Most blessed Father,
Since it is the charge of every Christian to defend the honor of God, the faith of Christ, and the rectitude of good living, and seeing the flock led astray by the wicked example of many pastors who have departed from the way of truth, I have preached the Gospel, confirming and strengthening the faith, teaching the Christian life, declaring by divine inspiration the things to come, that men might be brought unto repentance. With all diligence have I labored to preserve peace in this city, and for this cause have I suffered, and do yet suffer, many persecutions at the hands of wicked men. And surely I deserved not that Thy Holiness, of all men, should stand against me, as thou hast always done; but rather that thou shouldst have upheld me with all aid and favor.
But thou, on the contrary, having read and heard my clear defenses and purgations, and having likewise understood the truth of my preaching, which only the ungodly and the enemies of the cross of Christ stubbornly deny, feigning ignorance and opposing continually—thou, I say, knowing all these things, hast nonetheless lent thine ear unto my slanderers and to the detractors of the truth. And thus, by withholding from me that aid which thou were bound to render, not only as a Christian, but yet more in thine office, thou hast laid open the fold unto the ravening wolves, and hast given them power and license to hinder the work of Christ.
But God, who hath chosen the weak and the despised of this world to confound the mighty, hath heard the cries of His poor ones. Lo, He is even now prepared to make manifest this truth, for the which we suffer at thine hands; to make it manifest, I say, against thee and against all His adversaries, with natural reason and with signs above nature itself. And these things shall be revealed in such a way, and with undeniable arguments, that they who hinder this work of God shall likewise be made manifest.
For we seek not the glory of men, but the glory of Christ alone, for whose sake we do most ardently desire to die. Delay not, therefore, Most Blessed Father, to provide for thine own salvation. Farewell.
From San Marco, in Florence, on the third day of March, in the year of our Lord 1497[8].
Most blessed Father,
Since it is the charge of every Christian to defend the honor of God, the faith of Christ, and the rectitude of good living, and seeing the flock led astray by the wicked example of many pastors who have departed from the way of truth, I have preached the Gospel, confirming and strengthening the faith, teaching the Christian life, declaring by divine inspiration the things to come, that men might be brought unto repentance. With all diligence have I labored to preserve peace in this city, and for this cause have I suffered, and do yet suffer, many persecutions at the hands of wicked men. And surely I deserved not that Thy Holiness, of all men, should stand against me, as thou hast always done; but rather that thou shouldst have upheld me with all aid and favor.
But thou, on the contrary, having read and heard my clear defenses and purgations, and having likewise understood the truth of my preaching, which only the ungodly and the enemies of the cross of Christ stubbornly deny, feigning ignorance and opposing continually—thou, I say, knowing all these things, hast nonetheless lent thine ear unto my slanderers and to the detractors of the truth. And thus, by withholding from me that aid which thou were bound to render, not only as a Christian, but yet more in thine office, thou hast laid open the fold unto the ravening wolves, and hast given them power and license to hinder the work of Christ.
But God, who hath chosen the weak and the despised of this world to confound the mighty, hath heard the cries of His poor ones. Lo, He is even now prepared to make manifest this truth, for the which we suffer at thine hands; to make it manifest, I say, against thee and against all His adversaries, with natural reason and with signs above nature itself. And these things shall be revealed in such a way, and with undeniable arguments, that they who hinder this work of God shall likewise be made manifest.
For we seek not the glory of men, but the glory of Christ alone, for whose sake we do most ardently desire to die. Delay not, therefore, Most Blessed Father, to provide for thine own salvation. Farewell.
From San Marco, in Florence, on the third day of March, in the year of our Lord 1497[8].