holy
Church, I suggest that you have concern for mercy because Eusebius, our
metropolitan, has died. And you should suggest this to your son, our lord,
that he put in that place a useful person whose doctrine and sanctity is the
model of life for all others. I commend in everything this present son to your
most blessed power, and concerning both the things which I suggested here
and those about which I complained above, I deserve to be illumined by him
with your letter.

65
 Sancti Isidori Epistolce

EPISTOLA XIII.

ISIDORI BRAULIONI EPISCOPO.

Domino meo et Dei servo Braulioni episcopo Isidores.

1. Tuae sanctitatis epistolae me in urbe Toletana invenerunt. Nam permotus
fueram causa concilii. Sed quamvis jussio principis in itinere positum re¬
meare me admonuisset, ego tamen, quia propinquior eram praesentiae ipsius
quam regressioni, malui potius cursum itineris non intercludere. Veni ad
praesentiam principis, inveni praesentem diaconum tuum; per eum eloquia tua
suscipiens, amplexus sum, et legi, et de salute tua Deo gratias egi, desiderio
omni desiderans, quamvis debilis atque fessus, fiduciam tamen habens per
Christum in hac vita videndi te, quia spes non confunditur per charitatem,
quae diffusa est in cordibus nostris.
2. Codicem Etymologiarum cum aliis Codicibus de itinere transmisi, et
licet inemendatum prae invalitudine, tamen tibi modo ad emendandum statue¬
ram offerre, si ad destinatum concilii locum pervenissem. De constituendo
autem episcopo Tarraconensi non eam quam petisti sensi sententiam regis;
sed tamen et ipse adhuc ubi certius convertat animum, illi manet incertum.
Peto autem ut pro meis peccatis apud Dominum existere digneris inter¬
cessor, ut impetratu tuo deleantur delicta mea, et remittantur facinora. Item
manu sua. Ora pro nobis, beatissime domine, et egregie frater.

66
 The Letters of St. Isidore of Seville

LETTER XIII

ISIDORE TO BISHOP BRAULIO

Isidore to Bishop Braulio, my lord and the servant of God.

1. The letter of your Holiness reached me in the city of Toledo. For I had
gone there on account of the council. But although the order of the king
advised me to return after I had set out on my journey, I preferred not to
stop the course of my journey because I was nearer to his presence than to
home. I came to the king’s presence. I found your deacon present. Receiving
your letter from him, I took it and read it and gave thanks to God for your
health, longing with every desire to see you in this life, although weak and
weary, yet having hope through Christ, because hope is not confounded by
charity which is diffused in our hearts.
2. While on the journey, I sent you the manuscript of the Etymologiae
along with other manuscripts, and although it was not corrected because of
my ill health, I decided to present it to you for correcting if I came to the
destined place for the council. Concerning the establishment of the bishop
of Tarragona, I realized that the opinion of the king was not what you
desired, but he himself still remains uncertain when he might be certain.
I ask that you deign to be an intercessor for my sins with the Lord so that
by your entreaty my faults may be obliterated and my sins forgiven. And
written in my own hand: Pray for me, very blessed lord and distinguished
brother.

67
 Sancti lsidori Epistolce

EPISTOLA XIV.

DOMINO ET FILIO SISEBUTO ISIDORUS.

En tibi, sicut pollicitus sum, misi opus de origine quarundam rerum ex

veteris lectionis recordatione collectum atque ita in quibusdam locis adnota-
tum, sicut extat conscriptum stilo maiorum.

68
 The Letters of St. Isidore of Seville

LETTER XIV

ISIDORE TO SISEBUTUS

Isidore to Sisebutus, my lord and son.

1. Here now, just as I promised, I have sent to you a work about the
origin of certain things collected from remembrance of old reading and so
annotated in certain places as it was written by the stylus of the ancients.

69
 Date Due
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