Letter 10002: Ad virum inlustrem Salutarem

To the Illustrious Salutaris Among the wounds that steal upon the human condition — wounds that always render desires uncertain through the wavering course of unsettled minds and slipping times — nothing tortures a man more than either not seeing what he desires or seeing what he loses. For the trembling mind sinks under no small burden in both cases: hanging in suspense, watching for a long time what it holds, and then, as soon as it begins to hold it, immediately losing it — afflicted while it awaits, crushed when it loses. But more grievously does this blow strike than a javelin, because between watching for things and losing things watched for, hope is stretched out in one case and condemned in the other: there, doubtful grief over whether one will have; here, certain pain if one must leave. Nature has this implanted in us by the transgression of our first parent, its death-penalty flowing down to us: that what is barely obtained is soon abandoned. The tooth of the ancient serpent struck so deeply at the root that not even the tree has stood firm — rather it lives with death's root fixed in it. Our parents' inheritance has sent this to their descendants: that we who lie subject to death should seek to live, destined to die. The acquired possession of that unhappy tree has wounded all — the tree that, with its flattering fruits, harmed its offspring before it nourished them; under the appearance of a meal, death entered. By that fatal touch it injured parents and posterity alike: them by the tasting, us by the juice. For the cup of venomous persuasion that the father badly swallowed was transferred to his offspring — and, as it were, what flowed from the fountain poured down into the stream. That mother by birth but stepmother by crime inflicted this on us — unhappy Eve, a uniqueness for all — who alone so built up as to destroy everything, when by the aged machinery of the trap she ruined and destroyed her inexperienced husband. But what good can the offspring do if they stretch themselves into accusation even of a wicked parent, or bite again at one who had already perished by one bite? — when his own fall was enough for himself, and our downfall. Therefore I think it unfitting even to bite back at the one through whom an unwelcome thing came gratis — by whose occasion death began to feed on living nourishment; for whom, while the opening of the eyes was promised, light was driven away, and man, promised divinity, fell back to earth. This is why the harmful food dragged the offspring born into prey. That captivity made us exiles from prosperity, partners in adversity — a pilgrimage the heavier, as death is the more familiar. From the old Adam until the new man, our life is born together with death. Abel did not escape this, nor will Enoch flee it, nor did Noah withdraw himself — he who by the flood postponed death but did not change it. The patriarch did not refuse this; the lawgiver did not avert this law; the prophet endured it, and more than the prophet succumbed. Sarah too, and Rebecca, Rachel, Hannah, Elizabeth — though the weaker sex, they drank this same bitterness. What complaint can one make about the rest, when the Conqueror of death himself, in the part by which he was made flesh, was also made subject to death? He would not have been fully man if he had not experienced the tomb; nor would he be believed God unless he had risen from the grave. This is why I speak, dearest friend bound to me by the pledge of faithful love: because you grieve in your letter over the passing of your holy daughter, barely breaking through your sobs as you write with a sorrowful pen — that at the onset of death in her tenth year, the little flower of her tender puberty has withered; that she was almost drawn back from the threshold of marriage and given not to the bridal chamber as her father wished, but to the tomb — and by a different song she is entrusted not to the marriage-bed but to the grave. For her marriage perhaps the household was already hurrying with eager preparations; the relatives and the homeland were diligently stirred up; the mother was suspended in prayer; the nurse's own care was