Letter 6010: To the Lord Bishop Censorius.

To the Lord Bishop Censorius. The bearer of this letter is honored by the office of deacon. He fled with his family from the storm of Gothic raids and was carried to your territory, driven, as it were, by the very weight of his flight. On church land overseen by Your Holiness, this hungry newcomer sowed a small crop in half-prepared soil, and he now begs to be allowed to harvest it in full. If you will extend to him the kindness owed to those of the household of faith — that is, if you waive the customary rent on the land — he will consider even that small profit an adequate return. He is a foreigner, and his means, like his spirit, are modest. If you forgive even the tiny payment due from his meager harvest, he will depart feeling as royally provisioned as if he were farming his own soil back home — and he will carry his gratitude with him. If through him you also favor me with a letter in your customary generous style, your page will be received by me and by the brethren here as though it had fallen from heaven. Be mindful of us, my lord bishop.

EPISTULA X Sidonius domino papae Censorio salutem. 1. Gerulum litterarum levitici ordinis honestat officium. hic cum familia sua depraedationis Gothicae turbinem vitans in territorium vestrum delatus est ipso, ut sic dixerim, pondere fugae; ubi in re ecclesiae, cui sanctitas tua praesidet, parvam sementem semiconfecto caespiti advena ieiunus iniecit, cuius ex solido colligendae fieri sibi copiam exorat. 2. quem si domesticis fidei deputata humanitate foveatis, id est, ut debitum glaebae canonem non petatur, tantum lucelli praestitum sibi computat (peregrini hominis ut census, sic animus angustus), ac si in patrio solo rusticaretur. huic si legitimam, ut mos est, solutionem perexiguae segetis indulgeas, tamquam opipare viaticatus cum gratiarum actione remeabit. per quem si me stilo solitae dignationis impertias, mihi fraternitatique istic sitae pagina tua veluti polo lapsa reputabitur. memor nostri esse dignare, domine papa.