Letter 12002: The report of your mutual kindness toward one another — each caring for the others as equals in Christ — has reached...

The good reports of your work, glorious daughter, which we have heard, gladden us sufficiently, in that you are reported to do those things through which, while you mercifully come to the aid of the needy, you yourself obtain mercy, and by nourishing others temporally you may be satisfied forever with the good things of heaven. And therefore, because he in whom you believe is faithful, commit securely those things which he has bestowed, so that on the day of tribulation you may receive back what you expend. For the excellent preacher says: 'I know in whom I have believed, and I am certain that he is able to keep my deposit unto that day' [2 Timothy 1:12]. Behold, glorious daughter, consider how great is the certitude of good works, and let your hand always be generous in good work, so that there may come to pass for you what is written: 'Hide alms in the bosom of the poor man, and this shall make supplication for you' [Ecclesiasticus 29:15]. Whoever, therefore, desires to have abundant fruit in heaven, let him not neglect to sow while there is time, so that he may gather the sheaves with joy on the day of harvest. For 'they that sow in tears shall reap in joy' [Psalm 125:5]. But of what kind the harvest from such sowing will be, let the apostle say: 'He that sows in his flesh, of the flesh also shall reap corruption; but he that sows in the spirit, of the spirit shall also reap life everlasting' [Galatians 6:8]. But lest the want of destitution find us, let us prepare this harvest for ourselves by manifold sowing, and, the more abundantly we desire to be satisfied, so much the more generously let us confer upon him from whom we have received everything. For the Lord himself says concerning himself: 'For I was hungry, and you gave me to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me to drink; I was a stranger, and you took me in; naked, and you covered me,' and the rest, and in conclusion it is added: 'Amen I say to you, as long as you did it to one of these my least brethren, you did it to me' [Matthew 25:35-40]. This, therefore, do more zealously, and in doing these things seek no recompense for yourselves on earth, because for those who desire heavenly things there are no temporal ones. But fix your desires there, where, whatever is repaid, receives no end. Do not, therefore, fail in doing good, so that you may be able to lay up for yourselves treasures there, where neither rust nor moth destroys, and where thieves do not dig through nor steal [Matthew 6:20]. Moreover, greeting your glory with fatherly affection, we make known, through the bearer of these presents, Hilarus our cartulary, that we have transmitted a key from the most sacred body of blessed Peter, prince of the apostles, in which is also contained a blessing from his chains. May this, suspended from your neck, become for you, by his intercession, the grace of absolution in that which was for him the cause of martyrdom. May almighty God keep you in his fear, and so kindle your heart always to good work, that he may both bestow his grace upon you here and afterward lead you to eternal joys.

Satis me, gloriosa filia, operationis tuae audita bona laetificant, quod illa agere perhiberis, per quae*, dum egentibus** misericorditer subvenis, ipsa misericordiam con- sequaris et alios temporalitcr nutriendo bonis in aetemum caelestibus® satieris. Et ideo quia fidelis est cui credis, secura commenda ea quae tribuit^, ut in die tribu- 2.Tiiii.i, ri. lationis recipias quod® impendis. Ait namque egregius praedicator: 'Scio, cui credidi, et certus sum, quia potens est depositum meum servare in illum diem\ Ecce, gloriosa filia, quanta sit bonorum opcrum cortitudo, considera, et larga sit semper' manus in Ecci. 29, is. opere, ut fiat vobis quod scriptum cst: 'Absconde elemosinam in sinu pauperis, et haec pro te exorabit^^. Quisquis igitur copiosum in caelis fructum habere desiderat, semi- nare, dum tempus est, non omittat. ut manipulos in die messis*» cum laetitia colligat. ps. 125., 5. Nam 'qui scminant in lacrimis, in gaudio metent\ Sed qualis messis ex huius modi oai. fi, 8. sementc futura sit, dicat* apostolus: 'Qui seminat in came sua, de came et metet cormptionem; qui autcm seminat in spiritu, de spiritu et^ metet vitam aetemam'. Ne vero inopia nos^ egestatis inveniat, hanc nobis messem satione multiplici praeparemus et, quanto uberius satiari™ cupimus, tanto ei a quo totum accepimus largius™ con- j*'***^; feramus. Nam ipso de se Dominus dicit": 'Esurivi enim, et dedistis mihi manducare; sitivi, et dedistis** mihi bibere; hospes fui, et collegistis me; nudusP, et opemistis ib. 25, 40. nie' et cetera, atque in conclusione subiungitur: 'Amen dico vobis, quamdiu fecistis uni ex his*» fratribus meis minimis, mihi fecistis'. Hoc ergo studiosius agite et' haec agentes in terra vobis retribui nihil quaeratis, quia supema desiderantibus temporalia 8) praeiudicando q 3. h) in om. q3. boni, ut videtur, q*2.3. via {om. ciini) q*1; via cnni q*2.3. ^) tramissiono q1. m) a vobis om. Rl. ») percipimuR Q*l. XII, 2 in titulo: Columbi^ Rl; Col. et cet. om. li* 1 — Callo q*4 — k paribns R; paribns (om. a) cet. ») quem Rl,Ql.Q*l. ex agontibuB corr. Rl. c) c^leatis Q* 1. ^) ita R 1. q.q* 1; tribuis cet. •) quo Ql. f) semper om. Q. Q*. 1S) exoravit R1.q*1; exorabat q1. ^) mensis Q*l. ») dicit q 3. 3) De hoc sancto eiusque reneratione cf. A. SS. die 15. Oct. (t. VIV p. 788.). XII, 2 eadem, ut ridetur, nari cum ep. praeced. et seq. in Africam transmissa, quamquam lianc Hilarus, sequentem Dofiatdeum tramtulit. — De personis, ad qum haec ep. dato est, nihU scimus. nulla sunt. Sed ibi desideria veatra figite, ubi, quiequid retribuitur, finem non suscipit'. Bonum ergo facientes non deficiatis, ut illic vobis thesauros thesaurizare possitis, ubi neque aerugo neque* tinea demolitur et ubi fures non eflfodiunt nec furantur^ Praeterea gloriam vestram paterno salutantes affectu indicamus per latorem praesentium Hilarum cartularium nostrum^ clavem nos a" sacratissimo corpore beati^ Petri apostolorum principis transmisisse^, in qua de catenis quoque ipsius bcnedictio continetur^. Quae coUo vestro suspensa, hoc vobis eo intercedente gratia absolutionis fiat, quod illi fuit causa martyrii. Omnipotens Deus in suo vos timore custodiat atque sic cor vestrum ad bonam semper operationem accendat, ut et hic vobis suam gratiam tribuat et ad gaudia vos postmodum aetema perducat.