Prayer And Safety

Dulcissimo filio vir fluctivagus salutem. Te abeunte tentavi saepius ad portum stabilitatis venire; sed rector rerum et dispensator animarum necdum concessit posse quod olim fecit velle. Adhuc ex radice cordis nascentes cogitationum ramusculos ventus tentationum flagellat, ut consolationis flores et refectionis fructus nutriri nequiverint. Toto nocte laborantes nihil cepimus, quia necdum in littore Jesus stetit, praecipiens in dexteram navigii rete mitti. Patrocinia sanctorum non obliviscere. Res ecclesiasticae pulchritudinis oculis occurrentes noli negligere ut acquiras. Nostra rusticitas avara est de talibus: vesta nobilitas larga est de omnibus. Memor esto poetici praesagii:  Si nihil attuleris, ibis, Homere, foras. Hoc de te tuoque itinere prophetatum esse, quis dubitat? Si Christum Sibylla, ejusque labores praedixit venturum, cur non Naso Homerum ejusque itinera praececinit? Paululum propter refectionem animi rhetorica lusi lepiditate. Sed ut iterum ad seriem rugosa fronte revertar, te vero unanimem deposcens amicum, te custodem animi obsecrans, ut consilium salutis animarum nostrarum, cum suffragiis sanctorum, apostolorum a Deo depreceris. Nam nos ambos, ut recognosco, quaedem necessitatis catena constringit, et libero cursu voluntatis castra intrare non permittit: nec est, qui compedes rumpere valeat, nisi qui inferni ferrea claustra contrivit, qui est via et vertias et vita. Via pergentibus per illum, veritas venientibus ad illum, vita manentibus in illo. Quid habeo plus scribere, quia omnia necessaria nosti? Juxta opportunitatem portantis semper dirige mihi litteras, ut sciam de prosperitate tua et itinere tuo, quando vel quo venias miserante Deo. Prospera cuncta, precor, faciat tibi Christus, Homere! Qui te conservet semper, ubique vale! Alcuinus, Epistola XXV, Ad Duclissimum Filium Homerum (Angilbertum) Source: Migne PL 100.180a-d

To a dear son, a man wandering amid the waves, greeting. With your departure I have very often tried to reach a secure port, but the director of things and the disposer of souls does not yet wish to concede to be possible what once He did. Though from the root of the heart the little branches of thoughts are born, the wind of trials so whips them that they are unable to bring forth the blooms of consolation and the fruit that restores. Though we work through the whole night we are not able to gain a thing because Jesus does not yet stand on the shore, commanding that the net be cast out from the right hand of the boat. 1 Do not forget the protection of the Saints. With racing eyes do not neglect the fair things of the Church, so that you might acquire them. Our narrow rusticity is on account of such things, your expansive nobility from all things. Be mindful of the poetic presage: If you bring nothing, Homer, you will go outside. 2 That this is prophetic concerning you and your way, who will doubt? If the Sybil foretold the coming works of Christ, why might not Ovid sing Homer and his way before his time? For the refreshment of my soul I have played a little with pleasant words, but returning again to the lines of a furrowed brow, I entreat you, friend of my soul, that you plead for a guard for your soul, that you pray for the counsel of the salvation of our souls, with the intercession of the Saints and the Apostles, from God. For both of us, I know, are constrained with a certain chain of necessity, and with the free step of the will we are not permitted to enter the camp, nor is there one who is able to break the fetters unless He who broke down the doors of hell, He who is the way and the truth and the life. 3 The way of the one who advances is through Him, the truth is to come to Him, life is to remain with Him. What more do I have to write, since you know what is needful? As far as opportunity allows always send me letters, that I might know how you flourish and your way, when or where you go according to the mercy of God. All prosperity, I pray, Christ make for you, O Homer! That He may preserve you always and everywhere, farewell. Alcuin of York, Letter 25, To a Dearest Son Homer, (Angilbertus) 1 Lk 5.4-7, Jn 21.4-6 2 Ovid Ars Amatoria 2.280 3 Jn 14.6