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English Correspondence

St Boniface, tr. Kylie, 1911

Letter 2: Wynfrith Encourages the Youth Nithard in the Pursuit of Virtue and of His…

To Nithard, dear companion and beloved friend, whom neither a perishable gift of worldly wealth nor the pleasing charm and blandishments of flattering words won to me, but whom the splendid affinity and kinship of the spirit recently linked with me by an imperishable chain of love, Wynfrith, a suppliant, greetings of eternal welfare in Jesus Christ.

From my humble place I pray, noble youth and dear brother, that thou mayst not fail to recall the words of Solomon the wise: “In all thy works remember thy last end: and thou shalt never sin,”¹ and elsewhere: “Walk while ye have the light, lest the darkness of death come upon ye,”² because the things of the present wil quickly pass, but those that abide for ever will soon be at hand. All the treasures of this world, whether in gleaming gold and silver, or in starlike gems, or in the strange diversity of sumptuous food and costly garments, by a just comparison pass like shadows, disappear like smoke, vanish like foam, for the psalmist truly says: “As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth,”³ and elsewhere: “My days are like a shadow that declineth: and I am withered like grass.”⁴

Wealth-loving sybarites are known from Holy Scripture, to keep in misery a fruitless watch,⁵ to spin vainly fragile spider-webs which catch a light breeze or dust, since, according to the psalmist, they heap up riches and know not for whom they gather them. And when death the agent of the hated Pluto, grinding his bloody teeth lurks at the threshold, terror-stricken and deprived of all heavenly aid they suddenly lose their precious and false wealth, which night and day they greedily and anxiously saved, and with it lose their souls. Then, caught away by fiendish hands, they enter the awful gates of Erebus to pay an eternal penalty.

Since all these things are true beyond a scruple of a doubt, I implore thee with the most earnest prayers which my love can suggest, that having considered their truth thou wilt hasten to revive the grace of natural ability which is in thee, and wilt not extinguish in the mire and dust of earthly desires the knowledge of the liberal arts and the bright spiritual fire of divine understanding; but that, mindful of what the psalmist says of the happy man: “But his delight is in the law of the Lord: and in His law doth he meditate day and night,”⁶ and elsewhere: “O how love I Thy law! it is my meditation all the day,”⁷ and of what is said in Deuteronomy concerning the law of Moses: “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night,”⁸ thou wilt put aside the harmful obstacles of other things, and wilt strive to pursue the study of the Holy Scriptures with all the bent of thy mind, and thereby to acquire that truly noble and splendid grace which is divine wisdom. For it is more splendid than gold, brighter than silver, more resplendent than the carbuncle, clearer than crystal, richer than topaz, and on the authority of him who speaks wisdom, all precious things are not to be compared with it. What, beloved brother, can youth more properly seek or age more soberly enjoy than the knowledge of the Holy Scriptures? Guiding the ship of our soul it will bring it, without shipwreck in the dangerous storm, to the beautiful shore of paradise and the eternal joy of the angels in heaven. Of it the same wise man has said: “Wisdom overcometh evil. She reacheth therefore from end to end mightily, and ordereth all things sweetly. Her have I loved and have sought her out from my youth, and have desired to take her for my spouse: and I became a lover of her beauty. She glorifieth her nobility by being versant with God: yea, the Lord of all things hath loved her. For it is she that teacheth the knowledge of God.”⁹

Wherefore, if the Omnipotent God wills that returning, as I purpose to do, I should reach those parts,¹⁰ I promise to be thy faithful friend in all things and in the study of the Holy Scriptures, so far as my strength allows, thy devoted assistant.

Fare well, my brother, in youth’s flower and strength,
Mayst flourish with the Lord in His eternal home,
Where martyrs hymn the King in heavenly choirs,
And prophets and apostles add their meed of praise,
Where, for eternity, the King of Kings His subjects dowers,
There mayst thou bear the form of cherubin and seraphin,
To the apostles heir, of prophets son.

Nithard, avoid the dark contagion of this lowly earth,
In punishment of Hell will it involve thee,
The choirs above the heaven’s blue seek to discover,
Hosts singing to the God of Truth eternally,
Angelic canticles; there in the highest place
Resplendent stand; the golden prize of Heaven’s court
Draw down upon thy gleaming brows, and with thy praise
Hymn Christ on His celestial throne.

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