Troubles And Comforts

Venerando Patri Cudrado presbytero Alcuinus diaconus salutem. Valde sanctorum locorum ingemisco vastationem; sed vestrae fidei laetificor constantia, Deique omnipotens collaudens clementiam, qui tibi inter manus paganorum pepercit, ideo firma fide in quo cepisti proposito premaneas: confidens tu in misericordia Dei, ut te suae pietatis clementia conservet, ubicunque fraterno consilio te habitare velit Deus. Tamen sive in loco habitationis singularis, sive in fraterna cohorte, solitariam conversationem et secretas orationes, et jejuniorum propositum diligenter observa; quia non qui coeperit, sed qui perseveraverit, etc. Meque, obsecro, in sanctis tuis orationibus habeto memorialiter, sicut Buitta mihi ex tuis verbis fideli relatione promisit: visitantesque te fratres consolatione sancti Spiritus diligenter admone, exhortans eos, ut in Dei confidant protectione, et intercessione sancti Cudberchti Patris nostri. Non in armorum strepitu, vel in ruitura lapidum congerie, sed in muro pietatis supernae spem sibi certae defensionis constituant; et praesentis tribulationis miseriam ad aeternae felicitatis beatitudinem transferant: toto se corde convertant ad Dominum, et si quid in moribus suis emendandum sit, non segniter corrigant, ut Deo illorum placeat conversio, sicut Ninivitarum ei placuit poenitentia, et pepercit civitati per lacrymas confitentium peccata sua. Clemens est Deus et misericors, et nullum derelinquit in se sperantem; nam et novissima Job fuerunt meliora prioribus; sic et vobis credo faciat, si ad ejus clementiam deprecandam unanimiter conversi fueritis. Alcuinus, Epistola , Ad Cudradum, Epistola V Source: Migne PL 100.144c-145c

To the venerable father Cudradus, Alcuin the deacon, greetings. I lamented gravely over the destruction of the holy places, but I rejoice over the constancy of your faith, praising the clemency of God, that has spared you from the hands of pagans, and that therefore you remain with firm faith in the intention you began, being confident in the mercy of God, that the mercy of His piety protects you, and God wishes you to dwell wherever there is fraternal counsel. However, whether you dwell alone in some place, or among a group of brothers, diligently observe solitary communion and secret prayers, and the course of fasting, because it is not he who begins but he who perseveres who conquers. 1 And have memory of me, I beg, in your holy prayers, as Buitta promised me, relaying your words faithfully, and exhort the brothers visiting you in the consolation of the Holy Spirit, that they should have confidence in the protection of God, and in the intercession of Cuthbert our father. Not in the clash of arms, nor in the falling of stones heaped up, but in the wall of supernal piety is established the hope of one's defence in struggles, thus shall the wretchedness of present troubles be transformed into the blessing of eternal happiness, with all the heart turned toward the Lord, and if something in their lives needs improving, it will be corrected without sluggishness, that their way of their life please God, as even the penitence of the Ninevites pleased Him, and the confession of their sins in tears spared their city. God is compassionate and merciful, and He does not forsake any who hope in Him, for even the later days of Job where better that the earlier days, and so I think He will do so to you, if you all turn as one to praying for His mercy. Alcuin of York, Letter 5,To Cudradus 1 Mt 10.22