54. TO HIS UNCLES LAMBERT: And Folcerald.
The Letters of St. Anselm 2. Heb 12:6.
3. Rom 5:3-5.
4. Jm 1:4.
54. TO HIS UNCLES LAMBERT
AND FOLCERALD.
Anselm assures his uncles of his love, asks them how they are, and warns them not to pursue worldly riches.
TO THE REVEREND LORDS LAMBERT AND FOLCERALD, HIS MOST
BELOVED UNCLES,1 HIS MOST GENTLE FOSTER-FATHERS: BROTHER
ANSELM, WISHING THAT THEY MAY DESPISE TEMPORAL GOODS
FOR THE ETERNAL AND GAIN ETERNAL GOODS FOR THOSE OF THE
WORLD.
ALTHOUGH AT THE DISPOSITION OF DIVINE WILL the
space of place and time separates us, nevertheless, by the protection of divine grace no cause can or ever shall dimin ish in me my affection for your gentle persons. And since in any case it is certain that a similar affection towards me is similarly present in your hearts, I have no doubt at all that just as I always want to know everything about you, so you always want to know everything about me. But you will be able to learn and discover more about this through the bearer of this note than the brevity of this letter per mits me to say.
But what longing my heart bears for you, may he from whom [it comes] and to whom [it reaches outj and to whom alone this desire is known so inform and convince you as he knows it to be best for you. Yet, if I may express some thing out of the abundance of my heart, I fear nothing more for you than that, loving the world and worldly things,2 you should carry on in life sleeping till the end, and that when you do wake up after the end, you should find in the com pany of men of riches nothing or very little in your hands.3 before 1078.