St. Braulio is conceded by all to have been the best writer in Spain at the middle of the seventh century and second only to Isidore in all of Visigothic literature. The sources for the facts of his life are, in addition to his own works, some letters from Isidore, included in the present translation; some poems of his close associate Eugene II, later Bishop of Toledo;¹ also a chapter in the biographical work On Famous Men by Ildefonse.² The earliest full biography of Braulio was written in the thirteenth century, is full of fanciful stories composed for propaganda, and...

Since I am not able to enjoy you with the eyes of the flesh, let me at least enjoy conversing with you, that I may be consoled by learning from a letter of yours of the good health of one whom I wish to see. It would be good if both were possible; but I may at least refresh myself concerning you mentally if I cannot do so bodily.

While we were together, I asked you to send me the sixth decade of St. Augustine.² Please find some way to make me acquainted with that work. I have sent you...

(1) In the time of Bishop John, my lord of pious recollection and our common elder brother and teacher of holy living and doctrine, I had intended, in obedience both to his suggestions and to your requests, to put down with my pen, insofar as my own lack of knowledge and poor state of health permitted, a clear account of the life of the blessed priest Emilian, our unique father and patron and singularly chosen in Christ in our times, relying upon the credibility of the information which I knew had been collected in the testimony of the venerable abbot...

Isidore, a man of eminence, bishop of the church at Seville, successor and brother of Bishop Leander, flourished from the time of the Emperor Mauritius and King Recared; in him antiquity gained some new fame for itself, or rather our age saw in him an image of antiquity, for he was a man well trained in every kind of locution, so that the quality of his words made him adaptable for one who was learned and for one who had no knowledge, famous both for suiting his words to his subject and for his incomparable eloquence. It can now be...

The most important source for our knowledge of the life of St. Fructuosus of Braga is the Vita sancti Fructuosi, written probably not long after his death by an unknown author. The present account is almost wholly dependent upon the edition and English translation of the Vita by Sister Clare Frances Nock.¹ The work gives us no means, direct or indirect, of finding a single date for the life of Fructuosus, for no attention is paid to exact chronology. Internal evidence is of no help at all, since the several persons named in the text are otherwise unknown and the...

After the love of God and of one’s neighbor, which is the bond of all perfection and the greatest of the virtues, it has been determined by the tradition of the Rule that the following shall be preserved in monasteries: first, to be devoted to prayer night and day and to observe the prescribed division of hours; then, never for anyone to be idle in any respect or slothful in spiritual exercises in the daytime.

The method of celebrating the first hour is sanctioned by the words of the prophet: “At dawn I shall stand by you and I shall...

Some are accustomed for fear of Gehenna to found monasteries within their own homes, and to join in common under the terms of an oath with their wives and children and slaves and neighbors, and, as we have said, to consecrate for themselves churches on their own estates, name these after the martyrs, and falsely to call such establishments monasteries. We consider these not monasteries, but the perdition of souls and the subversion of the Church. From such have arisen heresy and schism and great controversy throughout the monasteries. Heresy [Greek “choice”] is so named because each one chooses what...

In the name of the Holy Trinity, Father and Son and Holy Spirit.

What we believe in our heart, we profess also with our mouth. We believe in the Father unborn, the Son born, and the Holy Spirit proceeding from both, that the Son alone received flesh from the Virgin and descended into the world for the salvation of all who believe in Him and that He never left the Father and the Holy Spirit. For He Himself said: “I and the Father are one.”¹ And: “Who has me also has the Father.” And: “Who sees me also sees the...

I fear that by writing to you frequently I may increase your majesty’s distaste, but I am more hesitant that by silence I may cause certain parties to lose your clemency—and may God never allow that to happen. Mindful of the words of the apostle, who said: “Have I then become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?”², I do not even tremble at the invectives and hostilities of your indignation, especially since I know the extremely clement attitude of your serene highnesses, not swollen with pride, but rather most considerate in the practices of Christian compassion and...