Letters277 Letter CCLXXVII. To the same, on behalf oe the abbot of Cluny.' (A.D. 1146)
Letter CCLXXVII. To the same, on behalf oe the abbot of Cluny.' (A.D. 1146)
He asks that the Abbot of Cluny may be received honourably and kindly.
It seems a foolish thing to write to you on behalf of the Abbot of Cluny, and to seem to wish to act as patron for a man whom all wish to have as their patron. But I write, not because it is necessary for him, but to satisfy my own affection for him; my own, I say, not another's, for as I cannot be with him in person I follow my friend on his journey by letter. Who shall separate us? Neither the height of the Alps, nor the cold of the snows, nor the length of the journey. And now I am present with him to help him by my letters. He shall never be without me. I am a debtor to his worth, by which I have been counted worthy to be admitted to such a degree of grace. But grace itself has freed me from the debt, for necessity has passed into will. Honour the man as one who is truly an honourable member of Christ; unless I am mistaken he is a vessel for honour, full of grace and truth, filled writh all good works. Send him back with joy, that he may rejoice very many by his return. Hold him worthy of more grace, as indeed he is, so that when he returns we may all receive of his fulness. If he asks anything of you in the name of the Lord Jesus he ought not to meet with any difficulty. For if you do not know it, let me say that he it is who is always stretching out a helping hand to the poor of our Order; he cheerfully and frequently distributes for food the goods of his church, as far as he can by the consent of his brethren. Notice why I say "in the Name of Jesus." For if, as I suspect and fear, he seeks to be set free from the government of his Order, who that knows him can think that he asks in the name of Jesus? I am mistaken if he is not oppressed by fear more than usual, if he has not become better than himself since you saw him. Moreover, almost from the time that he entered on his office he is known to have improved the Order in many ways, e.g., in the observance of fasting and of silence, and in the care he takes for precious and curious vestments.
Stultum videtur scribere ad vos pro domino Cluniacensi, et ei quasi velle patrocinium ferre, quem omnes sibi patronum habere desiderant. Sed scribo, etsi non necessarie illi, satisfaciens tamen affectui: affectui dico meo, non alterius. Ipso enim, quia corpore non possum, prosequor amicum peregrinantem. Quis nos separabit! Nec altitudo Alpium, nec nivium frigora, nec longitudo itineris. Et nunc praesens sum, in litteris his assistens illi. Sine me poterit esse nusquam. Debitor sum dignationi ejus, per quam dignus habitus sum assumi in id gratiae. Sed debito ipsa absolvit gratia, quia necessitas in voluntatem transiit. Honorate virum, ut vere honorabile membrum in Christi corpore. Vas est in honorem, ni fallor, plenum gratiae et veritatis, refertum plurimis bonis. Remittite eum cum laetitia, quamplurimos sub reditu laetificaturum. Dignemini eum ampliori, ut dignum est, gratia, et ita ut de plenitudine ejus omnes, cum redierit, accipiamus. Sane si quid petierit in nomine Domini Jesu, non debet apud vos pati difficultatem. Nam si nescitis, iste est qui manus suas extendit ad pauperes Ordinis nostri: iste est qui de possessionibus ecclesiae suae, quantum cum pace potest suorum, libenter frequenterque largitur ad victum. In nomine Jesu cur dixerim, audite. Si enim petierit (quod suspicor vereorque) dimitti a regimine monasterii, quis illum noscens, in nomine Jesu petere putet? Fallor, si non solito timoratior, si non se ipso melior factus sit, ex quo vidistis eum. Quanquam pene ab introitu suo in multis Ordinem illum meliorasse cognoscitur: verbi gratia, in observantia jejuniorum, silentii, indumentorum pretiosorum et curiosorum.