Letter 7: Had I heard earlier of the death of your most honorable husband, I would have written long before now.

To Theonilla. Had I heard earlier of the death of your most honorable husband, I would have written long before now. But even now, I am not writing to dull your grief with consoling words. You do not need them. Those who have absorbed the wisdom of philosophers, who have understood what this life is, find in reason a force strong enough to meet and break the rising wave of sorrow. Even while the memory of your long years together weighs on you, reason recognizes the divine decree, and marshals against the assault of grief — with one motion — the course of nature, the law of God, and the hope of the resurrection. Knowing all this, there is no need for me to say very much. I simply ask you to call on your good sense in this hour of need. Think of the death of your husband as nothing more than a long journey, and wait for the promise of our God and Savior. For the one who promised the resurrection cannot lie — he is the very source of truth.

Letter 7