143. TO WALTER (PRIOR OF: Saint Wandrille).
The Letters of St. Anselm
143. TO WALTER (PRIOR OF
SAINT WANDRILLE).
Anselm praises Prior Walter of Saint Wandrille for his diligent care of Dom Robert who has returned to the monastery and encourages him to continue in this way.
TO HIS DEAREST LORD AND BROTHER, WALTER1: BROTHER ANSELM,
ABBOT OF BEC, GREETINGS.
DOM ROBERT OF BRIONNE2 gives you great thanks for the kindness far above his expectations which you showed him, and by expressing his thanks he witnesses that you suffered many troubles through him and through others on his behalf. This is why I give thanks with love, with my thanks I praise, and praising I beseech your discretion that, mindful that a bruised reed should not be broken,3 and that they who are whole do not need a physician but they who are sick,4 you should persevere in what you have begun. It is to be expected that someone who has already made some progress through your tolerance and by the help of God's mercy, will progress to even greater virtues through the same mercy of God if you persevere in doing what you start ed. Indeed it is a great indication of his progress that he wants to be highly recommended by me, your friend, to the person through whom he realizes he has made progress; not that you should consent to his vices but that you should be lenient towards his weakness so that he may gradually be relieved of them like a sick man. For he does not yet dare promise to give up entirely in the near future the bad habits in which he was reared in a way not advantageous to him; but he does promise with will and longing that whenever he slides back he will, with God's help and your assistance and advice, as well as your prayers, get up again and one day will stand firm in the practice of virtue.
Greet our brothers and lords, the monks of your commu nity, on our behalf. As a Christian and a friend I ask them to endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit in a bond of peace,5