rising — the girl adorned with rush-like youth, rose-like modesty, and festive art of her sex. But where does the beauty of form carry me, so quick to reveal itself and so quick to flee — where, the lying flesh — since if the glory of the deceased is proclaimed, the laments only grow? You had this, father, but it was not yours: you have rather returned what was entrusted. She is wept for as though lost; but let it be considered that she is not lost, since she returns to Christ undefiled. Or do you perhaps complain as if you alone had suffered this, when this lot conquers even kings? Are you more fortunate than Augustus, stronger than Alexander, more favored than Trajan, holier than Theodosius? Since soldier and prince share this equally in death: what you have in common with the world must be grieved for patiently. How many women has death snatched back from their very first embrace to the tomb — women who suffered the loss of a husband known but not possessed: who are doubly to be mourned, first for losing modesty, then for perishing so! Therefore, although you grieve that you have lost such a child to such a calamity, it is new to no one: the girl could not avoid what came through woman. Rather, look to this: that this matter of death may become a matter of virtue; and make yourself equal to the examples of those who, having conquered grief, rise to the palm. You have, then, among the very summits of patience, first as in a watchtower the standard and rule of Job, who gave thanks to the Lord for his children as though he had received them at the very moment he lost them — a man of experience who entrusted everything to the divine will, lest he fall. And what of David the strong? — who, though he subdued Goliath, prostrated himself like hay before the heavenly will when, after losing his son, he washed and feasted, understanding that the faithful servant should not provoke the offense of the good Lord even with a murmur. He who, that he might be joined to divine nuptials, continually flowed, a loving father, through his tears. You can indeed surmise that God would not have taken such a one unless she had pleased him for his own bridal chambers. Whence do you know the depths of divine counsel, or what longing was hidden in the heart of your daughter? Perhaps she chose beforehand what she merited, and what she desired came to pass. For this reason, excellent man, be yourself scarcely the judge, and a father: that is, if you temper yourself through love and judge yourself, you will not offend — especially since the promise of the Redeemer should calm you, and the voice of the preacher Paul, imitating thunder: that in the blink of an eye the buried will hasten to rise and will live under the shadow of Christ, secure in their virginity.

II Ad virum inlustrem Salutarem Inter humanae condicionis subripientia vulnera, quae semper incerto tramite nu- tantium animorum ac labentium temporum reddunt vota suspecta, nihil est in aliquo aliquid magis quod cruciet, quam quemquam aut non videre quod cupiat aut videre quod perdat; cum trepidans animus in utroque non modico sub fasce succumbat, dum pendulus spectat diuturne quod habeat et, ut habere coeperit, mox amittat, scilicet adflictus donec inpetret, elisus si perdit; sed gravius hoc iaculo res illa percellit, quod inter spectare vel spectata amittere illic spes tenditur, hic damnatur, illic dubius mae- ror an habeat, hic certus dolor est si relinquat. (2) Habet hoc insitum natura prae- varicatione protoplasti parentis ad nos decursa morte multata, ut saepe quod vix ad- quiritur mox linquatur; serpentis inveterati dens a radice sic perculit, ut nec arbor steterit quin stirpe mortis fixa vivat. (3) Misit hoc posteris hereditas parentalis, ut iacentes morti quaeramus vivere morituri: vulnificavit cunctos infelicis arboris adquae- sita possessio, quae blandientibus pomis prolem prius nocuit quam nutrivit; quo certe sub epuli specie mors intravit. ferali tactu laesit hoc parentes et posteros: illos gu- stus, nos sucus: quoniam virulentae suasionis poculum, quod pater male sorbuit, in prolem transfudit et, ut ita dictum sit, quod a fonte manavit, in rivum defluxit. (4) Intulit hoc igitur illa mater de