Abbo of Fleury, Letter to Desiderius

  Title page of one of Abbo of Fleury's tracts showing the word "ABBO". Created between 962 and 986 AD in Saint-Benoît-sur-Loire abbey. [Wikipedia, "Abbo of Fleury"]

Abbo Floriacensis [Abbo of Fleury]
945-1004 AD
translated by RmBullard
[Medieval Latin]

EPISTOLA ABBONIS AD DESIDERIUM.

(Desiderius Epistola XIII)

"Abbo's Letter to Desiderius"

Domno semper proprio Desiderio apostolico papae Abbo peccator.

1 [From Abbo, ever the sinner, to his apostolic lord and pope Desiderius.]

Litteras gratiae vestrae tam per anteriores missos, qui cum filio vestro Chedeno venerunt, quam et qui postea cum Babone accepi, per quas praecepisti,

2 [I have received your letters--so wonderful by the way--from the servants you have sent, and they arrived with son Chedenus, whom I welcomed alongside Babo, and I understand that you have instructed that...]

 ut de vestris conditionibus, juxta quod Deus posse dabat, sollicitudinem gererem, Deo soli sufficit non latere, quia cum integra fide et promptissima voluntate id assecutus sum, et ordinationes Dominicas infirmatas sunt, ut de res illas, quas leva tenebat praesentaliter Bobila revestita esse debeat.

3 [I should endure my state of anxiety according your orders, just as God was able to--it does not please God to hide oneself away--because he prevailed over this with his faith intact and the greatest willingness possible, and the laws of the Dominicans then grew more lax, and what was the result? That, in the present state of affairs, Bobila ought to be restored to his position for enduring these kind of things so easily.]

Nam per vestra gratia non nobis sine labore constavit.

4 [You see, I had no trouble, thanks to your kindness.]

Tamen dum scimus quod justitia est, credimus de Dei pietate, quod sic pro vestro prudentissimo consilio causa gubernetur, ut ad bonum perfectum perveniat.

5 [However, while I do believe in justice, I also trust in the piety of God, and it is because my situation has been guided by advice--the most prudent there can be--that it has turned out perfectly.]

Abbo of Fleury, Passion of the Holy King and Martyr Edmund

Abbo Floriacensis [Abbo of Fleury]
945-1004 AD
translated by RmBullard
[Medieval Latin]

ABBO FLORIACENSIS
(945/50 - 1004 A.D.)

PASSIO SANCTI EDMUNDI REGIS ET MARTYRIS 

Domino sanctae metropolitanae Dorobernensium ecclesiae archiepiscopo Dunstano, vere moribus et aetate maturo, Abbo Floriacensis monachus levita, etsi indignus, a Christo Domino irriguum superius et irriguum inferius.  

1 [To the leader of the sacred metropolitan church of the Dorobernenses, the archbishop Dunstanus, who is truly mature in respect to his customs and age, so writes Abbo, the monk of Fleury, with all due respect--and really not worthy--made more confident by the inspiration of our Lord Christ, but also not worthy of His inspiration.]

Postquam a te, venerabilis pater, digressus sum cum multa alacritate cordis et ad monasterium, quod nosti, festinus redii, coeperunt me obnixe hi, cum quibus, fraterna caritate detentus hospitando hactenus degui, pulsare manu sancti desiderii,  

2 [Hail, venerable father, I have left your side, with much alacrity of the heart, and I have readily returned to the monastery that I have come to know--these man have begun to be my support, and with these men, I, detained through their brotherly care, have grown quite accustomed to their hospitality, and to write with a hand of sacred passion]

ut mirabilium patratoris Edmundi regis et martyris passionem litteris digererem, asserentes, id posteris profuturum, tibi gratum, ac meae parvitatis apud Anglorum ecclesias non inutile monimentum. 

3 [, so that I could discuss the miraculous experience of your family's royal ancestor and martyr Edmund, since you asked it to be done as gift to you: this will be a useful monument of my small effort within the churches of the English.]

Audierant enim, quod eam pluribus ignotam, a nemine scriptam, tua sanctitas ex antiquitatis memoria collectam historialiter, me praesente, retulisset domino Rofensis ecclesiae episcopo et abbati monasterii,

4 [So people have heard that this story has yet to be written by anybody, and is unknown to a great deal of people, so your holiness should bring it back, collected from the memory of antiquity, while I am present with Lord Rofensis, the bishop of this church, and the abbot of the monastery.]