PERRAUD (Adolphe Louis Albert) - Lot 129

PERRAUD (Adolphe Louis Albert) Lyon, February 7, 1828 - Autun, February 10, 1906. Oratorian, bishop of Autun, cardinal, ecclesiastical historian and member of the Académie française. Long L.A.S. "† A. Perraud", Autun, March 14, 1890, to a friend; 4 pages in-8 on embossed paper with his arms. A very interesting spiritual and intellectual letter in which Perraud mixes personal considerations, religious reflections and an evocation of his current work on Leo XIII and contemporary Catholicism. The cardinal opens his letter by expressing his deep sympathy for the moral difficulties and sufferings his correspondent is going through: "I am distressed to learn of the new sufferings to which you have been prey for the past two years". He then encourages him to rediscover "the ideas and practices of the Christian life", developing a meditation on faith, trial and religious consolation. The letter then takes on an almost pastoral dimension, with Perraud reminding us that Christian truths "do not provide from elsewhere in the region of full light; one must wait and deserve". The whole is punctuated by Latin quotations from St. John's Gospel and highly personal theological commentaries. Of particular interest is the second part of the letter, which concerns his intellectual work in progress. Perraud states that he has undertaken "a major work" devoted to Leo XIII and the "admirable letters of Cardinal Pecci", which he hopes to use to address "questions of religious and social morality". He also talks about his recent lectures and homilies, and a forthcoming trip to Rome: "As soon as I go to Rome next autumn, I will return to the Vatican". The letter concludes with an allusion to religious issues in England and the debates surrounding Anglicanism and Catholicism in the late 19th century. Very fine and ample autograph signature: " † A. Perraud".