Letter 6004: I have not written in order to burden you with the bitter news of my affliction, but rather to urge your concern —...

Ennodius to Faustus. I have not written in order to burden you with the bitter news of my affliction, but rather to urge your concern — to persist in your prayers on my behalf. The labor imposed on my eyes before my health had fully recovered has dealt them a severe blow: all light has departed from me along with you. It is enough to have indicated what I suffer. It is for you to demand my recovery from the God whom you appease with your prayers, and to bring aid through frequent letters to one who is opening the doors of correspondence. My lord, I beseech God to cause you to send me the kind of news I would be delighted to hear.

IIII. FAVSTO ENNODIVS. Non scripsi, ut amaro incommoditatis meae indicio uos grauarem, sed ut sollicitudinem uestram, quatenus insistat orationibus, conuenirem. male oculos meos ante receptae ualitudinis substantiam inpositus labor accepit: omne a me uobiscum lumen abscessit. sat est significasse quod patior. uestrum est prosperitatem meam a deo, quem precibus placatis, exigere et reseranti litterarum fores crebris opem ferre conloquiis. domine mi, deum quaeso, ut illud a uobis indicari faciat quod me delectet agnoscere.