St. Augustine
1I. Numquam aeque quisquam facie cuilibet innotuit quam mihi tuorum in domino studiorum quieta laetitia et vere exercitatio liberalis. Quamquam ergo percupiam omnino te nosse, tamen exiguum quiddam tui minus habeo, praesentiam videlicet corporis. Quam ipsam etiam, posteaquam te beatissimus nunc episcopus tunc vero iam episcopatu dignus frater Alypius vidit remeansque a me visus est, negare non possum magna ex parte mihi esse relatu eius inpressam et ante reditum, cum te ille ibi videbat, ego videbam sed oculis eius. Non enim animo me atque illum sed corpore duos, qui noverit, dixerit, concordia dum taxat et familiaritate fidissima, non meritis, quibus ille antecellit. Quia ergo me primitus communione spiritus, quo in unum nitimur, deinde illius ex ore iam diligis, nequaquam inpudenter quasi aliquis ignotus commendo germanitati tuae fratrem Profuturum, quem nostris conatibus, deinde adiutorio
Letters of St. Augustine
I. Never did any man know another’s features1 as well as I have come to know what peaceful joy you find in your studies in the Lord and what truly noble application you give to them. My desire for thorough acquaintance with you is of the strongest, yet I lack only one small portion of you, namely your bodily presence. But, I can assure you, even that has been to a large extent imprinted on my mind by the account given me by brother Alypius, now a much revered bishop, but even then, when he saw you, well worthy of that office. I saw him on his return, but even before then, while he was seeing you there, I too saw you, though with his eyes. For anyone who knows us both would say that he and I are distinct individuals in body only, not in mind; I mean in our harmoniousness and trusty friendship, not in merit, in which he far outstrips me. So it is not presumptuous of me, as if I were a stranger to you, since you already cherish affection for me from the unity of spirit, first of all, that makes us strive for one common end and then, from what Alypius has told you of me, to commend to your fraternal kindness our brother Profuturusb; it is my hope that through my efforts on his behalf and then
- aWritten from Hippo. Jerome was at Bethlehem, but through a series of mishaps this letter was not delivered until nine years later.
- bProfuturus was a member of Augustine’s monastery at Hippo. He was prevented from setting out with this letter by his appointment to the see of Cirta and died before 403 (Ep. lxxi. 2). To him is addressed No. 13 infra.