Letter 51 to Eucherius and Galla
BISHOP PAULINUS GREETS HIS HOLY AND BELOVED CHILDREN EUCHER AND GALLA, WHO ARE TRULY WORTHY OF PRAISE AND ESTEEM.
1. The blessed Lord our God, who grants the wishes of those who long for them, and who in answering our prayers always grants us more than we pray for, has deigned to proffer me unexpectedly a chance as apposite as it was desired. The opportunity has come through three young monks (religiosi iuuenes), my sons and fellow servants in the Lord, Gelasius, Augendus, and Tigridius. They were sent to my lowly self by my brother and co-presbyter (conpresbyter) Honoratus, a man deserving of praise and famed in Christ. The Lord inspired him to send these youths from his holy and most chaste community to give me new life, following the example of your own affection.
Paulinus recounts how a year earlier he had learned from young monks sent to him by Eucherius about the islands of Lero (where Eucherius and Galla lived) and Lerina (where Honoratus dwelled).
(trans. Walsh 1894: 2.293-294, slightly altered and summarised by J. Szafranowski)