genere sed noverca de crimine, infelix cunctis Eva monades, quod certe sola sic extruit ut universa destrueret, cum veterata machinatione decipulae rudem virum perderet et periret. sed proles quid boni faciat, si se in ca- lumniam vel mali parentis extendat, aut ut illum iterum detrahendo remordeat qui semel morsu perierat, cum ipse sibi suffecerit suus lapsus, noster occasus? (5) Itaque puto incongruum si vel illum remorsero per quem gratis venit ingratum, cuius occasione vitalis alimoniae mors coepit depasci, cui dum oculorum apertio promittitur, lux fugatur et divinitate promissa homo lapsus redit in terram: hinc est quod prolem genitam nocens esca traxit in praedam. (6) Fecit illa captivitas nos prosperis exules, adversis consortes, et tantum peregrinatio gravior, quam mors dura notior. nascitur ab Adam vetere usque ad novum hominem vita nostra cum morte. (7) Hinc se nec Abel exuit nec Enoch effugiet neque Noe se subtraxit, qui diluvio mortem distulit non mutavit; hoc patriarcha non rennuit, hanc legem legifer non avertit, propheta sustinuit et plus quam propheta succubuit: Sarra quoque, Rebecca Rachel Anna Elisabeth, licet sexus inferior, tamen hoc simul bibit amarum. (8) Quid conqueratur de reliquis, cum ipse triumphator mortis pro parte qua caro factus est et morti subiectus est? nec fuerat plenus homo, si non sensisset et tumulum; nec deus crederetur, nisi surgeret de sepulchro. (9) Hinc est quod loquor, carissime et fidae dilectionis mihi voto conexe, eo quod tuos per apices natae sanctae transitum conqueraris, vix singultu rum- pente indicans calamo tristi, decennalis aetatis inruente funere pubertatis tenerae floscula marcuisse, cum paene nuptiali retracta de limine non ad patris votum thalamo datur sed tumulo, et diverso cantico non toro traditur sed sepulchro, ad cuius forte vota iam festinans familia fervebat, sedule parentela excitabatur et patria, mater erat prece suspensa, ipsa adsurgebat cura nutricis: iuncea pubertate, rosea modestate, festiva arte sui sexus ornata. (10) Sed quo me rapit formae decor se prodere tam cito fugax, quo caro mendax, cum defunctae si praedicetur gloria, adcrescant lamenta? (11) Habuisti igitur istud pater, sed non tuum: reddidisti potius commendatum. plo- ratur velut amissum; sed consideretur non perditum quod ad Christum redit intactum. (12) An certe conquereris quasi solus ista perpessus sis, cum casus hic vincat et reges? an felicior Augusto, fortior Alexandro, favorabilior Traiano, sanctior es Theudosio? cum hoc habeat obitu aequale tam miles quam princeps: patienter dolendum est quod habes commune cum mundo. (13) Quantas autem feminas ab ipso primo conplexu retraxit ad tumulum, et pertulerunt dispendium agnito viro, non habito: quae bis la- mentandae sunt: antea pudorem perdere, sic perisse! (14) Vnde quamvis conque- raris talem te tali casu amisisse subolem, nulli tamen novum est, ut non potuisset hoc vitare puella quod venit per feminam. illud potius inspice, ut ista res funeris sit virtutis, et ad illorum exempla te coaequa qui dolore victo surgunt ad palmam. (15) Habes itaque inter ipsa patientiae culmina primum velut in specula Iob censuram et normam, qui pro filiis domino sic gratias retulit tamquam si tunc acceperit cum amisit. qui vir experientiae voluntati divinae tradidit totum, ne caderet. (16) Quid vero? David fortis, licet Goliam subdiderit, non se velut faenum nutui caelesti sub- stravit, cum filio amisso lavit, epulatus est? ne repugnet, intellegens uni cedere qui cuncta formavit, servus fidelis timuit offensam boni domini provocare vel murmure. quem ut iungeretur divinas ad nuptias, iugiter diffluebat pius pater per lacrimas. potestis autem conicere quia talem non tolleret, nisi suis thalamis placuisset. unde nosti abyssos divini consilii vel tuae natae qualis in corde concupiscentia latitavit? fortassis hoc antea elegit quod meruit et illud prodiit quod optavit. (17) Qua de re, vir optime, esto tibi vix iudex et pater es; hoc est si per caritatem te tem- peres et te iudices, non offendis: praesertim cum te mitiget promissio redemptoris et praeconis Pauli vox simulata tonitrui, quia in ictu oculi resurgere maturabunt sepulti et vivent sub umbra Christi, de virginitate securi.