Letters62 Letter LXII. To Henry/ bishop of Verdun (Before A.D. 1129)

He recommends to the bishop a woman laden with many sins, but now penitent.

To the Lord HENRY, by the grace of God, Bishop of Verdun, Brother BERNARD, Abbot of Clairvaux, health and prayers.

This poor woman, whom already Satan has bound, lo! these many years, with many and tangled knots of sin, has sought counsel respecting her salvation from me, though unworthy, and has been advised by me; but after many and daily wanderings this poor lost sheep should return with confidence to the fold of her own pastor. You will succour her with the more care and speed in her distress inasmuch as you know perfectly well that you will render a strict account of her safety to the Lamb who has died for her and has committed her to your care. It was our duty to correct her when wandering, it is yours not to despise her as a sinner, but to receive her as a penitent; and if her unhappy history which she has told me be true, to reconcile her to her former husband, if he still lives, or if he is un- \villing to receive her, to oblige both the one and the other to live in single life. Farewell.