Augustine of Hippo, Letters

To Simplicianus,161 Simplicianus succeeded Ambrose in the see of Milan in 397 A.D. This letter is the preface to the two books addressed to Simplicianus, and contained in vol. vi. of the Benedictine edition of Augustin.My Lord Most Blessed, and My Father Most Worthy of Being Cherished with Respect and Sincere Affection, Augustin Sends Greeting in the Lord.

1. I received the letter which your Holiness kindly sent,—a letter full of occasions of much joy to me, because assuring me that you remember me, that you love me as you used to do, and that you take great pleasure in every one of the gifts which the Lord has in His compassion been pleased to bestow on me. In reading that letter, I have eagerly welcomed the fatherly affection which flows from your benignant heart towards me: and this I have not found for the first time, as something short-lived and new, but long ago proved and well known, my lord, most blessed, and most worthy of being cherished with respect and sincere love.

2. Whence comes so great a recompense for the literary labour given by me to the writing of a few books as this, that your Excellency should condescend to read them? Is it not that the Lord, to whom my soul is devoted, has purposed thus to comfort me under my anxieties, and to lighten the fear with which in such labour I cannot but be exercised, lest, notwithstanding the evenness of the plain of truth, I stumble through want either of knowledge or of caution? For when what I write meets your approval, I know by whom it is approved, for I know who dwells in you; and the Giver and Dispenser of all spiritual gifts designs by your approbation to confirm my obedience to Him. For whatever in these writings of mine merits your approbation is from God, who has by me as His instrument said, “Let it be done,” and it was done; and in your approval God has pronounced that what was done is “good.”162 Gen. i. 3, 4.

3. As for the questions which you have condescended to command me to resolve, even if through the dulness of my mind I did not understand them, I might through the assistance of your merits find an answer to them. This only I ask, that on account of my weakness you intercede with God for me, and that whatever writings of mine come into your sacred hands, whether on the topics to which you have in a manner so kind and fatherly directed my attention, or on any others, you will not only take pains to read them, but also accept the charge of reviewing and correcting them; for I acknowledge the mistakes which I myself have made, as readily as the gifts which God has bestowed on me.

EPISTOLA XXXVII . Gratulatur sibi Augustinus litterarias suas lucubrationes legi et approbari a Simpliciano; ejusque censurae subjicit tum caeteros suos libros, tum eos quos de quaestionibus ab ipso propositis conscripsit.

Domino beatissimo et venerabiliter sincerissima charitate amplectendo patri SIMPLICIANO , AUGUSTINUS, in Domino salutem.

0152 1. Plenas bonorum gaudiorum litteras, quod sis memor mei, meque ut soles diligas, magnaeque gratulationi tibi sit quidquid in me donorum suorum Dominus conferre dignatus est misericordia sua, non meritis meis, missas munere Sanctitatis tuae accepi: in quibus affectum in me paternum de tuo benignissimo corde non repentinum et novum hausi, sed expertum sane cognitumque repetivi, domine beatissime, et venerabiliter sincerissima charitate amplectende.

2. Unde autem tanta exorta est felicitas litterario labori nostro, quo in librorum quorumdam conscriptione sudavimus, ut a tua Dignatione legerentur? nisi quia Dominus, cui subdita est anima mea, consolari voluit curas meas, et a timore recreare, quo me in talibus operibus necesse est esse sollicitum, necubi forte indoctior vel incautior, quamvis in planissimo campo veritatis, offendam. Cum enim tibi placet quod scribo, novi cui placeat; quoniam quis te inhabitet novi. Idem quippe omnium munerum spiritualium distributor atque largitor per tuam sententiam confirmabit obedientiam meam. Quidquid enim habent illa scripta delectatione tua dignum, in meo ministerio dixit Deus, Fiat, et factum est: in tua vero approbatione vidit Deus quia bonum est (Gen. I, 3, 4).

3. Quaestiunculas sane, quas mihi enodandas jubere dignatus es, etsi mea tarditate implicatus non intelligerem, tuis meritis adjutus aperirem. Tantum illud quaeso, ut pro mea infirmitate depreceris Deum, et sive in iis quibus me exercere benigne paterneque voluisti, sive in aliis quaecumque nostra in tuas sanctas manus forte pervenerint, quia sicut Dei data, sic etiam mea errata cognosco, non solum curam legentis impendas, sed etiam censuram corrigentis assumas. Vale.