LETTER

...enticed by that scent, and even if I am by merit unworthy of your benevolence: nevertheless I desire to see you with burning longing, and to speak face to face original: "os ad os," literally "mouth to mouth," a common biblical idiom for intimate, direct conversation (cf. 2 John 1:12). in the bond of holy charity. For I too am a servant of Christ, although useless and wicked A standard expression of religious humility common in medieval and Renaissance prefaces.: yet whatever I may be, I am His, and I am mourning and grieving over those same evils as you are. For this reason, and according to my strength, I have taken care that the small works of Abbot Joachim Joachim of Fiore (c. 1135–1202): An influential Italian mystic and theologian whose apocalyptic theories divided history into three ages corresponding to the Trinity. His works were widely studied for clues about the "end times."—who treats this subject more clearly and extensively than others, and this (as it is claimed) because he was endowed with the gift of prophecy—should be brought into the light for the benefit of the Christian commonwealth respublica christiana: The collective body of the Christian world, often used to refer to the spiritual and political unity of Europe under the Church.;

so that if by chance those who love this world, wallowing in filth and decadence, should read or hear of these looming evils, they might believe, or at least, terrified by fear, turn back from their wickedness and return to their senses original: "ad cor redeant," literally "return to the heart.", producing worthy fruits of repentance and be saved. The just, however, through the hope of relief and deliv—