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English Correspondence

St Boniface, tr. Kylie, 1911

Letter 7: Egburg Writes to Wynfrith of Her Desolation and Her Regard for Him. She Asks…

To Wynfrith, holy father and true friend, by right and merit worthy of honour, filled with the grace of divine knowledge and of religion, Egburg, the lowliest of thy pupils, both men and women, sends wishes for welfare eternal in the Lord.

Thy love is as a bond that holds me; since I tasted it in my inner being, like some honeysweet essence the sweetness of it fills my soul. And now, though I have been robbed of the sight of thee, when I but scarce attained it, yet shall I always hold thy neck entwined with a sisterly embrace. Wherefore, my erstwhile beloved brother, thou shalt be called in the Lord of Lords alike father and brother, for after a bitter death and cruel took from me my brother Oshere, whom I cherished beyond all others, I put thee in my love before almost all men. And to waste words no longer, not a day unrolls its length, not a night passes away but I recall thy teaching. It is because of this, believe me before God, that I embrace thee with all my love. And I trust in thee because I never forget that friendly affection which I know thou didst always have for my brother. Though in knowledge and virtue he surpassed me, yet in love and regard for thee I do not come behind him. Time has run quickly on its course, but the dark cloud of my grief has never abandoned me;¹ the lengthening period has only added to my woes, as it is written: “The love of man brings sorrow, but the love of Christ illuminates the heart.” And after my dearest sister Wethburg—a new wound, a fresh grief—suddenly vanished from my sight,² with whom I grew up and was nurtured at the same breast, for the one mother bore us, in Jesus’ name I declare everywhere was sorrow and desolation, and the face of death.³ I should have preferred to die, if so it had pleased God, to whom hidden things are plain, or if tardy death had not delayed. But now, what shall I say? Before that hour, not bitter death but a still more bitter parting unexpectedly divided us, her, I think, the happy one, me the unhappy one, left, like something cast aside, to serve this world. I loved her so dearly, whom now, I hear, a Roman prison holds. But the love of Christ which grew and flourished in her breast, is stronger and mightier than all bonds, and “Perfect love shows fear the door.” Behold, the Ruler of high Olympus,⁴ who so enriches you with divine doctrine, grants happiness amidst unspeakable delights, and in his law thou wilt meditate day and night; as it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things.”⁵ She is now climbing the steep and narrow path; but I lie in the depths bound by the fetters of the law of the flesh. On the Day of Judgment, rejoicing with the Lord she will say: “I was in prison and thou didst come unto me.”⁶

Thou too, at the resurrection, when the twelve apostles are seated on their twelve seats, wilt have thy seat there; and over all those whom thou hast won by thine own labours, wilt thou, their leader, heir to a golden crown, rejoice before the throne of the Eternal King. But I, still in this vale of tears, weep, as is right, for mine own sins, because God has made me unworthy to be joined with such friends. Therefore, believe me, not so eagerly does the storm-tossed sailor long for the harbour, nor the thirsting fields crave rain, nor the anxious mother on the curved shore await her son, as I long for a sight of thee.⁷ But borne down by my sins and faults innumerable I have been brought to despair of being freed from the dangers that threaten me. Wherefore, a sinner, cast at thy feet, out of my heart’s inmost recesses, I have called to thee, O my father, from the borders of the world, that, as my soul requires, thou shouldst raise me upon the rock of thy prayers, for thou hast become my hope, and a strong tower against my visible and invisible foes. And to console my boundless sorrow, and to calm the wave of my grief, let thy strength be set as a prop to my weakness, so that it may not utterly fail. And I humbly ask thee, deign to send me for my comfort, some holy relics, or a few words from thy hand, that in them I may always have thee with me.

Farewell and all success be thine, while thou dost live for God, and dost again and again intercede for me.

I too, Ealdbeorcth, a poor servant of Christ, greet thee in the Lord with all affection. I beg thee remember in thy holy prayers that friendship thou didst once pledge; so that, though separated in the body, we may be joined in memory.

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