Sunday, January 24, 2016

"What I do not hesitate to honor in you"

"You easily understand what it is that I am ready to honor in you [(quid autem in te honorare non dubitem)].  Naturally, I do not consider the error of schism worthy of honor, since I long to cure all men of it, as far as I can.  But, without any shadow of doubt, I think you are worthy of honor:  first, because you are bound to us by the very bond of human society; secondly, because there are in you clear signs of a peaceful mind, which support the hope that you will readily embrace the truth when it has been demonstrated to you.  Indeed, I owe you as much love as He commanded us to have who loved us unto the ignominy of the Cross."

     St. Augustine, Epistle 33 to the Donatist bishop of Hippo Proculeianus (before 396).  FC 12, trans. Sister Wilfred Parsons (1951), 126-127 (126-130).  CSEL 34.2, ed. Goldbacher (1898), 18.

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