Letter 215A. To Valentin Adrumetsky 3rd

To his beloved lord and brother Valentin, embraced by the embrace of Christ, Augustine sends greetings in the Lord. I am very grateful to Your Love that you sent to me the brother Florus I desired, but even more I thank our God that I found him the way I wanted to find him. But although it may seem that he returned to you after a long time, he remained with me less than I wanted. For when he was with me, I was shackled by such a strong and such a long-lasting bodily illness that I could not be with him, O beloved lord and embraced brother of Christ. Therefore, I again ask that you deign to fulfill not only my desire, but our mutual desire, and send him back so that he can stay with us longer. I believe that this will be fruitless both for himself and for us. And I think that the more abundant instruction that we, with the help of the Lord, could give him, would also benefit all the brethren. Be always pleasing to God. CPL 262. Translated from: Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum Vindobonae, 1923. Vol. 58. R. XGIII. This letter is not in the PL. It was discovered by G. Morin and published in the preface to the indicated volume of the Vienna Patrological Series (ed. A. Goldbacher), where it is said that it should be placed between letters 215 and 216. It seems to us that, from a chronological point of view, it should rather follow Valentine’s letter to Augustine (among Augustine’s letters the 216th), being Augustine’s brief response to him. Apparently, Brother Flor delivered Valentine’s letter to Augustine, but due to Augustine’s illness he did not receive a detailed answer and was sent back with this brief letter. At the request of Augustine, Valentine sent Florus and some other monks to him a second time, apparently again providing them with a letter that has not reached us. This time Augustine had a detailed conversation with Florus, was finally convinced of the purity of his views and handed him a book on reproach and grace, specially written for the Adrumetian monks. You might be interested in: